by R. V. Bowman
Chapter 18:
It’s Hopeless
Rommy hurried toward her own cabin, tucking her chin down so none of the men scurrying around the deck would see the tears that were falling fast and thick. When she opened the door, Alice let out a squawk of alarm.
“What happened?” Alice asked, rushing toward Rommy.
Rommy threw herself onto the bed as sobs shook her. “He...he’s...taking...us back...to...London,” she got out before burying her face deeper into the pillow.
Alice sat on the side of the bed and patted Rommy’s back. “It’ll be okay,” she said. “You’ll talk him round.”
Rommy shook her head. “Not...not this...time.”
Alice continued to sit with Rommy, trying to convince her that everything would be okay, but Rommy knew better. Finally, she wiped at her face and sat up, her shoulders slumping.
“You’ll convince him to let ya stay,” said Alice, shoving a handkerchief into Rommy’s hand who mopped at her face.
Rommy shook her head. “Not this time,” she said. “Oh Alice, if I don’t go, he’ll...he’ll keep you here.”
Alice blinked at her. “You really had no idea your old man was a pirate? I don’t know how you missed that one.”
Rommy just looked at Alice. “He isn’t acting like himself. He was never like this before.”
“But you never saw him much, did you?” Alice asked and shrugged. “Maybe this is what he’s really like, and what you remember was him not acting like himself.”
Rommy hugged her pillow to her chest. “I’m not sure I like this Papa very much.”
Alice plopped down on the bed and slung her arm around Rommy’s shoulders. “He’s got a temper, that’s for sure, but nobody could be as wonderful as the papa you carry around in your noggin. Nobody’s that good.”
“Perhaps you’re right.” Rommy threw the pillow aside and stood up. “But that doesn’t change the fact that he’s taking us back to London. I’ll be right back where I started—waiting around and worrying about my father. Not to mention Pan will be skipping around London, plucking children from their beds.”
Alice stood, too. “Why do you hafta go back to London?”
“Didn’t you understand what I said?” Rommy said and immediately regretted her sharp tone.
“Yeah, I got you, but people telling you no ain’t never stopped you afore. Why are you giving up so easy this time?”
“But Papa will keep you here, and he might even take you back to Little Owl,” protested Rommy. “What if Tiger Lily tries something else?”
Alice waved a hand. “I ain’t afraid of her. She only got the better of me ‘cause she surprised me.” Alice scowled. “She won’t be doing that again.”
“But still if we get caught, Papa will make good on his promise,” Rommy said. “If you’d seen his face, you’d know he means every word.”
Alice grinned up at her. “I don’t need to see his face because we ain’t gonna to get caught.” Alice nudged Rommy with her elbow. “Besides, if your old man thinks I’m going to just do what he says, he’s balmy on the crumpet.”
A smile tugged at Rommy’s mouth, but she was silent for a long moment. Finally, she looked at Alice. “You’re really willing to risk it?”
Alice shrugged. “We’ve come this far. It seems an awful shame to give up now.”
Slowly an answering grin spread across Rommy’s face. “You’re right! I don’t know why I let it all seem so impossible. ”
Alice rolled her eyes. “I’ve been wondering that ever since you come in here caterwauling.”
Rommy ignored the comment. “I think Little Owl will help us. At least she seemed to indicate that when we left.”
Alice clapped her hands. “Now, that’s more like it. Do you have a plan?”
The two girls sat back down on the bed. “The timing is important,” said Rommy. “We can’t let Papa find out we’re gone until after he’s left the island. We’ll have to sneak off at the very last moment. Hopefully, by the time he discovers we aren’t on the ship, he’ll be so far away it will take ages for him to get back. By then, maybe we’ll know how to close that passage, and we can all go home.”
Chapter 19:
Good-bye, Papa
Rommy and Alice spent the morning making plans. The biggest problem was not knowing when her father would pull anchor and leave. As she explained to Alice, the more time passed before Papa realized they were gone, the better.
Alice was rolling up their clothes when the door swung open. Both girls plopped down on the bed to hide their packing.
