-Chapter Seven-
A Sticky Situation
Because Diamond had gotten little sleep the previous night due to troublesome thoughts, she found herself with a terrible headache the next day.
Though the day was warm enough, storm clouds threatened to unleash off in the distance, and it seemed that every time you were to look, they were closer than before.
"I hope it does not rain," Pearl whimpered, nose pressed flat against the window in the kitchen.
"Get off the table, Pearl," was Diamond's response. Pearl, who had been using the table as a resting place to gaze out the window, waited until her older cousin's back was turn to stick her tongue out, before scrambling down obediently.
Uncle Wil had readied the cart and taken Aunt Lily and Prisca into town for the day. Unwilling to travel two days in a row, Diamond had offered to stay home and prepare supper for when they returned. Immediately, at the prospect of escaping the journey, Pearl had offered to keep Diamond company.
Normally, Diamond wouldn't have minded as she loved her cousin dearly, but on top of her headache the young lass was proving to be just too much.
"Is it ready yet?" Pearl demanded, now seated much more properly in a chair.
"Almost," Diamond said with a weary sigh as she rummaged through the back of the cupboard. She withdrew the jar of jam she had been searching for at long last and set it down, picking up a knife and proceeding to cut the bread.
"I don't want any bread," came Pearl's voice, suspiciously near to where Diamond had just set the jam down.
"Then what are you going to eat?" Diamond asked slowly. She could almost picture the wide grin creeping across Pearl's face.
"Jam, of course!" she giggled. Diamond whirled around, and was met with a scene she dreaded. Pearl clutched the jar in her small hands, beaming up at her cousin.
"You know you can't just eat the jam, Pearl," Diamond said in what she hoped to be a reasonable tone. "Now give that here..."
"Bread ruins the jam," Pearl argued, taking a step back. Groaning inwardly, Diamond could easily spot the mirth in Pearl's eyes. She was in no mood for games.
"Pearl," Diamond said in a weak voice. She rubbed her throbbing temples, shutting her eyes briefly. "Please give that here. We can play later."
"No," Pearl said. "You have to catch me first!" She squealed with laughter and tore from the kitchen, jam jar teetering dangerously in her hands.
"Pearl!" Diamond shouted. She hesitated, eyes darting from the bread she had been cutting to the door Pearl had just left through. She didn't want to give in to her cousin and chase her... but the scene of Pearl scraping the jar clean with grimy fingers arose in her mind and she gritted her teeth. In a second she, too, was out the door.
The chase ensued around the house. Pearl, of course, knew all the best hiding spots, and whenever Diamond found her and managed to get a hold of her, Pearl would wiggle her way out of Diamond's grasp and be off again. It was enough to make Diamond's head split in half, and after a good ten minutes of this, she sunk into a chair in defeat, head in her hands once more.
"Just wait, Pearl," she muttered, grimacing as her head pounded. "You had better not open that jar... just wait..."
Gentle footsteps floated from the front room, and then the sound of a chair being occupied. Diamond raised her head. Had Pearl given up? She certainly hoped so.
She crept along the hall and paused, listening. The floorboards creaked noisily as a rocking chair moved across them. The only rocking chair in the house was by the front window -- just around the corner. A wry smile worked its way onto Diamond's face. If she was fast, she had Pearl just where she wanted her...
Moving quickly, Diamond leapt around the corner and lunged towards where she knew the chair to be. Her motive was to get a firm grip on one of Pearl's arms and corner her in the chair. There was no escape for the lass that way.
And all went according to plan, at first. Diamond found that, indeed, the chair was taken, and she did manage to latch onto an arm. However, the arm was quite bigger than she previously expected.
"I've got you!" she shouted, before the words died on her lips and her eyes widened. It took her a moment to realize that she had Pippin's arm in a most painful and awkward position and she dropped it, stepping back, horrified.
"What are you doing here?" she asked. He grinned as he rubbed his arm.
"Bad timing?"
"I thought that you... I thought..." Diamond stuttered. "Where's Pearl? How did you get in?"
"Pearl let me in," Pippin said, raising an eyebrow. "I don't know where she is now. She ran off. I figured that if I sat here long enough then someone had to find me."
If possible, Diamond's headache doubled, and added to this was newfound embarrassment.
"The jam jar wasn't opened, if that helps," Pippin said quietly. Diamond raised her gaze to him.
"How did you...?"
"It doesn't take much to figure out," Pippin said with a warm smile. "Pearl runs off with a jam jar she's clutching just after letting me in, and seconds later I'm ambushed by you... no, it wasn't hard to figure out at all."
Diamond flushed and shook her head. "When I get my hands on her..." she muttered, and then suddenly seemed to realize that her company was still present. She glanced at Pippin. "Come into the kitchen, will you? I've just fixed some bread. Although, it appears we have a shortage on jam..."
Pippin laughed and followed Diamond back into the house. Not wanting to be rude, but her eagerness to find out his intentions overruling, before they entered the kitchen Diamond blurted: "Is there any reason you're here?"
