Gertrude's Gulch

Gertrude's Gulch at Rum Row

"Miss Annabelle, will you tell me what we're doing out here now? The expanse of beach at night doesn't give me a good feeling," Mae said, clutching her coat even tighter in the evening coastal breeze.
"Just Annie, please."
"We just met, and I'm still deciding if I want to keep knowing you... Until then, it'll be Miss Annabelle. And I'd appreciate you giving me the same courtesy until then."
"You got it, Miss Mae. Though I do hope you'll be sticking around after this. Yes, I can explain why we're here... In fact, we'll be going out into that expanse of ocean... Roy should be here. You see him?"
"No, but I hear him. He'll be along. I suspect that's the boat we're meeting? Does that say Ventura Pigeon? What kind of boat name is that?"
"Miss Mae, your senses really are impressive. I'm glad you're in my outfit. At least for tonight, anyway. I don't see it quite yet, but yes, that's the name. I suspect it's because it's a just a ferry for people like us, to and from all night long."
"And where might that be?"
"You're familiar with the 3-mile limit?"
"Miss Annabelle, I thought we were just picking up some booze. Are you telling me we're going out to Rum Row?"
"Keep your voice down!" Annie both yelled and whispered simultaneously. At that moment, Roy was finally near. "Hey Roy, about time."
"Sorry, Boss. Took a minute to find you. Don't worry, I didn't hear what Mae had to say." Roy said as he caught up to them. 
Annie eyed Miss Mae. "It's not Miss Mae for him?" she pointed to Roy.
"No, ma'am. I know Roy. He's what brought me to you. How're you doing Roy?" Mae said and gave Roy a big bear hug.
"Boat's here." He pointed, Annie and Mae turned to the water. "Good to see you, Mae. Real good. Boss tell you about Rum Row?"
"I was about to. C'mon, let's get on the boat, and I'll tell you the rest." Annie started to the boat where two men were ready to help her on. They exchanged greetings and passwords, and Annie got on. The other two followed. There was an electric lamp affixed near steering. Aside from that, the boat was dark.
"Roy! Would you mind?" Annie yelled over the motor once they got going. The silhouette of Roy gave a thumbs up, and there was the of brilliant blue surrounded the boat for a swift second. Immediately the sound of the motor became muffled.
Annie continued at a conversational volume, "Alright, so you know there's been a 3-mile limit around the country to prevent the import of liquor. Other countries are happy to oblige that 3-mile limit because they make a lot of cash off their liquor exports to us. The ocean is a vast expanse. We're all adult enough to know that that 3-mile limit doesn't keep the liquor off the coast, the ships just stay out past those 3-mile markers, which you know as Rum Row, which stretches down to Long Beach. There's Rum Row also out in the Atlantic. The booze is ferried in on these speedboats."
"Why Ventura, Boss?" Roy asked
"Oh you know how traffic in Los Angeles is awful, and with Long Beach picking up with commercial imports now, there's a lot of maritime traffic, too. Ventura is much much quieter. Fewer people. Fewer patrols. Fewer city lights." Annie explained.
"Smells nicer, too," Mae added. "My is it dark out here. And ever so quiet... If it weren't for the motor. Doesn't anyone get afraid out here? The dark, the sharks, the storms? I think I can hear whales."
"I bet most people get scared," Roy said, remembering his last episode out on the water with Annie.
"Money's too good to be scared," one of the guys up front yelled back. He moved a bit closer. "Sorry. The name's Anthony. Couldn't help but overhear you all with that audio bubble. The way I see it is, we're doing our civic duty. People have a right to good liquor. Not that hooch people are dying from. I've been out here for two years doing this. You'd be surprised how many police and politicians are in on this. What a racket. Anyway... It's dark, sure. But it's a hell of a lot of fun."
"Two years?" Mae asked.
"What you may not know about," Annie said, "is that we're going about to a sort of floating settlement. The ships have been out there for a couple of years, and people have been living out there full time. A ship will come and go, but there are always five or six out there. Millions of dollars worth of liquor."
Anthony interjected again, "Seven, now. One of them is acting as a sort of hotel, can you imagine. The mayor stayed for a whole week! The Gulch is growing."
"The Gulch?" Roy asked.
"We've been calling it the Gulch after Gertrude's Gulch, Cleo Gertrude's ship. She calls it that because it's her fastest, and it leaves a gulch in its wake."
"Gertrude? The Queen of the Bahamas?" asked Roy, clearly surprised.
"The one and only," Annie answered. "The story is she came through the Canal with her flagship, called Gertrude's Gulch, to see about some famed tavern that makes the best cocktails in the West. Now they've got Cuban Rum out there in the East, top notch. Supposed to be the best. Gertie wanted to taste the cocktails of California herself and bring recipes back East. She wasn't so lucky and never got those recipes." Roy gave her a knowing glance, but Annie didn't see it.
She continued, "She picked up some tequila along the way, adding to her repertoire of libations. Her ship stayed, and others joined, a couple of gambling ships... it became an open-water colony of sorts. People can just live the way they want and drink the way they want. Anyway, we're out there to see about some Tequila because I would also like to expand my repertoire."
"More like restart your repertoire," Roy joked.
"Oh shut it, Roy. We're still good... we just need a new connection, is all," Annie said.
"Gertrude still out there?" Mae asked. "I'd love to ask her some questions."
"Who knows. I don't know why she'd leave her ship, but I doubt she stayed. Why would she? She has an empire in the Atlantic," Annie said. She wondered if she could live out on the ocean. Her vision of what kind of boat she'd have and what it would be named was interrupted by the skipper. Anthony, was it?
"Gertrude's here. She's been back to the Atlantic coast a couple of times, but she's back. Says she likes the weather out here in the summer. More calm." Anthony said.
"And how do you know that?" Annie asked.
"Because that's who I'm taking you to."

Type

Trade post