"Oh no," Rebecca said, "I'm not interested in being anyone's sweet heart. You'll have to find a new Lost Boy."
"But you're always so nice to me! And you didn't tell Peter about the cave or anything."
"Sarah, that's what friends do. Honestly. Besides, you don't really like me. You're just upset over the whole James being a pirate thing."
"I know!" Sarah admitted. "Ugh, I just feel like James never really gives me any special attention you know, but the instant you came in he was always giving you special attention. He stares at you all the time did you know? Maybe we can find him still."
Chapter 7
Rebecca had to admit she was disappointed James had left, especially now that she knew he was a pirate. As a child she had always held a strange fascination with pirates, she had often dressed as a pirate growing up, boots, sword, and all. Her mother of course had badgered that her daughter at least leave her hair down instead of tying it up and insisted she ditch the eye patch. Naturally, Rebecca had pouted the whole way, but she had been pleased to dress up in pants instead of the princess dress her mom placed in front of her door every Halloween. Moreover, Rebecca realized that finding James meant finding more pirates, and while her father had died when she was a child according to her mom, this was her chance to get as close to the real thing as possible. This was Rebbeca's chance to see what her father's life had been like.
Mother had refused to tell her more about her father, other than he was always traveling when she was little. "We'd be lucky if he visited once a month! If it weren't for the inheritance from your grandfather we'd be poor as the Hallins down the street!" A soft sob tore Rebbeca's attention away from her thoughts. She had forgotten Sarah was still there, looking at her.
"We should find him." Rebecca said, looking around determined. "I'd like to ask him a few questions. Do you know where he might have went?"
"Of course, we all do." Sarah sighed. She was starting to calm down and paused to think over the situation. "He went to go rejoin the pirates at Brystal Sea. They like to hide right by the entrance, you have to travel through the forest to get there thou and it's a long walk, at least a day if you don't have any pixie dust on you."
"Alright, first stop is the kitchen then. We'll need enough food to last a few days. And then the pixie dust cave."
"Alright, but only if we can bring Tink with us."
"Tink? But Peter will notice her missing!" Rebecca argued.
"I know but, if I don't bring her with she'll be stuck in that cage the whole time we're gone. Plus Tink knows the best routes and she glows in the dark so it would easy to find our way. I'm not going without her." Sarah said stubbornly, "and you won't know where to go without my help. The other lost boys are more interested in their toys then walking through a damp forest and a cave just to find pirates. They'd rather wait for the pirates to come to them."
Rebecca hesitated before agreeing. She was lucky Sarah had let herself be badgered into coming along on this trip. She didn't want to push her luck and she doubted Peter Pan would be happy to know she was stealing some of his pixie dust.
Sarah and Rebecca separated to grab supplies. Rebecca made her way to the camp and stole a knife, matches, and a spare pair of clothes for herself and Sarah. She then met Sarah at the cave. Naturally, Sarah having been at Netherland longer knew a faster route and had beat her. She was already in the cave, Tink flittering on her shoulder, and packing pixie dust into two small bags. Hearing Rebecca's movements Sarah looked up and smiled. "Good, you're here. I'm just packing up some extra dust in case we need it. I've got plenty of food too. Not a lot, but enough for two days." Nodding, Rebecca handed her the spare clothes, an extra water bottle, and matches, but Sarah refused the knife insisting she would rather handle the food. She insisted her mother had always raised her to act like a lady.
It took a good ten minutes to make their way from the cave to the forest. The sky was still rather light, but it was now noon at least. It was better to get a head start while it was still light out if they were going to get to the Pirate's camp by nightfall. Tink was ahead of them the whole way, darting back and forth. She seemed to be enjoying the fresh air.
As they snuck out of the camp and started traveling along the forest Rebecca managed to get her into a huge discussion on lady like behavior. "Doesn't it ever bother you having to wear dresses all the time or not being able to play with the other kids?" she pressed.
Sarah laughed, "Of course not. I like wearing dresses, the fancier the better. They make me look very pretty. Besides, I play with the other girls all the time where I am from. We go to dances together and dress up, and play dolls."
"Then why'd you come to Netherland?"
Sarah sighed and stopped to wipe her forehead. It was hot in the forest and even Rebecca was starting to wish she was wearing a dress right now instead of long pants. Well, maybe not a dress, but shorts at least. "I don't know. I just wanted to go on an adventure. I always planned to go back someday. Hey, I think we are far enough away not we can pull out the fairy dust. Peter won't notice us from here, we are at least a good hour from camp now."
"Good idea, but maybe we should get some water first. I forgot to fill up the waterbottles." Rebecca admitted.
Sarah laughed and pointed to a stream to their right. It took a few minutes for them to find it, but they followed the sound of the gurgling water. Rebecca was boiling hot by then and after filling her water bottle jumped into the pool. Startled, Sarah jumped back to avoid the splash of water. "What are you doing?!" she gasped.
"Cooling off." Rebecca laughed. "You should try it! The water is warm."
"And get my dress wet? No thanks!" Sarah said. "I think I will just lay here instead, maybe take a nap."
"Suit yourself." Rebecca replied, laying on her back . The water felt good pressed around her body, the waves gently caressing her skin, and with her head tilted back the sun warmed her face. She turned to see Sarah sitting on a rock nearby tentatively placing her feet in the water and then smile at the an opportunity to wreak havoc, Rebecca crept up to her and tugged her in by her feet.
"Hey!" Sarah cried. " What's your problem?" Rebecca grinned as Sarah sputtered and thrashed to the surface, "Just spreading the fun."
"Well that was mean of you. This is my mother's dress and you ruined it." She glared at Rebecca and went to the shore and grabbed her stuff. "I'm taking a walk. " She huffed.
"Wait, Sarah. I'm sorry! I was just messing around."
"Well, isn't that just like a boy! What if I couldn't swim? What if I had drowned?" Rebecca watched as Sarah grabbed her pack with the pixie dust, and her own share of the food and storm off with Tink flittering behind her.
Rebecca groaned and covered her eyes. She hadn't expected Sarah to get so mad over a little, harmless prank. Although, come to think of it she was lucky Sarah could swim. She stayed in the water a few more minutes to relax before climbing up and laying on the smooth, warm rock Sarah had previously occupied to dry off. She must have dozed off because the next thing she knew there was a noise from the other direction. Her clothes were still damp so it couldn't have been long. "Sarah?" she called. "Is that you?" She scrambled forward towards the noise, and was shocked to see James standing in the underbrush. "James?" she asked. She was so distracted by his presence she didn't notice the two men behind her until it was too late and stumbled on a rock as she attempted escape. The next thing she knew, everything was black.
