Perilous Waters (24 page)

“Last time Nevine helped show us the way,” Angie said. “Unless we find her again somehow, we’ll have to try and sense the jewels ourselves.”

Julia remembered Nevine and the creepy bones she had let them use to find the jewels. Had the bones been magical? Or had their own magic caused the bones to scatter into patterns that helped them see the jewels?

“It doesn’t look like these pirates are finding much treasure,” Kaitlyn said, still watching the scene below. “I guess they picked a really poor town. It looks like some of them are already turning back.”

“Sometimes these coastal raids were quick, other times they would lay siege to a town for days. With such an easy, defenseless port, I doubt they will be here much longer.”

The hacienda gates opened and pirates sauntered out with various prizes. Chickens, clothing, even furniture. It looked more like a supply run than a treasure hunt.

“I guess not every pirate attack has to do with treasure,” Kaitlyn said, and Julia realized they were still connected.

She let go of Kaitlyn, and was about to tell her not to look through her thoughts, but an idea sparked in mind like fireworks. “Wait. What if we go with these pirates?”

“
These
pirates?” Kaitlyn laughed. “Maybe if one of them were Johnny Depp—”

Julia rubbed her transparent hands across her arms, as always feeling… empty when they were invisible. “You guys… pirates have
treasure
… as in… jewels.”

An explosion rocked the hacienda. Julia cowered. She had never gotten over her fear of cannons from when they had witnessed the march on Tuileries Palace.

Kaitlyn’s voice hinted at admiration. “That’s not a bad plan, Julia.”

Julia flushed at the compliment. She wasn’t used to hearing nice things from Kaitlyn. “Thanks.”

“It could be that the pirates have one of the artifacts,” Angie said, her voice hesitant. “But, following the pirates onto their ship is too dangerous—”

“We’ll be fine with the pirates,” Kaitlyn said, a devious undertone to her voice, “If any of them cause trouble, we blast them and we take the ship for ourselves.”

Julia’s heart sped up. “Our own ship,” she breathed.

Angie brought her glass-like hand to her forehead. Even invisible, Julia could tell she was exasperated. “We’re here for the mission, not to become pirates.”

Julia whirled on Angie, taking her by the shoulders. “But, a sword… and a huge hat. And saying,
Yarr!
How can you not want this?”

“With our powers we could be the most bad ass pirates in history,” Kaitlyn declared. “Why should it only be a bunch of gross-looking guys who get to terrorize people?”

“We don’t know anything about sailing a ship,” Angie said. “Nor do we know where we’re going.”

“We could sail by magic,” Julia said.

“We need to find the jewels,” Kaitlyn said, “and Julia’s idea is the best one we have. We should start with a place with treasure. That means, pirates.”

“I suppose,” Angie began, “if you both think it’s the best way, then that leaves me outnumbered.”

“Sweet,” Julia exclaimed. She couldn’t help thinking that Kaitlyn would make an epic pirate, but even as this thought crossed her mind, another cannon rocketed into a nearby building. The crash sent wood and stone in every direction.

“Journey us to the ship, Julia,” Angie said.

Babies cried and children clung to their mothers’ skirts. Julia covered her ears as more cannons blasted the walls. It dawned on her… they really could have saved this town. If they had thought of this plan and made it to the pirate ship before the pirates had taken down the town’s defenses, they could have blasted the captain, stunned the crew,
something
. But now it was too late.

Everything she had learned about pirates from movies and television came back to her in a rush. Adventurous men being chased by soldiers, stealing gold and living on island paradises, except… there was nothing romantic about this. It was people’s lives, and these people were terrified.

Once they were on the ship… could she sabotage the pirates’ cannons somehow? Throw their guns overboard?

Angie sent her a questioning thought, not probing, exactly, but still not comfortable.

We have to be sure not to interfere, not for anything,
Angie said.
We check the ship for treasure and we leave.

Julia remembered what Angie had said about towns in Cuba being left defenseless after Spain’s financial troubles. That explained why there were so few soldiers to be seen. No help was going to come. Not unless they brought it.

