CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
Mary Lou and Tane bobbed beside the yacht. On board, one of the ROC soldiers kept watch. They’d have to take him out somehow. Mary Lou climbed on board, startling the sleepy guard, who leapt into action with his gun leveled right at her. “Hi!” she chirped. The guard didn’t move. Mary Lou’s knees shook. “Do you have a bathroom I could use?”
The guard aimed. From behind, Tane whacked him with a life preserver and the man fell, unconscious.
“Cutting it a little close there, babe,” Mary Lou said, exhaling.
“I couldn’t believe he wouldn’t let you use the bathroom. What a jerk.”
They crept along the wall and took the stairs to the upper deck to make sure it was clear.
Mary Lou whistled as she took in the boat’s majesty. “Holy cow. Grill. Juice bar. Enormo-screen TV. Pineapple. This thing has everything.” Mary Lou paused before a bowl of cookies. “Do you think they’d mind if we helped ourselves to a cookie?”
“We’re helping ourselves to their boat.”
“Good point.”
“Let’s hope it’s got plenty of fuel and can get us all out of here.”
They crept down a spiral staircase to the main deck and the bridge.
“Wow, it’s even got windshield wipers,” Tane said.
The fog was rolling in, but Mary Lou could still see that the black water seemed to stretch forever. She felt a swell of excitement that had nothing to do with the urgency of their circumstances. “It’s so beautiful. And vast.”
“What’s that?” Tane asked. He was trying to figure out the control panel.
“The world.” She ran her fingers over the boat’s wheel. It felt good and right. “Bet you could see a lot of the world from one of these. Did you know that when the sun sets on this one particular part of the Indian countryside, it turns everything this amazing golden color?”
Tane gave her a quizzical look.
“I’d like to see it for myself. I want to go to the old churches in Prague. Stand on the edge of California under the shadow of the Golden Gate Bridge like the beat poets. Learn to drive a race car or swim with dolphins. Play the ukulele. I want to do all those things.”
“You should, then.”
“And if I wanted you to come with me? What would you say?”
“I’d say yes.”
Mary Lou grinned. “Really?”
“Really. Never seen the Golden Gate Bridge, and I like the ukulele,” Tane said. “But first, we’ve got to figure out how to work this thing. I know a little about boats, but nothing about yachts. See if you can find anything — a manual, an instructional video, computer tutorial, anything.”
“Got it!” Mary Lou said. “Hey, Tane?”
“Yeah?”
“Thanks.”
“For what, mate?”
She shrugged. “For being you.” She took the stairs two at a time to the lower deck and raced through the opulent yacht, marveling at its wonders. She passed a gold-plated bathroom and one room dedicated to Elvis jumpsuits.
“Whoa,” she said, opening the last door. The bedroom had been wallpapered with pictures of Ladybird Hope. In a corner was a
Ladybird Hope doll47 in a glass case on a pedestal. “‘Kay. Not creepy. Not at all.”
On a desk in the center of the room was a large, framed picture of Ladybird Hope sitting on MoMo’s lap in a Ladybird Hope Factory that was clearly not in America, featuring young girls working the looms. The laptop was open, and there on the desktop was a file marked Yacht Systems.
“Easy peasy,” she said and waited for the video to load. It was not about yachts. Not even remotely. MoMo B. ChaCha and Ladybird Hope sat in a heart-shaped bubble bath hot tub, rifles in their hands, champagne glasses nearby.