Gratefully, Max smiled at the waiter who put a cup of coffee before him. He took a deep breath. “My doctor, who also is a close friend, advised me to relax, and recommended this cruise.” Max stirred his coffee. “It’s been far from relaxing. The first night I received a telegram from my great-aunt Edith’s lawyer saying that she had died.” He paused, taking a sip of coffee. “I was very fond of her, even though she was rather eccentric. I felt sad and wanted to tell someone, but I’m rather reserved.” He gave them a small smile. “As you may have guessed.”
“I’m sorry about your great-aunt, Max. Now I realize why you were so upset,” Jessie said.
“Wait,” Max said. “There’s more.”
Benny’s eyes were wide. “What else?” he asked.
“Great-Aunt Edith had written in her will that I must be present at the reading in order to inherit her beautiful old house.” He finished his coffee. “I’ve always loved that old brick house and someday had planned to open it to the public so that everyone could enjoy it. The rooms are filled with marvelous antiques and artwork. And in the vault she kept her jewelry. Outside, gardens spread over several acres.”
“Will you also inherit her money?” Grandfather asked.
“Yes, a large amount,” Max answered. “I’d planned to use it for good causes.”
“I’m sorry you lost your great-aunt,” Violet said. “But I’m happy you’ll inherit such a wonderful place.”
Max looked down, shaking his head. “I’m afraid I won’t inherit anything. You see the will is going to be read in Miami one week from the day I received the telegram. If I don’t appear for the reading, the money and house will go to Great-Aunt Edith’s only other surviving relative.”
“Who’s that?” Benny asked, forgetting to eat.
“My cousin, Carla,” Max said. “I hate to say anything against anyone, but I know Carla. She’s a mean selfish person, and I’m sure one of the first things she’ll do is tear down Edith’s house and sell all her beautiful things.” He pushed his cup aside, and his lips tightened. “I can’t let that happen.”
“No, you can’t.” Violet nodded in agreement.
“When I first received the telegram, informing me of my great-aunt’s death, I wanted to fly back immediately,” Max said.
“Why didn’t you?” Benny questioned carefully.
“I wish I had,” Max said, answering Benny. “But when I called my doctor she told me to stay on the cruise. She said it’d do me good and I’d be back in time for the reading of the will.” He shook his head. “She didn’t know that this ship was going to have one problem after another.”
Henry nodded knowingly. So that was the conversation they’d overheard on the phone. He remembered when Max told his doctor, “I will, but only because you think I should.”
“When everything started to go wrong on the ship,” Max said, “I tried to put the idea out of my head that someone was intentionally slowing the ship down. But when there was a false alarm about a person falling overboard, I was certain that someone was trying to keep me from getting to Miami on time.”
“You’re not the only one who’s thought that,” Jessie agreed. “We just couldn’t figure out why.”
“Now we know,” Violet added quietly.
“But we still don’t know who’s doing it,” Max said, tugging on his beard. “Carla isn’t aboard.”
“Maybe she’s in disguise,” Benny said.
“Maybe she hired someone to do the work for her,” Henry suggested, “while she’s hurrying to Miami. Someone like Heather,” he added.
“So how do we catch this person?” Violet asked.
“We’ll have to keep our eyes and ears open,” Jessie said.
“And as soon as we get to the next port, I’m flying directly to Miami,” Max said firmly.
“We’ll be coming into Nassau Saturday morning,” Grandfather said. “You should be able to get a plane to fly to Miami in plenty of time.”
“I just hope nothing else goes wrong,”Max said worriedly, “or I won’t even make it to Nassau.”
“Don’t worry,” Benny said. “We’ll make sure you get there!”
“You’ve all been a big help,” Max said, leaning back with a smile. “I feel better already.”
But he’d no sooner said these words when the ship lurched.
“What was that!” Max exclaimed, leaping up.
“I’m sure it’s nothing,” Grandfather said in a calm tone.
Max dropped into his chair. “I suppose you’re right, but I’m tired of worrying. Sometimes I wish I could jump overboard and swim ashore.” He smiled wearily. “I sometimes think I could beat this ship to Nassau.”
“How about a game of chess?” Grandfather asked, clearly trying to take Max’s mind off his problems.
