Chapter Four – Square One
To keep the Robinson children from fretting about their father who was serving in the U.S. Navy at the time and was embroiled in the Korean War, Finn suggested a game—Simon Says. Frankie immediately hijacked the proceedings, reveling in assigning the kids ridiculous tasks such as strutting around clucking like chickens and trying to put their elbows in their ears. Suffice it to say, a good deal of hilarity and laughter ensued. But it was cut short by the pounding of a fist on the stateroom door.
“This is Cruise Constable Jarvis. I demand you let me in at once!”
All froze, then Finn wordlessly pointed to the master bedroom, and the children scurried to hide under the bed.
Frankie strolled over to the door and casually opened it. “If you’re here to raid our welcome basket, Finn already ate the pineapple.”
The constable barged into the room. “I am here for no such thing. There have been reports of children giggling.”
“Like I said before, that’s Finn. He sings and giggles like a little girl.”
The constable looked Finn up and down, frowning. “I don’t know what it is women see in you.”
“I’ll keep the giggling to a minimum,” Finn pledged.
Wordlessly, the constable toured the room, his eyes traveling over every surface.
Frankie walked over to the room-service trolley that was partially blocking the doorway into the master bedroom and picked up a napkin, waving it for no apparent reason.
“What is wrong with you?” Finn asked under his breath.
“Hot flashes,” Frankie replied, dabbing his face with the napkin.
A smiling attendant knocked on the cabin doorframe. “I noticed your door was open. Would you like me to collect your room-service trolley?”
“Yes, thank you,” Frankie said in a snooty tone. “It’s in our way.”
The attendant rolled the cart out of the room, and Finn’s eyes widened as he witnessed the constable look under the bed in the master bedroom.
Finding nothing, the constable marched over to the wardrobe and whipped open the doors, again finding nothing, since Frankie had yet to unpack his bags or store anything in the cupboard. His face reddening, the constable growled, “This isn’t over yet,” then stomped out of the suite.
Finn hurriedly closed the stateroom door and whispered to Frankie, “Where are they?”
Frankie plopped onto the sofa and put his feet up on the coffee table. “Safely ensconced on the trolley of course. That’s what I was waving my napkin about — to cue them to climb on before the constable got to the bedroom.”
“You call that safe?! They’ll be found. And then jailed. Or worse!”
“Worse? What could be worse? I don’t think they’ll make little kids walk the plank, even if they did stow away.”
“We have to help them.”
“We don’t have to do anything. Things will work themselves out.”
Finn huffed in frustration and dashed out the door in pursuit of the trolley. After winding through a number of corridors, he at last sighted the attendant tooling the trolley toward the kitchen, He picked up the pace, having no idea what he would do when he caught up to the man.
I’ll think of something … I have to!
The moment he rounded a corner into an area where people were milling about, some of the girls in their twenties caught sight of him and gave chase. He quickly turned another corner and ducked into a closet marked: Ice Room. When the sound of pounding saddle shoes subsided, he crept back out and resumed his journey.
“Hold up!” Finn called breathlessly as a trolley neared the entrance to the kitchen’s service area. “I’m surprised I caught up with you.”
The attendant turned around to respond. “Something I can do for you, sir?”
“Yes, I think I left my … oh, you’re not the same guy who came to our room.”
The man offered a practiced smile. “No, but I would be happy to help you. Is there something you need?”
“Umm, no, I guess not.”
“Very well.”
“Actually, do you know if all the trolleys go to the same place?”
“Eventually, yes, but we waiters usually look for trays in the hallways before returning to the kitchens. That can take a while.”
“Oh … Makes sense … Thanks.”
The attendant gave Finn a slight nod of his head and continued on. “Good day, sir.”
Finn turned and plodded back in the direction of the stateroom, his footsteps heavy with worry over the fate of the children. When he pushed open the cabin door, he found Frankie sitting on the sofa surrounded by scraps of food, a satisfied smile on his face and napkin tucked into his collar.
His head hanging, Finn stood in the doorway. “I lost them.”
“Your fans? I’d think you’d be glad.”
Finn entered and closed the door behind him. “No … the other ones. I lost the Robinsons.”
“Perhaps you merely misplaced them.”
Finn ran a hand through his hair in agitation. “It’s not funny, Frankie. Who knows what will happen to them?”
“Well, I do, of course!”
“Huh?”
“I followed you out when you took off after the trolley like a lunatic. When I saw you fleeing from those girls, I followed the trolley, sauntered into the kitchen, and retrieved the cart before it could be cleared off. Then I grabbed a room service uniform and wheeled the cart into the luggage room where we know the nippers will go undetected. I figure after we deal with that constable character we can wheel them back to the room.”
Finn’s face brightened. “You mean you want them to stay? I always knew you were a softy.”
“Softy, nothing. That jaguar—”
“Leopard.”
“That jagpard was looking pretty hungry.”
Finn’s eyes nearly burst from their sockets. “We have to get the kids back right away!”
“To what purpose? So that the cruise constable can come by again and catch them this time? No, they’re better off in their trunk in the luggage room for now until we … I mean until you can come up with a better solution.”
“But you said the leopard looked hungry. And Chuck has a lot of meat on him!”
“Relax, I threw the foot-long roast beef sandwich in my pocket to the cat.”
“You had a foot-long sandwich in your pocket?”
“With horseradish. You didn’t think I was going to roam the ship looking for you and three guttersnipes without survival provisions, did you?”
“Keep an eye out for any room service carts,” called a voice outside.
“Yes, sir,” another voice replied.
Finn cracked the door open and started in surprise at the sight of a crew member standing beside the door with his back to the wall, rocking on his heels.
“Umm … Can I help you with something?” Finn asked the man.
“Nope.”
“Then may I ask what you’re doing here loitering outside our room?”
“Yep.”
“… All right. What are you doing here loitering outside our room?”
“Cruise Constable Jarvis’s orders. Says someone needs to be stationed here to make sure you don’t bring any kids into your room.”
“Kids?” Finn chuckled awkwardly. “Why would we do that? This is an adults-only cruise. Where would we find kids?”
The man shrugged. “Beats me. I just follow orders.” He then turned his head to face forward and stared ahead at nothing, whistling abstractedly.
Finn closed the door and dashed over to Frankie’s side, stuttering as he whispered rapidly in worry. “W-what are we gonna d-do now?”
“Far as I can tell, there’s only one choice. Desperate circumstances call for desperate measures.”
Finn lowered himself slowly into a chair, steeling himself for whatever Frankie might say.