Chapter 44

“Thanks for the ride, Sir.”

“You’re welcome, Miss Flintkote.”

“Colonel? I think the cannon are loaded. I’m not sure. The man who sold her to me mentioned his were. I’ve never checked.”

At the Terminal we approached the Hawaiian Air counter.

“May I help you,” said the beauty behind the counter.

“Two ... First Class to Fiji ... either NAN or SUV ... doesn’t matter ... daddy will come and get us.”

“We can get you to Hawaii ... Fiji is either Qantas or Fiji Airways.”

“Today.”

“You mean ... like ... right now?”

“Yup.”

“Eighteen hundred and one dollars ... each.”

“Wadyatink, Alice?”

“Sure ... Daddy always says, ‘Spur of the moment costs more ... but it’s more fun.’”

She hauled out her Visa and her new UT Austin ID.

I used my MasterCard ... and University ID.

We were halfway to Honolulu when Alice asked, “What about Monday...”

“Monday?”

“Testing.”

“Oops.”

“Forgot?”

“Yup.”

We were a trifle noisy. The flight attendant stopped.

“What’s so funny?”

“We’re supposed to be at the University Testing Center ... Monday morning at 8am.”

“Placement?”

“Yup.”

“Got lost in the moment?”

“Yup.”

“Ooo ... that’s funny.” She asked, “What are you going to do?”

“Get mom to lie about it.”

“Will she?”

“If she won’t ... daddy will.”

“Good Luck. Return flights are booked solid.”

“We’re going to Fiji.”

“Fiji?”

“Big sailboat.”

“Big?”

“Ninety feet ... catamaran.”

She said, “SV Flint?”

“Yup ... what about the Flint?”

“National Geographic.” She said, “Let me go find it.”