Eight

Tobias

"You want to WHAT?" Tobias wasn't sure he was hearing her right. "Why? Why would you do that?"

"It actually makes a lot of sense when you think about it," Mary argued from behind the privacy curtain.

No. Nothing about this made sense to Tobias. After winning the election, Mary had specifically told him that she was not going to enter the Pirate King contest. In fact, he believed her exact words had been, Trust me, I have no intention of trying to become the Pirate King . But then she had run off to talk to herself and had shown up at the shack close to dinnertime, salt crusting her clothes and hair, a fiery look in her eye.

Then she'd told him about her decision.

Tobias was still reeling.

Now Mary was behind the curtain, changing her clothes. (A fact that Tobias was trying not to think about.) "If I'm the Pirate King," she was saying, "then I can decree that all crews must accept women. They must compensate us as full members of the crew, too. Equal pay for equal work. Oh, and of course, women should have the right to vote in captaincy and quartermaster elections, same as any man."

Tobias wasn't sure it would be as simple as a decree, but Mary wasn't stopping even to breathe.

"Furthermore, if a woman has a child, she should be permitted to take some time off the ship—and then be welcomed back whenever she's ready. Men, too, you know? Just because they're pirates doesn't mean they don't want to spend time with their children."

"Mary," Tobias said, "where is all this coming from?"

"I didn't like everything about where I grew up," Mary said, "but they did have the right idea about a few things. And considering how pirates love to talk about how democratic and equal things are aboard a pirate ship—well, I have some notes."

Tobias rubbed his temples. Where was Mary from? He'd never heard of any place that was like this bastion of equality she was describing.

"Also"—Mary, fully dressed now, threw aside the curtain—"if I become Pirate King, that will get Jack off my back about Anne Bonny joining the crew, and everyone will be happy."

"Is that why you're doing this?" Tobias asked. "For your cousin and his sweetheart?"

She scoffed. "No, of course not. I'm doing it because it's the right thing to do."

Tobias scoffed right back at her. "It's a preposterous thing to do! It's risky and reckless and downright foolish!"

"I know that!" she snapped. "But that doesn't mean it's wrong. If I can do this—if I can really become the Pirate King—I can do more than just make things better for women. We can be smarter about piracy, more unified and organized in our efforts. We can temper the excessive violence, and champion real equality among men and women. We can do it together, Toby."

Tobias narrowed his eyes. "Who are you trying to convince? Me or you?"

"I'm not trying to convince anyone!"

"You practically just pitched me free parrot training," he countered.

"And it's still a good idea!" she cried.

Tobias crossed his arms. Then uncrossed them. "But it's dangerous, Mary. There will be so much scrutiny on you—on all the contestants, but you especially, since you just won the captaincy. What if they find out that you're a woman?"

A brief look of panic crossed her face, but she smoothed it away quickly. "No one's going to know," she said, which was so clearly a lie. (Mary was good at many things, but lying to him was not one of them.)

"Mary." He made his voice lower. "What is it?"

"It's nothing."

Tobias waited.

"All right, it's that Vane knows."

Tobias sat down on his bed. Hard. A few feet away, their table collapsed again. He ignored it. "How?" he asked hoarsely.

"I'm not sure," she admitted. "But that's what he told me after the election. He said he was going to wait for the right moment to expose me."

"Then we need to go." Tobias reached under his bed and pulled out his bag. They would have to pack light. It would mean leaving their books. A tragedy. But they could get more books where they were going.

They would need supplies—food, water, and a few changes of clothes.

"What are you doing?" Mary caught Tobias's arm just as he was shoving a rolled map into his bag. They would need maps, of course.

"We're getting out of here. I've been preparing for this. I have a plan. First, we'll make our way around all the islands—lead everyone on a wild-goose chase and get them lost. Then, when we've shaken any tails, we'll sail down to Aruba. There's no gold there—at least according to the Spanish—so no one will expect us there. I'll set up a small cartography business, and you can decide what you want to do when you're ready." He wrested his arm from her and pushed the map in with his change of clothes. "We'll have to change our names, naturally. I've been thinking about that, too. I might go by Leonardo—"

"No." Mary pulled the map out of his bag. "We're not going anywhere. We're not switching careers. And I am definitely not calling you Leonardo."

He grabbed the map back. "If Vane tells everyone what you are, that's it. You're done here."

They had to go. They had to get somewhere safe.

He'd already lost his family. He couldn't lose Mary, too.

Mary took the map again. "I'm not running away, Toby."

His jaw muscles flexed.

"I'm entering the Pirate King contest. And I'm going to win. It will all work out. You'll see."

She was being awfully naive, Tobias thought, which wasn't like her. "And do you think Vane is just going to sit on his hands in the meantime? You said he was going to wait for the right moment. When do you think that will be?"

