"Get away! Get lost! Hurry up!" Lisabeth shouted at the sailor in her berth and she pushed him roughly out, bracing her back against the wooden hull.
"Hurry up! Away from here", she repeated loudly and once he had left her bed, she jumped down, followed him and pushed him resolutely out of the door. She then went to the Captain's Cabin and pulled the door open without hesitation.
"Sorry, Mary O'Lein" she started her story, but her mouth fell wide open when she saw what was happening there. In one blink of the eye, it was clear that the captain and Govert were doing their best to get drunk.
"There's our cute little Lisabeth", Govert sniggered.
"Come along lassie and join us!"
"Lisabeth can't drink!" Mary said with a thick tongue.
"She's an extraordinary dumb girl".
This joke made Govert Gosseling burst into laughter and Mary O'Lein also laughed loudly.
"Lisabeth is a dumb girl! Lisabeth is a dumb girl!" Mary O'Lein and Govert started to yell, while drumming with their hands on the desk which stood between them.
Lisabeth immediately banged the door, without a word, and again found Alexej standing right behind her.
"Now you can see who is the smartest around here, can't you?" he asked triumphantly.
"I guess it's you?" Lisabeth asked. "Shooting with a cannon at you own father, threaten him and then allow him to get drunk".
"He is old and wise enough to live his own life", Alexej replied. "And if I know Mary O'Lein well enough, it will even get worse, for she is at her best when she's drunk".
"What you call at her best!" Lisabeth retorted. She headed for her cabin but changed her mind half-way there.
"By the way, where did your father actually embark on this ship?" she asked, as if off-hardedly.
"I don't know", Alexej answered. As he seemed honest. Lisabeth even felt that his sudden presence had also surprised him.
"Perhaps we could have a little chat together soon", she proposed reassuringly. "For I have some little ideas why he's here."
The Mate looked at her in wonder. He probably hadn't expected such a proposal.
"That's good", he finally said. "But I've got to organise the watch first".
"I'll go to your cabin right away", Lisabeth said, with a face which didn't show any emotion. Without waiting for any objection she hurried to Alexej's place, where she had never been before.
It wasn't locked and so she was able to enter. Alexej's cabin was more spacious than hers, about he same size as Mary's, but equipped with less luxury. The captain's giant desk was missing and she saw six wooden boxes instead, standing along the outer side of the cabin.
"It's better not to be disturbed", sprang into her mind and she closed one of the door's lockers. She then attacked the first box, without losing a second. She flipped it open and in astonishment saw that it contained nothing but dirty laundry. She stepped back quickly, as the smell reached her nose, and she had to fight against a feeling of disgust to make herself look for the Glassware. She rummaged here and there among the soiled clothes but found nothing Crystal-like. She then convinced herself there was no double bottom to the box.
"Same length", she concluded, after she had held her arm first in and then next to the box. She then closed the lid and moved to the second box. Here she met no difficulties either. She could open it quickly, but she was stupefied by its contents.
"Sand?" she wondered. "What's the good of sand?"
The next three boxes gave the same result. They were also filled with sand. Only the last box was closed with a padlock, which she couldn't open. She wished intently with all her strength that the lock would fall open by itself, but she was disturbed by Alexej banging on the door.
"You certainly have red cheeks!" was the first thing he said, and then: "Did you search everything thoroughly?"
"I waited here quietly for you!" Lisabeth lied. "And if you disapprove of everything I do, then I can go away if you like, but be aware that I'm the only person who knows how your father came here."
These words were a straight hit. Alexej sat down on one of the boxes without asking any further uncomfortable questions and Lisabeth did the same in front of him.
"I made him come here", she started. "For I want him to remove the Muscovite Glasswork from here".
"If he weren't so drunk, then indeed he'd be on the right spot, for it's Mary O'Lein who's got it", he replied.
"What? Don't you have it anymore?" Lisabeth asked in surprise.
"No", Alexej said depressed. "I had to hand it over to her".
"What a weakling you are!" Lisabeth said angrily. "Who gives away such a valuable set of crystal? What a dumb cow you are".
"I had to to avoid yet another punishment", he declared. Lisabeth snorted with rage to give and only some time later she refound some words:
"Alexej, I don't think Govert has been here that long, but I'm not really convinced. What do you think? Could he have been aboard much longer, say right from the Crimea for instance?"
"I don't think so", the First Mate said. "Places to hide are scarce here. It might be possible if someone could help by bringing you food and so forth, but if not, it is nearly impossible".
"Did you help him this way?" she asked him, while looking towards the boxes on which Alexej was seated.
"These boxes contain plain ballast sand", Alexej said.
"You may inspect them if you like. There's nothing unusual about it".
"And that other box?" Lisabeth wondered as she pointed to the different box which had a padlock.
"That one contains my own belongings and I won't allow you to inspect them. Anyway, Govert would never fit in that one". "You're right" Lisabeth said. "But the Glasswork would fit perfectly".
"Mary has got the Glassware and I have seen where she put it away after I handed it to her".
"Nothing but bluff", Lisabeth said airily. "Just one of those remarks from someone who gives away a most valuable piece of Crystal when someone asks for it just one single time".
