Shattered at Sea

by Cheryl Hollon

  “Savannah,” spoke a smoothly feminine Southern voice.

  “We’re here,” said another voice of the same tone.

  Savannah stood stock still at the sound of those very familiar voices. They couldn’t possibly be here on board.

  Turning around, Savannah saw the undeniable truth. Her octogenarian perpetual students had somehow managed to attend her demonstrations at sea. To date, they had signed up for every class that Webb’s Glass Shop offered. But, still, on a cruise ship?

  “Ladies! I’m stunned to see you. Delighted of course, but stunned.” She greeted the Rosenberg twins who were placing small, flat stadium cushions on the first metal bench of the viewing area. “How did you manage—”

  “We usually take at least two—” said Rachel.

  “—and sometimes three cruises a year. We wouldn’t have missed this for the world,” said Faith.

  Savannah shook her head. “Well, your record is intact for perfect attendance.”

  The twins tilted their heads toward each other and smiled.

  Rachel leaned in to whisper to Savannah. “We know you always get involved with a crime of some sort.”

  Faith leaned in to whisper as well. “We’re here to be part of your posse.”

  They both leaned back with a very pleased-with-themselves look on their faces.

  “I don’t think that will be happening here. It’s a cruise. This is a vacation. You’re very early. The show doesn’t start for another half hour,” said Savannah.

  “We wanted to make sure—” said Rachel.

  “—we didn’t miss a thing,” finished Faith. “Also, we heard from some of the other suite guests that your show is so popular there will be standing room only.”

  Faith looked around at the three empty rows of metal benches. Each bench had a long straight part directly in front of the Hot Shop and then the benches had shorter arms that angled to hug the six-foot-high glass partition in front of the demonstration area.

  “We were so lucky to get a last-minute cabin on this cruise,” said Rachel.

  “Not only that, but we found out that we use the same travel agent as you and Edward. Jan Brown was so sweet.” Rachel looked over to her sister. “We haven’t met her yet, but she sounds wonderful over the phone. Very efficient.”

  “I think knowing you helped us get our suite,” said Faith. “We said we knew you two. She laughed and said that it’s a small world.”

  “Oh, the suite is gorgeous,” said Rachel. “And it comes with a full-time butler. Can you imagine?”

  “We’ve been saying for a long, long time that we need to start spending some of Daddy’s money one of these days,” said Faith. Rachel beamed a thousand-watt smile. “And now we’re finally doing it.”

  “You’ll love Albert. He’s so . . .” Faith halted.

  “Substantial?” finished Rachel.

  They dissolved in peals of laughter.

  “Don’t frown, Savannah,” said Faith. “He really does look like Don Corleone from the Godfather movies.”

  Savannah turned back to continue her demonstration preparations and also to get her pre-show nerves under control.

  Just as the twins had predicted, several couples had taken seats in the first row on the right side and three people had claimed seats on the left side.

  Edward arrived around the corner and his eyebrows shot up. “Ladies! What on earth? I’m gob smacked, but I guess this is one of Savannah’s classes. You are in extreme danger of being labeled as serial glass groupies.” He sat to the right of the twins.

  Savannah smiled. “Thanks for coming. It’s lovely to see familiar faces out there. You too, Edward.”

  He smiled and looked around. “Ian was supposed to be here as well. He might still be dancing at the sail-away party. It got quite noisy and then he found a group of new friends. Lots of fun for him, but I don’t expect he’ll show up for this demonstration.”

  “You’re the one I want to see.” She laid one hand over her heart and patted her chest.

  Edward blew her a kiss. “Good luck! Watch your temperature and your temper.”

  Savannah turned to the sound of the stage door closing. Eric waved a hand and she returned to the stage.

  “I see you have a fan club. Is that your young man?”

  “Yes, that’s my Edward. He and his cousin are along to celebrate Ian’s graduation from Bristol University.”

  Eric squinted. “He looks familiar, but I can’t place where I might know him.”

  “He’s from St. Albans originally, but he moved to St. Petersburg, Florida, a couple of years ago to buy a pub. It’s next door to my glass shop.”

