Free Voyage of the Dreadnaught: Four Stella Madison Capers by Lilly Maytree Page A

up
leaving me?” Millie choked back a sob to ask. “What's wrong with
me? I feel like I'm infected with some kind of curse on
families!”
    “ Millie, that's not true,” Stella
objected, bouncing the baby in a soothing motion and trying to
comfort her former landlady at the same time. “Why you've got a
bigger heart for families than any person I know. Just look at all
the people you're family to that aren't even related to you.” She
didn't mention that she wasn't related to Lou Edna, either, but it
didn't seem the time.
    “ Thank you, Stella,” Millie sniffed
and reached into the pocket of her sweater for a tissue. “It's just
you have to wonder when all this love you feel keeps chasing people
away.”
    “ We can philosophize, later,” said
Mason. “Right now, I'm thinking Campbell River is a devil of a big
place, and not a one of us here—except Cole—is of an age to be
raising another kid. At the very least, we're gonna have to split
up just to cover enough ground for a look-see. Then
reconnoiter.”
    Now, Cole straitened to his full height and
declared, “I'll find her if I have to—”
    “ You, mister,” said the Captain, in no
uncertain terms, “are an illegal alien in this country and will
stay aboard ship. Be prepared to fire up the engine in one big
hurry, though, in case we have to drag her back kicking and
hollering.”
    “ But, Cap, I—”
    “ No buts. We can't afford the local
laws in on this mess. By the hoagie! Do we even have a birth
certificate on this kid? They don't take kindly to people dragging
other people's kids across borders around here.”
    A statement which produced another grave
silence.
    “ Mason's right,” the colonel agreed.
“We need a plan.”
    “ Well,” said the Captain, “seeing how
it will be mostly a land maneuver, I'm all for deferring the
details to Mase. You're the best expert on how she thinks,
anyhow.”
    “ What do I know what she's got in that
mixed-up head of hers?” Mason grumbled. “All I know is, if she
thinks she can get away with something like this, she's got another
thing coming.”

4
    By the time the Dreadnaught pulled up alongside the courtesy
dock in Campbell River, nearly eight hours had gone by since Lou
Edna had left the boat. So, it was a sombre group that headed off
to scour near-by hotels and cafes, where one might while away hours
waiting for a flight back to the States. Not being able to catch an
immediate flight out was really their only hope, considering the
girl always had a stash of emergency funds for a quick
escape.
    It was a habit left over from living in so
many dreadful places before Mason (who had done his banking where
Lou worked), noticed she was all alone in the world, facing a
terrible situation, and took her home to Millie. The two years she
had been with “the family” were the longest she lived anywhere in
all of her twenty-three years.
    Considering how many boardwalks, malls, and
shops were a short walk away from the waterfront, each of the five
searchers chose a separate street, and agreed to “reconnoiter”
after investigating four blocks. A thorough plan that would have
cast a sufficiently wide net throughout the vicinity. Only they
didn't need to carry it out. No sooner had they started up the
docks to take up their positions, a frantic Lou Edna came flying
down the ramp, hollering, “Pop—oh, Pop!” before she flung her arms
around Mason's neck and cried, “You came back for me—you came
back!”
    “ What did you expect, girlie? You left
something important behind!”
    “ Cole said he'd be better off without
me. And it's true!” She was dressed for obscurity (Stella knew a
lot about runaways): jeans, navy-blue sweatshirt with tennis shoes
and backpack. Little of her face was visible under a ball-cap and
sunglasses. “But I just felt worse the farther I got away from him.
Then I couldn't get back fast enough—you already left!”
    “ Had to leave early to catch the right
tides,” said