It was certainly hard to miss Richard P. Gladstone's arrival poolside, Dan thought to himself. His white suit stood out almost blindingly in the bright sunshine, and his introductory speech only called more attention to himself. He had to admit a small fascination with this flamboyant arrival, even if the man's desire to be the center of attention annoyed him just a little.

Even Grace looked up from her frolicking in the water to listen to him, but she suddenly gave out a little shriek and quickly swam to her mother's side.

"Mommy! He talked about eating kittens!" The little girl's face looked terrified.

Angie soothed her daughter. "No, no, he meant he doesn't eat them."

Just then Kaelin jumped into the pool and the worry about eating kittens was gone as Grace swam over to play with her friend.

Dan leaned over to whisper to his wife. "While I'm not excited about sitting at his table and hearing him talk about himself all evening, I wouldn't be opposed to a trip to the buffet soon. It's supposed to be the best around."

“Ditto Town? No, I can’t say that I’ve ever been. But if there’s charming people like yourself there, Miss Faye, I’ll be sure to buy myself a summer home.” Gladstone intended at this point to kiss the young lady’s hand in the manner of an old fashioned southern gentleman, but he stopped when he noticed that she hadn’t extended it to him yet. So instead, he continued talking. “Faye. That’s an old word for fairy, isn’t it? Now I wonder why you’re mamma decided to name you that? Perhaps because you’re as pretty as a fairy or as winsome as a fairy? I dare say you have a magical, captivating smile.”

He turned his attention to the rest of the party. “And who might you be, sir?”

Given the choice, Mr Waters would much rather have stayed securely in his cabin for the whole cruise, with the stewardess to bring him sal volatile and aged zwieback crumbs--what bliss! He pulled out his already-damp handkerchief, and passed it over his balding forehead. It was so hot!

What a pity the boss hadn't been able to give him a few hints about the nature of the case, just enough to set him on the track. Mind you, it merely proved how highly the boss thought of his abilities. All he had said was, "My doctor said that either you go on this cruise or I do."

Poor man! Waters sympathized thoroughly. He knew full well what it was like to suffer such agonies. Why, every time the boss met with him, he would always end by clutching a chair back with clenched hands, face twitching, veins bulging, speaking through gritted teeth. Since it was obvious that the boss was in no shape to take on such an important mission, Waters had generously offered to go. Stern duty demanded it, and stern duty called now.

Seeing so much trust is reposed in this person, he bolstered his resolve with a mini pep talk, it is this person's duty to mingle. Very much sub rosa. There are clues to find, rogues to thwart! Onward! Upward! With this heroic motto in mind, he headed out to fortify himself with such sustenance as would not wreak havoc upon his delicate digestion.

As he came around the corner, he almost tripped over a large dog, who politely moved aside for him. But he did not notice, for he was already wildly waving a handkerchief in front of his face. Diving into his luggage, he pulled out bottle after bottle. Had he packed any antihistamines? Ah, there it was! What a relief!

Slowly his heartbeat dropped to a more normal level. That had been a near miss! Such a strain on his impressionable nerves! And now he began to grow cross. What was a dog doing on board anyways? Muttering to himself, he went off to complain to that stewardess.

There she was, chatting to some other passengers as if she was enjoying it. Aha, and what was this? She had no glasses on! Hadn't she said that she couldn't see a thing without them? This was highly suspicious. What if--oh, what if--she was not a stewardess after all, but a member of a rival agency, come to snoop out the mystery before he could?

Gingerly, he made his way forward, frowning at the shrieks of laughter and glee coming from the pool. Children! Next to dogs, he loathed children. Noisy, inquisitive, always laughing at their betters. If he had known there would be children on board....

He didn't see the man in the white suit until he forcibly collided with him. Sputtering with rage, he bounced up from sitting in a very wet puddle, about to launch into a vitreous outburst. Very nearly did he swallow his tongue, when he realized who he had barged into.

"Upsy-daisy!" the bright-haired stewardess said soothingly, as she leapt to aid the pair. The older man was glowering, the younger one smirking blandly; Waters, choking with a surfeit of scathing words that he dare not utter, stumped away from all the watching people.

Out of the corner of his eye, he imagined he saw the gleam of a squirrel's beady eye and the whisk of a tail as it dashed out of sight. This was too much! Dogs and children; suspicious stewardesses who were not stewardesses; that odious, bumptious bounder of a parasite with his smooth suavity; and now seeing things on top of it all! Mr Waters fled to his cabin, hoping frenziedly that he had brought along a remedy for sunstroke.

