The next morning it was raining hard. Sallina and Garibaldi had breakfast with the Captain, Dan, and Harry in the Captain's cabin. Pops brought them a platter piled high with bacon, scrambled eggs, and freshly-baked bread. There were plums, honey, and yoghurt too. Breakfast in the Captain's cabin was not supposed to be any different from the breakfast the sailors ate in the dormitory. But the Captain spent his own money on things like the honey and plums, and Pops took care of the Captain's food for him. So the fact was that breakfast in the Captain's cabin was always a little better than breakfast in the dormitory. That morning, for example, the sailors in the dormitory had no plums.
The food did nothing to cheer up Sallina. She sat close to Garibaldi on the port-side bench, but not even the warmth of his body next to her could stop her from feeling cold. And there, on the other side of the table, was Dan, the man whom Jacqueline said was an assassin. A man who had killed people for money.
Dan sipped his coffee and nodded his head slowly. "Good coffee."
The Captain smiled. He swallowed his mouthful of scrambled eggs and pointed to the coffee pot with his fork. "Compliments of Jayhan, the Captain of the Chiin Junk. Said he had another two hundred kilos of it on his ship, and he wanted to sell them."
Dan put his cup down. "You can't go wrong, sir. I'll buy ten kilos myself."
Garibaldi tasted the coffee. It was bitter. He had never liked coffee much. His mother loved it, but it was expensive. He and his father drank tea. "What would you do with it?" he said to Dan.
Dan leaned towards Garibaldi with a smile on his face. "I'd drink it, boy, what do you think I'd do with it, shove it up my−"
"Dan!" the Captain said, "This is my cabin, if you please. Behave yourself."
Harry laughed.
"How would you make the coffee?" Garibaldi said, "Pops makes the coffee."
"No," Dan said, "Normally, Harry and I have our own cabin, and we make our own coffee in the morning. As soon as the Captain and you have your business straightened out, we expect to get our cabin back, and then I'll be brewing coffee in the morning."
"You light a fire in the cabin?" Garibaldi said.
Harry poured himself some coffee. "No, we get boiling water from Pops," he said, "And we pour it slowly over the coffee. That's the way we like it."
"You'll get your cabin back soon enough, gentlemen," the Captain said. "Let's not make our guests feel unwelcome. We all owe them for their generosity." He raised his coffee cup. "Thank you, Garibaldi, for the loan. I'm ashamed to have to borrow money from a young man, but I'll have none say that I'm not grateful."
"You're welcome," Garibaldi said.
"Now, Sallina," the Captain said, "I mentioned your furs to Jayhan. He was interested in buying them."
"Don't you have your own fur to sell?" Sallina said.
"I do, I do," the Captain said, "But he was not interested in buying a large quantity, and he was most interested in the mink. Now you have the finest mink furs, the ones you have from Sukh. So I said we had some that were truly the best."
"Thank you," Sallina said, "But I'm not sure I would want to trade with someone like him."
The Captain looked at her for a few seconds. "What do you mean?"
"He doesn't care about his sailors. He has two girls for wives who I'm sure don't love him. Or maybe they are slaves. He left one of his sailors to die in Prudence Town," She looked down at her plate. The Captain started to say something, but Sallina interrupted him. "And you said that they think of us as barbarians. I don't want to deal with someone who thinks we're barbarians."
"But we need the money," Garibaldi said.
Sallina looked up. She shivered. Why wasn't anyone else feeling cold? She looked down at her plate again. Garibaldi was right, they did need the money.
The Captain smiled. "A good trader does business only with people she trusts. So, if you don't trust him, don't do business with him. Good for you. Trust your instincts. They have led you well enough so far."
Sallina looked across the table at the Captain. Behind him the cabin windows were closed. Rain dripped down them on the outside. She heard a low roll of thunder. "Why do you trade with them, then?"
"I don't mind if people think I'm a barbarian. Jayhan thinks I'm a bit simple in the head." The Captain nodded at Dan. "He think's I'm a devil for having that old crusader on my boat, for example. But he doesn't know what a fine surgeon Dan is. The only thing that matters to me when I'm trading is whether or not the man I'm dealing with is a man of honor. If he's a man of honor, then the more foolish he thinks I am, the better."
"Why's that?" Sallina said.
"Because, Miss Sallina," Harry said, "You must never mis-underestimate your opponent."
