Open Wardrobes

Kelly and I spent the afternoon and Nina's Coffee Shop: she knitting and me working on NaNoWriMo. I managed about 4,500 words today which brought me to over 43,000 with nine days left now to complete this NaNoWriMo adventure. I'm hoping to get to the end of the rough draft around November 30th (which I expect to be more than 50,000 words), but we'll see where I am next Monday. Kelly and I also stopped by Lakeshore after church to pick up my script for Doubt, hurrah!




Red adjusted it again, more carefully, until the voices again emerged. What magic brought their voices here out of thin air was beyond Red's reckoning, but she intently listened in.
"...sent Henron already to intercept Captain Foxx," the first voice, a man, said.
"I understand, my lord," the second voice, a woman, answered.
"He has placed the mark on her and I hope to glean something useful soon," the first voice said.
Red stiffened. He had said her in speaking about her! Was this the voice of the Sorcerer and did he already know her secret?
"We are moored not far from the Savage," the second voice reported.
This must another of the Sorcerer's servants, Red thought, and this device the means by which he communicated with them all. Red's father had long wondered how the Sorcerer was able to spread news so quickly.
"Have they made any sign as to their next movement?" the Sorcerer asked.
"Not yet, my lord. They are still intent on their repairs."
Red Foxx grinned at that, glad to know they dealt the Savage such a strong blow.
"Also, there is still no sign of Captain Drake," the second voice said. "From what we can gather Captain Drake was lost at sea during the battle with the Arrow and Mate Flint does not hold out much hope for his survival."
"I presumed as much," the Sorcerer answered. "Have you placed a mark on Flint?"
"Not yet," the second voice answered. "It would seem strange to visit him again so soon and so we have had to be more subtle in our movements. But it shall be done ere they leave port."
"Good," the Sorcerer answered. "Keep me well-informed of all their movements."
"It shall be done, lord."
The voices ceased and Red Foxx heard no more now save a faint hiss. At this point Jat returned and was most interested to see Red's discovery.
"Aye, now here's a wonder indeed!" she exclaimed. "We found naught below deck but supplies," she added, "but that be unimportant I think compared to this."
"It is most certainly a unique discovery," Red agreed.
"Aye, but what be it?"
"Of that I cannot say much, save it appears to be what the Sorcerer uses to speak from afar to his servants. I but a moment ago heard the Sorcerer himself speak to another of his vessels."
"Did he not know?" Jat asked, amazed.
"If he did I had no sign of it."
"Then he be not as all-powerful as some say," Jat pointed out. "I would be thinkin' that such magic would be hard for another to tap into, but ye seem to have done so."
"I do not think it is magic," Red said as she examined the device further, "no more than the powder in our pistols is magic. The Sorcerer clearly keeps the best of his knowledge to himself."
She leaned in more closely and suddenly the hissing sound intensified. Jat was about to speak but Red silenced her. Red moved slowly away and the sound returned to its earlier level. Red leaned close to Jat and whispered in her ear.
"I heard the Sorcerer speak of a 'mark,' which apparently he placed upon me. I believe he may use it to spy on us."
Jat nodded and they searched Red's clothing for whatever this thing might be. Suddenly Jat motioned for Red to lean in towards the device again. The hissing grew loud once again, and using that Jat deduced where exactly on Red's person it must lie. Finally she extracted a compact piece of metal from the folds of Red's coat. Red looked at it curiously. Again, however, it was a device out of her knowledge, though marvelously complex. Jat opened the cabin's porthole and tossed it into the sea.
"There now," she said, "I think that be puttin' a crimp in the Sorcerer's well-laid plans."
"This, I suspect, was the true purpose in Henron meeting us here," Red said. "Well done, Jat. Else we may have given away much to the Sorcerer unkowingly."
"Aye, ye cannot deny he be a tricky evil. Now," Jat wondered at she looked at the device, "can we take it with us?"
Red investigated this possibility. While the device was secured to the wall, that appeared to be solely for the purpose of safety on board ship. With Jat's assistance they managed to free it and the device did not appear affected by its removal in the least. The device was large enough to require several to carry it, but with the assistance of more of her crew Red saw it removed to her own quarters. She and Jat did what they could to shield it from view from any on shore, particularly the Sorcerer's crew although Jat pointed out that would do little.
"Once the crew be back on board they'll be findin' it's missin' mighty quick," she said to Red. "And it'll take but a moment to know who must have it."
Red nodded and thought for a few moments. She did not want to Sorcerer to so quickly learn of the theft.
