by Antony John
“It’s not here yet.” She tilted her head toward Alice and me. “And they won’t be able to stop the rats forever.”
Jerren untied the first catamaran. “All right, then. Let’s go.”
The breeze was strong and when we took off, we made good headway across the harbor mouth. The clouds mostly obscured the moon, but Jerren kept right behind us so that anyone watching from Sumter would only see one boat. At the sight of two sails, someone would raise the alarm for sure.
It took us only a quarter-strike to cross the water, and I held tight to Rose the whole way. Alice headed for our ship, still anchored a hundred yards from the shore. She let out the sail as we drew close, and we came to rest a few yards away. Here, no one would be able to see the catamarans at all.
Alice stared at the ship. “We need to get on board.”
“You could swim around and take the rope ladder.”
“No. I might show up against the dark of the ship. But if I can bring the rope ladder over this side, the rest of you can climb.”
I took in the sheer wooden hull. It looked gigantic. “How are you going to get up there?”
“Skill and strength.” She handed me the mainsheet. “So get us right next to the ship and let me work.”
I pulled on the mainsheet. There were only a few yards still to go, but progress was slow because the ship blocked the wind. Meanwhile, Alice removed her shoes and shimmied barefoot up the catamaran mast.
“This mast isn’t as high as the ship’s deck,” I reminded her.
“Doesn’t need to be,” she called back. “I just need to get past the curved part of the hull.”
Sure enough, as the catamaran bumped gently against the ship, Alice leaned away from the mast and grabbed the ship’s side. Her legs slipped from under her and so did her left hand, and for a moment I was sure she was about to fall, but instead she just dangled in the air. That’s when I realized her right hand was clamped against the wooden ledge around a porthole. She eased her left hand up, and ran her toes across the boards until she found something that offered resistance. Then she took a moment to gather herself.
“There’s only a few yards to go,” I said.
She peered down. “That’s very helpful. Now if you could find me a ladder, that’d be even better.”
Slowly, painstakingly, Alice crept up the ship, finger by finger, toe by toe. When she finally reached the rail, I exhaled, unaware that I’d even been holding my breath.
She pulled herself onto the deck. A short while later, she reappeared with the rope ladder, which she tied to the rail and dropped over the side. I tethered our boat to the ladder and peered down at Rose. That’s when I realized we had another problem.
She was still asleep. Even awake, she wasn’t up to climbing the ladder. Which meant there was only one thing to do. I nudged her until she came to, and knelt down with my back to her. She understood well enough what I needed her to do, but it wasn’t until Jerren had tied his boat to ours and Nyla had joined us that they were able to help her climb onto my back. She wrapped her arms around my neck and held on loosely. I hoped that she wouldn’t let go.
Step by step I forced us up the ladder. The wind was stronger now, but our weight kept us in place. When we reached the rail, Alice helped Rose over. She collapsed onto the deck.
“Let’s get her below deck,” said Alice. “She’s going to have to stay on the ship.”
Nyla climbed over the rail. “I’ll stay with her.”
We carried Rose to the nearest cabin and laid her on a pile of blankets.
“I can’t see anything,” said Nyla, taking a seat beside her.
“My lantern’s in the fort,” said Jerren.
I remembered the candles that Griffin had been using in Dare’s cabin. “There might be another way. Follow me.”
Alice and Jerren came with me to Dare’s cabin. The door was unlocked. I went straight to the desk and ran my hands blindly across it until I found the candle. I placed it in front of Alice and took her hand in mine. Combining our elements, she created a small flame. Jerren seemed fascinated rather than afraid.
I kept my hand around the flame, and my body between the candle and the windows. The stern windows shouldn’t have been visible from Sumter, but I wasn’t taking any chances.
In the light we saw other candles, which we lit from the first. Once we each had one, I figured we’d hurry to Nyla and on to the fort, but Jerren stared at the maps on the wall, transfixed. “This is Dare’s cabin, isn’t it?”
I nodded.
“Look at the detail on this map,” he continued. “Chief has maps like this, but he keeps them hidden. My father used to say that information is power. Chief keeps the power for himself.” He tapped the map. “Why do you think he marked this route?”
Alice looked closer. “He didn’t. That was Griffin. He was tracing the route that Dare took to get to us. If the pages hadn’t been ripped out of Dare’s log, we’d have known he’d been here.” As she spoke, she grew quieter.
“What is it, Alice?” I asked.
She shook her head. “It doesn’t make sense. Dare wouldn’t have removed the pages unless he knew we were planning to steal his ship. But if he wanted that to happen, why did he attack us in the middle of a hurricane?”
“And why didn’t he foresee his own death?” I added. “His element should’ve been working better on Roanoke than anywhere else. He’s a seer. He must’ve known what would happen.”
Alice was perfectly still now. “Dare said he’d deliver us to you, right?” she asked Jerren. “Those were his exact words.”
“Yeah. Why?”
Alice turned to me but didn’t speak. I knew what she was thinking, though. “You just said it was impossible for him to be here,” I reminded her. “You can’t believe he’s alive.”
“Why not? You do. Why else are you whispering?”
