“Good. I got a message from Ruenlock last week. A ship raided our supplies there. Name was Sedna. Need to pass on the info to other bases in case they stop at any ports,” the man said.
“Which nation?”
“Didn’t seem to be with a nation. Maybe an independent ship. Either way, need to shut them down fast. News can’t spread we’ve been robbed without striking back. But that’s not all. One of the men on Ruenlock said he spotted an old crew member who stole from one of our ships years ago. Goes by Abran, rumors are he might be the captain of Sedna. Even more reason to keep our eyes out.”
I heard footsteps, soft on the stone floor, and the voices drifted away. Terror thrummed in my throat. I laid my palm against the cool stone and leaned my forehead against the back of my hand, trying to steady my breathing. We needed to get everyone out of Broken Tree. I looked around for Daniel and Pearl, praying they were near the door and we could slip out quietly. I turned in a circle and saw them several stalls down the main aisle, looking at small wooden figurines.
The man and woman who’d been talking had their backs turned to me and were walking away, toward a booth piled with oars made out of salvaged plastic. When the woman turned her head I saw she had a rabbit tattoo on her neck. I quickly crept toward Pearl and Daniel, slipping past a merchant and customer haggling over prices.
“Mom, look. This is so pretty—” Pearl started when she saw me.
“No, we’re not buying it. Daniel,” I said, tugging on his sleeve and pulling him a step away from Pearl.
I jerked my head in the direction of the couple, who were still turned away from us. “They’re Lily Black.”
He was silent, his jaw twitching like he was grinding his teeth.
“You never listen to me,” Pearl said, stepping between Daniel and me.
“Pearl, not now. We need to alert the others as quietly as possible and get out,” I whispered.
Daniel nodded and we walked down the main aisle, past the stalls, toward the front door. A toothless old woman pushing a cart filled with gauzy fabric blocked our way, murmuring apologies, and two children holding hands stepped gingerly in front of us, tiptoeing along, as if they weren’t sure the floor would hold.
A pregnant woman with burnt skin and hair cut close to her scalp reached out and grasped my arm, asking me to buy her wares. I shook her off and lurched forward, stumbling into Daniel, who had abruptly stopped.
Daniel unsheathed a knife from his belt. He gripped it down by his thigh, keeping it hidden but ready.
I followed his gaze and jumped when I saw the couple now standing in the main aisle, walking slowly in our direction as they browsed the stalls and chatted in low voices. The woman was so thin the upper bones of her rib cage protruded from her chest, and she kept licking her huge front teeth like a rodent. I could only see the profile of the man’s face—his high cheekbones, small nose, and sharp jaw. He had the same rabbit tattoo on his neck, the red eye seemingly omniscient, taking in everything in all directions. One black earring glinted from his ear. The way the man stood, shoulders back, spine straight, feet placed wide, gave the impression of a man who wanted to take up other people’s space.
I held out my arm to keep Pearl behind me, but she clawed at my hand and stepped beside me. When she saw them, she scooted back behind me.
I stood frozen. They blocked our exit. Daniel’s shoulders were hunched toward his ears, his body angled sideways, poised for attack. His knuckles whitened around the knife handle.
The man turned his face toward the altar and I saw him clearly for the first time. He looked like Daniel would when he was older.
Chapter 37
Amid the rope and cloth and figurines and wool hats, the swirl of voices continued, but it all slowed and narrowed. My blood coursed more warmly in my veins; it sped its inward rush.
I placed my hand on Daniel’s arm, tense as tightly coiled rope under my palm. This jolted him and he glanced at me, then Pearl. His eyes narrowed and dilated and I could almost see the decision in his gaze, the momentary blankness in his face as he held two possibilities in his mind.
“C’mon,” he said, grabbing me by the arm and propelling me backward, away from the main aisle, past booths, past people hunched over tables. The commotion of people browsing and pushing past each other swallowed us up. We lurched out of the booths, facing a long wall. Daniel’s head whipped back and forth, searching for an exit. Up toward the darkened front of the church, to the side of the altar, a thin strip of sunlight glowed.
