Day 3

I handed some cash to the ticket lady in exchange for some boarding passes that would get us on the ferry. Luckily, the driver had given us some money to get the ferry. The lady looked at me suspiciously, then at the others behind me. I went cold for a second; thinking that she was an under-cover cop, or a government spy whom had tracked us down. I breathed a sigh of relief when she broke into a warm smile.

‘You boys look all set for the NPC final this weekend, Otago vs. Auckland. You’d better look out, some of those fans are pretty obsessed when it comes to their footie.’

‘Yeah,’ I answered in my try-hard kiwi accent, pretending to know what she was talking about.

‘What the hell is she talking about?’ Brendon whispered in my ear, yet again, reading my mind. I shrugged my shoulders with as good a guess as he had.

‘Any special luggage that you aren’t able to carry on-board?’ she asked me, staring at what we were carrying. I turned around to look at Sean. He was nodding his head up and down, indicating the barbecue. Ignoring him, I looked back at the woman.

‘No, none at all.’

‘Thankyou, enjoy your trip.’

We dumped our stuff under the table we were sitting at and looked out the porthole as the ferry pulled out of the harbour. We finally had a chance to relax and sit-back, without worrying about people trying to kill us.

What a myth that turned out to be. Who the heck is Murphy, and why did he have to make up such stupid laws?

It was only five minutes into the trip when it happened. I sensed something was wrong when Joe halted halfway through the huge bite he was taking out of his sandwich.

"We’ve got company,’ was all he had to say for us to scramble under the table out of sight.

‘I saw them, they looked like they were questioning some of the crew,’ Joe gasped underneath the table. I wondered who ‘them’ was. The cops? Army guys?

‘It’s the farmers.’ I had to think of every possibility except for the obvious.

‘How far away are they?’

‘They’re at the end, by the entrance to this deck. They must be working they’re way down the aisle.’

‘Let’s get off this deck,’ I whispered. Saying that, I saw Brendon put his hands up questioningly. I answered by pointing my finger where I had seen a set of stairs exiting to the rest of the ferry.

We scuttled across the floor like beetles that’ve been uncovered from under a rock. I quickly hid behind a bench, opposite the aisle from the others. I could hear the farmers talking to the some of the crew, but I couldn’t quite understand what they were saying. I pressed my back hard against the back of the seat and shuddered with fright as they approached us.

‘Excuse me ma’am, but have you seen a group of five men anywhere?’

‘Wearing rugby uniforms?’

‘Yes, that’s them. Where did you see them?’

‘Right over there, just a minute ago.’

‘Thankyou.’ I held my breath as long as I could until I felt safe that they were gone.

What I did next was the most stupid thing I’ve ever done. I don’t know what possessed me to, but I did it. I stood up. I looked around not realising what I’d done. I turned around and saw the lady who had just given us away. My eyes met hers for what seemed like eternity. It was so shocking; it took both of us awhile to figure it out.

‘Hey, you’re one of them!’ she shouted. Why did she have to have such a high-pitched voice? I turned and ran for my life, for my friends, and for the toilet.

There was a line of small onboard lavatories at the end of the deck. I stumbled blindly into one of them and yanked at the handle.

‘Hey, I’m in here! Can’t you read the ‘occupied’ sign?’ was all I got. Realising my misfortune, I sidestepped to my left and tried the next one. Success!

I quickly and quietly shut the door and turned the lock. Turning around revealed a little boy who was still sitting on the toilet seat.

‘Oh my god, I’m so sorry.’ He just stared at me with huge round eyes. I don’t think he really cared. Little did I know that coming upon a boy who had forgotten to lock the door would in the end, save my life. I heard a man’s voice on the other side of the door.

‘Open up, we know you’re in there!’ I silently moved opposite the toilet and next to the hinge of the door.

‘I’ll give you to the count of three to come out quietly, or we’re coming in there!’ I flattened myself on the wall beside the door and put my finger to my lips, signaling the boy to keep my presence unnoticed.

‘Boom! Boom! Boom!’ The door exploded open and swung round, smashing into me. I prayed they wouldn’t bother checking out a toilet currently being used by a five year old.

‘We’ve got you now…!’

‘But I thought he came in here…’ I could see the little boy out of the corner of my eye. He didn’t move a muscle. They didn’t search the place; thankfully, they just closed the toilet door and walked off. I waited ten seconds before moving.

‘Phew, thanks buddy.’ He still didn’t say a thing.

When I was sure they were gone, I hurried out to find the others. I went back to the table where all our stuff was hidden. It was a good thing the lady wasn’t there.

‘Are you guys under there?’ I whispered. I got no answer.

‘The farmers are coming…’ Everyone rushed out from under the bench.

‘Where? Where?’ Joe was freaking out.

‘Its okay, man. They’re not really coming; I was just getting you guys out of there.

‘So, what happened?’ Sean asked.

‘I’ll tell you later. Right now, we’ve got to get them off our backs. They’re searching the ship and we’re done for if they find us. Now, I’ve got a plan.’ I hustled everybody round and explained it to them.

***

As we walked off the gangway, we could still here the screams of the farmers from inside the ferry. Brendon stole the key off one of the crew, and we all helped lock them inside the toilets.

‘Bye, bye!’ Brendon laughed as he threw the key over the side and into the water. It would be awhile before anyone could get them out.