- Zach thinks this adventure is not all he thought it was cracked up to be—he's hot, tired, and sweaty, plus the scenery is boring.
- Poppy wants to talk about William the Blade. Zach agrees, which Poppy thinks is weird, but she doesn't press him about it for a change.
- Suddenly the gang realizes they can't move forward; the path they're on dead-ends into a river.
- The gang splits up to see if they can find a way across, thinking maybe there's a ferry or something. Poppy goes to talk to some kids; Alice heads toward an office; and Zach just sort of wanders around and looks at all the boats.
- Poppy's back. The kids want to sell her a dinghy for twenty-five bucks, but that wouldn't leave enough bus fare to get back home.
- As Alice is walking back from the office, Zach notices her—like notices her.
- Alice brings bad news from the office: East Liverpool is way too far to walk. She wants to turn back.
- Poppy and Zach hesitate, so Alice reminds them about their promise to make it to the bus.
- Alice says Zach better come with her or else—meaning she'll tell Poppy about those Questions she found in Zach's backpack.
- Poppy wants to know what "or else" means; she doesn't like feeling excluded.
- And then Poppy gets so mad that she makes a threat of her own: Alice better not turn back, or else Poppy's going to spill Alice's secret.
- The secret is that Alice likes Zach. Zach doesn't know this because he's oblivious, so he wonders if Alice said she hates him or that he smells.
- Alice is appalled—Poppy is being awfully mean, and she doesn't care that she's breaking her promise.
- Zach's pacing around, frustrated. Then he spots a boat called the Pearl, which seems pretty magical since Neptune's Pearl is William the Blade's ship in their game.
- Zach feels like the universe wants them to steal this boat. They are pirates, after all.