“I was present at most of their birthday parties and remember many such gifts,” stated Bob quickly, with Imelda immediately adding her agreement. Again, everyone knew what they meant, and the kids felt grateful to all three adults for trying to help them in this way.

  There was too much to take in, and the siblings couldn’t think of any questions because they were still trying to get to grips with what was happening.

  “Why don’t you three go into the garden and I’ll get Esmerelda to bring you out some iced tea. Sit there in peace and have a chat. If you think of any questions you can come back in and ask Dorsey,” Imelda suggested gently. She had spoken to Dorsey and he had already agreed to stay to lunch, anticipating just such a situation.

  In the garden silence reigned. Each sibling processed the information in their own way until they were ready to talk.

  The consensus was that they were totally broke, orphans and homeless, and there seemed no getting away from these facts.

  Their mother’s family had cut her out of their lives when she married someone socially beneath her and had refused to have anything to do with their own grandchildren. Various attempts over the years had been met with icy refusals, so there was no reason to think things would be different now.

  On their father’s side, both grandparents were dead, and they had no idea where their uncle, their only relative was. He travelled the world, living with natives and taking pictures. He only surfaced when he was ready to have an exhibition of his work, and that was always years in coming.

  “We need to do what Dorsey suggested and get as much as we can,” Suzi said. “That way maybe we can buy a small house and all get jobs.

  “That is stealing,” said Jasper.

  “And foreclosing immediately, without waiting to see if this business deal or the funds appear isn’t?” asked Rafi.

  “Good point,” conceded the younger boy.

  “I think we need to be sure that is what Dorsey was saying, because he will need to help” Suzi commented.

  “I’ll go and talk to him now,” and Rafi stood up.

  He found the lawyer sitting with his hosts and politely asked to speak to the lawyer alone, apologizing for excluding the other two.

  “Look, I don’t want to put you on the spot, but I just want to be clear, so how about this – I ask a question and if you stay silent the answer is yes, if you disagree you say ‘no’? Rafi asked.

  “Let’s try,” replied the lawyer.

  “You are suggesting we take as much as we can from the house, whether or not it really belongs to us? Is that right?”

  “As far as I am concerned, what belongs to me also belongs to my children and they have every right to it, and I would want them to have it. Does that answer your question?”

  “Yes, thank you.”

  “Rafi there is one thing… I am trying to put this a certain way, so bear with me. I think something strange is going on. I have no proof and don’t want to say anything to anyone, but I feel things are not right. I may be wrong and it is just a business decision to foreclose on your father’s assets so quickly. I would love access to your father’s computer to check it, but cannot get near it. Now a question – is the computer in the house your father’s, or is it a ‘family’ computer? Do any of you use it, have you ever used it and might you need it for studies? Think carefully, the answer is important.”

  “You are saying we need to find a way to get the computer so we can give it to you to check, right?”

  The lawyer sat in silence and folded his arms. Then he picked up his glass and sipped his tea.

  Rafferty thought for a while, then said, “Jasper used it last weekend. He and Dad looked up things together and worked on something.

  “Great. Get Jasper to remember what it was and I will try and get him the computer so he can continue his studies.”

  When Rafi related the conversation to the others, Jasper remembered what they had looked up, and they wrote it down. Then another thought came to them, school. There would be no money to finish it and they would have to leave. None of them had a problem with that as they didn’t feel it was important under the circumstances.

  “Jasper needs to finish school,” Rafi said, and before his brother could argue, he went on, “for two reasons. One, this is his last year and he will get at least a few qualifications if he finishes, but the other is as an excuse to get the computer. We need that, even if only to put any doubts to rest.

  “I don’t want to and really doubt I can pass the exams the way I feel right now, but if I need to, then I will,” said the old Jasper.

  “Good boy Jasper, and what about you Suzi? This year is paid for, do you want to finish?” Rafi asked.

  “No, I hated it anyway, but what about you Rafi?”

  “There is no point in my finishing. I have done most exams and have the points to pass this year already, but there is nothing to gain by going back.”

  “Then we need to make a list of the ‘gifts’ we got,” said Suzi. “We need to be careful because the objects must be worth as much as we can get away with, but not too much – and I think we should throw in a few things that have no value to make it more authentic.”

  That is what they did, a small gift to each one of them every Christmas was the idea, and when they had finished they thought they could sell them for enough money to buy a small house or flat.

  They showed the list to Dorsey over lunch and he approved most items, but there were three he felt were too expensive. Suzi suggested Rafferty had been given one of them on his eighteenth birthday and another on his 21st. The lawyer agreed that that idea might work because those were considered milestone birthdays, and even thought having one they authorities could refuse was not a bad idea because it would make them feel they were in control of the situation. Bob and Imelda said they would confirm most of the objects, including the two big ones, but would ‘fail to remember’ a few too, as that was more believable.

  Then Bob jumped up from the table, abandoning his half eaten meal, and virtually ran out of the room, everyone watched him in astonishment.

