EPISODE 5: OUT WITH A CLANG

“Piper, we’re here.” Piper came to slowly, as her uncle gently shook her.

“Mph.” She replied with as much dignity as she could muster.

“Yeah, yeah. Up’n out, kid.” Uncle Dare  laughed.

With a distinguished heave, she tumbled out of the front seat and onto the ground. After recovering her feet as gracefully as possible, she donned her backpack, went inside, and promptly fell asleep on the couch that her uncle pointed her to.

--

Her first thought when she awoke the next morning was that she was hungry. Luckily, her uncle was making food. The sweet smell of oatmeal wafted out of the kitchen, and she closed her eyes, smiling at the thought of food.

“Auntie Pip??” Her two younger cousins yelled as they slid down the hall on their socks. Ever since they’d been able to talk, they’d called her ‘Auntie Pip’, rather than just Piper or Pip. Another of her cousins had decided that because Piper was the oldest of the cousins, she should be called an aunt instead. Piper still had no idea how that logic worked.

“Hey, dudes!” She grinned, sitting up and shaking the messy purple and brown hair from her face.

Instantly, a flurry of questions from all angles hit her ears, barely making it to her groggy brain. After giving her mind a moment to remember that it was, in fact, part of a human and not a rock, she did her best to respond to each of the questions. “Yes, I’m going on an adventure, no, I’m not going to get into a car accident, yes, my hair is purple, and yes, I’m totally part robot-cyborg. Doesn’t the hair give it away?”

Standing to her feet, blinking a few times, then boosting the smaller of the boys onto her shoulders, she headed for the kitchen. Once the business of breakfast had been completed, she and Uncle Dare headed out to examine the Groovymobile.

The mint green bus-like contraption was much bigger than Pip had first expected. Climbing inside, she was slightly shocked to find a bed (without blankets, unfortunately. . .) and, table which was bolted to and folded against the wall. Pretty basic, but still way better than she had expected.

Whoa, this is real. Like, really real. Okay, it’ll be totally fine. Don’t even worry about it. This’ll be fun, right? Yeah, totally--

She flinched as she felt something cold and pokey being pressed into her hand. Looking down, she realized that her uncle was giving her the keys to her new moving home. Taking a shaky breath, she nodded firmly, pocketed the keys, and headed in to get her gear.

Once the van was packed, Piper turned to her uncle, a lopsided grin on her face. “Well, I guess this is it. . .”

“Yeah. Serious moment time: Take care of yourself. Got it?” He studied her face, then shifted his gaze to the van on their left.

“Aye aye, cap’n.” She affirmed.

After a round of hugs from the family, she waved goodbye and headed for the car. Unfortunately, she was still looking back towards her family and not watching where she was going. With a resounding clang, she smacked her head on the side of the bus.

EPISODE 4: LAND HO!

What time is it? Piper grabbed her phone, pressed the home button, and was blinded by the bright light. 1:17 a.m. She sighed softly, pulling her blanket closer around her. The public lounge in which she was trying to sleep was cold, but cramped. There were several sports teams, as well as tourists on board, and they all seemed to have decided to sleep in this particular room.

Piper’s mind wandered as she thought of the events of the past two days on the boat. First, her discovery of her poor planning, then the whole ‘Miss Bella and Mr. Fenric’ thing. Oh, and the part where she accidentally punched the cute high schooler guy in the face. . .

DING.

A loud jarring sound yanked her out of her thoughts, right before an announcement blared through the overhead speakers.

"We will be arriving in Washington in thirty minutes. Please be ready to. . .” Piper drowned out the rest of the yammering as she packed up her stuff. Fifteen minutes later, she found herself down on the bottom deck, in line to get off the boat.

This is it. She realized as she shivered in the cold. The air smelled of salt, and the constant hum of the motor made her almost sad to leave the ship. But, adventure awaited.

She hoisted her backpack up further on to her shoulders, then followed the line to land.

When her feet were finally on solid ground, they decided that they liked the boat better. Everything was swaying, and staying upright was taking a tremendous effort. After much tilting and flailing, she managed to get to the parking lot.

My uncle is supposed to be here. . . Come on, Uncle Dare , where’re you at? Panic threatened to overwhelm her, and she closed her eyes, trying to just think. Unfortunately, that meant that she wasn’t paying attention to the real world, so she didn’t notice that someone was directly behind her.

