“No, seriously, what is that?” Luca asked, sounding just as frightened as the crewman had as he and Harman also stared at Kali in shock.
“My familiar,” Skye answered simply.
“Don’t worry, she’s just a big tabby cat in Skye’s hands,” Jonas said, giving Luca’s shoulder a pat. “However, you can think of Kali as even more incentive to be a little more open-minded about Skye.”
“A familiar?” Luca muttered softly, still staring at Kali. “What’s a magpie doing with a familiar? You can’t trick or force those things into bonding with you.”
“Like I said,” Jonas answered. “Skye’s not like the rest.”
The sound of footsteps drew everyone’s attention to the stairs. The pirate captain with the tattered hat slowed his steps when he saw Kali, who was still standing beside Skye. Coming to a stop at the foot of the stairs, his crewman behind him, he looked to Jonas sharply. Jonas pulled his goggles back on.
“What is that?” he asked, pointing a finger at Kali.
“His pet tiger,” Jonas answered, gesturing to Skye. “Didn’t I mention he had a familiar?”
“A familiar?” the pirate asked, frowning. “Since when does a dandy get into witchcraft?”
“Whoever said a magical man can’t dress well?” Skye asked back.
“Look, it doesn’t even need to eat,” Jonas said with a sigh. “It won’t be any trouble. Not unless any of your crew get any silly notions about us being easy pickings.”
The pirate took a thoughtful breath, looking back at Jonas’s black goggles. “You’re just about the strangest bunch I’ve ever seen.”
“Look, Captain,” Jonas began, “I thought we had a deal. If you’re backing out, then just say so.”
“No, no…” the captain said, shaking his head with his own sigh. “I need your eyes. The deal’s still on. Just keep that thing under control,” he added sharply to Skye.
“But, Captain—” the crewman began.
“Tell the rest of the crew not to bother them,” the captain said, cutting him off. “I don’t want to lose anyone to a damned tiger attack at sea. That would just be too bizarre.”
The crewman nodded and hurried back up the stairs. The captain turned to Jonas.
“All right, hawk eyes,” he said. “Time to start earning your keep. Guide us out of port, and keep us out of sight.”
“I’ll be back later,” Jonas said to Twist and the others, following as the captain started to climb the stairs. “Try not to kill each other while I’m gone.”
Not wanting to stay in the gloom, Twist, Myra, and Skye went back up on deck after putting their travel bags down in their shadowed corner. They left Kali, who didn’t seem too unhappy about her task, as she instantly curled up for a nap. The gypsies remained behind, sitting far from Kali at one of the tables, not even answering when Myra asked if they wanted to join them on deck.
Stepping out onto the crowded deck again, with Myra close at his side, Twist found very little of a view. The whole ship was bathed in thick white fog, but Twist could sense that it was moving at a good speed. He heard the crewmen calling to each other in the mist but couldn’t see more than a few feet before him. With little choice, Twist and his companions remained standing against the piled crates that stood like a tower near the hatch that led below.
“Captain!” a voice called, “I’ve got no bearing at all! We’ve got to get out of this!”
“Stay your course!” Jonas’s voice replied from ahead. “Just keep her steady.”
“Do as he says,” the captain’s voice ordered sternly.
“This is crazy,” a voice near to Twist said softly, with a thick and Spanish-sounding accent. “No one can see in this.”
“Isn’t that the idea?” another near voice asked back, its accent clearly Caribbean. “The harbor patrol isn’t going to see us either.”
“Bear starboard five degrees,” Jonas’s voice called.
“I can’t see my damned compass!” another voice bellowed angrily.
“Turn left a smidge, then!” Jonas snapped back.
“Left a smidge…” the same voice grumbled. “This is insane.”
“That’s good!” Jonas called after a moment. “Hold it there.”
After the ship made more silent progress, Twist’s eyes found a huge, dark mass out in the fog. It glided by on the right of the ship, passing close. Once it was gone, Jonas called for another course correction, and then another. After what felt like a very long time, he gave the order to rise. The airship slowly began to climb, and the mist thinned. In moments, clear, brilliant sunlight spilled down over the deck and banished the last of the fog.
