This is episode twenty-one of the fifth book in the Trace Troy Adventures in Paradise series. The Title is A Cult in Paradise
. It will be featured in episodes over the next few months. It will eventually be published in full on Amazon. All of the Trace Troy books, as well as my other novels, can be purchased on Amazon by clicking the Bookstore tab above. I hope you enjoy. And thanks for stopping by.
Invisible Mystery
The mystery surrounding the contents of the crates continued. At 8:00 on the second day at sea, Trace watched Cally emerge from the forward companionway. He held two crowbars and two hammers. He placed them on top of the largest crate.
Trace picked up the mic and said., “Do you want me to call the crew?”
Cally replied with a thumbs up.
Trace depressed the microphone button. He called out, “The drawing for the one-hundred-dollar Cally giveaway is about to happen on the forward deck. You must be present to win.”
Everyone gathered around the largest crate. Trace strapped the wheel and came forward.
“I wouldn’t miss this for all the tea in China,” Trace said, gathering with the crew.
“I’m sorry,” Cally said, “you can’t guess tea, you’ve already had two guesses.
“I’d like to give a long, drawn-out speech to tighten everybody’s anticipation,” Cally announced like a master of ceremonies. “There has been sufficient speculation, renumeration, consternation, and dare I say constipation on the contents of these crates. May I say, this will not only dazzle, frazzle, and razzle the intellects, the intelligence, and the excrements…”
Coyote interrupted, “If you don’t shut up and get on with it, I’m gonna use one of those crowbars to bedazzle you.”
“Hear, hear,” everyone agreed.
“But I have so much more to say,” Cally feigned pleadingly. “Not really, I was making it all up on the fly.”
“Now,” Cally proclaimed, with his master of ceremonies manner.
Everybody rolled their eyes.
Cally cleared his throat. “My beautiful assistant, Pete…”
“Hold on,” Pete said, “only one person ever called me beautiful. It did not end well for him.”
“Okay,” Cally said, “My worthy assistant, Pete, will help me pry open the crates.” Cally handed Pete a crowbar. “Your weapon, sir.”
“It almost was,” Coyote said.
Cally comedically rolled his eyes, and said out of the side of his mouth, “Makani, remember to season his tray with saltpeter.”
Cally and Pete pryed the lid from the largest crate. Everyone stared inside.
“Blue canvas?” Sage said, wondering.
“I just saved myself one hundred dollars,” Cally said. “But let’s be a little more specific. Blue sails and blue canvas.”
“For what?” Coyote said.
“While everyone was frolicking back in Suva,” Cally said, “I had a man measure the sails and The Tramp Islander. We are going to remove the present sails and install the blue ones. When we arrive at our destination, we will drape the ship in blue canvas. From a distance, we will be effectively invisible.”
Everyone stared into the open crate.
“Brilliant,” Trace said. “Let’s change sails.”
Everyone looked at each other, and Coyote said, “If there’s one thing I’ve learned from my son about sailing, it’s that sails don’t take down by themselves or hoist on their own. Let’s get the job done.”
By the end of the day, the blue sails were hoisted and the white sails were stowed away. The crew stayed on deck and gazed at the sails, enjoying the task they had finished.
Trace returned to the pilothouse and adjusted The Tramp Islander’s course. He gazed up at the sails. He smiled and clicked his cheek. “I like it.”
Cally walked into the pilothouse using the aft door. He stood next to Trace. “What do you think?”
“I just remarked to myself, ‘I like it,’” Trace said.
“There are two towers on the island,” Cally said. “The closer we can get, the better. Those towers are only about forty feet high. At that height, you can see thirteen or fourteen miles. And with binoculars, a ship can easily be spotted. With the blue sails and canvas draped over the sides, not even a trained observer could spot us. We might be able to get within three or four miles. If the plan is to use the rubber boats, that will cut our time from the island to the shore as much as two hours each way. That means returning to the ship in as little as fifteen minutes. That greatly diminishes our vulnerability.”
“Clever,” Trace said.
“I thought so too,” Cally winked.
Trace shook his head and grinned.
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