The Ship Beyond Time (The Girl from Everywhere #2)
By: Heidi Heilig
Scrambling to my hands and knees, I felt the snapping of timbers through my palms—belowdecks, water would be pouring into the hold. The Fool had belayed a line to the Temptation, and she was ready to haul against the tide. We could not stay longer, or the storm would smash the hull to pieces. But Gwen had Cook; they did not need me to travel. Could I jump back to the wall?
“Let me go!” I struggled upward, pulling myself to my feet against the bulwark. Why was my ankle buckling? “Take Cook to London and let—me—go!”
I put both hands on the rail as another wave lifted the ship from the stones, but Blake yanked me back to the deck. Furious, I wrenched Kashmir’s knife from his belt—only then did he back away, hands up, face pale. But the wave withdrew, and the Fool swung her sails to catch the gusting wind. With a groan, the Temptation shuddered out to sea.
“No!” I rushed back to the rail as the wall retreated. “No!”
“I’m sorry, Miss Song.” Blake’s voice broke, and he could not meet my eyes. He turned to help Bee and Rotgut with the ship. But I stayed at the rail, screaming wordless rage as Ker-Ys receded. It wasn’t right. It wasn’t fair. This was not how the story ended.
The wayward saint had returned with her warnings. The devil had opened the gates and cast Dahut into the sea. But the king was dead—who would ride away on the Dark Horse?
Crowhurst’s question had stayed with me; he had taken Kashmir’s lock picks, but where had his keys gone? The key to the treasury, the key to the manacles, the key to the yacht . . .
Kash had them. He must have. I believed it with all my heart. I watched for him, and waited. I knew he was coming. Beneath my feet, the Temptation trembled as the Fool towed us toward the gathering fog, but I kept my eyes on the sea gates as the city receded. Then Bee took my arm; I spun in shock at the touch.
“Come away, my girl.” Her voice was soft with anguish. “The ship is lost.”
“What?” Finally I tore my eyes from the flooding city, only to realize the Temptation was sinking.
The deck tilted. The sails sagged as if defeated. The ship sighed and shuddered in her grief. Her prow was already submerged, the carved mermaid figurehead greeting the sea at last. Repair would be impossible; her ribs had been snapped. She was gutted; water poured into the broken heart of her. The ship was going down with her captain.
On deck, Gwen and her crew were helping to salvage our belongings. Sailors scrambled back and forth from the Fool, hauling armloads of maps and medicine, books and baubles, crates and clothing. As I watched, Blake abandoned ship, carrying Billie in his arms. Rotgut followed, clutching his old mahjong set. And now Bee was tugging at my hand.
Still holding Kashmir’s knife, I let her lead me to starboard side, where the crew of the Fool had made fast to the Temptation. A ladder hung from Gwen’s ship; Bee pushed me toward it, but I shook my head. “Go on, Bee. I’ll be right behind you.”
She searched my face, and I could tell I hadn’t fooled her. “Nix . . .”
“Go,” I said again, my voice harsh with grief. “Captain’s orders.”
Tears shone in her eyes as she pulled me into a fierce hug, but then she released me. Taking hold of the ladder, she climbed free of the wreck, and she did not look back. So I raised Kashmir’s knife and swung it down on the rope binding the Fool to the Temptation.
The corvette sprang free, leaving the caravel behind, with me aboard.
The captain was going down with her ship.
Off the Fool’s prow, I could see the bank of fog beginning to form. I didn’t waste my time watching her meet it; instead, I clambered toward the stern, uphill against the slant of the deck. I had to use the rails to climb the stairs. When I reached the helm, I clung to the wheel.
Water crept up toward my feet. Waves broke over the bulwark, turning to a million sparkling stars. On the horizon, the city was nearly lost in the white mist, but I could still hear, very faintly, the ringing of the bells. I ran numb fingers over the bronze: regnabo, regno, regnavi, sum sine regno. I was drenched by the time the waves wrapped themselves around my ankles, and shivering as they rose around my hips.
Still, I didn’t let go of the helm, not even as the Temptation slipped at last beneath the surface, pulling me down with her. And for a moment, as the icy water closed over my head, I wondered if I could ever let go. But all around me, bubbles rose from the sinking ship, carrying me to the surface. The Temptation herself still buoyed me up.
I struggled for air even after I broke free of the water; the cold had taken my breath away. Blinking the salt out of my eyes, I scanned the horizon, but saw neither ship nor shore. Panic played tug-of-war with despair, my heart fraying like a rope: the sea was wide and deep, and I was alone.
Like a coward, I longed to escape, to call up the mist and Navigate away. But I had not left Bee and Rotgut only to leave Kashmir as well. Being lost at sea was not the worst fate had to offer.
And Kashmir was coming. I knew it, like I knew the positions of the stars or the pitch of the deck. I did not search for a glimpse of him, rather, I waited—I believed, without doubt, with faith unshakable.