Chapter 27
“Wait!” Gloria frantically waved her arms, struggling to get the lighthouse employee’s attention. “Don’t lock us in!”
Ruth slipped in beside her. “I don’t think she can hear you.”
“Not with the wind blowing.”
The breeze Gloria had been appreciating only moments earlier grabbed hold of the woman’s hat. It lifted off her head and twirled around. She ran after it, chasing it across the yard and to the corner.
“Did she lock the door?”
“I’m not sure. She stood there for a minute before her hat blew off.” Gloria rushed past Ruth. Careful to sidestep Lucy, who was balancing on one foot, she raced down the steps.
Gloria reached the bottom and sprinted to the door, only to discover it was shut and locked. Quickly assessing the situation, she ran to the other side, thinking maybe there was a window. No such luck.
She tried the doorknob again, desperately twisting it back and forth. It refused to budge.
Ruth hollered at her, but Gloria wasn’t able to hear what she said.
With one final desperate attempt to ram the door open, she reluctantly made her way back to her friends. Lucy sat on a step while Ruth glumly stared out the window. “Let me guess…we’re locked in.”
“At least we have cell service.” Gloria held her phone toward the window, careful to keep a firm grip on it.
“I’m sorry,” Lucy said in a small voice. “This is my fault.”
“We’re all to blame. We shouldn’t have cut it this close,” Ruth said. “Who are you calling?”
“Millie.” Gloria dialed her cousin’s cell phone number. It went directly to voicemail. She left a message explaining their situation.
“I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but we’re running out of time to make it back to the ship,” Ruth said.
“Or what?” Lucy asked.
“I don’t even want to think about it.” Gloria pulled up a search app and typed Bay Tide Lighthouse Grand Turk in the search bar. She clicked on the phone number that popped up. “With any luck someone will answer.”
A robotic voice began speaking, listing the lighthouse’s hours and the exact location. No other prompts to speak to a live person were offered. The call abruptly ended.
“No one is picking up.”
“Try Margaret or Dot,” Ruth suggested.
“They’re probably wondering what happened to us. I’ll try Dot first.” Gloria tapped the screen.
Dot answered right away. “Where are you?”
“Locked in the lighthouse.”
“Locked in the lighthouse? What happened?”
“I have you on speaker. It’s a long and, at least for Lucy, painful story. We were on our way down right around closing time at quarter ‘til. Lucy tripped and twisted her ankle. The lighthouse employee didn’t realize we were still in here and locked the door.”
“Without checking to make sure no one was inside?”
“She rang the bell, warning any occupants she was locking up. We tried getting her attention, but the wind was blowing.”
“Call the office.”
“I already tried. I got an automated message and then the line disconnected.”
Dot’s voice grew muffled. “Margaret, Liz and I are almost back to the ship. Did you let Millie know?”
“I left her a message.”
Ruth elbowed Gloria. “Based on how much smoke is pouring out of the smokestack, we don’t have long.”
“Unless Millie can pull some strings, we’ll be left behind.”
“I’ll let security know as soon as we board. In the meantime, have you tried picking the lock?”
“Not yet, but we will. We need to help Lucy first.”
“Keep your cell phone handy.”
“I will. Unfortunately cell reception is almost non-existent,” Gloria said.
“Ruth here. We’ll have Lucy hang out by the window while Gloria and I run down to try to unlock the door. If you can somehow keep the ship from leaving, we’ll see if we can pick the lock.”
“How will Lucy get back to the ship if she sprained her ankle?”
“We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it. Wish us luck.”
“Good luck. Margaret and I are boarding now. We’ll see what we can do.”
Gloria thanked her before ending the call and motioned to Lucy. “Is your cell phone working?”
“Yeah.” She waved it in the air. “I have a screen protector and it didn’t fall far.”
A flit of uncertainty crossed Gloria’s face. “I’m not sure I have anything we could use to try to pick the lock.”
“Never fear.” Ruth adjusted her backpack. “I have an array of gadgets I keep with me at all times. I don’t recall noticing what the knob looked like but if anyone can pick a lock, we can.”
*****
“I hate to rush you because I know you have your own way of doing things but we’re kind of in a time crunch,” Gloria said.
Ruth finished emptying the manicure kit and checked her watch. “And I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but it’s past boarding time. Either the ship will wait until we’re rescued or we’re going to have to figure out our own way back to Miami.”
Gloria heaved a heavy sigh. “This is almost as bad as when Cat and Millie were stuck in Skara Brae on Orkney.”
“Except no one knew where they were,” Ruth pointed out. “Millie and the others know exactly where we are.”
“I suppose that’s one positive.” Gloria placed her hands on her knees, leaning forward to inspect the door. “The good news is this lock is an oldie.”
“Which may or may not work in our favor.” Ruth held up a metal nail file and pressed on the tip. “We’ll give this little gem a try.” She slid it inside the keyhole and gently wiggled it around.
Nothing happened.
“It’s too sharp. I need something with a blunt end, but not too blunt.” She set the nail file aside and picked up a pair of clippers with a slanted edge. Repeating the same steps, she slid it into the slot and gave it a light twist with the same result…nothing.
Working her way through each of the manicure kit’s tools, Ruth attempted to unlock the door, all to no avail.
“How’s it going?” Lucy hollered.
“The lock won’t budge!” Gloria hollered back.
Ruth tried her tweezers, twisting hard enough to bend the tips. “Crud. None of these are gonna work. Hopefully, Millie can work her magic and stop Siren of the Seas from leaving.”
“Not only not leave us behind but find a way to get us out of here before tomorrow morning.” Gloria winced. “I drank a mega-size Arnold Palmer lemonade and iced tea while we were on the beach.”
“Meaning you gotta use the restroom,” Ruth said.
“Time is of the essence in more ways than one.”