by Diana Paz
“We need to find the jewels,” Kaitlyn said, “and Julia’s idea is the best one we have. We should start with a place with treasure. That means, pirates.”
“I suppose,” Angie began, “if you both think it’s the best way, then that leaves me outnumbered.”
“Sweet,” Julia exclaimed. She couldn’t help thinking that Kaitlyn would make an epic pirate, but even as this thought crossed her mind, another cannon rocketed into a nearby building. The crash sent wood and stone in every direction.
“Journey us to the ship, Julia,” Angie said.
Babies cried and children clung to their mothers’ skirts. Julia covered her ears as more cannons blasted the walls. It dawned on her… they really could have saved this town. If they had thought of this plan and made it to the pirate ship before the pirates had taken down the town’s defenses, they could have blasted the captain, stunned the crew, something. But now it was too late.
Everything she had learned about pirates from movies and television came back to her in a rush. Adventurous men being chased by soldiers, stealing gold and living on island paradises, except… there was nothing romantic about this. It was people’s lives, and these people were terrified.
Once they were on the ship… could she sabotage the pirates’ cannons somehow? Throw their guns overboard?
Angie sent her a questioning thought, not probing, exactly, but still not comfortable.
We have to be sure not to interfere, not for anything, Angie said. We check the ship for treasure and we leave.
Julia remembered what Angie had said about towns in Cuba being left defenseless after Spain’s financial troubles. That explained why there were so few soldiers to be seen. No help was going to come. Not unless they brought it.
She didn’t respond to Angie. She didn’t know what changes would happen with the world timeline if she interfered with the pirates. She only knew that she couldn’t let innocent people die if there was a way to help them.
Her eyes fell shut. It was hard to locate a specific place to Journey to even when she had seen it with her own eyes, like the Santa Monica pier back home… but searching the ocean for one ship might prove impossible.
Kaitlyn sent her more magic, her mouth slanted in a pretty frown. Julia continued looking for the pirate ship. There were a lot of ships along the harbor. Her brows knitted. None of them fired cannons. None of them flew a pirate flag. Frustration mounted within her as she scanned along the coast. Pirate ship… pirate ship… how close to shore would the ship be? She didn’t know and felt the pressure from the other girls, the expectation that she would find it and land them safely there without plummeting them into the Caribbean Sea.
This isn’t going to work, Kaitlyn said. Finding a ship on the ocean is just too hard.
I’ll find it, Julia said, giving the shoreline a final sweep, and in her magic-laced search a ship caught her attention. It fired cannons… and it flew a black flag with a skull and crossbones. “Got it,” she whispered.
~ Chapter 18 ~
Angie
Angie’s lungs emptied in a rush. It was the pirate ship from her visions. Everything about it was the same, even the flag.
She flinched a little as Julia landed them on the deck, and when the ship swayed she was sure they would land with a crash that would alert the crew that there were stowaways on board.
Julia’s hand squeezed hers tight as they became solid—though still invisible—on the ship’s deck. Before she let go, Angie skimmed Julia’s thoughts. It was wrong of her, but she didn’t delve deep, and she needed to know what Julia might be up to. Something about the way she had been acting seemed off.
You aren’t going to tamper with this ship, Angie said, appalled at what she had felt in her friend’s mind.
A lash of surprised anger whipped through their connection. Angie? You looked through my thoughts?
No! Not entirely. I guessed at what you intended, because of how protective you were acting. But that doesn’t matter. What matters is that you are a Daughter of Fate. You can’t interfere with the past.
She sensed her friend’s hesitation, but before she replied a voice boomed from above.
“Call the men back. We’ve got what we needed. No prisoners and don’t waste time with women.”
Angie watched the man descend from the upper portion of the ship. He wore brightly colored clothes and a large hat. His features weren’t as weathered as she would have thought for a pirate. He was rather young, she thought, and then it struck her.
This is Calico Jack.
