Terror at Sea: Three mysteries aboard a cruise ship

by Debby Mayne

  Afterwards we went to the theater to watch the musical extravaganza and I marveled as I watched Kenzie in action one more time. Man, could that girl sing, or what? She amazed me with her talent. And all of these old songs made me want to sing along. So, I did. I sang every single one. In the seat to my right, Sheila sang along, too. In fact, she sang so loudly at one point that Orin jabbed her with his elbow. That didn’t accomplish anything. She just kept singing. And singing. And singing.

  Even with her off-key voice ringing out beside me, I found the whole evening enjoyable. In fact, I didn’t have one complaint about the past several hours. What a blissful day at sea it had been.

  We talked about it at length as we nibbled on cookies at the café on the Promenade Deck. We laughed and talked about how we all wanted our children to send us on cruises instead of putting us in retirement homes. After a lot of yawning on Orin’s part, I knew the time had come to head back to our rooms. We made our way through the crowd, up the elevators to the 9th floor. I noticed the maid of honor standing alone in the corner of the elevator and tried to greet her, but she turned the other way. So strange.

  I thought about it all the way to our cabin. Was the girl just anti-social or was there something more going on? I couldn’t tell, but the sadness on her face did make me think that she needed my prayers, at the very least. I’d have a long talk with the Almighty about her. Surely He would clue me in.

  Once we said our goodnights to Sheila and Orin, I headed inside the cabin on Warren’s heels. We discovered the stateroom attendant had morphed one of the towels into a monkey-like creature. It hung from a coat hanger above our mirror. When I first saw the reflection of the little guy in the mirror I jumped.

  “Ooo, that startled me.”

  “That stateroom attendant is one talented guy.” Warren walked over to the monkey and touched it.

  “I do not possess the towel-morphing talent.” Even as I spoke the words, I was reminded of what Kevin had said about Kenzie. She was the one in the family who’d gotten all of the talent. I guess some people just had more of it than others. For now, though, the only talent I possessed was the ‘let’s-see-who-can-get-into-their-PJs-the-quickest-and-fall-asleep-on-board-the-Navigator-of-the-Seas.”

  Turned out, I was pretty good at snoozing aboard the high seas.

  Chapter Five

  Water You Waiting For?

  We hit the sunny beaches where we occupy ourselves keeping the sun off our skin, the saltwater off our bodies, and the sand out of our belongings.

  —Erma Bombeck

  I awoke Tuesday morning to the sound of the captain’s voice, announcing we were docked in Cozumel. I didn’t even bother putting on a robe. I pulled open the glass sliding door to the balcony and raced outside for a peek. Turned out we were on the ocean side, not the dockside. Still, I could see a bit of land in the distance.

  After dressing for the day and enjoying a quick breakfast in the Windjammer we made our way through the crowd, past security, and off of the ship. I’d waited for this moment for days and my heart could barely contain my joy and excitement.

  The gorgeous waters at the pier took my breath away. Quite a difference from what I’d seen in Galveston. Such an exquisite tealish-blue. Wow. “Oh, Warren, look!”

  “I would,” he responded, “but I can’t seem to get my land legs.”

  Indeed. He did look a little wobbly.

  With Sheila leading the way—nothing unusual there—we headed off to find our tour guide for the private beach excursion. Five minutes later we were standing in line with approximately 200 other tourists. Five buses lined the edge of the road, all with different numbers.

  “Did you remember the sunscreen?” Sheila asked.

  I nodded. “You betcha. We’re pretty close to the equator here, right? I’d fry like a fish without my sunscreen.”

  “Yep. Not that I’d mind a tan. I’m as white as a sheet. Except my age spots.” She stuck out her arm to show me a spot so small I could barely find it.

  “Sheila, that’s a freckle.”

  “No, it’s an age spot. It wasn’t there two weeks ago. Now it is.”

  I leaned down and gave it a closer look. “Are you sure it’s not a freckle?”

  Sheila just sighed then looked away. Moments later, she turned back to face me. “Oh Annie, look! The wedding party!” She pointed at our dinner guests and began that frantic waving thing Sheila was so famous for. Before long the bride waved back. The groom didn’t seem to notice us, but the bride’s mother did. She gave us a curt nod and turned back to her family.

