by Antony John
As she leaned forward and raised the mainsail, her vest rode up, revealing a sliver of skin. It was spotless and tan, divided in half by the bumps of her spine. Would it feel the same as the skin on her fingertips?
She turned around so suddenly I didn’t have time to look away. “Everything all right?”
I swallowed hard. “Yes.”
She reached for the pendant and twisted it around her fingers playfully. “Nice view, isn’t it?”
“Huh?”
She pointed toward the water, and the mainland beyond.
“Oh. Right. Yes.”
She was trying to hide a smile, I could tell. “I want to take the boats out,” she said wistfully. She ran her fingers across the rough canvas, watched it ripple with each touch. When a breath of wind entered the boathouse, the sail fluttered.
I faced the mainland again. I almost convinced myself I might be able to see the Plague-carrying rats that had engulfed the land since before I was born. But to the naked eye it seemed indistinguishable from Roanoke Island: a mixture of trees and tall grass.
Or maybe not. When I raised my binoculars I spied the shell of a small building. It looked wooden, but I couldn’t be sure. Bushes had mostly consumed it, but that didn’t make it any less remarkable. For the first time, here was evidence that someone had inhabited the mainland.
“You need to see this.” I handed Alice the binoculars. “Look at the far shore.”
She didn’t raise the binoculars, but seemed to lock in on the building all the same. “Do you think it was built before or after Skeleton Town?”
“Before, I guess. It’s wooden, right? That’s got to be easier to come by than stone.”
We stared at this relic of a world we could never know. It was fascinating, but alarming too. Plague to the west. Pirates to the east. How long could we really hope to survive?
Alice’s eyes remained locked on the building. Slowly, she raised the binoculars. Then she gasped.
“What is it?”
She pressed the binoculars into my hands. “Check out the right side.”
I located the building again, and followed the greenery to the right. This time I noticed something else. Peeking through were three large letters: CRO.
They looked as though they’d been daubed on with blood.
CHAPTER 16
Is that blood?” I asked.
“Sure looks like it.” Alice shivered, but recovered with a deep breath.
Returning her attention to the boat, she lowered the sails and rolled them tightly around the beams. It was how we’d been taught to leave boats that we planned to use again soon.
Would we really be sailing to escape the pirates? Where would we sail?
“Come on,” she said finally. “We should head back.”
We fought through shrubbery and rejoined the road. After a couple hundred yards, she veered off into the woods. There was no path, no sign that this is where we’d emerged earlier. She seemed certain, though.
I looked back at the boathouse but I couldn’t see it.
“Are you coming?” Alice called out.
Finally I located a couple of the planks. “How did you find this place?”
“It was on the map.”
“Show me.”
She stopped, but she didn’t turn around. “Why?”
“When you left Dennis yesterday, you knew exactly where you were going, didn’t you?”
“I don’t know what you mean.”
“I can read a map, Alice. This boathouse wasn’t marked on the one you showed us. It’s also a three-mile round trip, and you did it in less than one strike. You knew it was here. How?”
I waited for her expression to change, a flicker that I was onto something. But she didn’t react at all, just fixed me with her blazing blue eyes.
“The boat was dusty, but the sails weren’t,” I continued. “You must’ve already checked them yesterday. I’m guessing you would’ve checked the boats too, only you couldn’t move them by yourself. That’s why you needed me to come along. Right?”
She leaned against a tree, the hint of a smile on her lips. “Funny, isn’t it? The more cynical you get—the more you doubt everything—the closer you get to the truth. You sound so much smarter when you’re angry.”
The words caught me off guard. She seemed to take pleasure in them too, and I didn’t know how to respond. Had I imagined holding her hand the night before?
“All right,” she said. “Since we’re asking questions: Why did my father hide the map in the first place?”
“So we wouldn’t know about the stores of clothes and food.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know.” I thought about it. “Maybe the Guardians were afraid we’d help ourselves to whatever we wanted.”
“Or maybe they didn’t want us to realize how well they know this place. Lora said their first colony was on Roanoke. What if they were here years instead of months?”
“Until your grandfather died, you mean.”
She paused. “If he died here at all.”
“What?”
“Think about it. Every year the Guardians remind us what happened to my grandfather, but I haven’t seen a single building with weak floors. Have you?”
I shook my head.
“Anyway, Eleanor told me that every time she comes here it brings back memories she can’t place.”
“Ananias said something like that once.”
“Hmm. I think the real question is why the Guardians left Roanoke Island. And why they don’t want us knowing what’s here.”
My mind flashed back to the night that Lora died—the way she’d described the clinic, and given me precise directions. Now it all made sense.
Or did it? If the Guardians knew Skeleton Town was safe, why lie to us? Why send Lora at all?
“Lora wasn’t looking after us,” I said as the pieces fell into place. “She was here to make sure we didn’t leave the shelter and explore the town. She was here to keep the Guardians’ secrets.”
Alice didn’t say a word, but her silence spoke volumes.
“Why are you smiling?”
