Regret was burning at Pet's insides. She had only accepted the invitation because she couldn't think of a polite way to decline and she felt guilty enough as it was for not making enough of an effort, socially speaking. Now she was stranded in a boat with girls she despised more by the second and a man who was allegedly an infamous cannibal. Or so one of the girls had whispered in her ear just as they were stepping onto the boat. It was a shame she hadn't been so precariously placed that she could have fallen into the water accidentally and been sent home a soggy mess. He probably wasn't one, or if he was it must've been under dire circumstances to be allowed to roam around untouched by the law. Then again there may simply have been a complete lack of evidence... No, she didn't want to give any vile gossip that had come from these girls any credence.

Pet was trying to distract herself from the uncomfortable situation at hand by thinking of more pleasant things like the contents of the book she had been reading before breakfast and what sort of creatures might be in the water that could capsize the boat so she could swim away or drown trying. How long would she have before her stupid dress did actually drown her? And what were the odds that she'd be a strong enough swimmer to make it to land before she exhausted herself?

While she couldn't physically escape the boat without compromising a number of etiquette rules, Pet had succeeded rather well at mentally escaping the boat, so well in fact that she was startled to find that she was being spoken to. She looked down and realized the rope was brushing against her hand. Reluctantly she took hold of it and gave it a tug. Hopefully that was good enough and she could return to minimal participation. She glanced in the direction of the other girls and immediately felt their eyes on her and wished she hadn't looked.
""

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