"Ooh . . ." Orli hissed as he looked very suspiciously at the fresh can of soda which arrived with his lunch the next morning, "I�ll never look at a drink the same way ever again." He faked a shudder and glared at Elf, "Perhaps I should offer the dog some and wait to see if he was poisoned . . ." We all stared angrily at him, but the dog did not even falter in his drooling � in very strategic locations. "Maybe I should get some aqua shoes."
"So that was our excitement. Nothing can top assassination." I sighed wistfully, "And I was so ever looking forward to New Zealand tomorrow, but how could that top performing CPR on your very own prime minister!"
"Aiding in CPR." Heath quipped quickly and Elsie chose this moment to join us, very loudly kissing her phone, "Um . . . could I ask? Or do I want to know?" She growled angrily at him, but this just set Elf off and both dog and human growled angrily together. "Okay! Just don�t you start drooling too!"
"Ah, I shall be able to give you a very exciting and personalized tour of the country! Roaring rivers! Epic sunsets! Flowing plains!" Orli was very busy gesturing with wild hand signals and before I could possibly move my glass, the back of his hand smacked up against it. The velocity of excited Orlando Bloom was a little more than anyone had expected, thus, the glass spun through the air despite my very pathetic grab to save it and flew straight for the one individual on the ship would NOT appreciate it the most . . . Flying so high through the air, the glass deposited its very artificially colored RED fruit punch onto the back of the very unfortunate subject and went on its doomed one-way trip over the side. "Oops."
Fortunately, the subject did not notice, but rather, turned to his wife with a very pleasant expression on his face, "Now what do you know, it is raining. And it�s falling in splashes."
"I don�t feel any rain!" Mrs. DeGroot gazed into the sparkling blue sky and fluffy white clouds, but then, her eyes settled on his very white T-shirt. "Tie-dye?"
"I have no idea what you are talking about, dear," DeGroot wandered off cheerfully, waving dramatically at the sky, "Let us go try the indoor squash court then, and we shall escape from the rain." Thus, he walked carefully away from us, seemingly oblivious to anything that was wrong . . . "It feels sticky. Acid rain! Alas!"
"Phew." Orli breathed, "That was a close one."
"Orli!" We all hissed and Heath snatched away his salad and cutlery before he managed to injure himself further. "Look, one of these days, he is going to SKIN you ALIVE."
"I know." He sighed very sadly, and placed his head on the table, "We are wanted men, Heath!"
"No, no, no!" Heath screeched, "There is no WE in this! There is only YOU!"
"But you were Ned." Orli moaned into the table, pretending to cry, "This is so unfair!" We all simply glared at him. Suddenly, Orli brightened and pulled out two very ugly latex masks from who knows where and brandished them at Heath, "Orc masks I stole from the production of Lord of the Rings! We�ll wear them and no one will know who we are!"
"Ingenious." Heath picked up the mask, "I am amazed you lived past puberty."
"Past?" Elsie muttered, finally setting down her phone, "Those may be a little stuffy." Orli was shoving his face into his mask, "Latex, you know. And a guy wearing an orc mask around the ship is SO conspicuous. Might as well wear a turban and grow a white beard with a large sign, �I AM OSAMA.�"
"Aren�t they stylish?" Orli asked, looking around at us, but through the latex the sound was muffled and it came out as a grunt. "No one will recognize us!"
"I will put this on if threatened under the pain of death. Nothing less." Heath tossed the mask over to Orli, but unfortunately, he did not have superior Elvish aim and as though a Frisbee, it went sailing through the air and Elf ran after it, yapping madly.
"If my dog chokes on latex, YOU do CPR on him." I grunted to Heath who quickly jumped out of his chair and tried to wrest the orc mask from the grips of Elf, "Wet doggy lips. Yuck!"
"Excuse me?" We looked up to see a smartly dressed ship�s officer, holding out a polished wooden tray to me, "You have an express delivery."
"Oh. For me?" I muttered stupidly, and took the thick cream envelope from the tray, "Thanks."
"And you, sir." The officer turned to Orli who was struggling with the mask, trying to pull it off (it seemed stuck to his face), "Our captain requests that you stop throwing things overboard. It pollutes the oceans." With a smart little bow, he turned to walk away.
"POLLUTION!" Zoe nearly choked, "You know, he�s right, Orlando. You should have put the glass in glass recycling." Orli would have answered, but he was still tugging at the mask. "And that thing � mask � put it into PLASTIC!"
