by Bob Kranich
Robert’s Best, (Part 15, Excerpt 100)
This is a new story. Robert’s Best is a sail boat. Grandfather Roberts has sailed it on the Intercostal waterway from Texas to Key West, Florida. His grandchildren and their parents have come to Key West on a visit. There will be a lot of funny happenings until the criminals from a previous story get into action. A side note is that a 1935 antique Chris-Craft Model 557 Cabin Cruiser is going to play an important part in the rest of the story. Grandfather Roberts has met Honest Dave and had a tour of his Chris-Craft. Honest Dave is going back to Homestead to check on his businesses. He will come back. Grandfather Roberts has moved into his new house on the Atlantic and we will get introduced to the A. M. Adams Turtle Schooner soon. The criminals are starting to get involved.
Roberts’ Best
“That was a great meal. Let’s get on with our tour. We’ll walk down to the carriage there,” I pointed.
We loaded up, and Franklin said, “Next is the pirate house right there.”
“Do pirates live in there now? Will they capture us?”
“Now, Harold Junior, settle down. That is where some pirates lived a long time ago,” Harold Senior commented.
“Now we’re going to go about four blocks to Front Street by the main square and docks. That is where the aquarium is. You are about to see lots of tropical fish,” Franklin informed them.
They all came out of the aquarium, “See, Grandfather Roberts, I want to catch one of those sharks, only bigger. Why didn’t they have a sailfish? There was just a dead stuffed one on the wall.”
“Well, Junior, a sailfish is a game fish. It would be hard to keep one in an aquarium tank,” I answered the best I could.
“Yah stupid!” Suzie broke in.
“I’m not stupid,” Harold Junior replied.
“Yes you are. Yah...Yah...NaYah!”she teased.
“That’s enough! Both of you!” Mary commanded.
They loaded up, and Franklin asked, “How about the Turtle Crawls and the Bight? They can see where you gots your sail’n ship.”
Another good idea. Thanks Franklin,” I agreed.
“Look! I see Roberts’ Best.” Harold Junior stood up and pointed.
“Careful, Harold Junior. Sit down or you will fall off of the carriage,” Harold Senior warned.
“First we are going to look at the Turtle Crawls,” I said.
“Look at those big turtles swimming around. I would like to ride one!” Harold Junior exclaimed.
“You couldn’t ride one of those big turtles. They would bite your foot off, and then sit on top of you,” Suzie teased.
“Could too!”
“No, you couldn’t’!“
“Now both of you settle down,” Mary had to intervene, again.
“What is that boat with the big masts? Is it a pirate ship?”
Harold asked as he pointed at the sailing ship tied up to the dock on the other side of the turtle pens.
“Harold Junior, that is the A. M. Adams. It’s a turtle ship out of the Cayman islands. It catches these turtles and brings them to Key West to the Turtle Crawls,” I said.
“I still think it looks like a pirate ship,” Harold Junior insisted.
They walked over and out on the dock where the Roberts’ Best was tied up.
“It looks like she did okay on the Gulf trip, Dad,” Harold Senior commented.
“She is a good boat and a real fine sailor. Also that diesel engine really saved me!”
“Are we going to go out to catch a sailfish, Grandfather Roberts?” Harold Junior asked enthusiastically.
“Not today, Sonny,” Harold Senior put in.
“Now we’re going to get Franklin and Bessie to take us back to the house. We need a rest. Tomorrow we’ll take a sailboat ride around the harbor and part of Key West,” I said sympathetically. “We’ll fish another day after your family leaves to go back home. You’re going to stay with me a couple of weeks, Junior.”
“O...k, Grandfather Roberts,” Harold Junior sighed.
“Home, Franklin. You and Bessie have been superb! We all want to thank you.” As everyone said with me, “Yes thank you, very nice, great!”
“Old Bessie and me just wants to help. You have been my greatest customers.”
“And friends,” I put in. “Now tomorrow we’ll need a ride to the boat in the morning. How about 9:30, Franklin?”
“Yes sir, we’ll be there,” Franklin answered, as Bessie shook her head and blew air from her nostrils. It was a coincidence, but they all laughed.
Franklin and Bessie were right on time the next morning
“There they are!” Harold Junior yelled.
“Not so loud, pipsqueak!” his sister commanded.
They loaded up, and thirty minutes later they were on the other side of the island at the Key West Bight.
“Thanks, Franklin. Check back in a couple of hours, around twelve. It’s just going to be a harbor tour, a short trip.”
“Yes sir, Mister Roberts. See you-all then.”
Unknown to Tom:
As they loaded up they didn’t notice two guys in Panama hats, light pants, and Hawaiian shirts sitting nonchalantly on a dock-side park bench.
“There they are, Vince. The whole family down from Texas. This old guy, Roberts, must have some dough. He’s got a nice sailboat, buys a house cash, pays for the whole family to come down here, and doesn't work. Might be easy pick-in's.”
“Frank, check into it. What else you got? Any new boats come in?”
From the Author:
My second full-length book , Florida Keys’ Watercolor Kapers is composed of 336 pages. There are 12 stories running from 6 pages to as many as 72 pages. It is fully illustrated with 88 watercolors and sketches. The watercolors I made roaming around Key West after I finished my 750 mile hike from Georgia to Key West. (See book or Don Browne’s SouthWest Florida Online News records, A Walk Across Florida.) As you read these stories you will experience Key West, the Keys, and the Caribbean. These stories span the time of the early 1800’s to 1969. bkranich.wixsite.com/bobkranich
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