Baat did not let go of the rope.
When the Reliant's rowboat was far enough from shore that Sallina could hardly hear the waves on the beach, the Captain said, "Stop rowing! Sallina, uncover the lantern."
Sallina opened the lantern cover and raised it above her head. The Captain pulled on the rope. She sat up and watched where the rope went into the water. Baat's head came towards the boat. He was holding the rope with one arm and Dan with the other.
"Stand back, Sallina," the Captain said, and to one of the rowers, "Lend me a hand there, sailor."
"Aye, aye, sir," the sailor said. He rose from his bench, stepped past Sallina, and stood at the back of the boat with the Captain. When Baat and Dan were next to the boat, the Captain wrapped the rope around a piece of metal screwed to the side. He and the sailor pulled Baat and Dan closer. Baat let go of the rope and held onto the boat. Sallina moved away and sat on the sailor's bench. The Captain and the sailor lifted Dan out of the water and into the boat where Sallina had been sitting. They laid him down on his back as best they could, with his legs stretching out under the benches and his head towards the rear. There was blood on the Captain's hands where he touched Dan's back.
The Captain pointed to the front of the boat and looked at Baat. "Go up front."
Baat went hand-over hand along the boat, ducking under the oars. The sailor sat next to Sallina on the bench. Sallina leaned forward and stared at Dan. Dan opened his eyes and looked back at her. He smiled.
"Good," he said quietly. "You made it."
The Captain knelt beside him. "Okay, Dan," he said, "You're safe now."
Dan turned his head and looked at the Captain. His face was pale. "I haven't been safe in thirty years, Captain."
"Well, you're safe now."
Dan closed his eyes. Blood dripped out of the corner of his mouth. When the Captain saw the blood, he held one hand over his eyes and breathed out.
The boat gave a lurch to one side. There was a splash.
"Baat's aboard," Otis said.
The Captain took his hand away from his eyes and sat up. "Who else is hurt?"
"Able Seaman George has an arrow in his leg," Otis said.
"George," the Captain said, "Are you going to be able to hang on until we get to the ship?"
"Yes sir," George said. "Permission to speak, sir."
"Yes, George."
"I request that we row for the Endeavor so's Dan and I can be cared for by the Endeavor's surgeon, sir."
"Mrs. Benton, you mean?" the Captain said.
Sallina turned and looked at George. He was sitting between two benches. Just then, Baat sat down at the front of the boat, and the boat pitched. George leaned back, and the arrow sticking out of his leg pushed against the underside of a bench. He grunted and held the arrow.
"Aye, Captain," he said, "Sally Benton is my wife. And a fine surgeon, second only to ours."
The Captain sat at the back of the boat and shouted into the darkness in front of them. "Ahoy there, Endeavors!"
"Ahoy, Captain," came a voice across the waves.
"Row for the Endeavor. We will follow."
"Aye, aye, Captain."
The Captain took hold of the tiller. "Sallina, sit down next to Dan. Hold his head up."
Sallina sat down in the bottom of the boat and set the lantern beside her. She put her hand under Dan's head.
"Take your oars," the Captain said. The sailors sat on their benches and took their oars in hand. "Full speed!"
"One, two, three, stroke!" the Captain called, and the sailors began to row.
Dan's breathing was slow and shallow. He kept his eyes closed. Every now and then he would grimace or frown and clench his teeth.
"They just put the stern lights on, sailors!" the Captain said.
Sallina looked up and around. Some of the sailors looked over their shoulders. In front of the boat, a few hundred paces across the water, were two groups of lanterns.
The Captain nodded towards the lanterns and looked at Sallina. "That's the Reliant on the left, and the Endeavor on the right" He looked down at Dan. "Not long now, Dan."
Dan did not answer.
Sallina wondered how Baat was doing. The last she saw him, he was bleeding from his head. He must have been cut on the scalp, or on the forehead. She looked up at the Captain. "Baat is hurt too. Hit on the head, I think."
"Sally will take care of him," the Captain said, "And how badly is Garibaldi hurt?"
"He was stabbed in the leg with a spear."
The Captain nodded. "He'll be alright then."
"Ahoy! Come around port side!" it was Alicia's voice, captain of the Endeavor. The big three-masted ship loomed ahead of them. Its lanterns shone brightly on the deck and at the stern.
The Captain steered the rowboat around to the port side. The sailors on the Endeavor dropped two ropes into the rowboat, and threw two rope-ladders over the side. Alicia leaned over the ship's rail and shouted.
