Bill looked back at J.T., his eyes wide. “Is she real?”
“More or less. We have to figure out what to do about this.”
Aria thought the problem had an obvious solution. “You must take me back to your government officials. I will explain what has happened and they will remove this imposter.”
“And how are they going to know which one is the real princess?” J.T. asked with the voice of a father talking to an annoying child.
“You will tell them. You are an American.”
“I’m a commoner, remember?” J.T. said with anger.
“I thought all Americans were equal,” she shot back at him. “According to my studies, each American is as important as another. You are each one a king.”
“You—” J.T. began.
“Wait a minute,” Bill interrupted. “Could we do this without you two fighting?”
J.T. looked at Aria. “Do you know any higher-ups in Washington? Generals? Senators?”
“Yes, General Brooks stayed a week in Lanconia trying to persuade my grandfather to allow me to go on this trip. My grandfather will not like—”
“Her grandfather is the king,” J.T. said to Bill. “Then what we have to do is get you to D.C. and General Brooks.”
Aria straightened her back. “I am ready to go. As soon as I get my clothes, I will be ready to travel with you. Oh,” she said, and for the first time she realized the enormity of what was happening. She couldn’t go back to her clothes or her dressers or her ladies-in-waiting. She had no way to even get back to Lanconia. “Did the woman actually look like me?” Aria whispered.
“Come to think of it, she wasn’t nearly as pretty as you,” Bill said, grinning.
J.T. gave Bill a look of disgust. “Look, the important thing is to get the vanadium for America. I imagine that the reason you were replaced is so the imposter can turn the vanadium over to an enemy.”
“Vanadium?” Bill asked.
“It’s an alloy that you put in steel to make it harder,” J.T. said impatiently. He gave Aria a critical look. “No general will see you looking like that. Bill, you think we can make it to Miami in that boat?”
“Miami! That’ll take hours.”
“That’s all the time we have. We’ll buy her some clothes, put her on a train to D.C., and that’s the end of it. We’ve done our part.”
“But she’s a stranger in a strange country. Shouldn’t someone go with her?” Bill asked.
“It’s war, remember? We both have to report to work at nine tomorrow morning. In war, they don’t dock you for being late, they shoot you. She’ll be all right as soon as she gets to General Brooks.” He hesitated. “Besides, I can’t go with her.” J.T. turned toward the path. “Come on, let’s go shopping.”
Bill gave Aria a nervous smile then ran after his friend. “J.T., you’re crazy. It’ll be midnight by the time we get to Miami and besides that it’s Sunday. No stores will be open and how are you going to pay for clothes for her? She doesn’t have any money and you can’t very well buy her new clothes at Woolworth’s, you know. And then there’s clothing coupons. I think you’re going to have to turn her over to the government and let them handle her.”
“No,” was all J.T. said.
“I don’t guess you could give me a reason, could you? I mean, after all I’m in this too.”
J.T. stopped and turned. “Somebody in Key West tried to kill her. If she walks up to this imposter princess and declares herself, I figure she’ll be dead in two days. I’ve heard of General Brooks, he has some brains. He’ll know what to do with her.”
“You have more faith in the brass than I do.” Bill followed J.T. as they crawled on all fours through the brush.
Thirty minutes later they had J.T.’s gear in the boat and were ready to go. Bill held out his hand to help Aria.
“She’ll fall flat on her face before she touches you,” J.T. said with disgust.
Aria concentrated on stepping into the swaying boat without falling.
“Oh hell,” J.T. said, “we haven’t got all night.” He picked Aria up, and half tossed her over the side. “Now sit there and behave yourself.”