Most people wander back to cleaning up their belongings to get ready for our departure, but I sit with the dead a little longer. Just like that, in a matter of 24 hours, we lost half of our team. Everyone else has had time to say goodbye to the other members, but I haven’t yet. So I take a moment to go to each mound of dirt and say a soft goodbye to each of them. I thank them for their efforts in trying to help me. I apologize that my father brought them into this mess, and I cry for each one of them.
Chapter 30
I follow Albert out to the shore where he has started to lay out the pieces of our boats. There’s a pile of cracked and soaked wood along with one torn black sail. I notice we are without a motor and realize, even though we are close to Libertas, it will be harder to get there without assistance from the motor.
It’s odd to see Albert without his brother. My heart aches for him, and I wish there was something I could do. I know how it feels to lose family. Albert is putting up a strong front though, and I wouldn’t expect anything less.
“This is all I found,” Albert says, and I can tell he’s hoping I can perform some sort of miracle. I see that there’s only enough wood for probably one boat. With only 11 people left, 12 now that Marin has joined us, it’ll have to do.
I take pieces of the boat and line them up with each other. When I start to get the pieces to fit I watch as the cracked pieces become one whole piece again, and eventually, a brand new boat sits in front of us. It’s one of the best things I’ve been able to do with my gift. I’m starting to figure it out, slowly but surely. I start to feel lightheaded, and I feel Albert grab my side and lower me into the sand.
“Are you okay?” Albert asks.
“Yeah, I’m fine,” I say and rub my eyes until my brain clears again. “How does it look?”
“It looks like a brand new boat,” he says back to me. I tilt my head and reexamine it. It’s not as good as he’s making it out to be, but it’s better than I could have hoped for.
“I’m sorry about your brother,” I say and look over to him.
“Thank you, Adaline,” Albert says and then adds, “I still see him everywhere, but I know he wouldn’t change anything.” Albert walks back into camp, cutting the conversation short. I know it’s hard to talk about and we aren’t exactly close. I wish he had someone he could talk to about this, but I guess that person would have been his brother.
“Are we all ready to go now?” I hear Molly’s little voice ringing in the air as she runs up to the boat.
“I think so,” I say and stand back up. I take Molly into a tight hug and she squeezes me back with her little arms. “Are you okay, Molly?” I ask her and look down at her.
“I miss my friends,” she says and looks down at the sand and then back up to me, “I’m glad you’re alive. You’re like my big sister,” she says in the smallest and frailest voice.
Tears brim my eyes and I pull her into another big hug. “And your cold?”
“Essie says I’m doing okay,” she gives a small cough to clear her throat. “I don’t feel much better though.”
“When we get to Libertas we’ll find someone with stronger medicine,” I say and she gives me a weak smile. I walk over to Mio to see if he needs any help moving things to the boat, but then remember we don’t have much more than our backpacks and a few weapons. “We’re ready when you are,” I say to him.
“Sounds good, Cooper and Toby are cooking the rest of the meat and bringing it with us. It should be enough. We really only have dinner left and then we’ll be in Libertas,” Mio says and we are quiet for a moment letting the sounds of waves crashing on shore surround us. “Thanks for getting us out of there, Adaline,” Mio adds.
“Don’t thank me. It was just an instinct,” I say shortly.
“I know you heard me yelling at Cooper about how you didn’t think to bring the food with us, and that was wrong. It was crazy out there, and I would have done the same thing,” Mio says sternly.
“Like I said, my instincts just took over,” I say with a small smile. It’s probably the only nice thing I’ll ever get out of Mio.
“The meat’s cooked, and everyone should have packed up their things,” Cooper says, walking over to us. His anger from earlier has faded, and I see that he’s trying to be the strong leader the others need.
“All right, then let’s get out of here,” Mio says and we walk down to the boat. Mio and Cinder both walk the boat out into the shallow part of the water, and we all climb into the boat.
“Want to give us a little push Adaline?” Mio asks, and I respond by providing us with some steady waves until the ripped sail starts to catch the
