The colorful group of people from the docks were on the stage. Some practiced magic acts with black hats and cards. Others, like a bearded lady, strutted the stage. A man on stilts that were covered with baggy pants strolled the planks. It was a menagerie of strange.
I leaned forward and squinted. "I wish I had a pair of those glasses."
"Like these?"
Oliver and I spun around. The first row of seats stood behind us, and in one of them sat the smiling man in red and black. A pair of the opera spectacles dangled from two of his fingers. He stood and clasped the glasses in his hand as he studied us.
"I don't recall anyone being allowed up here during rehearsals," he commented.
"We ain't done nothing wrong!" Oliver spoke up.
The man's smile widened. "Of course not. And as a sign that I mean you no ill-will for your intrusion, I offer you this." He reached into his coat and pulled out a slip of paper which he held out to me.
I didn't reach for it. "What is it?"
"A ticket to our show." His eyes flickered from Oliver to me. "Unfortunately, I only have one to spare."
I grabbed Oliver's hand and tugged him towards the path between the seats. "Thanks, but no thanks."
The man stepped into our path and held out the card again. His smile was strained. "I insist."
Oliver leaned forward and snatched the ticket. I glared at the boy, but he shrugged. The man's smile widened before he bowed and stepped out of our way.
We got the hell out of there and didn't stop until we reached a nearby corridor. I leaned against the wall and took a deep breath. "That guy is creepy as hell."
Oliver stood beside me and shrugged. "I guess he's pretty weird."
I glanced down at the slip of colorful paper in his hand. "Let me see that."
He handed it to me and I studied the contents. The small piece of paper had a bunch of colorful balloons and a stage. A few words were written in black across the picture of the stage. I read aloud the title of the show. "Tenor magicae." I wrinkled my nose. "What does that mean?
"Magnificent magic," Oliver spoke up.
I glanced at him and raised an eyebrow. "How'd you know that?"
He looked away and shrugged. "Guess I heard it somewhere."
"Oh." I returned my attention to the card and frowned. The thing reminded me too much of the man in red. I held the card out to Oliver. "I guess this is yours."
He shook his head. "I don't want it."
I frowned. "But you took it."
He glared at me. "I changed my mind, all right? I don't want the stupid thing."
I sighed and tucked the card into my pocket. "Fine. Now where do we-" I noticed he brushed his hair out of his eyes. "I think the next stop should be the barbershop."
He snarled at me. "I ain't taking you there."
I grabbed his hand and dragged him down the hallway. "Good because I know the way from here."
He squirmed and dug his heels into the floor. "I ain't going! I'd rather die!"
"Then I'll have the barber cut your hair before you're put into the coffin," I quipped.
Seeing he couldn't win, Oliver accepted his fate with as much grace and dignity as a mole rat in a tuxedo. The barbershop was located in the shopping mall area of the ship where three floors surrounded a central, open-roofed courtyard. A railing and wide walkway separated the fronts of the shops from an inevitable death into a flower garden and fountain surrounded by a rock-tile floor.
We arrived at the barbershop sans Oliver's dignity and he was placed in the high chair for his execution. That's where David found us a half hour later. He stepped into the shop and swept his eyes over the scene. I sat in a chair against the wall with a forgotten magazine in my lap. My attention was focused on the barber and his victim. Oliver sat as stiff and white as a corpse in the chair, and beneath him on the floor was a pile of hair large enough to make a wig.
David took a seat beside me and nodded at the boy. "He doesn't look too happy."
"Like a cat in a bath," I quipped.
"So how did the rest of the tour go?" he wondered.
I shrugged. "We haven't been that many places. Just the theater area and here." I studied him. "But how'd the talk with the captain go?"
David smiled and nodded at Oliver. "It seems we can keep our pet, provided he doesn't break any rules, or at least gets caught breaking them. He can sleep on the couch in our suite."
I sighed and tossed the magazine back onto the table beside me. "Some honeymoon."
