Their conversation took about a half an hour, by the end of which Ian was pacing back and forth so fast it was a surprise he hadn’t broken into a run yet. Chris and Daniel meanwhile were amusing themselves with a word game, which only seemed to annoy Ian even more.

Finally, Winter and Arnold both descended the stairs back into the main area just as Arnold was saying, “Ye-yes, Miss! Understood, Miss!”

Winter turned to the group. “Arnold will be joining us.”

Ian wailed.

“If I knew getting this boy out of the water would have given this much trouble—!”

“You still would have jumped in,” said Chris with a wide grin. Arnold was busy beaming speechlessly, mouth open in a toothy smile.

“Tha-thank you!” he finally yelled.

“You’re going to have to tone it down.” Ian covered one of his ears.

“S-sorry, Sir.”

Chris patted Arnold’s shoulder with a grin.

“Welcome to the crew!”

Daniel added dryly, “Yes, our beginners package does not include rations but it does include a lot of walking. Have fun.”

Arnold gave them a slightly confused smile.

Winter said, “The decision is that we will head out tomorrow early morning. Is everyone in agreement?”