13. Evie

thirteen

Evie

The next morning, a miracle happened. The cell door flew open, and four large guards lined the way out, while the biggest one passed inside with ropes.

Okay, maybe I was exaggerating a little because I got carried away when the door opened. I was ahead of myself and hadn't yet seen the ropes. Let's back up. Not a miracle. We will call this the plot twist.

Knowing better than to fight them, I held my wrists behind my back, waiting to be tied. I assumed the guard would tie our legs, too. When he didn't, I gasped, recalling a movie I'd done. My veins frosted with ice. "They usually only leave your feet untied when they want you to walk the plank," I hissed to Jasper.

"Shush!" He elbowed me hard and gave me a warning look.

"Just saying," I whispered out of the strained corner of my mouth while I waited for the guard to tie his wrists. "It doesn't look good." I thought Jasper was going to insist I be quiet again, but instead he peered at me with pining eyes.

"Whatever is about to happen, Evie," he whispered, "we do it together."

"Ah." I wince, as I wasn't sure I wanted to do everything he did. If he walked the plank, and I found a way out, I might take it—

"Evie!" He fully got the hang of the deep rasp now, as the guard pushed him forward. "I'm not leaving you again. Not if I can help it." The guard shoved him around the corner, and all I heard was the word "together," and it echoed in my heart.

Two remaining guards tugged on my upper arms, while jabbing a machete against my back. I scrambled to stay on my feet as they moved briskly, but I hadn't walked for days, and my legs were Jell-O. The guards shuffled us down a narrow dark hall and up a creepy staircase until we made it to the deck, where my lungs screamed for deep inhalations of the fresh sea air. It was heaven, and I couldn't get enough of the breeze, but it was short lived as they continued to steer us to the front of the boat. Here, we climbed another small set of stairs into the wheelhouse. Just before they opened the door, the biggest guard holding Jasper said, "The captain will see you now."

Why did that not sound as inviting as I had hoped?

Terror sliced through my body, and I had an even harder time moving my feet, but my guards propelled me forward with more than a gentle nudge. We were pushed through the door, guards still intact and lined up in the back of the small wheelhouse, with the captain's chair still facing away from us.

His long gray hair—I doubted was ever washed with proper shampoo—snarled and weaved in all directions halfway down his bloated back. His hand steadily rested on the boat controls, with the missing pinky reminding me we weren't on a cruise.

My eyes rolled to the heavens. This is awfully dramatic if you're going to push us overboard.

Slowly, the captain removed his hand from the controls, and the chair swiveled until we saw a leathered face, narrow and with a knotted gray bread. He wrung his hands together in his lap but made no move to stand. "I'm Captain Gray Beard," he said with an even tone. "It seems you've run into a member of my crew back on the mainland, and you took our treasure map—"

"There wasn't any treasure," Jasper blurted out. "The box was empty, except for a mirror."

Captain Gray Beard bobbed his head slowly up and down. "I've sent every pirate on this crew after that treasure, and no one has ever been able to unlock the island."

Jasper's head jolted back, and he snuck a look at me. I swallowed hard, not sure what any of this meant.

"Tell me about yourself." Captain snarled his nose, his nostrils flaring out. "Where are you from?"

"Ah, n-nowhere really?" Jasper stuttered. "Or, um, actually, a lot of places."

Gray Beard tipped his ear closer as if for clarification. "Parents?"

"No, sir." Sweat beaded on Jasper's brow. I wished there was something I could do to help this conversation, but I knew better than to speak out of turn when there's a machete at my back.

"Everyone has parents." Maybe it was my imagination, but the captain's voice appeared to soften.

"Biological ones, yes." Jasper's voice was slow, yet respectful, but since I was used to his inflections, I could tell they were tinted with strong emotions. "I don't know them. I was in an orphan home since I was a baby—"

"How old are you?" Captain rushed.

"Ah, I don't know my exact birthday but I'm in my early twenties."

"I'm going to be honest with you." Gray Beard's tone was inquiring. "When you stole my map, I was prepared to kill you." His pause was so long, I had time for a double gulp. "When we finally captured you, I was ready to make you walk the plank."

"Ahh!" I gasped, but quickly buttoned my lip. I knew it!

"My guard saw something on you—a brand."

Captain finally rose to his feet and sauntered across the wheelhouse. He didn't stop until he was standing behind Jasper, examining the scar below his ear. As he studied it, he grew more still, and his eyes sparked a tiny glisten. "It's a half of a figure eight."

Jasper's gaze fell to the floor, and he nervously shuffled his feet. Clueless to what Captain was talking about, I looked to Jasper, but he remained unbothered. "I have no idea where it came from."

"I do." Captain asserted in a calm voice, his feet not moving, while the glisten in his eyes grew. "It's from your mother."

"How would you know my mother?" Jasper's brows angled as if he wasn't buying that. "And why would my mother scar me?"

The captain's gaze wafted over Jasper, giving him another full once over. Tears brimmed his eyes when he continued, "Why don't I show you."