Elspeth Hart and the Perilous Voyage (6 page)

10

The Ship Begins to Lurch

Elspeth woke up the next morning with a jolt when Rory’s alarm clock went off. For a second she couldn’t think where on earth she was, then in a flash she remembered she was on the
HMS Unsinkable
, and Cassie had sneaked them into a fancy cabin.

Elspeth got up with a strange feeling in the pit of her stomach. The ship
was swaying from side to side, and it was making her feel funny. Then she remembered that she was going to do some detective work in the Extremely Elegant Hair and Beauty Salon, and that made her stomach churn even more.

I have to be brave
, Elspeth thought to herself as she got washed and dressed.
It’s worth the risk if I can get Mum and Dad’s recipe back.

She heard Cassie’s special knock: three knocks, then two, then one. That was how they knew it was safe to open the cabin door.

“Ready?” Cassie grinned at them. “Exploring mission: GO!”

They all hurried down to the lowest level of the ship, holding on to the railings to keep themselves steady as the ship tipped from side to side.

“Urgh, I’m not sure I like being at sea,” Rory said, as they arrived at the corridor leading to the salon. He looked a bit green. “Be very careful, Elspeth,” he added. “Don’t let them see you.”

“I will be careful,” said Elspeth, “but I need to do this. Otherwise I’ve got no way of knowing where things are in the salon, and where Crabb and Goulash sleep. You two keep lookout. If I’m not back in five minutes, I need help!”

“Good luck!” they whispered.

As she walked down the corridor, Elspeth thought for a second that she could hear a muffled banging, but when she paused to listen, it had stopped. She took a deep breath and kept going until she reached a glass door with the words
Extremely Elegant Hair and Beauty Salon
on it. Very carefully, Elspeth leaned forward until she could see inside.

Even under that terrible wig, she could clearly see that the woman scribbling in a greasy old notebook was Miss Crabb. Gladys Goulash was with her, slowly counting a pile of fifty-pound notes and burping. Elspeth gave a shiver at seeing them so close.

She peered in, trying to guess where they might have hidden the recipe. In one of the cupboards, maybe? Or in the box with the fifty-pound notes? But Elspeth couldn’t get any nearer without being seen. She looked further down the corridor and noticed an open door, revealing a very untidy cabin. An awful smell was coming from inside, and Elspeth could just make out two beds and a pile of clothes on the
floor. But she didn’t dare go closer in case Crabb and Goulash spotted her through the glass door.

She moved quietly back along the corridor to Cassie and Rory, who were hiding behind a big display of fancy flowers.

“I saw their cabin!” she told them. “I’ll need to search in there as well as in the salon. But how can we get both of them out of the way for long enough?” she said. “Cassie, what happens on a ship like this if someone sets off a fire alarm?”

“Oh, everyone’s supposed to get up on deck, where there are meeting stations that you wait at,” Cassie said.

“Hmm,” Elspeth said. “I wonder…”

Elspeth Hart had a very interesting idea.

11

The
HMS
Unsinkable
Fire Alarm

The next morning, Elspeth waited next to the fire alarm on the third level. She felt very nervous. Smashing a fire alarm was pretty high up on the list of Naughty Things You Must Not Ever Do, but then again, so was stowing away on a cruise ship. And so were kidnapping people and stealing top-secret recipes. Elspeth took a deep
breath and bashed the fire alarm with her elbow.

The siren was so loud that Elspeth had to cover her ears with her hands while she ran away as fast as she could. She raced down the nearest staircase and paused in an alcove, pressing her back hard against the wall, but nobody noticed her. Everyone was too busy panicking.

Jimmy McScoff the chef abandoned the huge pan of soup he was stirring and gave a yelp of fright before rushing his staff up to their emergency meeting point.

Petunia Galoshes-Gallop fainted and had to be carried up on deck by her husband.

Lady Spewitt grabbed Tinkiewinks and piled on all her diamond necklaces at once. “I shan’t leave my jewels here – if we escape in a lifeboat, they’re coming with
me,” she announced.

And down in the Extremely Elegant Hair and Beauty Salon, Miss Crabb screeched, “Fire! I’m off! Save yourselves!” and shot out of the door and up the stairs two at a time. Gladys Goulash followed her and the customers ran after them with shampoo suds in their hair.

Elspeth Hart waited until the sound of hurried footsteps died down. Then, when she was absolutely sure there was no one around, she made her way into the Extremely Elegant Hair and Beauty Salon. She rifled through make-up and bottles of shampoo and the box of fifty-pound notes. She looked under tables and in cupboards and drawers and in every nook and cranny she could find, but after searching the whole place, there was no sign of the precious recipe.

It could be in their cabin
, Elspeth thought.
Or maybe Miss Crabb keeps the recipe with her
… But just as she started moving across the corridor towards the cabin, a loud voice came over the tannoy.

“LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, THIS WAS A FALSE ALARM, THERE IS
NO FIRE! PLEASE FEEL FREE TO RETURN TO YOUR CABINS.”

