It also spoiled their plan to return to Island X the following day. Stupid, stupid Lucas Lawrence.
Scarlet sighed. What would Ben Hodgins have done in my place? she wondered. Would he have found an alternative punishment as he did the time Lucas hoarded spoils for himself? Or would he, too, have left his best carpenter on an island of vicious—
“What’s the story with these smelly wild pigs, anyway?” As if on cue, Jem looked up from the card game to ask yet another question. Boys have no tact, Scarlet thought. Instead of answering, she grunted and flopped over again on the hammock.
Smitty and Liam, equally tactless, abandoned their game and dove right into the new topic.
“Well, first of all,” said Liam, “they’re about the smelliest animals in the entire world.”
“What do they smell like?” Jem asked.
“Rubbish,” said Liam.
“Sweaty feet,” Smitty offered.
“Rotten flounder.”
“The long drop after Liam’s eaten too much guava fruit!” Smitty hooted, and Liam shook a small fist.
“All right, so they stink. But are they dangerous?” Jem asked.
“Are they dangerous?” Smitty said. “Try downright beastly. They hunt in packs, see? Twenty or thirty hogs to a group. And they move stealthily through the jungle, silent except for a rustle here and there.” The lantern illuminated Smitty’s eyes and made shadows dance on his face. “And then suddenly, when you least expect it, they’re surrounding you. All of them, with big horse teeth and hooves they’ve sharpened on boulders in their spare time. And they rip you limb from limb! Tearing and piercing and—”
“Ahem.” Liam elbowed Smitty and tilted his head toward Scarlet, who felt like she might spew and knew she looked it, too. Smitty closed his mouth.
“But sometimes they’re not so bad,” Liam hastened to add. “Sometimes they just want to . . . um . . . play.”
Scarlet groaned and tossed in the hammock.
Thankfully, Tim poked his head into the cabin and interrupted the discussion. “Glad I’ve found you all here,” he said, sitting down on an old crate and peering at them over his spectacles. “I’ve been doing some reading.”
“Reading?” Smitty said. “You? Sink me!”
“Shut up, Aloysius. I’ve been wondering all day why Lucas would risk punishment to steal Jem’s knife. I wondered if maybe he knew something about it that we didn’t.”
“I assumed he just liked the look of it,” Jem said.
“I assumed he was just being a big—”
“Well, you both might be right,” Tim hurried on before Smitty could offer his theory. “But I thought I’d check it out. And look what I found.” He laid a pile of old papers on his lap and thumbed through them until he found what he wanted. “Cutthroat MacPhee,” he said. Scarlet sat up in the hammock at the mention of the knife’s previous owner. “The most bloodthirsty pirate ever to sail these waters. Deadlier than Deadeye Johnny. More dreaded than the Dread Pirate Rosella. The pirate to end all pirates.” Tim looked up from his papers and pulled off his spectacles. “Apparently, Cutthroat MacPhee ruled the seas. He and his crew always took the best plunder, the fastest ships, the tastiest rum. Every pirate wanted to be on his crew so they’d never have to be on the receiving end of his blade or his cannonballs. No one could defeat Cutthroat MacPhee, and he became a legend.”
“So what happened to him?” Jem piped up.
Tim looked annoyed. “I’m getting to it, mate. See, even old Cutthroat had a weakness. He was terrified, just scared to death, of snakes. And, so the story goes, the islands knew it. Cutthroat was searching for treasure inland one day, and he got separated from his crew. They found him later, cold as the ocean’s floor, lying among a great writhing mass of snakes. Hundreds of ’em, all snuggled up to the world’s deadliest pirate. It didn’t matter that they weren’t poisonous. Cutthroat MacPhee died of fright.”
Smitty shuddered. Liam chewed his lip. Jem cocked his head to one side.
“There’s a term for a great writhing mass of snakes,” he said. “My uncle told me once, but I can’t remember it. Anyway, it’s a good story, but how does it explain why my knife’s so valuable?”
