by Annie Bryant
“Great idea!” Charlotte agreed. “And, it’s a bigger room with a huge closet.”
Marisol looked worried. “I don’t want to get you girls involved. After all, it’s my job to look out for you.”
“But you won’t have any job if someone finds him here, right?” Isabel pointed out. “Plus, if they catch him, they might let him go…and, and…”
“He could get killed,” Charlotte finished quietly, shuddering at that horrible thought.
“So, qué piensas?” Isabel asked in Spanish. “What do you think?”
“When everyone’s on shore leave in Kauai enjoying the activities planned on the island,” Marisol plotted, “the ship will be pretty much empty…except I’m your chaperone, so I’ll probably be with you…”
“Just carry him to our room late tonight,” Charlotte said. “We can hide him in a pile of towels or something.”
“We’ll bring back food from the dining room for him,” Isabel said. “And keep him company.”
“I still don’t know…” Marisol hesitated, clasping and unclasping her hands. Fresh tears pooled in her eyes.
Isabel hugged her. “I’ll draw a picture of him for you. That way, when he’s at the bird sanctuary, you’ll have something to remember him by.”
Charlotte was pretty certain that Isabel would be drawing more than one portrait of Franco, since Marisol wasn’t the only one who would want a memento of the bird.
“Okay, I think you girls have me convinced…almost.” Marisol checked her watch. “¡Ayyyy! We’re beyond late! Your friends must be awake by now. I am a chaperón terrible,” she said, switching the words around and pronouncing them in Spanish.
“No, you’re the best chaperone ever!” Isabel assured her as Marisol grabbed a map from a pile of papers on her desk and traced the route to the infirmary for the girls. They agreed to meet Marisol and the rest of the BSG outside the infirmary after visiting with Mr. Ramsey. Then they’d go to breakfast together. Hopefully there would still be some food left!
As they turned to leave, Isabel stole one last look at Franco—who was staring right at her from inside the closet!
“Hola, Izzy!” he called after her.
“Hasta, Franco!” she called back, closing the closet door gently, then following Charlotte into the hallway.
“Do you think we’re going to be able to keep Franco a secret?” Charlotte wondered.
“We will,” Isabel replied with confidence. We have to, she thought to herself. Franco’s life depends on it!
Secrets to Keep
By the time they reached the ship’s infirmary, the sun was up and shining through the windows. Charlotte and Isabel waved to Mr. Ramsey through the glass window.
“Can we come in?” Charlotte pleaded.
“You’ll need masks and gloves,” her dad said, coughing.
There was only one nurse in the whole infirmary this early, and the girls managed to find her after knocking on the wrong door and waking up a poor passenger who was there with an allergic reaction to the chlorine in the ship’s pool.
Charlotte wasn’t happy about wearing a mask, but she was pleased that her dad looked a little better. However, he still wasn’t the dad who had surprised her and her friends with a weeklong cruise around the Hawaiian Islands. He had announced it over pizza at one of the BSG’s famous sleepovers after getting the approval of everyone’s parents.
“So how are you feeling?” Charlotte mumbled through her mask, wishing she could give her dad a big hug.
“Better than ever,” Mr. Ramsey croaked, but Charlotte could tell he meant the opposite.
Isabel poured him some water out of a bottle near the bed and set the glass down on his bedside tray. “Do you want us to bring you anything? Something to read?”
Mr. Ramsey took a sip of water, coughed into his fist, and shook his head. “I’m mostly sleeping. What about you two? Are you having fun? Are you taking notes on cruise life for the article?”
“We are,” Charlotte promised, “but it would be more fun with you. So get better fast!”
“I’m working on it,” he replied. “And Marisol is taking care of you?”
Charlotte and Isabel shared a look.
“That’s a definite yes,” Isabel assured him. Marisol was taking care of them—and a parrot, too!
CHAPTER
7
What to Do, What to Do?
The dining room was filled with the delicious smell of bacon and freshly baked muffins. Avery inhaled deeply and her mouth watered. Her appetite was back about a million-fold after the morning detour to the pool with Maeve, and she needed energy, fast! Especially if she was supposed to go horseback riding for the first time in her life later that morning.