Smee came bustling into the room, holding a tray piled high with food. “Well now, the Captain has relented at last and said I could feed you two darling girls,” he said, looking around for a place to put the tray.
Rommy could see him eyeing the bed. “Why don’t you put it over there, Mr. Smee?” she said, gesturing toward the chair by the little stove. “It will stay warmer over there.”
Smee gingerly balanced it on the seat and turned back to the two girls. His dark eyes alighted on Alice, and he raised his bushy gray eyebrows in Rommy’s direction.
Rommy stood up and made the introductions. Smee came over and took the hand Alice offered him, squeezing it between his plump ones. “We are so glad to have you on board, my dear girl. Any friend of Rommy’s is a friend of ours. You make yourself right at home,” he said.
“You sure don’t look like any pirate I’ve ever seen,” said Alice, looking the small, round man up and down.
Smee beamed at her and patted her head. “Aren’t you a sweet little thing?”
“Ain’t nobody called me sweet before, neither,” said Alice, pulling away from the patting hand.
Smee chuckled.
“Mr. Smee, Papa said we were leaving,” said Rommy. “Do you know when that will be? I’d love to see us pull up anchor. It would be so exciting.” She smiled sweetly at Smee. “Does it take long to sail to London?”
He patted her cheek. “Why, my darling girl, we won’t be sailing to London. That would take too long.”
“We won’t?” Rommy opened her eyes wide. “How in the world will we be getting there?” She stepped on Alice’s foot because the younger girl was rolling her eyes.
“Why, we’ll be flying, of course,” said Smee. He clapped his hands together. “I expect Big Red is pulling anchor as we speak, and trust me, when we leave the water, you’ll know it.” He smiled and winked at her. “It’s certainly quite an experience.”
“I’d love to go out on deck and watch,” said Rommy.
Smee frowned. “Poor lamb, I don’t assume the Captain will cotton to that idea at the moment. He wants you to stay in here.” Smee glanced at Alice. “Both of you, that is.”
Rommy made a show of being disappointed but resigned. “Oh, well, if that is what Papa wants, I suppose we must stay in here, then.”
Smee patted her hand. “There’s a good girl, but don’t you worry. Once we’re aloft, I’m sure the Captain will let you come out on deck. It is quite thrilling to be sailing through nothing but thin air.”
With a last smile at the girls, Smee turned toward the door, calling over his shoulder, “Don’t you worry. It will be a wonderful trip. You wait and see.”
The door clicked behind him. Rommy gestured to Alice. “Hurry and put those clothes in this sack,” she said, handing the younger girl a rough sack that she had found underneath the bed. “I’ll get the food.” She placed the bread, smoked fish, and pieces of fruit in the napkins Smee had provided.
Rommy pulled a few other items out of the trunk at the foot of the bed and handed them to Alice. She wished there was a way to get into her father’s cabin and get some kind of weapon. Traveling anywhere in Neverland, never mind the jungle, without something to protect herself made her shudder. She squared her shoulders. She couldn’t dwell on that now. If they didn’t get off the ship soon, she’d find herself back in London with no way to return.
“Do you want anything else in her
e?” asked Alice, holding out the sack toward Rommy, who took it and placed the food inside it.
“So’s how do you propose we get out of here without anyone seeing us? It’s broad daylight, and all them men is probably scurrying all over out there if they’s ready to ship out and all.”
“Maybe if everyone is busy, that will help,” said Rommy. “We just have to look like we are supposed to be out there. If we look like we are sneaking, someone will notice, for sure. Just follow my lead.”
She walked over to the door, but the knob wouldn’t turn in her hand. She jiggled it and then pulled on it. “No!” she said. “I can’t believe it! Mr. Smee locked us in!” She clenched her hands and let out a groan. Unlike her father’s cabin, there was no handy porthole window out of which to escape.
With all the ideas going through her head forhow to get off the ship without being seen, Rommy hadn’t even considered what she would do if her cabin was locked. And she couldn’t believe she hadn’t! She dropped on the bed and put her face in her hands. Her nose prickled with unshed tears.
