‘Yes.’
‘Arent Hayes.’
The name lingered between them.
‘Yes,’ repeated Sara, but slower this time, more warning than invitation.
‘Your defence of him was very …’
‘Spirited,’ finished Lia helpfully.
‘Yes, spirited,’ said Creesjie, brushing her blonde hair from her eyes.
‘Was it?’
‘And you’ve been spending a great deal of time with him recently.’
‘Not an undue amount,’ countered Sara.
‘Do you care for him?’
Sara’s mouth formed an objection, but then she thought about who was asking the question. ‘Yes,’ she admitted, grimacing slightly. It was the first time she’d said it out loud, and it felt like pulling a particularly ugly cow into the middle of the market.
Lia smiled, leaving Creesjie to creep tactfully towards her point. ‘These feelings you have … you understand they’re impossible.’
‘Of course, I do,’ said Sara, pulling at the neck of her dress irritably. Dorothea was having to wash everything in seawater, making the clothes stiff and itchy. Still, it was better than the sailors. They washed their clothes infrequently, and when they did it was with their own urine. In another five months, the entire ship would smell like a latrine. ‘I’m … I like the way I feel around him,’ continued Sara. ‘He lets me be myself, rather than forcing me to be somebody I’m very bad at being. That’s all it is. It’s easily put aside.’
‘Are you certain you have to?’ asked Lia cautiously. ‘He makes you happy, I’ve seen it.’
‘There’s no hope for Arent and me.’ She lowered her voice. ‘If our plan is successful, I’ll disappear and Arent will …’ She trailed off. She didn’t know. Where would he go once Samuel Pipps was executed? Back to war? Hope flickered within her.
He was a mercenary. More importantly, he was a man. There were no obligations upon him. No expectations. He could go wherever he wished. Maybe he’d welcome the chance to follow her and begin a new life far away from everything. Perhaps she would be able get word to him when they docked, telling him where she’d gone.
She shook her head angrily. Why was she even thinking about this? She was so close to earning Lia’s freedom, and her own. How could she even think about risking that for a childish infatuation?
Eggert saluted, opening the door for them.
Inside, Sara rapped on Reynier van Schooten’s cabin.
The chief merchant appeared, wearing a pair of thin cotton slops and little else. As one, they turned their faces in disgust. His room was a tavern, dozens of empty wine jugs scattered across the writing desk and floor.
This was how the desperate drank, thought Sara.
‘Old Tom really was listening to me last night,’ he said, eyeing the ladies before him.
Creesjie snorted in amusement, causing Sara to smile involuntarily. ‘Did you go to Sander Kers for confession yesterday?’ she asked.
He gestured towards his cabin. ‘What would I need to confess for? Governor General’s master of this voyage, which makes me just another wealthy passenger with a trunk full of wine.’
‘You helped my husband smuggle something onboard secretly,’ said Sara, watching his demeanour change. ‘Nobody seems to know what it is, but by all accounts, you’ve been drinking heavily ever since.’
His face was momentarily stricken, overwhelmed by fear and doubt and guilt. For an instant, Sara believed they might hear what they needed, but bile poured out instead.
‘Does your husband know you’re playing thief-taker with Arent Hayes?’ he asked, cocking his head. ‘Does he know you’re dragging your daughter into these adventures?’ He leered at her. ‘Maybe I should tell him –’
‘Sander Kers is missing,’ interrupted Isabel, pushing in front of him. ‘If he came to you for confession, you were the last –’
‘I don’t know anything, and I wouldn’t tell it to a damn mardijker if I did.’
He slammed the door shut in their faces.
45
‘What do we do next?’ asked Isabel, as they trudged away from Van Schooten’s cabin.
Sara considered it, then addressed Lia behind her. ‘How’s the model of the boat and its smuggling compartments progressing?’
‘I’ve only just started. Why?’
‘Your father brought something aboard he wanted kept secret, and Reynier van Schooten helped him do so. If he confessed what he’d done to Sander, and your father found out, maybe that’s why he’s disappeared. That cargo’s onboard this ship somewhere and Bosey’s smuggling compartments seem a good place to start looking. We just have to know where they are.’
‘Don’t forget the letter,’ warned Creesjie. ‘Sander was lured onboard the Saardam. If Old Tom was behind that, maybe it’s responsible for his disappearance.’
‘Either way, there’s nothing more we can do for the time being, except wait for Arent to finish his search,’ said Sara.
It was clear the answer didn’t satisfy Isabel, but there was no other course of action open. As with all the passengers, her freedom was limited.
Creesjie removed another scrap of parchment from her sleeve and handed it to Sara. ‘On other matters, this should cheer you up. It’s the list of names you saw in your husband’s cabin.’
Bastiaan Bos – 1604
Tukihiri – 1605
Gillis van de Ceulen – 1607
Hector Dijksma – 1609
Emily de Haviland – 1610
‘I recognise some of these names from the daemonologica,’ said Isabel, peering over Sara’s shoulder. ‘They’re all families who fell under Old Tom’s thrall and were investigated by Pieter Fletcher.’
The girl smelled faintly of paprika. It wasn’t unpleasant. In fact, it made Sara slightly hungry. She wondered why she’d never noticed it before. There were crates of the stuff in the cargo hold. They must have been directly beneath where Isabel slept.
‘Do you know why Jan is interested in these names?’ wondered Creesjie.
‘I heard him talking with Vos yesterday,’ replied Sara slowly, trying to answer the question for herself. ‘I only caught a little of it, but he admitted to setting Old Tom loose thirty years ago in return for the power he holds. Now, he thinks somebody else has raised the demon against him. Arent confronted him, but he wouldn’t say anything more.’
Creesjie blanched, gripping Sara’s arm. ‘Jan summoned it?’
‘That’s what he said.’ She turned her attention back to Isabel, ‘Do you know what became of the names on this list?’
‘Pieter Fletcher kept extensive records,’ she said, tapping her satchel. ‘The daemonologica will have the answers.’
‘Then let’s go to my cabin and have a look.’ Sara peered at Creesjie. ‘Did you discover anything about Captain Crauwels last night?’
‘I don’t think he’s our demon, if that’s what you’re asking,’ said Creesjie. ‘His family were nobles once, and he’s trying to restore their fortune. Somehow, he seems to think Jan can help him.’
‘Did you find out how?’
‘No, but I’ll try again tonight. Oh, and I may be able to get more information from Vos on your husband’s connection to Old Tom.’
‘He’s fiercely loyal,’ said Sara sceptically. ‘I’m not doubting your fabled charms, but –’
‘He asked me to marry him,’ interrupted Creesjie, a twinkle coming into her eye.
‘Vos proposed!’ exclaimed Lia.
‘Yes, last night, after we were attacked by the Eighth Lantern.’
‘But you’re …’ Sara searched for the word. ‘You’re you, and he’s …’