Mariah Mundi and the Ship of Fools by G.P. Taylor Page A

him, he strapped one pistol to his ankle and the other he placed in his jacket pocket.
    Mariah realised that for some reason he was now a guest of the Marquis DeFeaux. Perhaps, he thought, it had been Charity’s idea to keep him safe; or perhaps it had just been acoincidence. Whatever was the case, Mariah dressed and was eventually ready to leave the room. He took the meat from three beef sandwiches, folded it neatly in his hankersniff, rolled it up and put it in his pocket.
    ‘Do you always take this long?’ Biba asked as he stepped through the door into an even larger and more ornate room. She had changed her clothes and was now dressed as a Sultan. On her head was a silk turban with a jewelled brooch and in the belt around her waist was a curved dagger.
    ‘I had trouble finding my things,’ he said, not knowing what else to say and feeling underdressed.
    ‘Then we shall all go on our journey,’ Biba replied as she began to pull on a long gold chain that led from the room and into the corridor outside.
    There was a low moaning sound that quickly turned into a growl. The chain tightened – whatever was on the other end did not want to be drawn near. Biba wrapped the chain around her hand and pulled harder.
    ‘Is there something –’ Mariah tried to ask.
    ‘Rollo never does what I want,’ she tutted as the growls grew louder. ‘He’s the kind of tiger that makes you very irritated.’
    ‘Tiger?’ Mariah asked, taking a step back to his room.
    ‘A pure white tiger – he would make a lovely coat, but mother thinks that would be cruel. Just a kitten really,’ she replied in her madly matter-of-fact way.
    ‘Isn’t it dangerous to have a tiger?’ he asked.
    ‘We have seven tigers – all snow white – and an ostrich. In fact on Deck 5 some of the animals perform in the circus.’ Biba gloated as she spoke, as if this were something to be marvelled at. Mariah was not too sure. He had once seen a monkey locked in a cage in a department store. It was quite mad and spent its time spitting water at passers-by.
    ‘So it lives in a cage – on a ship?’ he asked.
    ‘It knows nothing else. I did want to take it to Greenland but thought it might get lost or be too cold,’ Biba replied.
    Just then a large white face appeared around the door and looked in.
    Mariah stared at the creature that stood before him. It had long white fur that looked to be tipped with silver flakes. The tiger stared at him through its yellow eyes as if it wanted to eat him. Then Rollo sat in the doorway. The gold chain was fixed to a studded collar around its neck.
    ‘It’s bigger than I thought,’ Mariah said as the tiger twitched its nose.
    ‘Just a kitten, really, not even a year old,’ Biba replied as she went up to the beast and stroked its head. ‘A big softie and not to be scared of. Although,’ she said thoughtfully, ‘it doesn’t like small dogs.’
    Mariah felt thankful he was not a small dog. He asked, ‘Why doesn’t it like dogs?’
    ‘When I took it to Paris, we were walking by the Hotel Deville. A Frenchman came towards us with a small terrier. Rollo snapped it from the pavement in one bite. My father paid the man not to take us to court.’
    ‘Ate it in one bite?’ Mariah asked, astounded that a tiger could do such a thing.
    ‘The man didn’t seem to mind. He said the dog belonged to his wife and perhaps now he would be better treated,’ Biba replied. ‘I thought Rollo could come with us – I have to take him back to his cage. You will join us, won’t you?’
    Mariah did not like the idea of walking around the ship in the company of a girl whom he thought to be mad, and who was dressed as a Sultan, and a large tiger.
    ‘Of course,’ he heard himself saying with a smile.
    ‘Good,’ said Biba firmly.
    They left the room and walked the long corridor towards thesteam elevator. Mariah realised that he and Captain Charity had their own apartment at the far end of Deck 13. They went through a regal lounge