Foxworth Academy by Chris Blewitt Page B

and there were no windows or portholes.  They walked toward a stairwell, opened the door, and climbed the steps.  Two flights later they made it onto the deck of the great ship and took in the sights.
    “We’re moving,” Brett said.  They were close to the back of the ship and could see the massive white wake cascading behind the ship that seemed to stretch as far as the eye could see.
    “Where’s land?”
    “Good question.  We could have been gone for hours.”
    There were a lot of people moving about the ship, all dressed like Brett and Ally.  Some walked arm in arm and took in the magnificent view of the ocean.  They couldn’t see another boat in sight.  The ocean breeze swept over the water, cooling them, and making them glad to be dressed like they were.  The handrails along the deck were shiny and new and the wooden deck below their feet was freshly polished.  There wasn’t a speck of dirt to be seen.  Small lifeboats were tied up carefully next to the railing, awaiting departure when needed. 
    Brett and Ally looked high into the air and saw four big smokestacks towering into the air; all but one was blowing black and charcoal gray billowy smoke.
    “Why is that smokestack not blowing smoke?”
    Ally shrugged and they moved down the length of the port side toward the front of the boat.
    “I’d love to own a boat,” Brett said.
    “Like this?” Ally replied.
    “No, no, just any boat, really.  I love to fish. Being out on the water is awesome.  My grandfather used to have a boat and he would take us fishing or crabbing every time we visited him.  Do you know which side of the boat is which, port or starboard?”
    Ally was caught off guard at the question and played like she didn’t care.  “Nope.”
    “Left is port, right is starboard.  Easiest way I remembered that was that the word left had the same amount of letters as port.  How about the bow and the stern?”
    “Brett, I don’t know,” she said, getting annoyed.  She continued to walk along the deck toward the front.
    “The bow is the front of the boat, the stern is the back.  Don’t really have an easy way to remember that one.”
    The length of the Titanic from back to front was eight hundred and eighty-three feet, almost the length of three football fields.  Needless to say, it took them a few minutes to reach the front of the boat.  But when they did, what a sight it was.  The sun was dipping low on the western horizon and it looked like the entire world was all right there in front of them.  The breeze was strong and cooled their faces.  Ally’s hair blew in the wind and she struggled to keep it out of her eyes.
    “Wow,” he said.
    “This is unbelievable.”  She looked at the top of Brett’s hat and smiled.  “Sorry you don’t get to experience this, classmates,” she said into the mini camera.  “I hope it looks as good on your TV as it does to me.”
    “All right, back to reality.  We gotta figure out a way to save this ship.”
    Ally thought of something and said, “We need to figure out how long we’ve been sailing.  There’s no land in any direction so we must have been out here pretty long.  Last night you said we have four days.  Let’s hope that’s still the case.”
    He turned around and looked up at the great ship.  “That must be where they’re steering and powering the Titanic.  Let’s see if we can get a tour or something.”
    “You think?” Ally asked.
    “Worth a shot, come on.”
    They walked the short distance, underneath the crow’s nest, to the nearest flight of stairs, and climbed until they could climb no further.  To the right was a door that was clearly marked “Crew Only,” and to the left was an indoor hallway with an arrow pointed on the side of the wall that said “Officer’s Quarters.”  Brett tried the door to the right but it was locked.
    “Should we knock?” Ally asked.
    Brett was already ahead of her, pounding on the door with his knuckles.  But