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"She isn't gonna win me over, I don't care how many fish she catches," Reggie heard Rory grumble. Then he fell quite silent, as though worried that everyone else could hear him. It was likely, since few secrets could be kept for long within the confines of a raft. Reggie looked around at his mostly morose friends. Sassy kept on fishing, her cheery words hving fallen dead in the air.
He quietly edged over to where Rory was sitting. The other hobbit glanced up at him, and then let out a small derisive snort. "D'you think the whole raft heard?"
Reggie shrugged. "I don't think they care, anyways." There was a minute of silence, broken only by low grumbling and the sounds of the river. He thought about the situation. If she wanted to be the one to take care of getting food and things, then what was the harm in that? Of course, a few things would have to be set straight with the young girl: there was no way that the older boys would be taking any orders from her.
"If she wants to help us find food, I guess that's a good thing," Reggie said, looking to see the other lad's expression. It remained grim.
"It's nothing but bribery," Rory returned, staring out at the riverbank. Reggie felt momentarily guilty, like the time when he and his cousins disobeyed Aunt Hilda, sneaked into the kitchens, and ate half a cake they found there, only to discover later that it was to be a surprise for a wedding anniversary. His full stomach almost made him feel traitorous. But at least he wasn't going to go hungry...
"I guess it's like in those real adventure stories," Reggie mused. "With the corsairs and their big ships and everything. You know, so far we've capsized, and we've found a stowaway..." From the other side of the raft, Falco's conversation with Sondo drifted over. "deserting and... and... mutiny-ing." Reggie wasn't sure what mutinying was, but he thought he remembered it had something to do with pirates and adventure. "I wonder if we'll be fightin' any pirates next."
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