  He returned brandishing a small piece of paper as the others were their drinking coffee after the meal, and he was grinning.

  “I found it! I FOUND IT!”

  “Found what?” Imelda asked.

  “What indeed? Only a vital thing for you kids.” And Bob explained.

  “Some years ago your father and I made a bet for fun. The bet said, and he read from the paper, ‘the winner was entitled to ask for anything he wanted and the loser would provide it without question,’ We each wrote a promise and signed one for the other, because the intended ‘prize’ was to be something to make the other look ridiculous. I won, and your father had to run across the main square in town stark naked except for a ski mask, so no one recognized him. He did it too, and it was very funny.

  Anyway, I kept the promise note because when I looked at it I pictured your father running through the town naked and it made me laugh. No one knows I have been ‘rewarded’, so I am entitled to have the bet paid. My claim precedes the new claim on the estate. I can ask for the house and give it to you kids.”

  The first thought was joy that they could live in their home, but practicality soon won out. They couldn’t afford to run it. It was too big, and too expensive, and selling it immediately would look too suspicious.

  “If not that, have a think of something you want, and make it big. We will go for it,” said Dorsey, adding, “this is great.”

  Long discussions followed and many things were considered and discarded, until they hit on the perfect object. The ‘White Orchid’ the family’s yacht.

  It had a sundeck, outdoor bar, tables and chairs, armchairs, sunbathing area, Jacuzzi, awning, a great size kitchen, salon, indoor dining room, 5 amazing double and twin bedrooms for sleeping 10, and 5 smaller crew rooms which slept another 10. Ideally it needed a crew of 4-6, but had so much technology less people could handle it with a little extra work.

  It was currently moored in the Greek islands as the family usually flew there every summer for a break. Their father often let friends use it too.

  They could live on the yacht and offer chartered tours of the Greek Islands and around the Mediterranean. It would give them a house and a job, all in one. They could use the money from the sale of anything they could get from the house to set up the business. Dorsey said he would do the legal work free and Bob said he would organize to sell any items they got, and give them a loan if needed.

  Knowing they now had a place to live, and a way to earn money made them feel better. The news of their precarious position had lessened the pain of losing both parents. More pressing matters needed to be resolved, so while they grieved, it hurt less than it would have done had they not been busy.

  Chapter 3 An End and A Beginning

  Things, legally speaking, went as Dorsey had predicted. The children got their clothes and personal effects. They also got most of the objects they said had been given to them as Christmas presents, mainly due to Bob’s insistence he had heard Alexander and Samantha giving these gifts. He said it was a ‘tradition’ in that household to let each child chose one object from the house as an extra gift at Christmas, but the item stayed in the house until the parents were ready to part with it. The idea, he explained, was so there would be no fighting over inheritance as each person already owned their objects.

  Rafferty got his two large ‘birthday gifts’; a painting by a famous artist and Fabergé Egg, but Suzi did not get her valuable antique vase. Rafi did manage to hold onto his two-seater sports car, which he exchanged for a more practical jeep and a fistful of cash.

  Bob sold the items for them at auction and the amount raised would fund their yacht adventure for at least a year, giving them time to make it into a business that paid its own way.

  The computer was a bigger problem. The creditors refused to let it go, which seemed odd. They did offer to buy another for Jasper, and the question ended up before a judge in record time. Jasper was magnificent, he broke down saying it was the last thing he and his father had done together and a new computer wasn’t the same. He said the work and photos on it had mostly been done together, and even the placement of photos held a memory for him now his father was gone. A new one was only a machine he pleaded, whereas this was part of his history with his father, and having lost his father, he couldn’t lose that too...

  He fell to the ground, weak from desperation and the judge gave him the computer. The barrage of lawyers fighting this could do no more, try though they did.

  The effort the creditors put into trying to hold onto the computer gave everyone hope that there was something on it that would hold clues to something important.

  Jasper immediately handed it over to Dorsey. A team of experts went over it thoroughly and found nothing out of the ordinary, which only raised even more questions about the creditors’ strong need to get it. Questions destined to go unanswered.

  The analysis of the liquid in the garage showed it was brake fluid, so the accident was ruled just that, an accident.

  No money, contracts or information about the deal was found, and the creditors looked set to get the house, business and everything else – except for the yacht. Dorsey kept filing additional requests to prolong the hand over as long as possible.

  The funeral was held, Alexander and Samantha Harrington were mourned and life went on.

  Jasper went back to finish school, and now he had an added incentive, he actually did quite well in his exams, despite his sorrow. For reasons he did not understand, he felt he had to do well because it was what his father wanted, something he hadn’t felt when his parent was alive. He found studying easier and paying attention in class meant he grasped the lesson sooner.

  Bob sold the yacht to the three siblings for a penny and Dorsey drew up the documentation. Rafi and Suzi lived with Bob and Imelda while the paperwork was being done, and they started planning their yacht charter business.

  While ostensibly in the house to get the children’s clothes, Imelda had managed to slip the Harrington phone book into her large bag, so all the friends who had borrowed the yacht were contacted and asked if they were interested in hiring it for a small fee that summer. Most of them said yes.