Jerren raised his candle. “I’m giving this to Nyla now. I don’t need to hear about any more ghosts.”
He left the room, but Alice and I stayed. She perched on the corner of the desk. “What if Dare came on this ship?”
“Impossible. We would’ve seen him. Or heard him.”
A moment’s silence, and then her eyes shot back to the map. She ran her finger along Griffin’s route. “Oh, no. How did we miss it?”
“Miss what?”
Alice circled the room, dragging items of furniture away from the walls.
“What are you doing, Alice?”
She moved shelves, a table, and finally, the desk. It didn’t scrape across the floor as it came away because the legs weren’t actually touching the ground. The whole thing pivoted, attached to the wall with hidden hinges.
Now a part of the wall was missing entirely. Behind it was empty space.
Alice crouched down and I handed her the candle. When she’d taken a look, she moved out of the way so that I could see too.
It was a passageway. The candlelight shone several yards until it was swallowed in darkness.
“I think it goes right around the ship,” said Alice. “It’s how Dare spied on his men. That’s how he knew about the plot to kill him, even though they were hundreds of miles from Roanoke Island. His element doesn’t work any better than anyone else’s. He doesn’t need it to. He just eavesdrops on his men instead.”
I moved the candle around and caught a glimpse of something on the floor a couple yards away. I crawled in and retrieved it.
It was the missing journal from Kyte’s dune box—the one Rose had left on the beach at Hatteras, back when everything had started.
I flicked through it. It didn’t look the same as the others. Griffin had said that it probably worked in parallel with them, in which case he’d finally be able to complete the story that presently made so little sense. But where he’d feel the relief of having solved a mystery, I felt onl
y panic.
Dare hadn’t delivered us at all. We’d delivered him.
CHAPTER 33
How did Dare survive?” muttered Alice. “It was a hurricane. We were lucky the ship didn’t capsize. Lucky we didn’t all drown.”
“What about the sailboats we tethered to the ship. They did capsize, remember? And I’m guessing he tied himself to one of them and rode out the storm that way.”
I replayed the night we’d endured the hurricane. How Dare had chosen to attack us during the eye of the storm. Why hadn’t it occurred to me that he never would’ve had time to capture us all, lock us up, and still return to Roanoke Island? Which meant he either knew we’d all survive the night, or he was willing to risk everything in order to keep us on board his ship. I’d assumed his main concern was to colonize Roanoke, but what if that was for his men’s benefit, not his own?
I gripped the desk. “The night that Kell came aboard, he wasn’t looking for signs of the Plague. He was looking for Dare.”
“Do you think he found him?”
“I don’t think so. Otherwise, Dare would’ve come ashore before last night.”
Alice stared at the journal. “So why did he stay on board?”
“I have no idea. But I’m sure there’s a reason. Seems like nothing Dare does is an accident.”
“This makes no sense.” She narrowed her eyes. “Your father said being a solution just means that you’re the first to show a new element. But elements don’t work as well here as they do on Roanoke Island. Dare would know that.”
“They still work a little, though. And I’m guessing there’s something in Sumter that Dare doesn’t have. Something that makes it worth taking the risk.”
There was a creak above us. We ran along the corridor, covering the candles to hide the flames. Nyla and Rose were still inside the cabin, but Jerren wasn’t there. He was walking down the stairs.
“Was that you up there?” snapped Alice.
“Yes,” he said. “I was preparing the ship.”
“We need to get to our families, not ready the ship.”
“Your families won’t be able to escape unless this ship is ready to sail. You think Chief is going to wait for us to get everything ready? No, he’ll come after us, and for once he won’t be afraid to waste bullets.”
While Jerren returned to the deck, Alice and I went into the cabin and inspected Nyla’s ankle. The bite mark was an angry red color. She winced as I touched the skin around it.
“I’m so sorry, Nyla,” I said. “When we come back, we’ll look at it again.”
She wouldn’t meet my eyes. “If you come back.”
I handed the candles to her. “Just remember, you have to stay on this side of the ship so that people on shore can’t see the light through the porthole.”
“I don’t think I’ll be going anywhere.” She frowned. “Please watch out for Jerren.”
“I will.”
I still had the journal in my left hand, so I placed it beside Rose. I hoped Griffin got the chance to read it one day.
Up on deck, the thunderstorm was almost upon us. Drops of rain spattered on the planks and lightning flashed faster and closer than before. In the glow of their torches, I saw a group of guards waiting at the entrance to the fort. I even detected the outline of other men on the battlements. So many men. They weren’t waiting for Kell anymore, that was certain.
Once we’d prepared the ship, we climbed down the rope ladder and onto one of the catamarans.
“We can’t sail over,” said Alice. “They’ll see us for sure, even if we head for the back of the island.”
“Then let’s swim around,” said Jerren. “We can hide behind the animal enclosures and see if that side has fewer guards.”
Without another word we dove off the boat and into the water. The swell was building, waves propelled by the stiffening wind. I counted every stroke, wondering if I was really getting closer or if we were caught in a tide that would keep us at arm’s length from the island.