I clutched Pearl’s hand tightly and we made for that light, scurrying as quietly as possible. We stumbled into the sunlight, squinting and still trying to quiet our breathing.
Raiders had different punishments for stealing, and I tried to remember what was most common. Taking a hand? Captivity and slavery? Most of the time they tried to use a punishment to strike a deal, always with the aim of growing their forces. Pay taxes on everything you earn or they’d take two of your best men.
They wouldn’t be after us if we hadn’t stopped in Ruenlock, I thought. I did this; this is on me. Abran was right to be against it.
A toothless man grinned at us as he hobbled past. Wind gusted against the church, shuddering the trees and making the old man stumble.
“I’ll get Pearl to the ship and set the sails. You gather the others,” Daniel said. He kept his eyes on the door we exited, but it was too dark inside to see anything.
“Did they see us?” I asked. I pulled Pearl against me so the back of her head touched my stomach. My hands rested on her shoulders and she placed her hands on top of mine.
“I don’t think so,” Daniel said, glancing over his shoulder.
I kissed the top of Pearl’s head and her hand lingered in mine as Daniel pulled her away. They made for the docks and I hurried through the village to the first saloon. I found Wayne, Jessa, and Thomas and told them the Lily Black were here and we needed to set sail. They leapt to their feet, knocking over stools, pulling on jackets. They told me Marjan was already on Sedna with Behir. We agreed I’d go find Abran and then meet them back at the ship.
I found Abran in the next saloon, throwing back a shot of whiskey, sitting in the back, chatting with a bald man who wore a leather jacket.
“The Valley is completely protected and has such fertile land,” Abran was saying when I approached, his back to me. Abran spread his fingers wide on the table, tapping the tips of his fingers on the table as he spoke. He was leaning forward in his chair and I could imagine that half grin spread across his face, the look of confidence and ease. I wanted to smack his head so hard it hit the table in front of him.
The man he was talking to saw me and nodded at Abran, who turned to me.
“Myra! My favorite lady,” he said. “Have a seat.” He pulled the chair out next to him.
“Thanks, but we really need to go,” I said, trying to catch Abran’s eye to get him to see I was serious.
“Don’t be rude!” Abran laughed and turned in his seat to motion to the bartender. “This is my old friend Matty. Matty and I go way back.”
“Abran . . .” I said.
Abran held up his hands and laughed again, his face visibly flushed even in the half-light. “We can trust Matty. I know I said don’t tell anyone, but I wasn’t expecting to run into an old friend. Matty is the real deal.”
The bartender dropped off three shots and Abran toasted Matty. I left my glass on the table.
“And we just got some good resources. Found some.” Abran smiled as though he was proud. “So we’re all set,” he told Matty.
I laid my hand on Abran’s shoulder and dropped my head next to his and spoke into his ear, “It’s not just who we talk to, it’s who can overhear us.”
“You’re paranoid.” Abran tossed the shot back. “I’m sharing all this with Matty so he can join us. He’s a fisher. And it’s not like you’ve done a great job of late.”
“Matty, please excuse us,” I said, yanking on Abran’s arm and pulling
him up from his chair.
“What the hell?!” Abran said.
A narrow door around the corner of the bar held a sign labeled storage, and I steered us through the door, into a tiny dark room filled with shelves of liquor. A stench of yeast and rotten fish hit me like a wall when we entered. A small window above our heads let in a slant of light.
“Myra, I’m just happy to see my friend. You’re overreacting.”
I pushed him against the shelves. “Snap out of it,” I hissed. I placed my hand over his mouth and leaned into him. “You’ve been recognized. Ruenlock has contacted the Lily Black about us. And the Lily Black is here. We need to get back on the ship now and set sail.”
Abran’s eyes widened and he pulled my hand from his mouth. “Where are—”
The door opened and I expected the bartender to tell us to get out, but a man and woman slipped in and shut the door swiftly behind them. The woman was the one I’d seen in the church store, but the man I hadn’t seen before. He had the same rabbit tattoo on his neck, didn’t wear a shirt, and had his long, greasy hair tied in a ponytail. My mind scrambled around the thought: How many of them were in Broken Tree?
