by Becca Andre
Briar sent Zach and Jimmy to pay the toll while she took a walk along the dock, eyeing the other boats. She didn’t see the River Shark. Had Darby already been through here?
At the far end of the dock, a rectangle of paper tacked to a dock post drew her attention. Unease tightened her stomach and the reaction proved to be warranted when she got close enough to make out what was written on the paper. It was her wanted poster.
After a quick glance around, and finding no one else braving the rain like her, Briar ripped down the poster. Wadding the wet page, she shoved it in the pocket of her oilskin coat and hurried back to the Briar Rose.
Her crew and guests were gathered beneath the tarp stretched across the aft cargo hold, enjoying another mug of Molly’s coffee while they waited for Zach and Jimmy to return. Even Kali and Perseus sat on the far side of the deck, sipping from their mugs.
Briar stopped beside Eli. She pulled the water-logged poster from her pocket and handed it to him. “Look’s like Darby’s been here. I found that nailed to a post at the far end of the dock.”
“You sure it’s Darby?” Eli eyed the damp page before looking up at her.
Grayson joined them before she could voice an opinion. “What’s going on?” He kept his voice low though Kali and Perseus weren’t close enough to hear.
She showed him the poster. “I think Darby left that on the dock.” She’d already told Grayson about seeing Darby in Roscoe.
“If he’s looking to collect reward money, I don’t think he’d advertise to others,” Grayson said.
“Maybe he’s already in Andrew’s employ. I know they had contact in Lockbourne after my fight with Hester.”
Grayson held her gaze. “And Andrew now belongs to Solon.”
She hated the sound of that—even though she’d never been all that fond of Andrew.
“So now your livelihood as well as your life is threatened because of this ferromancer.” Eli waved a hand at Grayson.
“Would you give it a bloody rest?” Grayson demanded. “I never intended for any of this to happen.”
“You know what the road to hell is paved with.” Eli’s grin wasn’t nice.
“Are you requesting a guided tour?” Grayson lifted one dark brow.
Eli fisted his hands.
Briar stepped between them. “Eli—”
“Why do you always take up for him, Miss Briar? Can’t you see he’s going to destroy you?”
“He did nothing. I brought this on myself.”
“Maybe you started it, but he’s the one who needs to end it.” Eli walked away, climbing up to the aft deck to take shelter beneath the awning that covered the tiller deck.
Briar sighed. “Must you antagonize him?” she asked Grayson.
“Me? You’re blaming this on me?”
“But you are to blame. You told me yourself.”
He took a breath to speak, then stopped.
“What?” she asked.
“You’re right. I shouldn’t antagonize him and possibly cause a rift between the two of you.”
“He’s my best friend. We’ve argued before.”
Once again, he seemed to consider his words. “Well, I don’t want to jeopardize that. I’ll be gone soon.” He turned toward the gangplank.
“Where are you going?” she grabbed his arm. Was he leaving now?
“I thought I’d go check on Jimmy and Zach. If posters are being hung in public places, things could turn problematic.”
“Maybe I should come with you.”
“Your picture is on the poster. Stay here, Miss Rose.” He didn’t wait for her response before heading across the gangplank.
She watched him go, squeezing her fist around the poster. As if worrying about Farran wasn’t enough, now they were finding these damn posters at every stop. Maybe she should find some way to disguise the boat.
“Briar?” Molly walked over to join her. “Where’s Mr. Martel going? Is everything all right?”
Not wanting to drag Molly into the conflict—and have her think less of either man—Briar decided not to share her troubles with Grayson and Eli. Instead, she told her about finding the poster.
“I was considering a way to disguise the boat,” Briar added. “But I don’t want to paint over the transom.” Uncle Charlie had painted the letters and his wife had designed the roses. The paint had been touched up over the years, but the original look had been preserved.
“Hmm.” Molly rubbed her chin. “What if we tacked a sheet over the name and painted on a new one?”
“Not bad, but canvas would be better. It wouldn’t become transparent when wet.”
“True, and I bet Mr. Martel could devise a way to tack it down so that it looked natural.”
Briar grunted in agreement, though at the moment she didn’t feel like asking him for anything.
“Do you have any canvas?” Molly asked.
Briar glanced up at the tarp overhead. It was made of tarred canvas, and she had a second one for the bow cargo hold. But she couldn’t be cutting them up. For one, they were needed to protect weather sensitive cargo when they carried such a load. For another, they were worn and dingy. In their current capacity, that was fine, but they weren’t a good choice to disguise the white transom of a canal boat.
“I’ll need some new canvas. Some that’s still white,” Briar explained.
Molly looked toward the small town. “Do you think they sell any here?”
“It is a canal town and tarps are frequently used on canal boats. I could check at the general store.”
“And paint?”
“That, too.”
Molly nodded, then frowned. “You’ll take someone with you?”
She could see that Molly was still thinking about Farran. “It’ll be fine. It’s only a short walk.”