Alice pulled away from Jerren and me with every stroke. Finally, she treaded water and waited for us. “We can’t make it all the way around,” she said, facing away from the fort so that her voice wouldn’t carry across the water. “It’ll take forever at this rate.”
Jerren stared at the battlements. His breathing was labored. “Maybe we can climb along the rocks at the bottom of the perimeter wall. It’ll be difficult for the guards to see straight down from the esplanade. We’ll be hidden.”
We headed straight for shore, pausing every dozen or so strokes because of movement on the battlements. Figures wandered back and forth along the top of the walls, but they seemed distracted, as if something far more important was going on elsewhere in the fort. I was certain it involved Griffin.
When we were less than twenty yards from the rocks that ran along the base of the wall, a couple of men took up positions directly in front of us. They were talking, words I couldn’t make out, and there was no way we could continue until they had passed. We treaded water again, waiting, while the rain that had fallen softly before finally came down in sheets. The initial burst of warmth I’d felt when I’d begun swimming was over, and as my muscles grew tired, a numb exhaustion took over instead.
Alice tapped me on the shoulder, startling me. “We have to move on.”
We continued swimming around the island. We were closer now than before and made faster progress, but there was also more risk of us being seen. I imagined there were dozens of armed men watching from the battlements, not a couple of men distracted by their own conversation.
Finally I made out the animal enclosures. Men were leaning against the coop, guns slung over their shoulders.
Alice and Jerren stopped swimming. “What now?” she asked.
Jerren shook his head. “They must realize this is where I got into the fort the other night.”
“So they know about the route up the wall?”
“Everyone knows about the route up the wall. They just don’t use it because it’s dangerous. One slip and you’ll break a leg. Or worse.”
“We need to get in,” pressed Alice. “Is there any other way?”
Jerren looked around him and his expression changed. He swam back a little ways and stopped. A moment later, he waved once and stood. Somehow he was only waist-deep in the water.
I felt something round, hard, and smooth knock against my legs as I joined him.
“The wastewater pipe,” he explained. “It leads into the fort’s sewer system.”
“How far does it run underwater?” I asked.
“I don’t know. I’ve been in the sewer before, but never down as far as the water line. The pipe slopes slightly, but it could be completely underwater for several yards. Maybe twenty yards because of the tide.”
It was the only way into the fort. But what if the pipe was underwater for more than twenty yards? What if it was thirty? Or forty? What if we didn’t make it out the other end before our breath gave out?
“Is there another way?” asked Alice.
Jerren looked around him as though he might find an answer in the darkness. “No, there isn’t.”
I was frustrated and tired. But at the back of my mind was Rose, wounded by Kell, and Griffin, prisoner of Chief and possibly Dare too. I’d promised them safety, but I’d delivered them into a situation as horrifying as the one we’d fought to escape.
I walked down the pipe until I slipped off the edge and into deeper water.
“What are you doing, Thom?” whispered Alice.
“Wait for me,” I said.
I took a deep breath and ducked below the surface, heading into the blind enclosed space of the pipe.
CHAPTER 34
The pipe’s smooth stone grazed my elbow. Heart pounding, I focused only on pushing forward, one stroke after another. Waste brushed up a
gainst me and ran past me—debris and dirt and human filth. I swam faster and faster, desperately searching out the end of the tunnel.
I collided with an object—a metal pole, most likely. It scraped my arm. There’d be blood, I was sure. A part of me knew there was time to turn around and get out the way I’d come in, but I swam onward. My strokes grew inefficient because I was half-focused on shielding myself from anything that might hit me. The darkness wasn’t just around me but inside me. As much as I tried to block it out, I couldn’t shake the feeling that I might die.
I kicked for Rose and Griffin, for Ananias and my father, and for Alice. My heart and lungs screamed. My chest felt like it would implode.
My hand broke the surface suddenly. I pushed my legs against the bottom of the pipe and launched my entire body into the air, gasping, retching. It was stale air too, rancid and gassy, and seared my lungs as I inhaled. There was no way I could fill my lungs with this air and hope to make it back. I was light-headed from breathing it.
But if I didn’t go back, what about Alice and Jerren? Would they surrender? Risk their lives to find another way in? I stood in the darkness, swaying from side to side as I choked on the air.
There was no other choice. I had to keep going.
I stumbled along the pipe, bent double. When I coughed, the sound echoed, so I fought to stay silent. My hands dragged through the waist-deep water, human waste sliding through my fingers; I felt the texture of it, and gagged.
Finally the water level fell to my knees, and then my ankles. A shaft rose vertically above me, and the air from above was fresher. I breathed deeply as voices from the fort carried down, the words indistinct.
I ran my hand around the shaft and found a ladder. There wasn’t much room, but I kept my body pressed against it and climbed until I reached a metal grate. The voices weren’t loud—I hoped it was because they were well away from me—but I’d have to be careful not to make a sound.
I kept my feet on the ladder, pressed my back against the opposite side of the shaft, and positioned both hands on the center of the circular grate. I lifted it slowly and slid it to one side. It made a noise, but not enough to draw attention. Not with all the other activity going on inside the fort.