The voice was Kaitlyn’s in her mind, echoing her own realization. Do you think that means Anne Bonny is here, too?
Impossible to say, Angie said. He married her sometime around 1719, but we haven’t found anything with a concrete date on it.
As another cannon was fired Angie felt Julia scrunch down. Let’s hurry, she said. We don’t want to be bumped into and found out.
Do either of you sense if the jewels are nearby? Angie asked.
The other girls fell silent. Angie sensed them searching. She closed her eyes and looked as well, but she felt nothing that led her to believe that a jewel of time was on this ship.
“The cannons have done thar job, dogs! Don’t be wasting so many. Those that still live be holed up in thar churches. We have our plunder. ‘Tis time we shoved off.”
They’re not staying to kill everyone left? Julia asked.
Most pirates chose to loot easy prey, Angie said. They terrorized small, coastal villages and attacked ships with little defense. I imagine he wanted to get in and out as quickly as possible, but even so, there’s no telling how long it will take him to finish and then set sail.
I guess we’re sailing with the pirates. Julia said.
Hopefully their next stop is the place they keep their treasure.
May as well get comfortable, Kaitlyn said. Where should we wait?
Against the edge of the ship so we aren’t in anyone’s way, Angie said, and so we can still communicate with Convey if we need to.
They shuffled quietly to the far edge of the ship, careful not to alert the few pirates that remained as they sat down on the hard, wooden deck. There wasn’t anything to do except be very quiet and wait for the pirates to finish plundering the town.
Julia’s essence flitted through Angie’s thoughts. Her friend was thinking of Ethan. Angie established mental barriers between them, walls that offered Julia privacy while allowing them to remain connected.
The last of the sun’s light finally slipped below the horizon. Angie stared up at the countless stars above the Caribbean Sea. The soft sound of lapping water floated up from the ocean. Time marched slowly forward. Without meaning to, her thoughts turned to David. She envied Julia’s ability to form a connection with Ethan. If she could talk to David… she couldn’t finish the thought without her eyes filling with tears as her heart ached with longing. She wanted David to be a part of her life, even her magical life. The more serious their relationship became, the more wrong it felt to keep this secret from him.
Kaitlyn’s derisive voice sliced through their connection, disrupting her train of thought. Julia? Are you talking to yourself… about Ethan?
Julia’s emotions bristled like quills against their minds. Get out of my brain, jerk.
But it’s so fun in here.
You suck.
Angie was growing tired of policing them. Kaitlyn was usually to blame, but Julia didn’t help things with her defensive attitude.
Fine, fine. I’m going, Kaitlyn said. But you do realize how pathetic you’re being. Three months and you’re still thinking about him like this?
What do you know? You’ve never cared about anyone.
Angie nearly let go of both of their hands. She couldn’t continue listening, and she didn’t have the energy to convince them to stop goading each other. It occurred to her that it could take weeks aboard the ship before the pirates docked again, and even then there was no guarantee that they were headed
to their treasure hoard. They needed to speed up time…
And, they could.
She squeezed both of their hands. I’m going to try a new spell. To her relief, they stopped their continuous arguing. It’s one I read about when I was looking for a way to cure Scylla venom.
Do we all have another special spell? Kaitlyn asked.
There are dozens of spells we haven’t practiced yet. This is one that speeds up time, but only when we’re not in the true present timeline. She paused, suddenly worried that she might not know how to cast this spell properly. What if she sped time up but couldn’t slow it down? What if she sped them too far ahead in this timeline?
Enough worrying, Kaitlyn said.
This spell is a good idea, Angie, Julia added. We need to hurry because of Brian, and it would take days for this ship to get to wherever it’s going. How would we eat? How would we manage to sit in this one spot for all that time?