"That's right," the Captain said. "For example. Suppose Jayhan thinks I'm a fool. He agrees to sell me a hundred kilos of this same coffee we're drinking, the best coffee he has, for a certain price. A cheap price. He thinks I can't tell the difference between the best coffee, like the one we're drinking, and the second-best coffee. So he thinks he can give me a hundred kilos of second-best without me ever noticing. But I do notice after all, and I make him give me the best stuff instead, and I get it for cheap. You see?"
Sallina nodded. She didn't know what to say about that. It all seemed rather unpleasant. But she could not quite see what was wrong with what the Captain was doing.
There was a flash of light outside, and soon after, a deafening crack of thunder. Rain hammered on the deck above them. It hammered so loudly that Sallina could not believe it was rain. It sounded like rocks.
The Captain looked up at the ceiling. "Blast it," he said. "We just re-painted the aft deck, and now it's hailing before the paint's even had a chance to dry."
"How can they hold the circus in the rain?" Garibaldi said. He had to shout to be heard above the noise of the hail.
"Well, I don't know," the Captain said. He had no trouble shouting. Sallina remembered him shouting during the storm that broke the mast. "That's why I invited you to breakfast. I'm not sure what we should do. If they delay the circus until tomorrow, you'll look pretty foolish entering the city tonight wearing masks."
Garibaldi nodded.
"What do you think, Dan?" the Captain said. "Will they go on with it today?"
Dan swallowed a mouthful of food, took a drink of coffee, and cleared his throat. "It's been twenty years." He put his coffee cup down. "And I didn't pay much attention to the stadium, seeing as how I was situated at the time, sir: I had other things to worry about. But I'd say they don't have no rain cover, and I'll bet they don't start up with it until−"
Crack-a-Boom! It was more thunder.
Dan pointed up at the ceiling. "Until this stops, Captain."
The Captain nodded. "Aye! So that'll be at around noon."
"How do you know?" Garibaldi shouted.
"Well now, my good fellow," the Captain said. "I know because I'm the Captain."
Harry laughed. "He's the Captain!"
They ate the rest of the eggs and bacon without talking. The hail slowed down and turned to rain. When the sound of the rain was not so loud as to make her shout, Sallina said, "What are we going to do, then?"
"I think we should see how the weather goes today," the Captain said. "Jayhan took his junk to Faith Town yesterday, after our meeting. He wanted to go to the circus."
"How is he going to get there?" Garibaldi said.
"By the same road you're going to take: the road from Faith to Prudence."
"Fine morning for it," Harry said.
Sallina looked out the windows. It would be a dreadful morning to go along the road to Prudence. She imagined the eight men in red robes carrying the litter with Jayhan in it, and maybe the two women also. She doubted Jayhan would care at all if the men carrying him were cold. She shivered. She hoped very much that it was not raining when they walked that same road themselves.
"The Endeavor will follow the junk to Faith Town this afternoon," the Captain said to Sallina, "Alicia will meet with Jayhan when he gets back, tomorrow or the next day."
Sallina nodded.
The Captain tore a piece of bread off a loaf and spread some honey on it. "We'll stay here. If the weather clears up enough for us to land you on the beach tonight, we'll put you down. You can walk into the city and see what's going on. If you can get the girl, that's great. We'll come to pick you up an hour before dawn on the same beach. If you're not there waiting for us an hour before dawn, or if the sea is too rough for us to come in and get you, we'll come back at midnight."
Sallina stared at him with her eyes wide. "Wait the whole day?"
The Captain nodded. He was chewing his bread. She waited.
"I'm not bringing a boat to the beach in daylight. We'd be seen. We have to pick you up at night."
"But we'll be seen waiting on the beach!" Sallina said.
"You'll find somewhere to hide," the Captain said. "Dan is very good at hiding, aren't you Dan?"
"Maybe," Dan said, "But I don't know about them others."
"I'm sure you'll manage. We'll stand off the beach all night. If we can't pick you up, I'll bring the Reliant back to Rotunda." He pointed down at the floor when he said Rotunda. "Our story will be that we were here all day, and it will be true. I don't like lying unless I have to."
"But you'll lie if you do have to?" Sallina said.
The Captain laughed and held up his hand. "Enough of your challenges. Enough of your ethics and morality. I'm a fat captain of a merchant ship. I'm no saint. I'm not up to your standards." He pointed to the food that was left on the table. "Let's just enjoy our breakfast."
