The Devil's Teeth (Ravenwood Mysteries #5)

by Sabrina Flynn

  "I'll let you figure that out."

  "Riot, do you know Conan Doyle?"

  "I do not."

  "Then how do you know Holmes is still alive?"

  Riot laced his fingers with hers. "Instinct."

  "You shouldn't give a woman false hope. It's cruel."

  "I'm telling the truth. Holmes is alive and currently in London."

  Isobel snatched her hand back. "You're as bad as Lotario."

  34

  Red Rock Island

  Isobel stood on the edge of a pier. Salt air caressed her cheeks, and a piece of her heart seemed to come alive. "A boat?" It was a question full of hope.

  "Chartered." Riot gave her an enigmatic smile. "You don't have to wear your disguise once we're aboard," he whispered.

  Isobel and Jin stared at the steam trawler. It was as decrepit as its captain. Tim stood on deck waving his cap. Tobias scooted along the gangplank to them. "What took you so long? We got to make the tide." The boy looked for luggage, but there was none.

  Riot touched Isobel's arm. "When we're aboard. I promise."

  "Tim's going to captain the boat?" she asked uneasily.

  "He used to be a—"

  "Ferry captain on the Mississippi?"

  "Something like that." For the sake of verisimilitude, Riot helped her over the gangplank. "I'm sure you can wrestle for the wheel once we're out of port."

  Tim tipped his hat to her, and ordered Tobias to cast off. Isobel resisted the urge to take over. Instead, she let Riot lead her to the bow. They watched the busy port of Vallejo awaken with the sun. Travelers boarding and docking, others rushing to and from the train depot, all eager to make their exchanges. It was hectic and chaotic. And Isobel tried to take in every detail at once. It was her curse and gift. It gave her a headache more often than not.

  Tim sounded a deafening horn, and the steamer chugged out of port into the fog.

  "Now then," Riot said. He had their full attention. "Let me tell you about The Devil's Teeth and a young man named Nicholas Stratigareas."

  Isobel and Jin leaned forward with every word. But his narrative was a more innocent version. There were details he skimmed over, like the Devil's Acre. His eyes slid to hers: he'd fill her in at another time. In the end, Riot pulled out a scrimshaw box and handed it to her.

  "Is this the sewing box where Leonardo found the letter?" she asked.

  Riot nodded.

  Isobel studied the box in the fog-shrouded bay. After a moment, she gestured for Riot's magnifying glass. She applied the lens to the intricate carvings and immediately recognized the small bumps dotting a jagged, kidney-shaped bay. Fanciful waves had been carved into the shape, but two waves moved against the rest. They made the shape of an X next to an insignificant little island that lay midway between Sheep Island and Point San Quentin.

  "My God," she whispered.

  "What is it?" Jin asked.

  Isobel thrust the box and magnifying glass at Jin. "Did you bring shovels?" she asked Riot.

  "And pickaxes."

  Isobel grabbed the man and kissed him before rushing to the helm. "Are we headed to Red Rock Island?"

  Tim stepped aside. "Would you like to take the helm, Captain Morgan?"

  Isobel shoved her bonnet and wig into Tim's hands. "I would."

  Tim gave her a wink and slapped his cap on her head. "There's a change of clothes down below when you're ready."

  "Will you keep a lookout at the bow?"

  "Aye, aye, Captain Morgan." Tim saluted, and stomped to the front of the boat.

  Salt air filled her lungs, the gulls circled with their calls, and waves lapped beneath her hull. It had been too long. All she needed was a sail. The trawler wasn't her Lady, but it would do. Isobel wiped moisture from her cheeks, smearing her costume makeup.

  Under her hands the trawler plowed through fog and over glassy water. Landbound for too many months, she lost herself in the feel of the ocean under her feet. No one disturbed her. They let her be. It seemed a dream. One she had imagined a hundred times over during her time in a prison cell.

  Red Rock Island came into view, rising abruptly out of the water. Two hundred feet of stark red rock, clothed in fog. Isobel piloted the trawler around to the north end, to a red sand beach. She ordered the anchor lowered and the rowboat lowered, then went below deck to change her clothes.