She didn’t respond to Angie. She didn’t know what changes would happen with the world timeline if she interfered with the pirates. She only knew that she couldn’t let innocent people die if there was a way to help them.

Her eyes fell shut. It was hard to locate a specific place to Journey to even when she had seen it with her own eyes, like the Santa Monica pier back home… but searching the ocean for one ship might prove impossible.

Kaitlyn sent her more magic, her mouth slanted in a pretty frown. Julia continued looking for the pirate ship. There were a lot of ships along the harbor. Her brows knitted. None of them fired cannons. None of them flew a pirate flag. Frustration mounted within her as she scanned along the coast. Pirate ship… pirate ship… how close to shore would the ship be? She didn’t know and felt the pressure from the other girls, the expectation that she would find it and land them safely there without plummeting them into the Caribbean Sea.

This isn’t going to work,
Kaitlyn said.
Finding a ship on the ocean is just too hard.

I’ll find it,
Julia said, giving the shoreline a final sweep, and in her magic-laced search a ship caught her attention. It fired cannons… and it flew a black flag with a skull and crossbones. “Got it,” she whispered.

~ Chapter 18 ~

Angie

Angie’s
lungs emptied in a rush. It was the pirate ship from her visions. Everything about it was the same, even the flag.

She flinched a little as Julia landed them on the deck, and when the ship swayed she was sure they would land with a crash that would alert the crew that there were stowaways on board.

Julia’s hand squeezed hers tight as they became solid—though still invisible—on the ship’s deck. Before she let go, Angie skimmed Julia’s thoughts. It was wrong of her, but she didn’t delve deep, and she needed to know what Julia might be up to. Something about the way she had been acting seemed off.

You aren’t going to tamper with this ship,
Angie said, appalled at what she had felt in her friend’s mind.

A lash of surprised anger whipped through their connection.
Angie? You looked through my thoughts?

No! Not entirely. I guessed at what you intended, because of how protective you were acting. But that doesn’t matter. What matters is that you are a Daughter of Fate. You can’t interfere with the past.

She sensed her friend’s hesitation, but before she replied a voice boomed from above.

“Call the men back. We’ve got what we needed. No prisoners and don’t waste time with women.”

Angie watched the man descend from the upper portion of the ship. He wore brightly colored clothes and a large hat. His features weren’t as weathered as she would have thought for a pirate. He was rather young, she thought, and then it struck her.

This is Calico Jack.

The voice was Kaitlyn’s in her mind, echoing her own realization.
Do you think that means Anne Bonny is here, too?

Impossible to say,
Angie said.
He married her sometime around 1719, but we haven’t found anything with a concrete date on it.

As another cannon was fired Angie felt Julia scrunch down.
Let’s hurry,
she said.
We don’t want to be bumped into and found out.

Do either of you sense if the jewels are nearby?
Angie asked.

The other girls fell silent. Angie sensed them searching. She closed her eyes and looked as well, but she felt nothing that led her to believe that a jewel of time was on this ship.

“The cannons have done thar job, dogs! Don’t be wasting so many. Those that still live be holed up in thar churches. We have our plunder. ‘Tis time we shoved off.”

They’re not staying to kill everyone left?
Julia asked.

Most pirates chose to loot easy prey,
Angie said.
They terrorized small, coastal villages and attacked ships with little defense. I imagine he wanted to get in and out as quickly as possible, but even so, there’s no telling how long it will take him to finish and then set sail.

I guess we’re sailing with the pirates.
Julia said.

Hopefully their next stop is the place they keep their treasure.

May as well get comfortable,
Kaitlyn said.
Where should we wait?

Against the edge of the ship so we aren’t in anyone’s way, Angie said, and so we can still communicate with Convey if we need to.

They shuffled quietly to the far edge of the ship, careful not to alert the few pirates that remained as they sat down on the hard, wooden deck. There wasn’t anything to do except be very quiet and wait for the pirates to finish plundering the town.

