Claire Gulliver #04 - Cruisin' for a Bruisin' (21 page)

“So where do you go next?” Lucy persisted.

“We will go through the Panama Canal and then up and down the East Coast between South America and Miami. The weather will be lovely. You should come with us. South America is very exciting.”

“Ah, Pedro, you are tempting me. But my publisher is expecting another book, and he can be very demanding.”

“Forget about writing books, come work on the ship. Then you can travel and enjoy while you’re earning a living. That’s what we do.” He used his hand to gesture to the other waiters and servers in the near vicinity. “It’s a great life.”

Pedro handed out the menus with the dessert choices and announced, “Our maitre d’ visited the kitchen today. He has prepared a special dessert for this table. He calls it Melting Glacier. It is a warm chocolate cake with hot fudge sauce on vanilla ice cream. Very delicious. It is not on the menu, only for you, but if you’d like to try it, he will be pleased.”

“He cooks? Lucy, this is a man of many talents,” Ian said with one raised eyebrow. “Pedro, I will have the special. How could I resist.”

Everyone agreed to try the special dessert. Lucy sparkled, flattered at the attention. “Those Italian men, they certainly know how to woo a woman,” she murmured, smiling.

“Apparently so,” Mrs. Bernbaum said dryly. “Be careful, my dear, you may end up with your one true love after all.”

“Not a chance, but it is fun. And he’s a great dancer.”

“And he comes in and out of San Francisco half of the year,” Millie commented.

“That too, we’ll see what the future brings.”

The plates of dessert were beautiful, the rich fragrant chocolate oozed over the peaks of vanilla ice cream and it did look like an iceberg.

“Ooh,” they breathed in unison as they spooned the dessert into their mouths. It was delicious. “How do you suppose he got permission to work in the kitchen? I thought they had all these rules in place because of that stomach virus plaguing the ships? I know, that’s what they told me when I asked for a kitchen tour,” Millie said between bites.

“Oh, Antonio is also a chef. He graduated from Cordon Bleu. He worked first in the kitchens on the ship before becoming maitre d’. And of course, he is good friends with the chef here. He told me he helps out sometimes, when he has time or inspiration. I guess he was inspired.”

“Well, Lucy, this dessert is inspiring me. It’s wonderful. I wonder if he would consider sharing this recipe?” Millie was always interested in adding to her immense collection of recipes.

“I’ll ask him for you, Millie. But if he does share it, you have to promise to make it for me some night.” Lucy finished the last bite reluctantly. “I would like to have this again. Actually, I’d like more now.”

“Ah, you’d like more?” Pedro was at her elbow. “I can get another serving if anyone would like.” He looked around the table, pausing with his eyes on Ian.

“No, no. I’m sure we’d like more, but it’s too late, and it’s too rich. But my compliments to the chef. Will he be dropping by the table?” Ian laid down his spoon.

“No, regretfully, he has been called elsewhere, but instructed me to tell you,” Pedro bowed to Lucy, “he would be seeing you on the dance floor later.” Pedro gestured to Juan to pour the coffee as he collected the dessert plates.

“Dancing tonight? That should be fun with the ship rolling like this. Are you going, Claire?”

Claire shook her head. “I’m going to help Mrs. Bernbaum back to her cabin.”

“Let me help. I have pretty good sea legs,” Ian offered.

Claire and Mrs. Bernbaum both nodded, accepting his suggestion. Ian put down his napkin and came around the table to help her up.

“I’ll see you at breakfast, Mom. I hope Ruth will be all right.” Claire stood up, glad that Ian was going to help as she wasn’t sure how steady she was.

“Now I know why they have this railing installed in the halls all over the ship.” Claire held on to the one stretching down the corridor leading to Mrs. Bernbaum’s cabin, while Mrs. Bernbaum clung to her arm. Ian held Mrs. Bernbaum’s other arm and braced his other hand on the opposite wall of the corridor. Carefully they made their way along with a minimum of lurching and hardly any stumbling.

