Promptly at nine the next morning Flossie and Sterling eased themselves into their chairs at Godiva’s kitchen table. Martina, the cook, prepared two plates of French toast dripping with Vermont maple syrup. Guadalupe, who had been with Godiva for so many years she was part of the family, poured fresh coffee.
“So what do you think of Red’s offer, Old Girl? A month on the high seas sounds pretty exciting, especially if we’re surrounded by a whole group of magicians on the way back. Maybe we’ll even get asked to do an act.”
“My son-in-law is a real prince, isn’t he?” Flossie cleared her throat, followed by an exaggerated sigh. “I even forgive him for keeping my Goldie in Alaska. I certainly thought she would come to her senses and return to L.A. after she left that hippie commune. But not my Goldie. Instead she meets a handsome sea captain and marries into his crazy Juneau family!”
“You said that like it happened yesterday. Face it. She’s been up north for thirty-two years now. She’s not coming back. So what do you say we hop on that ship and go see her?” He picked up his napkin and wiped some maple syrup off his chin.
“Well, I’m just not sure. The thing is, I worry about Waldo.”
Right on cue Waldo the Wonder Dog padded into the room holding a big red bow in his mouth. He dropped it at her feet, fixed Flossie with a doggie stare and growled Shoooooww?
Sterling shook his head and shrugged. “Always amazes me how he knows when it’s Thursday. Just look at him waggin’ his tail.”
As though he understood, Waldo’s tail whipped back and forth like a metronome. The old man rubbed the dog’s furry ears. “Aren’t you a clever one? Not only sound like you’re talkin’, but you can read the calendar, too. Hold still, Flossie’s gonna put your bow on.”
Flossie held him firmly with one hand while she slipped a streamer from the bow under his glittery collar and tied the ends of the ribbons together. Waldo’s “costume” was now complete. He gave her a warm canine grin and settled down in the corner to wait for them to finish breakfast.
“See what I mean? How could we leave him for almost a month? I can just see him walking around the house every Thursday with his bow in his mouth, looking for us. Godiva’s too busy, Angel’s overworked, Martina and Lupe will feed him so many snacks he’ll be too fat to perform. With no one to take him to do the act at the Home for Hollywood Has-Beens, he’ll think his show business days are over.” Flossie’s china blue eyes teared up. “I know that’s how I’d feel.”
Looking more asleep than awake, Godiva padded into the kitchen, tightened the sash on her silk robe and plopped into her chair. Guadalupe was at her elbow in an instant with a mug of gourmet coffee.
After taking a few sips of the steaming brew, Godiva asked, “So, why would Waldo feel bad?”
“Oy, Totteleh, Goldie called last night while you were out gallivanting with Dexter. She said Red invited us to cruise from Los Angeles to Juneau and back on the Aurora Borealis, first class all the way. There’ll be a big group of magicians traveling from Vancouver to L.A. on the trip back, and he thought we might like to rub shoulders with them. Such a mensch. Not like the bum you married.”
“Well, I’ll admit, Max was far from perfect.” As she gestured around the room, the sun shining through the windows bounced off her eight carat diamond ring. “But you’ve gotta admit his millions made up for it.”
“Humph. You sure aren’t like your sister. But then fancy clothes and racy cars never meant much to her. You’ve always been higher maintenance.”
Sterling’s fork clattered on his plate. “Alright, Flossie, stop picking on the queen and tell Her Majesty what’s eatin’ at you.”
“Well, the thing is, we’d be gone for almost a month. I’m a little worried about leaving Waldo for that long.”
The old man added, “For once I agree with your mother. I’m concerned about Waldo, too. Remember how sad he was the whole time we were in Las Vegas visiting Torch? Sterling dabbed his mouth with his napkin. “We’re thinking maybe we should just thank Red for being so thoughtful and take a pass on his offer.”
Godiva scrunched her brow and tapped her chin, a trait she shared with her twin sister. “Hold on there, Mom, maybe there’s a way to bring Waldo along. It would be a shame to miss out on this nice trip. Red’s the captain, after all. Surely he can pull some strings. Maybe Waldo could be the ship’s mascot or something.”
