25 Short Stories for Cruise Ship Travelers E-Book

Christian Stahl

• Herausgeber: Midealuck Publishing
• Kategorie: Abenteuer, Thriller, Horror
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2020

Beschreibung

This book is a fascinating collection of twenty-five short stories that were written for travelers on cruise ships by Christian Stahl. The stories include some humorous encounters in addition to strange secrets and exciting cruise ship mysteries. Many of the stories are shrouded in mystery and they will take you beyond the average innocent cruise trip. While some of the best and most cozy cruise ship mysteries take you to places you have never been to, these "double twist" stories are full of suspense and they take place in exotic locations. All of the cruise ship mysteries are fun to read and they will never fail to keep you interested. All of the cruise ship mysteries end with a curious twist and they will delight you!

Leseprobe

25 Short Stories

for

Cruise Ship Traveler

© Copyright 2020 by Christian Stahl - All rights reserved

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responsibility or blame be held against the publisher or author for any reparation, damages, or monetary loss due to the information herein, either directly or indirectly. The information herein is offered for informational purposes solely, and is universal as so. Any name and content in this book is fiction and not related to any real events or persons. The presentation of the information is without contract or any type of guarantee assurance.

Table of Contents

Marooned

A Cruise on the Nile

The Breach

A Cruel Odyssey

The Casino

The Space Cruise

The Ghost Cruise Liner

High Waves

The Cherry Blossom Stones

A Special Cooking Course

Bermuda Marriage

Encounter in the South China Sea

Nagano Gold

Dining with the Captain

The Stowaway

Strangers on an Ocean Liner

She Jumped on her Own

Escape from Venice

The Greatest Show on Earth

The Haunting

Forever on Board

Finding Lasting Love

The Vegan Passenger

The Tourist Guide

Table Sharing

The Captain’s Compartment

Christian Stahl

Details of all the author's available books and upcoming titles can be found at:

www.shortstorycollections.com

Marooned

Katie pushed her toes into the fine yellow sand, her eyes on the meagre fire that crackled and popped,a glowing greenly with too much salt and doing absolutely nothing to keep her warm. Her hair hung down her back, long and honey-yellow, bleached to a crisp by the incessant sunlight. She had lost her hair tie during the storm that had washed her up on the island.

Her mouth was dry, dehydration settling in a long time ago, her skin tight and crusted with salt, her lips sticking together and cracked to the point of bleeding no matter how many times she licked them.

Movement caught her eye, and she looked up as Richard approached. His hair had grown longer during their time here, falling around his cheeks and stringy brown like mouse tails that covered his dark eyes unless he pushed it out of the way. He had gotten skinny during their time here, losing all the excess weight and muscle from walking around searching for water and hunting for food for them – all with little success.

He gave her a thin smile when she looked down, seeing that he was empty-handed.

"Nothing?" she asked, unable to keep the disappointment from her voice.

He shook his head, and sat beside her. "Maybe Elias will have more luck," he offered. His throat had the same grittiness of the sand. Katie pressed her lips together, looking up. The island was small; it took a day to walk around the entire border by her best guess. There were trees growing, and a small rise in the center. There had to be water somewhere, she reasoned. Even if it was deep underground, it was somewhere. The island was subtropical, and humidity clung to them like rainwater even though there wasn't anything fresh to drink. Palm trees with sparse amounts of coconuts had been the only source of water for quite some time.

She wrapped her arms more tightly around her knees and set her chin on top of them, sighing. They shouldn't be here, should never have gotten onto that stupid yacht.

They'd met at a bar in the San Diego marina – Katie and Richard and Ivan, a high-roller who dressed flashy and smiled like a salesman, with slick black hair and eyes the color of blue stained glass. Richard was good at making friends with rich people, and still young and lucky enough to get away with seeking a good time over a safe one.

So when, after an evening making friends and a day as tour guide, Ivan had said he wanted to sail across the Pacific, that he had a crew and a boat at the ready, and invited Richard and Katie along – well, it seemed like a perfect opportunity for adventure.

Looking back on it now, Katie knew she should have been more suspicious from the get-go. The yacht itself had been gigantic, closer to a cruise ship than anything she had expected. It had glimmered white as a jewel in the sunlight atop the crystal blue water, with two separate pools on the top deck, and a banquet hall, and even a ballroom and miniature casino on one of the floors. She remembered the tour of the boat, in awe of the hanging chandeliers in the ballroom that swayed on the gentle tide, the deep red carpets in the hallways and the low ambient lighting. The yacht had several floors, all of them dripping with luxury. The bed in their room was huge and the walls were a deep burnished golden color, the carpet red, and made her think that she had stepped into a Vegas hotel suite.