Finally they reached the cabin door and Ian gallantly took Mrs. Bernbaum’s key card, inserted it in the lock, opening the door for them. They were all relieved when they reached the chairs in the sitting area and sitting, immediately felt more grounded.

“It’s kind of amazing how a ship of this size can be bounced around so by the waves, isn’t it?”

“It gives you a real appreciation of what a power Mother Nature really is,” Ian said. “I can just imagine what it would be like in a real storm like a hurricane.” He shuddered.

“I wouldn’t want to be on the seas then, no matter how big the ship,” Claire agreed. So far she was not seasick, but she wouldn’t want to test it further with a real storm instead of what the Captain had announced on the speaker system as “rough seas”.

“Now, Mrs. Bernbaum, did you want to call security or do you want me to do it for you.”

“I’ll do it, dear. Just help me over to the desk where the phone is, please.”

“Is there a problem?” Ian looked alarmed.

Claire nodded. “Mrs. Bernbaum’s caregiver, Anita, didn’t return from shore in Juneau. Anita had been sea sick and very cross since they left San Francisco, so Mrs. Bernbaum thought she just went home.”

“We had a bit of a tiff, you see,” Mrs. Bernbaum added, in a way of explaining Anita’s behavior. “I thought she got mad and left so I would worry. But now I am worried. We checked and she hasn’t arrived home in San Francisco and I just don’t know what happened to her.”

While Mrs. Bernbaum dialed the phone Ian whispered to Claire, “What does she think happened?”

Claire shrugged. “That’s the problem. She has no idea what happened to her. She thinks the Juneau police need to search for her.”

“Well, the security officers are on their way up here,” Mrs. Bernbaum reported as she hung up the phone.

Ian stood up. “I’ll be getting out of your way.” He paused a moment before adding, “Unless there is something you need me to do?”

“No. Thank you so much for escorting me back from dinner, Ian. You were a big help.”

Claire walked to the door with him. “I’ll just stay with Mrs. Bernbaum, but I’m sure security will take care of everything. Thanks again, Ian. We’ll see you tomorrow.” Claire closed the door gently, trapping the security chain between the door and the sill to prevent it from closing completely.

“He’s a very nice man, isn’t he? But I sense that your mother prefers his brother. What do you think?”

Claire looked at Mrs. Bernbaum with surprise. Then thinking a moment, “You may be right. She does seem to be spending some time with him. He is very nice too, perhaps not quite as sexy as Ian, but very comfortable to be around. I think I’ll just have to keep my eyes open. Wouldn’t that be a surprise, if after all these years she finally took a beau?”

The knock at the door chased those thoughts from her head as she called out, “Please come in. The door is unlocked.”

The first man, very professional looking in his dark blazer with the discreet security patch, went right to Mrs. Bernbaum and shook her hand. “Larry Smithston, madam. I was here the other night.”

“Yes, yes I remember you. Please sit down.” And she looked inquiringly at the second man.

“Mark Belossa, madam.”

“Please, both of you sit down. This is Claire Gulliver. She is a friend of mine and was good enough to help me back to my cabin after dinner.”

The men nodded politely at Claire.

“I am now very worried about my caregiver, Anita Fernandez, who did not return from shore in Juneau. At the time I assumed she decided to fly home to San Francisco because of a little disagreement we had that morning. However, since then my nephew, Dr. Walmer, tried to call her in San Francisco, but couldn’t reach her.

“In addition, Claire contacted a friend in the San Francisco Police Department and they sent an officer out to Anita’s house and interviewed some of her neighbors. No one has seen Anita and they don’t expect her home until Wednesday.

“I’m afraid something has happened to her.” Mrs. Bernbaum sat back, waiting for the security officers to respond.

Claire thought the men were very professional as they questioned Mrs. Bernbaum, recording her answers and offering suggestions. They took her concerns seriously and agreed something could have happened to Anita. They said their agent in Juneau had already done a search of the hospitals and morgue, but they would now instruct him to contact the police and report Anita as “missing.”