He chuckled. "Just think of it as future experience."
I turned and furrowed my brow. "What's that supposed to mean?"
His eyes sparkled. "Well, I was meaning to tell you-"
"I ain't taking any more of this!" The rowdy racket came from our ornery orphan. Oliver tore the towel off his chest and hopped off the chair. He leaned forward and ruffled his short hair to give it a frazzled look, and lifted his head to glare at the barber. "I ain't letting you take anymore!"
The barber glanced at me and pointed his scissors at the boy. "Ma'am?"
I sighed and nodded. "It's fine. How much do I owe you?"
The barber smiled and shook his head. "Nothing. The amenities of the ship are added into the bill for the ticket."
Oliver spun around to glare at me. "You owe me big for this."
I stood with David and grinned. "Come on. You don't look that bad."
"You still owe me!" he insisted.
"How about some lunch?" David suggested.
Oliver crossed his arms and nodded. "That'll do for a start."
We stepped out of the shop and took a right towards the stairs and elevators. The food court was on the bottom floor of the courtyard.
Something out of the corner of my eye caught my attention. I paused and looked towards the railing to my right. My eyes widened as I glimpsed the fingers of a small hand as they desperately clung to the bottom of the floor. A head peeked over and revealed the terrified eyes of a boy child. Their face dropped back out of sight and the tips of their fingers slid a little closer to the edge.
"David!" I yelled as I rushed to the railing. I hit the slim beam and leaned over.
The child was gone.
That's when I felt a hard hand push against the center of my back, and I flew over the top of the railing into the abyss.
4
I screamed and flailed for some hold. A hand caught mine and stopped my drop. I whipped my head up and found myself staring into David's pale face. He pulled me over the railing. My shaky knees gave out and I collapsed onto the floor.
David knelt beside me as a small crowd congregated around us. He grasped my trembling hand and caught my eyes. "Are you okay?"
My head spun and my stomach did a couple of flips. I swallowed the lump in my throat and the pain in my stomach, and nodded.
"What happened?" he asked me.
"I-I don't know," I replied.
"Excuse me. Please let me through," a voice called in the crowd. A female employee in white broke through the front of the crowd and hurried to kneel in front of me. "Are you hurt?"
I shook my head. "N-no, just a little shaken."
She looked to David. "Can you tell me what happened?"
He shook his head. "I'm not sure. She ran to the railing-" I started up and whipped my head to the railing.
"There was a kid there! He was hanging on the edge!" I tried to get up, but David held me down.
"There wasn't anybody there," he told me.
I turned and glared at him. "But I saw him! He was clinging to the floor and slipping!"
The woman studied me and pursed her lips. "Perhaps it's the shock."
I turned my fury on her. "I wasn't imagining things! I really saw him!"
"Is that what made you go over the railing? You tried to reach for the boy?" the woman guessed.
I shook my head. "No. Somebody pushed me." I whipped my head to David and frowned. "Why'd you push me?"
He started back and his eyes widened. "
I didn't push you. I was a few feet away when you seemed to lurch over the railing."
"Somebody pushed me!" I persisted.
"Maybe we should get her to the infirmary," the woman suggested.
I brushed away their hands and stood on my shaky legs. "I'm fine, really. I just-" I looked over my shoulder at the railing and furrowed my brow. "I guess I just slipped or something."
David followed my gaze and frowned. "Or something. . ." I heard him whisper.
The employee grasped my arms and leaned forward to catch my gaze. "Miss, I really think you should-"
"What's the trouble here?"
We all turned to see a tall gentleman stride towards us. The man was on the right side of fifty with graying hair temples and a stern but kind face. He wore a dark blue uniform with a name tag on the breast.
His eyes swept over our little group and the spectators. His gaze fell on David. "What's happened?"
David nodded at me. "My wife had a slight spill, that's all, Captain Dux."
"She fell over the railing, captain," the woman spoke up.
The man frowned. "I see. Is she all right."
"I'm fine, but I am getting hungry," I told him.
