"Venomous Pt 8 - Solicitous" Rosie/Carter
Title: Venomous Part 8 - Solicitous
Fandom: Princess Protection Program
Pairing: Carter/Rosie
Rating: PG-13
Words: ~3600
Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction, not intended for profit or offense. I own no rights to the subjects.
Summary: Troubles in Costa Luna reach the ears of fugitive Princess Rosalinda, interrupting her fairy tale life in Louisiana. But Carter has no intention of letting her friend be put in danger.
Chapter One of Venomous
Chapter Two - Pernicious
Chapter Three - Detrimental
Chapter Four - Anodyne
Chapter Five - Innocuous
Chapter Six - Amiable
Chapter Seven - Affectionate
"Wake up, pal," calls Mason's gruff but clearly excited voice next to Carter's head, his burly hand on her shoulder, rousing her from sleep.
"Wassahah?" Carter mumbles, her hands rubbing her eyes before she looks at her wall clock glowing dimly in the early morning darkness. "...Daaaaad, I have to work at the bait shop in an hour, lemme sleep," Carter huffs as she tries to find sanctuary under her pillow.
"Not today pal, you're taking the morning off. We're goin' fishing!"
Carter lifts the pillow off her head, "You serious?"
"Serious as a squirrel's hankerin' for nuts. Now git, the sun's coming up soon," he slaps her butt over her blankets and heads for the door, "And you too Rosie, rise & shine over there!" Rosie turns over in her bed and blinks her sleepy eyes at the two of them. "Fishing?" Mason nods, salutes, and is out the door in a flash, soon to be heard rambling in the kitchen.
As Carter pulls on her jeans, she catches Rosie gingerly releasing her left leg from the confines of the sheet. Rosie sees her inquisitive gaze and offers, "It hurts a little in the mornings."
"Mmmh, that's probably normal. It feels better later though, right?"
Rosie reaches down and rubs lightly at her snakebite, the bright pink flesh flexible and new. "Yes, it feels fine as the day goes on."
"Good, I'm glad. Get dressed and meet us in the kitchen; oh, and bring a jacket, it's pretty chilly out on the lake 'til the sun comes up."
The woods around Lake Monroe were strangely quiet in the dim hours before the Sunday sunrise as the three of them launched the fishing boat into the water and paddled out. The breeze was calm and the boat was the only source of ripples on the lake. There was a comfortable silence between them as they enjoyed the peace of the scene.
Carter loves fishing with her dad. There are a lot of things that Mason worries about, but it seems like he can forget all those things when he's out on the lake. Carter has adopted that same serenity, and together they can sit for hours, talking very little, and just patiently waiting for the fish to bite, as they watch the progress of the sun across the sky and marvel at the color changes in the water.
Oddly enough, it is Rosie who attracts the first fish, the sudden pull of her line startling her. The princess's inexperience being quite obvious, Carter rushes to her side to help her reel in. She puts her hand over Rosie's on the reel and toggles back and forth, reeling in and then giving slack, expertly maneuvering the fish closer to the boat. After a moderate struggle, Mason is able to snatch the fish out of the water with a hand net, to reveal a small, but feisty trout. Carter hugs Rosie in congratulation, and gives her dad their signature secret handshake. They name the fish Trevor, thank it for biting, and toss it back in the lake.
The morning passes quickly in this quaint way. They catch a small amount of fish, and after each successful catch, Carter and Mason share a handshake, name the fish, and release it. Carter promises that she'll make up a shake for Rosie and her to do. Rosie is visibly excited by the notion.
Mason makes sandwiches and the three of them enjoy a peaceful lunch back on the dock after securing the boat and putting away the poles and tackle. Carter is hard pressed to remember a time when she was this relaxed and happy, even with her dad on those fishing trips. She thinks it must have something to do with Rosie, because as they slap palms and bump fists in the creation of a new secret handshake, Carter feels Rosie's laughter in her own smile, hurting her own cheeks, and tumbling pleasantly with butterflies in her stomach.
~~\/~~
Carter steps down to the gravel with a crunch and closes her eyes at the orange rays of sunlight shimmering through the trees as they make their way closer to the evening horizon. Feeling her stomach give a hungry grumble, she continues crunching down the driveway, looking for her dad to ask him about dinner plans.
"Yes, ma'am, I agree," comes her father's voice from around the corner. She approaches but soon notices that he is on a call via the satellite intercom in his Jeep. Carter starts to turn back to wait for him in the house.
"... Not that I know of... Carter's done a good job of keeping her identity under wraps. Rosie herself is as charming as can be, I don't see how she could make herself any enemies way out here."
You'd be surprised, dad, Carter thinks sardonically as she sees Chelsea's vain smirk in her mind's eye.