"I do know where it is!" Alexej cried. "It's in one of the drawers of her desks. There she stocks everything she's attached to."
He looked at her as if he had the victory of the discussion already in his pocket.
"This might be right after all", Lisabeth finally said, having seen Alexej move exactly in the direction she had wanted him to go.
Half satisfied by the meagre result, she left Alexej's cabin and, deep in thought, walked deck, where she noticed that huge packs of dense clouds were gathering in the sky.
"Oh gee, a storm!" she thought. "That's right. I'm not at ease with myself".
She hurried to her own cabin, just as heavy drops of rain began to fall. She had just settled herself in her berth when the heavy storm really broke. It rattled against her window which, within seconds, was covered with a thick screen of dripping rain water.
"I'd better come up with something very soon", she asked herself hastily. "For in a moment I'll need all my strength to keep myself upright."
"I can go back to the railroad carriage and try to waken Gosseling from his trance. I know by now where the Glasswork is. He's right on top of it. When we are safe and sound with Anne-Christine, I'll explain to him where to search. Any time he returns here he can snatch it away. Then everything will be over, we can get rid of this Glasswork and forget it at last." This seemed a pretty attractive scenario to her, but the ever rising gale told her that there were still too many doubts in her head.
"In Moscow, I didn't manage to get Ann-Christine out of her trance, even when I shouted loudly into her ears", she had to admit. "When those two are on there little journeys, one could fire a cannon next to them and still they hear nothing. Those two make one crazy. I'll have to do it from this place. I just have to convince this nutty professor that he really can't stay here any longer, he has to go back to us in Russia and, when he understands that, I'll push the Glassworks into his hands, so that it will travel with him automatically."
The cracking of the mast disrupted her train of thought.
"I really must be on the wrong track", she thought. "This one is nothing but trouble. I suppose what is happening here is completely different from what I think. Perhaps it's just the other way round. Perhaps the Glasswork is already in Govert's pockets, now that Mary is as tipsy as a sailor. I suppose that I'm much too excited. He's feeding Mary O'Lein alcohol, to be free to do whatever he likes, though he's just pretending to be drunk too. He instantly found her weak spot and is just awaiting his chance."
A smile played around her lips as she thought how Govert was misleading Mary the Captain.
"A real old fox!", she said quietly. "And he still knows how to handle women!"
Her hands grabbed for the wood of her berth, to keep her body still as the ship lurhed wildly.
"But musn't I tell him where the Glasswork actually is?" she wondered in her ever-increasing uncomfortable position.
"Perhaps that poor old man feels he's really close to it and doesn't know exactly where to find it". The sheer thought of returning to the Captain's Cabin to tell him disgusted her.
"Govert owes my respect by misleading Mary so fast, but it is awful to see it happen", was her conclusion. "I hope that he'll fetch the Glasswork really soon and that I won't have to return here for quite a while. Although... when I'm asleep at one place, am I awake here then? What can I do about it? Is it because the Muscovite Crystal is here or has it another cause?"
Her head was spinning and the storm was roaring around the ship with all its force.
"Whatever I do, I still can't find the proper solution!" she cried desperately and felt it was already too late to direct her thoughts in another direction. She was tossed from side to side in her berth and even felt that she was being tossed into the air as well. And, because of the thumping of the sailor's boots on the deck she could hardly think at all, if she already wasn't in blind panic.
"It just isn't right that Govert is here!" was her last lucid thought. "He has to leave as soon as possible. This will all end in disaster if he stays here any longer. But how to get rid of him? He must be as drunk as a bottle of whisky by now!"
The mizzen came down with the same cracks that she had heard once before.
"I really have to act now, or else we can forget it all and the whole thing will be over!" was her only remaining thought. She gathered all her courage and prepared for a violent struggle to the Captain's Cabin.
The water flowed knee-high over the deck as Lisabeth fought her way to Mary O'Lein and Govert. She progressed slowly and her whole body was soaking wet long before she was half-way.
"I have to do it all alone", she thought. "Everything!" A few sailors in oilskins who were trying to contain the damage done by the rolling mizzen on the deck, had no eye for the problems Lisabeth met in her sodden dress and they almost ran over her.
"Why can't I make the storm halt?" she complained loudly and desperately. "Why don't I get lovely weather?" And then she suddenly realised:
"I just don't know what I want! That's it! Why did I make Govert come here anyway?"
Even in the midst of the storm she thought about it deeply and knew she had made everyone, including herself, think that the reason was to make him take the Muscovite Glasswork with him...., but now she wasn't convinced any more.
"I must be honest with myself. Deep in my heart I just wanted to see whether he would come here or not. I wanted to know if this ship is real or not", she confessed as a giant wave of blue-green water broke over her body. Only by summoning all her strength could she withstand its force.
"That's what is stupid and I have to stop it. The only way to get away from here is to play the game to its very end. And certainly not by asking too many questions nor by probing".
A lonely ray of sunshine which managed to slip past several layers of dense cloud disrupted her thoughts as it lit up her face.