"Do you need a stretcher?"
"Aye," the Captain said, "We need one for Dan."
Alicia's eyes widened. "For Dan?"
"Aye, for Dan."
Alicia disappeared from the rail. "Stretcher and ropes! Reliant's surgeon is wounded."
The Captain looked down at Dan. "Hang on Dan, stretcher's coming."
Dan opened his eyes. He spat some blood from his mouth. "I'm not going to make it, Captain."
"Of course you are, old fellow," the Captain said. He knelt beside Dan. Sallina moved to one side. The captain put his hand on Dan's forehead. "Of course you are."
Sallina started to cry, but she tried not to make any noise. Dan looked at her and smiled. "So, you do care about me after all."
The Captain sat up. "You know what?" he said, "We'll take you right away to Faith Town, that's what we'll do, and have them fix you up in their hospital. We'll do that right away. We'll have you there by morning."
The boat rocked. The sailors were climbing out and up the side of the Endeavor. Two of them helped George climb with an arrow sticking out of his leg. Otis and Baat stayed in the boat.
"Stretcher coming down!" Alicia said.
Sallina looked up and saw a board with sides, like a narrow bed, coming down from above. It was hanging by four ropes. It came to rest upon the edge of the rowboat. "Sallina, Otis, Baat, help me lift him," the Captain said. "Let's use all our hands at once, and keep him straight."
They lifted Dan into the stretcher. He groaned as they laid him down. The Captain looked up at Alicia. Dan opened his eyes and grabbed the hem of the Captain's shirt with one hand.
"Not Faith Town," he said.
He let go of the shirt. The Captain knelt down to be close to his face. Sallina leaned forwards.
"Why not?" the Captain said.
"In 2442 I killed the mayor," Dan said. He closed his eyes, then spat a small lump of blood from his mouth. He took a deep breath. "Killed him right in front of his young-uns. Threw a javelin through is back at twenty paces."
The Captain nodded slowly.
Dan grabbed the Captain's wrist. "I'll not go, do you hear? I've got my principles, you hear me? I have my principles." He closed his eyes and put his head back on the stretcher. He still held the Captain's wrist.
"Okay," the Captain said. "We'll go somewhere else. We'll go to Plantinak."
"No," Dan said.
"We have to take you somewhere. Your lung is pierced. You're spitting blood."
Dan opened his eyes. "No it's not. I bit my tongue when they shot me, and it's been bleeding. I'm shot in the liver. I've got a few days, maybe a week."
They stared at one another.
"Take me to my wife," Dan said. "I want to see her one more time."
The Captain nodded. "Okay."
Dan closed his eyes. The Captain looked up. "Haul away!"
The sailors on the Endeavor pulled the stretcher up and away from the rowboat. Sallina looked up at the ship's rail. There were many faces looking down at her. She recognized most of them. There was Jacqueline, and Natasha. She did not see Garibaldi. But there, on the end, was a face she did not expect to see.
It was Yohiromaki, the man with white hair.
"Yohiromaki is on the Endeavor," Sallina said.
The Captain looked up. "Yes."
"How did he get there?"
"That's a long story," the Captain said, "But it looks like the Endeavor is going to have two passengers, just like the Reliant."
"Two?" Sallina said, "Who's the other one?"
The Captain looked up at Dan's stretcher. Several sailors lifted the stretcher over the rail and onto the deck.
"Another time, Miss Sallina," the Captain said. He stepped off the rowboat and started climbing up the rope ladder. Sallina looked at Baat. There was blood on his forehead and in his hair, but no more fresh blood dripping into his eyes.
"I'm going aboard the Endeavor to be with Garibaldi," she said.
"Very good," Otis said. "I'll wait here for the Captain's orders. Baat, go aboard with Sallina so Sally Benton can see about your forehead. And while you're there, Sallina, you had better pay a visit to Sally's infirmary also."
Sallina nodded.
Not long after that, Sallina sat on a coil of rope staring at the polished boards of the Endeavor's main deck. She was so tired that she could not see well. The light of the lanterns flickered and confused her. The ship's mainsail was full above her and the ship was rolling gently.
Someone put a wool blanket around her shoulders. She could tell the blanket was wool by the smell of the cloth. A woman's hand held a cup of hot chocolate in front of her face. She took the hot chocolate and looked up. Jacqueline was smiling down at her.
"Welcome back," Jacqueline said.
Sallina smiled. "Thanks."
