Chapter Two
A/N: Again, I only own Jesse Leon Hawkins. Everything else is property of Disney.
It was hard, falling asleep that night. Jesse kept thinking about what he was going to do and how he was going to do it. His bag was packed with essentials and the old bear. Now he just had to sneak by Jim.
"Now or never," he whispered to himself as he slid out of bed upon hearing Jim's bedsprings squeak. All he had to do was slide through the window and then catch the direct ferry to the spaceport. It was the only chance he had.
"Breakfast Delbert?" he heard his mom ask and knew this was his only shot at adventure. Opening the window enough so he could slip through it, Jesse lowered himself on the roof. There, he grabbed a branch of the closest tree and squeezed his eyes shut. He did not like heights.
"Okay," he sighed in relief as he dropped down to the ground. Now all he had to do was get to the ferry before Jim and Delbert left the house. Easier said than done though but he took off against the dark background of the night sky, lined with a sliver of pink warning of the dawn. Seeing as he didn't know how quickly Delbert and Jim would catch up with him, Jesse ran most of the way to the dock.
This would be so much easier if we were at the Benbow, he thought as he ran as fast as his legs could carry him. It took about five hours but he was finally able to reach the dock, holding the last direct ferry to the spaceport. Everything else would take three days to arrive.
"Last call for Montressor space port!"
"Hold it!" Jesse called and a creature held the door open for him. "Thanks mister! I'm just so excited to see my dad. He said he'd take me on a trip!"
Jesse had decided to play up the cuteness factor in case of any awkward situations. The door shut and Jesse watched the shore drift away. This was it. He was finally going on an adventure. One that Jim always got to read about, but the books were always ruined by the time they got to him.
"Kid, you getting off?" a frog like creature asked about six hours later. Jesse looked around in shock to see the ferry empty. He must have dozed off!
"Yeah, thanks!" Jesse grinned and ran off of the ferry. He now had three days to find the ship and get aboard before Jim and Delbert knew about it. But first, what the heck was the ship's name?
"Something Legacy," Jesse muttered to himself, brushing his brown hair out of his eyes. He'd heard Delbert talking about it last night. Apparently, the dog-man never slept at all—he commissioned the ship, the crew and the journey in one night.
"Watch it kid," a merchant growled at him after almost knocking him over.
"Excuse you," Jesse muttered, rubbing the arm that had been hit. Sadly, it was the same arm, which Bobby Bruin had bruised the other day—making it sensitive to any jostling. Jesse kept his head down, trying to avoid attention. That was the last thing he needed. Stowing away on a ship was against the law, earning massive jail time no matter your age.
" 'Cuse me lad," a voice with a heavy accent called to Jesse, "but could ye direct me to the RLS Legacy?"
Jesse shook his head. "Sorry Mister. I'm looking for it myself."
"Well, tis a shame. Perhaps I'll see you aboard."
The man left without giving Jesse a good chance to get a look at him. Jesse scowled at that. He didn't like strangers, but he didn't like shady people even more. Yeah, Jim teased him about being too trusting but Jim only saw one side of him. At school, it was a whole different barrel of purps.
"Finally," Jesse sighed, looking at the ship. Creatures were moving all over the place, allowing Jesse the chance to move onto the ship unnoticed. Hiding behind some barrels, Jesse saw what appeared to be a cat-woman talking to a man made of rock.
"Mr. Arrow," the cat-woman stated in a low voice, "have you ever seen such a crew?"
"No captain," Arrow shook his head. "But a great captain like yourself shouldn't have a problem managing them."
"Yes quite," the captain looked pensive for a minute and then shook her head as if to clear her thoughts. "No matter. Once the financer of our voyage gets here, we'll be ready to set sail."
Can it really be? Jesse thought in shock. If his eyes weren't playing a trick on him, Delbert had commissioned Captain Amelia Mouser to lead the journey to Treasure Planet. Captain Amelia was almost like a hero to Jesse, and he hoped beyond hope there'd be some form of battle just so he could see her in action.
"Well, well, well," a sinister voice announced its presence behind Jesse. "What have we here? A sssspy or a sssstowaway?"
A claw-like hand reached out and grabbed Jesse before he had a chance to run. It was then that Jesse realized that he should have ran when he had the chance. Glaring at him, was a red insect type thing and Jesse really hoped the bug wasn't hungry for eight-year-old boys.
"Mr. Scroop!" Captain Amelia called out and walked over to them. "What are you doing? Get back to work!"
"Yes Captain," Scroop slunk away, and Jesse really hoped that it would be the last time there was any interaction between the two of them. Amelia then looked down at Jesse, who had been dropped unceremoniously by Scroop.
"I don't take stowaways lightly," Amelia said with a frown. "What is your name, boy?"
"Jesse Hawkins," Jesse said before he had a chance to think of a false one. He knew his mother was probably worried sick by now and had phoned every police chief in the planet. Luckily, with the last name of Hawkins, Jesse probably wasn't on their priority list. "Dr. Delbert sent me along ahead of him. They missed the direct ferry ma'am."
The stern look on the captain's face seemed to lessen a tad, but it was still there and it was still giving Jesse fear of spending the entire journey in the brig—or worse, being sent home before it began.
"Well Mr. Hawkins," Amelia said after thinking for a moment, "jobs for little boys are rare on ships such as these and after that altercation with Mr. Scroop just now, I wouldn't want more interactions to come to blows."
This is it, Jesse thought glumly. I'm going home before the fun even starts. Stupid Jim, always getting the fun. Skipping school, riding solar surfers—
"That's why you'll be assisting Mr. Arrow," Amelia said, looking at Jesse sternly. "A tight ship needs plenty of eyes on it to make sure none of the crew take to brawling."
"Yes ma'am!" Jesse said, a huge grin on his face when he realized that he wasn't being sent away. That's all he wanted. To prove that he could just as much as his brother, despite the seven-year age difference. "What do you need done first?"
"Help Mr. Arrow raise the sails," Amelia told hm. "The more work that gets done now, the less that has to be done in three days."
Jesse nodded and ran to where Mr. Arrow was standing with the rope of the sails gripped firmly in his rock-like hands. Jesse grabbed the remaining bit and pulled with all his might.
"Thank you lad," Mr. Arrow said with a smile. "Well, it seems that the Captain has put you under my care."
"Yes sir," Jesse nodded, eager to do more to help. "What else needs to be done sir?"
Mr. Arrow chuckled. "Not much now, lad. But just you wait. I bet something'll pop up in the time before we set sail. How about you go get something to eat from the galley?"
Jesse's stomach let out a noise in agreement as Mr. Arrow made his suggestion. Chuckling, Jesse ran to the galley and grabbed a purp out of a barrel.
"Now lad," the cook shook his head upon noticing Jesse, who had an awestruck look on his face due to the fact that the cook was a cyborg. "Don't you know it's bad luck to sneak a purp before askin'?"
Jesse gulped but upon seeing the smile on the cyborg cook's face, the nervousness disappeared.
"Sorry sir," Jesse grinned at him. "It's been a long journey and you were busy. Didn't want to interrupt what you were doing."
"Sweet kid," the cook said, almost to himself, but then shooed him out of the kitchen. "Dinner'll be ready before ye knows it."
Jesse nodded and ran to help the rest of the crew, not even realizing that the cook's voice was the same as the man who had asked for directions to the Legacy.
