November-Charlie (6 page)

She caught her breath. Now how would she and Staci hide on the boat overnight? There was no way could she keep Deefer hidden and quiet that long. “But...”

“But what?”

Lou caught Staci’s desperate look and knew she was thinking the same thing. “But what if something goes wrong?”

“Listen, I have forty minutes or so to get there before the yard closes. I’ll leave in the morning. It’s an hour and a half to two hours to the docks because of the speed limit on the river. Passport control may be tricky, but I’ve got the logbook ready, passport is packed and nothing is going to go wrong.”

Lou scowled. Trust him to ruin everything. “Really? You’re planning on leaving the country in someone else’s boat and nothing’s going to go wrong? Maybe you do live in cloud cuckoo land after all.”

Jim sighed. “Actually,
Avon
is mine now. I filed the change of ownership papers on Wednesday. No registry would mean customs wouldn’t let me leave the country. Trust me. Not going through the official channels will arouse a lot more suspicion and attention than if I do everything by the book.”

“OK. Can we at least come with you? Deefer needs a walk anyway.”

“Fine, the two of you can go around the block, but we have to go now if I’m going to get there before the yard gets locked up at half eight. Matt’ll wait until quarter to nine. It’s almost half seven now, we have to hurry.”

“Give me three minutes to grab a jacket and pack and I’ll be there.”

“Pack? I told you, you’re not coming.”

“You made that perfectly clear, but we want to take packs because it’s Sunday. And if you don’t let us, then I’ll tell Nichola what you’re planning.” Staci pouted.

Jim sighed heavily and folded his arms across his chest, his eyes narrowing. “Fine. Three minutes and counting.”

Lou nodded and headed into her room. She pulled the packs from the wardrobe and handed one to Staci. “Should I leave a note?”

Staci nodded. “Hide it where she won’t find it until it’s too late though.”

Lou grinned. “I know where to put it.” Short, sweet and to the point, and scoring minus five out of ten for tact she wrote: ‘
Mum, We can’t sit here while the authorities have stopped looking for Di and Bill. We don’t think that’s right, Jim’s convinced they are still alive, so we’ve gone to look for them. We’re taking the boat. Love you. Lou, Jim, Staci and Deefer
xxx
’

Lou shoved the note in an envelope and put it under her duvet. Deefer, knowing something was going on, bounded round excitedly and charged back out into the hall.

“Deefer, stop it,” Jim said crossly. “Otherwise you stay here. I’ve fallen over you twice now.” He stuck his head around the bedroom door. “Are you two coming or not?”

“Yes,” Lou put on her backpack, watching Staci do the same, then they followed Jim to the door.

At the corner of the road, Lou turned and took a last look at the flats. A strange feeling welled up inside her—a curious mixture of fear, and excitement. Shaking it off, she adjusted the pack and wrapped Deefer’s lead around her wrist. “To the river then?”

Jim shot her a funny look. “What?” He lowered his voice. “You’re meant to be going around the block.”

“And Staci wants to say goodbye,” Lou hissed back. She shook her head and rolled her eyes. “Well, there’s no point me going around the block if you still want to walk by the river, is there?” she said in her normal voice. She watched the penny drop in his eyes and grinned at him. “Yes, I was a spy in my former life.”

She began to walk towards the river as nonchalantly as she could. Her heart was racing. What if Mum came back unexpectedly and caught them? What if something happened and…she broke off the thought. She was being silly. Jim was right. This was a cinch and nothing would go wrong.

The road was surprisingly busy. Cars passed them, every one making her afraid they would be caught. They hadn’t got far when a car passed them, slowed and stopped.

“Act normal,” Jim said.

“I’m walking the dog, you’re the one running away,” Lou said.

They drew level with the car and the window wound down. “Fancy a lift, mate?”

“Matt.” Jim said. “What are you doing here?”

“Thought I’d save you a walk.”

“Thanks that would be good.” Jim looked at Lou. “Are you still coming to say goodbye?”

She gave him her best ‘are you kidding me’ look. “Uh…what do you think? Got to make sure you get on the boat, haven’t I?”

Matt got out of the car and opened the boot of his hatchback. He put the bags in and Deefer hopped in too. “Well-trained dog, that,” Matt said. He shut the boot and the four of them strapped themselves in. He pulled away and drove towards the boat yard. He and Jim chatted in the front, while the two girls in the back watched the houses go by.

