CHAPTER NINETEEN.
The rest of the drive to Portsmouth was made without incident, although the slower-than-normal traffic meant that a request from Edd to see the dockyards of Southampton could not be made if they were to make the ferry on time. The girls were feeling quite relaxed, owing to the massaging of their shoulders and neck muscles by their boyfriends. The boys – cramped fingers notwithstanding – were looking forward to the trip on the ferry, as well as the upcoming evening concert at the festival that they were going to attend.
After parking the mini-bus at the ferry terminal car park, Mr. Statorowski led the party over to the terminal building and once inside, showed an attendant there the tickets for him and the teens. After the attendant let them through, they then proceeded onto the Wightlink ferry 'Victoria of Wight', which would take them to Fishbourne, the ferry's destination on the Isle.
As they were getting on board the ferry, Marie had been looking quizzically at Edd. She had noticed that he was looking rather melancholic and was wondering what was going on with him. She resolved to talk to him once they were under way.
For her part, May was looking rather worried. While on rivers and lakes she had no problems, on the open sea, she suffers from seasickness and the ferry trip from Portsmouth to Fishbourne across the Solent strait separating the UK from the Isle of Wight would take forty-five minutes. The wind was blowing strong today and the water looked choppy. She and Ed were on the upper deck with the other teens.
"Fear not, Llittle May", Ed said with confidence, "for if you do become ill, I will tend to your needs, never fear!"
"Thanks, Big Ed", May said with a smile, though she was not looking forward to riding on the ferry with the wind and water conditions the way they were.
"I have bought with me a bunch of those sickness bags from the airplane like the ones that Marie used a lot on the flight, so you will not have to worry about making a mess", Ed said next.
"Just keep your fingers crossed that I won't be sick, Big Ed", May asked, "After the ribbing I gave Marie about her being airsick, I don't think she'd ever let me hear the end of it if I start chucking up here!"
Lee - who was watching her youngest sister talking with Ed – refrained from making wry remarks. She had seen the last time that May had succumbed to seasickness and knew that Ed would be looking out for her. And since Lindsay had mentioned to Lee earlier that Mr. Statorowski was planning to take them all to France - not by train or plane – by ferry to the British Channel Islands and thence to Normandy, this would probably not be the best time for May to find out about that!
"What's with May?" Eddy asked Lee, "she looks like she'd seen a ghost".
"Seasickness, Love", Lee replied, "May hates the open water and judging from the flags and the choppiness of the sea, she's probably gonna be tossing her cookies".
"You wouldn't know it, after you, her, and Marie had made your little 'Pirate Ship' and chased us down on the river outside Peach Creek that time. Remember?", Eddy pointed out. Lee giggled at the memory.
"A river is not a strait, Eddy", Lee reminded him, "and I should point out that while we got our 'booty', we lost our best bedsheet - thanks to Johnny - and Daddy went ballistic over the weed-whacker we ruined when we used it as an outboard motor. Sacrifices made above and beyond the call of duty", she concluded with another giggle.
"More like below and behind the call of duty", Eddy shot back, "That was a great scam that you and your sisters crashed!"
"Well, you did pull out the bobby-pin from the inner tube, Love", Lee pointed out, "otherwise you'd have gotten clean away".
Eddy turned red thinking about that rather stupid thing he ended up doing. He thought about making a comeback reply, then he spied Johnny leaning over one of the railings looking out at the dock. Johnny looked sad. Eddy guessed why.
"Johnny there", Eddy said to Lee gesturing with his thumb, "ever since he weaned himself off Plank, he's been looking pretty downbeat, despite his comic book work and his diary. He looks pretty lonely".
Lee nodded. She had noticed Johnny's demeanor too. Despite the others' efforts to make him feel welcome and a part of the group, Johnny not having a girlfriend of his own made him the odd person out.
"Hopefully Johnny will find somebody before too long", Lee said hopefully, "maybe sooner than he thinks".
"Planning something, Lee?" Eddy asked with a smile, "I thought with this plan of yours and Lindsay to help Double-Dee out with Marie, you wouldn't have time for extra match-making".
"No, I don't have a plan", Lee confessed, "but this vacation of ours has a while to run and who knows what may happen…"
Johnny's melancholy had not gone unnoticed by the other teens. Nazz was looking at him sadly. Kevin noticed this, saying, "Nazz, I know that you feel sorry for him, but there's really not a lot that we can do".
"I know, Kevin", Nazz replied, "and I know all too well about his feelings. That super-hero gig we ended up doing together the previous Christmas bore that out. I only wish that some girl will find in him a kindred spirit. Just like I found a kindred spirit with you".
"Thanks, Doll", Kevin said with feeling, "and I'm glad that I fully realized it too. My obsessing over my bike kind of blinded me to it for a while".
"That's for sure!", Nazz said with a laugh, "When I heard the Shania Twain song 'That Don't Impress Me Much' – particularly the verse about the guy with a car – it really reminded me of you and your bike!"
Kevin rolled his eyes at that, but Nazz's reference to music made him wonder…
"You have any idea of what acts we're going to be seeing at the concert?", he asked.
"I had read in a magazine article back home a few months ago that there were going to be a few reunion concerts planned for this year's festival, but it didn't give much else information and since I didn't think that I'd ever go to the concert, I didn't take care to remember every word. The only thing I can clearly remember were about several popular groups of the '80's and '90's wanting to perform".