Pittersticks head a wagon coming down the corridor. Quickly, he ducked behind a large potted plant. What luck! It was Twig’s wagon being pulled by a steward. As it came by Pittersticks grabbed one of the ropes holding the luggage to the wagon. He quickly opened his suitcase and removed an object. He tied his suitcase to the rope and then climbed along the rope until he was hidden under the ladder. The steward arrived at Twig’s cabin. While he was busy trying to maneuver the wagon through the door, Pitterstick carefully grabbed the stewards master key card and inserted into the object. Pittersticks then returned the key card and slipped back under the wagon. Finally, the steward got the wagon into the room and left. Pittersticks looked around the cabin for a place to hide his suitcase. The pickings were slim but he finally found one he thought would do. With his ears perked for any sound of approaching footprints, he inserted a blank key card into the object and pressed a button. Within minutes he had his own master key card that would work on any door on the ship.

.................................................................................................................

Twig’s was on her way to her cabin when she heard Junior introducing himself to the small group of people by the pool. Twig’s was very shy and uncomfortable around people. She was always worried she would do or say something wrong. Twig’s sighed and decided it would be best to get introductions over with now. She approached the group and waited on the edge for a chance to introduce herself. If she were lucky, someone would notice her and make the first move.

"Nice to meet you, Xandria," said Mel. "I'm from inland--the most water around my cave is a lake. The scuba diving sounds interesting; the view from up here is different from what I'm used to so I can't even imagine what it would look like underneath!"

Mel flashed her companion a doggy grin. "Of course, I forgot to ask when I booked my cruise ticket if they can accommodate dogs on the outings, so I might just have to stick with the tennis courts; maybe the mini golf."

While Dan didn't like to see people needlessly embarrassed, especially strangers or someone he'd just met, he had to admit that the collision between the man in the white suit and another passenger was rather humorous, in a slapstick sort of way. He watched the stewardess help them up and decided to return his attention to his daughter, still happily swimming with Kaelin.

Angie, meanwhile, noticed Twig's arrival in the pool area. She looks familiar, she thought to herself. She excused herself from Maeve, who was also watching the girls' antics in the pool, and went over to the new arrival.

"Hi," she said. "I'm Angela Baxter, but everyone calls me Angie. I think I saw you at the holiday party at the Mansion, though I didn't have the pleasure of meeting you." She gestured back at the pool. "My family and some friends are over there, if you'd like to meet them."

I'm Twig's," Twig's said. "I was at the holiday party but didn't get a chance to meet many people. It would be good to meet some people now." Twig's took a deep breath and followed Angie over to the group of people. *

*gazer, I hope this us okay. It seemed like the logical next step... otherwise I can edit.

One moment Junior was meeting new people, the next he was on the wet poolside floor with a rather nervous gentleman on the deck next to him. Junior was annoyed at the interruption but soon forgot about his annoyance when a beautiful stewardess came to their aid. Junior was quick to his feet, as a show of resilience, trying to show the stewardess his winning grin. The nervous gentleman made no apology and in fact, didn’t say much of anything. But no matter. “That fellow sure must be in a hurry.”

Before he knew it, the stewardess had walked away. And the gentleman he was about to talk to seemed to turn his attention. “Well, my suit needs a bit of drying out.”

Twig's saw the incident between the two men. Mr. Waters must be very accident prone. He had also taken a tumble while she was boarding. Twig's arrived at the group. “I'm Twig's,” she blurted out to the group. As an after thought, she extended her hand to the closest person to her. This happened to be the damp Junior.

Faye had still been trying to figure out how to figure out how to dissuade Mr. Gladstone of the idea that Ditto Town was a "summer home" kind of place - as well as his flirtation - when Mr. Waters, apparently distracted by taking in the ship, collided directly with him. She couldn't help but feel a bit of relief as the conversation abruptly ended. A stewardess was on the scene almost immediately to help, and before long, both men were standing, and Mr. Waters had bolted off again. 'Strange man.' Faye thought. 'Hopefully just strange, and not crazy.'

When Twig's joined their group, Faye was glad to have a second chance to meet her. "Nice to properly meet you, Twig's. I hope your luggage made it safely to your cabin."

Mr. Gladstone was still quite wet, and Faye didn't even want to think of the dry cleaning bill he must be thinking about. She saw a steward restocking the towels about ten, fifteen feet away - a steward who had, apparently, somehow missed all the excitement. She added, "I'll be right back; let me go grab the steward for Mr. Gladstone here."

