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The sun was hot and inviting. After liberally applying sunscreen, Claudia sprawled out on her lounge chair. She rolled up a towel to place behind her head as a makeshift pillow. Then she got lost in a novel she had been dying to read. It was every bit as good as she had hoped.
“Are you sure you don’t want to hit up the buffet?” Scott asked, sitting down in the chair beside her. “There’s an omelette bar. And pancakes. And bacon. And sausage. And yogurt. And fresh fruit. There’s pretty much everything you can imagine.”
“That sounds delicious, but I want to finish this chapter,” Claudia said, eyes on the page.
“Okay. Well I’m going back for seconds,” Scott announced. “I’ll bring you back a muffin.”
“Mmkay,” she said absentmindedly. It was a really good book. Hopeless bookworm that she was, Claudia had always been a sucker for a good book. There was something magical about getting lost in a different world for a few hours.
Time passed - she wasn’t sure how much. At some point, Scott returned with the muffin he had promised her. Claudia ate it absentmindedly as she read. Then an announcement came over the loudspeaker. They were approaching Nassau and the ship would be docking shortly.
“I think we’ve stopped moving.” Scott got up from his lounge chair and walked to the other side of the ship to have a look. “Yep, we’ve definitely stopped moving,” he confirmed when he returned. “We’re at port. Do you want to go on any excursions?”
She shrugged. “I’ve always thought a glass-bottomed boat ride sounds neat. But it looks like it might rain,” she added, glancing up at the sky. It was still bright and sunny out, but dark clouds were definitely starting to roll in.
“Should we skip Nassau and stay here? I bet the hot tub will be empty or close to it,” Scott predicted. “And the lineups for food and drinks will be short, too. Not that I want to think about food right now,” he added quickly. “I ate about three times what I normally would for breakfast.”
“I’ve never been to The Bahamas before,” Claudia replied, carefully placing a bookmark in her novel before shutting it. “I’d at least like to go have a look around, just to be able to say I’ve been there. How about we take a quick walk and then come back to the ship early?”
“Sounds good to me.”
The captain came over the loudspeaker announcing that they had arrived.
“Should we head down now?” Scott suggested. “It will probably take a while. I bet the elevators are going to be packed and it will be a solid traffic jam of people.”
“You’re probably right. Let’s go.”
Thankfully, the situation wasn’t quite as bad as Scott had predicted - but almost.
Claudia was surprised to find they had to go through a security checkpoint when leaving the ship. But she supposed it made sense. It was easy to forget one was in a foreign country while on a cruise ship. It felt like a whole different world.
Nassau, too, felt different than anyplace Claudia had been before. They stopped to pose for a selfie in front of a sign that said Welcome to Nassau. After that, they browsed in a large gift shop while the sounds of live music drifted in from outside. Claudia bought a straw handbag and Scott picked out a new hat.
After exiting the gift shop, they found themselves on Bay Street. As Claudia had read in a brochure, it was the social, economic and cultural hub of the city. The entire area was alive with interesting sights, smells and sounds. Street buskers entertained with juggling acts, live music and dancing. The delicious scents of unfamiliar spices wafted over from food stalls. Vendors called out to tourists, enthusiastically trying to drum up business.
There was a flurry of excitement near Bay Street as drivers offered to take vacationers on tours. Locals advertised snorkeling excursions and trips to exclusive beaches. Claudia overheard several people from the cruise ship say they were headed to Atlantis Casino.
“Swimming with pigs?” Scott asked, his gaze landing on a colorful poster. “That’s a thing?”
“Hey! Hey you!” a young woman in a red sundress called out, hurrying over. She eyed Claudia’s long auburn tresses. “Come with me. I’ll braid your hair.” She said it in a manner that made it sound like an order.
“Uh, I’m afraid I don’t have time for that,” Claudia replied, momentarily taken aback.
“Souvenirs!” an elderly gentleman with a long grey beard called out as Claudia and Scott walked past. “Get your souvenirs here! T-shirts, hats and keychains - you name it, we’ve got it! The best prices in Nassau, guaranteed!”
They smiled politely and continued on their way. For a moment, it seemed the man was going to follow them. Then, thankfully, a couple other tourists stopped to peruse his wares. Just like that, she and Scott were forgotten.
She breathed a sigh of relief. Claudia wasn’t used to vendors being quite so assertive. She mostly shopped at local retailers and the farmers market in Prairie Crocus, where one could browse in peace, without being pressured to buy. Well, except for that one lady at the farmers market who didn’t seem to know how to take no for an answer...
