Innocent on the run. Part 33.

Once the Skipper and Hank had gone to their homes, Ricky got showered and made himself some supper. He didn't want to go wandering around the town in case the police were looking for him, but it had been nearly a week since he'd passed the new ten dollar bill, so he hoped that the heat had died down. He turned on the radio in the mess room and listened every time the local news came on, but there was no mention of the robbery. Feeling a bit more secure, Ricky locked up the boat and climbed up on to the quay. After a week of being cooped up on the boat, he needed to stretch his legs and get away from the smell of fish for a while. There were plenty of people on the seafront, and he spent a couple of hours wandering about in the cool of the evening. There were some young people playing volleyball on the beach and he watched them jumping at the net and slapping the ball down on the other side, amid cries of exultation, and laughter, as they tripped in the sand and fell full length. Further on there were people bouncing on trampolines, performing somersaults and complicated aerial moves, revelling in the applause from the watching crowds. The Americans seemed to do everything with great enthusiasm, throwing themselves into the spirit of things with gusto. He stopped at an ice cream stall on the promenade and bought a chocolate fudge, licking away at it while walking. Some young lads came whizzing by on roller skates and Ricky had to jump out of the way as they sped past, shouting amongst themselves. A street entertainer was drumming up business, shouting his patter to attract the attention of passers by and Ricky stopped to watch. The man had a wooden ladder which he was balancing upright on the promenade and attempting to climb it unsupported. He made a few obvious slips off it, before starting properly, balancing on every rung with one leg, the other one stuck out at an angle. It was a tremendous balancing feat, and he got to the top amid wild applause. He then took out three tennis balls from his pockets, and juggled them, sitting on the top rung of the ladder, all the time keeping up his non stop patter. People were throwing coins in the cap that he'd placed on the ground, and he slowly came down from his perch, thanking everyone for their generosity. Ricky carried on walking up Ocean Drive, around the curve of the bay until he came to the Corpus Christi State University. He decided that that was far enough for one night, and turned back towards the docks and walked slowly back to the boat, admiring the sunset that splashed colour all around the horizon. He locked himself in, and went to bed, hoping that he could go looking for a British ship the following day. It was ten a.m. before the Skipper returned and woke Ricky up by banging on the cabin door. He shot out of bed and opened up. ` Sorry Skip,' he said, ` I overslept.' Skipper grinned at him. `Fishing's tiring work, huh? ' `Yes, I slept right through.' Skipper counted money out on to the messdeck table. `There you go.' he said. ` Thirty five dollars.' `Wow ! That's a lot of money for a week's work, Skip.' `Well, we had a good catch. You must have brought us luck, we don't normally do that good.' `I'm not normally lucky.' `Maybe your luck's changing then.' Ricky hoped that Skip was right. He poured coffee out and got dressed as he drank it. Skip said, ` My other crewman is back from vacation today, so we'll be sailing tonight.' `Right, so you won't need me any more.' `That's right Rick, but don't hurry away, take your time, and I sure do thank you for helping us out like that.' `That's O.K. Skip. I needed the money.' Which was no lie. He needed clean money if he was stuck here again. Ricky spent all morning on the boat, and in the early afternoon said goodbye. He went towards the ship's turning basin, saw that there was nothing going on there, and walked around the piers looking for a ship with a British flag. After half an hour he was starting to lose hope again, when he stopped and stared in disbelief. It was definitely a red duster flying on that old, rusty freighter. He approached the ship cautiously, keeping alert for any sign of danger. What if the three bank robbers were keeping watch here in Corpus Christie. No, that was impossible, they couldn't keep track of every British ship that came to the Gulf of Mexico. He stood in the shadows opposite the ship and kept watch. The dockers were loading her with cargo. Loads and loads of boxes were being lifted off the quay in cargo nets and swung into her holds by the dockside cranes. Trucks were waiting their turn to unload as well. She was quite low down in the water, so she must be well on the way to being finished. He stayed watching for over an hour. There was a man with a clipboard on the quayside checking the cargo before it was loaded. The door in the building alongside Ricky opened and a man stuck his head out. ` Frank.' he yelled. The man with the clipboard looked up. `Phone.' the head shouted and disappeared. Frank handed the clipboard to one of the dockers and walked towards the building. He disappeared inside. When he came out Ricky was waiting. ` Excuse me.' he said. ` When's this ship sailing?' The man didn't even look at him. ` Tonight,' he snarled. Ricky faded into the shadows again. This was it. His luck was holding. He studied the old ship. It had been many years since she'd seen any paint. The superstructure had once been white and the hull black, but years of neglect had rendered her a horrible, dirty reddish colour, most of it rust streaks. The officer's accommodation and bridge was midships and the crew's quarters aft, with cargo holds in between. None of the crew were in evidence, the deck being manned by dock workers. Ricky turned away and made his way off the pier and into the town. He had some hours to kill before he would return to the ship and somehow sneak aboard to stow away in one of the lifeboats on the stern. He would need to bring enough provisions with him to keep him going for twenty four hours, by which time they should be well out into the Gulf. He doubted that they would turn back, just to drop a stowaway off. In the meantime, he would while away a few hours by seeing a film, so it was with a light heart that he walked up to a cinema and paid his admission.