Jacqueline knelt and put her arm around Sallina's shoulders. "Everything's going to be fine. Everyone made it. Sally's taking care of them all, one by one. You'll be last, I'm afraid, because you don't seem to be bleeding."
Sallina nodded. She took a sip of the hot chocolate. It tasted good. She looked at Jacqueline. "Is Dan going to die?"
Jacqueline laughed. "Sooner or later he will. But not this week, if that's what you mean."
Sallina closed her eyes and put the cup of hot chocolate to her mouth. Jacqueline stroked her hair and pressed herself close to Sallina's side.
Sallina turned her head and looked into Jacqueline's face. "I don't want him to die."
Jacqueline smiled. "You got to like the old bugger, did you?"
Sallina bit her lip and nodded. "I was unfair to him."
Jacqueline laughed again. Sallina frowned.
"Don't worry about being unfair to him, Sallina. He has debts he can never pay." Jacqueline leaned over and kissed the top of Sallina's head. "And he's not going to die anyway. Sally will take care of him. She's a good surgeon, she is."
The Endeavor sailed on into the night, out across the dark water and away from Independence Island. Jacqueline took Sallina's socks and boots off and bathed her feet in warm water. Sallina asked Jacqueline for some medicine to stop her wrist and hip from hurting, but Jacqueline said no, Sallina would have to wait until she saw Sally.
"Sally's stitching up Baat's head now," Jacqueline said, "You're next."
Sallina looked up. She squinted at the lantern swinging from the mast in front of her. "Where is the Reliant?"
"She's ahead," Jacqueline said. "We're following her." She stood up and stared forward into the night. She pointed over the bow of the ship. "I can see her stern lights." She crouched beside Sallina. "Everything is going to be okay. Everyone is here. Nobody's going to die. Just relax."
Sallina rested her head in her hands and looked down at the deck. Jacqueline sat beside her. The first mate shouted orders. Sallina listened to the creak of the masts above her. She felt the gentle roll of the ship beneath her. She wished she could go to sleep. She was tired of being awake. She was tired of worrying. She closed her eyes, but the pain in her wrist kept her from falling asleep.
Someone called her name. She opened her eyes.
"Okay," Jacqueline said, "Up you get, I'll take you down to the infirmary."
Jacqueline helped her down the stairs. The light in the infirmary was bright. A steady white light came from a luminous stone set in the ceiling. The light shone upon a metal table. On one side of the room were bunk beds. Dan lay upon the bottom bunk. Another man lay upon the top bunk.
A short, plump woman stood in the center of the room. She wore a long white smock. This was Sally Benton, the Endeavor's surgeon. Sallina had not spoken to her before, but she knew her by sight.
"Please lie down on the table," Sally said.
Sallina lay on the table. Jacqueline waved from the corridor and closed the door.
"She's a good girl, that Jacqueline," Sally said. She leaned over Sallina and smiled. "Now, how do you feel?"
Sallina told Sally about her aching feet, her aching hip, her painful wrist, and her other cuts and bruises. Sally nodded and frowned. "Oh dear, I'm sure that hurts." She looked at the injuries and touched them.
"Ah!" Sallina said, when Sally bent her wrist back.
"Oh yes," Sally said, "Sprained it, you did." She stepped back from the table.
Sallina looked at her. "What can you do for me?"
"I'm going to give you some pills and recommend a good night's sleep."
Sallina sat up on the metal table. "Who is in the top bunk?"
"My husband. He's fast asleep. So is Dan. I gave them something stronger when I stitched them up."
"Is your husband going to be okay?"
"Yes," Sally said, "He won't be climbing the shrouds for a while, that's for sure, but he'll be fine."
"How about Dan?"
Sally turned and looked at Dan. He was sleeping on his back with a white sheet pulled up to his neck.
"He'll be okay," she said. She went to the corner of the room where there was a shiny metal sink. She turned a tap and water came out. She wet her hands, picked up a bar of soap, and worked up a thick lather on her hands and wrists. "He told me the arrow had pierced his liver, but I don't think he's right."
Sallina remembered Baat pulling the arrow out of Dan's back, and how Dan had screamed. "The wound in his back must be horrible," she said, "Arrows have barbs on them, don't they? Baat pulled the arrow right out."
Sally rinsed her hands in the tap water. She picked up a small white towel from a pile beside the sink and rubbed each of her fingers dry. "It's not too bad, actually. The arrow in George's leg didn't have a barb. The problem is that Dan was wearing a silk shirt. Silk is so thin and strong that often arrows don't cut through it, and the silk twists around the arrow and slows it down. You pull the silk, and the arrow comes out."
