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

with gold sofas and chandeliers, passed the room where they had had dinner and eventually they arrived at the steam elevator.
    ‘Isn’t Casper Vikash coming to protect you?’ Mariah asked.
    ‘I don’t need Casper when I have Rollo with me, not on the Triton . Everyone on board is a specially invited guest – my father knows them all.’
    ‘Doesn’t he have enemies?’ Mariah asked, remembering what Charity had said.
    ‘If he did –’ Biba stopped speaking just as the elevator arrived. ‘I think we should start at the circus,’ she said as the three got into the compartment and Biba pressed the button for Deck 5.
    It soon became apparent to Mariah that Rollo didn’t like the steam elevator. The tiger pressed itself against him and growled loudly as they hurtled down the decks. Every thick white hair stood up on the creature’s back as if it were just a frightened tabby-cat. It shook fearfully as the elevator stopped and the doors opened. Then, as soon as it saw the people waiting outside, the tiger revived itself like an actor about to start a great performance.
    The few passengers who had found their way to the lower decks parted as Biba walked towards them followed by the tiger and a reluctant Mariah.
    ‘It’s just here,’ Biba said, dragging the now regal tiger along on its gold chain. ‘I have the key to his cage and can come and get him whenever I want.’
    ‘And how often is that?’ Mariah asked as he followed her along the windowless corridor that led to a door marked Circus .
    ‘Every day. Well, that is what I would like, but my father insists I study with my tutor and practise my shooting withCasper.’ Biba left her words in the air as she opened the door to the circus.
    Inside the door was a man in a grey uniform. He had a large moustache that drooped down like the teeth of a walrus. He looked at Biba and tried to smile as if it were expected of him.
    ‘Not open yet, Miss,’ he said, but Biba ignored him.
    ‘On the contrary, Mr Blake, it is always open to me. We are taking Rollo back to his cage.’
    The man nodded. It was pointless to argue with Biba DeFeaux.
    What he saw next amazed Mariah. It was as if the whole of the rear of Deck 5 had been magically turned into a colossal circus tent. The high ceiling was clad with candy-striped cloth. Ropes hung down for a trapeze and sawdust covered the floor. In the middle was a circus ring of wooden boxes surrounded by stacked seats. Mariah gawped. It was the biggest theatre he had ever seen.
    ‘This is a real circus?’ Mariah asked. ‘With clowns and acrobats?
    ‘And animals,’ Biba said with a smile. ‘The cages are there.’
    Biba pointed into the distance, towards the far side of the auditorium. Mariah could see a row of neatly painted cages. Each one had a striped roof, walls of black iron bars and five wooden steps leading to a grille doorway. A tarpaulin hung like a thick, heavy curtain around the base of each cage, covering its wheels from view.
    ‘They live in there?’ Mariah said as he caught sight of several more white tigers, each in its own cage.
    ‘They can hardly live with the passengers,’ Biba replied as she slipped the chain from Rollo and he bounded across the circus ring.
    They followed on and Biba took a key from her pocket and unlocked the door to one of the cages. She said, ‘He doesn’t likegoing in, but when he performed on the Ketos he was found in the kitchen eating all the meat.’
    ‘The Ketos ?’ Mariah asked as he wondered why Rollo should have been on that ship.
    ‘My father owned the Ketos as well as the Triton . He sold the Ketos to Lord Bonham. The Triton really will be the fastest ship in the world if father says so …’
    Mariah didn’t have to ask her what she meant. It was obvious to him that if the Marquis demanded, the Triton would win the Great Race.
    ‘But the Triton still has to beat the record set by the Ketos to win the prize,’ he said as Biba locked the door of the cage and left