Pirates Again
two
“What do you mean, he’s missing?”
Katerina Dashwood had her ear pressed to the door of her father’s study, and Cornelius sounded very put out with the messenger who had come to see him.
“There was apparently a storm, Mr. Dashwood, that surged up unexpectedly. One crew member from Seawing was found drifting in open waters, he seemed half mad with dehydration. He said the ship had run aground on some rocks due to the storm but he couldn’t say where and the ship who picked him up saw no signs of wreckage and found no other crew members. They must have been steered off course in the storm. He was last seen in the port of Alanada, three days before the storm hit. No one knows where your son or Seawing is now.”
Katerina pressed her lips together to keep from gasping and giving herself away. Cedric couldn’t be missing. He’d just gone on some hairbrained voyage with his best friend to look for Isle Cristal. She had told him it was a ridiculous idea; there was no hard proof the place even existed. This was all Ezra Bainbridge’s fault; he was always coming up with stupid schemes and dragging her brother into them. This time he’d claimed to have found a way to the alleged island paradise, and now he’d gone and gotten them lost at sea.
Katerina scurried away from the door as she heard footsteps approaching, ducking into the library. She heard the messenger leave and her father sighed.
“You can come out, Kat, I know you were eavesdropping,” Cornelius called. Katerina shuffled out of the library.
“He’s probably fine, right?” she blurted. “The ship probably just got knocked off course and he and Ezra are in one of the ports along the Sun Coast drinking rum and flirting with girls while they figure out how to get home. Right?”
Cornelius gave her a gentle smile, planting a fatherly kiss on her forehead. “Of course, my rose. I’m sure Cedric is fine. Their ship has an excellent captain, no stranger to storms. The man they found was probably just delirious and mistaken about what exactly happened. “I’ll reach out to the port masters along the Sun Coast, tell them to be on the lookout and find out if anyone has seen him since the storm. How much trouble could your brother really get into on a coastal excursion?”
Katerina forced a smile. Cornelius didn’t know that Cedric and Ezra were out playing adventurer; he thought they were just enjoying sunny tourist ports. Which they had no doubt done as well, but Cedric had left out the small detail of the search for Isle Cristal. Katerina tossed and turned restlessly all night; imagining all kinds of horrible ways her big brother might be suffering or dying. What if he was eaten by sharks? What if he was impaled on rocks when the ship ran aground? What if the whole crew was stranded on a desolate spit of land with nothing to eat and turned to cannibalism as they began to starve?
Katerina gave up on sleep, sitting up and throwing her blankets aside. She should have gone with him, kept him out of trouble. She had been reluctant to join him and Ezra on some ludicrous quest and be the tag along little sister while her brother charmed women all along the coast. She had felt sure Cornelius wouldn’t have liked her going anyway, so she had remained home. Now she was wracked with regret. Cedric was her best and only real friend. Ordinarily he was the voice of reason between the two of them, except when he and Ezra got fanciful notions into their heads. Her brother might be in some real trouble this time, and that meant he wasn’t here to tell Katerina that the plan she was forming was reckless and likely dangerous.
With her father being a merchant, Katerina knew about other merchants in the city and their various ships. Most of it was from eavesdropping, which had always been a favorite pastime. She knew that Wendell Sykes owned a trade vessel that regularly shuttled his trade goods back and forth with Westborough, and she knew ships regularly sailed out from that port toward the Sun Coast and where her brother was last seen. She could surely find someone who’d give her passage there. It was just a matter of getting out of Stagfort. Too many people here among the merchant crews knew her; no way was she going to convince anyone that her father was just letting her sail off to distant lands all alone. Especially if she tried to sneak onto one of his own ships.
But if she went on someone else’s ship and was already on board once they set off, then they’d have to get her to Westborough at least, and she could sneak away from them there to find passage on another ship. No one there would recognize her. Deciding that her logic was infallible, Katerina was already packing a bag. She brought along a few outfits, money to book her passage to the Sun Coast and in the event of emergencies, some books, and her hairbrush. She went into Cedric’s room, pilfering a compass. She looked around the room and felt a sudden urge to cry.