"Clearly the Sorcerer uses this thing to spy on us," she told Jat. "Have the ship brought out to open water and scuttled, once its supplies are removed. Tell the master of the port that the Sorcerer's crew shall be held here for several days here and then released. The Sorcerer will not, I hope, so quickly then guess what we have done."
Jat grinned and went off to convey Red's orders. The Sorcerer's crew was irate at the news, but they could do little against the pirate captain's will. Henron was handed over to the harbormaster along with the rest of his crew and in particular railed against the pirate king.
"When the Sorcerer learns of this," he told her angrily, "he shall see every last ship of yours drowned!"
"He is most welcome to attempt the feat," Red said calmly, "though he may find it more difficult that it first appears."
With the Sorcerer's crew safely exiled to Montegal and their ship occupied now only by the fish, Red at last brought her ship back out into open water, their course set for Antilla. Later, in private, she shared with Jat another truth she had learned while listening to the Sorcerer.
"He spoke of me," Red told Jat, "and it was plain that he knew our secret, at least mine. He knew us to be women, Jat."
Jat swore. "That be a heavy blow to hear, after I be thinkin' us so clever in dealin' with his minions."
"Do not let it concern you overmuch as yet," Red said. "I guess he did not just learn this, and so he may perhaps have his own reasons for keeping the secret concealed. But it does mean we must prepare for its revelation, lest we wish to be within his power when the time comes."
"Aye, Captain," Jat said, "I'd rather let it be known than beg the wizard on me knees to keep it hidden."
That night, as the ship sailed through calm waters, Red closed herself in her cabin and uncovered the Sorcerer's device. To herself alone she admitted that the device itself fascinated her, beyond any upper hand it might give her in dealings with the Sorcerer. The more she studied it the more she concluded it bore no magic beyond advanced knowledge. Anyone, man or women, she thought, could do the same if they too possessed the understanding of its workings. She spent the entire night in its study, seeking for any voices, but also attempting to discern what made it function. As a child the workings of things had always brought her great wonder. When he father first began to teach her the art of sailing, the how and the why of the sailings, rudder, and riggings brought her as much joy as the learning of how to do these things for herself. She remembered spending hours also taking apart her father's best pistol just to know what made it fire. Certainly that had not been one of the moments that endeared her to her father the most, though he certainly had been more pleased when she obeyed his order to put it right again.
By midnight she had taken the device apart as much as she dared, for she did not want to put it beyond repair, but it still mystified her, particularly what caused the device to run. But while little wiser on the mechanics behind it, she had caught several conversations. Different points of the dial, she had determined, corresponded to different types of conversation. She had already come across one conversation that included the Sorcerer and quickly learned that he has only to be found here. At other points on the dial, however, she encountered various servants of the Sorcerer speaking to one another on various subjects. Most of these did not interest Red Foxx much and so she concentrated on listening in to the Sorcerer. He largely was keeping tabs on his servants and clearly did so on a frequent basis. Some of his servants he spoke to more than once that night and Red counted at least a dozen that he spoke to over the course of the night. How much then did he speak to his servants during the day? Red listened carefully to the Sorcerer's instructions, attempting to determine what the Sorcerer's plans might be. She hoped to not hear the name of Antilla, afraid that that piece of news the Sorcerer had already spied out. But she did not hear it, and at last early into the next morning Red fell asleep before the device, it continuing to hiss faintly with a sound that mingled with the waves outside.
The next day brought more stormy weather, and the ship rolled and pitched all day long. This of course did not bother the pirates much, although it meant all hands on deck and diverted Red's attention solely to the business of keeping the ship aright. The device had forgotten that day and Red cursed the skies, wondering what vital information she missed. The following day the weather calmed, for the most part, at least enough for Red to return to her spy work. And as she listened in to yet another report to the Sorcerer about how they had arrived in position and placed the mark (at least she knew know what they referred to) on the target, Red Foxx toyed with other knobs and buttons. One she pressed in and out without thinking, as she paid attention to what the Sorcerer said, not noticing the clicking sound that corresponded to her own actions.
"What is that?" the Sorcerer suddenly demanded. Red Foxx froze, and the two voices she listened to paused as well. Red realized what she had been doing and carefully pressed the button again.
Click.
"There it is again!" the Sorcerer said and Red cursed her own foolishness. The Sorcerer and his servant listened for many long moments, but as the sound did not come again they eventually returned to their previous conversation and Red's attention again drifted until the Sorcerer brought up another topic.