"Are we expecting anyone else?" she asked, when there was champagne in her hand and a squirrelly little man crooning a romantic ballad from the piano placed at the bar next to the pool.

Ivan grinned, and shook his head. That should have been the second sign, she thought bitterly.

Despite the size of the yacht, Katie couldn't recall seeing more than a dozen separate faces the entire time they'd been sailing. Ivan spent most of his time in conversation with the Captain, a dark-skinned man with a shock of white hair and a thick mustache that moved when he spoke, and when he wasn't there, he was often on deck with a drink in his hand and a phone to his ear. Katie wasn't sure what to make of it – he had invited them along, after all, surely he wouldn't have done that if he didn't want to spend time with them.

Questions to the crew went avoided or unanswered. Most of them barely spoke any English, and Katie didn't know enough Russian to question them properly.

She had overheard the fight one night, when Richard was passed out from two many drinks and snoring on their – admittedly, very comfortable – bed in their room. She wandered the dark halls, barefoot, her hair tied up in a loose bun so that she could get some of the cool ocean breeze on her neck. She'd paused, outside the outer door to the banquet hall when she heard a short, sharp noise of alarm. Not a scream of danger, but an angry sound.

She leaned in, and peered through the window. Ivan was there, pacing, his thin face red with outrage as he gestured wildly between the Captain, and a priest, and a third man who looked more military than a worker on the ship. He was yelling, in Russian, she didn't understand what he was saying, but she was sure it couldn't be good.

It wasn't good.

When they'd arrived in Tahiti – several days late, according to the priest, who was the only one Katie had found who could speak enough English for a decent conversation besides Ivan– they'd been ordered to stay offshore and drop anchor outside the port. The authorities were called, and there had been another heated discussion.

"This is outrageous!" Ivan's angry words still rang in her head, when it got particularly quiet. "I only need supplies for my ship and my crew, and then I can be on my way."

"We understand that, Sir, but you don't have any money."

And Katie knew she was staring, but she couldn't help herself. Richard was more laid back than she was, and didn't observe the world with as critical an eye. Ivan's cagey attitude, the sullen skeleton crew, and the antsy behavior of the authorities all stacked together in her head like puzzle pieces.

"Are there any other places to stock up, if we can't resupply here?" she had asked.

The priest – a man who had introduced himself as Father Elias – had smiled at her and patted her hand. "I'm sure there is," he assured her. "Ivan is a resourceful man. Don't fret."

She should have fretted.

"You are welcome to dock with us," the Tahitian man had said, "but you will be held while we contact your country of origin, as well as your port of call, to make sure everything clears correctly."

Katie had wanted to leave, then. They had their passports and were essentially tourists – they could have figured out a way to get home. Clearly associating with Ivan wasn't going to do them any favors, if the building bad feeling in Katie's gut was anything to go by. Richard didn't want to leave, though – he had been seduced by the top shelf liquor and the giant bed and Ivan's charming smile.

She should have been more adamant. Or just left by herself. She was smart, she could have figured something out. But no, of course, she couldn't leave Richard. And then they left Tahiti and started heading in a different direction than West, and no one could or would tell her where they were going, not even Father Elias, Katie had seen the writing on the wall. Ivan was in a black mood, scowling at everything, snipping at her whenever they were in the same room.

Which brought them back to the island. Ivan had caught her stashing food away, certain that at some point the supplies would run out. She'd wanted to keep enough for her and Richard to survive. They were the outsiders, after all, and the ones that would be taken care of last, after the crew. Objectively, Katie didn't even blame Ivan for that.

He'd come into their bedroom in the middle of the night, with the Captain and that nameless military man. Katie and Richard were put on a tiny life boat in the middle of a storm and pushed off the edge of the yacht, forced to battle choppy waves and freezing rain. She had been certain that they were going to die.

They hadn't died. By the grace of God or whatever held sway in the universe, they were here, barely clinging to life. They had no food, no water, no additional clothes. Katie had been wearing her pajamas at the time, no shoes or socks, and the island got cold at night. Richard was worse off, in just a t-shirt and his underwear which was clumped with sand and so dirty she knew it had to be uncomfortable.

They had been stuck on the island for a couple of days when the first body washed up. It was the piano player, still in his nice suit, cold and pale and dead. Then, a few minutes later, the Captain. The crew. The military man, and Ivan himself. All of them, drowned from what she could tell, scattered amongst the driftwood, the broken pieces of the yacht's white hull. There had been some food, at least, to keep them from starving.