"Aye," Dan said. He raised his coffee cup. "We're none of us saints, Miss."
He winked at her.
Sallina frowned. She folded her arms across her chest and shivered.
When breakfast was over, Sallina and Garibaldi went back to their room. Sallina lay in bed under the blankets. Garibaldi lay down beside her to help warm her up.
"Baat should have been there this morning," she said, "We were talking about the rescue. Why didn't the Captain invite him?"
"He did," Garibaldi said.
"Why didn't he come?"
"I'm not sure. But he asked if Dan would be eating at the same table, and when Harry said Yes, he would be, Baat said he would eat with the rest of the sailors."
Sallina turned to look at Garibaldi's face. Their noses were pressed together. "Really?"
Garibaldi nodded.
Sallina looked at the bottom of the bunk above them. "So Baat really does hate Dan."
A roll of thunder reached their ears. So far as Garibaldi could tell, the thunder was to the east of them now, over Independence Island, perhaps right over Prudence City itself. The storm would be pouring rain upon the stadium and the circus, if the circus was going on at all.
"It must be hard for Baat to have to go with Dan to rescue Chimeg," Sallina said.
"I think it is," Garibaldi said, "But I like Dan."
"I always liked him too. But now I'm not so sure, after hearing what Jacqueline had to say, and knowing how Baat feels about him."
She shivered and pulled herself closer to Garibaldi. "I'm so cold."
Garibaldi pressed his cheek against hers. "You feel hot. You're getting sick. Perhaps you should stay behind tonight, especially if it's cold."
Sallina's body stiffened. "No. I'm just cold. I'll be okay in a bit."
Garibaldi raised one eyebrow. But Sallina could not see his eyebrows. She buried her face in Garibaldi's neck, and wrapped her leg around his waist. He was warm and strong, and he smelled good.
At mid-morning, Sallina and Garibaldi were still lying in bed. Sallina did not want to get up because she was finally warm, lying next to Garibaldi. Garibaldi did not want to get up because he was asleep. The rain had stopped, but there was a cold wind blowing, and no fire place or stove in the cabin to keep it warm.
There was a knock on the door. Sallina raised her head. "Who is it?" Garibaldi opened his eyes and closed them again.
"It's Jacqueline. We're leaving. I wanted to say goodbye."
Sallina crawled over Garibaldi and out of the bed. She opened the door. There was Jacqueline, dressed from head to foot in oiled canvass, with a black shiny hat on her head.
Sallina folded her arms to keep herself warm. "Nice hat."
Jacqueline smiled. "Thank you." She reached up and touched the hat's rim. "It's made of rubber. Never lets the water through."
Sallina smiled.
"You don't look well," Jacqueline said. She reached out with one hand and touched Sallina's forehead. "You have a−"
Sallina moved Jacqueline's hand from her forehead and held her fingers to her lips.
Jacqueline nodded. "You want to go anyway."
Sallina nodded.
Jacqueline stepped close to her. "Well, that's up to you. Good luck tonight. Keep your wits about you. There's something crazy about this plan. There's no reason for you and Garibaldi to go. Dan should be doing it on his own with Baat. I'm not sure what the Captain is thinking, or what Dan is thinking."
Sallina frowned. "What do you think we should do?"
"I don't know." Jacqueline was whispering in Sallina's ear. "Maybe Dan has some other job to do in Prudence. Maybe he's going to use you in that job, without you knowing about it. Just keep a look out. If he asks you to do something strange, don't do it unless he explains it to you. I don't want you to end up being part of one of his..."
Sallina moved back a little and looked at Jacqueline. "One of his what?"
"You know," Jacqueline said. "One of his jobs."
A whistle blew a long, high call somewhere outside the ship. Jacqueline stood up straight. "I have to go." She hugged Sallina and kissed her on the cheek.
Sallina kept her arms crossed, because she was cold, but she kissed Jacqueline's cheek and said, "Thanks for coming, Jacqueline. I'll see you soon."
Jacqueline nodded. "Yes. Supper was fun last night."
"Yes," Sallina said.
Jacqueline turned, went quickly down the passage, and ran up the stairs, taking them two at a time, and pounding on the wood with her boots.
Sallina wished Jacqueline was coming with them.
An hour before dark, Baat, Sallina, and Garibaldi stood on the Reliant's aft deck, leaning on the rail, holding their hats on their heads, and watching the coast of Independence Island going by. Clouds filled the sky and moved swiftly in the direction of the shore. There was no rain, but the air was damp and chilly.
