not gone.”
“They’re gone,” said Jake. “This ship is abandoned.”
The Other Passenger
Abandoned. The word lingered in Brynn’s mind. Ever since Jake’s arrival, she had been unsuccessfully studying his impassive face for clues to his opinion about last night—about her —but his statement snapped her attention back to the present. “But they’re somewhere on board, right?” she said.
“All I know is we need to organize a plan,” said Jake.
“A plan? Who put you in charge?” said Cedar.
Jake whipped around to face her brother. “Do you have a better plan than coming up with a plan?”
Cedar crossed his arms. “I say we all head back to our cabins and wait this one out.”
“Wait for what?” said Jake.
“They’ll come back.”
“I’m sure they will. This isn’t magic, after all. But don’t you want to find your family? I don’t know about you, but I’m wondering where they are.”
“It’s Zé Carlos,” Cedar muttered.
“Say again?” said Jake.
“The magician, Zé Carlos. This is his handiwork.”
Jake moved on. “Does anyone else want to add anything before we start the search of the ship?”
Silence greeted his question. Brynn shared a glance with Naomi, whom she liked already. Not many girls could call Cedar out like she had earlier.
“Yeah, one thing,” said Naomi, clearing her throat. “The Cypress is huge; there’s fifteen decks above the waterline, three below it . . . three thousand rooms, over twelve miles of hallways—not including the passageways in the restricted crew sections. This ship is a floating maze. My advice is we stick together.”
“Noted,” said Jake, and to Brynn and Cedar he added, “Hear that, guys?”
Brynn gaped at the girl. “How do you know all that?”
“My mom’s an assistant maître d’.”
A floating maze . . . Fear pooled in the pit of Brynn’s stomach.
Naomi continued. “Jake and I already checked the Sky Walk and the Pool Deck. We can go deck by deck until we reach the bottom of the ship.”
“Maybe we should all check our rooms again,” said Brynn. “In case our parents came back.”
“Then the public areas on the lower decks,” said Naomi. “In case there’s an event we don’t know about.”
“Well, they have to be down there somewhere.” Jake led the way out of the Solarium Bar to the elevators. “Cedar and Brynn’s room first, then mine, then Naomi’s. In that order.”
In the starboard hallway running the length of deck fourteen, Cedar fell behind the others and pulled his sister with him.
“I don’t trust them,” he muttered under his breath.
“Apparently you trusted Naomi enough to spend the night with her,” she hissed.
“I don’t trust him .”
“Well, get over it.”
She wasn’t getting the point . . . big surprise . Time for evasive maneuvers. He stopped at stateroom 652, cleared his throat, and announced, “This is our room, guys.”
The others spun around. Got ’em.
Cedar patted his pockets and put on a dumb-and-confused face—courtesy of his sister, whose overuse of the look had burned it into his memory. “Oops,” he said, also matching her usual ditsy tone. “Must have misplaced the key. Okay, Jake’s room next.”
“That’s not our room, dufus.” Brynn barged two doors up to room 660, whipped out her own key, and slotted it into the card reader.
“Brynn, don’t let them in!”
The door opened with a click.
That little idiot.
Fuming, Cedar followed the others into their stateroom.
Their dad still hadn’t returned.
Next, Jake led them down to his stateroom on deck nine—empty. The four of them had to skirt single file around a foldout bed, itself a messy tangle of sheets, board shorts, and squashed pillows.
The queen bed in the center of the room, Cedar noticed, was impeccably made.
“Mom . . . Dad?” Jake yelled. “Anybody?” They waited. No answer.
“When’s the last time you saw them?” Cedar asked, running his hand along
“They’re gone,” said Jake. “This ship is abandoned.”
The Other Passenger
Abandoned. The word lingered in Brynn’s mind. Ever since Jake’s arrival, she had been unsuccessfully studying his impassive face for clues to his opinion about last night—about her —but his statement snapped her attention back to the present. “But they’re somewhere on board, right?” she said.
“All I know is we need to organize a plan,” said Jake.
“A plan? Who put you in charge?” said Cedar.
Jake whipped around to face her brother. “Do you have a better plan than coming up with a plan?”
Cedar crossed his arms. “I say we all head back to our cabins and wait this one out.”
“Wait for what?” said Jake.
“They’ll come back.”
“I’m sure they will. This isn’t magic, after all. But don’t you want to find your family? I don’t know about you, but I’m wondering where they are.”
“It’s Zé Carlos,” Cedar muttered.
“Say again?” said Jake.
“The magician, Zé Carlos. This is his handiwork.”
Jake moved on. “Does anyone else want to add anything before we start the search of the ship?”
Silence greeted his question. Brynn shared a glance with Naomi, whom she liked already. Not many girls could call Cedar out like she had earlier.
“Yeah, one thing,” said Naomi, clearing her throat. “The Cypress is huge; there’s fifteen decks above the waterline, three below it . . . three thousand rooms, over twelve miles of hallways—not including the passageways in the restricted crew sections. This ship is a floating maze. My advice is we stick together.”
“Noted,” said Jake, and to Brynn and Cedar he added, “Hear that, guys?”
Brynn gaped at the girl. “How do you know all that?”
“My mom’s an assistant maître d’.”
A floating maze . . . Fear pooled in the pit of Brynn’s stomach.
Naomi continued. “Jake and I already checked the Sky Walk and the Pool Deck. We can go deck by deck until we reach the bottom of the ship.”
“Maybe we should all check our rooms again,” said Brynn. “In case our parents came back.”
“Then the public areas on the lower decks,” said Naomi. “In case there’s an event we don’t know about.”
“Well, they have to be down there somewhere.” Jake led the way out of the Solarium Bar to the elevators. “Cedar and Brynn’s room first, then mine, then Naomi’s. In that order.”
In the starboard hallway running the length of deck fourteen, Cedar fell behind the others and pulled his sister with him.
“I don’t trust them,” he muttered under his breath.
“Apparently you trusted Naomi enough to spend the night with her,” she hissed.
“I don’t trust him .”
“Well, get over it.”
She wasn’t getting the point . . . big surprise . Time for evasive maneuvers. He stopped at stateroom 652, cleared his throat, and announced, “This is our room, guys.”
The others spun around. Got ’em.
Cedar patted his pockets and put on a dumb-and-confused face—courtesy of his sister, whose overuse of the look had burned it into his memory. “Oops,” he said, also matching her usual ditsy tone. “Must have misplaced the key. Okay, Jake’s room next.”
“That’s not our room, dufus.” Brynn barged two doors up to room 660, whipped out her own key, and slotted it into the card reader.
“Brynn, don’t let them in!”
The door opened with a click.
That little idiot.
Fuming, Cedar followed the others into their stateroom.
Their dad still hadn’t returned.
Next, Jake led them down to his stateroom on deck nine—empty. The four of them had to skirt single file around a foldout bed, itself a messy tangle of sheets, board shorts, and squashed pillows.
The queen bed in the center of the room, Cedar noticed, was impeccably made.
“Mom . . . Dad?” Jake yelled. “Anybody?” They waited. No answer.
“When’s the last time you saw them?” Cedar asked, running his hand along
Similar Books
