I didn’t reply. There was no need to confirm what she already knew to be true.
Jerren wasn’t watching us, but he could hear every word. I wondered if Alice wanted him to know that something had happened between us, so he’d be jealous. But as I removed the cord and tied it gently around Rose’s neck instead, I realized that wasn’t it at all. She wanted him to know that she was letting go of whatever we had shared. Jerren would know the boundaries of our friendship now.
“We should go,” announced Nyla. She hadn’t spoken since she’d shown us the rat bite, and hearing her voice startled me.
Jerren stared at the sky. “Thunderstorm’s coming.”
“It’s not here yet.” She tilted her head toward Alice and me. “And they won’t be able to stop the rats forever.”
Jerren untied the first catamaran. “All right, then. Let’s go.”
The breeze was strong and when we took off, we made good headway across the harbor mouth. The clouds mostly obscured the moon, but Jerren kept right behind us so that anyone watching from Sumter would only see one boat. At the sight of two sails, someone would raise the alarm for sure.
It took us only a quarter-strike to cross the water, and I held tight to Rose the whole way. Alice headed for our ship, still anchored a hundred yards from the shore. She let out the sail as we drew close, and we came to rest a few yards away. Here, no one would be able to see the catamarans at all.
Alice stared at the ship. “We need to get on board.”
“You could swim around and take the rope ladder.”
“No. I might show up against the dark of the ship. But if I can bring the rope ladder over this side, the rest of you can climb.”
I took in the sheer wooden hull. It looked gigantic. “How are you going to get up there?”
“Skill and strength.” She handed me the mainsheet. “So get us right next to the ship and let me work.”
I pulled on the mainsheet. There were only a few yards still to go, but progress was slow because the ship blocked the wind. Meanwhile, Alice removed her shoes and shimmied barefoot up the catamaran mast.
“This mast isn’t as high as the ship’s deck,” I reminded her.
“Doesn’t need to be,” she called back. “I just need to get past the curved part of the hull.”
Sure enough, as the catamaran bumped gently against the ship, Alice leaned away from the mast and grabbed the ship’s side. Her legs slipped from under her and so did her left hand, and for a moment I was sure she was about to fall, but instead she just dangled in the air. That’s when I realized her right hand was clamped against the wooden ledge around a porthole. She eased her left hand up, and ran her toes across the boards until she found something that offered resistance. Then she took a moment to gather herself.
“There’s only a few yards to go,” I said.
She peered down. “That’s very helpful. Now if you could find me a ladder, that’d be even better.”
Slowly, painstakingly, Alice crept up the ship, finger by finger, toe by toe. When she finally reached the rail, I exhaled, unaware that I’d even been holding my breath.
She pulled herself onto the deck. A short while later, she reappeared with the rope ladder, which she tied to the rail and dropped over the side. I tethered our boat to the ladder and peered down at Rose. That’s when I realized we had another problem.
She was still asleep. Even awake, she wasn’t up to climbing the ladder. Which meant there was only one thing to do. I nudged her until she came to, and knelt down with my back to her. She understood well enough what I needed her to do, but it wasn’t until Jerren had tied his boat to ours and Nyla had joined us that they were able to help her climb onto my back. She wrapped her arms around my neck and held on loosely. I hoped that she wouldn’t let go.
Step by step I forced us up the ladder. The wind was stronger now, but our weight kept us in place. When we reached the rail, Alice helped Rose over. She collapsed onto the deck.
“Let’s get her below deck,” said Alice. “She’s going to have to stay on the ship.”
Nyla climbed over the rail. “I’ll stay with her.”
We carried Rose to the nearest cabin and laid her on a pile of blankets.
“I can’t see anything,” said Nyla, taking a seat beside her.
“My lantern’s in the fort,” said Jerren.
I remembered the candles that Griffin had been using in Dare’s cabin. “There might be another way. Follow me.”
Alice and Jerren came with me to Dare’s cabin. The door was unlocked. I went straight to the desk and ran my hands blindly across it until I found the candle. I placed it in front of Alice and took her hand in mine. Combining our elements, she created a small flame. Jerren seemed fascinated rather than afraid.
I kept my hand around the flame, and my body between the candle and the windows. The stern windows shouldn’t have been visible from Sumter, but I wasn’t taking any chances.
In the light we saw other candles, which we lit from the first. Once we each had one, I figured we’d hurry to Nyla and on to the fort, but Jerren stared at the maps on the wall, transfixed. “This is Dare’s cabin, isn’t it?”
I nodded.
“Look at the detail on this map,” he continued. “Chief has maps like this, but he keeps them hidden. My father used to say that information is power. Chief keeps the power for himself.” He tapped the map. “Why do you think he marked this route?”
Alice looked closer. “He didn’t. That was Griffin. He was tracing the route that Dare took to get to us. If the pages hadn’t been ripped out of Dare’s log, we’d have known he’d been here.” As she spoke, she grew quieter.
“What is it, Alice?” I asked.
She shook her head. “It doesn’t make sense. Dare wouldn’t have removed the pages unless he knew we were planning to steal his ship. But if he wanted that to happen, why did he attack us in the middle of a hurricane?”
“And why didn’t he foresee his own death?” I added. “His element should’ve been working better on Roanoke than anywhere else. He’s a seer. He must’ve known what would happen.”
Alice was perfectly still now. “Dare said he’d deliver us to you, right?” she asked Jerren. “Those were his exact words.”
“Yeah. Why?”
Alice turned to me but didn’t speak. I knew what she was thinking, though. “You just said it was impossible for him to be here,” I reminded her. “You can’t believe he’s alive.”
“Why not? You do. Why else are you whispering?”
Jerren raised his candle. “I’m giving this to Nyla now. I don’t need to hear about any more ghosts.”
He left the room, but Alice and I stayed. She perched on the corner of the desk. “What if Dare came on this ship?”
“Impossible. We would’ve seen him. Or heard him.”
A moment’s silence, and then her eyes shot back to the map. She ran her finger along Griffin’s route. “Oh, no. How did we miss it?”
“Miss what?”
Alice circled the room, dragging items of furniture away from the walls.
“What are you doing, Alice?”
She moved shelves, a table, and finally, the desk. It didn’t scrape across the floor as it came away because the legs weren’t actually touching the ground. The whole thing pivoted, attached to the wall with hidden hinges.
Now a part of the wall was missing entirely. Behind it was empty space.
Alice crouched down and I handed her the candle. When she’d taken a look, she moved out of the way so that I could see too.
It was a passageway. The candlelight shone several yards until it was swallowed in darkness.