Sara said, “El, you’ve helped us since we arrived and we won’t allow you to do anything that will get you into trouble.”
He flashed a smile at Sara and said, “Business has been good lately. I need to expand and wonder if you would consider renting me this warehouse to use as a shop for my work? It would mean you would have to live elsewhere, but when you return, it would be here waiting.”
Prin couldn’t help but speak up. “You said there might be a way to leave Indore?”
He spread his hands as if giving up. “If I rent your warehouse I will deliver several large wooden crates of tools and materials here. There are also completed projects that I ship with my cousin across the sea. Some of those wooden boxes would be placed on carts and loaded onto a ship that sails before dawn tomorrow.”
“Your cousin knows of this? And the risk?” Sage asked.
El said, “I told him you are my friends and he agreed. We do not like the way the mage and other newcomers are threatening a child. All passengers on ships are being searched.”
“Would he let us out of the crates?” Prin asked, trying to imagine an entire voyage on a ship locked in a crate.
As El nodded, Sara said, “Would any of the crew know about us?”
“Not until the ship sails. Most of the crew are relatives, but all are trusted. There are only five, besides the owner. It is a small cargo ship.”
Sara and Prin exchanged a glance that said they agreed.
El said, “There is one other thing. It is a merchant ship. There are no cabins or luxuries. Both of you would have to work as crew. Sara would help cook and clean, and Prin would work as a deckhand, no different from any of the rest of the crew. It will not be easy.”
Prin said, “Our dog. What about him?”
Sara quickly explained and asked if El could find the dog seller and make up a story. Prin added, “Tell him we’ll pay, but he needs to take care of him until we return.”
“I know the man and will carry your message. Now, the hunt for you is intensifying as we speak, so I have already asked four of my men to bring crates, and they will arrive soon. However, I want both of you to stay out of sight until they leave because I don’t want them linking you with the girl who is on everyone’s lips.”
Prin said, “Is there any mention of two girls?”
“None. That helps you, so far.”
“What can we take with us?” Sara asked.
El used his arms to show the approximate size of the crates. Prin had pictured containers as tall as her, with room to move around—almost a small room. The crates he described were less than half that. He said, “Four. Just four small crates for you and all your belongings you take. And you will ride on a bumpy cart to the ship, but I suggest that you gather what you need to take. Before my men who deliver the crates are out of sight, I should be nailing the tops on.”
Sara said, “Is that much of a rush really necessary?”
“People are going crazy out there in the streets. Everyone wants to get rich by finding the girl. It’s like they found gold near here. Where the mage is doing his business, people are lined up with small girls they are trying to sell to him. Others are grabbing girls who were born right here, and the mage is rewarding all who present a small girl to him, no matter the color of her hair. I’ve never seen anything like it.”
The carpenters knocked on the door, and the girls raced up to the loft to hide, grabbing whatever they needed to take while they were there. Prin headed for the painting first and pulled to a stop before bursting into tears. Things had been going so well in her life, and now it had all fallen apart. Her father looked upset and concerned, but a tear fell from her mother’s eye.
Prin reached out and touched the tear. The tip of her finger was wet. She touched it to her tongue, and it was salty. Then she carefully removed the picture and wrapped it in several layers of clothing. She put it into her leather satchel. Prin grabbed her backpack and extra clothing, and then the two enchanted books from the bazaar and part of her writing supplies.
El climbed the stairs. “Ready?”
“How long will we be inside?” Sara asked.
“Men are watching the crews of ships, all who board, so it would be best if you didn’t come out until the ship has sailed.” He carried an armful of clothing downstairs to where three wooden crates waited on a small wagon with iron wheels.
Prin said, “I thought you said four.”
“My men found three already made up. If you have to leave anything I’ll take care of it for you.”
To Prin, Sara looked ready to protest she couldn’t fit into even the largest one, but she climbed into it and curled up on her side, knees pulled under her chin. Their things went into the smallest crate, and Prin climbed into the last. She fit, but it was cramped. She’d expected holes for breathing, but there were none. The boards had shrunk, and there were small gaps she could see out. The gaps would let plenty of air inside. If she held one eye closed and the other close to a crack she could see what was in front of the crate, but nothing else.
The pounding of a hammer jarred her, making it all seem somehow more real as her body jolted with each blow. Then the movement of the wagon began, and she realized she should have used clothing to cradle her head. The wagon bounced, lurched, bumped, and swayed as the iron wheels rolled over every uneven brick in the roadway.
Her head struck the bottom, and the top of the crate, many times, until she wanted to cry out for it to stop. The consequences be damned. She would be bruised and probably cut, but Sara hadn’t called out to quit, so neither would she.
With all the jarring and bouncing, she couldn’t get her eye positioned to see, but she heard the activity of the bazaar, the swirls of loud music intended to attract customers, the shouts of vendors telling the world of their quality and how inexpensive their goods were. Nearby, she heard an argument between two men who used all the swear words she’d ever heard, and more.
As they moved on and left the argument behind, she heard men speaking in a language new to her, and a nearby horn was blown for some reason. A while later, as her head pounded on the side of the crate, she sniffed the pungent smell of the river water, the tar the ships used to seal the hulls, the rotting cargo intended to feed the city that hadn’t arrived in time, and sewage. Indore was built on a slight slope, probably on purpose because culverts, trenches, and pipes all carried liquids down the hill to empty into the stinking river.
The rough jarring from the pave stones turned to another, softer rattle as the cart rolled over timbers that were the deck of the pier. The men shouting were giving orders. The cart pulled to a stop, and two men spoke, one of them El. His tone was insistent and demanding as if there was a problem.
CHAPTER TEN
Prin’s crate tilted as it was carefully lifted after the stern words of warning from El. He told the longshoremen how delicate the contents were, and she couldn’t disagree. She felt the sway as two men carried the crate up a ramp and onto a ship. Prin refused to move or utter any sound, lest they know a person was inside. The box was dropped the last little bit, sending her head crashing back to the bottom, and she almost moaned out loud in pain. The crate was on a ship because even while tied up to the pier on a calm river, the ship moved enough to be felt.