Crows, rope over his shoulder, pulling the almost-finished boat behind him, crested the dune. ‘I, however, am neither.’
Despite the size and weight of the hull, and Crows’ stick-thin limbs, the boat seemed to move easily enough. The keel balanced on the dune’s apex before the bow tipped towards the sea.
‘You. You’re behind this?’
‘I know, I know. I am betraying everyone yet again, and for what? A few lines on a few sheets of paper or skin. Walk with me, Dalip, while I try both an explanation and an apology.’ He adjusted his grip and leaned against the drag of the rope. ‘Luiza will be perfectly safe. Isn’t that right, Daniel?’
‘Just as long as there’s no shenanigans, Master Crows.’
‘No shenanigans indeed. No more than have already been conceived and put into motion, at least.’
Dalip stared at Crows’ back, then had to move aside for the passage of the boat.
‘Luiza. Just…’ He shouted his frustration and ran to catch up.
‘You will ask me what am I doing?’ said Crows.
‘I was going to put it more strongly than that.’
‘It is very straightforward. I do not want you to make copies of the maps. I do not want to share them with you at all. So I want to take them from you and go to the White City by myself. Daniel seeks someone new to serve, now that you have driven Bell away. I have offered my services as his lord, and he has graciously accepted. So there you have it. When we are safely away, we will drop Luiza off, perhaps on one of the islands out in the bay. In time, a new boat will grow, and you can go and pick her up. That is, in the circumstances, the best I can offer.’
‘The best? The best?’
‘My preference is that you all live, Dalip. I do not wish you dead, any of you.’
Dalip raised the machete, and Crows carried on hauling.
‘If you attack me, Luiza will die. I do not think you want that weight on your soul.’ He glanced around. ‘If you do not lower your weapon, there may be a tragic mistake. Please understand, you have been tricked into giving up what you do not need in exchange for what you most dearly want. Accept it for what it is.’
‘How can I accept this?’ But his arm hung by his side again. ‘This is an outrage.’
‘You are right. Of course you are. You have no choice, though. You are a better man now than I will ever be. You will not risk the life of your friend, and I would, though it shames me greatly to do so, let alone say it.’ He sighed. ‘This would be quicker if you helped me.’
‘No. Pull it yourself.’
‘As you prefer,’ said Crows.
The keel cut a lengthening line through the sand, while the distance to both the map box and the sea was diminishing with every step. Dalip thought so furiously that sweat started to bead on his forehead. He could think of nothing, though, no way out of the trap Crows had so carefully constructed.
And if the others imagined that Crows had, in his own fashion, managed to pluck a victory for them all from the salty air, then they were going to be disappointed.
‘There is one ray of sunlight in the darkness, of course. When you give me the maps, I will take Daniel and his men along. They will never bother you again. Is that not fair? And if I discover the secret of the portals, then surely that will benefit all? Yes: you can go to whichever time you wish. Come and find me, and collect your favour.’ He nodded to himself. ‘You see? I am actually helping you, even though you refuse to help me.’
Dalip was in agony. He knew◦– knew in his heart◦– that the maps needed to be saved, not just in exchange for Luiza, but for their own sake. The answer to Down was hidden somewhere in their ink-scratched surfaces. Yet to capitulate so thoroughly? Defeat was as bitter as bile.
As they came down to the strand line, where Mary and Mama and Elena stood, hopefully, expectantly, he could barely bring himself to speak.
‘Give him the maps.’
7
Mary watched it all unfold: the sudden appearance of Crows, his dragging the boat◦– their boat◦– down the beach, his conversation with Dalip and the boy’s animated response, and at one point she thought that Dalip was going to attack Crows. She held her breath, but was confused by the slump of Dalip’s shoulders. This didn’t look like they were winning.
Mama strained to see. ‘What is it? Why does Dalip look so angry?’
‘I don’t know. I can’t tell.’
‘It is Crows,’ said Elena. ‘He has done something, made a deal without us.’
‘He wouldn’t do that,’ said Mary, and reconsidered very quickly when Mama and Elena both stared at her like she was mad. ‘Okay. Let’s not lose our shit before we find out what’s happened.’
Crows hesitated as he walked◦– slowly, he was dragging a boat◦– up to them. He almost looked Mary in the eye, but turned his head away at the last moment and kept going to the water’s edge.
‘Crows? Crows, what the fuck have you done?’
Dalip chewed at his lip and rubbed his fist over his chin. He seemed close to tears.
‘Give him the maps.’
‘What?’
‘You heard me. He’s… I should just kill him, I—’
Elena dragged his arm down. ‘No. Luiza.’
‘And that is the only reason he’s still got his head on his shoulders.’
They watched as Crows dragged the boat to the line where the waves broke and ran up the beach. The boat itself looked perfectly seaworthy, sturdy and with enough room for all of them. Except, Mary realised, that was no longer her, Dalip and the others.
‘The Wolfman?’
‘Apparently so. Crows has hired him like some henchman.’
‘But why?’
‘It’s the maps. He doesn’t want to share.’ Dalip barely controlled himself. ‘Isn’t that right, Crows?’
‘The longer this goes on, the more likely it is that someone will have an accident. Please, Elena, put the box of maps in the boat.’
She didn’t. She spat on the sand instead.
‘Your cousin is still captive. She is in grave danger.’
‘You are a bastard, Crows,’ she said.
‘Very well, I will do it myself.’ He left the boat, with the waves washing up around and under it, and came back up the beach. ‘If you could all step back two or three paces. I am afraid I do not trust you.’
‘Well, that’s rich,’ said Mama, and put her hands on her hips.
Dalip waved them all back. ‘Let’s just get this over and done with. There’s no point in arguing. They’ve got Luiza, and they’ll kill her if we don’t do as Crows says.’
They were a sullen group, standing away from the crate as Crows took hold of both handles and staggered with it to the side of the boat. He lifted it up as high as he could, then pinned it there with his scrawny chest while he adjusted his grip. He pushed it up to the gunwales, and it teetered for a moment before falling inside, thumping its way down to the deck.
‘They will let her go now?’ asked Elena. The Wolfman and his crew started towards their vessel, Luiza still with them, held captive by her long hair.
‘If they did, then maybe Mary could follow them, maybe even sink them. They’re going to take her with them and kick her out on one of the islands.’
‘That is not right. We have done everything he asked. She should be free.’
‘I’m sorry. There’s nothing I can do.’ With that, Dalip walked away and stared at the beach rather than witness Luiza being put into the boat and it sailing away with her.
‘Mary, you must think of something.’ Elena’s fingers closed tight on Mary’s bare shoulders and shook her. ‘You cannot allow this.’
‘What am I supposed to do?’ Her voice was high and tight. ‘I don’t know what I’m supposed to do.’