They were sailing west, with the wind blowing from the south-west, and tilting the ship over to starboard. The wind was blowing hard most of the time, but every now and then it would stop, blow in another direction, and go back to blowing from the from the south-west. When the wind changed like that, the sails of the ship snapped one way, and another. The masts and spars creaked and groaned. Ropes tightened and hummed.
Harry was at the wheel, and the Captain was standing next to him. He shouted orders, and the sailors shouted his orders back at him.
"Trim the fore stay-sail!"
"Aye, aye, Captain, trim the fore stay-sail!"
"Five degrees to port!"
"Aye, aye, Captain," Harry said, "Five degrees to port!"
As the bow of the ship met the top of each wave, sea water splashed high in the air and over the fore deck. The water ran across the deck to starboard, and out through holes in the bottom of the ship's rail.
They rounded a rocky point, and beyond it was a wide, south-facing beach with cliffs behind it.
"There it is!" the Captain said. "That's the one. There's a staircase up the cliffs about half-way along the beach."
"The sea's rough. It will be tricky in the dark, but I think we can get you down with the rowboat." The Captain stared at the beach. The Reliant was only a five hundred paces from the shore. They could see the waves crashing on the sand, and hear them too.
"Prepare to tack to port!"
"Aye, aye, Captain! Tack to port!"
Garibaldi looked up at the sails and across the deck at the sailors. They were loosening the ropes that held the sails sideways across the ship.
"We'll make like we're heading back to Rotunda," the Captain said, "But we'll hide behind Mask Island until dark." He pointed south-west across the water, where there was a small island just visible beneath the gray clouds.
"Ninety degrees to port!"
Harry spun the ship's wheel counter-clockwise. "Aye, aye, Captain! Ninety degrees to port!"
Some sailors let ropes loose, and others pulled them tight. The sails turned over the ship even as the ship turned. The wind blew right down the ship from front to back. The ship turned a little more to the port. The sailors turned the sails so that they caught the wind once more, and drove the ship forwards.
Garibaldi smiled. He loved being a woodcutter, but he began to think that he would love to be a sailor too. Woodcutters worked alone, but sailors worked together, in a group, and the result was a huge ship turning across the wind, and all the sails moving into place at the same time. And he liked the shouting too: he would love to try shouting all those things that the sailors shouted.
The Reliant was now sailing south.
"It's going to be a black night, Captain," Harry said. "And the beach is not so long that we mightn't strike them rocks in the dark."
"It's long enough, Harry," the Captain said. "I'll bring her in myself. We'll stop four hundred meters short of the beach."
Harry shook his head. The Captain patted him on the back. "Trust me."
The Reliant sailed around to the south side of Mask Island, and stopped there, where she was hidden from Faith Town. As the light of day faded, the Captain ordered the ship to make sail again. They sailed north-east towards the beach. The wind was still blowing out of the south-west. Sallina, Garibaldi, Dan, and Baat were on the aft deck. The Captain was at the wheel. Harry stood by the main mast on the main deck.
By the time they neared the shore, it was night. It was absolutely dark beneath the clouds. The only light was a dim lantern on the aft deck. The wind was blowing from behind the boat, pushing them towards the shore. The ship had only one sail up, so that it would go slowly.
The Captain said, "Toss the plank!"
Sharpy and Jasper were at the back of the ship.
"Aye, aye, Captain! Toss the plank."
Sharpy threw a plank of wood with a rope on it over the back of the ship. The plank pulled the rope through Sharpy's hands as the ship moved away through the water. The rope had knots tied in it every arm-length or so. Jasper watched sand falling through a sand glass in the light of the lantern. Sharpy counted how many knots went through his hands.
"Time!" Jasper said.
"Twenty-three!" Sharpy said.
"Twenty-three!" the Captain said, "Steady as she goes! Silence on deck!"
The sailors stood silently, their hands cupped around their ears, listening.
"I hear waves, sir!" said a sailor from the front of the ship.
"And I sir!" a second sailor said.
"Rocks or sand?" the Captain said.
"Sand, sir."
"A beach, sir," the second sailor said, "I'm certain of it."
"Furl the main sail! Prepare to drop anchor!"
By now, Sallina could hear the sound of the waves. But she could not tell if it was the sound of waves on rocks or waves on sand. She trusted that the sailors knew the difference.