  “Doesn’t ring a bell,” he said. “It will come to me eventually.”

  The stage door opened again and out came the third member of the team. Savannah walked over and stretched out her hand. “Hi, I’m Savannah Webb. You must be Alan Viteri.”

  Alan was a sturdy man with streaky blond dreadlocks tied at the base of his neck with a red bandanna. His faded logo shirt sported dime-sized holes and his tennis shoes looked positively ancient. In fact, there was a piece of duct tape around the toe of the left shoe.

  “Good to see ya.” He shook her hand, bobbed his head, and turned to Eric. “What’s the plan?”

  Eric made a fist and pressed it to his forehead. “Alan, we discussed this last night and again this morning at breakfast. Don’t you remember what I said?”

  “Come on, Eric.” Alan splayed his hands out palms up. “You know my memory is shot. The only place my brain works like it did before is here in the Hot Shop. You know that. Now what’s the plan?”

  “Sorry. I know that. I get frustrated sometimes because I worked with you so much before the accident.”

  “Those memories are gone,” said Alan with a matter-of-fact tone.

  Eric slapped Alan on the back. “No worries. We’ll perform in the same order as we have always done. One of you will be first. I’ll always be second, the other of you will be third, and if we need to fill time, I’ll do another. Alan, you’ll be first with one of your angelfishes, then I’ll create one of my goblets. Savannah will create a fluted vase and if we need another piece, I’ll make a platter.”

  Eric looked at Alan. “Got it?” Alan nodded.

  “I need to hear you say it out loud, Alan,” reminded Eric. “I need to know you heard me.”

  Alan scrunched his brows. “Right, I’m first, then you, then Savannah, then maybe you. Right?”

  Eric said, “Perfect.”

  He turned to Savannah. “Got it?”

  Savannah nodded. “Yes, understood.”

  “Good, I’ll do the narration for Alan and you can be his assistant. You can narrate for me with Alan as my assistant. Then I’ll assist you while Alan narrates. Okay?”

  Savannah nodded again and then Eric said, “Let’s get this show on the sea.” Eric clipped the battery pack to the back of his shorts and fixed the microphone to his head. He tapped the little black foam-covered microphone. “Testing, testing. Can you hear me there in the back?”

  Savannah turned to look at the audience, and sure enough, it was standing room only. The cruisers in the back shouted yes followed by some thumbs-up. Then Eric began a practiced introduction speech.

  Alan pranced—actually pranced—over to the rack that held the various colors of glass.

  “Anyone here know what that stuff is that Alan is pouring onto the table there?” Eric asked the audience.

  Rachel and Faith both raised their hands and shouted, “Frit.”

  Eric nodded. “Yes, to the ladies down in front. Frit is crushed glass that will be melted into the angelfish that Alan is going to create for us today. He’s using both black and white, which will give the body a speckled appearance. He’s also going to use some thin rods of glass sometimes called stringers to make some stripes.”

  Savannah wondered if this much detail was a way of guiding Alan through the demonstration. He seemed a little out of it. Eric must be ove
rwhelmed with taking on a cruise ship beginner along with shepherding Alan.

  I need to at least stop him from worrying about me.

  The demonstration progressed with no problems and Savannah was relieved that her fluted vase was even larger than her practice piece and landed safely into Eric’s gloved hands.

  After the performance, Eric fielded questions from the audience.

  “What happens to the pieces that you make?”

  “I’m glad you asked. Since we are the nonprofit arm of Crystal Glass Works here on board this beautiful ship, we aren’t allowed to sell our work.”

  There were audible groans from the audience.

  Eric raised his hand. “However, we are permitted to auction them to the highest bidder for the benefit of several charities. This week, the charities are United Way, Make-A-Wish of America, and City Year.”

  Someone from the back row yelled out, “When is the auction?”

  Eric stood taller to look at the man at the back. “It works like this. On the last evening on board, there will be an auction in the same event space as the art auctions. We’ll display our pieces up here for the duration of the cruise, then we place each of the pieces we have created this week up for bid. Any final questions?”