Staci nudged Lou. “How do we do this?” she whispered.

“I have a plan. Just agree with whatever I say.”

Matt drove through the gates into the yard and over to
Avon
. She bobbed up and down on the water, as it lapped quietly against her hull. “Here you are,” he said, as he parked the car.

“Thanks,” Jim said. “What’s the earliest I can leave in the morning?”

Matt handed him the keys to the boat. “I’m in at seven, so any time after that. Just come up to the office for a sec and make sure your shipping plan is filed. Then you’re good to go.”

Lou looked at Jim. “Give me the keys and we’ll put the bags on the boat for you, then we’ll go home.” She hugged him tightly. “Have a safe trip and text me lots.”

“Anyone would think you were going to miss me.”

“Love you, yes, miss you, no,” she joked, blinking furiously. The tears burning in her eyes were real. And that annoyed her. She wanted him to
like
her, not think she was a pain.

Staci hugged her brother tightly as Lou headed to the boat.

She put Jim’s bags on his bunk and shoved hers under her bed.

Staci came in and hid her bag as well. “Now what?”

“Now we hide.”

“All night?”

“If we can.” She looked at Deefer. “And not a sound from you.”

Deefer put his paw over his nose, and then slunk under the bed, just his nose poking out of the end. Lou shut the door and sat on the bed.

She heard Jim come on board and wander around above them. The kettle boiled, a spoon chinked against china and then his footsteps passed on the way to the cabin next door. Glancing at Staci she winked and put a finger on her lips. She just hoped Staci wouldn’t wake screaming tonight, else the cat really would be amongst the pigeons way too soon.

~*~

Jim woke just after six. His heart pounded, and he wasn’t sure what woke him. He turned over and then sat bolt upright. There were noises in the other cabin.

Sniffling and rustling.

Grabbing his torch, he headed to the connecting door. He flung it open, and raised the torch in order to brain whoever had broken into his boat.

Nothing...

He glanced around, then headed back to his room to dress. Then he went up to the galley to make some tea. There wasn’t much point going back to bed now if he was heading off in an hour.

Just after seven, he saw Matt’s car pull up and park. He gave him a few minutes before he headed to the office and knocked on the door.

“Come in.”

Jim opened the door as the phone rang. He raised a hand. “I’ll be in touch…”

Matt answered the phone. “Cobden Boat Yard, Matthew Woodhouse speaking. Just hang on one minute, please.” He covered the phone and looked at Jim. “Everything’s in order. Have a good trip.”

Jim nodded and walked back to the boat. He climbed aboard and hoisted himself up the ladder to the bridge.

He straightened
Avon
and slowly guided her away from the dock and towards the entrance to the yard. He opened the throttle slightly and
Avon
gathered speed. Jim took her out into the river, down towards the sea.

The he heard a scream...downstairs.

~*~

Footsteps thudded down the steps as Lou hugged Staci who’d woken from one of her dreams again.

The door flung open. Jim stood there, anger oozing from him. “What are you two doing here?”

Lou looked up at him. “Stowing away, only you weren’t meant to find us until later.”

Jim sat next to his sister and gathered her into his arms, holding her as she sobbed. “And I wouldn’t have done if Staci hadn’t woken from a nightmare. At least I assume that’s what it was.”

Lou nodded. “Yeah. Look, I know you don’t want us here and that’s just tough. You go, we go.”

“It’s not possible.”

“Don’t give me that. I have my passport and Staci’s. That’s all we need, right?” She held his gaze. “You can’t do this alone. You know I’m right. And if you go back now you won’t be able to leave again. So it’s take us or nothing.”

Jim looked furious. He stayed silent a few moments, and then took a deep breath. “OK. Fine. Assuming we don’t get stopped and turned back at customs, you can come. But you both pull your weight.”

Lou nodded. “We will. I’ll help cook and sail, and Staci says she can do some of the cooking. Just don’t send us back.”

Jim pushed a hand through his hair, which was doing that cute sticking up thing again. “We need to sort a few things out.”

“Now?”

“Yes, now. We share all the jobs. Obviously Staci can’t sail, but she could stand watch with the autopilot on if need be. We all help cook and clean. If you make a mess you clean it up.”