She shook her head. "I don't know. After I win, when he thinks he'll be best able to ruin me. But by then I'll have won the hearts and minds of Nassau."

"Mary. You can't effect change—for anybody—if Vane tells them who you are."

Another look of panic crossed her face. Which meant that she was aware that what she was proposing was a bad idea. She was just ignoring the fact. But why?

"I have to do this, Tobias," she said urgently. "I have to. If I don't—I lose everything."

He frowned. "What does that mean?"

She put her hand into her pocket, worrying something there. "Nothing."

Another lie. An obvious one. But just because he knew when she was lying didn't mean he could read her thoughts to find the truth.

"Is there anything I can do to make you change your mind?" he asked tightly. "Anything at all?"

"I have to do this," she repeated. "Trust me."

Tobias closed his eyes and exhaled. "Fine. But if things start getting hairy with Vane, promise me you'll consider running. This is your freedom, Mary. Even if you don't value it, believe me when I say that I do ."

Her gaze lifted, and their eyes met. "This is about my freedom," she said softly. "My freedom to be here. With you." She blinked a few times. "And everyone else, obviously. The ship, of course. Ah—" All at once, she seemed to realize that she was still holding on to his arm, and she had been the entire time they'd been going back and forth with the map.

She let go of his arm. The map fell to the floor.

They were still looking into each other's eyes.

Mary pulled away first. She always did. And just as she did, someone pounded on the door.

Tobias's cheeks were hot, like they'd been caught somehow. His breath felt thin and his heart beat too hard. And he couldn't stop thinking about what she'd just said. Her freedom to be here. With him.

The pounding on the door came again.

Mary looked just as disoriented as he felt, but she straightened her hat and said, "I'll answer it." Then she pulled away and called out, "I'm coming! Gah! Don't break my door down!"

She yanked open the door to reveal Jack and Anne.

"Oh good," Jack said. "You're here. And were you going somewhere?" His eyes cut to the half-packed bag on Tobias's bed, then the table still collapsed on the floor. "I hope everything's all right."

Tobias sighed. Everything had been right in his world—or fine, anyway—until this strange cousin of hers had shown up in their lives.

"Everything's fine," Mary said tightly. "What do you want?"

"We were just coming to tell you," Anne said quickly, "that sign-ups for the Pirate King contest are happening at the Scurvy Dog tonight, and if you were interested..."

"That is," Jack said, "if you've changed your mind."

Tobias rubbed his temples. So Jack didn't know. Which meant Mary hadn't gone to see him in the time she'd been talking to "herself." Something else must have happened. Something that made her go from laughing off the idea of becoming Pirate King to most desperately wanting it.

Mary and Jack exchanged one of those odd, silent looks they did sometimes. It was just as awkward now as it was every other time.

Then, without so much as tossing a look over her shoulder at Tobias, Mary said, "Yes. I have changed my mind."

"Three cheers for that!" Anne cried, and Jack smiled brightly, but Tobias's heart sank, even though he'd already known she wouldn't be talked out of it. When Mary decided she wanted something, truly wanted it, she was—how did Quint put it?—as tenacious as a dog with a tooth in a towel. She didn't give up. So there was nothing left for Tobias to do now but follow her to the Scurvy Dog.

They reached the Scurvy Dog and took a spot at the end of the line.

And what an impressive line it was, stretching nearly out the door. Everyone who was anyone (and a captain) was waiting to sign up. Ahead of them were Captains Obvious, Ahab, Penzance, Crunch, and half a dozen others Tobias knew. Anne pointed them out for Jack. And Mary simply stood with her hand in her pocket again.

What the heck was she holding on to? A coin, perhaps?

They shuffled forward as captain after captain wrote his name on the list of candidates.

"The formal announcements will be held at GIRLS GIRLS GIRLS tomorrow afternoon," Hornigold informed them from behind the table. Hook and Morgan were with him. They wore their fanciest waistcoats and hats, as though to demonstrate how seriously they were taking this competition. "Everyone who enters will be officially presented to the pirate community as a contestant and will be allowed an opportunity to speak and answer some basic questions about their qualifications. Oh, hello, Captain Read," he said as Mary reached the front. "Congratulations on your promotion."

If they were congratulating her, that meant Vane hadn't outed her. But Tobias didn't feel relieved at all. Vane would do it. That was a certainty. The only question was when .

"Thank you," Mary said to Hornigold. "I'm fortunate to have a crew who believes in me."

"And you'll be entering the contest?"

She nodded.

"Bold of you to enter when you got your position as captain only yesterday. I like it!" He jabbed a finger at the page. "Sign your name there."

Mary glanced back at Tobias just once. He tried to hold her eyes, tried to communicate one last time what a terrible, dangerous idea he thought this was. But if she understood his look, she ignored it.

Mary dipped a quill into the ink and signed her name on the paper.

Captain Mark Read , the Ranger.

There was no turning back now.