“I’m hitting up that buffet!” Avery declared as she took in the colorful display of fruit, eggs, waffles, and bagels. “What do you think, Maeve? Two or three waffles?”
“Slow down!” Maeve told her. “First, let’s find a place to sit.” She searched the room and spotted Katani across the room. “C’mon, this way.”
Maeve dragged Avery over to discover Katani, Kazie, Mr. Madden, Andie, and Kara-Lee seated around a huge table, finishing up breakfast. Yellow hibiscuses, Hawaii’s state flower, adorned the tables.
Mr. Madden stood up to give his daughter a hug. “Hey kiddo, we wondered what happened to you.”
“Where’s Charlotte, Izzy and Marisol?” Avery asked as her dad gave her a big squeeze, which for some reason made Avery feel a twinge of embarrassment.
“And a good morning to all y’all as well!” Kara-Lee replied.
Avery ignored her and asked again. “Shouldn’t Char and Izzy be here by now?” She looked to Katani, avoiding Kara-Lee and Kazie’s eyes.
Katani almost gasped at Avery’s rudeness. But she reminded herself that Avery was still freaked out from having her dad and his girlfriend show up unexpectedly.
“Oops, Avery, lost your friends?” Kazie teased, laughing.
Maeve looked from Avery to Katani to Kara-Lee to Kazie. We can’t be getting on each other’s nerves on day two of our tropical fantasy cruise! she thought. This situation calls for some improv!
“Well, at least they’re together!” Maeve chirped brightly. “Now, Kara-Lee, I want to hear you talk talk talk! One day I might have to do a Southern accent and yours is like pancakes with extra syrup on top.”
“Aren’t you the sweetest!” Kara-Lee declared.
Avery had had enough of the mutual-appreciation society. “Speaking of syrup,” Avery interrupted, “I’m grabbing some of that buffet.”
“That’s my girl!” Mr. Madden said with a twinkle in his eye. He smiled at her lovingly and then went back to talking with Andie.
The only girl he seems to notice is his girlfriend, Avery thought, then caught herself. Remember the dolphins. Let’s up the fun factor!
Watermelon, pineapple chunks, and waffles—with fresh juicy strawberries—helped her feel less cranky. But even when she sat back down and savored the sweet taste of the fruit, Avery still couldn’t get around one thought: Two seconds on the boat and suddenly Katani’s all BFF with Kazie. Why can’t Katani, who can see through everyone, see how totally annoying Kazie is? And Kara-Lee, well, she didn’t have anything against Kara-Lee really, except that she was totally hogging Katani’s time.
Avery put her head down and dug into her waffles and eggs.
“Slow down, Avery,” Katani joked. “It’s not going anywhere!”
“She’s gonna need all the energy she can get for our gnarly day,” Kazie declared. “Up high for horseback riding!”
She held her palm out to Avery to get a high five, but Avery didn’t even look up. Maeve was horrified! What happened to our talk by the pool? She knew Avery was upset, but she had never seen her be mean to anyone! Maeve looked at Mr. Madden, but he and Andie had their heads together and were discussing something. Good, the lovebirds missed it! Maeve slapped Kazie’s palm instead.
“What are all y’all plann
ing on doing?” Kara-Lee asked the table. She was staring down at an activities brochure.
Katani leaned over Kara-Lee’s shoulder. “We should make a list.” Katani loved lists—she was always being pulled ten different ways, so lists helped organize her time and effort.
“Item numero uno has to be karaoke! There’s a competition when we hit Maui,” Kazie exclaimed.
“Definitely!” Kara-Lee declared. “I love to sing! Don’t you girls?”
Avery shoved a wedge of pineapple in her mouth. “I just want to snorkel and surf,” she muttered to Maeve in between bites.
“The sights below the surface of the water must be fantabulous,” Maeve agreed, envisioning colorful fish—and maybe even mermaids! I wish I turned into a mermaid when I went swimming…, Maeve imagined. “Can I see that schedule?” she asked.
Kara-Lee handed her the brochure, pointing out, “Snorkeling’s not until the day after tomorrow.”
