Recap: Steph and Jack have been kidnapped by the Dolly Parton Peanut Army and Sarah and Billie have no idea. In fact, they are lying on their backs in a field of daisies watching clouds. So, how are Jack and Steph going to escape? Why is Sarah acting so… peaceful? Read on to find out!
Jack and Steph were dragged through the forest for what felt like hours, but they knew to be only minutes. They reached a wide clearing, filled with Peanuts, all chatting amongst themselves… in English.
The two were pulled into the centre of the gathering, and tied to each other, back to back, at the wrists, ankles and stomachs. It wasn't the smartest thing to do, as it wouldn't be too much struggle to escape, but then again, peanuts were not known for their brains… nor is Dolly Parton, for that matter.
The peanuts then began dancing around their captives, waving their knobbly peanut arms around, and shouting random things at the tops of their voices.
"Where's Sarah?" Steph asked Jack.
"I dunno," he said, doing his best to shrug his shoulders. This was difficult, as his wrists were tied to hers.
"Don't you think that she's been a bit… I don't know… strange, since we fixed her up?" she asked.
Jack tried to shrug again. "I've hadn't really noticed."
"Do you think that maybe after the whole negative, angry thing she went through when having the Demon Essence in her body, she's just fighting against it and kind of slipped too far? Like she's too happy and carefree. It just seems weird."
Jack didn't say anything.
"I think it'll even out after a while, and she'll go back to normal."
Jack still didn't say anything. What was there to say? Steph was simply comforting herself, he didn't have to say anything; she'd sort it out herself.
The peanuts were still running around, being dramatic about having some captives, while the captives themselves were getting entirely bored.
Then Steph heard something that made her head snap up in alarm. She could have sworn somebody say 'Sarah'. She looked around wildly, trying to find the speaker, but they all looked the same, and were all talking.
Then she heard it again, closely followed by 'Demon Essence'.
"Jack…" whispered Steph, trying not to attract attention.
He turned his head. He couldn't see her, but Steph knew he was listening.
"Did you hear that?" he asked her.
"Yes."
"D'you think it's time for our grand escape?" he asked, keeping his face blank as if for all the world he were talking about the weather.
"Definitely… how are we going to pull it off? I don't know about you, but I can't run backward all the way through the forest, you know," Steph told him.
"You've still got my sword, right?"
"Yes, why?"
"If we're only tied like this, it wont be any trouble getting' free, ya jus' 'ave ta cut th' ankle bonds, an' the rest'll be a piece of (A/N: sponge) cake."
"And the catch?"
"We have ta do it withou' th' 'nuts noticing."
"Ah." Steph looked away, thinking. "They're not very smart are they?"
"I'm not gonna bother answerin' tha', luv."
Steph snorted. "Then any old distraction technique should work, yeah? Like I could kick that rock into those pebbles over there to start a land slide, and we run the other way?"
"Aye, it should work. The question is, though, can ye kick tha' rock inta those pebbles an' start a landslide?"
"Sure I can."
The captain rose his eyebrows so high that Steph worried they might disappear under his bandana.
"I play soccer. I'm the Fairest and Best of 2006," she explained.
Jack's eyebrows came back down. "An' I'm supposing tha's a good thing?"
"Yes, it's a good thing. I can kick the rock."
He nodded. "Then kick th' rock, an' as soon as they turn away, lean backward onto my back, an' I'll carry ye ta th' trees. We'll deal with th' ropes there."
It was really hard to kick properly when her ankle was tied to Jack's, so she drew his sword very slowly and dropped it to the floor next to her. She inched it backward until it was leaning against the rope on her right leg. Very slowly, she slid it across the rope, cutting through only a few layers at a time.
There was a quiet snap when the rope was completely broken, and she resisted the urge to rub the part were it had dug into her skin.
" Jack?" Jack turned his head to show he was listening. "Do you want me to cut the other one?"
He nodded.
Steph cut the other one.
She waited a minute to be sure that no nut had noticed. None had.
As quickly as she could, she scooped the rock onto her foot. She balanced it there for a second… nobody even looked her way. She flicked the rock up. It was a lot smaller and heavier than a soccer ball, but she could do it. She swung her leg out, hitting the rock hard toward the patch of pebbles. It hit a large stone balancing precariously upon the pebbles. But it didn't topple over; creating the landslide they were hoping for.
She sighed heavily, looking around for another rock. Then she heard a crack. Her head snapped up and she saw the big stone teeter and fall onto the pebbles. But it turned out there were a lot more pebbles than they had bargained for. In fact, the entire clearing was floored with pebbles. Soon, they too began to shift and slide.
The peanuts turned as one to face the stone that Steph had knocked with the rock, and then to the pebbles at their feet. Then, they ran. Or, more accurately, they stampeded. The jostled Steph and Jack as they ran past, nearly knocking away the sword from where it rested against her leg.
"Time ta go," said Jack, once all the peanuts were gone, and the larger rocks from up hill were sliding into the clearing, ramming into their legs.
"Yep," agreed Steph, snatching up the sword and cutting through the binds around her waist. She tried to slice the rope around their wrists, but couldn't do it without slicing off somebody's hands; the ropes were too tight.
"Jack, can you get this?" she asked. She pulled both their hands over her head and ducked underneath them so that she was face to face with Jack. She moved the hilt of the sword so that it was in her hand as well as hers and waited for him to close his fist so that she could let go. Now would be a very, very bad time to lose the sword.
He grabbed it and, with his other hand, pulled the hilt through the rope between his and her wrists. When the blade was in the loop, he pushed it down, cutting the rope neatly in half.
He was just about to cut the other one, when a loud grating sound filled the clearing. Jack and Steph turned toward the sound. What they saw made Jack forget that he was supposed to be doing and run in the opposite direction, dragging Steph with him.
Oooh, what did they see? Why are they running? Are Billie and Sarah still watching clouds? Will the rock fall go toward the daisy field? Stay tuned to find out!