"There!" With a final sharp tug, the mask left the famous face of Orli and as his fists came down, he lost his balance and fell head first into the glass table, shattering glass and lunch spraying across the deck.
"That�s it!" I jumped up angrily as Orli rubbed his sore, but uninjured (miracle) forehead, "That�s the very last time I�m even ASSOCIATING with any of you!" Growling angrily, I whistled to Elf who obediently let go of the mask and plodded along behind me, "And you think this is a leisure cruise!"
"What�s all this? What�s all this?" The very flustered officer quickly strode back and picked up Orli by the scruff of his neck and dangled him about a foot off the deck, "You again! You! Why always you!" And all this he yelled in the most ridiculous accent I had ever heard.
"Bill me!" Orli sputtered, "Send the bills to me!"
"We will press charges!" With a sharp snap of the wrist, Orli landed on the deck in a heap, all the rest of the patio diners giving US the strange looks. The officer flipped open a notepad, "Your name, sir? Mister . . . ?"
"DeGroot!" Orli sputtered moving away from the very sharp glass shards, "Bill me whatever you want! Just do it after I�m off this ship!"
"Of course, sir." The officer flipped his pad closed, and very efficient stewards were already sweeping away the last of the glass shards. "Have a nice day."
"Have a nice day?" Orli picked himself up, "I have never been so embarrassed in my life!"
"HEY YOU!" Zoe screamed after them, "RECYCLE IT!"
"And it�s all THIS thing�s fault!" Orli grabbed his mask and tossed it over the side in the Heath-Frisbee manner, and all I could do was grab onto Elf�s collar to prevent him from springing into the ocean after it.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Why don�t I get to be the doggy?" Orli was complaining (yet again) as Heath and Zoe were setting up a Monopoly board in our cabin, "I�ve always been the little doggy!"
"Maybe it�s time for a change then," I growled, ever the hypocrite as I pulled out yet another burnt bag of popcorn from the microwave, filling the room with smoke, "Why can�t these stupid people write correct instructions?"
"Oh get away from there!" Elsie stormed into the room from her cabin (ooh, minus phone) and snatched the popcorn away from me, "It�s melded into a solid mass!"
"Is it supposed to?" I asked sarcastically and gestured to the patio, "Throw it overboard! Sure beats stinking up the garbage can."
"I want to EAT it . . ." Orli leapt across the table (Monopoly money flying) and grabbed the black solid thing, ripping it open. Dark plumes of smoke spilled out of the bag and heavenward, with Heath standing on the sofa, pinching at his nose, "YUMMY in my TUMMY!"
"Act your age and not your SHOE SIZE!" Elsie attempted to snatch the bag back to prevent Orli from trying to stuff the greasy mass down his throat, "Never mind. You�re probably size 2. Kids."
"Um . . ." I chose this moment to point out, "You may want to get that out of here . . ." Everyone stopped their scrambling and glared at me, "There is a fire alarm." I pointed to the ceiling. "I don�t want it to go off."
"Quite right!" Orli had the entire bag of smoking popcorn and he quickly ran out of the cabin with a Tarzan scream, the smoke billowing behind him. We all peeked out into the hall where none other than our very own Orli was parting the very thick crowds which had conjured with more Tarzan yells and the billowing smoke.
"Geez." Heath muttered as we poured out into the hall, sipping at a glass of water, "The way it�s smoking you�d think it would be a bomb."
"AHHHH!" The entire hallway burst into action I had not seen anywhere but on Lion King as they all became one stampeding mass and with a shriek from a prima donna, the hallway pounded so furiously with running feet (in Orli�s opposite direction), Heath�s water had spilled all over the carpet.
"They can bill that to DeGroot." Heath muttered and Elf lapped at the water, "Poor Orli."
"One thing you never do, Heath." I moaned, "Shout BOMB in a crowded building!"
"I didn�t shout it. I whispered it." He replied briskly, and stepped into the now deserted hallway, "Might as well see what Orli is up to."
We found our Brit friend by the railing of the ship, not tossing the popcorn overboard, but rather being pinned to the deck by a very large ship�s officer and the �bomb� was in the hands of the captain himself, and all of the white-dressed officers glared furiously at Orli. DeGroot was sitting in a deck chair, what looked suspiciously like a footprint smack in the middle of his face which also sported a bleeding nose. At least his children were amused and Mrs. DeGroot took the opportunity to educate them about the human cardiovascular system (rather loudly).