“Hey, this bike ride tomorrow looks fun.” Maeve read out loud: “‘A leisurely bike ride through historic Hilo and nearby volcanic craters.’” Her eyes grew wide. “Um, is that safe?”
“The volcanoes are as chill as you are,” Mr. Madden explained. “Ave, are you shreddy to hang ten? Check it out—surfing, day four!”
“I was born shreddy,” Avery replied.
“We can carve up the waves together,” he added, giving her a surfer salute: thumb and pinky extended, the rest of the fingers curled closed.
So my dad is planning on spending some solo time with me. Avery swallowed the lump in her throat. She felt bad that she hadn’t really made an effort to hang out with him since he’d shown up the night before.
“Yeah, Avery only snowboards, like, twice a year and she totally shreds,” Kazie laughed. “Can you imagine what she’d be like if she could hit the runs every day?”
And Kazie ruins the moment once again, Avery thought. Her dad would tell her that Kazie was trying to be nice, but Avery could smell an insult from a mile away. If only I lived in Colorado like Kazie, I might be a supercharged A-plus boarder too!
“Just wait till you see how I shred a wave,” Kazie told everyone. “Gnarly.”
“Gnarly” seemed to be Kazie’s new favorite word. And my dad smiles every time she says it! Avery noticed.
Katani had gotten the brochure from Maeve and was busy copying activities into her planner. Kara-Lee looked impressed. “I don’t know how I’m going to manage all of this and not be plum tuckered out,” she commented.
“Totally!” said Kazie. “I might hafta hit that buffet for thirds. I need to keep up my energy!” Kazie jumped up from the table and hopped over to the line of people waiting to fill their plates.
“Make sure your eyes aren’t bigger than your appetite!” Andie called after her.
Mr. Madden smiled at Andie and gave her hand a squeeze. Maeve caught the gesture out of the corner of her eye. It’s nice to have a touch of romance around the breakfast table! she thought. Although judging by the look on her friend’s face, Maeve was sure Avery didn’t feel the same way.
Katani finished her list. “Okay, this is what I have so far.” She slid the list across the table to get everyone’s input.
* * *
Day 1: Yesterday. Honolulu. Arrival.
Day 2: Today. Kauai. Horseback riding.
Day 3: Tomorrow. Hilo. Volcanic like tour.
Day 4: Day after tomorrow. Kona, Snorkeling and Surfing
Day 5: maui. Beach day?
Day 6: Maui. shopping???
* * *
Kara-Lee studied Katani’s list. “You’re missing the most important thing!”
“What?” Katani asked, confused.
Kara-Lee took the pen from Katani’s hand and scribbled something on the list. She handed the napkin back to Katani. “Now it’s perfect!”
Katani looked back at the list.
* * *
Day 5: Mani. Beach day? AND KARAOKE COMPETITION!
Day 6: mani. shopping???
* * *
“The Kgirls are fixin’ to rock the mic!” Kara-Lee declared.
“Kgirls?” Maeve said.
Kazie had returned with a plate full of waffles. “All our names begin with the letter ‘K’,” Kazie said, shoving a forkful of pancake into her mouth, “so we’re the Kgirls Club!”
Avery’s eyes looked like they were about to fall out of her head. As for Maeve, she wasn’t exactly sure how she felt either. Katani was a BSG and now she had her own club with Kazie and Kara-Lee!
“We’re going to krush the competition in karaoke!” Kazie continued. “That’s ‘krush’ with a ‘K’.”
Maybe Avery’s right, Maeve thought. The Beacon Street Girls were supposed to be on this cruise together. It didn’t seem right that Katani was going off and forming a club with other girls and leaving them out. This trip seems to be getting more and more confusing every minute, Maeve worried.
“Katani, you don’t like to sing,” Maeve said.
“But I looove karaoke!” Katani blurted out. Except that wasn’t entirely true. She didn’t mind listening to a karaoke performance, but her friends knew her voice was terrible. But Kazie and Kara-Lee were so excited about performing, she just couldn’t let them down!
“I can totally rock a harmony like no one else,” Kazie bragged, “so we’re a shoo-in to win.”
“Yeah, a shoo-in,” Katani added weakly. Maeve gave her a weird look, but let it go.