"Drop anchor!"
The anchor splashed into the water on the port side. Soon after, the ship slowed down at the front, and began to turn around. It turned until it was facing backwards, held in place by the anchor and facing into the wind.
"Put the rowboat in the water! Harry, four men to row the boat! Dan, Garibaldi, Sallina, Baat, prepare to embark!"
A little while later, Sallina was sitting in the back of the rowboat next to Dan. Garibaldi, Baat, and four sailors were rowing towards the sound of the waves crashing upon the beach. Dan was calling the strokes. Sallina looked over her shoulder. All she could see of the ship was the lantern shining on the aft deck. She folded her arms and huddled forward. The wind was blowing from behind her. Beneath her oilskin jacket and trousers, she wore two sweaters and another pair of trousers. On her feet were a new pair of boots she bought in Prudence. On her back was a pack with a bottle of water, some cheese, beef jerky, a loaf of bread, and some chocolate. Strapped to the side of her pack were two bamboo sticks. Also in her pack was her mask: red with gold thread, and ears like a rabbit's. It covered her face down to her mouth, and had holes for her eyes and nose.
Water splashed onto her lap. She sat up and the water rolled off her oilskin trousers and into the bottom of the boat. She could feel the water rolling off, but she could not see it. There was no light to see by. The rowers were rowing by feel and by hearing alone.
"Stroke hard! And again!" Dan said. The sound of the waves was getting louder. "Once more! And raise the oars!"
A wave caught the rowboat, tipped it to one side, turned it sideways, and pushed it up onto the beach.
"Jump to it!" Dan said, "Everyone out!"
Sallina grabbed the edge of the boat, stood up, and put her leg over the side. She had one foot in the boat, and another on the sand, when something struck her on the head.
"Agh!"
She saw white light. After that, she was so angry, she wanted to hit somebody, or at least shout at them. She took a deep breath and finished getting out of the boat. When she stood in the shallow water, she said, "Watch it with those oars!"
"Begging your pardon, Miss," one of the sailors said.
"Put the oars in the boat lads," Dan said, "Are you all right, Miss Sallina?"
Sallina rubbed the back of her head. "I'm okay." She didn't feel okay. She might even be bleeding. She walked up the beach with her hands held out in front of her. When she was well above the crashing waves, she turned around to face the sea. She could still see the spot of light that was the Reliant's lantern.
"Sallina, Baat and Garibaldi," Dan said, "Up the beach. Don't go far. I'll be with you soon as we get this here boat out again."
Garibaldi and Baat must have walked up the beach also, but Sallina could not see them.
"Where are you?"
"I'm here," Garibaldi said. A moment later, he was standing beside her. "Right here."
Baat said, "I am here." He was standing a few steps away.
"Are you seated, lads?" Dan said.
"We're seated!"
"Oars at the ready?"
There were some thumps in the boat and some banging. "Ready with the oars!"
A great wave crashed upon the shore. "This is it!" Dan said. The wave washed up almost to Sallina's feet. It fell back into the sea.
"Stroke!" called a sailor from beyond the waves. "Stroke!"
The boat must be out there, beyond the waves, Sallina although. What about Dan? She listened, but she could not hear him. Was that his voice calling the strokes in the rowboat? She could not be sure. Had he got back in the boat and left the three of them alone on the beach?
"Damnation!" Dan said. He was coming up the beach in the darkness in front of them. "Wet to the skin!" A moment later, a spot of white light appeared. It shone upon Sallina and Garibaldi's feet, then upon Baat's. Dan was holding some kind of lantern. The lantern made a narrow beam of light, and he was pointing it at the things he wanted to see.
"I've got this here light," Dan said. "Follow me up the beach. First thing is to find the stairs. Where did you get hit, Miss?"
"On the back of the head."
Dan walked over to her, the circle of light going before him. When he came near, he shone the light on Sallina's chest. She could see him now. He was holding a tube in one hand. The light was coming from the tube. Sallina guessed that the tube had a luminous stone at the end of it, like the ones Nerboculus was selling, only smaller.
"Turn around so I can take a look," Dan said.
She turned around. Dan shone the light on the back of her head. She took off her hat and lifted up her hair. She pointed with her finger. "Right there."
Dan held her forehead with one hand and rubbed the lump on her head with his fingers. "Do you feel dizzy?"
"No."
He took his hand off her forehead. "You're fine."