"Um . . ." I muttered walking up to the captain, "Sir? That is burnt popcorn."
"Hmm." He glared down at me with icy blue eyes and I regretted not getting the five inch heeled boots on sale at Sears. "Your burnt popcorn?"
"No. It is not mine." I shrugged, and it was the truth. Heath had bought it. "I do not think it is explosive."
"You youngin�s think you�re funny, don�t you?" The captain growled in what seemed to be an Irish accent, "No more incidents or I�ll pitch you off the ship." He turned to walk away, handing the popcorn to me, but quickly turned on heel and jabbed a finger in Orli�s direction, "YOU in particular!"
"Oh gosh!" Orli moaned, "Your mate here broke three of my ribs!"
"Necessary restraining force." The mate growled and before we knew it, the excitement had passed and Orli sat up on the deck, rubbing his side.
"Well, well, well." Heath sat down on the end of the nearest deck chair and glared at Orli, "Mr. Bloom. You certainly seem to get yourself in trouble."
"Hey wait a second, Mr. Ledger. I do believe it was not I who decided to scream the forbidden word down a crowded hallway." Orli snarled, and Heath turned to look at the crowded pool behind us. "You�re listening?"
"Forbidden word?" Heath scratched his head, "I don�t seem to recall what it is."
"I�m not saying it."
"Then if you don�t say it, how will I know better next time?"
"I�m not saying it!"
"I still don�t know what it is!"
"Fine. It starts with a B."
"Bamboo?"
"You know, idiot."
"No, I do not. Do you know how many words start with B? A BILLION."
"B-O."
"Yes, you stink too."
"B-O-M."
"Is that all?"
"B-O-M-B."
"Say it as a word, I have to hear it for it to stick."
*bomb*
"What?"
�bomb�
"WHAT? LOUDER! I CAN�T HEAR YOU!"
"Bomb."
"WHAT? You�re going have to speak up!"
"Bomb."
"WHAT?"
"Bomb."
"WHAT?"
"Bomb!"
"WHAT?"
I knew where this was heading. So did the rest of us. We turned and walked in the opposite direction.
"Bomb!"
"WHAT?"
"Stop pretending you can�t hear what I am saying! There is absolutely no way I am going to scream at the top of my lungs the forbidden word . . ."
"WHAT?"
"BOMB!"
"AHHHHH!" Elsie and I pulled Zoe into the cabin after us just as what seemed to be a million people stampeded back past us, screaming at the top of their lungs. The air pressure was so great, the cabin door closed with a very loud THUNK!
"Why am I stuck on a cruise with a bunch of idiots?" I moaned, "Why, oh why?"
"And I thought I was only going to have to put up with YOU TWO!" Elsie chimed in, but Zoe and I glared at her. "You know perfectly well what I meant."
"Is it just me, or is the ship listing away from Orli?" I asked, almost sarcastically, "Should we bail them out again?"
"WE have nothing to do with this!" Elsie protested, "It�s just THEM! There�s no US in this!"
"Okay, let�s avoid them then." I quickly scrawled a large sign reading, IF YOUR NAME BEGINS WITH O OR H, YOU ARE NOT WELCOME and stuck it on our door, "What can we do tonight?�
"Actually, if we had paid attention to our itinerary," Zoe quickly pulled out the colored brochure Elsie had shown us less than a dozen days, but seemingly a lifetime ago, "There are some festivities down on the deck tonight, some kind of party." She paled, "Let�s hope that THIS one won�t be crashed!"
A slight tapping ensued on the door with a weak cry of, "Help girls!" Before we could react though, there was a sound of dragging and fingernails dragging down the hallway. Finally, Heath and Orli were given what they deserved.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"I don�t do party." I growled hunkered down in the middle of my cot with a rather thick novel, "You can do party all you want." Elsie and Zoe were dressed to have a good time, but I had already retired with my Legolas t-shirt which Elf had kindly chewed some fringe on. "Party is not me. Party may be you. But not me. Go on and party." The dog was currently chewing so much, the t-shirt would probably look like a shawl by the time he was through. "Take Elf with you, if you want."
"Oh. Alright." Elsie looked a little surprised, "We�ll save you one of the cute umbrellas from the drinks."