"Why is that a problem?" Sallina said.
"The silk shirt is usually dirty, and it drags its dirt all the way into the wound." Sally said. She looked at Dan. "If the wound gets infected deep inside, he'll have a rough time."
"Will he die?"
Sally looked at Sallina. "Not if he wants to live."
Sallina frowned. "What do you mean? Of course he wants to live."
Sally tilted her head and stared at Sallina. "Does he really?"
Sallina stared back at her.
That night, Sallina slept in a hammock for the first time in her life. She did not like it, but she supposed she could get used to it. In the morning, Jacqueline brought her a cup of tea. Sallina sat up and took it from her. She was in the sailor's dormitory under the Endeavor's main deck.
"Garibaldi says hello," Jacqueline said, "He slept in the first mate's bunk last night. He's doing well."
"Where did the first mate sleep?" Sallina said.
"Oh," Jacqueline said. "Suspicious, are you?"
Sallina looked down at her cup. Jacqueline patted her knee. "The first mate slept somewhere else."
Sallina sipped her tea. The hammock moved. A few drops of tea spilled on her shirt. She looked down. The shirt was too large for her, and it was clean.
"It's mine," Jacqueline said.
Sallina looked up. "I saw the man with white hair last night. The one from the junk. How did he get here?"
"Ah, yes," Jacqueline said. "Yohiromaki is his name."
"I know."
"On the night of the circus, we were docked in Faith Town harbor."
"Yes."
"A few hours after midnight, the wind was blowing something rotten, with waves a meter high in the harbor, when here comes Jayhan with his litter and his lanterns and his litter carriers, all running as fast as they can."
"You were awake?" Sallina said.
"I'm always on night watch," Jacqueline said. She waved her hand at the ceiling. "Up on deck. So, they all go aboard, litter and all, aboard the junk. They drop a rowboat in the water, cast off, and start to tug the junk towards the harbor mouth. It's absolutely dark, but they're shining oil lanterns out on the water, and the waves are tossing the rowboat. I get the Captain awake, seeing as this is quite extraordinary, and the Captain hails the junk, asking if they need help, and they say no, they don't need any help, and they can't trade with us either and goodnight."
Sallina stretched her legs out in the hammock and nodded. "I see."
"They tug the junk to the harbor mouth, hoist sail, and try to get out, which of course they can't, because the waves are three meters high and the wind is blowing them back in. But they keep trying anyway, and we're all up on deck watching, and finally we hear a crunch, and the junk is on the rocks by the harbor mouth, run aground in the storm."
Sallina leaned forward, her eyes wide. "On the rocks?"
"Yes. So we put a rowboat in the water to go out and see what we can do to help."
"Was the junk sinking?" Sallina said.
"We couldn't tell at the time, but it turned out that yes, it was sinking. And Jayhan orders his crew to get off and climb over the rocks to shore, which is not so smart, because it's dangerous, what with the waves and all. So some of the sailors are swimming around in the waves, but most of them, it turns out, can't swim at all."
Sallina put her cup down in her lap. "Sailors who can't swim?"
"I know," Jacqueline said. "Amazing, isn't it? Anyway." She folded her hands on her lap and looked aside. "It's pretty sad, really."
"Then what?" Sallina said.
"The Faith Town coast guard comes out with three big rowboats. We turn back to the Endeavor, and we're almost there, when we find two people in the water. It's Yohiromaki, and a girl. Her name's Chiou. So of course we pull them out of the water and take them aboard the Endeavor. The Captain sends them below and tells us to keep our mouths shut."
"Why?"
"It turns out that Yohiromaki doesn't want the police, or even the coast guard to know he's there."
"And Alicia agreed?"
"She figured that we were all going to be in trouble with the police anyway, so why not make a friend out of Yohiromaki?"
"But what about Jayhan, the Captain of the junk, and the rest of his crew?"
Jacqueline looked down at her hands. "We think Jayhan and about thirty of his crew are in the custody of the Faith Town police." She looked up at Sallina. "So far as we can tell, the other thirty of them drowned."
"Oh," Sallina said. She felt sick.
"We left first thing in the morning, taking Yohiromaki and the girl with us. When we sailed out of the harbor mouth, Jayhan's ship was lying on its side on the rocks, all smashed up by the waves. And we saw the bodies of the drowned sailors."