  She glanced in a small tin mirror, and hastily wiped the tears from her eyes. She dunked a towel in water to scrub off her makeup. Footsteps sounded on the companionway, and then slowed.

  Riot came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist. "Only three more months," he murmured.

  "One hundred days," she corrected. "Thank you for this." It was a threadbare whisper. "This… You…" Words got stuck in her throat.

  "I know." He gave her a firm squeeze. "Shall we?"

  Her eyes flashed with the hunt. "Yes."

  Under the cover of fog, they left Tim aboard and climbed into the rowboat. Riot took up the oars.

  "Why are we here?" Jin whispered.

  "The box is a map," Isobel explained.

  The girl looked puzzled. "To the eggs?"

  "Something like that."

  Sarah grabbed Jin by the shoulders. "It's buried treasure!" Her voice bounced over the water, and Riot quickly shushed her.

  Riot ran the rowboat onto the beach. Tobias hopped off the bow, and helped Riot and Isobel push the boat onto firmer ground.

  "What is this place?" Jin whispered, craning her neck to search for a peak. The island was desolate and lonely, and the fog lent it a ghostly aura.

  "It's an island," Tobias said.

  Jin glared at the boy.

  "It used to be a manganese mine," Riot explained.

  Isobel hoisted a shovel. "And sailors used to dig up rock for ballast. The old mine is this way." But Tobias was already running towards a steep slope to climb.

  "Hold this." Riot handed Jin a lantern.

  "Tobias," Isobel hissed. "This way." The boy switched directions.

  "I don't think you should tell Miss Lily about bringing him here," Sarah said, frowning at the rugged terrain.

  "Probably not," Riot agreed.

  Isobel walked towards a cliff.

  "We're not going to climb that, are we?" Sarah asked.

  "Come and see," Isobel said, as she scrambled over rocks. An archway through the cliff revealed itself. Sarah looked relieved.

  They walked under the arch, and around towards the west side of the island. Halfway down the western shore, a path veered off, heading for the jutting rock. A black hole gaped in the side of the island. The entrance to the cave was guarded by a dead seagull, flies buzzing around its corpse.

  While Tobias poked at the dead bird, Isobel stopped to study the scrimshaw box. The inside of the lid had a more detailed carving. At first glance, it looked like a botched job, a mess of lines and shapes that made no sense. But Isobel spotted the pattern in the madness. It was the inside of a cave. "Do you see this…?" She showed the lid to the children. "We're looking for this rock formation."

  "These look like tiny mountains," Tobias said.

  "Or gator teeth," said Sarah. "Except that one." She pointed to an upright carving with a rounded top.

  They walked into the mouth of the cave, and Jin bent to light the lantern. The floor sloped upwards, breaking off in different directions. The ceiling was jagged and irregular, and the wash of surf echoed against the rocks, drowning their footsteps.

  "I don't think we should be in here," Tobias said.

  "You three most definitely should not be in here," Isobel said.

  "We should have left you on the boat," Riot added.

  "That wouldn't be fair," Sarah said.

  As darkness closed around them, Jin stopped. The lantern shook in her outstretched hand. Isobel gripped her shoulder, and bent close to her ear. "You don't have to come. I'll wait outside with you."

  The girl gave a jerk of her head.

  Isobel waited. But Jin didn't
move. She was frozen by memories of whatever dark hell she had survived.

  "Hurry up!" Tobias said. He and Sarah stood impatiently at the edge of light.

  "Is something the matter?" Riot asked softly.

  A ghost-like moan came from the depths of the cave.

  Sarah jumped, and Jin nearly dropped the lantern. Isobel plucked it from her hand as Sarah whacked Tobias over the top of the head with a hat. "Stop it!"

  Jin trembled in place, unable to go forward or back. Isobel was on the verge of bodily carrying Jin out of the cave when Riot crouched in front of the child.

  Riot tipped back his hat, so he might look her in the eyes. "Remember who you're with, Jin," he said softly. "Would Din Gau let anything happen to you?"