The corners of his lips twitched up. "Before you eat, would you come with me and make a detailed verbal report?"
David removed me from the woman's grasp and smiled at the captain. "Of course. Lead the way."
We left the woman behind and the captain led the three of us to the floor below the top deck. We passed a flight of stairs to the bridge and entered a nearby door. The room was a large suite of some one thousand square feet with all the amenities of home, including a fully stocked fridge and kitchen with pantry.
The captain offered us the couch and a chair in the living room, and took a seat himself in a chair. He clasped his hands together and sighed. "David, I requested you remain out of sight for the duration of this trip."
David shook his head. "It wasn't our intention to be noticed."
"And so quickly," the captain added. His attention fell on me. "Could you tell me what exactly happened?" I shrugged and related the child I saw and the push over the edge. By the time I was done the captain looked disturbed. "It seems my bad luck comes in threes."
David arched an eyebrow. "Threes?"
The captain nodded. "Yes. I heard from Stewart that he related to you an episode some months back, but he wasn't present for the unusual occurrences on a voyage I manned a year ago."
David straightened and frowned. "What happened?"
The captain cleared his throat. "There was a couple involved there, a wealthy couple. They had booked passage on the liner as a second honeymoon. The second day of the cruise a message came to me. The woman had fallen over the railing in the central courtyard."
"Was she pushed by something, too?" I spoke up.
He turned his face to me and met my gaze. "We didn't have a chance to ask her. The fall killed her."
I felt the color drain from my face. David squeezed my hand. "Go on."
The captain leaned back in his chair and shrugged. "That's really all there is to tell. The husband left the ship after the investigation. We chalked it up to an accident and left it at that."
"Besides the circumstances of the attack, is there anything else the same as the last incident?" David questioned him.
The captain shook his head. "I can't really recall, but learning what you told me I'll make inquiries into the last ship and see what I can find." His eyes fell on Oliver who sat quietly listening to the conversation. "In the meantime, you might want to stay out of trouble, or I'll be forced to take charge of your young guest."
David stood and nodded. "We'll make sure to stay out of trouble. Thanks for your help, captain."
Captain Dux stood and shook David's hand. "Anything for a friend. And good luck with your little friend there. Anybody who can climb balconies like him is bound to be a handful."
David smiled and bowed his head. "Thanks. We'll keep that in mind."
David led Oliver and me from the captain's quarters and in the direction of our own suite. I glanced at him. His lips were pursed and he had a hard, faraway look in his eyes.
I squeezed his hand. "What's wrong? You look like I'm already a ghost."
David's eyes flickered to Oliver who followed along behind us. He lowered his voice to a whisper only I could hear. "I smelled no one near you."
I blinked at him. "When?"
David shook his head and pressed a finger to his lips. We reached our room and walked inside. David turned to Oliver and sniffed the air. "You smell cleaner, but I think you need one last hard scrub behind the ears."
Oliver glared at him. "Says who?"
"Says me." David swept him into his arms and carried the struggling waif into the bathroom. He dropped the young boy so Oliver landed in front of the toilet. David stepped back and shut the bathroom door. "Now don't come out until you're cleaner!"
Oliver jiggled the knob, but David held onto the other side. "Lemme out!"
"I could, but you're just going to see us smooching," David warned him.
The jiggling stopped. "Then let me out of these rooms!"
"You just stay nice and quiet in there for a few minutes and we'll tell you when we're done," David promised. David turned to me and led me to the opposite side of the suite.
I jerked my head towards the bathroom. "Was that-" He pressed a finger against my lips.
David lowered his voice so I could barely hear him. "Absolutely. I don't believe in coincidences, and it's no coincidence we're stuck with this kid."
I pushed away his finger and frowned. "So what are you saying? And what was that about smelling people earlier?"
"I didn't smell anyone around you when I saw you pushed," he revealed.
I arched an eyebrow. "Not even a phantom?"