  Eric paused. “Thank you for coming and I hope you enjoyed our demonstration.”

  He unhooked the battery pack and microphone headset, then walked out to stand in front of the access gate. He talked to the audience members who had additional questions or wanted to thank him for the show.

  Savannah and Alan began cleaning up the Hot Shop in preparation for a complete shutdown for the evening. When no one remained of the audience, Eric slapped Alan on the back. “You did great! Perfect performance.”

  “I told ya. See you at family lunch tomorrow.” Alan scooted through the stage door.

  Eric walked over to Savannah and gave her a pat on the back. “Good job. It looks like you’ve got your rhythm back.”

  “Thanks. Like the cliché, it’s like riding a bike.”

  Eric nodded. “It looks like you used to ride a racing bike. That was awesome.”

  “What’s family lunch?”

  Eric shook his head. “It’s a way for us to stay connected during our three-month contracts. We try to eat together like a family at least once a day. It helps keep us semi-sane.”

  Savannah glanced over at the stage door. “I’m curious about Alan. What’s wrong with his memory?”

  “Boy, that’s a sad story. Last year on this very same itinerary, he was hit by a car while riding one of those iconic Vespa scooters.”

  “In Italy? Like in the movie, Roman Holiday?”

  “Yes, it was a complete miracle that he wasn’t killed outright.”

  “Was he wearing a helmet?” asked Savannah.

  “Thankfully, yes. It’s not the law in Italy, which just mystifies me beyond words.” He scanned the work area and found one more frit container to put away. “Anyway, he suffered a closed brain injury. If he hadn’t been strong and fit, he likely wouldn’t have survived.”

  “Who hit him?”

  “The police never found out. It was a hit-and-run. Anyway, his short-term memory is erratic and sometimes nonexistent. His doctors call it a Swiss cheese memory. Some things are fine, but some years and some events are gone.”

  “He performs well, though.”

  “That’s muscle memory. We all have that.”

  Savannah glanced out and saw Edward waiting at the edge of the seating area. “Are we done for the evening?”

  “Yes, we’ll meet for lunch at the buffet at one o’clock tomorrow to go over plans for the day’s work. But, you’re free until then.” He looked over to the waiting Edward. “Just don’t get caught in a stateroom. That’s against the rules.” He said the words sternly, but then winked.

  Savannah walked around the audience glass barrier and gave Edward’s hand a quick squeeze. “Whew! I’m glad that went well. I didn’t want to break another vase.”

  “Are you off duty now?”

  “Yep. I’m hot and sweaty. I’ll shower and change into something clean. You go to the main dining room and I’ll get dinner with the crew to get a little better acquainted. Where do you want to meet afterward?”

  “How about on the stern? I love watching the wake of the ship highlighted in the moonlight.”

  As agreed, Edward met her at one of the large outside tables overlooking the stern of the ship on the same deck as the buffet restaurant. He approached the table with two little old ladies trailing along right behind him. They had changed into matching outfits that featured large tropical fish on long flowing dresses and their feet were decked out with bright orange espadrilles.

  Edward smiled ruefully. “Rachel and Faith wanted to see you after the demonstration, but they had a spa appointment. We had dinner together in the main dining room, so they asked if they could tag along for a few minutes. I thought that would be fine with you.”

  “Of course, what spa treatment did you have?” She looked at the sweet faces that were flush with a rosy luster in their cheeks and a bright sparkle in their eyes.

  “We had facials and manicures.” They both spread out their hands and wiggled fingers polished with a scandalous scarlet red.

  Rachel tapped Edward on the arm. “That cousin of yours didn’t show up for dinner. Is that a problem?”

  “Not really. He’s his own man and I’m betting he’s finding the freedom from studying for his exams to be intoxicating as well as the unlimited beverage package. I told him to meet us here.”

  Faith piped up. “Do you think he will?”

  “Yes, I pulled the ‘I am the biggest cousin’ card. He’ll be here.”

  Faith leaned over to Rachel. “Tell her.”

  Rachel leaned away. “We don’t have to—I wanted it to be a surprise.”

