Page 123 of The Secret of Drulea Cottage
“You don’t understand…” Santiago reached for her shoulder, but Lucia pushed him away.
“What don’t I understand?! Ah, this is about Briony, isn’t it? Just because you can’t be with her, you can’t stand to see me happy either!” Lucia immediately winced at her own words, seeming to know they were untrue. But instead of apologizing, she simply set her jaw and sent Santiago a hateful scowl.
“You and I both know all I want,all I’ve ever wanted,was for you to be happy,” he replied, but his voice lacked conviction as he spoke.
He knew he’d been a poor excuse for a brother, and there was no way for him to win this argument, not when he couldn’t tell Lucia the whole truth.If I could just talk to her alone, maybe—
“If you wanted me to be happy, you wouldn’t have left me after Mamãe and Pai died.”
Santiago flinched, feeling the pain behind Lucia’s words as sharply as the dagger Costa had used to kill their parents.I never realized how much my absence hurt her.
And as he looked into her bitter eyes, he realized it didn’t matter if he told her the truth about Costa or not.
Because she wouldn’t believe me.
“All that time in Aveiro, I was just waiting for you to notice me, waiting to see if you still loved me like you did before they were gone. But I was a fool. It’s only now when I’m about to leave you that you pretend to care about me. Well, it’s too late, brother. Andreas and I are getting married whether you like it or not.” Lucia turned from Santiago and placed her hand in the crook of the captain’s arm. “Andreas, let’s go to your quarters. I don’t want to spend another moment here.”
Costa gladly obliged his fiancée and led her from the room, smiling back at Santiago as they left.
*
“Mr. Mendes, sir?” a hesitant voice asked.
Santiago glanced to his right, still leaning against the ship’s railing. He’d been staring at nothing for he didn’t know how long, trying to think of a solution to his predicament but finding none. They’d been at sea much longer than expected, thanks to a thick fog that had rolled in the day before, turning the world ghostly white.
“Aye, Rodriguez?”
The sailor looked around nervously before whispering, “Mr. Mendes, I know what happened with the captain before we got to Everton.”
The statement shook Santiago from his state of self-pity, and he turned to give the man his full attention. “What do you mean?”
“I saw the captain try to shoot you during the storm. Was it because of what I told you before, about your family’s carriage being in Lisbon?” But then Rodriguez’s eyes widened in shock. “Was he the one who got Policarpio ou—”
“Quiet!” Santiago grabbed the man’s arm before he could say more. “You can’t let anyone hear that. Understand?”
Rodriguez nodded, and Santiago stepped back. The young sailor looked away, his face red with embarrassment. “I… I want to help, sir. Before we left, before that strange storm, Senhorita Fairborn asked for my help. I believe she wanted to prove your innocence, to find something on the captain, but I… I was too much of a coward to do anything. I don’t want to be that way anymore.”
He locked gazes with Santiago, his eyes full of determination despite his quivering hands. “So tell me what I can do. I don’t care if it’s dangerous. I can testify for you, try to find proof of the captain’s involvement, something! I don’t want you to be on the run when you didn’t do anything wrong.”
Santiago clapped the man on the shoulder, admiring his courage. “I appreciate that, Rodriguez. I didn’t tell the commodore the truth when he arrested me because Lucia’s life was on the line. Until we can get her away from the captain, our hands are tied.”
“Ship! Off the starboard bow!”
Santiago and Rodriguez spun around, their faces paling at the sight of Comodoro Cardoso’s ship. At some point during their conversation, the fog had lifted, making it possible to see the sixty-meter naval vessel almost upon them. Suddenly, theSão Nicolau’s size of forty meters felt tinier than ever before.
The captain appeared from his quarters, gripping his pistol. Once he spotted the ship, his gaze immediately turned to Santiago, conveying an unspoken question:Are you responsible for this?
Santiago shook his head vehemently, not wanting to put Lucia at further risk.
But the captain was already slithering toward him, sparks shooting from his eyes. His hand with the pistol twitched, but then he noticed Rodriguez at Santiago’s side.
“They’ve caught up to us! But how?” Rodriguez looked to Santiago rather than Costa, not just for answers but also for comfort. The man might have been trying to be brave, but fear still threatened to swallow him up.
“Anyone in town could have told Cardoso we were going to Norway,” Santiago replied, though he kept his attention on Costa as he spoke.
A humorless chuckle burst forth from the captain’s lips. “Ah, but what if it wasn’t just anyone?”
“What are you talking about? Who?”