Pippin smiled, and Diamond couldn't help but wonder if he purposely avoided her gaze. "Just dropped by to say hello, and perhaps to thank your aunt once more for the dinner she prepared last night."
"Oh," Diamond said. "Well, I'm afraid she's not here at the moment. She and my uncle and sister have gone out for the day."
"So it's just you and Pearl, then?"
A smile closer to a grimace crossed Diamond's face. "I'm afraid so. With every passing minute, she appears to make my headache double."
If Pippin was going to respond, he didn't get a chance, for as they turned into the kitchen, both were surprised into silence. Pearl sat at the table, jam opened as she was dutifully spreading some upon a piece of bread with utmost concentration.
"Hello," she said as they entered without looking up. When Diamond said nothing and Pippin laughed again, she glanced up and proclaimed, "You were taking too long to catch me, Diamond, and I got hungry!"
"At least you've settled down," Diamond said at last as she saw no further point in arguing. She seated herself across from Pearl and snatched a piece of bread. Pippin followed her example.
"Are you staying to play with me, Pippin?" Pearl asked keenly. "Where's Merry?"
"Merry is probably heading to see Estella as we speak. And actually, I was wondering if you two would accompany me on a walk," Pippin responded straight away.
"Ooh yes!" Pearl said at once, bouncing up and down in her seat at this new suggestion. "Yes, yes! Let's, Diamond, please?"
Diamond's gaze automatically strayed out the window and she bit her lower lip. "It looks like rain..."
"We will be back before it rains," Pippin assured her. "It won't be long. Besides," he lowered his voice so only Diamond could make out what he was saying. "Perhaps it will help Pearl to burn some of that energy of hers. And you never know; it may do wonders for your headache."
Diamond smiled. "Alright, then," she said. "We would love to."
"First," Pearl said, reaching across the table and taking Pippin's hand. "You have to come and -" she stopped mid-sentence as she slid from her seat, arm catching the jam jar and bringing it to the floor with a crash. She jumped back and squealed as she was splattered with the sticky stuff, and both Diamond and Pippin jumped in their seats.
"Oh no," Diamond groaned, hurrying to grab some rags to clean the mess up with. Pippin, on the other hand, focused his attention on Pearl.
"I'm sorry," she whimpered, voice suddenly low. Her eyes shone bright with tears and her lower lip trembled. "I never meant to break it, even when I was hiding from Diamond... it was just a game..."
"It's fine," Pippin assured her, amazed at the reaction the accident brought from Pearl. "Why don't you go wash up? You can't very well come with us while you're all sticky like that!"
Pearl nodded, and wiping her eyes across the back of her hand, she scurried from the room. Pippin took half of the damp rags Diamond returned with, and the two set to scrubbing the floor and the table and chairs and diligently picking up the shards of glass.
"It was just an accident," Pippin commented softly, noticing that Diamond attacked the mess with unusual fierceness.
"I know," Diamond said shortly. She sighed and paused, resting on her knees, before brushing a curl from her face. Pippin chuckled.
"What?" she asked irritably, narrowing her eyes at him.
"Nothing," he said, and then chuckled again. She made a noise of disgust and rubbed the bridge of her nose. This only sent him into a brief fit of irrepressible laughter. Raising her brow at him, she chose to ignore it and went back to scouring the floor, scratching her nose again. Badly suppressed chuckles met her ears after she did this.
"Pippin!" she said in outrage at last, glaring firmly at him and flinging her rag on the floor. "If you don't tell me what you're laughing at this minute, I'll..."
"It's just..." he started to explain, standing and then sinking feebly into a chair. "You had a bit of jam on your hand, and when you touched your face..."
Glowering as a small blush colored her cheeks, she snatched a clean rag and rubbed her face furiously. "There," she said, slightly abashed and expecting Pippin to snicker once more. "Have I gotten it all?"
"No," Pippin said quietly. He reached out and brushed a finger down her cheek. "There; you've missed some."
Diamond froze at his touch, gazing at him with a sort of mixed marvel and amazement. She wondered why her heart suddenly seemed wedged in her throat, and her whole body heated. For a few moments she struggled to move away and found she couldn't.
Finally, she realized she had been staring at him quite foolishly, and hurried to wipe the jam off where Pippin had touched her. She swallowed hard. No one had ever had that effect on her before. What exactly was it?
"Thanks," she said softly, and the two hurried to finish cleaning the mess up.
They had only just finished when Pearl barged back into the kitchen, face tinged a raw red from where she had scrubbed it clean. "Well?" she demanded. "Can we go now?" Pippin smiled down at her, pleased to see her mood back to its normal cheeriness.
"I think we shall. Diamond?" he glanced at her, and she nodded.
"Yes," she responded, only half listening. The other half of her was still perplexed by the sudden bout of helplessness that had overtaken her only minutes before.
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