“Where is it?” the man asked.
“What?” Abran asked.
At first I thought he was buying time by playing stupid, and I watched him carefully for any sign he might be giving me. A sign to attack, to dart for the door. A flick of the wrist, eye contact, the angle of his feet on the floor. But he stood as he had before they entered, head slightly forward, shoulders relaxed, hands at his sides.
The man stepped forward and punched Abran, sending him sprawling against the shelving behind him. The storage room went almost completely dark; a cloud passing across the sun. I could hear them breathing and Abran gasping, could just barely see him doubled over, hand over the left side of his face.
“We got a message that we’ve been robbed. You match the description of the people.”
The man stepped forward, but the woman touched his arm with her knuckles and he stopped. She drew her knife from her sheath and rubbed the blade on the tail of her shirt as though she were cleaning it.
Abran grasped a shelf and pulled himself upright. He knocked a bottle over and it crashed, the collision like a thunderclap, the glass shards spraying out around our feet.
The man took a step toward Abran, his boot crunching the glass. He reached out and pulled the bandanna down from Abran’s neck, revealing the scars.
“So it’s true,” the man muttered, looking back at the woman. “He must be the one they talked about. Stole from us years ago. Have a habit of it?” the man asked Abran. “You’ve been on our wanted list a long time.”
“On our ship,” Abran said. “It’s all on our ship. We’ll give it all back.”
I glanced at Abran out of the corner of my eye. He had to know they wouldn’t take back what we stole and then peacefully leave our ship. His eyes were downcast, his mouth a thin line; his face gave away nothing. Was he really going to lead them back to the ship? This gave me a hurtling sensation, of being pushed hard and fast. They weren’t going anywhere near Pearl.
“Okay, take us there. You go first,” the man said, stepping aside, leaving space for Abran to pass between him and the woman.
“Okay,” Abran said. He didn’t look at me, didn’t gesture in any way. His hands were at his sides and he still looked hunched over, as though trying to make himself small and invisible. The acrid smell of vinegar permeated the room from the broken bottle and I blinked rapidly to clear my head.
Abran stepped between the man and woman and they both watched him pass, eyes on his hands. As soon as Abran stepped past them toward the door, the man unsheathed his knife. The man’s weight was on his back leg so he could lunge at Abran and bury the knife in his back.
I unsheathed my own knife and darted toward the man in three quick paces. I leapt on his back and he spun around, trying to throw me off. I clung to him, yanked his head back with a fistful of hair, and ran my knife across his throat.
The woman caught my arm and pulled me from him and tossed me into the wall, my head slamming into the metal siding. I crumpled to the floor and the woman kicked my stomach, the hard tip of her boot like a stone being jammed between my ribs.
Abran collided with her and they both sprawled across the floor; he tumbled off her and groaned as he curled into a ball. I blinked to clear my vision, but everything still seemed sideways.
The woman crawled onto her knees and grasped a shard of glass. It twinkled in the slant of sunlight from the window, a radiant burst. She stood up and made for Abran, who was scrambling toward a spare board leaning against the side of the wall.
I tried to jump up to my feet, but my legs wobbled and crumpled beneath me. My lungs pumped for air, but I still felt breathless. I crawled forward, pulling my body over the shards of glass, pain bright and sharp in my torso. I couldn’t make it in time.
As she stepped past me I raised my knife and drove it down through her foot into the floor, nailing her in place.
She shrieked and bent down to stab me with the glass, but I rolled aside. She yanked at the knife, but Abran raised the board and swung it down over her head with a thud.
Abran reached down and hauled me up under my armpit, his hand bleeding through my shirt and wetting my skin. He pushed me out the door in front of him and we stumbled over a fallen chair, people looking up at us as we passed through the saloon, hurrying for the door, the smell of blood and liquor and smoke heavy in the air. It caught inside me so thickly that I couldn’t shake it loose even when we got outside.
