Sarah watched from her bedroom window as Jim and Josh were thrown out on there backs. "They don't have to treat them so roughly." She thought. Jim fumed all the way back to the inn and Josh chose to avoid any pointless rants by saying anything. Unfortunately, this didn't stop Jim from speaking his mind about the situation.
"Did you hear how he was talking to me like he knew everything about me by reading one little article. And he thinks he knows Sarah! The Sarah that he thinks he knows isn't the same Sarah we knew at the academy." Jim finished his tirade and rubbed the back of his neck just as they entered the mechanic's garage to meet Red Josh.
"Hey, Joshua." Josh said greeting himself. Red Josh rolled out from under a damaged longboat saying, "Hey guys. So how did it go? Did you see Sarah?" "It went terribly. I did see Sarah though; our eyes met for an instant when we were being thrown out. Tristan led us on thinking he would let us see Sarah. Then he tells us that he doesn't trust us and that he won't let us near Sarah. He thinks we're going to hurt her." Jim said, rambling on again. "Are you?" Red Josh said, cleaning oil and grease off his face.
"Of course not. We're just here to take her back home." Josh said, with a true tone of sincerity. "I've known Tristan since I was just 7 and I've never doubted his judgment, but this time I believe that you are the ones who are right in this situation. I can tell that you two only want what's good for Sarah." Red Josh said.
Jim was leaning against the entrance to the garage waiting for the two Joshes to finish they're conversation. Jim wasn't paying any attention to the conversation as he fiddled with the golden locket that he was keeping safe around his neck. Josh noticed this and knew what Jim was thinking. "Jim, if we can get that locket to Sarah it could solve our problem of her missing memories." Josh said, taking hold of the small golden charm.
"Isn't that a memory locket?" Red Josh asked, stepping away from his work. "Yeah, it holds a great deal of Sarah's memories of us before the day she disappeared. The only problem is that Tristan isn't going to let us anywhere near her; so there's no way for us to possibly get the locket to her." Jim sighed, feeling slightly defeated. "If Tristan is that persistent then we may never see Sarah again." Josh said, sitting his chin on his fist.
"That is not entirely true." Red Josh said stepping in with an optimistic tone. "What makes you say that?" Josh asked, wondering what his other self was thinking. "I'm saying that I can get you into Tristan's mansion without him even knowing." Red Josh said this and tossed Jim an envelope with an invitation in it. The invitation was for Tristan's 18th birthday and the party just happened to be tonight.
"It's a masquerade dance?" Jim said, having never been to one. Josh heard this and his face immediately enlivened. "Joshua! (What Jim & Josh calls Red Josh) You're a genius!" Josh stood up and gave himself a pat on the back. "Fill me in I'm a little lost." Jim stated. "It's a masquerade dance, Jim! As in we will be wearing masks and disguises and best of all Tristan won't notice us!" Josh was so ecstatic that it rubbed off on Jim and they were high fiving and everything.
"Now now; calm down guys before you get excited and go off on your mission you have to hide any features that could give you away." Red Josh advised. Jim's hand immediately reached back to his braid. "Our hair is a complete give away. How will we cover that up?" Jim said, pointing out an obvious fault in their plan. "Simple, Tristan gave this invitation to me personally so obviously he will be expecting me there. Josh, this is where you come in. You're going to go to the party as me." Red Josh said.
"But how am I supposed to get my hair red? I don't have any dye water." Josh said to himself. "What's dye water?" Jim asked curiously. "It's a special water made specifically for fish-like aliens such as Joshua and I. There are different colors and when we drink it our hair changes to match the color of the water." Josh explained to Jim. "That's right, Josh. And I just happen to have a bottle of red dye water right here." Red Josh said, tossing him the bottle.
Josh opened the bottle and Jim watched waiting to see his friend's image change in front of him. As Josh drank the red liquid, his fins changed color as the red dye flowed through the veins in his hair. "Well then, Josh; your transformation is complete. Let's compare you to the real thing." Red Josh said. He dragged Josh in front of a mirror in the corner and stood next to him. They looked like they were the exact same person minus the difference of 3 inches. "You know what; if I didn't know better I'd say we were the same person. Except I'm older than you are." Red Josh said.
"I'm glad we got that cleared up, but what will we do about my disguise? Tristan is going to have his eyes out for me." Jim said. "First off you both need masks. As for your hair, Jim; a wig is the only answer." Red Josh said. With that the three of them went to the costume shop down town. They tried on every mask they could possibly find that would hide Jim's face well enough. Eventually they found a mask that covered Jim's eyes well enough that no one could pick their bright blue color from the crowd.
Then they started searching for wigs to hide Jim's most obvious trait, his braid. Most of the ones that they tried looked utterly ridiculous on Jim. The two Joshes spent most of their time laughing at Jim's various ludicrous hairstyles. It was only hours before the party and they still hadn't found a wig. "This is hopeless. All these wigs just scream 'Hey! I'm Jim Hawkins! Call security!'" Josh said leaning exhausted against his other self's back. "I know; they all look fake." Red Josh responded.
"We have only one left to try." Jim said to them, holding up the last wig in the shop. He struggled with putting the wig on then went to the mirror to check. This tawny blonde wig was the only thing that succeeded in hiding his prominent braid. "Not really my color but it'll have to work." Jim said turning to the two of them. "I don't know. If you get to see Sarah she may just fall for you." Red Josh said with a laugh. "Oh, they've had their moments. Believe me." Josh said, laughing along with him.
Jim was incredibly embarrassed and said, "Come on guys. Lay off!" "Look he's even blushing! Hahaha!" Josh said, laughing with himself. They paid for the mask and wig and went back to the inn. Jim and Josh unpacked their formal wear from their graduation party and Jim was in full disguise.
Jim put on his wig and mask saying, "Ok; it's time to get to that party and bring back Sarah."