"Have you heard from Henron on the Lightning?" the Sorcerer asked.
"No," his servant replied.
"Nor I and his silence concerns me," the Sorcerer said. Red leaned in, interested. "Nor," the Sorcerer continued, "have I heard anything from Captain Foxx's mark. When you have finished your current errand, make all speed to Montegal and see what you can learn."
"Of course, my lord."
The conversation soon ceased and Red Foxx could find nothing save the faint background hiss anywhere on the dial. She turned the device off (having at last found that switch) and threw herself down on her bunk to think. It should have occurred to her that the Sorcerer would quickly discern that he cold hear nothing from the mark placed on her. Perhaps throwing it into the sea had not been the wisest course. They might have found a way to turn it to their own advantage. But be that as it may, Jat had at least figured out the Sorcerer's plan there soon enough to prevent him from learning their destination.
And so Red Foxx's thoughts turned to her prisoner, Captain Drake. He had not been allowed to speak to Henron, though perhaps Henron might have recognized him well enough to pass along the new he was alive. Red had not spoken to Drake since their visit to Sir Mot, but many of his words continued to eat away at her. She still puzzled over his conviction that she was someone other than she truly was. But why? What would convince him so thoroughly that the dead princess of the Ruined Kingdom was her? The scar she dismissed, such things were easy enough to twist to your own advantage and Red had no proof this princess bore any such scar as she did. But Red had to admit that her early childhood remained vague. Certainly she had not spent much time then on any ship, being still to young, and she supposed there had been other children she had played with...
The knock came sharply at her cabin door, unusual for the time of night. Red opened it at once and Jat asked her to hurry to the railing. Pressing the spyglass into her hands Jat pointed wordlessly to aft and port. Red brought the spyglass into focus and soon saw the vague shape of the other vessel. She could not tell at this late hour if it be friend or foe and for the moment it flew no flag. Certainly the ship appeared to be on the same course as they, but Jat whispered that she had been observing it for the past hour and it made no obvious signs of pursuit. Red watched it for several minutes but could learn nothing more and handed the glass back to Jat.
"Keep a watch on it," she whispered to Jat, "but I fear that it all we can do for now. Come morning we may be able to obtain a better view."
Jat nodded and Red returned to bed, finally drifting off for the remainder of the night. The morning brought fair weather and Red joined Jat in the crow's nest to take a better look at the mystery vessel. It remained far enough away that it was difficult without any obvious outward to know if it was friend, foe or ambivalent.
"I not be linkin' this," Jat said, "not after our brush with the Sorcerer and all."
"You were right when we pursued the Savage," Red admitted, "and we shall proceed with more caution this time."
Red left Jat and swung back down to deck. In such good weather, holding a steady course, there was in truth little for the Captain to do. The crew had the ship well in hand and Jat could keep an eye on the second ship well enough. It could make no move in daylight that they would not have ample warning of. Red Foxx was, if she admitted it to herself, restless and she prowled the decks with no clear view of what she sought. She avoided passing by the brig, though questions burned her. She felt drawn to interrogating him more on the young princess he had known, wanting for reasons she could not explain to prove beyond doubt that it was not she.
After snapping at more than one of the young women on her crew, Red Foxx at last confined herself voluntarily to her cabin, the best to put herself out of everyone else's way. She was hungry for action. While she loved the sea dearly, she had never been much fond of the days at sea with nothing to do but keep the ship on a straight course. That much any sailor could do with her eyes shut. It took no bravery or great skill, nor did it do much to distract the mind from other things. And so, restless of mind she took back to her bunk to think, but with the little sleep she had found eavesdropping on the Sorcerer she fell soon into an even more restless sleep.

She sat on a hill watching the ships come in and out of the harbor. She loved this place, though in distant dreams could not remember its name. She was a child, and in the vague awareness that dreams sometimes provide knew this to be a moment from long ago. She sat cross-legged in the grass, her head resting in her hands, as she watched the work of the port. Men pulled at ropes and sails, moving cargo on and off their ships. Others, having a chance to rest from life at sea, scrubbed and polished their fine vessels until their shone proud in the sunlight. Red had loved to come here and watch this spectacle for as long as she could remember, though she mostly did so without her father's knowledge.
Strange, the older Red thought, as she watched dreaming through her younger self's eyes, why would Father mind me watching the ships at port? And I wish I could remember where it is I am...