Lisabeth was shaken by this unexecpected event but nevertheless felt cheered by the small victory.
"The fewer questions you ask, the fewer problems you have!" she cried loudly again and looked around in expectation. She wasn't disappointed. By this time, the entire foredeck was shining in the sun.
"Well, for a moment I'm saved!" she puffed and fell down on a bundle rope, still neatly tied up despite the storm.
"That certainly was something not to forget easily and I'll stay here in comfort. That will make the problems disappear quickly", she said already feeling more relaxed in the sunshine which bathed the whole ship and made the wet wood steam.
"My clothes won't be dry soon, but I don't mind at all", she thought, hearing the wind slacken, which enabled the ship to recover its calm.
"Back to normal," she murmured happily. "I knew all the time that I was on the wrong track!"
As she watched the world changing around her, a wicked plan began to form deep inside her. She felt the fire of it burning and, although she couldn't yet fully appreciate what it was telling her, she knew she would have a clear view very soon.
In the meantime, she preferred to pay attention to the lone birds with their giant wings circling above the ship, rather than to the yelling and shouting of the two drunken men in the Captain's Cabin, which irritated her.
"Let them fool around", she decided. "Good advice takes time and they don't really bother me for the moment."
"But I have to admit that in fact the whole thing is ridiculous!" she then thought. "I don't even know any more what a normal ordinary life looks like. Why shouldn't I just return to being Tsarina, retire into a nice little handsome castle somewhere in Russia? Riding every day, eating cakes and perhaps cutting the ribbon of a new bridge here and there?"
She couldn't help to laughing:
"No, I certainly would verify its construction! But here I'm not very happy either and I hope to get into quieter waters, for all that jumping between the Stormy and a travelling train coach is very tiring!" She made fun of the situation in which she felt a prisoner without a clear end in sight.
"There's a light at the end of every tunnel", she knew. "And I just let find it all by myself."
Full of confidence she rose and went to the Captain's Cabin.
For the second time that day, she pulled the door open, and yet again she was astonished by the scene before her eyes. The storm which had passed, had apparently had had no effect on Mary O'Lein's and Govert Gosseling's activities. Lisabeth had to laugh when she saw how Mary O'Lein was chasing him with her whip in her hands. They both cried with joy. Lisabeth joined in without hesitation. She held the scientist by his shoulders and stopped him.
"I've got him", she cried in triumph. "Mary, we're going to celebrate!"
"Am I allowed to join you?" Govert asked drowsily, banging his head on her shoulder, unable to hold it upright any more. "With Anne-Christine it's always so dull. Here you can make fun!"
"That's quite right", Lisabeth agreed, starting to undo his long coat at once. Mary O'Lein held her whip under his nose to scare him, but Govert didn't see it.
"You are darlings", he mumbled. "Both of you. I find you both sweet little darlings".
"Do take some rum", Mary O'Lein cried joyfully, seizing her chance. "I'll finish this job".
Lisabeth was courageous and put the bottle, which had been handed to her to her lips. She felt the burning liquid flowing down her throat while Mary O'Lein was undressing the scientist.
"Now the two of us!" Mary O'Lein exclaimed after the job had been done with difficulty, with Govert still wondering where his clothes had gone. Lisabeth didn't argue as, still wearing her wet dress, she started to find the many buttons between its sticky folds.
"Alexej must join us, then we'll both have one", she proposed, feeling her fingers often slipping on the polished wet gems.
"Good idea!" Mary O'Lein agreed and she hurried to the cabin door, yelling the same cry Lisabeth had heard so often in the last few days.
A few moments later Alexej stood unwillingly in the Captain's Cabin in front of his father.
"Now it's your turn too!" Mary O'Lein cried at him, pointing her whip at Govert.
"But I haven't done anything wrong today!" Alexej mumbled in astonishment.
"Then you'll be one step in advance. That isn't so bad", the Captain shouted, roaring with laughter. "Hurry up, what are you waiting for?"
Alexej's face grew red in anger. He grabbed his knife, aimed for a split second and then threw it in Mary O'Lein's direction.
Lisabeth looked up from her fruitless work and saw what was happening. Her mind was still fairly clear and she knew this was the chance she had been waiting for all day. She immediately focussed her attention skilfully on the knife's point and led it straight to the naked scientist's heart. The flying object hit the target and entered the chest deeply. Blood splashed out and Govert Gosseling tumbled down slowly, looking in disbelief at Lisabeth the whole time.
Lisabeth knew exactly what to do next. She went to the desk, put the bottle of rum to her lips for the second time, and awoke in the rolling railroad coach a few minutes later, just when Anne-Christine was entering the carriage, carrying a tray with a pot of tea. Govert Gosseling was looking very pale, as if he just had seen the devil. It was clear that he had had a nasty experience during this concentration journey.
"I can't make it this time", he said in a disappointed voice, without daring to look Lisabeth in the eyes.
"Oh, who minds? Then the Stormy doesn't really exist, I suppose", Anne-Christine van den Weezebeecke suggested. "And you can still amuse yourselves here. I've got some nice tea for you and I'm almost certain that I spotted a cute little deer when I looked outside".