Flossie’s expression brightened. “You think he could do that?”
“Well, I don’t know what the rules are about having dogs on board, but it doesn’t hurt to try. I’ll call Goldie and see if we can devise a plan. You know I usually get what I go after.” As Guadalupe set down a plate of French toast, Godiva lifted her cup and inhaled the rich aroma of Blue Mountain coffee mixed with cinnamon.
Sterling took the last few sips from his mug, then stood, folded his napkin neatly and placed it on the table. “If there is one thing that starts a morning off right, it’s a cup of Martina’s finest brew. Well, we gotta hit the road. Come on Old Girl. It’s showtime.”
Flossie pushed her chair away and, on cue, Waldo jumped up and ran to the back door, tail wagging a mile a minute.
“Why don’t you go ahead and call your sister, Godiva?” Sterling looked over his shoulder. “If you two girls can figure out how to get this hound on board, Flossie and me will be outta your hair for a whole month. Hey, maybe we could disguise him as a First Mate or something.”
“Don’t you worry, Unk. As you well know, when we set our minds to something we never fail. After all, you were the one who encouraged us to ask for the moon when we were little kids.”A light smile lifted the corners of Godiva’s mouth. Sterling could see she liked the idea of sending them on an extended vacation.
***
As soon as the oldsters were on their way, Godiva called Goldie with one mission in mind—getting Waldo on the Aurora Borealis.
“Silver Spoon Antiques, if it ain’t old, we ain’t got it. This here’s Rudy speaking.”
“Hello Rudy, this is Godiva. Is Goldie there?”
“Well, howdy Lady Godiva. Goldie said it would be you on the phone. I just don’t know how you girls do that flippin’ ESP thing. She’s writin’ up a sale, be with you in a minute.”
“I’ll wait, I have something important to discuss with her.”
“You ain’t gonna drag her into some fool adventure, are ya? It must be important for you to be on the phone before ten o’clock.”
Godiva could never adjust to the fact that even though it was one hour earlier in Alaska, Goldie had already opened her shop, while she could barely manage to open her eyes by nine o’clock.
“Good morning, Sunshine.” Goldie chirped.
“Hey Sis. Mom and Unk just told me about Red’s offer. Sounds terrific, but there is a slight problem so I thought I’d better call right away.”
“Problem?”
“Yeah, it’s about Waldo. They’re both so worried about leaving him for several weeks that they’re thinking of turning down the offer. Do you happen to know the rules about having dogs on board? Do you think maybe there’s some way they could take Waldo along because—”
“—because that would give you a month of freedom.” Goldie had an annoying habit of finishing her twin sister’s sentences.
“Um, yeah, that too.”
“Well, I know that a guide dog or service dog would be allowed on board, but if it’s just a regular house pet, forget it.”
“Come on, Sis, you can do better than that. There has to be an angle. Put your thinking cap on.”
Both sisters were silent for a few moments. Then Goldie said, “I don’t know. This may work if Red will go along with it. Maybe we could list Waldo as a service dog for Mom or Unk. After all, they are pretty old, and service dogs perform all sorts of tasks beyond helping the blind. They will both be in suites, so there is plenty of room for Waldo. The passengers might even enjoy having a dog like him on board, as long as he doesn’t talk too much.”
“Yes, that’s brilliant. Waldo is sort of a service dog, isn’t he? Um, what do they do when the dogs have to, you know, go potty?”
“Oh, no problem there. Red once told me when they have a service dog on board, they fix a special area for them to do their ‘business.’ Of course, it’s out of the way of the passengers.”
“Do you think you can talk Red into it?”
“Leave him to me, I know all of my husband’s vulnerable spots.”
“You’re the best.”
“Well, actually, when it comes to manipulating, you’re the best. But I have the added incentive of getting a chance to see the folks if they take the cruise. And as a bonus, we can keep them out of trouble for almost a month.”