office area.

A double bedsat nestled in a built-in nook, much like Henry’s aboard TheDevil’s Heart, only this one was adorned with gorgeous hand-carved embellishments. A red velvet sofa with atufted back sat on the opposite side, near the door. A short, butlong, bookcase filled with books next to it. In the center sat alarge mahogany desk, with bold claw foot legs and gold hardware. Iwalked over and pulled out the wingback chair, upholstered in thesame red velvet as the sofa, and sat down.

“Looks good onye,” Finn said, his words echoing off the quiet walls.

I should havebeen ecstatic, I should have been in my glory. But a heavy pit inmy stomach wouldn’t let go of the infinite sadness that turnedaround in there. Like a ball in perpetual motion, the pain ofHenry’s absence fuelled my sorrow.

I peered up athim. “It feels wrong without him.”

He breathed asigh and looped his thumbs through the hoops on his belt. “Aye, Iknow, lass. But we’ll find him. We’ll get Henry back and then yetwo can rule this ship together.”

Lottie camearound the desk and placed her hand on my shoulder. “We all will,”she told me. “I know the shores of this island like the back of myhand. I practically lived on this ship growing up. We sailedeverywhere. We’ll search every nook and cave.”

I nodded andsmiled, hiding the warm tears that sat behind my eyes, ready topour out. How did I get so lucky to fall into a friendship withsomeone like Finn and Gus? Any pirate ship could have plucked mefrom the sea that day. And then Lottie. Time saw fit to insert meinto situations where I walked right into the perfect people.Lottie, I hardly knew her, but our friendship felt real. I knew itwould only grow into something beautiful over the years. Likekindred spirits. I wondered thenif my time traveling adventureshad anything to do with my ties back to piracy. Maria Cobham was myblood relative. Did blood call toblood? Was she the reason the siren let me bend the laws of time?Or was I destined to come back and cross fateful paths withLottie? The granddaughter of RedJohn Roberts, one of Peter Easton’s…

My eyeswidened and shot back and forth between my two friends.

“Are youokay?” Lottie asked.

The suddenidea washed over my body and fit into place like missing pieces ofa puzzle. It felt so right. “I know where The Cobhams are.”

Finn steppedforward. “What? Are ye sure?”

“Yes,” I toldhim. “remember the street pirates?”

“Aye.”

“When Amos hadthe knife held to my stomach, he said that he wanted to send amessage to Maria. That he should just gut me right then and leave atrail of blood back to Kelly’s Island.”

I could seethe cogs slowly clicking into place, but he needed more. I lookedat Lottie. “And what’s Kelly’sIsland known for?”

She thoughtfor a second and then her face lit up. “That’s where Peter Eastonstationed his headquarters. It’s been abandoned for years. But it’sthe perfect place to hide from the world while keeping eyes on theshores all around. You couldn’t sneak up from anywhere.”

“No,” Ireplied. “But we will. We’ll form a plan and go to Kelly’s Island.”I slammed my hand down on the desk. My desk. “We’re going tosave Henry.”

***

After we rowedback to shore, I scrambled out of the small boat and the three ofus practically ran back to The Slippery Cod. We found Gus watchingover young Charlie who was looking so much better. His pale skinwas free of sweat but still felthot to the touch.

“He stirredfor a while,” Gus told us proudly. “Never woke, but at least he’sin there somewhere.”

I crushed upanother antibiotic pill and dissolved it in water before carefullypouring it down Charlie’s throat. I slipped the bottle back in mysatchel and looked to my friends.

“He needs twoper day just like I did there. He should wake up once the fevergoes down enough.” I reached over and touched the back of my handto his forehead again. “Which it already is. Hopefully, he’ll be in good enough shape whenwe’re ready to sail.”

“Speakin’ ofwhich,” Finn piped in and stepped toward Gus, “we all got jobs todo.”

Gus nodded. “Ifigured. What do you require of me?”

I pulled outthe bag of schillings and handed it to him. I could have given itto Lottie back on the ship, but I wanted a way to win over Gus’sapproval. Trusting him with a large amount of money and managingthe readying of our ship should dothe job. “Go with Lottie. Get everything we need. I’ll stay withCharlie and Finn has some things to do aboard The Queen.”

He slowlyaccepted the heavy pouch of money, a thoughtful look on hisface.

“I’m going toreally need you, Gus,” I told him. “I can’t do this without you. Ineed the best quartermaster on thesea, and you’re it.”

He sighed, butI could see the smallest hint of a smile behind his scruffy brownbeard. “Fine,” he said. “But we’ll need a crew. Deckhands. We can’tmanage that beast just the four of us.”

“I trust youto find some capable bodies,” I told him, further offering my trustin him. It was working. I could see the sense of pride and purposecoming to the surface of his demeanor.

“Right,” hereplied and looked at Lottie. “Andyou know where to go for everything?”

She grinned.“I can point you in the right direction, sure.” She turned on herheel and strut out the door, calling behind her, “Come on then! I’mnot gonna hold your hand.”

I chuckled butmy laughter turned to surprise when I spotted the slight hint of ared color flush to Gus’s cheeks. Our eyes met, and the rednessspread. But he stormed out before I could say anything.

“Well, thisshould be an interesting adventure,” I muttered to myself as Iwalked over and sat down in the armchair next to Charlie.

I watched himfor hours, dripping small spoonfuls of soup broth down his throatin an attempt to feed some nutrients into him. His frail bodyshifted ever so slightly and his face twisted into all sorts ways.He was in there, that was for sure. We just had to give themedicine time to work. In just one day, I could already see a hugeimprovement,

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