“Like I say, you seem much smarter when you’re angry.”
Her words stung again, and this time it wasn’t just the Guardians I was angry at. “If you already know everything, then tell me what they’ve been hiding from us. What’s so important about this place?”
She pursed her lips. “I’m not sure yet. But I’ll tell you one thing: They were so worried we’d find the boathouse they didn’t even mark it on the map. That has to mean something.”
She began walking away, and I hurried to catch up. “So how did you find it?”
“Isn’t it obvious?” She waited for me to make the connection; sighed when I didn’t. “I’ve explored this island eight times.”
I felt my breath catch. “You can’t expect me to believe that.”
“Why not? Because you couldn’t do it?” She flicked a stray tendril of hair from her eyes. “I know more about Skeleton Town than you can imagine.”
“How did you do it?”
“I waited till nightfall, and took a canoe.”
“By yourself?”
“Yes. It’s hard, but doable.”
“When? When did you start exploring?”
She cast her eyes down, and her steps slowed. “The day of your Apprenticeship.”
“My sixteenth birthday?”
“Yes. I’d really tried to be good until then—listening to the Guardians, helping any way I could. Not that my father ever noticed, but I tried. After that day, though, I knew I couldn’t stay forever—not after the way they treated you. I’d prefer to spend my life sailing around on a clan ship than be stuck in that colony.”
Alice picked up her pace, and this time I di
dn’t try to keep up. The thought that she had been exploring Roanoke Island alone made me feel—what? Betrayed, maybe. Or naïve. I’d always figured I was too open to keep secrets. Now I realized it was simply because I had no secrets to keep.
But it was more than that. When I saw myself through her eyes, I felt as though I’d let everyone down—me, most of all. The night of my sixteenth birthday, I’d lain on my bed wondering what the future held. Meanwhile, Alice had dedicated herself to creating an entirely different future for herself.
Alice sensed me lagging behind, and stopped. She didn’t seem as defiant anymore. “Why do you think the Guardians work so hard to keep us apart?”
I shrugged.
“My father caught me returning from my eighth trip. Said the next time I took a canoe, he’d make sure I was exiled to the mainland. Said I could die alone of the Plague, for all he cared. Said it was no wonder your father and the other Guardians didn’t want me going anywhere near you. Then he said I was a plague too—different, but just as destructive. I think they keep us apart because they’re afraid I’ll influence you.”
“Why?”
“Because you’re the most trusting person in the colony, Thom. And I’m the least. They can handle me alone. But if you joined me, they’d have their hands full.” The thought seemed to amuse her. “I have to escape from this colony. There’s nothing here for me. Never has been. You can see that, can’t you?”
“What about me?”
“I’m not saying it’s not hard for you too—”
“No. I mean, what about me? I’m here for you. Isn’t that . . .” I was about to say enough, but stopped myself. “Something?”
Alice didn’t speak, but she raised her left hand until it was hovering beside mine. Her finger brushed against me, skin on skin, as faintly beautiful as a warm breath. My entire body responded to her touch, a glance with all the power of a gaze.
“You’re not just something, Thom. Not to me. But I need you to be even more.”
She didn’t wait for me to ask what that meant. She just began jogging through the trees, knowing that I’d follow.
To be honest, I knew what she was saying: The time for trusting was over. The Guardians had lied. They’d left us unprepared and unprotected. Lora’s refusal to answer our questions had been a calculated measure all along. And what of Ananias and Eleanor? Did they already know everything we’d worked out? I hoped not. It would be hard to forgive them.
Alice peered over her shoulder. “We should hurry.”
I didn’t want to hurry, though. In spite of everything, being alone with Alice in the boathouse had been a distraction—a place without pirates and the imminent threat of attack. All the way to the edge of Skeleton Town, I felt a peacefulness I hadn’t known in days.
Then the sound of yelling split the air.
Dennis.
We broke into a sprint. There was only one reason for him to be shouting.
He stood beside the shelter, pacing in tiny circles.
Rose arrived at the same moment. “What’s the matter? Are the pirates coming?”
Dennis wouldn’t look at any of us. “No, but . . . I couldn’t see them,” he said, his words punctuated by rapid breaths. “One moment they were on Pond Island, the next they were gone.”
“Gone where?”
“I don’t know. I think they just moved to the end of the bridge. But I thought they were crossing. So I climbed the water tower to get a better view.”
“What did you see?”
“A man.” Dennis swallowed hard. His lips trembled. “He had long hair that blew about. And he . . . had a telescope. I’m sure he was pointing it right at me.”
I pictured the man stopping an entire ship full of pirates with a single raised hand. “When did it happen?”
Dennis shuddered. “Just now.”
I scanned the bridge with my binoculars. There was no one there. Then I surveyed Pond Island. It seemed empty too.
“Looks like they went back to Hatteras. I guess he didn’t see you.” I smiled, hoping it would cheer him up.
“No. He definitely saw me.”
“You can’t know that,” said Rose.
