Sammy Keyes and the Killer Cruise Read Online Free Page B

day?”
    “Yeah. They usually time it so you don’t see them.” She picks up a card by her towel turtle and says, “Ours is named Ellery and is from the Philippines.” She puts the card down. “A lot of them are from the Philippines. They’re away from their families for, like, a
year
, doing back-to-back cruises and sending their money home.”
    Now, the room has lots of mirrors that make it feel bigger than it really is, but our luggage has already been delivered and is standing in the middle of the walkway, making it feel kind of cramped.
    “Hey,” Marissa says, taking charge of the luggage, “this is Marko’s. I’m going to go swap it for yours.”
    Before I can say, Wait—I’ll get my own darn luggage! she’s on her way out the door. And since I’m feeling pretty bugged by her and cramped by her big ol’ suitcase, I escape out the sliding glass door to the balcony and,
aaaah—
instant relief.
    The balcony isn’t big—it’s only got a small table and two small chairs—but it’s open to the world and that changes the feel of everything.
    I take in a few deep, salty breaths, then lean over the railing just a little and check out the harbor and the seagulls and the cargo ships and giant cranes unloading seatrains. And I’m thinking how
awesome
it is when I hear, “Don’t fall!”
    I look to my left, and there’s Darren, peeking around the barrier between our balconies.
    The barriers between balconies are more for marking boundaries than they are for privacy. They’re frosted glassin metal frames, mounted about a foot off the ground, so they’re easy to see around and under. And since the guardrail between me and the deep blue sea comes up to my armpits, I laugh and go, “Fall? I’d have to climb on one of these chairs and—”
    “Don’t!” he says, because I’m grabbing a chair like I’m going to drag it forward.
    “I won’t!” I tell him with a laugh.
    He’s looking straight down at the water. “Don’t even joke about it.” He looks back at me. “No clowning around. You would not survive that drop, you understand that?”
    “You are way too worried!” I tell him.
    “I’ve heard stories,” he grumbles.
    “About me?”
    “Yes, about you!”
    “From?”
    “Your grandmother.”
    I think about that a minute. “Well, maybe I’ve gotten into some scrapes, but I do not have a death wish, okay?”
    Marissa’s joined me outside and throws in, “It’s not like
we’re
rock ’n’ rollers who are notorious for throwing things off balconies and jumping into pools from them.”
    “Yeah,” I tell him. “Maybe
you’re
the one we should be worried about.”
    “Come on,” he says, ducking out of view. “Let’s all unpack and explore the ship.”
    “Explore?” I call after him. “First we eat!”
    I start to follow Marissa inside, but right then I see something fluttering in the corner of my eye, and when I turn, I see something drifting down from above. It’s adeep, dark blue, and when it gets closer, I realize it’s a small scarf. I lean out and can see the bottoms of white pants on a balcony to my left, one deck up, turning to go inside. “Hey, wait!” I call as I stretch way over the railing to try and catch the scarf.
    I manage to snag it, and it turns out to be a fancy handkerchief. You know—the kind men stuff in their suit coat pocket?
    “Hey!” I call again, but the person in the white pants is gone.
    Like they didn’t even care about the scarf.
    Which is strange, ’cause it’s silk.
    And obviously expensive.
    And, I realize as I turn it over, monogrammed.

FOUR
    When I go back inside the cabin, I find Marissa reading a blue-and-white sheet of paper. “This is the Cruzer Calendar,” she says without looking up. “There’s a new one delivered every day, and it tells you what activities are happening when.” Then she sees the handkerchief in my hand. “What’s that?” she asks, forgetting all about the Cruzer Calendar.
    “It fell down from a