Angie held tight to their hands, drawing in enough magic to hopefully make the spell work. “Forward,” she whispered, releasing the magic in a rush of energy. For a moment everything froze, and she blinked, thinking she had somehow cast Julia’s time-freezing spell, when all at once the world lurched forward. Pirates whirred by, gold was hoisted aboard, clouds sped across the horizon, and all the while she and the other Daughters remained in a strange bubble of stillness, unaffected by the fast-forwarded world around them. Crew members climbed rigging and tied rope. The ship left the small harbor as stars traveled across the sky in a way Angie had never seen before. Star-rise and star-set, she thought, her vision mesmerized by the dance of a hundred thousand diamonds.
In a matter of minutes, several mornings and evenings came to pass. The Jolly Roger flag was taken down and the ship pulled into a port much larger and more impressive than the tiny one they had left in Cuba.
This is awesome, Julia said, laughter echoing through her thoughts. These pirates look hilarious zipping around the ship at hyper-speed.
And we’re saving all this time, Kaitlyn said.
Angie didn’t answer just yet, too focused on holding the spell. She waited until the ship was safely docked to ensure that they would have a gangplank to walk across. As soon as men began disembarking, she released the spell… or tried to.
But releasing the spell did nothing. Time continued careening forward at lightning speed. Mornings and nights came and went. The ship was docked, at least, but that didn’t change the fact that time was stuck on fast-forward.
Do something, Kaitlyn ordered.
I don’t know what to do, Angie replied, her heart dropping to her feet. She thought back to the spellbook where she had learned Forward. There had to have been a separate spell to return time to normal.
“Reverse,” Angie said in a frantic whisper, but nothing happened. A sickening feeling rose in her stomach. There was no reversing time within a given timeline. If they went too far into the future, they would have to use the threads of time to go back.
Make it stop, Kaitlyn demanded.
“I’ll make it stop,” Julia whispered.
She began drawing the magic away from Angie. “Don’t freeze time,” Angie said as the sun rose and set. “We can’t risk the creatures.”
But it was too late. “Hold,” Julia said.
Abruptly everything paused. Angie almost stumbled forward at the harsh, lurching motion, feeling as though she had been in a car that had come to a stop far too quickly.
“Whoa,” Julia blurted out.
“Unfreeze time, quick!” Angie said.
Julia complied, a burst of magic flaring out from her body as the world went back into motion.
Sorry, Angie said, tucking her hair behind her ear. The sun was bright and people on the docks bustled about, no one suspecting that three invisible girls stood on the empty ship docked in their harbor. I should have been sure about how to stop the spell before I started it.
The spell worked and that’s all I care about, Kaitlyn said. Let’s go to the city and figure out where we are.
But there’s no gangplank anymore, Angie said, realizing the short wooden bridge joining ship to land had been taken away after so many days—or had it been weeks—had gone by with the ship docked.
“This place is busy,” Julia whispered.
Julia can Journey us, Kaitlyn said. I’ll wait until we’re in town to make us visible again.
That would be best, Angie said, pausing a moment. Listening. They’re speaking English. Let’s find out where we are.
Angie sensed excitement through their shared connection and smiled at Julia. But it wasn’t her excitement, she realized. It was Kaitlyn’s.
I bet this is Nassau, Kaitlyn said. This is where we’ll find Anne Bonny.
~ Chapter 19 ~
Julia
Julia built the magic inside of her. It was only a short distance, compared with having Journeyed them across continents and oceans before, but her heart still raced as she held the place in her mind where she wanted to take them— an empty spot near a sunny fountain.
Can you even do this? Kaitlyn asked. Your jaw is so tight I’m surprised your teeth haven’t cracked.
Julia exhaled, unclenching them. She couldn’t let Kaitlyn get to her. As their formless bodies reached the spot near the fountain, she slowed the spell down. For a moment, their glass-like bodies flickered in a shimmer of light.
A woman near the fountain glanced over at them. Julia held her breath. Even invisible, that little glow from the teleportation spell could be seen.
What do we do? she asked.
Nothing. It’s okay, Angie replied. She’ll think it was a trick of the light or something. We’re invisible.
