Page 136 of The Sea Witch
As they sped toward the waitingSea Witch, the creature crouched on the pier, roaring and shrieking at the nighttime sky. Frustrated, the beast slashed its claws through several of the tied-up boats. Shattered timber flew into the sky and splashed in the water.
When they were a hundred yards away, the beast gave one last bellow of anger before slinking away. It disappeared into the darkness, its tail lashing out and felling trees.
“By all the tides,” Alys breathed as they neared theSea Witch. “I’ve aged a hundred years this past quarter of an hour.”
“What did the creature want with you?” Ben continued to row them toward the ship, their speed all the faster from the assistance of her magic.
“Maybe the navy sent it,” she surmised. “They may see me as an even bigger danger to them now, and they can’t let that threat stand.”
“They must know you’re in pursuit of Little George’s fail-safe. They’re afraid.”
“I weep for them,” she said, scornful. Then, with more warmth, “You fought well.”
He gave her a nod, though he looked abashed. “We fought well together.” He exhaled. “Practice and actual combat are assuredly not the same.”
“I’d never know you hadn’t spent years brawling with pirates.”
The jolly boat finally reached theSea Witch. They climbed the rope ladder as the crew gathered on the top deck to help them up. Once they were aboard, Stasia came forward, her face expressionless except for the tight set of her mouth.
“Lambert certainly knows how to throw a feast,” her second-in-command said.
“We didn’t care for the entertainment he provided,” Alys answered.
Stasia glanced toward Ben and her brows lifted. Shooting her own look at him, Alys understood why her second-in-command had reacted.
The way Ben gazed at her... his relief at seeing her safe, and the care in his eyes... There’d be no mistaking what had happened between them.
Her hand went to the carving knife tucked into her belt. “In my quarters.”
The fail-safe knife lay in the middle of the table. Alys gently ran her fingers over it, the residue of tingling on her skin. Thehandle had been fashioned into the shape of a siren with abundant hair and a tempting but sinister smile. Intricate engravings of seaweed worked their way across the blade’s surface. Holes of different sizes had been punched into the blade as well. She squinted to see that tiny numbers were also etched into the gold-plated silver, as fine as spiders dancing across the surface.
Alys, Stasia, Ben, Polly, and Luna all gathered around the table. Everyone looked haggard, their faces drawn with weariness. Sunrise was only a few hours away, but no one would sleep until the riddle of the carving knife had been untangled.
“If we need to cut lamb into delicious morsels,” Stasia said, standing opposite Alys, “we are now well-equipped for the task. Beautiful as this knife is, I cannot see how it is worth risking your life for it.”
Eris, perched on Stasia’s shoulder, made a chirp of agreement.
“There’s far more to this knife than one would guess.” Alys tapped each of the holes in the blade. “Not random, these. They form a pattern.”
There was silence, and then Ben spoke.
“A constellation.”
“Hydra,” Luna said.
“Curious location to place a constellation.” Stasia bent closer to study the knife.
Alys started. “It’s a chart.”
“A celestial chart,” Ben said. “We line it up with Hydra...”
“Then we know where we’re headed,” Alys continued.
“Except that constellation isn’t visible this time of year,” Luna noted.
“But here,” Polly said, tapping the numbers31–10. “A date, perhaps. None of the other numbers match the calendar. This could be the Thirty First of October. Five months from now”
Alys grabbed the knife and held it up, moving it this way and that.
