‘But do you like being married?’
‘Not always,’ admitted Creesjie, her blonde hair catching the light.
Lia looked at it enviously. It was like spun gold.
‘My first husband was a wretch,’ said Creesjie without feeling. ‘But my second husband, Pieter, was the love of my life.’ Her voice came alive, the way a bush could suddenly be full of birdsong. ‘He was charming and eloquent. He could dance and sing, and he made me laugh.’
‘You don’t speak of him often,’ said Lia, saddened by Creesjie’s wistfulness.
‘It’s too painful,’ she said. ‘Every morning I reach over, expecting to find him in my bed. I hear the door downstairs and think it’s him, returning from one of his trips. I miss him so.’
‘Do you think he would have been able to stop Old Tom?’
‘He didn’t think so when he forced us to flee Amsterdam, but he made many mistakes.’ There was something bitter in that. ‘And, for all my admiration, I must confess that my Pieter wasn’t as clever as your mama. Even so, it’s not the easiest task finding a demon among these men. There’s malice enough on the Saardam to bring heaven to ruins.’
The door flew open and Sara bustled in breathlessly.
‘Oh, hello,’ she said to Creesjie, snatching the model of the ship from the desk. ‘Don’t mind me, I’ve had an idea.’
‘Sara!’ came Arent’s voice from the end of the corridor. ‘What did you want me to –’
Sara kissed Lia on the forehead. ‘Thank you for this, dear heart, it’s beautiful.’
And then she was gone, slamming the door shut behind her.
Lia smiled at the place where her mother had been. ‘I’ve never seen Mama this happy.’
‘It’s lovely, isn’t it?’ agreed Creesjie, who was obviously glad to change the subject. ‘It’s a shame. Your mother is wonderful, but she suits your father ill.’
‘Why?’
Creesjie took a moment to think about it. ‘Because he doesn’t need a partner,’ she said, at last. ‘He needs a wife and your mother doesn’t need a husband, she needs a partner.’
‘Is that why he beats her?’
Creesjie flinched at the coldness in Lia’s voice.
‘I think so,’ admitted Creesjie.
‘Is that why he hurt her so badly she couldn’t walk?’ pressed Lia, whose face had twisted into something malevolent.
‘I’m not trying to persuade you, or dissuade you,’ responded Creesjie, obviously uncomfortable. ‘I just want you to make your decisions for the best reasons, with all the facts laid before you. It’s a terrible thing to betray kin, especially when we don’t understand the price. Regret is the worst thing we do to ourselves.’
‘I understand,’ said Lia, nodding.
And, finally, she did. Creesjie thought Lia was doing all of this because she didn’t want to be forced into a marriage once they reached Amsterdam. She thought that Lia hurting her father was simply an unfortunate step along the way. Of course, Creesjie had it the wrong way around.
Arranging her skirts, Creesjie took a step towards the door.
‘Do you believe there are some things that can’t be forgiven?’ asked Lia.
Creesjie’s face flickered, as if trying to make sense of the question.
‘Yes,’ she said hollowly.
‘Good,’ said Lia. ‘So do I.’
And with that, she returned to the plans on her writing desk.
52
Emerging on the quarterdeck, Sara jammed the model of the Saardam into Arent’s hands. Confusion became wonder as he turned the miniature capstan wheel with his finger. That feature hadn’t strictly been necessary, but Lia wove delight into everything she made. It was one of the things Sara loved most about her.
Arent’s eyes were wide, a foolish smile on his lips. She saw the boy he must have been.
‘This is magnificent,’ he said. ‘Where did you get it?’
Sara hesitated. She trusted Arent, but Lia’s secrets were dangerous. She’d been harbouring them as long as she could remember, ever since that first old man had heard her muttering about adding barrelling to the castle’s cannons to extend their range.
Before she’d known what was happening, a crowd had surrounded her. They’d never heard such words before, let alone from an eight-year-old girl. Sara had managed to usher her away without too many more questions, but, it had happened again a few days later, when Lia had idly suggested a stronger design for the fort’s walls to the stonemason.
He’d seen the sense of it immediately, but not coming from a young girl.
In fright, he’d marched her to the governor general. That had been the last time Lia had been allowed outside of the fort.
‘Lia built it,’ said Arent quietly, observing her disquiet. ‘Her cleverness is one of those things people keep tripping over themselves trying to hide. Don’t worry, I’ve seen the trouble Sammy’s intelligence has brought him. I’ll keep it to myself.’ He sucked a breath through his teeth. ‘Did she invent The Folly?’
Sara opened her mouth to lie, but was defeated by his honest expression. ‘How could you know that?’
‘I saw The Folly after we retrieved it,’ said Arent. ‘It was obviously clever, but it was also beautiful, and elegant. There was something playful about it that made me think it was a toy. This has the same quality.’
Arent inspected the model carefully. ‘Lia invented The Folly, which makes her the most valuable thing on this ship,’ he murmured. ‘If Old Tom knows, she could be in danger.’
‘I’ve thought about that,’ she said. ‘If Old Tom comes for my husband, I don’t doubt he’d trade Lia to it in return for his own life.’
Arent stared at her in disbelief. His uncle and his grandfather had been so worried about Arent’s father killing him, they’d hired an assassin to murder him in the woods. It was a horrifying act of devotion done from a black-hearted love, but it was love all the same. How could his uncle not be willing to extend that same devotion to his own daughter? How empty must his heart have become to see Lia as nothing more than another breastplate?
‘I can’t believe we’re talking about the same man who raised me,’ he said hollowly.
‘Power changes people, Arent.’
Arent looked out at the empty ocean, troubled. He still wasn’t used to it. For the last few weeks, there had always been the reassuring sight of the other ships. Without them, the sea suddenly looked very large and the sky very threatening, and the Saardam very frail.
Arent changed subject, trying to focus on a fear he could do something about. ‘What’s the purpose of this model? You said it could help us.’
‘I asked Lia to work out the spaces onboard where smuggling compartments could be built.’ Sara reached inside the ship and pulled open a tiny door. ‘I thought we could check them one by one. Bosey built them, so if Old Tom was involved in the theft of The Folly, perhaps that’s where the pieces were hidden.’
‘If we return The Folly to my uncle, we may keep him from flogging the crew unnecessarily.’
‘And we’d be able to prevent a mutiny.’
They were almost to the compartment under the half deck when Larme’s quick, short steps sounded behind them. ‘Arent,’ he called.
The mercenary met him.
‘The crew’s in my ear about this fight you organised with Wyck. Now the storm’s passed, they’re eager to see the blood they were promised.’ Before Arent could respond, he wagged a finger. ‘I’m asking you to reconsider. Two weeks have passed, and I reckon that’s enough time to let wounded pride heal. He soiled your bunk, but no harm was done past that, which is a better end than most men have got out of him. Forget it happened, Hayes. He’ll have somebody else to torment by now. I know him.’