“Yes, I can.” Dennis tugged at the ends of his sleeves. “When he lowered the telescope, he looked straight at me . . . and waved.”
CHAPTER 17
For a moment, there was silence. Now that the pirates knew we were here, what hope did we have?
Rose pointed toward Hatteras. “More smoke,” she murmured. “What’s left to burn?”
No one answered. It wasn’t really a question.
“We’ll be all right,” I said. “We’ll think of something.”
Dennis looked desolate. “Like what? A plan to get our parents back? Make the pirates leave? Rebuild our cabins?”
“We need to go back to Hatteras,” said Rose.
Alice snorted. “No way.”
“Why not? Why shouldn’t we surrender? They’ve got our parents. You said so yourself.” Her eyes flickered toward me, and left me just as quickly. “Anyway, what else is there to stay for?”
“They killed my mother,” I said. “If we go back, what’s to stop them from hurting us too?”
“If that’s their plan, why aren’t they crossing the bridge right now?”
More silence, and this time I didn’t have an answer. Truthfully, it made no sense. Were they trying to starve us out? Was something else going on? Something involving the Guardians that we couldn’t hope to understand?
“I’m not asking you to go back with us,” continued Rose. “I’m just saying, we can’t keep doing this. Dennis wants to see our parents again, and so do I.”
“It’s not safe,” I protested.
“I don’t care. Not anymore.”
I hated hearing the defeat in her voice. I didn’t want Rose to leave. I didn’t want to stay on without her either.
“Before you leave, let’s eat,” I said. I pointed to the grassy square. “Just one more strike. There are still pawpaws, right, Alice?”
Alice nodded, and headed inside to get them.
Rose, Dennis, and I turned off the road together. She kept Dennis between us, like a shield. Was she angry with me? Jealous of Alice? Surely not. I’d spent almost as much time with Rose as I had with Griffin over the past couple of years. I’d tried to tell her over and over how much she meant to me, but she pulled away every time I got close. If anyone had a right to feel hurt, it was me.
“What’s that?” she said, shaking me from my thoughts.
She pointed to a pile of food that lay on a cloth at the foot of a cypress tree: vegetables and roots. Before I could reply, Griffin walked past us and deposited more food.
How? I signed.
His eyes seemed especially bright. His hands shook with excitement. I. Touch. Earth.
It was how Guardians of the Earth always uncovered food. But Griffin had never come close to unearthing this quantity on Hatteras. Was there really so much food on Roanoke?
Where? I asked.
He raised his eyebrows and pointed to a grassy area near the woods, at least a quarter mile away. I. Feel. Here. He pointed to the ground at his feet, then the woods again. Food. There.
I was amazed. How could he possibly sense food from a quarter mile away? I’d never heard of such a thing, not even from the Guardians.
But the vegetables and roots still lay before me.
Earth. Here. Good, he added, though I knew he really meant it was better than on Hatteras. Why. We. Not. Live. Here?
“Did he say this came from a quarter mile away?” asked Rose, before I could respond.
“Yes.”
“Interesting.” She sat down and began rinsing the food with water from a canister. It spilled onto her bandages. Strips of cloth hung down apologetically; she tucked them in.
Somehow she didn’t seem surprised by Griffin’s announcement.
Griffin tried to get my attention again. Something. Else, he began. Cat. There. He pointed toward the road with the clinic, but I couldn’t see a cat.
I. Know, I signed back. I. See. Yesterday.
How. Is. Here?
When we were younger, there had been many cats on Hatteras Island. The Guardians had bred them in case rats ever crossed from the mainland. We’d given them names, fed them fish scraps, and let them sleep in our cabins. But one summer, a few of the cats had become sick. Before the season was over, they’d all died.
So how had this one survived?
Cat. Here. How? signed Griffin when I didn’t respond.
I’d forgotten about the cat once I found the lantern, but Griffin had a good point. How could a cat travel from Hatteras to Roanoke Island? Swim two miles? Unlikely. Jump the gap in the bridge? Even more unlikely.
I. Look, he continued. Cat. Alone.
Someone. Put. Here, I suggested.
He weighed my words. Maybe. But he seemed doubtful.
“Thom!” shouted Alice.
I ran back onto the street as Griffin took off in search of more food.
Alice was pointing at the sound. To the southeast, the water seemed ablaze with reflected sunlight. But nearer to us, in line with Pond Island, something was floating. It looked like one of our canoes.
I peered through the binoculars. It was ours, all right—Ananias and Eleanor’s, I guessed. “It’s empty. Must’ve gone adrift at high tide.”
“Adrift? I don’t think so. The pirates wouldn’t waste a canoe.”
“Well, no one’s paddling.”
“Look closer.”
I felt a flash of annoyance, but did as she asked. Something glinted inside. “There’s something in it. I can’t make it out.”
Rose stood beside us now. “Are they coming?”
“No. But something in the canoe just caught the light.”
“What are we going to do?” asked Dennis. “The wind’s pushing it this way.”