As the young Red sat upon the hill a boy joined her. So there had been a boy, she observed. He sat silent beside her as together they drank in the sight hour after hour, one neither of them ever tired of. After awhile Red became aware that the boy watched her more than the ships and she blushed. He tried to take her hand and she pushed him away, but not too unkindly.
"You know you shouldn't," her younger self teased the boy. "My father would never allow it," she added haughtily, but Red could not remember sharing the sentiment.
The boy said nothing but smiled, then gave her a playful shove. Soon they were racing around the hill and chasing one another, the ships for the moment forgotten.
Time seemed to pass and Red, only a little older now, stood on a ship watching as scores of other ships gathered together in the same harbor. She stood next to a tall man, but time obscured his face. She knew only that she was proud to stand there beside him and be present for this sight.
"Look closely, daughter," the man said to her and the voice sounded strange. "You see the hammer that shall strike our enemies dead!"
Red shivered, for the voice was cold and hard, not at all how she remembered her father, for she assumed this must be he. The older Red shrank back in the dream from the sight, but the man pushed her forward to the railing and held her there however much she tried to resist. She looked around to the other vessels and thought for a moment she caught a glimpse of the boy on one, but another ship came between them and she lost sight of him.
She tugged at the ribbon in her hair absentmindedly. Suddenly the man next to her gave a terrible cry. She looked up at him, but saw his face no more clearly. What she remembered most was the shadow that fell over it. It was not like the shadow of night, but deep, blue and murky and seemed to come with the sound of an ever-growing roar. The ship she stood on lurched as it struck the bottom of the harbor and Red fell to the deck. The man released his grip on her and she heard him shouting to others. She pulled herself back up to the railing and looked around. The water had mostly drained away and ship sat mired in the mud at odd angles. A few had already tipped over and men ran from them like ants, back to shore. She looked out to see and saw why, why they ran and why the man had seemed so afraid.
She watched as the wall of water rapidly approached. It grew as tall as the sky itself and the younger Red shrank back, terrified of it. To the older Red it now seemed that she stood beside the child she had been. She watched the water without much emotion, for she knew she would survive it. The young girl looked up at her, still afraid, and Red did her best to give her comfort. Dreams are such strange beasts, she mused.
The water struck the ship and it tumbled over and over in the raging water. Screams were doused as water poured over her. She was just the young girl again, or so she thought, and she felt again the sense of suffocation as the water started to fill her lungs. She remembered feeling abandoned for her father, for where was his strong hand now when she needed it most? Buried deep in the water many objects struck her and the young Red struggled to find air again while protecting her face from the shards of wood that threatened to gut her even as she drowned.
At last her head found the surface and she coughed, able to gulp down just enough air before the wave drew her back under. This continued for what felt like an age, and indeed in this dreaming remembrance likely did last far longer than the reality. At last she seized upon some shred of a vessel, now crushed and its crew drowned, which kept her anchored more to the surface. She paid little attention to what took place around her, only just aware of the cries and shouts that filled the air around her. No one saw her drifting helplessly amidst the wreckage, the current slowly pulling her out to sea.
When at last the young Red found the energy to look around, she saw little but the flotsam that had such a short time ago been a mighty fleet. That and the bodies, some of which gazed upwards with empty eyes to the sky. Red shut her eyes tight and did not open them again until a kindly voice at last spoke to her.
"Now then, child, what be ye doin' so far out here all on yer own?"
Red opened her eyes and saw the ship towering high above her. She remembered clearly seeing the now-familiar standard of the silver fox on black. A rope hung down from one side and to it clung the figure of her father Grey Foxx, looking in memory far younger than Red had seen him in an age.
In dream he seemed to the young Red strange and frightening, though the older Red could not think of why that should be. The younger Red stared up mutely at the pirate who held one hand to her, holding tight to the rope with the other.
"Come now," he said to her, "ye have nothing to fear by us."
The young Red took Grey Foxx by the hand and all the love Red had born the old man came flooding back. She smiled, young and old, and she clung tight to his waist and the other pirates heaved the two of them aboard.

Red woke with a start and could not help but find the dream in some ways disturbing. How much of it was true memory and how much came from the tricks of a sleeping mind she could not quite discern. But it troubled her that the sight of Grey Foxx had at first brought her fear. And how was it that the, standing beside her she before the wave struck, was then safe and sound on his vessel to rescue her? She retained a vague memory of this dream coming often to her not long after the events, and her father rocking her gently to sleep afterwards, but it had been many a year since it last troubled her.