Elias had been the only survivor. It had taken almost three minutes of mouth to mouth to get him to cough water from his lungs, and he was weak and dizzy, but he had survived, and told them that the same storm that had swept them to this island had gotten worse, and capsized the ship.

There were birds on the island, and small rodents, but they were too quick, and Katie and Richard didn't have the skills for traps or the ability to hunt them. The food that had washed up was soaked through and everything tasted like fish and salt. The only liquids were half-drunk bottles of alcohol and one single plastic jug of water, which they drank from as sparingly as they could, supplementing the water with what they could split from the few coconuts that grew upon the island.

They were running out of options.

Richard stood, drawing her attention, and went out towards the shore. Katie rose, and followed him, as he took a large stone in his hand and set it on the beach, amidst the halves of the coconuts they had split open and drained.

It took her only a moment to realize what he was doing. She smiled to herself, but it was a small thing, her lips too dry to really give it her all. She helped him set up the first giant 'S' on the beach, and then began with the 'O'. Between all the debris from the ship, and the rocks on the shore, they had enough material to make a large enough 'S.O.S.' that she hoped it was visible from far away, or perhaps above. Wherever they were, no one else had come by this way, but maybe someone would see them from the air and call for help.

The fire died while they were working, and Elias returned as Katie sat down by the smoking twigs and watched Richard try to relight it, shivering in the cold breeze. He was empty-handed too – the jug he had taken with him was as dry as when he'd left, and his defeated expression told her all she needed to know.

"We've got a few more days of water left, tops," Richard said, mouth twisted in concentration as he tried to get the fire to light again. It was difficult, despite how dry the wood was. The breeze pulled at Katie's dry skin and dirty clothes and made her shiver, curling up more tightly on herself.

Elias nodded. His face was coated with sweat from his trip, and he pulled at his thick priest garments, parting his cassock to reveal black slacks beneath, fanning the fabric to cool himself down. Katie watched him slip off his shoes and socks and sink his feet into the cold sand.

"We can't stay here," he said, looking out towards the remaining debris of the ship. He bit his lower lip, brow furrowed in thought. "Perhaps we can try to build a raft."

Katie laughed, short and bitter. "I don't know the first thing about building a raft."

"We have to try," Elias said. "There's no help coming, not where we are."

Katie eyed him. She was used to seeing him smiling; he had a round face, and no hair on his head, and the genteel manner of an old man who had seen so much that it had only made him kind. His stricken expression, the dark circles under his eyes, and the pallor on his skin made him look sick.

She sighed, and nodded. "In the morning, then."

They piled together for sleep, sharing body heat since it was so cold, and Richard hadn't managed to light the fire again. Dawn came swiftly, lighting the sky in pretty oranges and pinks. It was beautiful here, she had to admit, and she might have even enjoyed it had the three of them been in a position to think of anything but survival.

She gathered vines from the sparse foliage growing on the island while Elias and Richard worked together to find scraps of debris that were large enough to bind together and make a raft. It was small, and uncomplicated. Richard was able to find a large plastic tarp to wrap around the wood and metal to stop it soaking through with water, making a pallet that was just large enough for all three to sit on.

They brought the water container with them, and what was left of their food, and set sail. Their combined weight made it so that the raft sat about an inch below the surface, but it floated, and that was all they could hope for. Richard and Katie had been given oars for their lifeboat. The boat itself was shredded, pieces of it added for buoyancy and to keep everything airtight.

It felt like they were floating on a cloud, and a wing and a prayer. The sun blazed down on them, burning hot, and while the water kept their feet cold and wrinkling, Katie could practically feel her skin burning and see Richard and Elias turning red.

They finished their food on the second day. They had no way of knowing what direction would lead them to land quickest, since none of them had any idea where they were. Seagulls cried above them, but sometimes when the light hit just right, they looked like vultures.

They were going to pick their bones clean. She thought of this with a cool detachment. Maybe no one would ever find them. It would only take one solid wave to take them under and wash them down to the bottom of the sea. They didn't have the strength to fight the current. If they sank, then that was the end of it.

She eyed the growing storm clouds on the horizon with dreadful certainty.

Richard rowed for most of the way, Elias taking over when he physically couldn't keep it up anymore. Katie steered with her own oar, pointing them West and squinting into the sunset. Her fingers cramped around the handle of the oar, her shoulders tense and burned to a crisp. Her hair was so brittle it fell out in clumps, and she wished she could shave the whole damn thing off.

They ran out of water on the third day.

She expected it, but still, the last few droplets that would slake their thirst disappeared with a finality that made her think of her inevitable watery grave. Richard had taken it, since he was the one spending the most energy keeping them going. There was no notion of saliva, or even, she considered briefly, drinking their own urine.

