BOOK29-Chapter 8 Slowdown

尘世浮萍

棚车少年

The next morning after breakfast, the children climbed the steps to A Deck where the Ping-Pong tables were located.

Benny teamed with Henry against Jessie and Violet. The small white ball flew back and forth. Although Henry hit the ball so hard that Jessie often missed it, the girls eventually won. The winners’ reward was to choose the next activity.

“Let’s see,” Violet said, “what should we do next?”

Benny, fingers crossed, stared at her as if willing her to choose his favorite.

“Shall we go shopping?” Jessie asked.

Benny wrinkled his nose.

“Or should we go swimming?” Violet questioned.

Eagerly, Benny shook his head.

“Swimming and lunch by the pool would be nice,” Jessie said. “It will be our last day to do this.”

“We’ve got tomorrow, Benny said hopefully.

“Tomorrow is Saturday, and we sail into Nassau,” Henry explained. “We’ll be ashore most of the day.”

“Oh,” Benny said, nodding. “That’s right. I forgot.”

The Aldens hurried to the pool and spent the rest of the morning swimming, and eating hotdogs and drinking milkshakes for lunch.

Later, as they sat on deck reading their library books, Heather walked by. “Hello,” she said, stopping briefly. “I see you’re having a little quiet time.”

“I don’t feel quiet,” Benny said, holding up his book. “I’m reading The Missing Dog Mystery.”

“Is it exciting?” Heather asked.

“Very!” he exclaimed.

“Sit down, Heather,” Jessie offered and she smiled, pointing to the empty chair next to her.

Heather shook her head, then glanced around and saw Melissa Rand. “I’m sorry. I can’t,” she said abruptly, and hurried to catch up with Melissa. The two walked down the deck and disappeared around the corner.

“Isn’t that weird?” Violet said in a puzzled voice. “Heather never has time for us, yet she seems to have time for the Rands. I wonder why.”

Jessie frowned. “I wonder, too. She’s always hurrying away from us.”

“It’s as if Heather’s afraid of us,” Henry said. “Maybe,” he speculated, “she’s trying to hide something.”

“Remember when she first came on board?” Violet asked.

“Yes,” Jessie replied. “Heather received roses from ‘C’!”

Henry nodded. “Could the ‘C’ stand for Carla?”

“Oh, no!” Violet said, horrified. “You mean Carla might be paying Heather to help her?”

“Yes,” Jessie answered sadly. “That’s why Heather doesn’t want to talk to us!”

“I think Heather’s just bashful,” Benny said, then added with a grin, “like Violet.”

Violet’s cheeks grew slightly pink, but she smiled.

Henry closed his book. “The Rands used to work for a French cruise ship,” he said thoughtfully.

“It’s possible,” Henry continued, rising, “that the Rands could have been hired by their French ship.”

“And,” Violet said, “they’re trying to sabotage the West Wind because it’s a rival cruise ship.”

“That way, their ship would get more passengers,” Jessie said. “But we have no proof of any of this!” Changing the subject because she was so puzzled, she asked, “Who wants to play shuffleboard?”

“I do,” Henry replied.

“Me, too,” Violet said.

Benny leaped up. “Me, three!” he echoed. “I’m ready to go.”

So the four Aldens headed for the shuffleboard deck. Tom Bishop, standing by a Coke machine, received a telegram from the steward. Hastily, he read the words, then stuffed it in his jacket pocket when he saw the children. “Hi, kids,” he called. “What’s happening?”

“Not much, Tom,” Benny said, taking a shuffleboard stick. “Want to play a game with us?”

“Why, not?” he asked, taking off his jacket and rolling up his sleeves. As he removed his jacket, the telegram gently fluttered to the deck.

The game didn’t last long. Tom won, and he laughed. “Next time,” he said, putting on his jacket, “we’ll play Monopoly. I’ll bet you can beat me at that.” With a wave, he was gone.

Jessie put up her shuffleboard stick, and as she did so she noticed Tom’s telegram. She picked it up and read the words: JUST TWO MORE DAYS AND WE’LL BE RICH! CARLA.

“What do you suppose this means?” Jessie asked worriedly, handing the telegram to Henry.

After reading it, Henry frowned. “Two more days of what?”

Violet took the telegram. “How could two more days make them rich?”

