Chapter Two of The Wreck of the S.S. Neglected

Passengers and crew on the cruise ship Tortuga ran for the lifeboats. Marci and Pam and Matt and Rob ran to see the hole in the side of the ship. They weren't afraid of the water rushing in or the deck tipping down under them.

"I have just the thing!" Rob said. "Hold on to my feet, Marci!" He leaned over the side, pulled some superglue and tiny plastic dinosaurs out of his pockets.

"What are you doing?" Marci scolded. "We have to get off the ship. Somebody has to go save Herb and Melinda and Charlie! They all went back to their cabins. Matt, you can roll the fastest. Go save them!"

Matt said, "Got it! Wait, the elevators. I can roll across the deck and stuff, but I'd have to wait for the elevators to get to the level that our cabins are on. Pam, you're the fastest, you go save them!"

Pam said, "I'm the fastest? Okay." And she ran up the steps.

Meanwhile Rob quickly glued the plastic dinosaurs all around the rim of that hole where the explosion had happened. He didn't have time to explain, but they would figure it out for themselves as soon as they saw the effect. These weren't actually plastic dinosaurs. They were the kinds of toys that swell up to 20 times their original size when you soak them in water. As soon as the toy dinosaurs got a little bit wet, they started growing and growing and growing, until they had swelled up so large that they clumped against each other and blocked the hole.

"It's not totally water tight," Rob said, "but that should buy us a few minutes. Let's get everybody off quick!" With an incredible feat of strength, Marci hauled Rob up onto the deck again. Then she giggled.

Water stopped rushing into the hole now that it was plugged up with colorful dinosaur toys. But now that the wooshing water sound had quieted, they could hear two cooks floating away on the sea. They had been pulled out of the ship when water was rushing into that hole.

Matt rolled a few feet back from the broken rail, studied his muscular arms on the wheels, then spun his wheels as hard as he could, launching himself over the side.

Marci screamed, "Matt, no!"

Matt and his chair started to sink for just a second. Then he bobbed up to the top and reclined a little. Two huge truck tire innertubes had sprung up on the sides of his wheelchair, and one small section behind his headrest inflated, so that the chair floated on the wheels and leaned back toward the headrest a little. "That's a little something-something that Q installed back at headquarters, y'all."

Rob said, "Headquarters?!"

Matt said, "Yeah buddy!" But he had no time to explain. He switched on the motor and buzzed over to save the two cooks. "We'll be okay. You guys go help the others evacuate."

Herb and Melinda and Charlie came running out on the deck. They all ran for a lifeboat and started getting in.

Charlie said, "Where's Pam?"

"We sent her up to get you guys," Marci said. "Isn't she with you?" The lifeboat was full and one of the crewpeople was already lowering it over the side.

Rob and Marci leapt back on to the deck. Charlie wanted to come but they persuaded him to stay with the lifeboat. "Leave it to us professionals!" Marci shouted.

They back toward their cabins. The ship was empty except for one or two people running for the lifeboats. They ran through the last hallway to their rooms and found the door to Pam and Charlie's room open. Inside, they saw Pam taking a nap.

"What are you doing?" Marci shouted.

Just then the door slammed behind Rob and Marci. It was a man in his late thirties with a scar running down his face where Matt had jousted him. Pam wasn't napping, she was knocked out from something the guy had injected her with. The Scarred Man in his Late Thirties lassoed Rob and Marci, threw another lasso around Pam's foot, and dragged the three friends out of the room. As he pulled them bumping down the hall, the Scarred Man sang:

Folks, let me tell you 'bout the S.S. Neglected,

She sprung a leak where she least expected.

These friends got injected with some drugs that was bad,

Now listen while I tell you 'bout the dreams they had...

How will they get out of this fix? Tune in next week for Chapter Three: Peanuts and Spooky Chili.