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“The Queen of the Seas sails under the flag of Barbados,” said Garth. “Though if this would have happened while we were anchored in port, the local authorities would have jurisdiction.”

“Sounds complicated,” said the man with a worried frown at his wife. He probably envisioned his daughter doing hard time in some Panamian prison, or a Costa Rican one.

“It is,” Garth assured him. “But none of this should concern you, if Ruby keeps her promise.” He turned his clear blue eyes on the teenager. “You will keep your promise, won’t you, Ruby?”

“Yes, of course,” said the girl with a touch of petulance. “I said I would, didn’t I? Now can we finish our dinner? I didn’t finish my dessert.”

“Ruby, be polite and say thank you to Garth.”

“Thank you, Garth,” said Ruby, though not as politely as she could have, after this brush with the law. And then she was off, followed by her mom and dad.

Garth stared after the trio, and his face betrayed his annoyance. Clearly he didn’t give much credence to Ruby’s promises. And neither, I had to say, did I. I don’t know why, but I had the distinct feeling this young kleptomaniac would soon cross our path again.

6

We hurried back to deliver our report of recent events to Odelia and Chase but when we arrived they’d already been joined by a new set of people so we settled underneath Odelia’s chair once more, and patiently bided our time. The people who’d joined them were their neighbors: Bertha Biles, her daughter Laura, husband David and the carer.

“You really should ask for a bigger cabin,” said Mrs. Biles. “No, really,” she insisted when Odelia demurred. “Honeymooners such as yourselves? I’ll talk to the captain—he’s an old friend. I’m sure he’ll be able to give you an upgrade.” Once more she was holding that small white ball in her lap. Only this time I had the impression it was moving—a trick of the light, of course.

“No, that’s fine,” said Odelia with a laugh. “We love our cabin, don’t we, babe?”

“Oh, absolutely,” said Chase. “It’s got an amazing view from the balcony.”

“But this is your honeymoon!” said the woman, patting the table. “You should get the most out of it!”

“We certainly intend to,” said Odelia, cutting a loving smile to her husband as they held hands under the table.

“Just leave them be, Mama,” said the woman’s daughter. “Can’t you see they’re perfectly happy?” She glanced in the direction of her stepfather, who was in fact nearer her own age than her mother’s.

“That man is awfully young to be Mrs. Biles’s husband, don’t you think, Max?” asked Dooley, who’d made the same observation.

“Yes, he is. But then I guess there’s no age limit on love, Dooley.”

“How old do you think she is? And how old do you think he is?”

“Well… It’s hard to put an age on a person, but I’d put Bertha in her early fifties, her husband probably twenty years her junior? But that doesn’t mean a thing Dooley,” I quickly chided my friend for his inopportune remarks. “The main thing is that they love each other. Age is just anumber, after all.”

“Did you guys see Lil Thug?” asked Adele, the carer with the suspiciously dark hair. “I’ve been looking for him everywhere.”

“He was here before. He said he wanted to get some rest. He’s got a show tomorrow,” said Odelia.

“Oh, that’s right,” said Mrs. Biles. “He’s some kind of singer, isn’t he?”

“He’s only the greatest rapper in the world, Mama!” said her daughter with a laugh. “Here, I’ll let you listen to some of his music. He’s brilliant. An absolute genius.”

“No, thank you very much,” said the woman decidedly. “I’m not into rap, and I just know I’ll find it terrible.”

“No, you won’t. He’s very creative. Even people who usually don’t like rap are into his stuff. Listen to this.” And before her mother could protest, she’d shoved her phone into the woman’s face and we were all treated to a short sampling of the man’s creative genius. I must say it didn’t impress me to a great degree. His creative genius seemed to be limited to inventing new swear words and complaining about the state of the world.

“I hate it,” said Mrs. Biles, and brushed her daughter’s phone away from her face. “Please turn it off before I lose my appetite.”

“But he’s a genius, Mama!”

“Doubtful,” said the woman, and brought a shrimp to her lips. “And I sincerely hope he’ll clean up his language before tomorrow night. This is a family cruise, you know.”

“So are you a fan, Adele?” Odelia asked, addressing Mrs. Biles’s carer.

“Oh, for sure. I’m probably the man’s biggest fan.”

“That’s impossible, cause I’m his biggest fan,” said Laura as she put away her phone.

“Adele loves music,” said Bertha Biles. “And even though we don’t always see eye to eye on everything, we travel together all the time. Isn’t that right, Adele?”

“Absolutely. We’re joined at the hip, the two of us.”

“You travel a lot?” asked Chase politely.