“But a roll of canvas large enough to cover the transom would be heavy. Take Eli with you.”
“Molly.”
“How about Perseus?”
“I’d rather take Benji.”
“He’s not much bigger than you. Why not Eli? Are you two arguing?”
Briar signed. Molly tended to be annoyingly observant. “There is a matter we can’t agree on.”
“What is it? Perhaps if I discussed it with him…”
“It’s Grayson. Eli blames him for all our recent troubles, even though I’m the one who pulled Grayson into our lives.”
“When you kidnapped him.” Molly still seemed to have a hard time believing that.
“Yes.” Briar turned away. “Let me collect Benji and go. I want to cast off as soon as the others get back.”
“Briar.” Molly took her hand. “Be careful. I can’t shake the feeling that he’s watching us.”
Briar squeezed the hand that held hers. “You’re still shaken up from yesterday.”
Molly released her. “You’re probably correct. I’m sorry.”
“It’s all right.” Briar offered a reassuring smile. “This ferromancer thing just takes some getting used to.”
“If you say so.” Molly glanced toward the small town beyond the canal’s banks. She didn’t look convinced.
Chapter 12
Briar watched Benji and the shopkeeper’s boy roll the large piece of canvas. Though she had been hopeful that as a canal boat supplier, the store would have a canvas tarp, she was surprised to find a pristine piece of good size.
“Here we are,” that shopkeeper said, drawing Briar’s attention back to where he stood behind the counter. He set a quart-sized can of paint before her. “That’s the last of the black.”
“That will do, thank you.”
The man picked up his pad and pen to tally her bill. She wondered what he would think of that cash register she and Grayso
n had seen in Circleville. Grayson could probably build him an even better one. She thought about his pocket lantern. What a shame the world would never know his brilliance.
Lock stirred in her pocket, sensing her melancholy. “Shh.” She rubbed her hand across the front of her waistcoat. It really bothered him when she and Grayson were at odds.
The bell on the front door rang. The shopkeeper looked up, a smile already in place for a potential customer.
Briar turned as well, half expecting one of her crew, but a man she didn’t know walked into the store. Movement beyond the wide display window drew her eye. For the briefest moment, she thought she glimpsed a dark cloak. A chill crawled down her spine as she imagined Farran and his expressionless metal face staring through the window at her.
She shook her head, chiding herself. Perhaps Molly wasn’t the only one still upset about yesterday.
“Mornin’, Judd,” the shopkeeper greeted his new customer as the man stopped at the counter beside Briar.
The newcomer returned the greeting, and after giving her a polite nod, laid a newspaper, several sheets of paper, and a few envelopes on the counter.
“I won’t interrupt,” Judd told the shopkeeper. “I just need to get some coffee when you get a moment. Thought I’d bring over your mail and a few fliers for the notice board.” He patted the papers, scattering the envelopes and scooting the aside the newspaper to partially reveal the first of the fliers.
Briar’s heart leapt in her chest as she glimpsed her own face. It was her wanted poster.
A small gasp came from Benji who had stepped up on her other side.
“We’re in no rush,” Briar spoke up when the shopkeeper glanced at Benji. “I assume this gentleman is the postmaster and needs to return to his counter.”
The man in question was staring at her, but seemed to collect himself by the time she finished. For a moment, she feared he’d recognized her. Then he blinked as if recovering from a surprise. He’d just realized she was a girl.
“My wife is watching the counter for me, Miss. She wants that coffee bad as me.”
“I understand.” Briar smiled in turn, hoping she didn’t appear overly nervous.
The shopkeeper turned back to his calculations while the postmaster waited.
Briar tried to act just as casual, but it wasn’t easy. Either man could look down at any moment and recognize her face on that poster. Even dressed in her canal attire with her hair in a simple braid, her face was unchanged. But more of a concern, she wanted to remove the poster, not leave it to be hung on a notice board. Lots of boatmen traveling up and down the canal might visit this store. It would be only a matter of time before word got out.
The shopkeeper finally arrived at a total and Briar counted out the money owed, still turning over scenarios in her mind. Maybe she could send Zach back to the store to talk the shopkeeper out of the poster. Or she could wait until he hung it on the board and take it then.
“Your change, ma’am.” The shopkeeper’s voice brought her back to the moment.
Briar thanked him and pocketed the change.
“Need any help with that tarp?” he asked.
“We got it. Thanks.” Briar turned to Benji who was still watching with wide eyes. She nudged him with her elbow and he blinked.
“Grab the tarp,” she told him. “I’ll get the paint.”
“Yes, Captain.”
She flinched a little at the address—the poster identified her as captain, and there weren’t that many female captains—but the two men were talking and no longer watching them.
Benji lifted the rolled canvas and she stepped over to help him. Maybe if they took their time, the two men would move away from the counter.
“I got it,” Benji insisted, shifting the awkward burden on his shoulder.
