A Daughter's Duty

Chapter 6

We left the Library and ran to the nearest subway stop. On the way, I grabbed a brochure for London.

"Look," I said, pointing to it. "It says that on Tuesdays," (which was today), "the ferry runs at two o'clock."

"Which proves," said Michael, smiling down at me. "That we are right."

"Excellent." I said, smiling back. "But I still don't understand, why did Sofia want me to ride a ferry? Are there more clues on it?"

"Better question – does she know that we are a part of Ministerio Iustitia?"

"Let's hope not." I said. "She looked very scared when she came to talk to me, like somebody was holding her at gunpoint."

"Was somebody?"

"No, Michael."

"I'm only saying – it is a possibility." He said. "Were there people in the park?"

"A few, yes."

"Did they look suspicious?"

"I don't think so."

He nodded, but didn't say anything.

We reached the London dock minutes before the ferry left. It was a dazzling white one with gold borders near the deck. At the hull, we could see the letters printed clearly, 'S.S. FORTUNO'. We quickly bought tickets and rushed on to it.

"Greetings," said a cool, female voice through the loudspeakers a few minutes later, when everybody was on board. "My name is Captain Elaine Deborah. Welcome to the S.S. Fortuno, where we pride ourselves on the safety and comfort of our passengers. Please abide by the following safety instructions." And she went on and on for about five minutes about all the emergency exits, first aid kits and lifeboat locations and proper usages. "Lastly, please do not hesitate to talk to our crew members if your needs and wants are not met. Thank you all for coming. Please relax and enjoy."

Michael rolled his eyes at the microphone and looked at me. "Now what do we do?"

"I thought you had a plan." I said, but I didn't let him argue further. "Well, we better search the ferry for anything suspicious. Do you still have your pistol?"

He opened his jacket a little, and I saw the handle of a brand new Beretta M9 shining out of his belt. "Of course I do. What about you?"

I showed him my Llama M82 from my jacket pocket. I always carried my gun around, and this morning I had made sure it was filled with bullets.

Michael whistled impressively. "Good one. Newly released model, isn't it?"

"1982."

"Where did you even get it?"

"Mr. I gifted it to me."

"That's not fair."

"Nobody is ever fair with you." I patted my pocket down nonchalantly. "Shall we start downstairs?"

"No," he said, looking around. "We better start with the deck. We should appear indifferent for a while, keeping an eye out of trouble. If we find it we follow it."

"And if we don't," I said. "We start downstairs."

I stood by the railing with Michael. The scenery really was beautiful. Ducks waddled near the ferry, being fed by a few people nearby. The water looked so calm and refreshing, and suddenly I wanted to leap out of the ferry and swim in the cool water. But then I remembered the Mr. Hiden had died during a swimming accident, and my imagination died too.

I looked over at Michael, protectively standing over me, his hands casually in his pocket, but his eyes as sharp as a hawk's, like he could fly at top speed at the slightest movement. I could almost feel that his muscles in his neck were tensed, below his hair blowing in the wind. On the other side of the deck, I saw a couple of girls stealing glances at him and giggling. I couldn't help but roll my eyes.