He shook his head. "No, but I glimpsed an indent in your back where a hand pressed against your shirt. That tells me we're dealing with something otherworldly."
I grimaced. "And us without Cotio."
"I can reach him by phone and ask him about this. Meanwhile, you need to be very careful."
I snorted. "With some invisible thing you can't smell and nobody can see trying to kill me? You'd have to lock me in a padded cell."
He shook his head. "I wouldn't trust the pads, not with this curse."
I frowned. "So you think it's a curse?"
David shrugged. "It's my best guess, but Cotio will know more."
I sighed and ran a hand through my hair. "Hopefully we learn that 'more' before I'm more or less dead."
David grasped my hands and looked me in the eyes. "I won't let anything else happen to you."
I smiled and squeezed his hands. "Good because I'd come back and haunt you and I'd guarantee even Doc couldn't exorcise me."
He chuckled. "I wouldn't want him to."
A small fist banged the bathroom door. "Are you two done being stupid?"
David looked past me at the bathroom door. "We are, but are you?"
"I ain't stupid!"
I snorted. "Well, I guess that proves it."
David strode over to the bathroom door and opened it. Oliver stumbled out and glared at him. "I'll sue you for kidnapping!"
"Then we'll be side-by-side receiving our punishment, my little stowaway," David quipped.
Oliver frowned and shuffled over to the center of the living room. "You think you're real smart, don't ya?"
David followed behind him with a smile on his lips. "I've been around the world a few times."
"So have I, so don't go thinking I don't know why ya shoved me in there!" Oliver snapped.
David folded his arms and studied the young boy. "So why did I shove you in there?"
Oliver jerked his head towards me. "You wanted to talk to her about something, and ya didn't want me overhearing it."
David chuckled. "You've pretty much got it right. But how about you set aside your paranoia for one second and take a look at this." Davi
d picked up a piece of paper and tossed it at Oliver.
The young boy looked down at the paper and back at David. "What's this?"
David strode over to the kitchen and took a soda from the fridge. "The room service food list. Our little adventure interrupted lunch, remember?"
Oliver held the paper close to his face and squinted his eyes. He pulled away and tossed the paper away. "I just want a hamburger."
I plucked the paper from the floor and glanced at the menu. "What kind of hamburger? They have a dozen styles."
He shrugged. "I don't know. What kinds they got?"
I held the paper out to him. "See for yourself."
He pursed his lips and turned his head away from me. "I can't."
I arched an eyebrow. "Why not?"
He shrank into himself. "Because I can't. . ."
"You can't what?" I persisted.
He whipped his head around to face me. "Because I can't read, okay?"
I blinked at him. "Not even English?"
"Are you stupid? I can't read nothing!" he snapped. He plopped himself on the couch and crossed his arms. "I don't need to read, anyway."
David and I glanced at each other. My mate cleared his throat. "Well, we'll order for you, and maybe when this is over we'll see to your education."
Oliver's narrowed eyes flickered to David. "What's that supposed to mean?"
David took the paper from me and studied the contents. "It means I want you to know how to read your own menu so we don't have to do it for you."
Oliver arched an eyebrow. "I ain't following."
David chuckled. "To put it bluntly, I'll see if I can't get you into a good school so you can learn to read. You might even learn to write."
Oliver's eyes widened and he blinked at David. "You'd. . .you'd really do that for me?"
David shrugged. "Why not?"
The young boy frowned. "You're just fooling me, ain't ya?"
David shook his head and tossed the paper onto the table. "Nope, but we can talk more about this after the cruise, and after lunch."
"And then?" I asked him.
He smiled. "Then you two will stay in the nice confines of these safe room while I do some sleuthing."
I marched over and stuck my face in his, or at least tried to. "Like hell you are. I'm going-" He pressed a finger against my lips. It was then I noticed the sad look in his eyes.
He slipped his finger off my lips and spoke in a soft whisper. "I don't know what I would do if I lost you, and I don't want to take that risk, not until I find out something that will help us."