Disaster for Hire Read Free Page A

me in the head before he took off. By the time I came to again, there were just the three of us."
    Frank was at a loss. Who could have saved him? He walked over to the rail and looked out at the sea, trying to put it all together.
    Chet joined him. "There was something else kind of funny, Frank. I can't be sure of it, but — "
    "What?" Frank turned to his friend.
    Chet shrugged. "Everything was pretty mixed up and dark, but I thought the guy who attacked me was one of those guys from the restaurant this afternoon."
    The Hardys got up at noon the next day to find the sun shining, the winds calm, and the sea smooth. Joe stretched and yawned, sitting up in his bunk while Frank did pushups, all the exercise their cramped cabin allowed.
    Interrupting a pushup, Frank lifted his head to glance at his brother. "Looks like you're back among the living today," he observed.
    Joe swung his legs out of the bunk and sat up, smiling. "It's amazing," he said. "Today I feel great and ready to eat about ten pounds of steak. Last night if someone had asked me to choose between food and being tossed over the side of the ship, I'd have had to flip a coin."
    Frank got to his feet. "Funny you should mention going over the side," he said. He told Joe about the events of the evening before.
    Joe's smile faded as he listened. "Sounds like a pretty close call," he said.
    Frank shrugged.
    "I should have been there for you," Joe growled.
    "Hey, go easy on yourself," said Frank. "When you're sick, you're sick. Anyway, Chet did a pretty good job standing in for you."
    "I don't like this," Joe insisted with a frown. "Something's not right. Let's find the captain and let him know — "
    "Whoa, take it easy." Frank raised his hands. "I think it'd be better if we talk to Prynne first. Whoever attacked him has nowhere to go — they're still somewhere aboard."
    Joe jumped to his feet. "Then let's get cleaned up, find Prynne, and talk to him—after we find something to eat."
    Frank grinned as he pulled on a pair of jeans. "Trust you to get your priorities straight."
    A few minutes later they entered a small snack bar on an upper deck. Phil Cohen and Chet Morton were sitting at a table, and Phil waved the Hardys over.
    "Chet told me about the fun and games last night," said Phil as the Hardys sat. "You okay, Frank?"
    "I've got some bruises where I hit the rail."
    Frank rubbed his ribs. "No big deal — it could have been worse. How are you feeling?"
    Phil smiled weakly. "Now that my stomach is back where it belongs, I'm fine. Last night it kept trying to crawl out through my throat."
    Joe said, "I think some plain breakfast food will help keep mine in place. What's safe to eat here?"
    Chet looked up from his plate. "Try some of these cakes, Joe. This one's my favorite. It's filled with chopped nuts and cinnamon, and the honey is the best I've ever tasted. And they have this soda, it's a kind of sour cherry flavor, I think it's called, uh, veeseenada, or something, and — "
    "Easy, big fella," said Phil, laughing. "Don't strip your gears." Then he turned to Frank and Joe. "You'd probably like this spinach pie," he said. "And the cakes are good, if you have a serious sweet tooth, like our pal here."
    They signaled to a waiter, who took the Hardys' order. Before he could leave, Chet stopped him. "Um, as long as you're here, bring a couple more of those spinach pies. Oh, and a couple of the ones filled with custard."
    The waiter gaped at him, not certain he'd heard correctly. "You want two more of this and two more of this one here? Yes?"
    "And another one of these veeseenadas to wash it down," finished Chet happily.
    Chet noticed the others grinning at him, and shrugged. "It's the sea air," he said.
    "Yeah, right," said Joe.
    "Take it easy on Chet," Frank cut in. "He had a busy time last night.
    "Speaking of last night," Frank continued in a more serious vein, "maybe it'd be better if we kept all of that to ourselves for a while. At least until we've talked to