  At Bob’s insistence they decided to keep on two crew members for a few months. The original idea was to keep the Captain, so he could teach them how to run the ship, but his wages were considerably higher than Ted’s. Ted was his assistant, and was also the ‘relief Captain’, so Ted stayed and agreed to teach them anything they wanted to know. This actually worked out well because Ted’s wife, Annabelle worked as waitress, housemaid, and general dog’s body, so she stayed to help clean and serve too. Suzi would cook. Rafi and Jasper would alternately pilot the yacht and help out wherever needed.

  The situation was explained to the other staff members and part of the money from the auction used to pay them off.

  Rafi’s girlfriend had wanted to join them, but Rafi had insisted she finish her course first, something which endeared him to her father and made their relationship very slightly better. What her father didn’t know was that she intended to join her boyfriend on the yacht that summer, and she hoped to stay there permanently. Rafi didn’t know that yet either.

  Rafi and Suzi did all the preparations they could before leaving. Suzi spoke to the chef and got old menus emailed to her so she could practice the dishes and devise new meals. Bob and Dorsey spoke to their acquaintances, and Rafi soon started taking bookings.

  Rafi had asked Ted and Annabelle to set up the staff cabins so there was one for them, one each for Rafi, Jasper and Suzi, and the last one to be set up as a lounge with a sofa or armchairs and a table for the staff to relax in. He asked them to organize shelves for books and games, paper and pens for writing and anything else they could do quietly so as not to disturbed paying quests. He requested a fold-up bed, so he and Jasper could move into Suzi’s cabin if there was a chance of renting their room. This was hardly ideal, as the staff bedrooms were not large to begin with, but it was a necessity if it meant earning more money. They had to make the most of the four or five months around summer when people wanted to visit that part of that world and earn enough to keep the yacht going for the rest of the year.

  Annabelle suggested she do an inventory of crockery, linen and so on, so they could see what might be needed. Also the expenses log, to help figure out costs and pricing. Rafi was delighted with her initiative and thanked her. She also said the staff had kept notebooks for each person who had travelled on the White Orchid, with their preferences in all matters. That would be useful for the guests who had stayed there already, but it also gave jasper the idea of asking each client if they had any preferences for food, drink, things to do, places to visit and so on when they were booking.

  Rafi also spend as much time with Jasper as he could, to help the boy through his grief and to help with his studies. He visited every weekend or brought jasper home, if Bob’s house could be considered ‘home’.

  He saw little of Netta during this time, but she understood, so that wasn’t a problem.

  Imelda had placed adverts in some travel magazines, as a gift, to the children and soon they were booked up. It had been decided to offer two levels of charter, luxury and basic, called Gold and Silver. Gold got you luxury all the way, from food and drink such as Champaign and caviar, to twenty four hour service. Silver got you the boat and food, good food, but quite plain, (for instance; salads and fruit for lunch), and all day service, but if you wanted a sandwich at two in the morning, you got it yourself from a small fridge in your room. (These were pre made by Suzi, and if not used served as lunch for the staff the following day.)

  Gold got you unlimited alcohol, unless you wanted something ‘special’, such as ‘Legacy Rum’ or ‘Chateau D’Yquem’. In that case you provided the request in advance, the bottle would be on board waiting for you and the considerable price was added to your charter fee.

  With Silver you had a bottle of wine a day for two people, and two cocktails and a brandy or equivalent after dinner. There was plenty more if you wanted it, and choice was virtually unlimited, but you paid for it.

  The idea was to keep the yacht full as much as possible, and by offering lower prices, it was more accessible to people who were not in the top tiers of wealth. Silver was the easier job for the staff and actually gave the highest return. Luckily it was also the most booked so far.

  Once everything was in place, only Jasper’s studies remained, and with only a week to go before he sat his last exam, his brother and sister waited for him.

  Then they were off to start their new life. Rafi printed off a photo of the best Brandy in the world and wrote on the photo, ‘We, Rafi, Jasper and Suzi, owe you this and so much more for all your help. This is only a picture – for now! All our love,” and the three signed it. They did the same with a box of expensive cigars for Dorsey, and a special perfume for Imelda.

  Good byes were said and they set off into the unknown.

  Chapter 4 A Clue

  They flew to Athens and got a taxi to the port of Rafina where Ted and the crew had taken the yacht.

  Once on board Annabelle hugged them all and made them sit down, insisting on serving them cocktails and snacks to help them relax after their journey.

  They then went to their rooms, which, used to the large, airy staterooms, looked more like prison cells than something you would find on a luxury yacht. They unpacked, had a Jacuzzi, with more cocktails, having already agreed that this day was to relax before starting the serious work, and asking the couple already on board to organize something for dinner.

  After dinner they all sat on deck, in the comfortable armchairs and chatted.

  Alexander and Samantha had been great bosses and their children had always been polite and courteous, so there was no discomfort for anyone.

 

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