We ran for the ship. Daniel was at the rudder, Jessa in the rigging, and Thomas at the mainmast, adjusting the sails. Abran and I raced down the dock, stopping at the dock post to untie the rope mooring us. Abran and I leapt onto the ship just as it was beginning to drift from the dock.
I stumbled and rolled across the deck, bursts of pain shooting across my chest. Pearl came out of the cabin toward me, but I waved for her to go back into the cabin.
“Behir!” Marjan shrieked. Jessa screamed from the rigging and began climbing down. Wayne caught Marjan as she ran to the gunwale and she almost doubled over, her hands outstretched toward the dock.
“Behir!” she shrieked again.
I stood up and looked toward the dock and then I saw. They had Behir.
Chapter 38
“Stop the ship,” I yelled.
“Myra!” Abran yelled, stepping toward me. “They aren’t going to just hand him back.”
I knew he was right, but I didn’t care. “Drop the anchor!” I shouted to Daniel.
“If we drop the anchor we aren’t getting out of here before they surround us!” Abran shouted.
A man held Behir against him, a knife to his neck. Behir looked just as Pearl had the morning on the coast when we were collecting clams. Eyes wide with terror. Hands limp at each side. Like he was inside a well sucked clean of oxygen and a lid was slowly being rolled over the top.
The man with the black earring we’d seen in the church strolled up the dock with another woman at his side, a short blonde with only one ear. They stood next to the man holding Behir and crossed their arms, leaning back, relaxed, like they were waiting for something.
Daniel and the man with the black earring stared at each other. A powerful, pleased expression crossed Black Earring’s face. Like he was challenging Daniel to something.
Daniel swallowed and clenched his fists, his face tightening in a pained way. I knew he was deciding something.
“Take me instead,” Daniel called out. My heart raced. His voice sounded small and innocent; I barely recognized it. Everything sharpened, as if every surface rose higher, the mast straightening, the gunwale vibrating with new energy. Seconds lengthened and I tried to think but came up against a blankness in my mind.
Black Earring just shook his head at Daniel like he was a child who was mildly disappointing. Who couldn’t measure up. Then he looked at the man holding Behir.<
br />
Daniel ran the length of the ship, toward the bow, where the anchor lay. Behir saw him and gave a slight shake of his head.
No, no, no resounded in me, echoing up from my feet.
I ran to the gunwale, waving my arms over my head. Sedna was already drifting from the dock; we needed to get the anchor dropped.
“We’ll give you whatever you want!” I shouted to them. “Just let him go!”
The man who looked like Daniel gave a slight smile, a sad smile that looked like regret. He nodded at the man holding Behir and I squeezed my eyes shut. Marjan screamed and I heard her collapse on the deck. The sun shone against my eyelids and I saw only red, my body aflame as though I’d swallowed fire. The whole world became a howl.
When I opened my eyes again Behir lay in a crumpled heap at the man’s feet and the man wiped the knife against the tail of his shirt. I grabbed the gunwale with both hands to keep from falling. Then I turned from the dock and saw Pearl standing in the doorway of the cabin, her face wet with tears.
We held a funeral for Behir, but Marjan wouldn’t speak at it. We gathered at the bow of the ship and she stayed behind us, like a shadow. When we had finished and turned around, she had already disappeared.
After the funeral, we all assembled in the cabin and Abran shared what had happened in the saloon at Broken Tree. That we’d killed one of theirs and they likely knew we were heading for the Valley. Abran didn’t mention his past with the Lily Black or that he’d been recognized.
“You told us not to talk about the Valley,” Wayne barked.
Abran closed his eyes and nodded. “I was just talking with a friend. But we may have been overheard. Behir . . .” Abran paused, his eyes flickering over Marjan. “Behir was killed because of Ruenlock. It’s how they work; they punish any offense. Since they made their point, it’s unlikely they’ll follow us.”
A murmur of concern rose from the crew. I squinted at Abran, wondering if he believed this. Between his past with the Lily Black and whatever connection Daniel had to that captain, I doubted they were through with us.
After the Flood Page 21