  “Not very friendly, is she?” I asked.

  “Well, you know how it is, being the mother of the bride, Annie.” Sheila gave me a scolding look. “Her daughter’s getting married tonight, after all. Maybe she’s stressed.”

  “Well, if she’s stressed, she’s the only one in the wedding party who is. I’ve never seen a bride-to-be so laid back.” A chuckle followed as I watched the gorgeous young blonde laugh with her friends.

  At our tour guide’s instruction we boarded bus #22. The bride and groom were on our bus, as was the best man, but the rest of their bridal party was divided amongst the other buses. This, according to Meredith, who seemed very chatty.

  “It’s my wedding day!” she squealed. “Only ten hours left until I’m Mrs. Jake Kennedy.” Her eyes brimmed with tears and she leaned her head on her groom’s shoulder. The words “I can’t wait” came out as a whisper.

  They looked so sweet sitting there I almost cried, myself.

  Instead, the bus driver drew my attention out of the window as the vehicle jolted and then took off down the crowded city street. We followed behind the other buses all the way through town then made a turn on a narrow tree-lined drive. I’d never seen so many palm trees in my life. Everything was so green and lush.

  “I could live here.” A contented sigh followed as I thought it through. “Sasha and Copper would love it.”

  “And the kids? Would we bring them, too?” Warren asked.

  “Of course. Couldn’t survive without them. We’ll build a huge mansion on the water, big enough for everyone.”

  “And who’s funding this mansion?” my husband asked.

  “You are.” I turned to face him. “You can become an international banker.”

  At this proclamation, Warren rolled his eyes.

  We didn’t have time to discuss it further because Sheila went off on a tangent about tropical fruits she wanted to eat on the island. Orin chimed in, reminding us that the beach had an all-inclusive buffet. Not that I felt like eating. No sir. I just wanted to dip my toes in the warm waters of the Caribbean.

  Minutes later, I did just that. While Sheila and Orin nabbed four lounge chairs and a couple of umbrellas, I headed out to the water’s edge and marveled at God’s handiwork. I could hardly contain my joy. Seconds later, my husband joined me.

  “Couldn’t wait, could you?”

  I shook my head. “Oh, Warren.” My eyes filled with tears as I took in the white sand beach and rippling turquoise water. “Have you ever seen anything so beautiful?”

  He shook his head. “No, but it’s making my stomach churn. Do you think we could get the beach to stop moving?”

  “The beach isn’t moving, honey. . .only the water. You want to dip your toes in?”

  “I think I’d be better off in a lounge chair with a bottle of water.” His brow wrinkled. “Do you think it’s safe to drink the water here?”

  “Yes, didn’t you hear the announcement from the tour guide? It’s bottled water.”

  “Yes, bottled, but where does it come from?” For a minute, Warren looked like he might be sick. He clammed his eyes shut and I was pretty sure I could see him mentally counting to ten.

  “Nauseous?” I asked.

  “Mm-hmm. Maybe I’d better put a patch on, after all.” He made his way to a lounge chair and plopped down. Orin took the seat to his left.

  I dropped my beach bag onto the chair to Warren�
�s right and turned back to talk to Sheila. She had somehow already peeled off her cover-up and was prancing down to the water’s edge in her skirted one-piece.

  “Hey, wait for me!” I scrambled out of my cover up and jogged over to meet her, jogged being a loose term, since I was still so full from our massive breakfast. I found her with tears flowing as she gazed out across the water.

  “Oh, Annie, isn’t God good?”

  “He is.”

  For a moment neither of us said a word. Then, just as quickly the holiness of the moment was shattered by the sound of a little boy’s voice as he kicked sand on our legs.

  “John Paul, you tell those ladies you’re sorry!” His mother’s voice rang out from behind him.

  The impish youngster looked at us and giggled. “Sorry! I was just having fun!”

  “You’re forgiven.” Sheila knelt down beside her. “Don’t forget to put on sunscreen, okay?”

  “Mama already put it on.” His little nose wrinkled. “It’s sticky.”

  “Maybe, but it’s for your own good. You don’t want to get sunburned.”

