Read Online What a Trip! by Tony Abbott - Free Book Online

How terrible! And the next steamer doesn’t leave for a week. Too bad, too bad. Ah, well. Nothing to do about it. Shall we find a hotel and wait here for the week? Here, Miss, let me get your bag—”
    â€œNo,” said Fogg, putting himself between Fix and Aouda’s bag. “The leaving of the Carnatic is a minor difficulty, I admit. But you forget, Mr. Fix, that this is the harbor of Hong Kong, one of the great ports of Asia. With a little work, we shall find a ship to carry us across the China Sea to Japan. Devin, Aouda, let’s find a ship!”
    Fogg and Aouda stepped off quickly.
    Fix snarled under his breath. “But … but … arggh!”
    â€œHa!” I said, storming off with Fogg and Aouda to find a boat bound for Japan. Fix stumbled along after us, of course. It seemed as if he was attached to Mr. Fogg by some kind of invisible rope. Every place Fogg went, Fix went, too. It was annoying, but I couldn’t stop him.
    It wasn’t too long before Mr. Fogg found a chubby little guy named Captain John Bunsby, standing on the deck of a small sailing boat called the Tankadere .
    After Fogg explained what we needed, Bunsby said, “It can’t be done—”
    â€œOh, too bad!” said Fix delightedly.
    â€œâ€”the way you suggest, Mr. Fogg,” the captain went on. “But if we go to Shanghai, China, you can pick up the American steamer there.”
    â€œVery good,” said Fogg. “From there, we’ll stop in Yokohama, then across to San Francisco, losing no time.”
    â€œExcept for one thing,” I said. “What about Frankie?”
    â€œAnd Passepartout?” said Aouda. “They are lost—and we have no idea where?”
    Fogg wrinkled his brow, slipped out his notebook, and scribbled a few things. Satisfied, he closed the notebook. “I shall do whatever I can to find them.”
    â€œOh, Mr. Fogg!” said Aouda, her eyes getting misty again. “Thank you.”
    â€œNot at all,” he said. “I shall be back in one hour, and then we sail.”
    In an hour he was back, explaining that he had alerted the Hong Kong police that if either Passepartout and Frankie were found, they should be put on the next boat to Yokohama. He left a wad of money for tickets and other stuff to help them.
    It was pretty much all he could do.
    I didn’t like the idea of just leaving Hong Kong without Frankie, but I had to trust that if she had the book, she would do okay. Besides, Passepartout was a good guy. He wouldn’t let anything bad happen to her.
    When Captain Bunsby said it was time, we all got on board—even Fix wormed his way on—and set sail for Shanghai. The wind filled the sails of the Tankadere , and we swiftly made our way out of the harbor to open sea.
    â€œIf we can reach Shanghai in time to catch the American steamer,” said Mr. Fogg, gazing at the water ahead, “and if, for some reason, Passepartout and Frankie managed to get on the Carnatic before it left Hong Kong, we can meet up with them in Yokohama. It all depends on making good time now, of course—”
    No sooner had he said this than the winds began to blow harder, the sky turned dark, and lightning flashed across the sky.
    â€œStorm coming up!” yelled the captain.
    â€œIndeed,” said Fogg, scribbling the word storm in his notebook. “Unforeseen, but not yet a problem.”
    Now I tell you, I don’t like these storms that just “come up.” One minute, I’m standing on deck, looking out at the water; the next minute, waves are crashing against the hull and I’m hanging over the side, losing my lunch. The only good thing about this storm was that the winds pushed the ship faster and farther on its way.
    Except that it turned out not to be just a storm.
    â€œIt’s a tempest!” said Fix, waves splashing over him.
    â€œIt’s not a tempest!” said a sailor.