The pirates cheered and clapped their hands in the suddenly visible world. Jonas was leaning over the edge of the bow and turned about to smile at them smugly. He walked back as the captain came to meet him.
“No one followed us,” Jonas said to him, slipping his goggles on as he spoke. “We had to nose through some islands to stay in the clouds, but I didn’t see any ships at all.”
“That was amazing!” the captain said. “You Sighted freaks really are suited to crime.”
“I’ll take that,” Jonas said. “But call me a freak again, and I’ll deck you.”
The captain laughed and gave Jonas a hearty pat on the back. “Set sail for Africa!” he called to the crew. “And keep a sharp eye out for passing prey,” he added to Jonas with a smile.
“Aye aye,” Jonas said with a weak salute.
As the crew busied themselves with the order, Twist and his companions walked up to the bow of the ship. Jonas had found a comfortable-looking perch among the many barrels and crates that obscured the bow from the rest of the ship, with his hands behind his head and his back leaning against a big bag of grain. His eyes were open to the bright blue horizon before them, where the clouds fell away over the huge, dark ocean.
“That sure was impressive, hawk eyes,” Skye said in her deeper voice, walking up beside his barrel.
“Good grief, don’t call me that,” Jonas scoffed. “It’s bad enough that the captain does.”
“How about bright eyes?” she asked, her voice suddenly natural again but playful. “Or maybe angel eyes…”
“Aren’t you supposed to be acting manly?” Jonas asked softly, frowning.
“You’re so cute when you’re flustered,” Skye responded.
“This is revenge, isn’t it?” Jonas asked darkly. “You’re still mad that I teased you earlier.”
Skye reached up to ruffle his pointy, golden hair. “Oh, you’re so smart!” Skye cooed, as if speaking to Kali.
“Cut that out!” Jonas grumbled, batting her away.
“Excuse me,” one of the crew said, walking by Twist with a length of rope in his arms. Twist moved quickly out of the way.
“This is hardly the place for this!” Jonas whispered urgently to Skye the moment the crewman was gone. “Our lives will get complicated very quickly if any of these pirates discover who or what you really are.”
“You need to learn to relax more often,” Skye said earnestly. “Be more like Twist. He just passes out whenever things get too hairy and otherwise is fine.”
Twist started to defend his honor but thought better of it. He didn’t really want to get wrapped up in this strange debate.
Jonas rubbed at his face with his hands. “I swear, you’re going to drive me mad.”
“And you’ll love every second of it, sweetheart,” Skye purred warmly, moving quickly closer to Jonas. She kissed his cheek before he could protest, but Jonas then quickly drew away from her with a shudder.
“Don’t kiss me with that mustache on,” he grumbled. “It tickles.”
“You’ll get used to it,” Skye said, reaching out to catch him. “Come here, cutie.”
“Heaven save me from American clowns!” Jonas moaned pitifully, struggling to keep her from kissing him again while she clung on tightly.
Myra giggled into a hand as she watched them. Twist shook his hea
d and looked away. He then noticed that a pair of pirates were moving in their direction, carrying boxes. Twist cleared his throat loudly, giving Skye an urgent look the moment she paused in her attack to glance his way. Skye released Jonas immediately and fell back into her more boyish pose. Jonas’s eyes remained tightly closed, but he too retook a casual air without hesitation. The pirates didn’t seem to notice anything amiss as they left their boxes in a corner and walked away.
“You see?” Jonas whispered to Skye the moment they had gone.
“Where were we?” Skye asked with a smile.
“So, when are we getting to Africa?” Twist asked tightly.
“Yes, Africa,” Jonas answered eagerly.
Skye and Myra both pouted at Twist.
“If this wind keeps up, we should be getting in tonight,” Jonas went on. “And the captain said he’s fine with taking us right to Sierra Leone.”
“Well, isn’t that convenient?” Twist continued. “What’s this part of Africa going to be like, anyway? I’ve never actually heard of it.”
