Prologue Charlie Brandon had never married, but he loved his younger sister, Evelyn, and her only son Carl. Something just connected between the Uncle and the Nephew and, when Evelyn's husband, Carl. Sr. was killed in the Raghead Wars as a Marine Major, it was to Charlie that young Carl came for solace. The Uncle and the Nephew came even closer and, when Carl, Jr. entered his late teen years, it was to Charlie that he came to confess he had gotten his high school sweetheart pregnant. Charlie took it all in stride and made arrangements for the girl to come live with him. It took some fast talking by Charlie to calm his sister down, but on her first visit to see Charlie, she sat holding the baby who had been named Carl Brandon, Jr. The girl's family yanked their daughter away and neither Charlie nor Carl had ever been able to find her. After some stiff talking, Carl settled down and entered Texas A&M. He planned to study Marine Engineering, his Uncle Charlie had been a Marine Engineer for many years and had sailed on just about every type ship that ever carried a cargo. His heart began to give him problems and his doctor advised him to come ashore and take life easy. That just wasn't in Charlie, but Doc Thomas had notified the Coast Guard and they yanked his license, he became a Chief Engineer without a ship. He bummed around until he found an out of the way home on Baffin Bay, Texas. Drum Point was far enough inland that he would be protected from the occasional hurricane but still have access to the sea. He then called a heavy drayage company to transport his hidden prize from Galveston Bay to Baffin Bay. The Carl was a work of art, Charlie had worked years in restoring her, all his leave time was spent rebuilding the Carl. It cost him a young fortune to have the vessel transported to Drum Point, but when the two cranes that he had hired, placed her in the water, the expense was worth it. The boat was an old Navy Liberty Launch and he had named it The Carl after his beloved Nephew, the young father and his own father!

The news was awful and Charlie hated to turn on television. A short announcement caught his attention, the banks were being closed by order of the Federal Government and would be closed for two weeks! That raised all sorts of flags in Charlie's mind and he got on the telephone to Galveston, he wanted to speak to his nephew, Carl. He waded through the various offices until he reached Carl's dorm. Fortunately, Carl was in his room. Charlie said, "Carl, pack your bags and go get your Mom, come down here NOW. DO NOT WAIT, COME NOW!" Carl knew his Uncle would not call like that without a good reason, so he threw some clothes in a grip and ran out the door to collect his Mother in Galveston.

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