"We're going to die," she said quietly.

Richard glared at her. "No, we're not," he said adamantly. "Don't think like that."

"We don't have enough water, Richard. We don't have any food."

Richard merely shook his head. He had always been more optimistic, willing to believe that everything would work out eventually. How he could still think that way, she would never know. She supposed it wasn't going to be much of an issue, either way.

On the fourth day, Katie and Richard woke to find that they were alone. Her eyes widened in panic, and she looked around the raft, in case Elias had rolled off during the night and was trying to catch up with them. She couldn't see him at all.

"Richard!" she cried. "Where is he?"

Richard's face was pale beneath the sunburn, and he met her eyes. "I

he…just walked off," he said. "I feel asleep," he added guiltily. "I didn't see…." He looked to the side, and his eyes widened. "Look."

In the spot where Elias had been, was a single bottle of water wrapped up in Elias' cassock. There was no note, but it seemed obvious what he had done. Katie had no water in her to cry, but her shoulders trembled and she pressed a hand to her mouth, as Richard took the bottle with shaking hands and drank. He offered her some of the warm liquid. It was drinkable, the bottle had been sealed.

"How long do you think he was holding onto this?" Richard asked, as she handed it back. She had forced herself to only take a mouthful.

"I don't know," she replied. "I guess as long as he thought we might need it."

Katie closed her eyes, sending a silent 'Thank you' to the man that she had only known for so short a time, that had sacrificed himself to give them one last fighting chance, one last shred of hope. She hoped that he had passed away peacefully, that he felt no pain.

She was still thinking of Elias when her eyes lifted, and she saw a plume of smoke on the horizon. Her eyes widened, and she grabbed Richard's shoulder, nodding towards it. "Look!" she rasped. She wasn't sure what the origin was – a ship, or another island, but it was a sign of life. Richard nodded and Katie steered their raft towards it, and took Elias' cassock, waving it above her head.

The blaring sound of a ship's horn made her cry in relief. They had been seen. The ship slowed, and angled towards them, and a moment later Katie saw the bright blob of a yellow lifeboat heading their way.

"Thank God," Richard breathed, collapsing to his knees.

No, she thought. Thank Elias. Because of his sacrifice, by rolling into the water and letting himself drown and leaving behind that single scrap of additional water, they had managed to find somewhere safe. Because of him, they were alive, and were being rescued.

There were three men on the lifeboat, and they gathered Katie and Richard up, and gave them water and small granola bars to sate their hunger. "You look like you've had quite the adventure," the leader said.

He was an older man, with a thick beard and dark eyes.

Katie laughed bitterly, and said, "You don't know the half of it."

A Cruise on the Nile

‘Well go on, show me.’

Jerry lifted his shirt. Barbara could see the rumpled, crescent-shaped scar running from below his navel up to just below his ribs.

‘It makes me feel weird,’ Jerry said. ‘Like I’m walking around with a secret. Someone else’s kidney is in there.’

‘It’s your kidney now,’ said Barbara. ‘Come on, I’ve got a surprise for you.’

Jerry followed Barbara into the study. He was a heavy-set man, approaching sixty, his grey hair starting to thin. But his green eyes were bright and alert – his best feature, Barbara always said. Barbara had aged better. She was slim and fit and moved quickly. She’d cut her honey-brown hair short for the first time two weeks ago and still occasionally lifted a hand to touch it self-consciously. Outside, the afternoon sun was beating against the house. Jerry, who’d lived his whole life in Minnesota, hated the heat. But what Barbara wanted, Barbara got. So two years ago they’d moved back to her hometown of Naples, Florida. Then Jerry got sick.

‘Look,’ said Barbara, and she handed Jerry a folded piece of paper.

‘What’s this?’

‘You remember I was saying we deserved a holiday? You know, leave the country, be somewhere totally different. To put all this behind us.’

‘Yeah?’

‘Open it.’

It was a brochure for a cruise along the Nile. On the inside page was a picture of the ship, and written above it: “Travel through time in style and comfort”.

‘This looks like a pretty old brochure,’ said Jerry, peering at the photographs.

‘Oh no, they just dress the boat up like it’s the 1920s. The crew as well. You know, British colonial style. It seemed like fun.’

Barbara stood with her back to the desk, which was swamped by a disorderly stack of correspondence – doctor’s appointments, scans, letters from their insurance company.

‘Yeah,’ said Jerry, trying to smile. ‘Looks like fun. Thank you, sweetheart. You always know just what to do.’

Egypt, Jerry thought to himself. Perfect. More sun and heat.