"Hey, kiddo.” A man’s voice greeted her.

"NOPE.” She turned around and let her fist fly. . . right into her uncle’s chest. “OH MY GOSH, I’M SORRY.” She screeched as her uncle stumbled back a bit before regaining his balance.

"Whoa.” He shook his head, blinking. “Good arm."

"Yeah. . . sorry about that. . .” She cringed.

"No problem. Van’s that way. C’mon.” He gestured to a 2002 Honda Odyssey van. Piper’s heart sank.

"That’s the van?” She gulped, wondering if she’d actually have to drive that all over.

"You were expecting a hovercraft? Sorry to disappoint, but this is almost as groovy.” He said sarcastically.

"Groovy. . ."

After dumping her stuff in the back of the ‘groovy-mobile’, she plopped into shotgun and placed her feet on the dash.

Her uncle started the engine, and they were moving.

"So, you got any plans for your expedition?” He asked over the loud music on his phone.

"Naw, I figure I’ll just. . . drive.” She shrugged, realizing how crazy that sounded.

"Nice, man. Your parents know?"

"Nope."

"Sweet. You got a license?"

"Yup."

"Good. When we get back to the house, I’ll show you the bus. Did you know that in the netherlands they call them potato boxes? You’re going to love riding in an Aardappelkist.” Uncle Dare  drummed his fingers on the wheel.

"Wait, what? I thought this was the car. . .” She shook her head to blink away the confusion.

"Naw, man. The ride I’ve got for you is a 1970 Volkswagen Transporter.” A smirk played on his face as he started humming to the music.

"Oh. Umm. . . Okay, then.” Relieved that she wouldn’t be driving the Groovy-mobile, Piper leaned her seat back and fell asleep to the sound of her uncle’s off-key humming, and the promise of adventure tugging at her heart.

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EPISODE 3: THEY WERE IN LOVE?!

Piper was bored. She’d been on the boat for two days, and there was NOTHING to do. Tromping down to the cabin deck of the boat, she found herself thinking about the older couple again. After awhile, she found herself in the purser’s lounge. Was this a bad idea? Should I turn around and go home? I totally forgot to tell Ash where I was going. . . I’m going to have so much spam by the time I reach land. I wonder if Beck--

"Hello, dear.” A voice startled her out of her thoughts. Her eyes snapped to the source of the voice-- the purser from yesterday.

"Oh, heya! How’re you?” She grinned at the elderly woman.

"I’m doing wonderfully. I don’t think I caught your name yesterday. . ."

"I’m Piper! And you’re. . . Miss Bella?"

"Yes, that’s me. I was going to explain what happened yesterday."

Ooh, boy. This ought to be exciting. . .

"Fenric Denner -the man I hugged- and I were engaged.” She smiled softly at the memory. Piper’s eyes widen.

"It was—oh—fifty-some years ago. He was such a charmer. I was. . . naive."

"Can—Can I ask what happened?"

A frown crossed Miss Bella’s face. “I was already engaged. To someone else."

"WHAT.” Piper nearly choked.

Chuckling, Bella continued. “See, my parents had arranged a marriage for me with. . . another man. They never told me, until I had already accepted Fenric’s proposal."

"So you married the other guy instead?!"

"No, no. See, Fen had a plan. He suggested that I run away to California, and he’d find me. I went along with it, because I was just as in love as he was. But. . .” her lips trembled slightly. “He never came for me."

"WHAT.” Anger boiled in Piper’s chest. Why wouldn’t he come for her? How could someone ACTUALLY do that??

"And I haven’t seen him since.” Bella sighed.

"What’d. . . what’d you do? I mean, did you stay in California?"

"Yes, actually. I considered running home to my parents, but. . . that wasn’t an option. They wanted nothing to do with me. So, I got a job and made a home for myself."

"Whoa. That’s. . . amazing. Miss Bella, that’s wild.” Piper shot the lady a grin.

"Yes, it was.” Bella picked up a pair of knitting needles and began working on a bright pink scarf. “Well, I’d best get back to work, then."

Piper gave her a two-fingered salute and marched away, searching for the man who broke Miss Bella’s heart.

About an hour later, our lazy but determined hero was sitting in the cafeteria, waiting for Fenric. Even thinking about him frustrated her.

