Free November-Charlie by Clare Revell

her safely tied up in the harbor. Taking her to the Philippines was another thing all together.
    If they did get there, would they find his parents?
    Of course, he’d find get there and find them.
     
     
     
     
     
     
     

6
     
    Lou clattered up the steps onto the bridge. “So dinner,” she said. “Are you—” She broke off peering over his shoulder. “What are you doing? Have you broken the boat already?”
    Jim jumped and turned, a sheet of labels in his hands. “I didn’t hear you come in.”
    “What are you doing?” She looked at the controls. “Honestly, Jim. You can take this space thing too far, you know.”
    Above the engine controls was a sticker marked impulse engines. Above the radio and intercom it said comm system. The foghorn was marked collision alert. The ship’s log was marked duty log and the diary log marked captain’s log. There were a whole pile of stickers marked up, which he had yet to put up, including bridge, mess hall, officers’ quarters and engine room.
    Jim pointed to the poster he’d put up on the bridge door. “You can never take it too seriously,” he said.
    “Are you cooking tonight?” she asked, reading the poster.
    “You’ve got to be joking.”
    “Ah, no. Joe King was my grandfather, actually.”
    “Oh, ha, ha, ha. And, no, I’m not, unless you like burnt toast. Cos that’s my specialty.”
    “Whatever happened to sharing all the jobs?” Lou asked.
    “Wore off quickly if you ask me,” Staci replied. “Why do some men find cooking so hard and yet most of the best chefs are men?”
    Lou grinned. “That’s easy. Probably trying to impress their girlfriends.”
    “Jim doesn’t have one, therefore he doesn’t need to cook.”
    “Never will if he doesn’t learn.” Lou laughed.
    “I don’t need to learn to cook. You two stowed away, therefore you two can do it.”
    Staci looked at him. “We shall remember this,” she told him.
    “I am so scared.”
    “You should be,” Lou said, heading back down to the galley to find something to cook. “Be afraid, be very afraid.”
    Staci made a list of everything they had and it didn’t take them long to realize they had a major problem. Jim had shopped for one person, not three, well, four including the dog. Unless he planned to stop in France or Spain, they needed to shop before they reached Land’s End.
    Lou followed Staci up to the bridge and watched the younger girl take on her brother. She was a regular firebrand when she got going.
    “Jim, we have a problem.”
    “Already? I can’t leave you girls alone for a minute, can I?”
    “There’s not enough food to last us a week, never mind several.”
    “That’s not my fault. I wasn’t expecting company.”
    “As I don’t speak French, nor does Lou, we need to stop somewhere in England for more food.”
    “Too dangerous,” Jim said. “It has to be France.”
    “Look, Jim,” Lou said, coming up behind Staci, with the dog at her heels. “Unless you want a mutiny, I suggest you stop somewhere in Cornwall. There are plenty of small ports along the coast. I can shop and take Deefer for a walk.” She leant over the map. “How about here? Or here? So long as it’s not a big town. We can stop overnight, shop first thing. After all, it’d be easier to get used to the galley oven when you’re not moving the boat so much.”
    Jim sighed. “OK. I give in. Anywhere in particular?”
    “Nope, just pick one. Staci and I will make a list while I cook.”
     
    ~*~
     
    The next morning Lou held out her hand to Jim, who automatically handed over his card. She already knew his PIN—with Jim it could only be one set of numbers, so hadn’t been hard to guess.
    “Don’t go mad,” he warned her.
    “Thanks. As if I would. See you after lunch.” With that, she charged down the steps, whistling to Deefer. She grabbed her bag and shoving Jim’s card inside it, was ashore before the others could argue.
    Lou and Deefer walked along the quay. At the end the