"Not pink, if you please." I called after them, and they cheerily waved goodbye. The sounds drifting from the deck from the open patio doors sure indicated a good time, but ever since this cruise started, I had hardly had a moment to myself. Pulling out some review notes, I jotted down a few calculus equations out of sheer boredom in the margin. I looked at the novel, one I had liberated from Elsie�s big box she had brought along for the ride. A romance. Go figure.
"Grr." I growled at Elf who barked cheerfully back. Truthfully, I needed this time to myself. To think. About . . . "Do I?"
"Ouch! Heath!" I climbed off the cot and ran to the patio, gripping the railing and looked down to see what seemed to be a gigantic boulder caught in the railing. To the boulder was tied enough linen to equip every hotel in Egypt. And at the end of the knotted linen, no surprise. Heath and Orli. Heath was currently stepping on Orli�s fingers.
"What are you two doing?!" I screamed, "Aren�t you supposed to be in some brig?"
"We escaped!" Orli answered as I gave Heath a hand and he leapt over onto the balcony, "Where are the rest of you guys?"
"Partying on deck." Heath and Orli looked towards the source of the loud music and cheerful laughter, "I am reading. Go away." I pointed to the door.
"In the dark?" Orli looked around and for the first time, I realized that I hadn�t bothered to turn on any lights. "Reading with a flashlight?"
"Alright. Okay." I growled, "Thinking. Alone."
"About . . ." Orli prodded, "What?"
"Old wife." I snapped back at him, "Well, go have fun on the deck! Loud flashy people! Isn�t that what celebrities to best?"
Leaving them to untangle their nappies, I returned back to the cot where Elf resumed his shredding of the t-shirt. The door shut quietly and I was quite glad to get them both out of my hair. Honestly. Jail break? Tossing the novel across the small room to Zoe�s bed (so that I could accuse her of reading romances in bed later) I reached under my pillow and my fingers touched paper.
"What are you up to?" Orli suddenly spoke and I nearly jumped off the cot (which would be a bad thing to do, having it fold up on me). "You don�t seem to be reading."
"I thought that you had . . . left . . . with . . . Heath . . ." I sputtered, and stared at his silhouette, "What are you doing . . . here? Could you get the light?" Elf growled.
"Hmm. You seem troubled." He flicked on the far floor light and sank into the arm chair which Zoe had decided to strew her clothes over, "Anything I can do to help?" With sharp eyes, he noted what I was trying to conceal, "Bad news in the mail today?"
"No. Not exactly." I heaved a sigh, "More like . . . maybe good?"
"So it has potential." Orli frowned, and stood, making as if to go, "Are you planning to exercise it?"
"I was trying to make that decision before you came." Elf sniffled at my sheets, "Why don�t you go and join Heath down on the deck? It should be fun."
"So, Canadian bag ladies don�t feel like having fun on a Saturday night?" He asked, raising an eyebrow, "Or maybe just you?"
"Most Canadian bag ladies are not run over by big starry British actors." I snapped back.
"Almost." Orli corrected, "You were ALMOST run over by me." He gave a little smile, "Why not come on down and have some fun? With me?"
"I already gave you my reason." I replied simply, and hurriedly, "Besides I miss . . ."
"Oh." He frowned, "There�s always that catch isn�t there. Guy at home. There�s always a guy."
"Well . . ." I worked my fingers through Elf�s furry coat, "Might as well say it." I looked up and stared into his slightly shocked but deep brown eyes, "Yes there is." He took a deep breath, sharp and almost uncontrolled. "Celebrities like you should have no problem finding someone to . . ." I glared angrily, "Party with."
"If you feel that way." He returned coolly, turning to go, "I had no idea that you were so . . . prejudice."
"What?" I called after him, "I am? What about you and your Canadian Bag Ladies?"
"Celebrity this, celebrity that!" Orli snapped angrily, cool suddenly disappearing, "What makes you think I wanted to become like this! It was only supposed to be a small role in a movie! How was I supposed to know that when I was cast in a 26 line role I would be come the next cat nip to all you crazy fans out there! I�m even on a t-shirt!"
"Hey, no making fun of my t-shirt." I growled back, "You could have stopped making those movies. What about after Lord of the Rings? There was . . . oh let me see . . . Ned Kelly and Troy and that milk one and those stupid pirate ones! Not to mention all those idiotic spy thrillers . . . you really believe that you could be the next Jackie Chan?"