Elspeth was running out of time. She tried the handle of the cabin door, but it was locked. She started hurrying back down the corridor, but then she heard thudding footsteps and a shrill voice she recognized.

“Get back in that salon right now, Gladys Goulash! We’ve got to finish washing the customers’ hair!”

As you know, dear reader, Elspeth was brave and determined and quick-thinking, but the sound of Miss Crabb and Gladys Goulash coming closer threw her into a panic. She gave a squeak of fear as she looked around for a place to hide. Where could she go? The cabin was locked, the corridor behind her was a dead end, and any minute now Miss Crabb would
march through the doors and catch her. There was only one thing for it. Elspeth rushed back into the salon and dived beneath a pile of towels, pulling them over her head. She stayed perfectly still, even as the ship rolled gently from side to side, and prayed she wouldn’t be spotted.

“Gah! Where are those customers? They haven’t paid us yet!” Miss Crabb was stomping around in a rage. “Go and find them, Gladys Goulash. Go on!”

Elspeth heard the door slam. She peeped through a little gap in the pile of towels. What on earth could she do now?

“Stupid customers,” Miss Crabb muttered grumpily. She threw herself down in one of the hairdressing chairs.

After a few minutes, Miss Crabb gave a great yawn.

“Might as well have a little snooze,” Elspeth heard her say.

Elspeth remembered that at the Pandora Pants School for Show-offs, Miss Crabb liked to have a nap whenever she could. She watched closely as Miss Crabb leaned back in the chair and shut her eyes.

Please, please fall into a deep sleep so I can get out of here
, thought Elspeth.

She waited in the pile of towels, not daring to move a muscle. She was in luck – in under a minute, Miss Crabb was snoring loudly with her mouth wide open. Elspeth slipped out from under the towels and crept quietly towards the door. But as she turned the handle, she glanced over to see Miss Crabb sitting up.

Her eyes were open.

She was staring straight at Elspeth.

12

Miss Crabb's Staring Eyes

It is quite amazing, dear reader, that Elspeth Hart did not scream at the top of her voice. She gave a yelp, but slapped her hand over her mouth to stop the sound.

Miss Crabb didn't blink.

Elspeth wanted to run, but she couldn't. It was as if she was stuck to the floor, she was so terrified.

Then Miss Crabb gave a huge snort and sank back down. Her eyes closed and she started snoring again.

Elspeth stared at her for a few more seconds, unable to move. Miss Crabb was still asleep! She must have sat up and opened her eyes
in her sleep
!

She had escaped Miss Crabb's clutches this time … but only just.

“I think you're ever so brave,” Cassie said that evening, handing Elspeth and Rory some sausage rolls she'd sneaked from the dinner table. “You knew those horrible ladies could have caught you. It was so dangerous. Almost as dangerous as the time I jumped off a ship and swam with sharks, and then climbed back up without anyone noticing!”

Elspeth and Rory looked at each other. Cassie's stories were getting more and more unbelievable.

“It was scary,” Elspeth said. “But I'm not giving up. That recipe could be in their cabin. I need to get in there to search it!”

She put down her napkin and sausage roll. She felt too nervous to eat, so she lay back on
her bed. The great ship had started to roll even more on the choppy seas.

“Apparently we're in for some stormy weather,” said Cassie. “The grown-ups were all talking about it at dinner. I hope neither of you get seasick! I never do. I'm totally not scared
at all
.”

Elspeth wasn't paying attention. She was staring upwards and she'd noticed something strange. The ceiling wasn't smooth, like in a normal room. It was made up of lots of large panels.

Elspeth sat up very suddenly. “There are panels in the ceiling of every cabin,” she said. “I wonder…”

She jumped up on her bed and pushed at one of the panels with her hands. Sure enough, the panel popped up and a cold draft blew in.

“Wow! What's up there?” asked Rory.

Lazlo scampered up to take a look.

“Oh, nothing much – just pipes and stuff,” said Cassie. “You can crawl along above all the rooms – they use it for maintenance. A boy on a cruise last summer went up for a dare, but he got really scared and came straight back down again!” Cassie laughed, but then she saw Elspeth's face.

She was staring up into the dark space with a thoughtful look in her eyes.

“Wait, you're not going up there, are you?” Cassie asked. “I wouldn't. I mean, I'm not scared or anything, but it's really dark.”

“Yes!” Elspeth said. “This is how I can get into Crabb and Goulash's cabin! It's perfect!”

Rory was shaking his head. “Elspeth, I'm not sure about this…”

“Don't worry!” Elspeth said. “If the crawl space is totally secret, like Cassie says, then Crabb and Goulash will never know I'm there. I'll just wait until they're both busy in the salon, then I'll sneak into their cabin.”

“Blimey, you're really going to do it.” Cassie swallowed. She went quiet, but not for long. “Well, I heard my mum saying she's getting her hair done tomorrow at four, so we know for certain that they'll be busy in the salon then. Do you think you could sneak in, Elspeth? It seems awfully risky…”

“It
is
risky,” Elspeth said. She stared up into the musty space above her head. “But that's exactly what I have to do.”