Where there's a Weewoo, there's a way Circulation: 194,011,715 Issue: 732 | 13th day of Hunting, Y18
Home | Archives Articles | Editorial | Short Stories | Comics | New Series | Continued Series
 

Janet and Jane: The Case of the Rough Waters: Part Five


by chasing_stars44

--------

      "Are you sure we're going the right way?” I whined.

      “I got straight A's in Cartography. I'm sure we're going the right way,” James snapped.

      I remained quiet as Jane, Natia, James, and I walked to this area that was depicted on the map. I didn't argue with James much more. He took a Cartography course at Brightvale University and according to what he said, he was a good student. If he could read the map, then I wouldn't stop him. Besides, I couldn't read maps if my life depended on it.

      As we were walking, I took in the scenery. Hmm, this place looked familiar. Could it be the area where we saw those glowing eyes? Nah, it couldn't be, right? Right? Well, there was only one way to find out.

      “I'll go ahead,” I said, already picking up my pace.

      Jane tried to stop me by saying, “Janet, you don't know where you're going.”

      “I bet I do. I'll meet you there.”

      I quickly walked the path that I remembered taking. The surroundings were getting more and more familiar. Oh, if we had to go back to the cave with the two glowing eyes, I was not going to be happy. There was no way I was going in that cave.

      And of course, it was the same cave.

      Corbin and Kell were looking around outside the cave, looking around for any sign of what they were looking for. Not surprising, really, but I wondered what exactly they were looking for (like footprints or a tooth, you know).

      “Hopefully we don't get attacked by pirates this time,” Kell muttered under his breath.

      “Focus on what we're doing, Kell,” Corbin said to his younger brother.

      Alright, I figured that I could go say hi to them. There was a chance of us going into that cave together if I was right about this being the property Layton meant. I walked over to them. As I walked, I gave a shrill whistle, getting their attention. I might as well let them know I was here.

      “Janet, what are you doing here?” Kell asked, sounding less than pleased to see me. “I thought you and your group were going to this property Layton was talking about.”

      “Well we are,” I informed. “I just thought that it would lead to here, so I went ahead.”

      “Okay, well since you're here, could you tell us if this is the place where you heard the growling?” Corbin asked.

      I nodded my head. “This is the place.” I looked into the dark cave. “You two are going in?”

      “We're planning on it.” Corbin took out what appeared to be a lantern. I believed the Ogrin was going to light it to provide light in the cave. “Are you?”

      “I hope not, but I will if I have to.” I angrily let out a chuff of air and crossed my arms. “Monsters are your thing. The last thing I want to do is run into something I have no experience dealing with.”

      “You dealt with this type of stuff before.”

      Believe it or not, that was true. I did run into a monster before on a case. That was how I met Kell and Corbin. While I did do pretty well dealing with something three times my height for someone who had no experience, I didn't exactly do it flawlessly. I'd rather not relive that part of my life.

      I sighed, “I know, but–” I stopped when I heard some chatter approaching. I didn't even need to look to know it was Jane, James, and Natia. “Ah, here comes everybody.”

      “...but do you think Janet knew where this led to?” Jane asked as she came close enough so I could hear her clearly. “Oh, apparently she does. Are you sure you read that right, James?”

      “A in Cartography, remember? I followed this map correctly,” he argued. The purple Bori rolled the map back up. “Though if I knew it would lead us here, I could have saved us a few minutes.” He quickly walked up to me. “How'd you know this was the place?”

      “I noticed the familiar surroundings, that's all,” I said simply.

      Jane joined James and I. “Good. Now that all of us are here, we could go in the cave and–”

      I stopped her there. “Oh no no no. I am not going in that cave. I'd rather take my chances with the pirates.”

      “Do you want to get this job over with or not?” Jane asked. I crossed my arms and nodded. “Good.”

      “You don't mind if we tag along, do you?” Natia asked.

      Alright, so Natia wanted us to tag along with Kell and Corbin? Corbin, I didn't mind, but Kell... There was no way we were going to get along if we went into that cave together.

      Apparently, I wasn't the only one thrilled about Natia's idea. Kell wasn't with her, too (shocker there). He said, “No, it is not okay.”

      “Kell, don't be rude,” Corbin ordered.

      “Corbin, there is a monster in that cave. They are not monster hunters like you and I.”

      “For once, I'm with Kell. If we have to go in the cave, we are not going together,” I added.

      Jane sighed, “Janet, Kell, I know you two don't want to go in the cave together.” The Korbat turned to me. “Do you want to run into that thing and have no plan?”

      “And we could use their help. They're better at finding signs of anything than us,” Corbin agreed. Kell and I both pouted. “Come on, you two, you know we have a point.”

      I began my rebuttal with, “But we–”

      Of course, Jane and Corbin interrupted me. They both said in unison as if they had practiced it, “We're going together. That's final.”

      There was no way I was getting out of this. I guess she had a point. Even though the last thing I want to do was be in a cave with Kell (or be anywhere with him, if I'm being honest), I supposed he could help out if we ever ran into that monster thing we saw. If not, he could distract the monster while I made a fast getaway.

      While Kell and Corbin were doing there own thing, I looked around for something that could help out in the investigation. Hmm... I walked around the perimeter and saw nothing. Some footprints, but I couldn't tell what they were from the shifting of the sand. They were definitely bigger than mine. Then again, I didn't have very big feet to begin with.