“All right, all right,” Skye said to Twist with a sigh. “I’ll leave him alone. For now.”
Myra giggled again.
“No, really,” Twist said earnestly. “I haven’t ever heard of this place.”
“You haven’t?” Skye asked.
“I don’t know much about anywhere, unless I’ve been there before,” Twist answered with a shrug.
“It’s got jungles and mountains,” Jonas said. “I don’t know much about West Africa either. I’ve never actually landed there. We only ever flew over, if we got near it.”
“Oh, so it’s like Singapore?” Myra asked.
“Only in that I’ve never been there,” Jonas said, smiling to her. “Actually, if I’m honest, there’s quite a few places I’ve flown over or traveled through without stopping.”
“My illusions are shattering,” Skye gasped dramatically.
“Quiet, you,” Jonas snapped. Skye laughed again. “Actually, now that I think of it, the Vimana has flown out of its way to avoid Sierra Leone,” he said, sounding more serious. “Howell never landed anywhere near the coast of West Africa. That’s kind of strange.”
“Maybe there’s nowhere easy to stop,” Twist offered.
“No, there’s lots of commerce hubs in West Africa,” Skye said, shaking her head.
“I never actually thought about it until just now,” Jonas said, looking back to the horizon. “We’ve had plenty of chances to stop and never have. I wonder why we never went there.”
“The only thing I’ve heard about the place that might keep people away is that it’s supposed to be crawling with vampires,” Skye offered, her face thoughtful now. “But didn’t you tell me that this friend, Aazzi, is a vampire? There’s no reason to worry about them if you’ve got a friendly one on the crew.”
“When you say crawling with vampires…” Twist muttered uneasily.
“Skye’s right,” Jonas said instantly. “We’re safe with Aazzi beside us. Vampires are territorial. They won’t hunt on someone else’s ground without fighting them for it first.”
“I’m not feeling better yet,” Twist said darkly.
“I mean that they won’t just attack us if they think she has a claim to us,” Jonas said calmly. “If they want to pick a fight, it will just cause a ruckus and give us time to run. She’s actually protected us from vampires like that before, and no one was bitten. So we’re safe.”
“You have a funny definition of that word,” Twist muttered.
“Too late to worry about it now, Twist,” Jonas said with a sigh. “We’ll be there soon.”
“I’m sure we’ll be all right, if Jonas says so,” Myra said sweetly to Twist.
Twist glanced to her but then paused, struck by her charmingly pleasant expression. “I’m sure you’re right, dear,” he said, just to keep the smile on her face.
As Myra’s smile warmed, Skye let out a tiny, adoring sound. “You two are so cute I could just eat you up!” she said brightly.
Twist shot her an ungrateful look.
“You’re showing your girly side again,” Jonas cautioned.
“Oh, you love my girly side,” Skye said with a dismissive swat in his direction. “Hush up.”
Jonas put his hands up submissively. “I’m just trying to keep the nasty pirate men from realizing that you’re a possible target.”
“Yes, yes,” Skye said with a sigh. She straightened her posture and cleared her throat. When she spoke again, her voice was back to its masculine tone. “If any of these scallywags try to make a pass at me, they’ll get a right cross before they can blink.”
“Good man,” Jonas said with a nod. Then he frowned. “God, my life is strange.”
“Mine too,” Twist added with a sigh.
Skye giggled but stopped suddenly and cleared her throat as she put on a less girly expression.
“Here’s a puzzle for you,” Jonas said to Twist after a long silence.
Sitting on a nearby crate with Myra, Twist looked up from his book. Myra’s sleeping form, curled up against Twist’s side, didn’t stir. Twist had been surprised to find out that she hadn’t slept a wink the night before, while she had watched over him. It seemed only fitting to guard her now from roving pirate eyes as she caught her rest. Skye had wondered off at some point.
“What’s that?” Twist asked Jonas, his voice soft so as not to wake her.