“Don’t worry, Ced. Whatever stupid thing you’ve gotten yourself into, I’m going to find you. And if Ezra is alive, I’m going to kill him.”
Her bag packed, she ditched her nightdress and put on a soft shirt that was a bit too big for her; it had belonged to Cedric when he was younger and he’d given it to her when he’d outgrown it. With a pair of pants and boots, and her dark brown ringlets wrestled up under a cap; she didn’t immediately draw attention as a rich merchant’s daughter. She could pass as a delicate featured teenage boy on first glance. Skulking along the docks would be much easier that way. Katerina sat down and wrote what she thought seemed like a perfectly reasonable letter for her father to find when he retired to the library for his evening brandy, telling him she planned to find Cedric and bring him home, and not to worry.
She collected her bag and snuck from the house. It was very early morning; the sun wasn’t even rising yet. She slipped down to the docks, searching out The Mystic. She had some familiarity with ships, having been raised around and on them so often. And she was an excellent sneak. Cedric had complained many times that she was like a nosy cat stalking the hallways. She used it to her advantage now; she knew the ship was setting sail in mere hours. The gangplank was still lowered. Katerina crept up, finding one man on deck but he seemed to have fallen asleep. She tiptoed her way along the deck, seeking out the cargo hold. She could hide here until they were well under way. If she was lucky, maybe she could even get all the way to Westborough without anyone noticing her presence.
Sykes mostly dealt in food imports, so she checked the cargo containers very carefully before choosing a place to nest. She found a nice wooden barrel full of apples, which she decided would work fine. If she got hungry she could just take some, plus it smelled nice. Katerina removed some of the apples on top to make room for herself, hiding them behind some crates. Then she hopped into the barrel, burrowing down and pulling the lid back onto the barrel. Not the most glamorous way to travel, but it would work fine for a stowaway on a mission. Katerina helped herself to an apple and settled in to wait.
Katerina Dashwood had her ear pressed to the door of her father’s study, and Cornelius sounded very put out with the messenger who had come to see him.
“There was apparently a storm, Mr. Dashwood, that surged up unexpectedly. One crew member from Seawing was found drifting in open waters, he seemed half mad with dehydration. He said the ship had run aground on some rocks due to the storm but he couldn’t say where and the ship who picked him up saw no signs of wreckage and found no other crew members. They must have been steered off course in the storm. He was last seen in the port of Alanada, three days before the storm hit. No one knows where your son or Seawing is now.”
Katerina pressed her lips together to keep from gasping and giving herself away. Cedric couldn’t be missing. He’d just gone on some hairbrained voyage with his best friend to look for Isle Cristal. She had told him it was a ridiculous idea; there was no hard proof the place even existed. This was all Ezra Bainbridge’s fault; he was always coming up with stupid schemes and dragging her brother into them. This time he’d claimed to have found a way to the alleged island paradise, and now he’d gone and gotten them lost at sea.
Katerina scurried away from the door as she heard footsteps approaching, ducking into the library. She heard the messenger leave and her father sighed.
“You can come out, Kat, I know you were eavesdropping,” Cornelius called. Katerina shuffled out of the library.
“He’s probably fine, right?” she blurted. “The ship probably just got knocked off course and he and Ezra are in one of the ports along the Sun Coast drinking rum and flirting with girls while they figure out how to get home. Right?”
Cornelius gave her a gentle smile, planting a fatherly kiss on her forehead. “Of course, my rose. I’m sure Cedric is fine. Their ship has an excellent captain, no stranger to storms. The man they found was probably just delirious and mistaken about what exactly happened. “I’ll reach out to the port masters along the Sun Coast, tell them to be on the lookout and find out if anyone has seen him since the storm. How much trouble could your brother really get into on a coastal excursion?”
