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steerage, again.
    They were saved!
    Less than five minutes after that, the
engine sputtered back to life, and the Dreadnaught continued
to plow steadily through the storm toward the nearest harbor, where
they could drop anchor and wait the thing out. A place not far off
from Alert Bay (which was not on their list of official stops), and
not a sign of civilization was in sight. But it was well protected
and safe. And more welcoming to the exhausted adventurers than any
waterfront town could have been.
    The young couple disappeared almost
immediately after they got there, giving everyone else time to
collect themselves, and their thoughts, down in the galley. They
all needed to recuperate before the inevitable confrontation. At
the very least, there was a lot of explaining to do.
    “I take back every critical thing I’ve said
about Shortcake,” said Mason, holding one of the large mugs of hot
bullion Millie was handing out to everyone who meandered in after
changing into dry clothes. “Any girl who will hop-to like that in
an emergency is all right by me.”
    “She lied to us, again, Mason.” The Colonel
was not one to give quarter to dishonesty. “Been hiding that young
man, all along. Where--I have no idea--considering how thoroughly
those officials went over this boat when we came through customs.
Imagine what could happen if they had found a stowaway.”
    “I shudder to think about it,” agreed Stella
(another narrow escape!). She was sitting next to him at the table,
wearing a matching knit hat and scarf (periwinkle blue), with her
still-chilled hands hugging her own mug of bullion. Would she ever
be truly warm, again?
    “When you’re in love, you do crazy things,”
said Millie.
    “When you’re in love, you aren’t ashamed of
it,” Mason added. “So, he must be in some kind of trouble.
Again.”
    “So…” The Colonel took a deep breath. “We’ve
been smuggling a criminal through Canada.”
    This just as Gerald dragged in, still
somewhat wobbly, and so pale Millie immediately poured a large
splash of brandy into his bullion before handing it to him. “Better
sit down before you fall down, Gerry,” she whispered.
    “E-gads…” He sank onto the seat beside
Stella. “Lou didn’t bring any drugs aboard, did she?”
    “Of course not!” huffed Millie. “She’s too
good a mother to get wrapped up in that stuff. Look how she quit
drinking the minute she found out she was pregnant. And she’s as
loyal as my own daughter, too. In her own way.”
    “We could sit here guessing, all day.” Mason
got to his feet. “Let’s get them in here, and talk, so we can
decide what’s the best thing to do.”
    “Can’t see as there is a best thing,” said
the Colonel. His cheeks were growing rosy from the warmth of the
stove. Then again, he did have a bit more insulation than everyone
else, with all those extra pounds turning to muscle, Stella mused.
“Wouldn’t be right to dump him off in a foreign country,” he went
on, “and he definitely did the right thing when he had to.”
    “Dump who off?” Gerald handed his empty mug
back toward Millie (who had just bent down to re-twist the yellow
towel she had wrapped around her wet hair), and knocked it out of
his hand against her hip, instead. “Tell Stuart I need a little
more time, Mil—I’m doing my level best!”
    “Not you, Gerald. Our stowaway. Lou smuggled
Cole DeForio, aboard, and now we’re all accomplices.” She snatched
up the mug and refilled it, again.
    “E-gads!” he replied, and took it.
    At which point, Mason returned with the
contrite young couple following behind, whose youthful good looks
seemed absolutely striking in contrast to their bedraggled elders.
Lou Edna’s blonde hair was gathered into a band at the nape of her
neck, she hadn’t a speck of make-up on, and she was beautiful.
    “Well, it was a snap decision,” she began
before anyone even asked them a question. “There were some bad
people after him, and I had no