Volanta

Pippa woke from a dream about her mother. She stirred, finding that she was clutching her locket tightly in her hand. It was early morning; the sun was barely starting to light the distant sky. She pushed herself up, wincing at the slight twinge of pain in her head. So far on this little adventure she had nearly drowned, faced down a giant snake, and had brained herself on a rock. She huffed a sigh. This wasn't how she had imagined things going.

Oliver was sitting against a tree nearby, his head drooping against his chest. Pippa stood, stretching out the kinks in her back and neck before gently pulling him over onto his side, putting her jacket beneath his head. He mumbled something in his sleep, his hands still wrapped around Roland's journal.

Pippa glanced toward the waterfalls, moving closer to the water and splashing some on her face. At least the water here was clear and calm enough to see all the way to the bottom. No monsters hiding in here. Pippa glanced toward Oliver again, but he was sound asleep. Jasper was awake and watching her with interest, his tail twitching. Pippa pulled a spare set of clothes out of her rucksack; a lightweight shirt and a pair of breeches. Her dress was torn and dirty and impractical.

Double and triple checking to make sure Oliver was still sleeping, Pippa shed her dress and took the pins out of her hair before slipping into one of the pools of water. It seemed to heat up as she sat there until it was the temperature of a proper bath. Pippa took a breath and ducked beneath the surface, letting her hair fan out around her head.

She surfaced with a small laugh, savoring the feeling of cleanliness and watching the sun come up. She was still lounging in the water when Oliver woke up, and she scrunched down so that only her head was sticking out of the water, her cheeks going hot.

"Pippa?" Oliver rubbed his eyes as he stood up.

"Um, I'm here," she said. He glanced over and his face turned redder than she had ever seen it.

"For God's sake!" he exclaimed, spinning around so fast he smacked his face on the tree he'd been sleeping against. "I didn't see anything!"

"I know you didn't see anything. Just face the tree while I get dressed."

"Why are you undressed in the first place?"

"I wanted a bath," Pippa said, boosting herself out of the water and wringing out her hair. "Just because we're trekking through the jungle doesn't mean we have to smell like it."

She finished buttoning her shirt and stuffed her feet into her boots. "All right, I'm decent. You can look now."

Oliver turned around tentatively as she was tying her hair back and securing it with a big blue bow. He breathed a small sigh of relief.

"You'll need to change your bandage," he said, coming closer to inspect the bump on her head. He frowned.

"What's the matter?" Pippa asked.

"It's practically healed already," Oliver said in wonderment. "It's still a bit pink and may scar, but it's nothing like it was yesterday."

Pippa glanced at the pool of water she'd been bathing in. "Maybe it's the water," she murmured. "Maybe it has healing properties."

"Fascinating." Oliver knelt down to look more closely at the water.

"Here," Pippa said, digging in her bag again. "I brought a few vials along, in case we needed samples of anything to look at later."

Oliver looked at her in astonishment. "You're very much like your father, Pippa. He always plans ahead too."

He scooped some of the water into the vial and stuffed the stopper in tight, slipping it into his pocket. "I suppose we'd better press on, then, if you're feeling better."

Pippa nodded, slinging her bag over her shoulder. They set off through the trees, leaving the pretty waterfall and all its pools behind. They walked in silence for a while, Oliver trying to decipher a crude and faded map that Roland had sketched in the journal while Pippa scanned the trees, praying they didn't encounter any more giant serpents. Jasper tagged along at her heels, occasionally attacking her boot laces.

"So, is this what you were expecting?" Pippa asked as they sat down to rest. Oliver let out a wry chuckle.

"I really didn't know what to expect. I was half afraid we wouldn't even find it. The giant snake was an unwelcome surprise." He leaned back against a tree with a grimace. "Still glad you came along?"

"Of course. I'm not going to be discouraged by something as trivial as a fifty foot reptile with a nasty attitude."

"Only you would call a fifty foot reptile trivial. At least it'll make for a great story to tell your children someday, I suppose."

"What children?" Pippa arched an eyebrow. "You assume I'm going to go off and get married after all this is done?"

"Aren't you?"

"Not likely." Pippa sat down on the ground and Jasper hopped into her lap, purring as she scratched under his chin.

"Why not? I can think of at least five men I know who are probably waiting to ask you. I'm still expecting Peter to drop to one knee any day and ask you himself."

"Well, I don't want to marry Peter. And I don't want to marry James Ingerson or your brother or any of their silly friends either."

"So you've given up on marriage entirely?"

"There's one man I'd consider marrying," Pippa said slowly, keeping her eyes on Jasper as he swatted at the ends of her hair. "He's different from most other men I know. He's handsome and charming, but in an unassuming way. He's not a pretentious, preening peacock and he doesn't try to be anything that he's not. He's smart; brilliant, really. And very passionate about knowledge and truth. My father holds him in high regard."

"You sound quite taken with him. So what's the problem?"

"He has no interest in me," Pippa said quietly. "In fact, I'm pretty certain that he outright dislikes me; and finds me to be nothing more than a vexing, useless, empty headed debutante. I don't think he even finds me attractive. He'd never ask me to marry him, and so I have no intention of getting married at all. I need to look after Daddy anyway, and I can't see the like of James or Elliot caring enough about him to let me do that."

Oliver nodded, looking at her curiously. "I think you're probably right about that. Elliot doesn't think or care about much beyond what he's going to eat later or who he's going to ask to dance at the next ball."

Pippa smirked. "You know he told me once that no boy would ever ask me to dance? And then see how he behaved at my birthday party. Acting as if he wasn't a vile little troll all through our childhoods."

"Just through our childhoods?" Oliver arched an eyebrow.

"Well yes. Now he's a large vile troll."

Oliver snickered. Pippa stood and dusted herself off, Jasper making a small mew of protest. He'd begun to doze peacefully in her lap.

"Maybe I can train Jasper to fend off would-be suitors," she mused as they resumed their hike.

"I don't think he needs any training at all," Oliver grumbled. "He has no problem attacking me."

As if to confirm the point, Jasper let out what was probably meant to be a ferocious growl and pressed close against Pippa's leg; as if warning Oliver to keep a safe distance.

"My little protector," Pippa cooed. She supposed she should let Jasper know that he didn't need to threaten Oliver to keep away; he tended to keep his distance anyway. Pippa watched him out of the corner of her eye as they walked and suppressed a disappointed sigh. At least she knew it would never occur to him that the "mystery man" she had described was him.