Read Elspeth Hart and the Perilous Voyage Online
Authors: Sarah Forbes
Elspeth Hart and the Perilous Voyage (3 page)
“Elspeth, you can’t! It’s too dangerous!” Rory said. “You can just put another copy of the recipe together, can’t you? You know the code now… Why would you go chasing after them?”
“Think about it,” Elspeth said. “The most important thing is that there is only ever one copy of that recipe! Hart’s Extra-special
Sticky Toffee Sauce won’t be so extra special if Crabb and Goulash know how to make it! I’ve GOT to get it back. I’m going after them.”
“Elspeth,” Rory said earnestly. “I think you need to stay as far away from those two as possible. You’ll be safe here. We’ve got electronic gates and security cameras and everything.”
Elspeth wasn’t a bossy person, but she could be very determined sometimes.
“Rory, you know how important that recipe is to my mum and dad. And it’s my fault that Crabb and Goulash got their hands on it, so I have to get it back. I know exactly where we have to go to find it.” She flicked through the newspaper and showed Rory the article about the
HMS Unsinkable
.
Rory started to read, looking nervous.
Elspeth pointed to Miss Crabb’s scribbles. “See? They’re going to get on the ship pretending to be the ladies who work in the hair and beauty salon. We have to get on the ship, too!”
Rory was much more cautious than Elspeth. From the look on his face, she could see that he’d need a bit of persuading.
“Please, Rory. You’re the only one I can trust. Plus … it’ll be an adventure!” Elspeth gave him her most pleading look. “We need to go straight away, though. The ship sails tomorrow.”
Rory stared at her. “You can’t be serious,” he said.
“I am! We’ll need money for the train, then we just have to get on board the ship somehow,” Elspeth said.
“You want to sneak on to a ship … that’s going all the way to America … in case that ship has Miss Crabb on it? Are you insane?”
Lazlo hopped up and down on Rory’s shoulder.
Elspeth nodded firmly. “I’m getting on that boat, Rory. It’s my only chance! I’ll go on my own if I have to, but I’d really like you to come with me. Together I
know
we can get the better of Miss Crabb and Gladys Goulash. Please?
Pleeeeeease
?”
Elspeth knew she’d persuaded Rory when she saw a tiny smile appear on his face.
“OK, OK, OK,” said Rory, “I’ll come – I can’t let you do this alone. Even though I think it’s a mad idea.”
“Rory! Thank you!” Elspeth gave him a hug and he blushed. Then she sat down and pulled her notebook out of her rucksack.
“Right, it said in the paper that the ship sails at six o’clock tomorrow evening. It’ll be hard to sneak off without Mr Tunnock noticing. Maybe we should slip away tonight, when he’s asleep.”
“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” said Rory. “He’d realize I was gone in the morning. Then he’d have to phone my mum and dad to say I’m missing.”
“Hmm.” Elspeth thought for a minute. “You need an excuse to go away for a bit. That way, Mr Tunnock won’t be worried about you, and your parents will never know you’ve been gone. Hey, couldn’t we say we’re off to a summer camp? Like … a tap-dancing camp!”
“Perfect!” Rory’s eyes lit up. “Tunners knows I wasn’t getting good marks in Tap last year. Yes, we’ll tell him we’re going to
tap-dancing camp in Southampton.”
“I know… Let’s write a VERY convincing note,” Elspeth said.
“Yes!” said Rory. “Good idea, Elspeth. Follow me.” They dashed down the hall and into Mrs Snitter’s study.
Rory grabbed a fountain pen, a sheet of writing paper and a handwritten to-do list that was sitting next to the phone:
Very carefully, copying his mum’s handwriting, Rory wrote a note:
Rory paused for a minute, chewing the end of the pen and thinking.
“One more thing,” said Elspeth. “We might need some food.”
Rory nodded. “Yes. We’ll need plenty of chocolate for Lazlo, too. It’s the only thing that keeps him quiet.”
He started writing again.
“That’s the sort of thing she would say,” Rory said. Then he added a big squiggly signature. “Now what?” he asked.
“Now we give Mr Tunnock the note and tell him to be ready to set out straight after lunch tomorrow,” said Elspeth.
Rory and Elspeth climbed out of the car at Southampton docks. When they had given Mr Tunnock the note that morning, he had simply read it, nodded slowly and gone to make their sandwiches. After lunch, they’d climbed into the family limousine and Mr Tunnock had driven them all the way to Southampton in
silence. But he did look slightly suspicious now they had arrived.
“I trust you have all you need?” he asked. Elspeth had her rucksack and Rory had a satchel with him. Mr Tunnock looked around the docks. “Where are the other children?”
“Don’t worry, they won’t be far away. This is definitely the meeting place,” Elspeth said confidently.
“Yes, thanks Tunners,” Rory added. “No offence, but it’s not cool to be seen with the grown-up who dropped you off. We’d rather go and find everyone by ourselves, if that’s OK.”