“Aye, aye Cap’n,” Lou said, firing off a mock salute.

Jim shook his head and glowered at her once again. “We have two log books. The official one with all the bumpf in it never leaves the bridge.”

“Bumpf?”

“Course headings, crew manifest, papers etc. Which reminds me, I need to add two stowaways to it.”

“Why?”

“Because we’ll never get through customs, never mind the Panama Canal otherwise, and you need to be listed as crew. The other logbook is more of a diary, a record of our trip and so on. Lou, do you want to take charge of that?”

“Not really. Anyway, I thought we were sharing all the jobs?”

“We are. But you like writing, so I thought…”

“Sure, as long as I get to be first officer.”

He didn’t smile. “I don’t care. I’ll go fill in the rest of the crew.” Jim slammed the door as he left the room.

Lou looked at Staci. “Let’s leave him to it for a bit.”

Staci rubbed a sleeve over her eyes. “OK. Least, he didn’t send us home. I thought he was going to for a moment.” Staci looked at her with huge wide eyes.

“Me too, but I think you crying on him was a good move. You’ll have to do it again when we want him to do something.”

Staci grinned. “Don’t tempt me. We better be good and do all the chores.”

Lou nodded. “Yeah.”

“It’s like having our own house, isn’t it?” Staci said.

“Yes. It’s nice,” Lou replied as they walked toward the galley. She made coffee, carried Jim’s up to the bridge and put it on the table. “Everything OK?”

“Yes,” he replied, swerving to miss the bank.

Lou grinned. “Do you want some company?” she asked, trying not to put him off once more.

“Not right now. Just let me get the hang of it on my own. You’d better dig out yours and Staci’s passports and have them ready for customs. Mine’s already on the bridge. According to my shipping plan, we’re stopping in Cornwall to collect my father, then we’re crossing the Atlantic.”

“Really?”

He raised an eyebrow. “You think they’d let me sail the Atlantic alone?”

“No one in their right mind would.” Lou disappeared down the steps before he could retaliate. “Stace, I need your passport. You did bring it, right?”

“Here.” Staci handed them both to her.

“Thank you.” Lou took them up to the bridge and put them on the table. “Don’t forget your coffee. Have you done the crew manifest and everything?”

Jim nodded, too intent on what he was doing to reply.

Lou went out through the bridge door and climbed down the ladder to the deck.

They were sailing through a more built up area. Washing hung in gardens. Cars whizzed by on roads. A boat passed them on the other side of the river. Factory chimneys smoked in the distance. Ducks nested in the reeds and a swan swam regally by them, turning her face away from the chugging intruder.

Lou sat on the warm deck, her legs stretched out in front of her. The sun blazed warmly down and the river sparkled in the sunlight. The birds sang in the trees and seagulls glided and called to each other.

The scenery changed and the docks were visible in the distance. Lou got to her feet and went back inside.

Staci was on the bridge, curled up on the couch.

“Docks coming up,” Lou said needlessly.

Jim took a deep breath then exhaled. “Here we go,” he said. He grabbed the mike and tuning the radio to the correct frequency called in and requested customs clearance. Once granted it, Jim steered the boat to the designated terminal.

Lou went up on deck. She tossed the ropes to the dockhands on the quay and as Jim cut the engines, they tied up the boat.

The two uniformed customs officers boarded
Avon
. “Good morning, miss. Routine customs inspection. Do you have your papers ready?”

“Sure, follow me,” Lou said. Outwardly calm, inside she was terrified but determined not to show it. She led the way to the bridge, where the two customs officers inspected their passports and paperwork.

“Cornwall, then the States?” asked one, looking at the logbook. “How long will you be staying there?”

“Depends how long the crossing takes,” Jim said wryly. “Dad has business over there. Then we’re heading across to the Philippines.”

“That’s a long way for a little boat like this.”

Jim shrugged. “She’s done it before. Hoping to do it faster this time.”

“Who’s the registered keeper?”

“I am.” Jim showed them the information.

“We need to check the rest of the boat now, Mr. Kirk. Would you accompany us please? If you ladies could stay here, please?”

Jim followed the customs officers, while the girls stayed on the bridge with Deefer.