“Blimey, you ask lots of questions. The death of Cutthroat MacPhee did two things. It made the pirates even more scared of the islands, and it made their hero even more celebrated. Everything he owned, from his pocket watch to his false teeth, became treasures in the eyes of the pirates.”
“His teeth?” Scarlet finally spoke up. “Who’d want a set of skuzzy old chompers?” She’d enjoyed the story, but it had done little to soothe her crusty mood.
“When I meet my end, pirates everywhere’ll fight over my remains,” Smitty said dreamily. “They’ll keep my eyes in a jar near the ship’s wheel, looking out over the water. ‘Here sits the great pirate Saltwater Smith,’ they’ll say. And they’ll all cross their hearts in respect.”
“The great pirate Neville is more like it,” Scarlet muttered. “So you think Lucas knew the value of Jem’s knife, and the story behind it?”
“How would he know?” Liam asked.
“Well, he does seem to know a lot about grown-up pirates,” Tim said.
Jem cleared his throat. “Um, he might know even more than you think.” They all turned to him. “Remember when I stole the knife in Jamestown, and Lucas helped me escape from Deadeye Johnny and the others who wanted to kill me?” The other Lost Souls nodded. “Well, Lucas helped by convincing Deadeye that he hadn’t seen me, and that if he did, he’d turn me in. They talked like old friends. I probably should have mentioned that sooner.”
Scarlet and her friends looked at one another with identical expressions of unease.
“All right. So Lucas is friends with the deadliest pirate around. What does this mean for us?” Tim said.
“Nothing good.” Smitty shook his head, looking grim. “Maybe we should just leave the sea dog on the island and forget about him.”
It was all too much for Scarlet. She stood up. “I’m going to bed,” she announced, although she knew that even sleep wouldn’t help her state of mind. What she needed was something to keep her thoughts off Lucas and the smelly wild pigs for the next twenty-three hours. “Let’s go to port tomorrow,” she said. “We’ll need food and supplies before we return to Island X.” But even the thought of the treasure hunt didn’t improve her mood.
“Right, Captain,” Tim said. “Port Aberhard’s no more than a few hours’ sail from here. We’ll lay anchor at dawn and be back in plenty of time to pick up the scourge tomorrow night.” He gave her a small smile. She tried to return it, tried to think of something captainly and motivating to say, but in the end she simply wandered out, thoughts tossing in her head like whitecaps on waves.
Scarlet wasn’t sure what she was looking for in Port Aberhard. She drifted down the streets, skirting clusters of pirates and King’s Men without noticing them. She scanned the merchants’ tables and saw little of interest. But she pocketed a tarnished compass and two tins of herring for good measure. After meandering for about an hour, she realized that all the random supplies she could squeeze in her pockets weren’t going to help her solve her problems.
Scarlet sighed. This was pointless. She’d do better heading back to the ship and concentrating on preparing for their trip to Island X the next morning. That was the most important thing, after—
“You’re not serious, are you, man? That’s an absurd price for a bag of spice. Why, it’s harvested right here on the island.”
Scarlet stopped dead. She knew that voice. She’d been missing it for too long now. Pivoting on her tiptoes, she scanned the scene until she found the voice’s owner.
Ben Hodgins stood not ten yards away haggling with a spice merchant, but had she not heard his voice, Scarlet might not even have recognized him. Someone
had chopped off his unruly brown hair, and now it hung perfectly combed and lifeless just above his earlobes. Ben’s face looked unnaturally clean, making Scarlet wonder how much scrubbing it had taken to get that way. Then she wondered, for the first time ever, if she herself might need a bath.
She got her answer in the form of a young woman standing beside him—equally spotless, with ears that had likely never known a speck of dirt, let alone a small family of gnats. Scarlet pulled absently at her own earlobes, glad the bugs had evacuated after a few days. The girl had a cherubic face and soft, brown curls, and she watched Ben barter with a look of adoration. Scarlet felt her cheeks flush as she realized she’d worn that expression herself, many times.
For an instant she considered hollering a hello. But then she stopped herself. Ben was a grown-up now. He had a wife-to-be. Would he even want to acknowledge her?