“I am so stupid!”
A small hand patted her shoulder. “You ain’t stupid,” said Alice, “but you sure are a watering pot today. You got one of those hair things around here?”
Rommy gave a watery laugh and wiped at her eyes. She moved over to the trunk. Her best friend Francie had shoved so many pins into her hair when she left Chattingham’s trying to make her look like a boy, that even despite all Rommy had gone through to find her father, there were still a few left. She only hoped Smee had put them with her other things and they weren’t sitting somewhere in her father’s cabin.
Her fingers brushed a small parchment packet, and she pulled it out. Inside were four hair pins. Rommy let out the breath she had been holding and handed the packet to Alice. Alice fished out one of the pins and then knelt in front of the door.
“I don’t think that will work,” said Rommy, standing behind her. “I tried to pick the lock the last time Papa locked me in his cabin.”
“You’re standing in my light,” said Alice, her face screwed up in concentration.
Rommy backed up, sat back down on the bed, and watched as Alice moved the hair pin first one way and then another. A soft click sounded and Alice turned around and grinned.
“This ain’t my first door, you know” she said. She pushed the pin back into the little packet and tossed it toward Rommy. “You’d better put them in the sack, too. No telling when they might come in handy again.”
Alice moved to open the door, but Rommy stopped her. “Wait! This cabin opens toward the side of the ship. We need to be careful when we slip out so it looks normal.” She rolled the sack up as tightly as she could and put it under her arm. “We’re going to stroll over to the railing like we’re interested in what’s going on. Then when nobody’s looking, we’ll slip over the rail.”
Rommy cracked the door open and peered around the edge. She could see down the side of the ship toward the main deck. It was alive with men moving back and forth and the noise of the crew making ready to leave. Her eyes darted around to find her father. She certainly didn’t want to run into him.
Finally, she spotted him at the bow of the boat. His back was toward her, and he was chewing out Mr. Smee. She gestured to Alice to follow her, and the two slipped silently out of the cabin door. Rommy casually stood outside and ambled toward the railing. Alice followed her example. The men on deck seemed oblivious to the two girls’ presence. Rommy leaned against the rail, looking up toward the men bustling around. She rose to hover just above the deck when Tommy, the cabin boy, rounded the corner. She thumped back to the planking.
For a moment, he looked confused. Rommy knew her panic was written all over her face, and she tried to smooth it out. She gave a tentative smile and turned so that the sack was behind her. She felt Alice tug it out of her hands.
“Wotcha doing out here?” asked Tommy. “The Captain, he said I was to bring you this.” The boy held out a round pot. Rommy felt her face color.
“Oh, well, thank you,” she said, but she didn’t reach out to take it.
Tommy tilted his head as he awkwardly held the pot between them. “Uh, do you want me to put it in Smee’s, I mean your cabin?”
“Why, yes,” said Rommy and then felt Alice kick her. “I mean, no.”
She reached for the pot just as Tommy tucked it under his arm. The boy, clearly confused, pulled it out again as Rommy dropped her hands.
“Oh for the love of Pete,” burst out Alice, stepping from behind Rommy. “Here, give it to me,” she said, plucking the pot from Tommy’s grasp. “We was just coming out to find this, so you saved us the trouble.”
The boy’s face cleared, relief evident. “Okay,” he said. “That’s that. I’ll let the Captain know I delivered it to you.”
“You do that,” said Alice. “Let him know we were right glad to get it, too.”
As Tommy walked away, Rommy leaned over to Alice. “What are you doing?” she whispered.
“I’m saving us from being caught,” said Alice with a little huff. “You looked like a fish flopping on the dock, opening and closing your mouth like that.”
“No, I mean, why did you tell him to give my father a message?”
“Oh, that.” Alice smiled. “If he has to remember a message, he’ll probably forget to say where we was.”
Rommy squeezed Alice’s shoulder. “Good thinking!”