"Director, any news of Costa Luna? Have we made any headway with the palace guards?" Carter stops in her tracks. It's impossible for Carter to hear anything the Director may be saying, but as she glances back over her shoulder, she sees Mason bring a hand to his jaw and rubs it, a sure sign that whatever he is hearing, it's not the best news. Rosie...
"I see. Things are working to Kane's advantage, then. The longer Rosalinda is in hiding, the more her people lose faith in her return," Mason's voice lowers and Carter strains to hear. Mason's back is to her; she slowly and quietly shifts her way closer over the gravel road.
"Absolutely. Without the hope of a future queen, resistance to Kane will falter... "
Carter doesn't realize she is shaking her head, her eyes wide and her heart racing. No, no no! Kane can't win! This isn't right!
“... Hold please, Director,” Mason suddenly remarks and before Carter can even react, Mason twists in his seat and launches a three inch blade through the air that stabs into the ground just a foot in front of her. "Ah - holy crap Dad! It's me!"
Joe is visibly disturbed. He rises to his feet and Carter almost shrinks under his imperious gaze. His face is grim as he puts a finger to the bluetooth in his ear and rumbles, “I'm gonna have to call you back, Director… 5 minutes.”
Mason crosses his arms as he regards his eavesdropping daughter. "How much of that did you hear?"
Carter instead fires a question right back, "What's going to happen to Costa Luna if Rosie stays in hiding?"
The vexed soldier-turned-secret agent deflates, and leans his weight against his Jeep. "I think you know what, Carter," he sighs. "Kane will completely take over. His dictatorship will most likely damage Costa Luna just as it has Costa Estrella - he is vain, selfish and power hungry. The Costas will most likely not survive his rule."
"Then why are we hiding her?! Her people need her, they need to know that they have something to fight for!" Mason rubs his jaw again; Carter's temper rises.
“Carter, Rosie must not know anything. It will motivate her to act out and possibly blow her cover. Our top priority is to keep her under the radar, oblivious.”
“She’s not stupid, dad! She won't just sit here forever without knowing what's happening to her family and country!”
"Carter, I know. Believe me, I can't stand this situation anymore than you can. But we can't risk the princess being found by Kane. If he imprisons her, there is no future for Costa Luna, guaranteed."
Carter kicks her foot into the ground, dislodging the knife from its erect position. She looks off, squinting her eyes at the sun sinking below the horizon of trees. ”So then, what do we do?"
"Those loyal to the Royal Family have mounted an underground resistance, but it's an uphill struggle against Kane and his resources. The PPP can only wait for Kane's vanity and greed to trip him up. Meanwhile we continue to protect Rosalinda, here."
"So I have to pretend that I don't know that everything Rosie loves is in danger?"
"Everything Rosie loves depends on her protection and freedom. It's hopeless if she is captured. Here, she stands a chance to change things," Mason walks to Carter and puts a hand on her shoulder. She narrows her eyes and stares gloomily at the blade glinting on the gravel.
"I want to help her. I want her to be happy."
"Me too, pal."
~~\/~~
Later that evening, Carter sits reclined on the sofa, failing spectacularly at reading the assigned chapters in Pride and Prejudice. After realizing for the sixth time that she was reading the same paragraph describing Mr. Darcy's fabulously humble attractiveness or some other such nonsense, Carter lets the thick book fall onto her stomach, and her eyes drift across the living room and into her bedroom, where she can see Rosie serenely brushing her hair on the window seat. Carter absently watches her for several moments. She looks to be in deep thought. It soon becomes apparent to Carter however, that Rosie is not just contemplative, but sad. Spurred on by this revelation and Carter's new dedication to comforting Rosie, she rises from the sofa and enters the room quietly on bare feet.
Rosie jumps slightly when Carter slides behind her on the window seat and sneakily steals the hair brush from her hands, quickly resuming Rosie's activity and asking softly, "What's on your mind?"
"I - oh... I hope I wasn't disturbing you..."
"Not at all, you're just incredibly easy to read. I could tell something was bothering you from across the house. So, what's up?"
Rosie leans back as she crosses her legs on the seat and places her hands in her lap, allowing Carter to resume brushing her hair for her.
"I am feeling nostalgic for my home... and my mother.
"Mmm," Carter encourages her.
"I was reminded how Mama used to brush my hair. It is strange, sometimes, how just a simple action can trigger such intense memories... it is painful... almost too painful..."
"Oh, Rosie..."
Carter was never very good at comforting words, but she figured she was getting better at comforting gestures, so she thought it best to keep her mouth shut and keep gently sliding the hairbrush through Rosie's hair.
Princess Rosalinda... You have so much at stake, and you're only a little older than me... I wish I could do something...