Angie turned to lead Twig's back to her family and friends for introductions but the pair was distracted by the ongoing drama between the two men. She watched as the shopkeeper - Faye, her name was - introduced herself to Twig's and then left to get the steward.

Angie spoke for the benefit of both Twig's and Mr. Gladstone, pointing out each person as she identified them. "The girls in the pool are my daughter Grace and her friend Kaelin, and poolside are my husband Dan and Kaelin's older sister Maeve. We could chat here for a while" - here she gestured to several empty chairs by the pool - "or maybe try out the buffet. I hear it's quite good."

Delia finished her nap and stretched. She should probably fix her hair and get moving--something was apt to go wrong if she slept for too long. Still, she lounged around, read, looked through her to-do list and generally fiddle-foofed around her cabin before finally donning her jacket, straightening her hair, and applying her lipstick.

"I might not look fine, but at least I look fine," she muttered to herself, turning this way and that. She gave up, jerked her door open, and stepped into the hall, only for a certain Mr. Waters to come careening around the corner.

"Whoa, what's your hat, where's your hurry?" she demanded, looking the somewhat wild-eyed man up and down.

Waters stared at Delia distractedly, as if he had seen a ghost, and became more frazzled on finding his hand reaching up to loosen his nonexistent tie. However was one supposed to think without a necktie!?

"Wh-wh-wh-what is wrong with this place?" he stuttered, waving his hands in agitation. "Is there a zoo on board or Moses's ark? Dogs, children, squir--" he broke off as he remembered that the squirrel was probably a figment of his heated mind. "Ooh!" he wailed, and dashed off towards his cabin. "Elephants! Zebras! What next?"

"I've never played mini-golf," Xandria mused. "But I do hope they have proper accommodations--and goodness knows they should, with this being brand new! Underwater is one of the most gorgeous places--there's so many colors and shapes and it's all quite beautiful. And when the water's just slightly warm, and the sun is shining, it can almost feel like the sea is rocking you and telling you a wonderful silent story. I really hope you get the chance to see it for yourself."

~~

Maeve smiled and waved at both Twig's and Junior, but said nothing. She tried to pay attention to the conversation, while simultaneously keeping an eye on the more rambunctious members of the pool squadron.

Twig’s smiled and nodded as Angie made the introductions. “It’s nice to meet all of you.” Twig’s glanced at her watch. “Wow, it is almost 4:30. Excuse me, I’d like to get some unpacking done before dinner. This doesn’t give me much time.” Twig’s waved good-bye and hurried off. She stopped at some stairs and glanced at her map. Down she decided. After a few wrong turns, Twig’s finally reached the door to her cabin.
Pittersticks heard a soft tread in the halls and instantly knew it was Twig’s. He ducked behind the curtains and waited. Twig’s entered the cabin. She removed the luggage from her from her wagon and lined the suitcases and a trunk up neatly along a wall. She pulled out her dresses and hung them up. That was enough unpacking for now. She didn’t mind living out of suitcases but would prefer not to have wrinkled dresses. She pulled her journal out of her book bag and started making notes on the people she met. When she had finished, she decided to take a bath before dinner. She selected a dress from the closet and disappeared into the bathroom.
Pittersticks slipped out from behind the curtain and grabbed the journal. He read it with relish. Mr. Waters must be the man he had heard going crazy in the hallway a few minutes before Twig’s arrived. He would be fun to mess with. Mr. Gladstone had possibilities as well. Pittersticks filled his backpack with some necessary items. He opened the door and peek out into the hallway. The coast was clear so he slipped into the hallway and quietly closed the door. Using the leafy plants that stood next to each door as cover, he worked his way to the purser’s office. He set his backpack down and pulled out a small robot out of his bag. He used it to knock one of the plants down the nearby stairs. The purser ran out of his office to investigate the noise. Pittersticks darted into the office and printed out the register of all the guests and which cabins they were in. He slipped back into the hall and hid in a potted plant until the purser returned to his office. He collected his robot and darted to Mr. Water’s cabin. He pulled a set of permanent markers out of his backpack and drew a large squirrel on the wall across from Mr. Water’s cabin. He returned to Twig’s cabin and hid himself in the plant across from her room. Pitterstick’s settled down to wait until Twig’s left her cabin for dinner.
Twig’s finished her soak in the tub and dressed in a blue sundress with a floral print. She glanced at her watch. Just in time for dinner. She grabbed her purse and a sweater and headed toward the dinning room.