  “Oh, that reminds me,” I said as the boy and his mother headed off down the beach. “We’d better put on sunscreen too, Sheila.” I made my way back to the lounge chairs, where I found Warren moaning and groaning. He pulled a towel over his head and begged the clouds to stop moving. Yikes. I reached for my bag and came out with the sunscreen. At least, I thought it was sunscreen.

  “Oh no.”

  “What’s wrong, Annie?” Warren’s gravelly voice sounded from underneath the blanket.

  “This isn’t sunscreen at all. It’s suntan oil. For deep, dark tan. Ugh.”

  “Well, that’s what you want, right? A deep, dark tan?”

  “Absolutely not. I want a light golden bronze, with no hint of red.”

  “Good grief.” Warren rolled over and I could tell I’d lost him. At least he stood no chance of being burned, curled up like a burrito under that towel.

  Sheila appeared at my side a moment later. “Can I borrow your sunscreen?”

  “I wish.” A groan followed on my end. “It’s not really sunscreen at all.” I explained the situation to her and she shrugged. “Oh well. Let’s get a deep, dark tan, Annie. We only live once.”

  “Yeah, I only lived once, and I’d like to go on living, thank you very much.”

  A couple of minutes later, lathered in oil, we pranced like kids to the water’s edge, then eased our way in. I’d expected it to be warm, but chilly might’ve been a better description. It was December, after all.

  Sheila and I finally made it in to our waists. Then, moments later, we garnered the courage to stick our heads under. After that, we really got brave. Sheila ran back to shore and grabbed our snorkeling gear. We spent the next several minutes searching for fish and coral.

  We didn’t locate any of the colorful coral I’d hoped for, but did see lots and lots of fish. They took my breath away. Okay, maybe the clogged breathing apparatus took my breath away. I shook it out and sucked in a couple of deep breaths of fresh air. The sting of salt water in my eyes blurred my vision, so I rubbed and rubbed until I could see clearly. Off in the distance I noticed the bride and groom-to-be in the water. Kissing. I bit back the temptation to holler, “Get a room.” They were getting married tonight, after all. They eventually made their way back to shore. Sheila, probably a bit waterlogged, decided we should do the same. Oh, but I didn’t want to get out of the water.

  “I could live here,” I said as I flipped to my back to float a while.

  “Go ahead,” she said. “But if you want me, I’ll be up on the lounge chair, soaking in the sun.”

  “Okay, okay.” I made my way out of the water and slogged my way through the deep sand to the lounge chairs. I found Warren covered head to toe with a huge towel. I nudged him awake and we all headed to the all-you-can-eat buffet, where we chowed down on fish—lots and lots of fish. And fruit. And rice. And black beans. And tortillas. And more fish. And two desserts. Okay, three desserts. Afterwards, bellies full, we headed back to our lounge chairs.

  At this point I noticed one of the workers moving up and down the beach selling his wares. Fruit punch in those little coconuts, it looked like. Something about the way he acted when he approached the bridal party made me nervous, and all the more as Meredith toweled off nearby. The guy didn’t take his eyes off of her. Then again, she was a pretty young thing, especially in that hot pink two-piece. Any guy with eyes in his head would notice. I did my best to lay any suspicions aside.

  I sat in the lounge chair next to Warren and tapped his leg. He startled to attention and pulled the towel off of his face. “Hmm? Annie?”

  “Did you guys happen to notice that guy on the beach?” I gestured to the man, who still stared at the bride “The one selling drinks?”

  “Eduardo?” Orin nodded. “He seemed pretty nice. I bought some water from him. He assured me it was safe.”

  “Yeah, well, something about him is bugging me,” I said. “He can’t take his eyes off of Meredith.”

  “She’s wearing a bikini, Annie.” Sheila gave me a knowing look. “You know?”

  “Right. I wish he’d put his eyes back in his head, though.”

  “Very few men put their eyes back in their head with a pretty girl around.” Warren gave me a wink and then pulled the towel back over his head.

  I settled back into the lounge chair and tried to put Eduardo out of my mind. Before long, I was snoozing in the sun. When I awoke, I had the weirdest sensation on my face. It stung. Bad. So did my arms, for that matter.