Rosie slouches uncommonly low and turns her head slightly to the left, leaning her left shoulder against Carter's. Rosie's troubled and worried thoughts drift away lightly, and Carter is soon finding a simple rhythm and contentment in her task, very much attracted to the soft quality of Rosie's hair.
Rosie eventually sighs softly before saying, "Thank you, Carter." Carter stops brushing, but allows her hand to flow one last time through Rosie's soft tresses and lifting it over her shoulder. She then slides her hands down to Rosie's shoulders, squeezes lightly for a second, and then rises from the window seat.
“OK, I have an idea.” Carter says brightly and goes to her closet, searching the upper selves. “I'm gonna school you in scrabble.”
“Scrabble?”
“It's a board game. With words. You spell out words on the board, and bigger words get you... more… points…” Carter stops talking and scrutinizes the box. She glances back at Rosie’s slightly confused but attentive face.
Carter, much like her father, was not one for losing. And knowing Rosie, she had a dictionary shoved into her morning breakfast since day one… and possibly in several different languages.
“On second thought, we’re gonna play Monopoly instead. Are you familiar with the basic principles of Capitalism?”
“Roughly.”
"...You can be the tophat.”
~~\/~~
School on Monday was tediously ordinary, except for the fact that Chelsea and Brooke seemed to have disappeared sometime during lunch break. Carter of course had no complaints to this whatsoever, but she did muse it odd that the Princess who has been obsessing most about Homecoming was abandoning her normal post of barking orders at the Homecoming committee members in the gym.
After school, Rosie allows herself to indulge in admiring her dress for Homecoming. There was no question that she was indeed excited to wear formal attire again, and even more excited to share the experience with Carter. Busy fantasizing about a fabulous ballroom with decorations and dancing like the celebrations held in her palace, the princess does not immediately recognize the sudden appearance of Chelsea and Brooke in the doorway.
Stunned, worried, and hurt, Rosie can do nothing to stop Chelsea as she grabs the dresses and leaves with an arrogant laugh. She sinks to the window seat and stares at the words in the magazine in her lap, proclaiming General Kane's engagement to her mother, Queen Sophia. When Carter storms in with the now wrecked dresses, Rosie's distress is palpable, and Carter switches instantly from angry to concerned.
"You're right. They do need you," Carter says empathetically. "They need you to lead them, and to protect them... And that's something you can't do from jail, which is exactly where you'll end up if you go back to Costa Luna."
Despite Carter's words of warning, Rosie can think of no other course of action than to return home immediately and stop General Kane. Here in Louisiana, Rosie is free to live in this fairy tale - but she's never felt more trapped. Afraid of breaking down in tears in front of Carter, Rosie leaves the room quickly.
"No way am I letting this happen." Determined, Carter rises to her feet and walks into the hallway. Telling her dad is out of the question, and going to anyone else for help would mean revealing Rosie's secret. It's all up to her now.
Thinking quickly, Carter hustles upstairs to her dad's room, bursting through the sliding wooden panels into his study beyond. It's a reckless search for several frustrating minutes, Carter not quite sure what she's looking for, but knowing that there's got to be something in dad's files on the mission that can help her make a plan to help Rosie.
Finally, she finds a manila folder in the secret drop-drawer underneath the wooden desk. Inside are some papers on the history of the small country, a list of countries that are friendly to the Costas, and a heavy dossier on Kane. Carter becomes increasingly distressed as she pours over the files, and almost throws the whole folder down in frustration, when she spots a name she recognizes on the file of the King - "Señor Rodrigo Elegante was appointed Royal Dressmaker shortly after - "
Rosie's words from a few days ago echo in Carter's head: My royal dress designer... He is a close family friend. If there were ever an emergency, he'd be the first I would call...
Hastily scouring personnel files, Carter beams in delight at finding a contact number for Elegante, quickly memorizes it, then returns the folder back to the drawer and races from the room, down the stairs and closes her bedroom door behind her. Sitting on her bed Carter takes a deep breath and dials the number, a plan formulating itself quickly in her mind.
And although Elegante is quite eager to aid his < i>Princesa, it takes a few minutes to convince him to trust her fledgling plan. Elegante agrees to fashion two new dresses, promising them both to be worthy of Princesses, and will have them sent to Carter before the dance. He also agrees, though reluctantly, to leak information to Kane that Rosalinda will be at the Louisiana high school dance. What Kane won't know, however, is that Carter will swap places with Rosie, giving her a chance to escape.
"Ah si, an' then?" Elegante whispers eagerly, "Wha 'tis teh next part of chur plan?"
"I - uh - I haven't thought that bit out yet. But don't worry, I'll figure something out, just get working on those dresses, and leave the rest to me."
"Chaaa, I don' know abou' that..."