Late that afternoon, the two ships furled their sails and slowed down. The Reliant's rowboat came across to the Endeavor. It carried Sallina, Garibaldi, and Dan back to the Reliant. The sailors put Dan in the lower bunk of his own infirmary. Garibaldi and Sallina went back to their cabin. Garibaldi lay down in the lower bunk. The rowboat went back to fetch Baat. Chimeg and Boli remained upon the Endeavor, along with Yohiromaki and the girl from Chiin.
Once Sallina had made Garibaldi comfortable in his bed, she went to the Captain's cabin. She sat at his table. There were two glasses, a bottle of wine, and a bowl of nuts. The Captain drank wine and ate nuts. Sallina told him the story of their adventure on Independence Island. When she told him how she thought Dan was going to leave them behind, he nodded. When she told him how she thought maybe the Captain was going to sail away without them and keep their gold, he smiled.
"And so we were wondering if the policemen were still on the beach," Sallina said, "When we saw your light on the water."
The Captain turned his wine glass between his fingers. Sallina stared at the tablecloth. Pops clattered his pots around in the kitchen on the other side of the wall. Someone flushed a toilet.
The Captain looked up and smiled. "Are you glad to be back?"
Sallina clasped her hands. "Of course I am, Captain."
"Look after Dan for me, will you?"
She stared at him. "But I'm not a nurse."
"Just take care of him," the Captain said, "Bring him tea, read to him, talk to him. Laugh at his jokes. That sort of thing. Sally will come aboard once a day to see to his bandage and check his wound."
Sallina frowned. "The last he told me, he wanted to see me flogged at the main mast."
The Captain sat back and looked out the port window. "You won't be flogged. You didn't disobey a direct order, so far as I can tell. But Baat did." He looked at her. "So we might have to punish him for that."
Sallina did not answer.
"Will you look after Dan?" the Captain said.
"Yes."
"Good. I'm going to leave you and Garibaldi in the cabin for now. You'll be passengers until our next port. But you're going to have to become crew members after that, or I'm going to put you off the ship."
Sallina stared at him. "Put us off the ship?"
"Yes," the Captain said. He smiled. "You're thinking about my declaration in the wrong way. I'm inviting you and Garibaldi to join the crew of the Reliant."
Sallina frowned. "But we're not sailors."
"Let me be the judge of that."
Sallina stopped frowning. "Okay."
The Captain poured some wine into the second glass on the table and slid it towards Sallina. "Where I come from," he said, "We share a glass of wine at a moment like this." He nodded at the glass. "Please have some."
Sallina looked at the wine and at the Captain. "What am I agreeing to if I drink this?"
The Captain leaned back in his chair and laughed. He leaned forward and put his elbows on the table. "You will be agreeing that I am not the sort of man who would sail away with your gold. Not now, not ever. Other than that, you agree to nothing. You can decide if you want to join the crew when we get to Cloghlogan."
Sallina looked at the glass. She took the stem between her fingers. She picked it up. The crystal sparkled. She moved the glass towards her lips. She stopped. She looked at the wine. What if the Captain was trying to poison her and take her gold? She looked over the rim of the glass at the Captain. He stared back at her. He was not smiling.
Sallina closed her eyes. It's not easy to trust people. She held the glass to her mouth, tipped it up and drank the wine in one gulp. She put the glass down on the table. The Captain drank the wine from his glass and put his own glass down too. He sat back, folded his arms and nodded.
"Thank you," he said.
Sallina folded her arms too. "I'm not going to join the crew if I have to be on one ship while Garibaldi is on another."
"Yes," the Captain said. "I figured as much. You'll be glad to know that Alicia and I are going to end our experiment soon."
Sallina smiled. "Really?"
"Yes." The Captain pulled his glass towards him and spun it by its stem. "We all agree that it was better when we were mixed up." He looked up at her. "Fights, scandals, jealousy and all, it's better to have the men and women mixed up together." He smiled. "It's more fun for the crew."
"But not for you?"
The Captain shrugged. "It makes no difference to me."
Sallina looked at the table. After a while, she said, "Is Dan really married?"
The Captain picked up his bottle of wine and poured himself another glass. "Yes."
"Is his wife a sailor?"
"No. She does not like to sail at all, although I don't think she suffers from seasickness. She's a locksmith and a watchmaker.
"Where's Clocklogan?"
"Cloghlogan," the Captain said, "is on the west coast of the Satian Sea where the Trukulent Mountains come right to the shore. There's a harbor-town called Cloghloganport, and Cloghlogan itself is under the mountain. It's a dwarf city."
"What is it like inside?"
