After dinner, Henry, Jessie, Violet, and Benny went back to Kate’s boat. While they were relaxing on the boat deck, it began to rain.
“We should go inside,” Kate said.
“But it isn’t raining hard,” Jessie said. “May we stay up here for a little bit longer?”
“Okay. I’ll get your jackets,” Kate said. When she came back with them, the children put on their jackets and Kate slipped into her black poncho.
“Do you have a yellow slicker?” Violet asked.
Kate looked at her. “A yellow slicker? No. Why?”
Violet’s face reddened. “Oh . . . uh . . .”
“Yellow is Violet’s favorite color,” Benny piped up. “Next to purple.”
It began to pour. “I guess it’s time to turn in,” Kate said.
Once the Aldens were settled for the night, they discussed the events of the day.
“Do you suppose Vito is in on this?” Jessie asked.
“Why would Vito be causing trouble for the fishermen?” Henry said. “He needs their fish.”
“I don’t know,” Jessie said. “It just seemed odd seeing that mysterious man in Vito’s kitchen.”
“That’s right,” Violet said. “What was he doing there?”
“Maybe he’s the one who sold fish to Vito,” Benny suggested.
“I don’t think he’s a fisherman,” Violet said. “Where would he get the fish?”
They all thought about that. Finally Jessie said, “Maybe he works for one of the fishermen.”
“That’s possible,” Henry agreed. “He could be helping to ruin Charlie’s business so Vito will buy from someone else.”
“What about Kate?” Benny asked. “What was she doing in Sausalito with that man?”
“That wasn’t Kate,” Violet argued. “You heard her say she doesn’t own a yellow slicker.”
“Well, it was Kate we saw in Chinatown,” Benny said.
“We can’t be sure, Benny,” Jessie said.
“What about the red hair?” Benny persisted.
After a silence, Violet said, “Benny, there are lots of people with hair like that. And San Francisco is a big city.”
Jessie yawned. “This is getting way too complicated,” she said.
Late that night, Benny awoke with a start. “What was that?” he whispered. There it was again: the noise that had awakened him.
At the window, Henry said, “I think someone’s on Charlie’s dock.”
Beside him, Jessie murmured, “Someone is out there. See that light?”
Violet and Benny crept out of bed. Before they could reach the window, another sound cut through the silence.
Breaking glass!
“What’s happening?” Benny asked.
“The light went out,” Henry told him.
Jessie peered through the window. “I don’t see anyone.”
“It’s too dark out there,” Henry said as he returned to bed. “And we don’t know our way around the dock very well. Let’s check it out in the morning.”
Benny climbed under the covers. “Maybe Charlie came back to sleep on the boat again.”
“Charlie doesn’t use a light,” Henry reminded him.
“Maybe he needed one tonight,” Violet said. “There’s no moon.”
“We’ll have to wait until morning to find out,” Jessie said.
The next morning, they awoke to the sound of foghorns.
Henry looked at the clock. “It’s late,” he said. “We’d better get moving.”
They dressed quickly.
“I wonder if Kate’s still sleeping,” Violet said.
In the main cabin, Jessie had the answer. “She isn’t here.”
They went outside on the deck to look for her. She wasn’t there, either. In the distance, a patch of yellow shone through the drifting fog.
Violet squinted through the haze. “Look!” she said. “It’s the woman in the yellow slicker.”
“And she’s on Joe Martin’s boat!” Jessie added.
Benny nodded. “It’s Kate,” he said. “She’s in on this with Joe Martin.”
“Let’s go,” Henry urged. “We’ll see what she’s up to.”
They hurried inside, grabbed their jackets, dashed back outside, and hopped onto the dock. Then they raced along the walkway to Charlie’s and Joe’s pier.
The red-haired woman was gone!
“We should tell Charlie about Kate,” Benny said.
“Tell him what?” Henry asked.
“That she and Joe Martin and that strange man are causing all the trouble,” Benny answered.
“But we don’t know for sure, Benny,” Jessie said.
“Charlie would never believe us,” Henry added.
“I don’t even believe it,” Violet said.
“Yoo-hoo!” someone called.
It was Kate. She hurried toward them.
“She’s not wearing the yellow slicker,” Violet observed.
“Maybe we didn’t see her on Joe’s boat,” Violet said. “Maybe we didn’t see anyone. Maybe it was a trick of the fog.”
Kate came up beside them. She was carrying a shopping bag. “I bought sourdough bread — a San Francisco specialty — for our breakfast,” she said. “And lots of good snacks for later.”
From his boat, Charlie called, “Are you landlubbers ready to set sail?”
“What’s a landlubber?” Benny whispered.
Henry answered, “Someone who lives on the land and doesn’t know much about the sea.”
Benny chuckled. “That’s us.”
Kate led the parade to the boat. Waiting his turn to board, Henry saw something glistening on the dock. He leaned over and picked it up. It was a piece of broken glass.
“Come on, Henry,” Charlie urged him. “The fish are waiting.”
Henry set the glass fragment on top of a barrel where no one would step on it. Then he hopped aboard.
“Is the radio fixed?” Violet asked. She didn’t want to be stuck out in the water again.
“Fixed,” Charlie said. “Everything’s shipshape.” Charlie backed the Chum away from the dock. “This is going to be a good day. I can feel it in my bones.”
The Aldens hoped he was right.
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