Anthony Thorne

Vicky Barton and her brother Johnny travel from Naples to visit the 1889 Paris Exhibition. They both sleep in seperate rooms in their hotel. When the she gets up in the morning she finds her brother and his room have disappeared and no one will even acknowledge that he was ever there. Now Vicky must find out what exactly happened to her brother.

After a quayside mix-up with the Italian family of his fiancée, Able Seaman Knocker White finds himself literally left holding the baby. Unable to return it before his ship sails he enlists the help of best mate Puncher Roberts to smuggle the child aboard. But babies are surprisingly demanding and gradually the whole crew is drawn into helping keep it fed and washed - and undiscovered. Even so, the officers above deck start to puzzle over the increasingly strange happenings on board.