  Jin's nostrils flared with every panicked breath. But Riot's gaze was steady, and his voice reassuring. Slowly, Jin shook her head. "No, Bahba." It was the barest of whispers.

  Riot held out his hand, and Jin took it. As Tobias and Sarah continued their bickering, Jin shuffled forward, holding tightly onto Riot's hand.

  "Sarah, Tobias, stay focused." Riot's gentle reminder silenced the pair.

  The ceiling was high in places, lost to the lantern's light. Isobel had explored this cave as a child, but it was larger than she remembered.

  "What if someone dug up the treasure already?" Sarah asked.

  "Then we'll have had a pleasant day on the bay,” Riot replied.

  "Can I go down there?" Tobias asked. "I have matches."

  Riot took out a handheld light, and thumbed on the device. "Take this."

  Tobias frowned at the flickering light.

  "It's trustworthy," Riot defended. "With the occasional slap. We'll meet back here."

  Tobias brandished the light. "Come on, Sarah."

  "I don't want to go with you."

  "I'll go with you." Isobel handed the lantern to Riot.

  "I don't think splitting up is wise," Sarah said.

  "It's not the kind of cave you can get lost in," Isobel said.

  Isobel followed Tobias's spooky moans, until she caught up with him. He put the light under his chin, and grinned.

  "You best hope there's no bears in here."

  "There ain't no bears on the ocean."

  "Are you sure about that?" Isobel asked.

  Tobias's face fell, and he handed the device to her. The divergence didn't go far. It ended at a wall of uneven rock.

  Isobel pointed the light at a stone protruding from a cairn. It was a grave marker. "Riot!" Her voice bounced off the walls, eventually settling on his ears.

  The three joined them in the dead end. Jin looked less pale, and more steady in the light. Riot held the lantern closer to the headstone. A piece of whale bone had been fashioned into a crude cross with the inscription: Dead I am and salted here; I drawed the cart fourteen year. It was a miner's grave.

  "We're not going to dig him up, are we?" Sarah asked, a note of panic in her voice.

  "No." Isobel ran the light over the opposite wall. It illuminated a familiar looking formation of jagged rocks. She aimed the light higher, and was rewarded by a dark crevice. It was nine feet above the cave floor. "There it is." Exactly the kind of place an egger would hide his treasure. High off the ground.

  "It appears we won't need the shovel after all," Riot said.

  "Slightly disappointing." Isobel stuffed the light into her coat pocket, and climbed up the uneven rock. Once there, she found a suitable foothold, and shined the light into the crevice. "There's a box in here." She reached in, all the way up to her shoulder. Her fingers brushed a leather handle, and a thrill of excitement zipped up her arm. She nearly dropped the light.

  Isobel dragged the wooden box to the edge. She estimated it weighed about thirty pounds. Difficult to place alone, but not impossible for a skilled egger who'd climbed The Devil's Teeth with a pouch of eggs. Isobel braced her foot on a rock protrusion, and handed the box down to Riot.

  There was no lock. Only a worn hinge that fell off when she opened the lid. Riot raised the lantern. Gold shimmered back. A heaping pile of gold coins with Lady Liberty's head stamped on the front. The children gasped.

  Isobel plucked up a twenty dollar piece, and studied it in the light.

  Sarah sighed. "Too bad we can't keep it."

  "About that…" Riot said. "Mr. Nicholas plans to split this three ways with Leonardo and Ravenwood Agency as payment for our services." Riot handed a gold coin to each child. "For your assistance with the case."

  Tobias's mouth fell open. "Think of all the candy I can buy with this."

  "We will bury you here," Jin said. "Only it will say, Dead I am and salted here; I ate candy eight year."

  Isobel snorted and closed the lid, and Riot hoisted the box. As the children left with the lantern to explore nooks and crannies, Riot glanced at Isobel. "You finally found your buried treasure."

  "I did." She smiled. "But I had already found it this past December."

  "I do believe it was I who found you."

  "You ambushed me."