“Humor me,” she muttered, pretending to help him get the load balanced.
He remained silent, though his cheeks reddened, as was his tendency around her.
She fumbled with the tarp as long as she could and was just about to give up and start for the door, when the two men finally moved away from the counter.
Briar returned to grab her paint. She picked up the newspaper to move it aside—just as the shopkeeper faced her.
“Mind if I take a look?” She gestured with the newspaper. Her wanted poster was now completely uncovered and visible to anyone near the counter.
“Help yourself,” the shopkeeper answered before turning back to back to his customer.
Briar made a show of flipping quickly through the newspaper, but the large pages required both hands, making it difficult to grab the poster. She laid the open newspaper on the counter, allowing it to cover everything.
“A pound will do,” the postmaster’s voice carried to her.
“Do you want to pay for it now, or shall I bill you?” the shopkeeper answered.
Briar slipped her hand beneath the newspaper and grabbed the top page of notices, but she couldn’t see if she had the right one.
The two men walked toward her, though they were still engaged in their own conversation.
She pulled the flier from beneath the newspaper, turning slightly to shield the movement. At the same time, she closed the newspaper with the other hand. The rattle of the newspaper masked her wadding the flier. She stuffed her hand in her coat pocket and picked up the can of paint.
“Thank you,” she called to the shopkeeper. Not waiting for his response, she turned toward the door. “Come on,” she said to Benji.
His red face was now pale, but a nudge from her got him moving. They headed for the door and she expected a shout from one of the men, but none came.
She pushed open the front door, then held it for Benji. It closed with a solid thump behind him. He just stared at her.
“Breathe, Benji,” she said with a grin.
He obeyed, taking a deep breath that made her laugh.
“You need to work on your poker face.”
“I thought you’d be caught for certain,” he whispered.
“Nah.” She waved off his concern, hiding her own fear. It wouldn’t do to let him see how much that had rattled her. She was captain, after all. “I just hope I grabbed the right paper. I had to rush and couldn’t see what I was doing.”
“Did you get right one?”
She gestured for him to follow, walking past the display window to the end of the wooden sidewalk that ran along the front of the store. She stepped around the corner of the building, and pulled the crumpled page from her pocket. Unfolding it, she found herself once again staring at her own face.
“You got it,” Benji said, clearly relieved.
“Briar,” a female voice called.
Startled, Briar almost dropped the paper even though she knew it couldn’t be the shopkeeper or the postmaster.
Kali and Perseus were crossing the street toward her.
Briar quickly returned the poster to her pocket.
“What is it?” she asked when they joined her. Had there been trouble at the toll office?
“We were just looking around,” Kali answered. “Where’s Grayson?”
“He went to the toll office to check on Zach and Jimmy. Why? Did you sense something?” Goosebumps rose on her forearms as she remembered the cloaked figure she thought she saw.
“No, but it doesn’t hurt to look around.” Something in Kali’s tone suggested this sightseeing trip was inspired by more than just a precaution.
Briar glanced toward the back of the store and the wooded area beyond.
“What is it?” Perseus asked.
“When I was in the store, I thought I saw a cloaked man through the window.”
“Which way did he go?” Kali demanded.
“He was heading in this directio
n.”
“So you came to investigate on your own? I assume you have your stylus.”
“Well, I…” Briar struggled to come up with an answer.
Kali huffed. “You don’t have it, do you?”
“Captain.” Jimmy’s call spared Briar the need to answer as he, Zach, and Grayson hurried across the street to them.
“Did you feel something?” Kali asked Grayson.
“No. Molly was worried.” His gaze shifted to Briar. “She said you’ve been gone longer than you should.”
“The shopkeeper took a while to locate the canvas I needed,” Briar explained.
Grayson’s attention returned to Kali. “Should I have felt something?”
“She thought she saw the devolved one,” Kali answered.
Grayson stilled, his attention shifting back to Briar. “You did?”
“Maybe.” Briar shrugged. “It was just a glimpse. It might not have been him.”
“She said he came this way,” Kali added.
“You were following him?” Grayson’s tone turned cool with restrained anger.
“Of course not,” Briar snapped.
“We’ll check the area,” Perseus said before a full blown argument could begin. “Stay with her,” he added to Grayson, then he and Kali walked off.
“Guess I’m taking orders from the Scourge,” Grayson muttered.
“Don’t take long,” Briar called after them. “I want to cast off as soon as possible.”
Perseus waved, indicating that he had heard.
“No,” Jimmy said. “I believe the captain still gives the orders.”
“Speaking of orders,” she said. “Help Benji take that canvas back to the boat and get ready to cast off.”
Jimmy grinned. “Aye, Captain.”
“I got it,” Benji said when Jimmy turned to help him.
“You can carry this.” She handed Jimmy the paint can.
Chuckling, Jimmy took the can, then he and Benji walked away. Zach took a step to follow, but Briar called him back.