“Cool buildings,” Scott remarked.
Claudia tilted her head back and looked up at the two-storey buildings that lined that street. The architecture was really lovely, and there were a colorful assortment of powder pink, baby blue and lime green structures. They housed jewelry stores, food joints and specialty shops.
She and Scott ducked into a shop and had a quick look around. He bought a pair of sunglasses for himself and a teal beaded bracelet for Claudia. Then they continued strolling along, pausing to take a few photos along the way.
“We really look like tourists, don’t we?” Claudia asked as she posed in front of a flowering tropical bush of some sort.
“We are tourists,” Scott replied as he snapped a number of pictures.
“Look!” Claudia exclaimed, lighting up.
She had spotted a small cat that appeared to be half-grown. It had a sleek orange and white coat and an inquisitive look on its face. It sat in the middle of the road as though it owned the entire street. It didn’t seem to be bothered by the steady stream of people walking past.
“Uh oh, a car is coming,” Scott said, pointing. Sure enough, a car had just turned the corner and was headed straight for the unbothered feline.
Claudia immediately crouched down. She snapped her fingers repeatedly to get the cat’s attention. “Here, kitty!” she called, trying her best to coax the cat over. “Come here! It’s alright. Come here, kitty.”
The cat let out a little mew and hurried over to Claudia.
“Aww, aren’t you sweet,” she crooned as the cat affectionately headbutted her ankle. “So friendly!”
“A little too friendly,” Scott chuckled as the cat badgered him for pets. He bent down and gave the outgoing feline a few scratches behind the ears. The cat purred loudly, happily lapping up the attention.
“How do you think our cats are managing without us?”
“I wouldn’t worry about how they’re doing. I’m more concerned about how the cat sitter is doing,” Scott quipped. “Those cats of yours are probably wreaking havoc as we speak. I mean, that’s what they always do...”
“I miss them,” Claudia sighed.
“Are you ready to head back to the ship?” Scott asked. “I wouldn’t mind a dip in the pool.”
“Sure,” Claudia agreed. They turned around and started on the short walk back to port.
“The cat is still following us,” Scott informed Claudia.
“I know. If we ignore it, I expect it will get bored and go do something else.”
Scott’s fingertips grazed Claudia’s as they walked. He took her hand, his thumb tracing lightly over the beads of the bracelet he had purchased for her. She looked up at him and smiled. “Do you realize this is our first official vacation together?”
“It was long overdue,” he replied, giving her hand a squeeze. “Are you having a good time?”
“Yes.”
“Good. Me too.”
They reached their ship and were greeted by two security guards. No one else was around. The male security guard motioned for Scott to stand on one side of the table and remove his belt. The woman had Claudia stand on the other side, where she quickly inspected the contents of Claudia’s purse.
After they emptied their pockets, Claudia and Scott walked through a metal detector.
Based on what she had seen, Claudia suspected the security guards were also supposed to scan her keycard. As she understood it, that was how they kept track of which passengers had made it back to the ship.
But the security guards didn’t scan anything. In fact, they barely glanced at Claudia and Scott. They were too busy making eyes at one another. They spoke to each other in a language she didn’t recognize. She didn’t need to understand what they were saying to know that they were flirting up a storm. The smitten looks on their faces spoke volumes.
Claudia picked her belongings up and waited as Scott buckled his belt. Suddenly she spotted movement out of the corner of her eye. “Scott! The cat followed us back to the ship!” she gasped. “It’s onboard! Watch my stuff.”
With that, Claudia dropped her belongings and took off after the cute stowaway.
“Here kitty!” Claudia called, her voice pleading.
This time, the cat ignored her. As Claudia followed the four-legged explorer up a staircase, she understood why. The delicious scent of steak filled the air. Naturally, the determined feline was headed toward the steakhouse.
A crew member suddenly opened a door and wheeled out a cart full of cleaning supplies. He didn’t notice the cat and, in fact, nearly tripped over the little critter. Unhurt but spooked, the cat abruptly changed course and darted down a different hallway.
In hot pursuit, Claudia followed.
Unfortunately, she lost sight of her target.
“Kitty?” she called, wishing she had been quicker to round the corner. “Where did you go?”
She noticed a closet door that was slightly askew. It was open just enough for a cat to slip inside. Confident she had figured out where the feline was, Claudia hurried over and opened the closet door.
It took a moment for her to process what she was seeing.
Once it had sunk in, she let out a bloodcurdling scream.
There was a body in the closet.