Red shook off the dream and stood to look out of the porthole. It was still daylight outside, though late afternoon by the looks of things. They were still a least a half day out of Antilla and would not reach it until first light tomorrow at the earliest. Eager to escape the troubled remnants of sleep she strode out of her cabin and onto the deck, grabbing hold of the riggings and climbing quickly back into the crow's nest. She found Jat sill there, enjoying the last crumbs of a midday meal.
"Afternoon, Captain," she said to Red and looked more pleased than she had in the morning.
"Afternoon, Jat," Red answered. "Anything further on the other ship?"
"See for yerself," Jat returned and handed Red the spyglass. Training it on the second ship's flag she grinned.
"You might have woke me to tell me it was nothing more than Howl Matton dragging his sorry vessel in our wake."
"Aye, that I might of," Jat said, grinning broadly herself. "But I be not wantin' to disturb ye. We've had signals already from Captain Matton and I took the liberty of tellin' him that he be welcome on board when ye be so disposed."
"I suppose that much can be allowed of such a sea dog who outran a score of enemy ships," Red Foxx consented with another grin. "You may let him know the very like."
"Aye, Captain." And Jat slid down to deck to carry these orders out.
Red was pleased to not have to give battle again so soon. She would not run from a fight, that much was not in her, but she chafed at the idea of another delay on they quest for the map. From her studies of the half already in her possession, finding the Heart even with the map would take more than a few days sail. Red relaxed in the crow's nest, signaling to her crew below that she would take the watch until the Sea Wolf came alongside. This was her favorite place to wile away the hours at sea when other matters did not require her attention. The Sea Wolf was still some distance away and would take a little time yet to approach.
When the Sea Wolf drew at last within shouting distance Red reluctantly slid down, having enjoyed her peaceful vigil in the wake of her dream, and allowed another crew member to replace her at the watch. Soon thereafter the Sea Wolf slid alongside and Howl swung a rope across.
"Well now, Captain," he said to Red, "if ye not be a sight for sore eyes!"
"I am pleased to seed you escaped as well, Howl," Red said to him. "Captain Drake is possessed of more foresight than we gave him credit for, but he came out the worse for it even still."
"Aye, for I hear he be sleepin' now where he never be troublin' us again," Howl said.
"Not quite," Red informed him, "but if you follow me I shall show you better what I mean."
Curious, Howl followed Red and Jet below deck and Red led him to the brig. Upon seeing their rather woebegone prisoner Howl let out a tremendous laugh.
"Now this be a sight to my likin'," he bellowed and laughed hard over it. Lemuel did not look much delighted by this turn of events.
"May I take it that this is one of your underlings," he at last asked Red.
"Indeed," Red answered, "for this is Captain Howl Matton of the Sea Wolf, one of the most loyal and devoted of my captains."
"Now, Captain," Howl grinned, "ye be makin' me blush."
"I can't but think that not a feat ye be capable of, Howl," Jat said, and Howl slapped her on the back. Jat and Howl had always been much alike, Red thought.
"Now how came it," Howl asked, "that such a bird is to be found in yer cage, Captain?"
"He fell into the water during our battle," Red told him, "and we took pity on the ragged wretch."
"Ye be a mite more merciful than I be," Howl admitted, "but it be a pretty sight."
"Captain Matton was with you before our battle, I think," Lemuel said.
"Aye," Howl answered, "and drew off yer ships I may say without much trouble. They were a mite disappointed when they be findin' I not be who they thought."
"Yes, I was disappointed as well to find my trap did not do as well as I had hoped," Lemuel admitted, "especially when Captain Foxx fell so quickly into it."
"If you will, Howl, Jat and I have more news for you," Red told the pirate captain. "If you wish further words with our prisoner, you may do so later at your leisure."
Howl nodded and returned with Red and Jat to Red's cabin.
"Well, Captain," Howl began, "it seems ye be havin' more than yer fair share of luck without me."
"Not without you, Howl," Red assured him, "for without you I cannot say we would have fared as well as we did in our fight with the Savage."
"That be kind of ye to say, Captain. And it be my pleasure. I must be sayin' though, no disrespect to ye, that I be surprised that Captain Drake still be livin' after so many days in yer hands."
"I can understand that," Red said, "and certainly it would not be the case if Jat had his way. But it has proved to be to our advantage."
"Aye," Jat reluctantly agreed, "thought I be feelin' better about it if I could be puttin' a bullet in his back when the deal is done."
"I have agreed to return Captain Drake to his people," Red explained, "in exchanged for his help in tracking down the second half of the map. Which, we have now learned, is to be found in Antilla, in the hands of Dain Melthew."