"Trust me, Señor Elegante! I'll do everything in my power to protect Rosie. I'll figure it out. I will." And when Carter steps outside a couple minutes later, spotting Rosie's lonesome silhouette leaning against the dock beams in the afternoon sun, she believes it.
When Carter asks Rosie to stay until the dance, to help her friends enjoy a special night, Rosie smiles. For all the help she had received from the community of Lake Monroe, Louisiana for these past few weeks, she felt it proper for her to return the good deed. She felt a secret happiness rise in her chest, as she realized that she could spend just a little more time with Carter before she had to leave.
~~\/~~
The next few days kept Rosie and Carter very busy with plans to make Homecoming a night worth remembering. Rosie was grateful for the distraction. On top of all this excitement, exams were coming up on the days before Friday, so Rosie and Carter began reviewing together, which is what they were doing on Wednesday night.
"Vous voulez aller à la plage avec moi?"
"Woah, woah, woah, slow it down, now. One more time?"
Rosie repeats the question at a slower place, enunciating her words. Carter admits that she's rubbish at foreign language, so she's glad for Rosie's patience.
"Uh, uh, oui, uh... J'taime la plage... et... le soleil ... et... j'taime tu.... ?" Rosie bursts out into a fit of giggles. "Hey, I couldn't think of anything else that had to do with the beach! Quit laughin'!"
Hiding her smile behind her hand, Rosie replies, "So you believed that perhaps announcing that you love me would distract from that?"
"Only if it worked...?" Carter smirks hopefully.
"Well, Carter, if I was the teacher administering your oral examination tomorrow, I would think you were quite charming. But unfortunately I am not, so let's review some nouns and verbs."
"And particles, please." Carter mumbles as she flips through her French textbook furiously.
An hour and a half later, Carter shuts her textbook forcefully and calls it a night. Rosie agrees and heads to the upstairs bathroom to shower.
Catching a flash of movement out of the corner of her eye as she ascends the last stair, Rosie almost slips and falls as she backs into the wall away from the furry animal that suddenly appeared on the dresser. Rosie is startled but doesn't scream like she did when she encountered the lizard all those nights ago.
"Hey, Rosie, before you get in the shower can I grab - " Carter begins from the bottom of the stairs, until she notices Rosie's still form and uneasy expression. "What's up?"
"Oh, Carter, uhm... is.. is this animal domesticated? Is it a pet of yours?" Carter starts to ascend the stairs with a curious look on her face. "What? We don't have any pets, what're you - OH JESUS!" And Carter backs into the wall just as Rosie did when she spots the long-tail, pointed face and masked eyes of the raccoon standing on its hind legs, looking quizzically at them both from the dresser atop the landing.
"It is dangerous? It looks quite amiable..." Rosie remarks as she leans closer, the raccoon swatting lightly at the air with its small front paws. Carter's hand shoots out across Rosie's chest and pushes her back toward the wall. "Ha! Yea, well, it's just like Chelsea ain't it? Looks harmless enough, but it'll claw your face off if you get too close."
"Oh my," Rosie replies.
"It probably just wants food, I'll lead it outside with a piece of bread or something. Hang on. And don't pet it!"
"It really is a cute little thing..." Rosie says as five minutes later the raccoon is trampling off into the shadows outside with the piece of white bread flopping in its jaws. Carter shrugs, "It's the cute ones ya gotta watch out for."
The girls smile and head back inside, Carter's hand on Rosie's back. "Looks like you're getting a pretty decent catalog of local Louisiana wildlife, Rosie. Maybe pretty soon you'll happen upon a gator," Carter chuckles.
Rosie makes a noise that sounds a little like a mouse squeaking when the lights suddenly come on and it curries away under the kitchen cabinets. "Ah - I - well, I would prefer perhaps to only see an alligator in the pages of a book, rather than reality. Yes, I am fine with just a picture, I think," she says nervously as they reenter the house.
"Didja know you can hypnotize an alligator?"
"I beg your pardon?" Rosie asks dubiously, her foot halted on the first step of the stairs leading to the bathroom.
"Mmhmm, I saw a video once. It's pretty neat. Betcha'd wanna see that in person, eh?"
"You show me the technique to subdue a massive reptile, Carter, and I will gladly accompany you anywhere in the Louisiana wilderness," Rosie replies with a smirk.
"Deal," Carter nods, a huge playful smile on her face. She likes teasing Rosie.
But it's still accompanied by suppressed sadness that soon, Rosie will be gone, and Carter won't be able to tease her or hear her laughter or see her smile. And it's this sense of imminent separation that gives her an idea for something she never thought she'd do, ever.
~To be continued.
A/N: I like raccoons.
A/N 2: Only two chapters left! As you may have guessed, it will follow the basic course of the movie through to the end. Thanks for reading, and sticking with the story.