Katerina forced a smile. Cornelius didn’t know that Cedric and Ezra were out playing adventurer; he thought they were just enjoying sunny tourist ports. Which they had no doubt done as well, but Cedric had left out the small detail of the search for Isle Cristal. Katerina tossed and turned restlessly all night; imagining all kinds of horrible ways her big brother might be suffering or dying. What if he was eaten by sharks? What if he was impaled on rocks when the ship ran aground? What if the whole crew was stranded on a desolate spit of land with nothing to eat and turned to cannibalism as they began to starve?
Katerina gave up on sleep, sitting up and throwing her blankets aside. She should have gone with him, kept him out of trouble. She had been reluctant to join him and Ezra on some ludicrous quest and be the tag along little sister while her brother charmed women all along the coast. She had felt sure Cornelius wouldn’t have liked her going anyway, so she had remained home. Now she was wracked with regret. Cedric was her best and only real friend. Ordinarily he was the voice of reason between the two of them, except when he and Ezra got fanciful notions into their heads. Her brother might be in some real trouble this time, and that meant he wasn’t here to tell Katerina that the plan she was forming was reckless and likely dangerous.
With her father being a merchant, Katerina knew about other merchants in the city and their various ships. Most of it was from eavesdropping, which had always been a favorite pastime. She knew that Wendell Sykes owned a trade vessel that regularly shuttled his trade goods back and forth with Westborough, and she knew ships regularly sailed out from that port toward the Sun Coast and where her brother was last seen. She could surely find someone who’d give her passage there. It was just a matter of getting out of Stagfort. Too many people here among the merchant crews knew her; no way was she going to convince anyone that her father was just letting her sail off to distant lands all alone. Especially if she tried to sneak onto one of his own ships.
But if she went on someone else’s ship and was already on board once they set off, then they’d have to get her to Westborough at least, and she could sneak away from them there to find passage on another ship. No one there would recognize her. Deciding that her logic was infallible, Katerina was already packing a bag. She brought along a few outfits, money to book her passage to the Sun Coast and in the event of emergencies, some books, and her hairbrush. She went into Cedric’s room, pilfering a compass. She looked around the room and felt a sudden urge to cry.
“Don’t worry, Ced. Whatever stupid thing you’ve gotten yourself into, I’m going to find you. And if Ezra is alive, I’m going to kill him.”
Her bag packed, she ditched her nightdress and put on a soft shirt that was a bit too big for her; it had belonged to Cedric when he was younger and he’d given it to her when he’d outgrown it. With a pair of pants and boots, and her dark brown ringlets wrestled up under a cap; she didn’t immediately draw attention as a rich merchant’s daughter. She could pass as a delicate featured teenage boy on first glance. Skulking along the docks would be much easier that way. Katerina sat down and wrote what she thought seemed like a perfectly reasonable letter for her father to find when he retired to the library for his evening brandy, telling him she planned to find Cedric and bring him home, and not to worry.
She collected her bag and snuck from the house. It was very early morning; the sun wasn’t even rising yet. She slipped down to the docks, searching out The Mystic. She had some familiarity with ships, having been raised around and on them so often. And she was an excellent sneak. Cedric had complained many times that she was like a nosy cat stalking the hallways. She used it to her advantage now; she knew the ship was setting sail in mere hours. The gangplank was still lowered. Katerina crept up, finding one man on deck but he seemed to have fallen asleep. She tiptoed her way along the deck, seeking out the cargo hold. She could hide here until they were well under way. If she was lucky, maybe she could even get all the way to Westborough without anyone noticing her presence.
Sykes mostly dealt in food imports, so she checked the cargo containers very carefully before choosing a place to nest. She found a nice wooden barrel full of apples, which she decided would work fine. If she got hungry she could just take some, plus it smelled nice. Katerina removed some of the apples on top to make room for herself, hiding them behind some crates. Then she hopped into the barrel, burrowing down and pulling the lid back onto the barrel. Not the most glamorous way to travel, but it would work fine for a stowaway on a mission. Katerina helped herself to an apple and settled in to wait.