Scarlet turned to slink off through the crowd, then stopped when she heard his voice again. “McCray! Wait!”
Suddenly he was beside her with one hand on her shoulder, turning her around to face him, his bright eyes (at least they still looked the same) looking into hers with the mischievous glee she remembered so well.
But it only lasted a moment before Ben dropped his hand and glanced back at the young woman, who was giving him a quizzical look. Both he and Scarlet took a step away from each other.
“Scarlet, how are you? I’ve missed, I mean . . . I can’t believe how long it’s been.”
“I’m fine,” Scarlet answered. “We’re . . . we’re all fine. The crew, that is.” Awkward conversations, she decided, were just as bad as awkward silences. “How are you? You look . . . different.”
Ben glanced at the girl again and waved as if to say “Be with you in a moment.” Then he took Scarlet’s arm and led her away, toward the docks. For a moment, Scarlet felt smug—Ben had left his future wife to walk with her—until she remembered her cabin boy disguise. The girl would have thought she was simply another scruffy boy.
“So?” Ben said once they’d walked a little. “What’s new? Tell me everything.”
Where to begin? Scarlet wondered. “Well, let’s see. The Hop’s holding up well enough—should last us another year at least. And we’ve had some successful raids lately. Oh, and we’ve got a map to the treasure that everyone’s looking for. We’re heading out to find it tomorrow. I mean, we’ve been out once already, but, well, it’s a bit of a long story. You see, the treasure’s on one of those islands, and—”
But Ben was scanning the port, looking as if he’d left his brain on the spice merchant’s table with the angel-faced girl. “That’s nice,” he muttered.
“All right then,” Scarlet cut her story short. “What’s new with you?”
“Hm? Oh, me? Well, you know. Domestic things. Respectable things. I’m learning to manage my future father-in-law’s tobacco plantation now. It’s a lot of work, but a lucrative business.”
Scarlet raised an eyebrow at him. She’d never heard the Lost Souls’s former captain use the words respectable and lucrative without following up with a joke.
“Oh, and we’re—Cecily and I, that is—we’re getting married next year. And now there’s all this talk about having children right away, to, you know, ensure that there’s a next generation to take over the plantation. Real children, Scarlet. Can you imagine?” His voice trembled ever so slightly.
Scarlet didn’t know what to say. Ben Hodgins, soon to be a father. He suddenly seemed very far away although he stood right next to her.
“Congratulations,” she said, hoping it didn’t fall flat.
Ben turned to face her. “It’s a scary thing, Scarlet. I thought being captain of the Lost Souls was frightening business. That has nothing on raising a child. See—”
“You found being captain frightening?” Scarlet cut in. That couldn’t be. Ben’s confidence had been practically contagious.
He nodded. “Sure. It’s a tough job. But nothing, like I said—”
“Right, right, like being a father,” Scarlet interrupted again. “But the crew always loved you. If you picked up a pan flute and danced off the plank, they would have followed, single file. You never even—”
“Scarlet.” It was Ben’s turn to interrupt. “What’s wrong? Something’s up, I can sense it.” Finally, he was listening.
Scarlet lowered her eyes. She would have bared her soul to the old Ben Hodgins. But this well-groomed version? She wasn’t sure.
“Tell me.”
She hesitated and scanned his face for a trace of her old friend. She found it in his eyes, the eyes that had welcomed her that first day, so long ago. The eyes she could never resist confiding in.
She confided again. She explained everything that had gone on in the past week as fast as she could but without leaving out any important details.
Once she’d gotten to the part about how they’d left Lucas on the Island of Smelly Wild Pigs, Ben was looking overwhelmed. Evidently not even the angst of impending fatherhood could compare to her situation.
“Sink me, Scarlet, I don’t know what to say. That business with Lucas really scuttles. But I know you’ll pull through. You’re a good captain, and you’ll figure it out.”
And with that, he looked back toward the merchant’s stall to check on his future wife.
