The little thing would let Philip do anything in the world he wanted to. The children spent two hours washing and drying it gently. Jack brought a little shoe-brush to brush its fluffy fur. It let Philip put iodine on its cuts with only a tiny whimper.
“There!” said the boy. “You look fine. What’s your name?”
The monkey chattered something, and the children listened. “It sounds as if he’s saying ‘Micky-micky-mick,’ ” said Lucy-Ann.
“Right. If he thinks his name is Micky, Micky it is,” said Philip. “I wonder what Kiki will think of him.”
“She won’t like him much,” said Jack. “She’ll be jealous. Good thing we left her in the girl’s cabin. She’d screech the place down if she saw us washing and brushing Micky.”
Kiki certainly was most amazed to see Micky on Philip’s shoulder that night. She stared, and then, just as Jack had said, she screeched — one of her very best express-train screeches. Mrs. Mannering put her head in at the cabin door to protest.
She suddenly caught sight of the monkey and stepped forward in surprise, wondering if she had seen aright. “Oh, Philip! You oughtn’t to have brought it back to the ship. What a tiny thing!”
“Mother, some children were stoning it. I had to bring it away,” said Philip. His mother looked at him. It was just exactly the kind of thing Philip’s father had done when he was alive. How could she scold him for something that was in his very blood?
“Well — I don’t know if a fuss will be made if you keep him on the ship,” she said, stroking the monkey’s head. “What does Dinah say about it?”
“She was cross at first, but she didn’t say much,” said Lucy-Ann. “She’s still in our cabin, I think. She’ll get over Micky. She’ll have to.”
“Micky-Kiki-Micky-Kiki-Micky-Kiki,” said Kiki triumphantly, as if she had suddenly discovered something very clever. She loved words that sounded the same. “Micky-Kiki, Micky-Kiki . . .”
“Shut up, Kiki,” said Philip. “I say, what a pity he’s called Micky — we’ll never stop Kiki saying those two words now. But he is Micky. We can’t alter his name now.”
So Micky he was, and in a day or two he was everyone’s friend — yes, even Dinah’s! He had such a queer, comical face that it was impossible not to like him when he looked at you out of mournful brown eyes.
“He’s such a baby and yet he’s got such a wise, wizened little face,” said Lucy-Ann. “And I do like his tiny black fingers — just like ours! Don’t you, Dinah?”
“Well — he’s not as awful as I thought he was at first,” admitted Dinah. “I can’t say I want him sitting on my shoulder all day long, like Philip — and I’m sure he’s still got fleas — but he’s really not bad.”
“He hasn’t got fleas,” said Philip, annoyed. “Don’t keep saying that.”
Micky soon recovered his spirits, and from being a gentle, confiding little thing, he became a mischievous, chattering little madcap. He leapt about the cabin as lightly as a squirrel, and Dinah was always scared he would take a flying jump on to her shoulder. But he didn’t. He was wise enough not to do that!
Kiki was alarmed to see these acrobatics, and when the two were together in the same cabin she always turned to face Micky, so that she could jab him with her beak if he leapt at her. But he left her alone, and took very little notice. She didn’t like that at all!
She took to calling his name in Philip’s voice, which she could imitate perfectly. “Micky! Micky!”
The monkey would look round at once, but would see no Philip. “Micky!” Kiki would say again, and the monkey would begin to leap all over the place, trying to find Philip.
Then Kiki would cackle with laughter, and Micky would go off in disgust and sit on the porthole-sill with his back to Kiki, looking through the thick glass out to sea.
Kiki certainly had the best of it because she soon found that she could make noises that terrified Micky. If she barked like a dog the little creature went nearly frantic with fright. He was puzzled too. He watched Kiki closely, and soon realized that no dog barked unless Kiki was in the cabin. Then was Kiki some kind of bird-dog?
The next time she barked she followed it by a fierce growl. This was too much for Micky. He picked up a tablet of soap from the basin and flung it at the surprised Kiki. It hit her full on the beak and she gave a squawk of alarm and nearly fell off her perch.
Micky sent a tooth-brush after the soap, and then the tooth-mug. He was a very fine shot, and soon Kiki was flying round the cabin trying to find a place to hide from the volley of articles that Micky was sending after her — hair-brushes, combs, a roll of films, anything he could get hold of!
Philip stopped the battle when he came in. “Micky! Pick them all up!” he said sternly. “What did Kiki do to you to make you lose your temper like that? Bad Micky!”
“Naughty Micky, bad boy!” said Kiki at once, and went off into one of her cackles of laughter. Micky picked everything up humbly. Then he went to sit on Philip’s shoulder as usual. Kiki was jealous. She flew to his other shoulder.
The monkey chattered at her. Kiki chattered back, in exactly the same monkey-voice as Micky used. He stared in amazement, and chattered back excitedly. Philip listened, amused.
“Well, I don’t really know if you understand one another or not,” he said. “But it’s just as well you should. I don’t want to find my cabin strewn with all my belongings each time I come into it. So just be friends? Do you hear, Kiki and Micky?”
“Pooh,” said Kiki, in a friendly voice, and nibbled at him.
“Pooh to you!” said Philip. “And kindly stop nibbling my ear!”
Chapter 5
LUCIAN ARRIVES
THE children soon felt that the Viking Star was their home — a floating home, containing everything they wanted except the open countryside. They got to know every nook and cranny on the ship, they explored the engine-room under the eye of Mac, the chief engineer, and they were even allowed up on the bridge by the first officer, a very great honour.
Mrs. Mannering made friends on the ship with two or three people she liked. There were only a few children on board besides Jack and the others, and they were much younger and so spoilt that nobody wanted to have much to do with them.
“I’d rather wish there were more children of your own age,” Mrs. Mannering said to her four. “It might be more fun for you.”
“Well — we don’t want anyone else, thanks,” said Philip. “We’re all right on our own. It’s bad enough having those other spoilt kids around — always wanting to mess about with Micky, and trying to get Kiki to talk to them.”
“She’s too sensible,” said Jack. “Kiki just looks at them and says ‘Shut up!’ whenever she sees them.”
“How rude of her!” said Mrs. Mannering. “I do hope you stop her when she talks like that to the other children.”
“Well,” actually I don’t,” said Jack. “She only says what I jolly well would like to say myself. Spoilt little brats! I’m going to push that nasty little yellow-haired girl into the swimming-pool one of these days — coming whining round me asking me if she can hold Kiki. Hold Kiki! What does she think Kiki is — one of her frightful dolls?”
“You mustn’t push the child into the pool,” said Mrs. Mannering, horrified. “I do agree she wants slapping — but she’s only a little girl, Jack.”
“She’s a human mosquito,” said Jack. “I just wish I had a fly-swatter when she comes near.”
“Well, all the kids are getting off at the next stop,” said Philip, fondling Micky, who, as usual, was on his shoulder. The boys looked a curious pair, one with a parrot on his shoulder, the other with a monkey. The passengers smiled whenever they saw them.
“I’m glad to hear those tiresome children will soon be gone,” said Dinah, who was not very fond of youngsters. “But I expect some equally obnoxious ones will embark in their place.”
She was wrong as it happened. Only one boy embarked, no girls at all. All the spoilt youngsters left, stumbling down the gangway at Naples, screaming and complaining to the last, certainly a most unpleasant collection of small children. Jack and the others watched them go with pleasure, and Kiki screeched after them. “Good-bye, good riddance, good-bye, good riddance!”
“Jack! She’s never said that before,” said Mrs. Mannering reproachfully. “You must just have taught her!”