Fandom: Princess Protection Program
Pairing: Carter/Rosie
Rating: PG-13
Words: ~3600
Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction, not intended for profit or offense. I own no rights to the subjects.
Summary: Troubles in Costa Luna reach the ears of fugitive Princess Rosalinda, interrupting her fairy tale life in Louisiana. But Carter has no intention of letting her friend be put in danger.
Chapter One of Venomous
Chapter Two - Pernicious
Chapter Three - Detrimental
Chapter Four - Anodyne
Chapter Five - Innocuous
Chapter Six - Amiable
Chapter Seven - Affectionate
"Wake up, pal," calls Mason's gruff but clearly excited voice next to Carter's head, his burly hand on her shoulder, rousing her from sleep.
"Wassahah?" Carter mumbles, her hands rubbing her eyes before she looks at her wall clock glowing dimly in the early morning darkness. "...Daaaaad, I have to work at the bait shop in an hour, lemme sleep," Carter huffs as she tries to find sanctuary under her pillow.
"Not today pal, you're taking the morning off. We're goin' fishing!"
Carter lifts the pillow off her head, "You serious?"
"Serious as a squirrel's hankerin' for nuts. Now git, the sun's coming up soon," he slaps her butt over her blankets and heads for the door, "And you too Rosie, rise & shine over there!" Rosie turns over in her bed and blinks her sleepy eyes at the two of them. "Fishing?" Mason nods, salutes, and is out the door in a flash, soon to be heard rambling in the kitchen.
As Carter pulls on her jeans, she catches Rosie gingerly releasing her left leg from the confines of the sheet. Rosie sees her inquisitive gaze and offers, "It hurts a little in the mornings."
"Mmmh, that's probably normal. It feels better later though, right?"
Rosie reaches down and rubs lightly at her snakebite, the bright pink flesh flexible and new. "Yes, it feels fine as the day goes on."
"Good, I'm glad. Get dressed and meet us in the kitchen; oh, and bring a jacket, it's pretty chilly out on the lake 'til the sun comes up."
The woods around Lake Monroe were strangely quiet in the dim hours before the Sunday sunrise as the three of them launched the fishing boat into the water and paddled out. The breeze was calm and the boat was the only source of ripples on the lake. There was a comfortable silence between them as they enjoyed the peace of the scene.
Carter loves fishing with her dad. There are a lot of things that Mason worries about, but it seems like he can forget all those things when he's out on the lake. Carter has adopted that same serenity, and together they can sit for hours, talking very little, and just patiently waiting for the fish to bite, as they watch the progress of the sun across the sky and marvel at the color changes in the water.
Oddly enough, it is Rosie who attracts the first fish, the sudden pull of her line startling her. The princess's inexperience being quite obvious, Carter rushes to her side to help her reel in. She puts her hand over Rosie's on the reel and toggles back and forth, reeling in and then giving slack, expertly maneuvering the fish closer to the boat. After a moderate struggle, Mason is able to snatch the fish out of the water with a hand net, to reveal a small, but feisty trout. Carter hugs Rosie in congratulation, and gives her dad their signature secret handshake. They name the fish Trevor, thank it for biting, and toss it back in the lake.
The morning passes quickly in this quaint way. They catch a small amount of fish, and after each successful catch, Carter and Mason share a handshake, name the fish, and release it. Carter promises that she'll make up a shake for Rosie and her to do. Rosie is visibly excited by the notion.
Mason makes sandwiches and the three of them enjoy a peaceful lunch back on the dock after securing the boat and putting away the poles and tackle. Carter is hard pressed to remember a time when she was this relaxed and happy, even with her dad on those fishing trips. She thinks it must have something to do with Rosie, because as they slap palms and bump fists in the creation of a new secret handshake, Carter feels Rosie's laughter in her own smile, hurting her own cheeks, and tumbling pleasantly with butterflies in her stomach.
~~\/~~
Carter steps down to the gravel with a crunch and closes her eyes at the orange rays of sunlight shimmering through the trees as they make their way closer to the evening horizon. Feeling her stomach give a hungry grumble, she continues crunching down the driveway, looking for her dad to ask him about dinner plans.
"Yes, ma'am, I agree," comes her father's voice from around the corner. She approaches but soon notices that he is on a call via the satellite intercom in his Jeep. Carter starts to turn back to wait for him in the house.
"... Not that I know of... Carter's done a good job of keeping her identity under wraps. Rosie herself is as charming as can be, I don't see how she could make herself any enemies way out here."
You'd be surprised, dad, Carter thinks sardonically as she sees Chelsea's vain smirk in her mind's eye.