The Captain raised his hands. "Enough. I have work to do. Ask one of the crew. Ask Sharpy. It's a city of dwarves."
Sallina put her hands on the table. She stood up. "Thank you Captain."
The Captain raised his glass. "Welcome back, young lady."
That evening, Garibaldi lay in his bed wearing a pair of shorts made from cutting an old pair of trousers. His legs were bare. A bright white bandage was wrapped around his right thigh. He had slept most of the day. Sallina sat upon a stool beside him. She had just finished telling him about her interview with the Captain.
"Dan's wife is a watchmaker," Sallina said.
Garibaldi nodded. "Of course. Do you remember he said the person who made his watch was the prettiest dwarf woman he had ever seen?"
"She's a dwarf?" Sallina said.
Garibaldi raised himself on his elbow. "I think she is. I think she's a real dwarf. We may get to meet her."
"Maybe," Sallina said, "But it won't be much fun if all we have to tell her is that Dan is dead."
Garibaldi lay down. "True." He stared at the top bunk. Sally Benton had told Sallina that Dan would live if he wanted to live, or die if he wanted to die. Garibaldi did not quite believe Sally Benton. Dan said his liver was pierced, and he would die in a few days. He wanted to see his wife before he died.
Garibaldi looked at Sallina. "Where are we going? What was the place's name?"
"Cloghlogan." Garibaldi was about to ask her another question, but Sallina said, "I think the Captain drinks too much wine."
"Does he?"
"He's always drinking," Sallina said. "I think he's unhappy."
Garibaldi nodded. "That could be. My father says people drown their sorrows in drink."
Sallina leaned forward and put her head upon Garibaldi's chest. "I think he misses his wife."
Garibaldi stroked Sallina's hair. The ship pitched as it forced its way through the waves. The sun was setting in the west, and they were sailing south. The cabin was growing dark. Their small, round window was open. Garibaldi listened to the sea slapping against the side of the ship. He lay with his head towards the ship's wall, and he could feel that his head was higher than his feet. The ship was leaning over to port. The wind was blowing out of the west, and had been all day. Up on deck, the sails would be set almost in line with the ship. The wind would be filling the sails tight, and the white sail-cloth would be shining in the red light of the setting sun.
He did not feel seasick at all. How could that be? Maybe seasickness was like chickenpox: you get it once, and you never get it again.
He wanted to go up on deck and watch the sea cresting over the bow.
"It would be a good life," he said, "being sailors on this ship. These are good people. I'm sure my father would think the same, if he met them."
Sallina tried to imagine life as a sailor. She knew hardly anything about sailing. She had not paid particular attention to the ropes and the masts and the wind. But she supposed she could learn. She wondered how much the sailors were paid. Did they get rich?
"It could be fun."
"It has been so far," Garibaldi said.
Sallina raised her head and looked down at Garibaldi. "You're right. It has been fun." She looked out their cabin window. She could see the sky above, with some high, pink clouds, but not the sea. "How strange. I have been frightened a lot of the time, and worried most of the time. But it has been fun." She put her head on Garibaldi's chest. "I miss my family."
"I miss mine, too," Garibaldi said.
Sallina closed her eyes. "I miss Molly. I miss the cows. I even miss the pigs. We don't have any animals here on the boat. We don't even have any chickens. I don't know if I can live without having animals around."
They lay quietly. Garibaldi wondered if his parents had yet received the letter he mailed to them from Independence Island. His father would be proud of him for learning to read and write. His father could not read or write himself. His eyes were not good enough for it, he said. But Garibaldi's mother could read, and she would read his letter to his father, if it ever reached them.
His mother must have been crying every night missing him and worrying about him. He was sure Sallina's parents were doing the same. He doubted they were sleeping well. He imagined Sallina's parents arguing with one another because they were tired and worried. He did not imagine his own parents doing that, because his parents didn't argue. But most parents argued.
"We must get home somehow," he said. "First we must go home and stop our parents from worrying. Then we can think about becoming sailors."
Sallina pressed her nose into Garibaldi's chest and breathed in the smell of him. A tear squeezed its way out of her eye. She held her breath to stop herself from crying. She seemed to be crying a lot these days. She missed her parents, which was enough to make her cry, but what was making her cry right now was what Garibaldi had said. He said, "We can think about becoming sailors," and he said it as if he had not even thought for one moment that one of them would go sailing without the other. A tear ran around her cheek and onto her lips. She smiled. Whatever happened, she wanted to be with Garibaldi.