The reward of wealth is each other’s hand.
My eyes lifted, regarding Jasper, and he was peering in the box. As I followed his gaze, I saw what he was looking at. Inside the box was a small mirror, just big enough to reflect both of our faces.
“What is this?” I lowered my hands, still clenching the note.
“I don’t know what it is.” He stepped closer to the box, half-buried in the translucent sand. “When you read it, something inside me changed. I saw a giant figure eight wrap around a heart.”
“Hmm.” I mulled, still perplexed by the whole thing. I shrugged off his comment to another weird thing about this island, when something above stole our attention. A comet blasted through the sky, headed straight to the sea. As it glittered down, it slowed, and right before it hit the surface, it rolled into a ball of light. With a flash, the sky lit up and right where the comet had been, was a ship heading in our direction.
“That must be our ride home!” I exclaimed, jerking my hand to the ship, only half believing what I had just seen. Excitement burst through my entire body, and I jumped up and down, ready to race toward it.
“Right…” Jasper’s brow lowered, but he tacked on a grin as he added in a curious tone, “Or more pirates.”
I knew better than to be negative. That ship was meant for us. I took his hand, ready to propel him forward, but quickly paused. Something about it made me feel like he was holding my heart. I couldn’t explain what had happened any more than he could, but I also couldn’t deny something had intervened. Slowly I laced my fingers into his, giving him a reassuring squeeze. “I think we’re going to be okay. Even though we sailed in a ship, I believe it was fate that brought us here.”
“Yeah, that’s what scares me a little.” Jasper took a few even steps toward the ship. “I’m wondering whatelsefate has in storefor us.” He stared forward at the boat that was now tendering offshore. “But I think we are about to find out…”
eight
Jasper
Throwing my arm out protectively in front of Evie, I rasped, “Don’t move.” An unfamiliar crossbones emblem flashed from the side of the large boat that didn’t hint at it being the coast guard. A shirtless man with a peg leg roamed the deck in black and white ragged striped pants, and the sun gleamed off the blade of a large knife sheathed at his waist. I wasn’t going to be a sitting duck while we watched that boat dock. They probably had men in the back loading a cannon as we spoke. Dying on this beach—while Evie bawled over my dead body—was not going to bemy story.
“It’s a boat, and there are people on there!” She pointed in excitement as she pushed on my arm, trying to get past me. “They might have food and can give us a ride.”
Yesterday, I wouldn’t have cared a lick about Evie. I’d shake and bake out of here, leaving her to figure it out on her own. I might even have felt relieved to have someone decoy them while I escaped. Today, my heart twisted, begging her to see thedanger. We only had a minute window to get ahead of peg leg and his friends. I grabbed her wrist and yanked her back toward the brush. “It’s more pirates. They might be more of the same, or a completely different group, but either way, we’ve got to run.”
Catching her off-guard, she stumbled forward, but caught herself, and allowed me to pull her. Her eyes were wide, and she didn’t utter a word as I propelled us back to take cover. I had a pretty good idea of the layout of this small island. There wasn’t any place to hide, and nowhere to get off. The best plan was to keep moving, staying one step ahead of them until they gave up…or worst-case scenario caught up to us.
She pulled to the east, back toward the beach that led to the cave, and I growled, “No, we can’t go back that way. We’d get surrounded.” I tugged her arm, spinning her to the west, revealing uncharted muddy water nearly buried in mossy trees and thick grass. “This way.”
She planted her feet, jerking her body to a stop. “It’s a swamp.” Her eyes begged for clarification.
I cut a glance back to the boat, finding it already anchored, and they were dropping a small dingy down into the water. I swallowed, gambling on any gators being a better choice. “We don’t have time to talk this out. We must get ahead of them. We do that by going where they’d least expect first.” I pulled her forward with even more urgency. “Move!”
“I’m not really that fond of cardio,” she huffed out but stayed on my tail as I propelled her through the ankle-deep waters until they became knee high, and eventually waist level. At which point, I decided it was time to make our way to land. I turned in a circle, unsure of which shore would be safest. The north shore was barren and desert- like, with few places to hide. The south shore was thick with tropical trees and brush, which would provide plenty of places to hide, and likely some food for us, but I wasn’t sure whatelsewas hiding in the brush.
Likely there’d be spiders at the very least.
At the very worst…I swallow, not wanting to entertain that thought.
My eyes tracked from north to south, and I steered Evie to the south. My gut said we don’t want to be sitting ducks in the desert. “Get your leg, and your peg and come on shore,” I joked as I assisted Evie out of the water. We were both weighed down with heavy, wet clothes, shivering, starving, and exhausted. I scratched my head and studied the immediate area, completely overgrown without a fresh footprint in sight.
It appeared relatively safe.
We had trudged for hours, and if the pirates did what I assumed they would, and went in the opposite direction, we’d have a few hours to stop. As much as I hated to stop, I had to get real. We needed to stay hydrated and rested. “Let’s clear some area behind this first row of trees. We’ll be hidden but can keep our eyes on the water. It will give us time to dry off, take turns napping, and find something to eat before we go out on land.”
Evie heaved an exhausted breath. “Sounds good to me.”
“I know it’s not comfortable but try to keep as much mud on you as you can to stay camouflaged.”
While giving herself an officious once over, she scoffed. “I don’t think that’s going to be an issue.”
We moved forward into the jungle. I pulled the lowest branches back carefully, so they didn’t break, or shake the leaves off, as I didn’t want to leave any clues where we’d been. While pointing to the ground, I cautioned, “Try not to step in the mud as it leaves prints. Step on the rocks, branches, and leaves.”
“What do you think is back here?” Evie whispered, crouching her body as small as possible.
“I purposely tried not to think about that.” I lifted another low branch for her to duck under, and then pointed behind a large tree trunk. “If we tuck up against this tree, the branch willcamouflage us. Until I have a chance to explore a little, I’m not comfortable going any deeper in.”