And by the time they left, Claire was certain these men would be following the search for Anita carefully.

“Well, do you think they’ll find her?”

“They seem very competent, don’t they? My guess is they’ll find her. I found it very reassuring that they had already had their agent check the hospitals and morgue.” Claire nodded her head, feeling optimistic about the meeting.

“Yes, that’s a load off my mind. I hated to think she might have been hurt, or worse, and waiting for me to find her.”

Claire stood up cautiously, bracing against the next roll of the ship. “Mrs. Bernbaum, is there anything I can help you with before I leave? Do you need help getting ready for bed?”

“No, dear. You’ve been very sweet. I’ll just take my time. And hold on to things. I’ve got a big day tomorrow and I have lots to think about.”

“Mom said you were going to have a ceremony for Nate tomorrow. She wants to attend. Is that all right?”

“I would appreciate it. It will be in the afternoon. The Mulligan Mortuary is arranging it. You can check with them about where it will be.”

“Okay, we’ll see you then. But if you need anything, just call me.” She went to the little desk and wrote her cabin number down. “There, I’m in cabin number twenty-five, twenty-three.” Then she launched herself at the door and, hanging on to the rail, she quickly made her way down the corridor to the elevator.

Sometime in the wee hours of the morning the seas calmed to a gentle roll and by the time the ship sidled up to the dock at Skagway the passengers hardly noticed the ship was now stationary. Claire emerged from the second deck door and walked down the gangway in the crisp bright sunshine to find their ship docked right behind a huge Princess cruise ship. The two ships in a row took up the entire dock, which must have stretched about a quarter mile below the bluff.

The dark gray stone side of the bluff towered over the ships and was adorned with the logos and names of the countless ships which had docked at Skagway. Tradition was when a ship first docked there members of the crew were dispatched to add the ship’s name to the history recorded on the bluff. Judging by the height of the cliff it couldn’t have been an easy chore, yet it was obvious there was some rivalry involved, because many of the names were ornately recorded and some of the logos were artistically rendered. Many were recorded in difficult to access areas, taxing the viewer’s imagination as to how they had been achieved. And they all stood the test of time and weather, a permanent record of ships docking at the tiny historic town.

The four ladies stood a moment on the dock studying the bluff, then remembering the time, they walked briskly down the dock toward the end where the tours were assembling and where, they had been told, they could catch a bus into town.

This morning all four had scheduled a trolley bus tour of Skagway. This afternoon they would split up. Lucy and Ruth had elected to take the afternoon train to Chilkoot Pass, the famous route the gold miners took to the Yukon Gold Fields, while Claire and Millie had opted for a bus to the top of the pass on the new highway. Both options were certainly faster and more comfortable routes than the miners had available. During the height of the gold rush each would-be miner had to carry one thousand pounds of supplies up the steep icy steps over the Chilkoot Pass in order to be allowed to enter the Gold Fields. It was hard to fathom the determination of those miners, which drove them burdened like animals to the top, where they stockpiled their goods and returned to the bottom only to find a place in line again with another load. Horses and mules died en route, but the men pressed on in pursuit of their quest for gold.

“Oh, look at those cute buses.” Millie led the way holding out her ticket to the young woman dressed in a flowered, full skirted dress of the 1920’s and who was clutching her straw, flower bedecked hat on her head with her other hand to keep the brisk icy wind from snatching it.

“Ladies, find a seat we’ll be ready to leave in a moment or two.” She gestured to the door of the brightly painted, very old, yellow bus.

They found a pair of empty benches halfway down the aisle.

“Oh, there’s Heidi.” Millie waved and smiled. Then nodded to another couple across the way she knew from the ship. “Move over a smidgeon, Ruth, or the first time we turn a corner I’ll be on the floor.”

“I can’t move over. These are really small seats. Just hold on.”