"How else was I supposed to make a living?" He calmly replied, suddenly gaining control of himself, "If I am the calm cool celebrity you claim I am, then I should not be associating with such . . ." I felt his eyes slide coldly over me, "Rabble."
"I . . ." Elf stiffened at my hesitation and I gripped his collar to prevent him from springing, "If that is the way you feel. I would now like to kindly ask that you step out of this room."
"It has come to this, has it?" Orli hesitated for a slight moment, as though swallowing back something, "Well, then I must bid you farewell, for I will not be troubling you again for the rest of this cruise."
"Have an enjoyable trip, Mr. Bloom." I slid off the end of the cot and gestured for him to leave, walking him to the door with a calm mask I hardly ever donned.
"Same to yourself." He replied with the same cool, but at the door, Orli paused. "He must be really something." I stared. "That one back at home."
"Yes," I gave a half whisper, "He is all that I have ever dreamed of. Dreamed for."
"Lucky him." Orli gave a shrug and flashed his brilliant smile, "Dream big, Glor." With the gentle tracing of his fingers along my cheek, he turned to go, footsteps echoing in the empty hallway. I stood there, grasping the door frame with white knuckles and my heart in my throat. Elf nudged me with his nose, and I reached down to scratch behind his ears, almost automatically, but paused, feeling his warmth beneath my fingers.
The door closed softly and I leant back against it, taking deep breaths and trying to acquire some of its sturdiness. I should have called after him. Orli . . . I didn�t have any feelings for him. I snarled softly to myself and looked around the empty room again. Somehow, I did not want to be alone with only a dog for company. The music from the deck floated through the crisp night air once again, enticing in its own sweet way . . . What did I want? Elf sniffed the air experimentally and raised a paw to the door, eager for a walk. Surely it wasn�t a crime to please your four-footed companion, eh?
"What will you say to a walk Elf?" The ears perked up again, "A . . . walk? And maybe I�ll toss around your . . . ball!" Elf nearly went berserk in a frenzy of ear pointing, tail wagging and tongue flopping. "Is that what you want, Elf?" The big doggy head nodded up and down. If only my own wants and needs were that simple.
"Come on, then." I wandered into my room, grabbing a large sweater and Graham�s letter, proceeding to leave with Elf dragging his leash with his mouth. "No more excitement for this trip, eh?" The dog sniffled as I clipped on his leash, "And no tugging." Elf gave me a mournful look with those big brown puppy dog eyes of his, as I eased the door open, "What is the chance we will find Zoe and Elsie out there on the deck?"
The dog pulled on the leash and I followed, half-heartedly, not exactly in the mood to mingle with large crowds. "Actually it might not be hard to find them." I muttered under my breath, "Where there is most destruction."
"Why do you have punch on your back, Daddy?" A small voice piped out from the crowd, and was quickly shushed, and there were many more conversations. Elf finally led me over to my friends where they were standing in a knot by a small spot of open deck space, away from all the excitement. Elsie was yapping animatedly into her phone and while Heath and Zoe waved to me as I walked up to them, Orli had his back to me, leaning over the railing, gazing out into the smooth, dark sea lit only by the reflections of the moon and the festivities aboard.
"Fight?" Heath mouthed and I shrugged, Elf drooled.
"Why are we over here?" I asked, looking around, "No one seems to have remembered to get me one of the cute umbrellas."
"It is more quiet over here." Orli replied, turning to greet me with a smile, "Great for thinking." I had hoped he would leave it at that, but he continued, "About things friends have told us." There was no sarcasm in his voice, and I shuddered. Something dark caught my attention for a brief second. More partygoers.
"Elf wanted to stretch his legs." I muttered stupidly and claimed a vacant deck chair, with Elf wandering around, almost aimlessly. Elsie gave me a dirty look and walked further along to where there was probably better reception. For a moment, awkward silence fell and they all turned to look out towards the tranquil sea and it was the first time I noticed that as Heath and Zoe leant up against the railing, their fingers were intertwined. "Like weeds in a parking lot." I mused out loud.
"Um," Heath seemingly noticed me staring, and tugged on Zoe�s hand, "Anyone up for drinks? I�ll get you one with the cute umbrellas."
"Ooh . . . the cute umbrellas . . ." I grinned sheepishly, and Elf wagged his tail as though he needed a drink or two. "Water for Elf, maybe?" They petered off and I stared blankly ahead, "I thought the drinks only came with one cute umbrella." Down the way, another shadowy figure slipped past. Probably just Elsie again.