  "And you held me at knifepoint," he said.

  "Careful, Riot, I may maroon you here."

  "As long as you retrieve me for our wedding."

  "I'll have to think on that."

  Historical Afterword

  Once again, my dear readers, you are likely left wondering what parts are fiction and what parts were torn from history. I wish I could make this stuff up, but I'm afraid even my imagination could not have conceived of an Egg War. Yes, it's true. Eggers, as they were known, raided the Farallon Islands. Rival egg companies fought each other in 1863. There was even a cannon involved. So many eggs were gathered that the egg companies nearly wiped out the local murre population, but thanks to conservationists the population is making a comeback today.

  The Morgue (which I'm sure will make an appearance in a future book), Devil's Acre, Spanish Kitty, and the story of Big Louise and Little Josie Dupree were ripped straight from the fantastical history of the Barbary Coast. And in Napa Valley, the Oat Hill Mine Road can still be hiked today, although the mercury mines are off limits due to the hazardous waste our enterprising forefathers left behind.

  And Red Rock Island. For decades, I saw that island off the San Rafael Bridge. I even discussed swimming to it with my fellow swimmers, but I never knew that it had such an interesting history. It was mined, and there is still a cave on the island. I found a reference to the miner's headstone buried in newspaper archives, although I'm sure it's long gone. Oh, and I should mention: Red Rock Island is currently for sale. So if any of you have twenty-two million dollars sitting in an account, there you go. I only ask that you let me visit.

  Acknowledgments

  I discovered that readers do read the acknowledgements. Now that I know this, the pressure is on. Words don't really do justice to all the people who help me with each novel. Each book goes through an editing gauntlet, and in the course of writing nine books, I've gathered a team (I think they are willing) of indispensable editors and beta readers.

  As always, my editor, Merrily Taylor, has supported me through the entire process, including deftly and kindly handling all my frantic emails of self-doubt.

  And I'm so lucky Tom Welch agrees to go through every manuscript, line by line, searching for innumerable errors on my part. He's the final polisher, and I feel so privileged to work with such a gifted editor on every book. (Any mistakes are due to my own clumsy fingers.)

  Thank you to my beta-readers: Annelie Wendeberg, Alice Wright, Erin Bright, John Bychowski, Lyn Brinkley-Adams, Lorene Herrera, Rich Lovin, and Chaparrel Hilliard. Your insights and feedback are very much appreciated!

  And finally to my readers. Thank you so much for continuing to read what I write, and for leaving such wonderful reviews. They mean the world to me.

  If you enjoyed The Devil’s Teeth, and would like to see more of Bel and Riot, please consider leaving a review. Reviews help authors keep writing.

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  Also by Sabrina Flynn

  Ravenwood Mysteries

  From the Ashes

  A Bitter Draught

  Record of Blood

  Conspiracy of Silence

  The Devil's Teeth

  * * *

  Legends of Fyrsta

  Untold Tales

  A Thread in the Tangle

  King's Folly

  The Broken God

  * * *

  www.sabrinaflynn.com

  About the Author

  Sabrina lives in perpetual fog and sunshine with a rock troll and two crazy imps. She spent her youth trailing after insanity, jumping off bridges, climbing towers, and riding down waterfalls in barrels. After spending fifteen years wrestling giant hounds and battling pint-sized tigers, she now travels everywhere via watery portals leading to anywhere.

  * * *

  She is currently lost in South Carolina.

  * * *

  You can connect with her at www.sabrinaflynn.com

  Glossary

  Bai! - a Cantonese expression for when something bad happens (close to the English expression, 'shit')

  Bahba - Dad

  Banker - a horse racing bet where the bettor believes their selection is certain to win

  Bong 幫 - help

  Boo how doy - Hatchet Man - a hired tong soldier or assassin

  Capper - a person who is on the lookout for possible clients for attorneys

  Chi Gum Shing 紫禁城 - Forbidden Palace

  Chinese Six Companies - benevolent organizations formed to help the Chinese travel to and from China, to take care of the sick and the starving, and to return corpses to China for burial.