Max rose. “Thanks, James. Perhaps later. Right now I need to take a brisk walk around the deck.”
The children left Grandfather at his cabin, and went for a swim. Later they lunched by the pool.
After enjoying the sun and water, Jessie said, “Why don’t we go to the social room and see what’s going on? Maybe we’ll get into a Monopoly tournament.”
“That would be fun!” Benny said, gingerly touching his sunburned nose.
Arriving at the beautiful room overlooking the sea, Henry noticed that a few passengers were playing cards, others were involved in a Scrabble game, but no tournament had been planned. Heather stood by Grandfather and Max’s chess game.
“I see you’re back at it again,” Jessie said with a smile.
Grandfather nodded, as he moved a piece onto another square.
“Hi, Heather,” Henry said.
Startled, Heather crumpled up a piece of paper she’d been reading. Then, remembering her job, she asked, “Can I help you find a game?”
Henry looked at Benny. “What do you think?”
“I’m ready to play Monopoly,” Benny said.
“Me, too,” echoed Violet and Jessie.
So for an hour they were occupied with buying and selling property, but when Violet won, Benny stood, and stretched. “What can we do now?”
“How about a movie?” Jessie asked. “I noticed the sci-fi classic Spaceships and Spacemen is playing.”
Violet told Grandfather where they were going, and then she joined Henry, Jessie, and Benny. As they left the social room, Jessie noticed Heather setting up a cribbage board for Melissa and Ralph. She was surprised to see Heather, usually so shy, sitting down and talking to the Rands as if they were friends.
How strange, Jessie thought. She shrugged and hurried to catch up with the others. It probably didn’t mean anything, but they’d promised Max to keep their eyes open and she intended to report anything unusual.
They settled in center row seats in the movie theater and watched Spaceships and Spacemen. The exciting movie lasted more than two hours, and when they came out Benny had a suggestion. “I’d like an ice cream cone.”
“Dinner is going to be served soon,” Violet said.
As they walked by the soda fountain they noticed Tom Bishop hunched over a drink.
“Well,” he said, twirling about on the seat, “if it isn’t the Aldens. Sit down and tell me the latest news.”
Benny climbed up on a stool. “We don’t have any news,” he said.
Good for Benny, Henry thought. He was afraid Benny might say something about Max and the will, and that wasn’t anyone’s business.
“I noticed your grandfather was playing chess with Max—Max—what was his name?” Tom questioned.
“Max Greene,” Jessie replied, slowly and cautiously.
“That’s right,” Tom said. “Max Greene.” Through his straw, he slurped up the last of his diet cola. “It looks like we’re going to be late getting into Miami.” He chuckled, flexing his arm muscles. “That’s okay by me. I could use a couple more days in the exercise room. Why does that Max Greene look so worried?”
“Don’t know, Tom.” Benny hopped down from his stool. “We've got to go or Grandfather will worry.”
Tom waved. “Well, then I guess I’ll see you children later.”
The children went back to their cabins and dressed for dinner. Grandfather met them, and they all went up on deck to look at the beautiful sky.
At six-thirty, they headed for the grand dining room where Ramos served a dinner of roast pork with dressing, mashed potatoes, broccoli, and apple and celery salad. Chocolate cake was the dessert.
“I hate to leave the West Wind and you, Ramos,” Benny said, looking sad. “And all this terrific food.”
“I will miss you, too,” Ramos answered. “But you still have two more dinners. And,” he added proudly, “Saturday night is special.”
“It’s our farewell dinner, isn’t it?” Jessie asked.
“Yes, and what a dinner!” Ramos said, rolling his eyes. “You will like it!”
After the children had eaten their strawberry pie, they strolled about the deck with Grandfather.
“On Saturday morning you’ll see Nassau,” Grandfather said. “You’ll enjoy the Straw Market in the center of town.”
“I’ll enjoy seeing Max off first,” Violet said. “I’m worried that he won’t get back to Miami by Sunday. If he doesn’t he’ll lose everything.”
“Don’t be concerned, Violet,” Grandfather said. “It’s a short flight from Nassau to Miami.”
Maybe so, Violet thought, but we still have Friday to get through, and she had a nagging fear that someone was plotting something else to keep Max from reaching his destination. She shivered slightly. It was scary when you didn’t know what to expect. |