Mr Tunnock nodded and gave them a solemn wave as he started the car.
As soon as he had driven off, Elspeth and Rory turned and gazed up at the vast bulk of the HMS
Unsinkable
.
It was white and shiny, as long as three football pitches and even taller than Rory Snitter’s house. I’m sure you can imagine, dear reader, how very tiny Elspeth and Rory felt as they stared up at the majestic ship sitting in the dock. There were people everywhere, waving from the deck and saying tearful goodbyes. A man on the gangway was checking tickets as people boarded.
“Elspeth, how are we going to get on board without being seen?” Rory asked, tucking Lazlo into his shirt pocket.
Elspeth had been wondering the same thing. But before she could reply, a stretch limousine squealed to a halt beside them, making them both leap out of the way.
“We’re late, Albert! We really are frightfully frightfully late!” shrieked a large
woman in a tweed suit, flinging herself out of the car. “They’ll sail without us and we’ll miss our best chance of becoming friends with Lord and Lady Spewitt! Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear!”
“Yes, yes, Petunia,” said a tired-looking man, following her towards the ship. He waved at the porters. “I say, you there! Bring our trunks in, will you? Cabin 12A and be quick about it.”
The couple hurried up the gangway as a porter hauled their luggage out of the limo.
Elspeth stared in astonishment. They were the biggest trunks she had ever seen.
Wait a minute
… she thought.
You could fit a grown man in there!
She grabbed Rory’s hand and started to run. As soon as the porter was looking away, Elspeth opened the biggest trunk and clambered inside, pulling Rory in after her and letting the lid close softly.
There was a horrible smell of mothballs, but a small crack in the side of the trunk meant they had a little light and just enough air. Elspeth dragged a heavy ballgown over their heads.
“Just stay very still,” she whispered.
“Easy for you to say,” said Rory. “Lazlo hates being cooped up – you know that.” Rory squirmed to the side a bit and dug a piece of chocolate out of his pocket. “This’ll
keep him quiet for a minute or two, but it won’t be long before he starts biting.”
There was muffled thumping outside. Elspeth held her breath as the trunk was lifted up. Then, judging by the slow, jerky movements, it felt like they were being carried aboard.
“Weighs a flipping ton, this does,” said one of the porters. “What’s she got in here, solid gold?”
“Wouldn’t be surprised,” said the other. “Hope she tips us!”
Thud-drag, thud-drag, thud-drag.
“At least those two passengers aren’t as bad as the women getting on earlier,” the first porter said. “Did you see them? One’s got purple hair and one’s got dark hair in a fancy do. They were so bossy with Bill the security guard!”
The second one laughed. “Yeah, they looked like trouble! Bill said they didn’t have the right papers, but they work in the hair salon, so he had to let them on. He said the short fat one doesn’t smell too good though!”
THUD
. Elspeth felt them put the trunk down, then she heard a door bang closed.
“Get out, quick,” Elspeth hissed.
They scrambled out.
“Did you hear what those porters were saying?” Elspeth asked in excitement.
“Yes! They must have been talking about Miss Crabb and Gladys Goulash in disguise. You were right – they’re on board!” Rory said. He picked up his satchel. “But where should we go first?”
Elspeth looked around. They were in a beautifully furnished cabin with a view
out to sea. She could see another door leading to a fancy bathroom. It was all very luxurious, but Elspeth knew they couldn’t stay there for long without getting caught.
“I think we should…” Elspeth stopped and put a finger to her lips. She could hear a voice from the corridor and it sounded like the lady they’d seen at the docks.
“Albert, I’m in FRIGHTFUL pain with these new shoes,” the woman was shouting. “I must find those plasters at once. My poor feet!”
Rory and Elspeth looked at one another in a panic.
“They’ll find us!” Rory whispered.
“Bathroom!” Elspeth replied.
They leaped in to the bathtub and drew the shower curtain across, just as the door to the cabin flew open.
“Frightful, frightful, frightful!” the woman was shouting.
Elspeth peeked around the curtain. She could just see the woman’s bottom as she bent over, hauling everything out of a trunk and throwing it on the floor. “It’s a DISASTER, Albert. I’m in agony. Take me home at once. I shan’t sail.”
“Oh, calm down, Petunia,” said the man. “Come and have a nice drink up on deck.”
“Nice drink!” Petunia whacked him over the head with a purse. “You stupid man – I can’t walk another step in these shoes!”
“I believe Lord Spewitt might be up there,” the man said in a sly voice.
“What? Why on earth didn’t you say so?” shrilled his wife. “What are you standing about here for, you silly fool? Hurry, let’s go!”
The door slammed shut again and Rory and Elspeth breathed out in relief.
“Right,” Elspeth said. “We can’t stay here. We need to get a better hiding place, so we can find Crabb and Goulash before they find us.”
What Elspeth didn’t know was that, at that very moment, Miss Crabb was directly beneath them, in the
HMS Unsinkable
Extremely Elegant Hair and Beauty Salon.