“This airship is sailing along the shipping routes,” Jonas explained, his voice low as well, “so that they have the best chance to find a nice, fat target. That means that the slow freighter I just spotted will be visible to everyone else in a little while, because we’ll fly right over it.”
“I’m following you so far,” Twist muttered, frowning. He’d dearly hoped that they would make it all the way to Africa without incident, but he’d always known the odds weren’t with him.
“Now, if I direct us away from the freighter,” Jonas continued, “maybe saying that I saw something else, they still might see it. They also might get suspicious if there isn’t anything where I point them to. If I don’t say anything, they won’t have much time to prepare an attack. But, of course, they’ll wonder why I didn’t say anything.”
“You could say you fell asleep,” Twist suggested.
“True,” Jonas said with a nod. “If I just tell them about it, they’ll mount a full assault.”
“And if this ship is bested or caught in the act by a patrol,” Twist said darkly, “we could very easily find ourselves in the crossfire or simply left to drift in the wreckage.”
“But if they get the prize they’re after, we could be safe and sound in Sierra Leone all the faster.”
“I see…” Twist toned thoughtfully. “How long do you think they’ll wait out here over the Atlantic, assuming they don’t find anything to attack, before giving up and taking us to Africa?”
“They said they wouldn’t circle,” Jonas answered with a sigh. “But if they don’t get a single whiff of a target, they’re likely to back out of that promise.”
“Bloody pirates.”
Jonas smiled. “Well, I don’t see any patrols,” he said, glancing over each side of the ship. “And that ship’s not too well armed.”
“Are you going to tell them?” Twist asked, his words heavy with resignation.
“Wake Myra up and take her down to Kali,” Jonas said, alighting from his perch. “There’s two decks between the keel and the floor of that deck. It’s a pretty safe place to be.” Before Jonas could hurry off, Twist caught his arm. Myra gave a sleepy tone and rubbed at an eye with her hand.
“Are you going to join in the fight?” Twist asked Jonas.
Jonas looked back at him with gently green-gray eyes. “They’ll want my help.”
“You’re not a member of the crew,” Twist cautioned. “You’re not getting any of the treasure. It’s not your problem.”
“What’s going on?” Myra asked, glancing between them while Jon
as looked silently back at Twist.
Jonas gave a nod. “You’re right,” Jonas said, as Twist released his hold on him. “I’ll meet you down there.”
As Jonas hurried away, Twist hopped off of his crate and held out a hand for Myra. “Come along, darling,” he said as she slipped her feet down to the filthy deck. “There may be some violence very soon.”
Anxious but not quite frightened, Myra went with Twist down to the deck below. They found Skye sitting at one of the tables in the middle of the large open room, surrounded by a handful of pirates. Twist hurried his pace as he walked closer to them—all of their grubby unwashed faces intent as they looked at Skye—but he relaxed slightly when he saw that one of them was holding a deck of playing cards.
There were three cards face up on the table in front of Skye, next to a single card lying face down in front of the dealer. A number of other collections of two or three cards lay, apparently forgotten, in front of the other pirates. There were also small piles of gold coins sitting before each player’s cards. Skye looked up at the pirate with the deck of cards, a cool expression on her face.
“Hit me.”
The pirates let out a collective gasp as the dealer laid down one more card on the three Skye had face up on the table in front of her. Twist peered over Skye’s shoulder to see that her cards were a king, a two, a five, and now a four. Shouts of horror and admiration erupted from the pirates at the sight of the new card. The dealer revealed the face-down card to be a nine, beside his already visible jack. The crew watched with bated breath as he dealt himself a seven. More cries of wonder and dismay rose from the pirates. Skye gave a hearty, very unladylike laugh and reached out to collect the coins from everyone’s piles.
“A pleasure doing business with you,” Skye said with a roguish gleam in her eyes.
“You’re cheating,” one of the pirates growled at her, drawing a jagged knife. The others glared at her in silent contempt.
“I’m lucky,” Skye snapped back at him, defiant. “I don’t need to cheat.”
“Check his sleeves,” one of the other pirates barked.
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