“How long have you been here?” asked Kitty.
“Long enough to catch something more than shrimp,” retorted Jimmy.
“You’re not ahead of us,” Sally told them. “We saw rubbish washing up all along shore. A U-boat must have hit somebody out there.”
“We don’t claim we’ve located the U-boat,” admitted Ned, “but we did find an old bateau hidden under some mangroves.”
“At least five miles from any habitation,” added Jimmy.
“Oh, I thought they had something,” said Vera with a laugh. “If you had lived in this part of the country as long as I have, you’d be used to bateaux and old boats in all sorts of nooks.”
Kitty watched Brad’s face intently during this exchange, and finally their eyes met. His expression implied that he would tell her more later. There was no opportunity, however, in the next hour for them to talk privately. The boys were already preparing the shrimp for the pot, and Kitty quickly mixed the other ingredients.
The shrimp creole was soon cooking. In the meantime they sat on the sands around the campfire. Its warm glow was more than welcome in the biting salt air. Jimmy Barnes amused them with a hair-raising tale while they waited.
“The beach guard stopped to chat with us a few minutes ago,” Jimmy began.
The Coast Guard Station was several miles down the coast from the Marine Base. Kitty had seen very little of those men since she came to Palmetto Island.