      My thoughts were interrupted with a loud squawking. A Pirakeet flew in front of me and continued to squawk at me. If only I spoke Petpet; I would understand what it was trying to say (then again, I might not want to know what it was trying to say). Whatever it was, it sounded urgent.

      “Isn't this Layton's Pirakeet?” I asked.

      Kell scoffed, “How would I know? You spent more time around him than all of us combined.”

      I rolled my eyes. “All I wanted was a second opinion. Is that too much to ask?” I groaned. “Every single time with you–” I stopped when I heard something. Wait, was it...

      “Olivia? Are ye around here?”

      Layton! What was he doing here? Oh, if he saw all of us, he would not be happy. What would he do? That was something I didn't want to find out. I quickly ran to the sound of the voice. “I'll be back. Layton wants to talk to me. Wait for me,” was the last thing I said before I left the area.

      It didn't take long to find Layton. When I found him, I ran right up to him. He looked down on me and he smiled. I smiled back. Until his Pirakeet flew up to us and squawked at me. Yikes, his squawking was loud.

      “Are you sure Aro likes me?” I asked. “It sounds like he doesn't.”

      Layton nodded. The blue Krawk said, “It's fine. I just wanted to tell ye something.”

      “And that is?”

      Layton looked around a little before speaking. He said after looking, “Ye know those Neopets we caught snooping around our property? They escaped.”

      Alright, I had two options to choose. I either could sound really concerned, act like I didn't know about it, or I could say I knew and act normally. I decided to act normally. I didn't know how Layton would take it if I didn't know.

      “What else is new?” I asked in a sarcastic tone.

      Layton looked surprised. “You know?” he asked.

      “That's what I'm doing – looking for them.” I crossed my arms and sighed. “Don't worry, the map's safe in me possession.”

      “Do ye need help?” I didn't expect him to say that. That wasn't good. If he helped out, he would see what I was really up to. That would go the opposite of well. “If so, I could–”

      I quickly stopped him. “No no, I need no help. Me mateys be helping me out. I don't need yer assistance, though I appreciate the offer.”

      I gave a big, fake smile to Layton, hoping he would believe me. If he didn't believe me, then what? Would he see that I was lying about this whole pirate thing? What would he do if he did? Even though I was extremely nervous about this, I kept up my act.

      Thankfully, he did believe me. Layton gave a smile and a wave and left the scene. Relief ran through my veins. The moment he was out of sight and earshot, I gave a big sigh. Good, I got rid of him. About time. I stuck out my tongue in the direction he went in.

      “Janet, just what are you doing?”

      I turned around, my tongue still sticking out. The moment my eyes met Kell's, I put my tongue back in my mouth and said, “Nothing to concern yourself about.” I leaned on a nearby rock and gave another sigh. “Okay, let's talk for a bit.”

      “About?”

      I tried not to roll my eyes. “It's no secret that we had a bad history between each other. Since we have to work together, why don't we try to get along?”

      Kell crossed his arms. The Wocky said, “You have a point.”

      “I know I do.” I tapped my foot. “Let's not get into a fight, at least not a physical one.”

      “One between us is enough.”

      Yes, Kell and I had gotten in a physical fight before. I was agitated, he was agitated, we were both alone, I could go on and on on how it started. Thankfully, nobody knew about it. I was quite thankful that Jane didn't find out. Oh, she would not be happy. “You couldn't be civil, could you?” she'd say. “I'm not surprised,” she'd say. Knowing Jane, she wouldn't let me live that down.

      “Alright, so we agree,” I said. “Besides, now's not the time to argue. We're on the same side.” I held out my hand for him to shake it.

      Kell nodded. He knew why my hand was being held out, so he shook it. The Wocky said, “I get the point. I suppose you could be able to help Corbin and I out. You and Jane are pretty good at finding things.”

      SPOILER

      I gave him a smile. That was the first compliment that he had ever given me. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad. Maybe we wouldn't get in an argument like we have in the past. Maybe it would actually be nice working with him.

      Little did I know how wrong I would be.

      Kell and I walked back to the cave together. It wasn't that far of a walk, so neither of us bothered to speak to each other. Besides, that might start an argument and we just said that we wouldn't start an argument with each other.

      Why Kell and I haven't gotten along very well is a mystery even I couldn't solve. Jane kept saying we were more alike than we thought, but I really didn't see it. The only thing that I knew we had in common was that we both had a tendency to be rude. Other than that, I had no clue where she kept getting the idea of us being similar.

      Why does Jane keep insisting that, anyway? I knew she was friends with Corbin, but that was the only reason that I could think of. I wouldn't be surprised if she kept saying that to get me to stop arguing with him. Jane always hated it when I got into an argument with anybody, and I've seen Kadoaties and Warfs get along better than that Wocky and I.

      Whatever it was, Jane sure wasn't going to tell me. And I wasn't going to ask.

      To be continued…

 
Search the Neopian Times




Other Episodes


» Janet and Jane: The Case of the Rough Waters: Part One
» Janet and Jane: The Case of the Rough Waters: Part Two
» Janet and Jane: The Case of the Rough Waters: Part Three
» Janet and Jane: The Case of the Rough Waters: Part Four



Week 732 Related Links


Other Stories




Submit your stories, articles, and comics using the new submission form.