Rommy glanced back at the deck, which was still buzzing with activity, and then bent and picked up the sack Alice had put up against the wall. “We’d better get going before we run into anyone else.” A smile lifted one side of her mouth. “Even you will have a hard time explaining why we are walking around with a chamber pot!”
The two girls made the short trip to the deck railing and slid over, Alice rather awkwardly, as her small arms struggled to hold onto the chamber pot.
Rommy flew toward the back of the ship, near the water line. Alice followed her and then nodded at the object in her arms. “What do you want me to do with this thing?” The little girl made to drop it into the water, but Rommy stopped her.
“No, hang on to it, at least until the ship leaves,” she said. “If anyone sees it floating in the water, it will make him suspicious.”
“But it’s heavy,” said Alice.
“We’ll switch,” said Rommy, taking the pot from Alice and handing her the sack. It didn’t take long before the pot seemed to have become twice as heavy. She readjusted it in her arms and leaned against the side of the ship.
“Now what?” asked Alice, hovering next to Rommy.
“Now, we wait,” said Rommy.
Chapter 20:
Little Owl’s Help
Rommy was starting to wonder how long she would have to hold the chamber pot when Alice’s eyes went wide.
“Look,” she said, pointing at the ship behind Rommy’s left shoulder. Rommy turned and felt her mouth drop open.
Golden lines were running over all the seams of every piece of wood. Within a minute, the entire ship was glowing.
“Blimey,” said Alice. “I ain’t seen nothing like that before.”
Rommy shook her head. “I haven’t, either. I suppose it must be the pixie dust.” She and Alice exchanged a look. “I wonder how it works.”
Before she could wonder further, the ship gave a creak and a groan and moved forward. As it strained ahead, it slowly rose until the hull skimmed the top of the waves. Water dripped from the bottom, and it picked up speed, lifting higher as it went.
“Quick,” said Rommy and grabbing Alice’s arm, she pulled them both until they were flying beneath the big ship, keeping pace with it. Alice made a face as water plopped onto her head and ran down the side of her neck.
“How long do we hafta stay under here?” she asked, wrinkling her nose. “And what about that pot?” She pointed to the round object still in Rommy’s arms.
“Nobody will notice it now,” said Rommy and dropped it into the
waves, glad to be rid of the cumbersome thing.
She tugged at Alice’s hand, and the two girls put on a burst of speed to stay underneath the boat as it flew higher and faster. When they reached the rocky shoreline, Rommy pointed downwards, and they dropped onto the ground and ducked behind a boulder. They watched as the ship flew away, climbing higher in the sky the farther it traveled. Rommy hoped her father would be so taken up with steering the ship that he wouldn’t think to check on her until much, much later.
Alice moved forward, but Rommy put her hand on her shoulder. “Wait,” she said. “Once they’re out of sight, we can just fly. It won’t take nearly as long as trying to walk over all these rocks.”
Alice settled down on the ground and leaned her head back against the boulder that shielded them from view. She looked up at Rommy, who was still watching the ship as it became a mere speck in the sky.
“I’ll say this for you,” she said. “You sure ain’t boring. I ain’t had this much adventure in, well, never.”
Rommy made a face. “I’d take a bit of boring right about now. I have an idea things will get even more exciting from here on out.” She let out a sigh as she watched her father’s ship fade from view. “Come on! I don’t think anyone will see us now.”
Alice pushed up to her feet, and the girls leaped into the air and flew the now-familiar route toward Chief Hawk Eye’s encampment. As they got near, Rommy signaled and the two girls touched down in the long grasses that grew on this area of the island. Rommy could see the conical homes all clustered in a circle around a main fire pit, encircled by big flat rocks. The late morning sun lit the clearing and highlighted the people moving around the area. There were too many to risk trying to find Little Owl.
“What are we waiting for?” asked Alice.
“There are too many people around right now,” said Rommy.
“How long do you think we’ll hafta wait?” asked Alice.
“I’m not sure, but you should probably get comfortable.” Both girls sighed as they sat down in the tall grasses.