Who would just leave a young girl alone after promising to meet her? What kind of sicko. . . He was probably a con-artist. Yeah, that’s it. I’ll have to be careful; he’ll probably try to swindle me out of my wallet while we’re talking. Or beat me up and throw me over the rail. . . y’know what? He’ll probably just stab me and be done with it!

A shorter gentleman entered the cafeteria.

There he is, the serial killer. . .

The man smiled at a ferry worker and dished up some food.

I can practically SEE the evil glint in his eyes.

He sat down with his food and began eating slowly, greeting a few people as he did.

Time to make my move, before he makes his and the whole boat sinks.

Piper stood up and marched to his table, plopping down in the chair opposite of Mr. Fenric.

"Oh! Hello. . .” He said in confusion, tipping his hat.

"Salutations. I hear you used to know Miss Bella.” She narrowed her eyes.

"Yes, I did. . ."

"And I hear that you also ditched her in Cali."

"What? Oh, I suppose that she told you the story, then? Is that what she really thinks?” A look of remorse passed over his wrinkled face.

"No, she sugarcoated the whole thing. I’m here to get the real story.” Piper almost felt bad for making the gentleman sad, but she still felt for Miss Bella.

"Well. . . would you be willing to hear the rest of the story?” His tone was laced with timidity and hopefulness.

"Sure. Spill.” She crossed her legs.

He did so. Thirty minutes later, Piper had laughed, nearly cried, and been scared out of her wits.

"Wow.” She said at the end of the tale. “So, you’re saying that you were. . .on your way to Cali when you were framed for something, and were ACTUALLY running from the ACTUAL government for TWENTY FREAKIN’ YEARS??"

He nodded, finishing his now-cold soup.

"And they FINALLY stopped hunting you, after they caught the real baddie??"

Again, he nodded.

"Dude. That’s amazing. Does Miss Bella even KNOW??"

He paused, his spoon halfway to his mouth. “No."

"AND YOU DIDN’T TELL HER??” Piper’s eyes grew wide.

"No.” He resumed his consumption of lunch.

"You gotta TELL HER."

"Yes, I suppose I should. . . though I doubt she’ll believe me. . .” She realized that he’d lost hope.

"CAN I TELL HER??” Piper was only half serious.

"Well. . . I suppose so. . .” Fenric was completely serious.

Impulsively, Piper stood up and headed for the pursers office.

About ten minutes later, she had rambled through the entire story.

Miss Bella paused her knitting when Piper had finished, and there was tears in her eyes.

"You mean he didn’t abandon me?” She asked quietly.

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EPISODE 2: PIPER HAD NO IDEA WHAT WAS GOING ON

"Fifteen bottles of green tea??” Piper cried. After a hectic morning, she had finally made it onto the ferry, only to find that she had elected to pack fifteen bottles of green tea instead of luxuries like food.

Oh, well. I mean, what’s a three day ferry trip with no food? It’ll be fine. No problem. I could always just eat the free peanut butter out of the cafeteria. . . Right? Her mind spun wildly. She had about thirteen dollars in ones that she could use on vending machines. . .

Marching down the hallway and towards the glorious snack-giving machines, she pondered just exactly what she would do when she reached Washington. Visit her uncle, she supposed. Then, perhaps she could visit her friends?

"Darn thing. . .” She heard an elderly man say. He was frowning at the vending machine, grumbling about how it ‘ate his money’. Biting back a snarky quip, she smiled at him.

"What happened?” She asked, even though it seemed obvious. She had learned that asking stupid and obvious questions sometimes gives time for someone smarter to show up and fix the issue.

"It ate my money!” He muttered.

"Oh. . . well. . .” She looked him up and down. He was wearing a plaid shirt and suspenders. He doesn’t look like he’s a criminal. . . or a kidnapper. . . “I can go ask the purser. . ."

He nodded. “Only if it's not too much trouble. . ."

"Nope, it's not.” She set off.

About five minutes later, she was down on a lower deck of the boat, talking to the purser, who is an older lady with a white pixie cut. After a brief conversation, they headed up to assess the issue.

When the purser lady saw Suspender Guy (as Piper dubbed him), she let out a muffled squeak of surprise.  “Fenric? Fenric Denner??” She asked, tears springing to her eyes.

Piper frowned slightly. Wait, what? The lady is crying. Why is the lady crying? This makes no sense. . .

"Bella?” A look of astonishment crossed his face.