"I am not just a famous name, you know." Orli suddenly pointed out to no one in particular, "Last time I looked, there was a bit more than that."
"Have you ever picked up after your own doggy?" I asked candidly, and he simply gave an icy glare, "Did your own laundry? Bought doggy kibble in a cart? You are different from the rest of us. And not necessarily for the better." Elf rolled onto his back for a tummy rub. "And we haven�t been treating you very differently from how we would each other, up until now." We fell silent and I wondered how many glitzy stars would lower themselves to doing cannonballs in the cruise pool. Not many. That was something that Graham would do, more or less . . .
Suddenly, the dull and repetitive night noises of a ship party were shattered with a rapid succession of sharp explosions, sounds that would have vaguely resembled the bursting of firecrackers, followed by loud shrieks then deadly silence. I quickly stood and Elf growled at not getting his tummy rub, but quickly quieted as anxiety and almost panic filtered down atop the ship and attentions were fixed to the crowd as they were parted, automatically, revealing the patch of empty deck space, a bloodied corpse lay sprawled, a scarlet blood blossoming on the light wooden panels.
"Isn�t this typical?" I muttered to Elf, "Adventure Celebrity Cruise 101."
"Never again. I am never leaving good British soil again!" Orli muttered under his breath, "Never, never, never!"
"What are they?" I stared down at the two dozen or so randomly dressed figures sporting weapons probably worth more then all their other possessions plus their dinky motor boats combined. "Wow. Great way to smuggle things on board."
"Pirates." Orli replied simply, "Though this is hardly the Caribbean."
"As in ARG, eye-patches and peg legs?" I peered down, gripping the railing, "I don�t see any parrots or big gold hoop earrings."
"I have heard that in the South China Sea this is fairly routine. Empty the safe. Good wages, you know. It has nothing to do with us. See?" Sure enough, a group of dark men broke off from the main group and were accompanied by an officer in contrasting white. Orli looked not quite amused, "An unnecessary delay." Suddenly, he gave a painfully little grin, and wiped a tear from his eye, "That means they�re taking my 39 piece gold cat collection." Elf�s ears perked.
"You have a 39 piece gold cat collection?" I growled, "On board a cruise ship?"
"I never travel anywhere without it." He muttered and as he spoke, the pirates came back with a few large wooden crates. Among the various other possessions was a large finely polished wooden book with a large golden cat stamped on it. "And I don�t plan on it."
The pirates were leaving and in a few moments, they would be hidden forever on the sea. Unfortunately, they had decided to take the cats with them, hence, as they were loading, Orli ran over to the nearest banister and slid down silently, nearly plowing over Heath at the bottom. "What�s the big idea?"
"They stole me cats!" Orli sniffled loudly, "I want my cats!"
"Oh for Pete�s sakes!" Heath growled, "Your cats?"
"I have a cat!" Elsie piped up from where she snapped closed her phone, "What about yours?"
"I need my cats!" Before Orli seriously began to bawl, Heath patted him on the shoulder, "Don�t worry, we�ll get your cats back . . ." Before he realized what he was saying. "I mean . . . NO!"
"Yes! We�re going to get my cats back!" Orli jumped into the air, wildly and everyone gave him a mean look. The pirates didn�t look too happy either. By this time though, the pirates had all but left and the cats were long gone on to their speed boat. "Cats, here I come!" The crowd had filtered over to the railing and fighting our way through it, we were rather glad that they did not have a speed boat, but rather a seemingly stolen yacht. The stupid pirates were all facing away from the ship, as Orli helpfully pointed out.
"What�s your plan?" Heath asked, but before we could force an explanation, Orli gave a Tarzan cry (not another!) and leapt onto the back of the yacht, landing on a soft tarp, unnoticed. "One for all and all for a stupid one." To the wind, he called, "This is it! This is the last time I�m traveling with a Brit!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A shriek from a very familiar voice suddenly penetrated the night, Mrs. DeGroot hollered something horrible and pushed DeGroot out to the sparse deck, "You�ve been shot!"
"I have not!" DeGroot protested and their two little kiddies screamed, "PUNCH!" in unison.
I tapped Orli on the shoulder and due to a hard landing, my leg hurt. Finally, I growled, "I should have got off in Japan."