Read Elspeth Hart and the Perilous Voyage Online
Authors: Sarah Forbes
Elspeth Hart and the Perilous Voyage (10 page)
“Elspeth, you did it!” Rory jumped up and down on his bed with glee. Lazlo jumped on the pillow, making smaller bounces. “Oh, I thought it was the end of you when she dangled you over the edge! But we’re safe from Crabb and Goulash again
and
you’ve got your recipe back!”
Elspeth took a run across the room and
jumped up on to the bed with him, and they held hands and bounced together. She was so relieved that she didn’t know what to say.
They heard Cassie’s special knock at the door.
“Oh my goodness!” Cassie cried, dancing in and hugging first Elspeth, then Rory. “That was so exciting! And you should see what they’ve done to Miss Crabb and Gladys Goulash. That bin room smells almost as bad as they do!”
Elspeth started laughing. “You were brilliant! Thanks, Cassie,” she said. “We couldn’t have done it without you.”
“No, you’re the one who came up with all the clever ideas!” said Cassie. “But what now? How are you going to get back to England?”
“I’m going to have to confess to Tunnock that I’m here,” Rory said, feeding Lazlo their very last bit of chocolate. “Then he can come and collect me.”
“Won’t your parents come and get you?” Cassie asked.
“Oh no. Hopefully they won’t even know I’ve been gone,” Rory said. “Tunners won’t tell them. He’ll be worried about getting into trouble. But I doubt he’ll let me out of his sight ever again! He’ll go absolutely bonkers when I tell him where I am.”
Rory picked up the cabin phone, punched in a number and waited.
Elspeth could hear a high-pitched shriek on the other end of the phone when Rory explained where he was, then a lot of questions. Rory had been right – Mr Tunnock had gone absolutely bonkers.
Elspeth listened as Rory tried to convince Tunnock he was about to arrive in New York, then tried to convince Tunnock to stop weeping, then tried to convince Tunnock to fly the private jet over to meet them. Eventually he put the phone down.
“Well,” he said. “Tunners is pretty upset with me, but he’s on his way. He’s contacting the head butler at the International Grand Hotel, who will meet us when the ship docks. He’ll look after us until Tunners arrives.”
“Thank goodness!” Elspeth squeezed his arm. “Good work, Rory. I didn’t fancy having to stow away on another ship to get back home.”
“But you would have done it if you had to,” Rory said. “And you would have managed, Elspeth, because you’re brave like that.”
Then he looked embarrassed and went a bit pink. “Anyway it’s time to pack our things,” he said, picking up his satchel.
Down in the stinky bin room, Miss Crabb was stomping around in a rage, kicking over stacks of empty cardboard boxes. Gladys Goulash had settled herself down next to a tub full of old vegetable peelings and was munching on some carrot skins.
“Mmm, not bad, these,” she said, picking a piece of carrot out of her teeth. “Quite tasty.”
“Gah!” Miss Crabb shuddered with rage and marched towards Gladys, but she slipped on an old banana skin and landed on her back with her feet in the air. As you can imagine, dear reader, this did not improve her mood.
“Stupid banana skin … idiot child … my plan’s been RUINED!” Miss Crabb cried as she hauled herself upright. She started kicking the door in a fit of rage.
Jimmy McScoff gave the door a thump from the outside and Miss Crabb jumped backwards.
“Put a sock in it, woman!” he yelled. “I’ve got a fish slice out here and I’m not afraid to use it!”
Miss Crabb grumbled to herself, but she sat down next to Gladys and stared at the door through narrowed eyes.
“You haven’t seen the last of me, Elspeth Hart,” she muttered.
On the final morning of the
HMS Unsinkable
’s voyage, Elspeth woke up early and lay for a long time, thinking about her mum and dad as the ship ploughed on through the waves.
Are you really in Australia?
she wondered. She thought about how worried they must be.
I’m going to find you, Mum and Dad
,
she thought. She concentrated as hard as she could, trying to make her thoughts zip across the world to wherever her parents were.
The recipe is safe at last and I’m going to find you.
Just then, a loud voice came over the tannoy. “Lords, ladies and gentlemen! We hope you have had a wonderful time on the
HMS Unsinkable.
Please be advised that we dock in New York in fifteen minutes.”
“This is it, Elspeth,” Rory said, jumping out of bed. “We’re almost there! Can you see any land yet?”
They both peered out of the porthole and spotted a long, hazy line of coast in the distance. Then they heard Cassie’s special knock at the door.
“I can’t stop,” Cassie said, rushing in. “I just wanted to give you this. It’s my
mum’s old golfing umbrella. It’s huge. You can put it up when you’re leaving and slip through the crowd. The weather forecast says rain, so everyone will have umbrellas, and they won’t notice another…” Cassie gave a little hiccup and swiped at her eyes.
“Cassie, are you crying?” Rory asked.
“No!” said Cassie indignantly. “I never cry! Crying’s for babies!” But she dashed across the room and hugged first Rory, then Elspeth. Then she patted Lazlo on the head and for once he didn’t try to bite or wriggle away.
“I’ll write to you both,” Cassie said. Then she sniffed and wiped at her eyes again. “Can’t stay,” she added, and hurried out.
Elspeth and Rory smiled at each other.
“Looks like Cassie’s not very good at goodbyes,” said Rory.
“Maybe she’s not as tough as she makes out,” Elspeth said. “I hope we meet her again one day.”
Elspeth felt as though she was in a dream as they followed the stream of passengers getting off the ship. Nobody paid any attention to them, because they were all too busy talking about what an exciting voyage it had been.
“I can’t imagine I shall EVER be able to eat another meal after all that drama!” Petunia was saying loudly as she moved down the gangway with Albert.
“Yes, dear,” said Albert.
“I quite agree,” said Lady Spewitt. She was holding Tinkiewinks, who was dressed in a sailor costume.
“I’m thinking of writing a book about it,” said Lady Spewitt. “It will be called
Our Terror on the Seas
, and Tinkiewinks will help me write it!”
Tinkiewinks howled and tried to scratch her, but Lady Spewitt gave a dainty laugh and pretended she hadn’t noticed.
The rain was hammering on Elspeth and Rory’s umbrella, and they had to make their way carefully down the slippery gangway. Elspeth could just make out some people on the docks. One of them was a man in a smart uniform holding a sign that read
Guests of Mr Tunnock.
“Master Rory! I have been expecting you and your friend!” The butler swept towards them, taking their bags and drawing them towards a taxi.
He was nothing like Mr Tunnock. He
was short and plump and smiley.
“I shall settle you comfortably in my hotel until your Mr Tunnock collects you. He has instructed me not to let you out of my sight!”
“I told you it’d all be fine,” Rory said to Elspeth as they clambered into the taxi. “I was never really that worried about any of it.”
Elspeth knew that wasn’t quite true, but she smiled and didn’t say anything. She didn’t dare to think how things would have turned out without Rory to help her.
As they drove off, Elspeth gazed back at the
HMS Unsinkable
, enjoying the sound of the rain drumming on the roof of the taxi. She touched the top of her trainer and felt the folded-up recipe there. She’d done it. The recipe was safe once more.
And then something caught her eye.
At the side of the
HMS Unsinkable
, she spotted a small splash as a little boat hit the water. It looked as though someone was rowing away in one of the lifeboats.
Elspeth strained her eyes to see better. Yes, someone
was
rowing away in one of the lifeboats. In fact, there were two people. It looked as though one very tall person and one short dumpy person were rowing away as fast as they possibly could.
Elspeth gulped.
It
couldn’t
be … could it?