Julia’s essence flitted through Angie’s thoughts. Her friend was thinking of Ethan. Angie established mental barriers between them, walls that offered Julia privacy while allowing them to remain connected.

The last of the sun’s light finally slipped below the horizon. Angie stared up at the countless stars above the Caribbean Sea. The soft sound of lapping water floated up from the ocean. Time marched slowly forward. Without meaning to, her thoughts turned to David. She envied Julia’s ability to form a connection with Ethan. If she could talk to David… she couldn’t finish the thought without her eyes filling with tears as her heart ached with longing. She wanted David to be a part of her life, even her magical life. The more serious their relationship became, the more wrong it felt to keep this secret from him.

Kaitlyn’s derisive voice sliced through their connection, disrupting her train of thought.
Julia? Are you talking to yourself… about Ethan?

Julia’s emotions bristled like quills against their minds.
Get out of my brain, jerk.

But it’s so fun in here.

You suck.

Angie was growing tired of policing them. Kaitlyn was usually to blame, but Julia didn’t help things with her defensive attitude.

Fine, fine. I’m going,
Kaitlyn said.
But you do realize how pathetic you’re being. Three months and you’re still thinking about him like this?

What do you know? You’ve never cared about anyone.

Angie nearly let go of both of their hands. She couldn’t continue listening, and she didn’t have the energy to convince them to stop goading each other. It occurred to her that it could take weeks aboard the ship before the pirates docked again, and even then there was no guarantee that they were headed to their treasure hoard. They needed to speed up time…

And, they could.

She squeezed both of their hands.
I’m going to try a new spell.
To her relief, they stopped their continuous arguing.
I
t’s one I read about when I was looking for a way to cure Scylla venom.

Do we all have another special spell?
Kaitlyn asked.

There are dozens of spells we haven’t practiced yet. This is one that speeds up time, but only when we’re not in the true present timeline.
She paused, suddenly worried that she might not know how to cast this spell properly. What if she sped time up but couldn’t slow it down? What if she sped them too far ahead in this timeline?

Enough worrying,
Kaitlyn said.

This spell is a good idea, Angie,
Julia added.
We need to hurry because of Brian, and it would take days for this ship to get to wherever it’s going. How would we eat? How would we manage to sit in this one spot for all that time?

Angie held tight to their hands, drawing in enough magic to hopefully make the spell work. “Forward,” she whispered, releasing the magic in a rush of energy. For a moment everything froze, and she blinked, thinking she had somehow cast Julia’s time-freezing spell, when all at once the world lurched forward. Pirates whirred by, gold was hoisted aboard, clouds sped across the horizon, and all the while she and the other Daughters remained in a strange bubble of stillness, unaffected by the fast-forwarded world around them. Crew members climbed rigging and tied rope. The ship left the small harbor as stars traveled across the sky in a way Angie had never seen before.
Star-rise and star-set,
she thought, her vision mesmerized by the dance of a hundred thousand diamonds.

In a matter of minutes, several mornings and evenings came to pass. The Jolly Roger flag was taken down and the ship pulled into a port much larger and more impressive than the tiny one they had left in Cuba.

This is awesome
, Julia said, laughter echoing through her thoughts.
These pirates look hilarious zipping around the ship at hyper-speed.

And we’re saving all this time,
Kaitlyn said.

Angie didn’t answer just yet, too focused on holding the spell. She waited until the ship was safely docked to ensure that they would have a gangplank to walk across. As soon as men began disembarking, she released the spell… or tried to.

But releasing the spell did nothing. Time continued careening forward at lightning speed. Mornings and nights came and went. The ship was docked, at least, but that didn’t change the fact that time was stuck on fast-forward.

Do something,
Kaitlyn ordered.

I don’t know what to do
,
Angie replied, her heart dropping to her feet. She thought back to the spellbook where she had learned Forward. There had to have been a separate spell to return time to normal.

“Reverse,” Angie said in a frantic whisper, but nothing happened. A sickening feeling rose in her stomach. There was no reversing time within a given timeline. If they went too far into the future, they would have to use the threads of time to go back.