"Director, any news of Costa Luna? Have we made any headway with the palace guards?" Carter stops in her tracks. It's impossible for Carter to hear anything the Director may be saying, but as she glances back over her shoulder, she sees Mason bring a hand to his jaw and rubs it, a sure sign that whatever he is hearing, it's not the best news. Rosie...
"I see. Things are working to Kane's advantage, then. The longer Rosalinda is in hiding, the more her people lose faith in her return," Mason's voice lowers and Carter strains to hear. Mason's back is to her; she slowly and quietly shifts her way closer over the gravel road.
"Absolutely. Without the hope of a future queen, resistance to Kane will falter... "
Carter doesn't realize she is shaking her head, her eyes wide and her heart racing. No, no no! Kane can't win! This isn't right!
“... Hold please, Director,” Mason suddenly remarks and before Carter can even react, Mason twists in his seat and launches a three inch blade through the air that stabs into the ground just a foot in front of her. "Ah - holy crap Dad! It's me!"
Joe is visibly disturbed. He rises to his feet and Carter almost shrinks under his imperious gaze. His face is grim as he puts a finger to the bluetooth in his ear and rumbles, “I'm gonna have to call you back, Director… 5 minutes.”
Mason crosses his arms as he regards his eavesdropping daughter. "How much of that did you hear?"
Carter instead fires a question right back, "What's going to happen to Costa Luna if Rosie stays in hiding?"
The vexed soldier-turned-secret agent deflates, and leans his weight against his Jeep. "I think you know what, Carter," he sighs. "Kane will completely take over. His dictatorship will most likely damage Costa Luna just as it has Costa Estrella - he is vain, selfish and power hungry. The Costas will most likely not survive his rule."
"Then why are we hiding her?! Her people need her, they need to know that they have something to fight for!" Mason rubs his jaw again; Carter's temper rises.
“Carter, Rosie must not know anything. It will motivate her to act out and possibly blow her cover. Our top priority is to keep her under the radar, oblivious.”
“She’s not stupid, dad! She won't just sit here forever without knowing what's happening to her family and country!”
"Carter, I know. Believe me, I can't stand this situation anymore than you can. But we can't risk the princess being found by Kane. If he imprisons her, there is no future for Costa Luna, guaranteed."
Carter kicks her foot into the ground, dislodging the knife from its erect position. She looks off, squinting her eyes at the sun sinking below the horizon of trees. ”So then, what do we do?"
"Those loyal to the Royal Family have mounted an underground resistance, but it's an uphill struggle against Kane and his resources. The PPP can only wait for Kane's vanity and greed to trip him up. Meanwhile we continue to protect Rosalinda, here."
"So I have to pretend that I don't know that everything Rosie loves is in danger?"
"Everything Rosie loves depends on her protection and freedom. It's hopeless if she is captured. Here, she stands a chance to change things," Mason walks to Carter and puts a hand on her shoulder. She narrows her eyes and stares gloomily at the blade glinting on the gravel.
"I want to help her. I want her to be happy."
"Me too, pal."
~~\/~~
Later that evening, Carter sits reclined on the sofa, failing spectacularly at reading the assigned chapters in Pride and Prejudice. After realizing for the sixth time that she was reading the same paragraph describing Mr. Darcy's fabulously humble attractiveness or some other such nonsense, Carter lets the thick book fall onto her stomach, and her eyes drift across the living room and into her bedroom, where she can see Rosie serenely brushing her hair on the window seat. Carter absently watches her for several moments. She looks to be in deep thought. It soon becomes apparent to Carter however, that Rosie is not just contemplative, but sad. Spurred on by this revelation and Carter's new dedication to comforting Rosie, she rises from the sofa and enters the room quietly on bare feet.
Rosie jumps slightly when Carter slides behind her on the window seat and sneakily steals the hair brush from her hands, quickly resuming Rosie's activity and asking softly, "What's on your mind?"
"I - oh... I hope I wasn't disturbing you..."
"Not at all, you're just incredibly easy to read. I could tell something was bothering you from across the house. So, what's up?"
Rosie leans back as she crosses her legs on the seat and places her hands in her lap, allowing Carter to resume brushing her hair for her.
"I am feeling nostalgic for my home... and my mother.
"Mmm," Carter encourages her.
"I was reminded how Mama used to brush my hair. It is strange, sometimes, how just a simple action can trigger such intense memories... it is painful... almost too painful..."
"Oh, Rosie..."
Carter was never very good at comforting words, but she figured she was getting better at comforting gestures, so she thought it best to keep her mouth shut and keep gently sliding the hairbrush through Rosie's hair.
Princess Rosalinda... You have so much at stake, and you're only a little older than me... I wish I could do something...