Instead of saying anything, he wrapped his arms around the lady. She returned his hug, sobbing slightly.

Piper had absolutely no idea what’s going on, so she backed away slowly, then hurried out to the deck of the ship.

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EPISODE 1: GREEN TEA AND IRRESPONSIBILITY

"Please don’t hit me! PLEASE DO NOT HIT ME. DO NOT CRASH INTO ME.” The quiet and strangled but desperate cries of Piper Cass would've normally been disconcerting, if they hadn’t been accompanied by comically wide eyes and wild hair. As it was, she had dashed out into the street without looking either way, (again) and discovered too late that a car was driving down the road without her permission. After an insane amount of speed-walking, she made it across.

Play it cool. I’m cool. I can be cool. She attempted to meander down the sidewalk nonchalantly, but tripped over her untied shoelaces. Sprawling out on the sidewalk, she wondered what she had done to earn the gracefulness of a tired elephant.

Finally after several more blocks, she (barely) made it home (somewhat) intact. Dumping her backpack on the couch, she wondered why her house was so quiet. Usually, it was teeming with life from her four siblings and her parents. Two envelopes on the table caught her eye. Tearing open the first, she discovered her driver's license. In the second contained a handwritten letter from. . . her mother?

Her lips moved as she read it to herself, and tears formed in her eyes. In short, the letter said,

Pip (this was a nickname assigned by her little sister, Kelli),

We have decided to take a vacation. I ask that you stay home and watch over things. We’ll be gone until September 2. There’s money in the flour bucket. It should get you through to then.

Piper skimmed through the rest of the letter. For a moment, she couldn’t really figure out what exactly she had just read. As the minutes passed, though, it dawned on her that she was alone. The silence in the house quickly turned from peaceful to terrifying as the walls seemed to close in on her. I’m alone. I’m all by myself. . . I don’t know if I can do this. I can’t. I’m by myself for a summer.

After a few deep breaths, the panic subsided, leaving a black ache in her stomach.

The hours ticked by, and Piper had already grown stir crazy. That was never a good thing. The wheels in her head began to turn (which was also never a good thing). After tapping some things out on her laptop, printing a few maps, and getting distracted on Google Earth, she had a plan: She was going on a road trip. Counting the money that her parents left her, she mentally added what she had in the bank, and found that it was about six thousand dollars.

After making a phone-call, she had someone who was willing to watch the house for free, and after a second call, she had ferry tickets. By nightfall, she had it all planned out. She would ferry down to Washington from her home in Wrangell, Alaska, then she’d visit her friends and travel around the U.S.A. until September 1, when she would head home and pretend that none of it ever happened.

Her uncle had offered to let her drive an old car that he’d ‘fixed up’. She had absolutely no idea what that’d look like, but she was willing to go along with it. Because she’d done ‘all that work’, she decided it’d be a good idea to sit down on her couch and talk to her friend Ash for awhile while eating an entire tub of ice cream. She decided not to inform Ash that she was planning on paying her a visit over the summer.

At around midnight, she realized that she had to pack if she wanted to be on the ferry. . . the next day. . . at six in the morning. Panic set in. Grabbing a hiking backpack, she crammed it full of green tea, blankets, a laptop, two iPads, and about seven different chargers. Then, she upturned the pack and dumped all of the things out when she realized that she could not, in fact, wear her current outfit (which consisted of volleyball shorts and a hoodie) all summer. Taking a deep breath, she asked herself, What would I pack if I were going to be gone all summer? Then she promptly packed the opposite, because what she would pack and what really needed packing were a little different.

Eventually, she ended up with seven outfits, a sleeping bag, a hammock, a pillow, her electronics (minus an iPad and several chargers), a can opener, seven different knives, and a ton of other stuff. After much pushing, shoving, begging, bargaining, pleading, and threatening, she got it all crammed into her backpack.

Instead of sleeping like a responsible person, she sat down and began making a map of where she wanted to go. About halfway through it, she trashed the map and decided to ‘wing it’, because that was sure to turn out well.

Finally, she decided that sleep was inevitable. As a last minute ‘surprise for her future self’, she added a bottle or two of green tea to her supplies, stacked her backpack, her guitar case, and her ukulele case by the door, and headed to bed. That night, she dreamed of adventure, the possibility of finding love, and her meager supply of green tea.

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