  Seconds later the announcement came over the loudspeaker for us to leave, and Warren came out from under his towel. He took one look at me, rubbed his eyes as if not quite believing what he saw and then said, “Um. . .Annie?”

  “What?”

  “You’re. . .you’re a lobster.”

  “I’m what?” Still trying to come fully awake I glanced down at my legs. They were as red as the logo on the umbrella above. No way. So much for a dark golden tan.

  I looked at Sheila, who still snoozed in the chair to my right.

  Oh. My. Goodness.

  I’d never seen that color on a human before. She was sort of an orangey-red. Very, very odd. I tried calling her name but she didn’t respond. I poked her in the side and she came bounding up. At once she hollered, “Ouch, ouch, ouch!” and pointed to her face. Then her arms. Then her legs.

  “Yeah, me too.” I tried to stand, but couldn’t. My knees didn’t want to bend. Warren helped me. Sheila managed to stand, too—with Orin’s assistance—but I could see the pain etched in her face. I felt it, too.

  We made our way back to the buses, passing several shops along the way. I caught a glimpse of the bride in one of the shops, fruit punch in one hand and pocketbook in the other, and gave her a nod. Her eyes widened when she saw me.

  “I know, I know.” With the wave of a hand I tried to dismiss any concerns she might have. The girl was getting married in a few hours. She didn’t need to be worried about little old me.

  I was worried about little old me, though. And my worries grew more exaggerated when I tried to board the bus. My knees, now swollen, didn’t want to bend. The bus driver clucked his tongue as he helped me and muttered “Sunscreen.”

  “I know, I know.” I groaned as I made my way to the top step. “I wanted a dark, golden tan.”

  “It’s dark, all right.” Warren voice sounded from behind me. “But I wouldn’t call it golden.”

  “Very funny.” I wanted to stick my tongue out at him, but right now I had other things to do. . .like getting to my seat.

  I somehow managed. Once I settled down, Warren took the spot next to me. Sheila and Orin sat behind us—a real problem, since Sheila went on and on and on about her pain level. All of this chatter about pain certainly wasn’t helping mine any.

  The groom-to-be tossed his bag into the seat in front of us and looked my way, his brow knotted. “Mrs. Peterson.
. .”

  “Call me Annie.” I tried to shift my position but could not. My burnt thighs wouldn’t allow it.

  Jake glanced at his watch, then back at me. “Annie, we’re looking everywhere for Meredith.”

  “Meredith? What do you mean?”

  “She’s missing. We haven’t seen her since we left the beach.”

  I tried to wave my hand to dismiss his concerns but my arm was stiff from the sunburn. “Oh, not to worry,” I said. “I just saw her in one of the shops. Maybe she’s buying you a little wedding gift.” I tried to give him a wink but my now-swollen eyelid wouldn’t cooperate.

  “Are you sure?” Jake didn’t look convinced.

  “Yep. She was in the jewelry store.”

  “I’ll go check.”

  “Better hurry,” Warren said. “We’re about to leave.”

  “I will.” Jake took off in a flash. I tried to close my eyes, but they felt so strange. From behind me, Sheila went on and on about her pain level, which completely aggravated mine.

  “Do you have to do that, Sheila?” I did my best to turn to face her, but she looked kind of fuzzy. Then again, everything looked fuzzy. And my stomach felt really squishy all of a sudden.

  A couple of minutes later Jake was back with Kevin at his side.

  “She’s not here?” He looked around, as if he’d expected her to magically appear in his absence.

  I shook my head. Well, I tried to, anyway. “No. She wasn’t in the shop? I was sure I saw her there.”

  “No.” Kevin shook his head. “We looked there. Just an older woman at the cash register and that guy who was selling water on the beach. No one else.”

  “The guy with the water on the beach?” Hmm.

  The bus driver climbed aboard and closed the door. His voice came over the loudspeaker, welcoming us back. Seconds later we were pulling away from the beach. There would be no looking for Meredith now. I tried to keep my heart calm, but a sense of dread came over me. I did my best not to let it show.

  Kevin took a seat but Jake stood in the aisle until the bus driver asked him to sit down. Then he eased his way down into his seat, a look of confusion still registered on his face. “I didn’t think to bring my cell phone.”