Rosie slouches uncommonly low and turns her head slightly to the left, leaning her left shoulder against Carter's. Rosie's troubled and worried thoughts drift away lightly, and Carter is soon finding a simple rhythm and contentment in her task, very much attracted to the soft quality of Rosie's hair.
Rosie eventually sighs softly before saying, "Thank you, Carter." Carter stops brushing, but allows her hand to flow one last time through Rosie's soft tresses and lifting it over her shoulder. She then slides her hands down to Rosie's shoulders, squeezes lightly for a second, and then rises from the window seat.
“OK, I have an idea.” Carter says brightly and goes to her closet, searching the upper selves. “I'm gonna school you in scrabble.”
“Scrabble?”
“It's a board game. With words. You spell out words on the board, and bigger words get you... more… points…” Carter stops talking and scrutinizes the box. She glances back at Rosie’s slightly confused but attentive face.
Carter, much like her father, was not one for losing. And knowing Rosie, she had a dictionary shoved into her morning breakfast since day one… and possibly in several different languages.
“On second thought, we’re gonna play Monopoly instead. Are you familiar with the basic principles of Capitalism?”
“Roughly.”
"...You can be the tophat.”
~~\/~~
School on Monday was tediously ordinary, except for the fact that Chelsea and Brooke seemed to have disappeared sometime during lunch break. Carter of course had no complaints to this whatsoever, but she did muse it odd that the Princess who has been obsessing most about Homecoming was abandoning her normal post of barking orders at the Homecoming committee members in the gym.
After school, Rosie allows herself to indulge in admiring her dress for Homecoming. There was no question that she was indeed excited to wear formal attire again, and even more excited to share the experience with Carter. Busy fantasizing about a fabulous ballroom with decorations and dancing like the celebrations held in her palace, the princess does not immediately recognize the sudden appearance of Chelsea and Brooke in the doorway.
Stunned, worried, and hurt, Rosie can do nothing to stop Chelsea as she grabs the dresses and leaves with an arrogant laugh. She sinks to the window seat and stares at the words in the magazine in her lap, proclaiming General Kane's engagement to her mother, Queen Sophia. When Carter storms in with the now wrecked dresses, Rosie's distress is palpable, and Carter switches instantly from angry to concerned.
"You're right. They do need you," Carter says empathetically. "They need you to lead them, and to protect them... And that's something you can't do from jail, which is exactly where you'll end up if you go back to Costa Luna."
Despite Carter's words of warning, Rosie can think of no other course of action than to return home immediately and stop General Kane. Here in Louisiana, Rosie is free to live in this fairy tale - but she's never felt more trapped. Afraid of breaking down in tears in front of Carter, Rosie leaves the room quickly.
"No way am I letting this happen." Determined, Carter rises to her feet and walks into the hallway. Telling her dad is out of the question, and going to anyone else for help would mean revealing Rosie's secret. It's all up to her now.
Thinking quickly, Carter hustles upstairs to her dad's room, bursting through the sliding wooden panels into his study beyond. It's a reckless search for several frustrating minutes, Carter not quite sure what she's looking for, but knowing that there's got to be something in dad's files on the mission that can help her make a plan to help Rosie.
Finally, she finds a manila folder in the secret drop-drawer underneath the wooden desk. Inside are some papers on the history of the small country, a list of countries that are friendly to the Costas, and a heavy dossier on Kane. Carter becomes increasingly distressed as she pours over the files, and almost throws the whole folder down in frustration, when she spots a name she recognizes on the file of the King - "Señor Rodrigo Elegante was appointed Royal Dressmaker shortly after - "
Rosie's words from a few days ago echo in Carter's head: My royal dress designer... He is a close family friend. If there were ever an emergency, he'd be the first I would call...
Hastily scouring personnel files, Carter beams in delight at finding a contact number for Elegante, quickly memorizes it, then returns the folder back to the drawer and races from the room, down the stairs and closes her bedroom door behind her. Sitting on her bed Carter takes a deep breath and dials the number, a plan formulating itself quickly in her mind.
And although Elegante is quite eager to aid his < i>Princesa, it takes a few minutes to convince him to trust her fledgling plan. Elegante agrees to fashion two new dresses, promising them both to be worthy of Princesses, and will have them sent to Carter before the dance. He also agrees, though reluctantly, to leak information to Kane that Rosalinda will be at the Louisiana high school dance. What Kane won't know, however, is that Carter will swap places with Rosie, giving her a chance to escape.
"Ah si, an' then?" Elegante whispers eagerly, "Wha 'tis teh next part of chur plan?"
"I - uh - I haven't thought that bit out yet. But don't worry, I'll figure something out, just get working on those dresses, and leave the rest to me."
"Chaaa, I don' know abou' that..."