Jessie was thoughtful. “If Max makes it to Miami on time, he’ll be rich. If not his cousin Carla will inherit Great-Aunt Edith’s estate. This telegram could be from cousin Carla.”

Henry picked up Jessie’s train of thought. “And Tom could have been hired by Carla to keep the West Wind from getting to Miami on time.”

“Then Tom has been the one all along,” Violet said, disbelief on her face.

“And he seemed so nice, too!” Benny exclaimed.

“Let’s find Max,” Henry said. “I’m sure he’ll know what to do.”

They found Max and Grandfather playing cards in the library.

“Here, Max,” Jessie said, “I think you should read this.”

Max stared at the telegram, then his eyes lit up in understanding. “Tom Bishop. Of course. He must be Thomas, the man Carla’s going to marry. She talked about a ‘Thomas.’ I’ve never met him so I had no idea what he looked like.”

“He did ask us questions,” Henry said, “and once he mentioned how upset you looked.”

“When Tom came aboard,” Benny said, “I remember he said that we kids knew all about the ship, and we’d have to show him around.”

“That’s right,” Violet said.

“So,” Max said, “Tom’s doing Carla’s dirty work! Carla’s probably in Miami right now!” He shook his head. “If I don’t get to Miami by Sunday, she’ll inherit everything!”

Henry said, “We need to warn the captain about Tom.”

“Yes,” Jessie agreed. “And let’s also ask him if we’ll be sailing into Nassau on time.”

“Good idea,” Grandfather said, rising to his feet.

They found the captain on the navigation deck, and when he heard their news, he was furious. “No one can tamper with my ship!”

Thoughtfully he added, “I’m not surprised, though. The crew has seen Tom outside the engine room a few times and wondered what he was up to.”

“He’s deliberately trying to delay the ship,” Max said urgently. Then he explained to the captain why he had to get to Miami.

“Well,” the captain said, “Tom Bishop won’t succeed. We’re right on time. We’re taking a shorter route to Nassau.” He smiled. “So, Mr. Greene, you’ll be at the reading of the will.”

Max breathed a sigh of relief.

“We’re on time now,” Grandfather said, “but what if . . .?”

“What if Tom does something else to sabotage the ship?” Jessie finished.

“Exactly,” Grandfather said.

For a few minutes they were all silent. Then Jessie, her eyes shining, said, “I have a plan.”

“You have?” Violet asked.

“Yes, I have,” Jessie replied, smiling. And she whispered into the captain’s ear, and then into Max’s.

The captain nodded. “I’ll do it,” he said firmly.

A slow grin spread across Max’s face. “Good idea, Jessie,” he said.

“What are they going to do?” Benny asked as they walked back to the cabin.

“You’ll see at dinner,” Jessie said with a secret smile.

The Aldens went to their cabins to change clothes, and met at their table for dinner. Tom was sitting at the next table, right behind Max.

“I can’t wait to see what the captain’s going to do,” Benny whispered carefully to Jessie.

“He’s going to say something to Max,” Jessie carefully whispered back. “Listen closely.”

As they ate their lemon meringue pie, the captain walked slowly by the Aldens’ table.

“Excuse me, Captain,” Max said quietly, beckoning the captain to move closer. “It’s urgent that I know. Will we be in Nassau on time?”

The captain looked grave. “Well, I didn’t want to alarm the whole ship, but we’ve had another problem with the engine,” the captain told Max in hushed tones. “We can’t travel at the usual speed. So we’ll be delayed another couple of days.”

Benny glanced at Jessie and smiled. Now he knew what she’d whispered to the Captain and Max.

Henry smiled, too. Jessie had told the cap tain to fib a little—to tell Max there’d be a delay, when truthfully the ship was right on time. And to say it just loud enough for Tom to overhear.

Violet watched Tom. He was leaning closer to hear the captain’s words. She saw a nasty grin light up his face. Tom glanced at Max to see how he took the news.

“Isn’t there anything you can do?” Max asked.

“No, I’m afraid not,” the captain said.

When Max excused himself abruptly and left the table, Tom almost laughed aloud. He didn’t realize that Max was only pretending to be upset. Everything was going according to Jessie’s plan. The captain had played his part perfectly.

Then why did she still have this uneasy feeling?

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→ Chapter 9 The Guilty One Confesses

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