Scarlet felt her cheeks flush. He couldn’t even focus on her for more than a moment before returning to his own affairs. She pressed on. “Well, I’m not so sure of that. I don’t even know if I’m captain material, to tell you the truth. I often wonder if I can ever live up to the great Ben Hodgins . . .”
She hadn’t meant for that last bit to slip out. But it got Ben’s full attention. He snapped his head away from the port and stared at her. And when he spoke, he sounded almost angry.
“Scarlet, what’s the matter with you? You don’t sound like the captain I appointed. ‘The great Ben Hodgins’? That’s bilge. A captain’s only as good as his crew and you know it. I chose you because you’re an essential part of the Lost Souls. But if you don’t know that, and show it, how will the others know?”
“But . . . but,” she sputtered, aware that she was sounding more and more childish the longer she persisted. “How can you be sure I’m the one to lead? I don’t know what to do. Can’t you give me some direction?”
“Benjamin! We have to go!”
“Coming!” Ben called back, in a deeper voice than the one with which he addressed Scarlet. She shook her head and started to turn away, but he stopped her with a hand on her arm.
“I chose you because you’re one of the bravest people I’ve ever met. Remember when you saved me from the King’s Man years ago? You don’t run away from problems. You face them. And what’s more, you care about the crew. They need that. Look, Scarlet, you have all the answers you need. You’ve just got to listen to the people around you and, more importantly, listen to yourself. All the answers you need are there.”
He slapped her on the shoulder, like a fellow sailor. “Now go find that treasure.” Then he marched back into port. To his future wife and his new life.
Scarlet watched his back for a minute, until it disappeared among a sea of other grown-ups. Then she turned and ran.
She said very little to Tim, Emmett, and Edwin as they rowed out to the Island of Smelly Wild Pigs. The sun had ducked behind the horizon, leaving the violet sky blotched with rosy-gray and streaks of peach. She’d considered staying on board the Hop, but decided at the last minute to accompany the boys and perhaps have a word with Lucas before they rejoined the rest of the crew. As the rowboat rose and fell with the waves, she wondered what she’d say. Declare a truce? Apologize for leaving him to be mauled by a pack of sweaty swine? Or tell him that if he were ever caught stealing again, the next punishment would make the pigs look downright sociable?
“I don’t see him,” Em
mett said. Scarlet tore her eyes away from the clouds and looked toward the shore. The island’s thin strip of beach looked empty. Beyond it, a wall of trees rose straight up from the sand. Lucas was nowhere to be seen.
Emmett and Edwin vaulted over the side of the boat and splashed through the shallows to the shore, calling Lucas’s name. Only a creepy silence followed. Nothing moved, not even the wall of green that separated jungle and sea.
Scarlet’s heart began to pound. The pigs, she thought. The pigs must have gotten him. Oh, what was I thinking, leaving him on the island overnight? Visions of horse teeth and sharpened hooves flooded her brain, and she gripped the side of the boat, certain now she was going to spew.
“Scarlet, stop. You’re rocking the boat,” Tim said. “He’s probably hiding.” But even her quartermaster looked concerned as the twins ran up and down the beach, shouting for Lucas. They ducked into the jungle for a quick look, disappearing behind the leafy curtain. Minutes passed. Scarlet still held the side of the boat, afraid she’d faint if she let go.
Tim wouldn’t tear his gaze from the shore. “C’mon, Lucas,” he muttered. “Stop being a scoundrel and come out.”
But when the twins emerged, they were alone. They walked slowly down to the shoreline and into the shallow water.
“Well?” Scarlet managed to say.
Emmett shrugged. “No trace, Captain.”
Edwin shook his head. “He’s gone.”
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
After envisioning all the worst possible ways Lucas could have met his end, from suffocating under the stench of wild pigs to falling headfirst out of a tree he’d climbed to escape the beasts, Scarlet somehow fell into an uneasy sleep. When she awoke the next morning, she decided to do something. She decided to take someone’s advice.
You have all the answers you need, Ben had told her. You’ve just got to listen. Listen to the people around you and, more importantly, listen to yourself. All the answers you need are there.
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