"Trust me, Señor Elegante! I'll do everything in my power to protect Rosie. I'll figure it out. I will." And when Carter steps outside a couple minutes later, spotting Rosie's lonesome silhouette leaning against the dock beams in the afternoon sun, she believes it.
When Carter asks Rosie to stay until the dance, to help her friends enjoy a special night, Rosie smiles. For all the help she had received from the community of Lake Monroe, Louisiana for these past few weeks, she felt it proper for her to return the good deed. She felt a secret happiness rise in her chest, as she realized that she could spend just a little more time with Carter before she had to leave.
~~\/~~
The next few days kept Rosie and Carter very busy with plans to make Homecoming a night worth remembering. Rosie was grateful for the distraction. On top of all this excitement, exams were coming up on the days before Friday, so Rosie and Carter began reviewing together, which is what they were doing on Wednesday night.
"Vous voulez aller à la plage avec moi?"
"Woah, woah, woah, slow it down, now. One more time?"
Rosie repeats the question at a slower place, enunciating her words. Carter admits that she's rubbish at foreign language, so she's glad for Rosie's patience.
"Uh, uh, oui, uh... J'taime la plage... et... le soleil ... et... j'taime tu.... ?" Rosie bursts out into a fit of giggles. "Hey, I couldn't think of anything else that had to do with the beach! Quit laughin'!"
Hiding her smile behind her hand, Rosie replies, "So you believed that perhaps announcing that you love me would distract from that?"
"Only if it worked...?" Carter smirks hopefully.
"Well, Carter, if I was the teacher administering your oral examination tomorrow, I would think you were quite charming. But unfortunately I am not, so let's review some nouns and verbs."
"And particles, please." Carter mumbles as she flips through her French textbook furiously.
An hour and a half later, Carter shuts her textbook forcefully and calls it a night. Rosie agrees and heads to the upstairs bathroom to shower.
Catching a flash of movement out of the corner of her eye as she ascends the last stair, Rosie almost slips and falls as she backs into the wall away from the furry animal that suddenly appeared on the dresser. Rosie is startled but doesn't scream like she did when she encountered the lizard all those nights ago.
"Hey, Rosie, before you get in the shower can I grab - " Carter begins from the bottom of the stairs, until she notices Rosie's still form and uneasy expression. "What's up?"
"Oh, Carter, uhm... is.. is this animal domesticated? Is it a pet of yours?" Carter starts to ascend the stairs with a curious look on her face. "What? We don't have any pets, what're you - OH JESUS!" And Carter backs into the wall just as Rosie did when she spots the long-tail, pointed face and masked eyes of the raccoon standing on its hind legs, looking quizzically at them both from the dresser atop the landing.
"It is dangerous? It looks quite amiable..." Rosie remarks as she leans closer, the raccoon swatting lightly at the air with its small front paws. Carter's hand shoots out across Rosie's chest and pushes her back toward the wall. "Ha! Yea, well, it's just like Chelsea ain't it? Looks harmless enough, but it'll claw your face off if you get too close."
"Oh my," Rosie replies.
"It probably just wants food, I'll lead it outside with a piece of bread or something. Hang on. And don't pet it!"
"It really is a cute little thing..." Rosie says as five minutes later the raccoon is trampling off into the shadows outside with the piece of white bread flopping in its jaws. Carter shrugs, "It's the cute ones ya gotta watch out for."
The girls smile and head back inside, Carter's hand on Rosie's back. "Looks like you're getting a pretty decent catalog of local Louisiana wildlife, Rosie. Maybe pretty soon you'll happen upon a gator," Carter chuckles.
Rosie makes a noise that sounds a little like a mouse squeaking when the lights suddenly come on and it curries away under the kitchen cabinets. "Ah - I - well, I would prefer perhaps to only see an alligator in the pages of a book, rather than reality. Yes, I am fine with just a picture, I think," she says nervously as they reenter the house.
"Didja know you can hypnotize an alligator?"
"I beg your pardon?" Rosie asks dubiously, her foot halted on the first step of the stairs leading to the bathroom.
"Mmhmm, I saw a video once. It's pretty neat. Betcha'd wanna see that in person, eh?"
"You show me the technique to subdue a massive reptile, Carter, and I will gladly accompany you anywhere in the Louisiana wilderness," Rosie replies with a smirk.
"Deal," Carter nods, a huge playful smile on her face. She likes teasing Rosie.
But it's still accompanied by suppressed sadness that soon, Rosie will be gone, and Carter won't be able to tease her or hear her laughter or see her smile. And it's this sense of imminent separation that gives her an idea for something she never thought she'd do, ever.
~To be continued.
A/N: I like raccoons.
A/N 2: Only two chapters left! As you may have guessed, it will follow the basic course of the movie through to the end. Thanks for reading, and sticking with the story.