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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