There was a lull in the conversation as everyone finished breakfast and stared at the empty, sticky plates littered with pineapple rinds and waffle crumbs.
Maeve held her stomach. “I don’t really feel that much like horseback riding, especially after I ate so much. Can’t we just hang out by the pool instead? We could have a BSG pool party!” she exclaimed. “Speaking of the BSG, where are—?”
“Horseback riding will be fun,” Katani interrupted. She was relieved that the conversation had turned to something she was definitely good at! “Maeve, you mostly just hang on and listen to the instructor. These trail horses know what they are doing. And Isabel and Charlotte are probably with Marisol. They wrote in their note they were going to visit Mr. Ramsey.”
“With everything I ate, my horse is gonna hafta do a ton of work,” Avery said, sipping on a glass of water. “I probably just gained three hundred pounds.”
Maeve laughed at Avery’s exaggeration. Everything Avery ate got burned off in about three seconds!
Avery figured horseback riding couldn’t be any harder than shredding up the slopes snowboarding, or weaving a soccer ball across the field to score a championship-winning goal. Still, she wished she had made time to go riding with Katani and Kelley when they had invited her to go along. But soccer practice and homework always got in the way.
“Since Mr. Ramsey isn’t feeling well, Andie and I are going to tag along and be your chaperones,” Mr. Madden informed them. “The activity directors wanted you to stay with your child-care assistant, but I told them, ‘No way!’ All Mr. Ramsey has to do is sign some forms after breakfast, and it’ll be official: Meet your new ‘Shore Leave Chaperone.’ Call me your SLC!”
“Awesome!” yelled Kazie. “The Kgirls take on the jungle with Jake the Snake!” She high-fived Katani, and Mr. Madden turned to Avery with his palm outstretched.
Avery slapped her dad’s hand lamely. Great, quality time with Crazie Kazie, and a personal escort from my dad…and Andie, Avery thought, cringing.
“Hey guys, sorry we’re late!” Charlotte said, rushing in with Isabel and Marisol.
“Where have you been?” Maeve wanted to know. “We were ready to send out a search party!”
“We were…um…” Isabel grasped for the words. She didn’t want to keep secrets from her friends, but she couldn’t tell them about Franco with Mr. Madden and Andie there!
Charlotte finished her friend’s sentence. “We were visiting my dad in the infirmary, like we said in the note. We had a lot to talk about.”
Isa
bel smiled at Charlotte as if to say, Good save.
“They needed my help to find the infirmary,” Marisol stammered, sweeping her long dark hair back from her face. “You have my deepest apologies that I wasn’t there to accompany the rest of you to breakfast! I promise it will never happen again.”
“No worries!” Jake Madden waved a hand in the air. “We came, we saw, and we conquered that buffet! What’s your name, Marianne?” he squinted at her name tag.
“Marisol.”
“Nice to meet you, Marisol, I’m Jake Madden, Avery’s dad, and I’ll be taking the chaperone-baton for the day. You are off the hook!”
Andie smiled at Marisol. “Thanks so much for helping out with this unexpected situation. But we’ve arranged to take the girls on all of their offshore excursions until Mr. Ramsey gets better.”
“It’s a pleasure to meet you,” Marisol told them. “This is very good. I see that the girls are all together and safe, so I’ll just get back to work and meet you all when you return.”
Isabel smiled to herself and waved as Marisol left the dining room. She knew exactly what sort of work Marisol had to do—she had to get Franco ready for his new cabin! Isabel didn’t know how she was going to contain her excitement all day.
“So,” Katani said, rising from the table, “I’d better get ready for horseback riding! Who’s coming with me?” She looked at Avery, who wasn’t meeting her eye. She wanted to repair this rift between the two of them, and fast. “Ave, I can give you some pointers on riding, if you’d like,” she offered.
Avery shook her head. “I’m still finishing my breakfast.”
Katani sighed. Her plate’s empty! she thought, but knew better than to push it. She hoped Avery would come around eventually. She turned to Maeve. “What about you, Maeve?”
“I think I’ll stick with Avery,” Maeve replied. Maeve knew that Katani’s feelings were hurt, but Avery needed her more right now. “You go ahead, and we’ll catch up.”