Unless she has the Sight, Kaitlyn said. Like that Native American woman did.
Angie fell silent. Julia waited, watching the woman.
But the woman’s gaze went through them, darting about with confusion. She placed a hand to her brow and whispered something under breath before lifting a pitcher and filling it with water.
Julia exhaled. It felt like there was a spring inside her ready to pop. She loosened her grip on the other girls’ hands. That… was scary.
Oh, please, Kaitlyn scoffed. What’s one servant girl going to do? Even if she could see us?
I’d rather not be accused of witchcraft in a time in history when burning people was allowed, Julia countered.
We would blast our way free, Kaitlyn said in a blithe tone that got under Julia’s skin. No one is burning us.
Let’s just play it safe, Angie said calmly. No matter how powerful we are, anything can go wrong. Besides, we don’t want to influence the world timeline.
Kaitlyn’s annoyance rippled through their connection. Sure, take her side, the barely perceptible reply whispered through their minds. Like you always do.
Julia lowered her eyes as Angie glanced up. Do you think we should stay invisible a bit longer, Kaitlyn?
Kaitlyn remained silent. Julia didn’t understand the strange vibe passing between them. Kaitlyn was guarded… but at the same time, trying to figure them out. Or, at least trying to figure Angie out.
No, Kaitlyn finally replied. We have the right clothes and we’re in a big city with a lot more people than the other little town we were first in. I think we risk more by staying invisible and maybe bumping someone than we do by being out in the open.
All right, I agree, Angie said, urging them toward an alleyway. This spot should be safe enough for us to become visible again.
Kaitlyn nodded, and a moment later they shimmered into view.
For a tiny second, Kaitlyn’s eyes lost their snakey, witch-like harshness. Julia didn’t dare try to delve into her thoughts to see what that was about. Before she could think much more about it, Angie urged them toward an alleyway.
“Now, for a cover story,” Angie whispered. “There’s no way three girls would have been alone during this time period.”
“That’s not true. Look at that girl,” Kaitlyn said, pointing to a gir
l walking carelessly down the street. “She’s not even wearing lace or anything to cover her head.”
The girl had hair as red as flames that made her impossible to miss, as bright as it was against her pale skin. She sat at the fountain and cupped her hands beneath a stream of water pouring from a lion’s mouth. Her lips met the water as her eyes slid closed.
“Blimey I was thirsty,” the girl murmured, standing and pushing her way past a couple of men on her way through a door.
“Let’s be like this girl,” Julia said. “She knows how to get around town without worrying about whether she’s alone or not.”
“Seriously,” Kaitlyn said, taking off the formal Spanish headdress and wrapping the lace around her hands. “That servant girl wasn’t wearing these horrible clothes, either.”
“I’m so glad we’re not in Cuba anymore,” Julia said.
“Wait, we might need that later,” Angie said, cringing as Kaitlyn tossed the lace headdress on the cobbled road.
“I’ll fit in just fine without it,” Kaitlyn said, bringing down the ruffled shoulders of her evening gown to reveal more cleavage. She took out her fan and opened it. “I have a cover story for us,” she said, fanning her chest as her voice dropped low. “We escaped a convent in Cuba after being sent there for being… naughty.”
Angie blinked rapidly. Julia flushed at the slow way Kaitlyn’s lips wrapped around the word ‘naughty.’
Kaitlyn lifted her open fan, bringing it up to her face until only a pair of lush black lashes could be seen sweeping across dazzling green eyes. “And now that we’re free from the convent, we’re ready to have some fun.”
~ Chapter 20 ~
Angie
Angie swallowed at the sight of Kaitlyn in her element, doing outlandish things and not caring about the consequences. She clenched the ruffles of her gown, hardly daring to imagine what kinds of things Kaitlyn considered fun. With a tight breath she took a step back, unable to rouse any disdain for the dark-haired girl. She could hardly understand what would inspire someone to be so reckless… but that didn’t mean she didn’t admire it a very small bit.