"I suppose that be reason enough to spare his life," Howl admitted, "but I be agreein' with Mate Stevens that it be better if he not leave yer ship alive."
"Perhaps so, but the promise has been made, and on the Captain's Stone itself," said Red, "and I will not in all honor change it now."
"Aye, aye, ye won't catch me sayin' ye should," Howl assured the Captain. "And I be pleased to here yer adventures have not been in vain."
"You mean to say you are glad you caught up with us in time to be a part of the glory," Red said, grinning.
"Ye've caught me now, Captain," Howl agreed. "And I caught word already that Captain Longboot had been makin' for Antilla himself. We may find ourselves there a merry party."
"All the better to go after the Heart with," Red said. "Good news indeed."
Suddenly Red froze. "Howl," she demanded, "have you encountered any servant of the Sorcerer?"
"Now how strange that ye be mentionin' such a thing," Howl told her, "for we came across one of his ships but a day or two back."
"Did any of its crew come aboard your vessel?" Red asked urgently. Inwardly she swore. How much had they already given away?
"Why, it be like ye be there yerself!" Howl exclaimed.
Red dropped her voice to a whisper. "Speak not a word aloud. She motioned to Jat to uncover and prepare the device.
"Now what be that..." Howl began, but Red silenced him at once and motioned that he should stand close by the device. It hissed loudly in reply and Jat searched Howl as she had Red Foxx. Soon Jat uncovered another of the tiny devices. This time Red preserved it and buried it deep within her bunk that it might not catch anything more of what they said.
"Be ye wantin' to tell me what all this is about?" Howl demanded.
Red still dared not speak too loudly. "We too met with a vessel of the Sorcerer and have learned a great deal in consequence of his operations. He sends his servants to mark those he would spy on with tiny devices such as you saw. He has ways then of hearing from afar all that is said near to one."
Howl swore. "I swear to ye, Captain, if I had but known..."
"I do not blame you, Howl," Red said. "It is but a lucky chance that we have learned as much as we did. And if I am correct, the Sorcerer must be listening to such a mark to hear anything from it. It may be that he still knows nothing of this conversation." Red paused, hoping this was true, but not quite believing it. "But," she continued, "we must proceed under the assumption that he knows of you meeting us, of Captain Drake our prisoner, and that the second half of the map is now to be found in Antilla."
Red further explained to Howl how they had obtained the listening device from the Sorcerer's ship, though they had not heard anything on it from any of the Sorcerer's "marks."
"Aye, ye have been a mite busy," Howl said as he fiddled with the device himself. "I must confess I never did like the sound of the Sorcerer. To know he had been listenin' to me this time since I met his ship..."
"Do not worry yourself over it," Red told him. "He had fooled many in this fashion. Let us know keep this secret to ourselves as long as we can, for as long as the Sorcerer does not discover we have knowledge of it, we may learn much to our advantage."
Red instructed Howl to brink the mark back to his ship, but to be wary of what he said with it on his person, burying it in some way to hide all voices when he need to discuss things the Sorcerer should not hear. Howl promised to be so vigilant and let his first mate and helsman in on the secret as well. Howl stayed on the Black Arrow to dine with Captain Foxx and the two of them talked late into the night over many stories of Grey Foxx and his exploits. Red also showed him more of the device and how with it she had been able to listen in on what the Sorerer discussed with many of his servants.
"It be a wonder indeed," Howl said as he listened. "But magic... now that I see it I do not believe it to be that."
"Nor I, Howl," Red agreed.
After Howl returned to his ship Red spent several hours again with the device, this time to see if she could learn what damage had been done from the visit Howl received. It occurred to her that she could by no means no how many of her captains bore such marks even now. All that had taken place in her meeting with the captains, indeed much the pirate had done for many years, may all be known to the Sorcerer already. So long had the pirates thought only of their enemies of the Ruined Kingdom, and all that time had this snake in the grass been listening and waiting, whatever his plans might be.
The next morning when Red awoke she came on deck to see Antilla looming before them. Howl waved to her from the Sea Wolf, not far off itself. Red smiled and stood at the prow of the ship, delighting in the feel of the wind upon her face and the taste of salt in the air. A morning on board ship was a thing with which nothing else could compare. And if they had not been led astray, and their quarry had not scurried elsewhere, Red would soon hold the map complete.
Antilla was a quiet port, busy enough from the fisherman who swarmed around the island to make their catch before coming back into port to barter with the traders over the price to take and sell the surplus elsewhere.