"Pity you can't remember", Kevin said as he thought about what Nazz had said, "still, this should be something to enjoy regardless of who's there! Probably other folk here on the ferry will let ship about who's gonna be playing, so I'm keeping my ears open!"
Nazz nodded, then leaned close to Kevin so that he could put his arm around her waist.
Sitting down on a deck bench were Lindsay and Rolf. They were looking at Sarah and Jimmy racing around the deck. Sarah was holding a half-eaten Mars bar in her hand and was chasing Jimmy, who had a bottle of soda in his hand.
"Come on, Jimmy!", Sarah said, "this candy bar has made me thirsty! I wanna drink! Play fair!"
"Sorry Sarah", Jimmy called back, "but until you let me have a bite, no soda for you!"
"Those two have so much energy, I wonder how they do it!", Lindsay said to her boyfriend.
"All that sugar, my sweet Schmetlokin", Rolf replied, "you'll never see this son of a shepherd inject so much sweet stuff into his system!"
"And I suppose your obsession with those ju-jubes doesn't count?" Lindsay asked sarcastically, "I swear: every time I see you walk out of the candy store with a box of those, you eat them like there's no tomorrow!"
Rolf looked abashed, but Lindsay giggled, then leaned over and kissed him on the cheek.
"I'll let you in on a little secret, Rolf", Lindsay said next, "I've got a candy obsession too. There is a British chocolate bar available in America called Cadbury's Dairy Milk. I love that stuff. Reminds me of you every time I bite into one: hard on the outside, yet so soft and sweet within!"
Rolf blushed, then said, "Ah yes, I have seen this Cadbury's chocolate of which you mentioned. When Rolf called in to see you one time, I saw Chubbs licking on a bar of it".
At that, her eyes widened. So that's where those missing chocolate bars ended up! Her cat had been eating them!
"I think I'd better have a girl-on-kitty 'cat chat' with Chubbs when we get back to Peach Creek", Lindsay muttered under her breath.
Just then, everyone felt a lurch as the ferry left its dock. Chuck Statorowski spoke unnecessarily, "Well, we're on our way. Next stop: The Isle of Wight".
"So what can you tell us about this bed and breakfast we'll be staying at, Mr. Statorowski?" Edd asked.
"It's in Ventnor on the south coast, and it has a lot of bedrooms", Mr. Statorowski replied, "You'll be sleeping in individual rooms there. A taxi-bus should be waiting for us in Fishbourne when we arrive to drive us there. When we arrive, we'll freshen up, then we'll take one of the shuttle busses to Newport for the concert. And before you ask me why we're not staying in Newport, the Ventnor Bed-and-Breakfast was the closest place available that had the necessary number of rooms".
"I still think we'd be better off if we took the mini-bus with us on one of the car ferries", Eddy grumbled.
"When you see the amount of traffic that will be on the Isle when we get there, you'll change your opinion on that, Eddy", Mr. Statorowski assured him, "not to mention that the backlog of vehicles getting onto those car ferries would mean us staying in Portsmouth for quite a few hours!"
As the 'Victoria of Wight' moved into the Solent – and the water was not smooth, much to May's discomfort – Edd walked over to the stern of the vessel. Marie followed him.
Edd sat down on a deck bench – where Marie joined him – and looked out at the retreating shoreline of Portsmouth. Marie looked around and saw that – while crowded – the other teens were not present.
"Hey, Oven Mitt", she said. Edd turned towards her.
"Yes, Marie?" Edd replied with a smile.
"Looking forward to the concert? I am!", she said with a smile of her own.
"I am genuinely curious as to what bands and groups that we will be seeing this evening, Marie", Edd replied.
"But I'm seeing you looking sad a lot, Dreamboat", Marie pointed out, "and despite your enjoyment of Stonehenge – and your massaging my shoulders earlier – I'm still noticing it. Are you all right?"
"There are a couple of items – past and present – currently occupying my mind, Marie", Edd replied, "and I'd like to confide in them with you, but right here on the ferry may not be the best time and place to do so. Perhaps after the concert".
"Did your twin brother James like the water?" Marie quietly asked. She had picked up on his use of the word 'past'.
"He loved going out on the water, Marie", Edd replied quietly, "So did I. A family friend had a yacht and when Mother and Father took us out to see him, he would take us sailing. Being out here on this ship reminded me of those happy times that we had".
"You did everything together, didn't you?" Marie asked next. Edd nodded.
"From making structures in the playroom at home with our building blocks to watching Mister Rogers' Neighborhood on television every afternoon to camping, we'd be there always together. But now he's dead and all that my parents and I have of him are our memories".
Marie leaned into him and rested her head on his shoulder. She knew all too well as to how close her boyfriend had been to his deceased brother. Those times where he had taken her to James' grave and spoken to the grave about her and how much he cared for her made her feel so loved, and also a part of Edd's family.
"I'm sure that James would want you to enjoy yourself here on this vacation, Cutie", Marie said, "so for his sake, please don't be sad. Okay?"
Edd looked at Marie, then nodded. He stood up, offering Marie his hand. As she stood up, he said, "According to the ferry guidebook, there is a snack bar here one deck below us. Would the lovely lady mind if I took her down for a soda and a candy bar?" he asked.
"I thought you'd never ask", Marie replied and they both walked towards the steps leading to the deck below…