  “What surprise?” Edward pulled out two chairs for the twins to sit. “I’m in charge of all surprises, you know.” He stared at each one of them through his eyebrows.

  “Oh, it’s nothing that big,” said Faith as she settled into the chair.

  “I think it’s big,” argued Rachel.

  “I disagree,” replied Faith.

  “Oh, stop! We’re annoying everyone.” Rachel patted Savannah’s hand. “We’re going to buy one of your pieces at the auction,” said Rachel.

  “Here you are! I’ve been looking everywhere.” Ian grabbed a chair from the nearest table and pulled it up between Savannah and Faith. He sat his nearly full pint of beer on the table with enough force to cause the beer to slosh over. “Oopsy!”

  Edward leaped up. “I’ll get a napkin.”

  “You’re drunk, young man.” Faith poked him in the shoulder with her red fingernail. “That’s disgraceful so early in the evening.”

  A crew member hustled over and efficiently mopped up the spilled beer and handed Ian a cloth napkin. Edward also returned with a dinner napkin to help. Ian sat holding his beer and watched the activity. “At least I didn’t spill it on any of the ladies.” He raised his glass to Savannah and to the twins, then took a deep swig. “I’ve had a bad shock and need the fortification.” His speech was slurred and again his arm wobbled before he placed his pint glass onto the table.

  Savannah took the beer and held it away from Ian’s grabbing hand. Ian glared at her and she glared back. “You’ve had enough for a while. What shock?”

  Ian leaned back in the dining chair and balanced it on two legs. “It’s one of my primary-school mates. He’s not what I would call a mate. He made my life miserable—the bully.”

  Edward sat down after giving his sopping napkin to the server. “What? I don’t remember any bullies.”

  Ian slowly turned his head and made an obvious effort to focus on Edward. It was apparently hard work. “Not for you. You were a big lad, remember? Nobody messed with you. It wasn’t the same for us little cousins.”

  “Who is it?”

  “I’m not going to tell. He hasn’t
changed one bit.” Ian struggled out of the chair to a nearly upright position. “I’m getting another drink. Mum and Dad spent all this money for me to enjoy meself—and that’s what I’m going to do.”

  He lurched away toward the bar on the other side of the ship.

  Savannah placed a hand on Edward’s arm. “He’s completely plastered. Is he going to be all right?”

  “He’s a grown man. At least we don’t have to worry about drunk driving. He can’t get off the ship until our first port.”

  “I hear from the crew that an unexpected storm has formed within the last few hours,” said Savannah. “It sometimes happens at this time of year. They call it a medicane—Mediterranean hurricane. We might miss our first port due to high winds and choppy conditions.”

  Rachel frowned. “I’m worried about Ian. He seemed so angry about meeting this school bully.”

  Faith frowned as well. “Let’s hope this doesn’t end badly.”

  Chapter 7

  Monday, at sea

  “You should stay,” said a drowsy Edward, pulling on Savannah’s arm as she slipped out of his single bed.

  “Now, don’t be difficult.” Savannah slipped out of his grasp. “Ian should be back any minute. None of the porters will be in the hallway and I can get back to crew quarters without being seen.” She planted a warm kiss on his forehead and pulled the covers over him. “Go back to sleep. I’ll see you at breakfast with everyone else.”

  He closed his green eyes and snuggled down into the white bed linen. “Don’t forget to turn the magnet around. I’ll see you tomorrow. I mean today. I mean at breakfast.” He drifted off.

  Savannah quietly opened the cabin door and peeked both ways down the length of the corridor. As she had been told by Eric, none of the porters were in sight and for the first time since she boarded, the ship seemed so peaceful.

  She flipped the smiley face magnet from upside down to right side up as the signal the cousins had agreed to use to indicate that they wanted privacy.

  Once she made her way into the elevator, she relaxed. No one would know where she had been. She punched the elevator button for the top deck to get some fresh air before heading to her cabin, and walked to the stern. She stopped short when she saw the Rosenberg twins leaning against the rail only a few feet from a still swaying Ian.