Ethan couldn’t be certain that Hester hadn’t seen the ghost, and he dared not look at her. He would have to trust that Hester was angry enough with her father, and suspicious enough of what he had done in recent days, to keep Ethan’s secret. He was supposed to be bound, and so he held himself still. But though he felt the leaden weight of Molly’s spell on his body-that same feeling of a heavy net that had come when Hester tried the binding spell outside-he knew that his warding had worked.
For several seconds no one spoke. Ethan could almost feel Hester weighing her choices, and he feared that despite the tension in the room, she would remain loyal to her father. But at last she said, “All right, he’s bound. Now tell us what happened to the Graystone.”
“Nothin’ happened to it,” Osborne said, turning away from her and walking to where Diver lay, still pale and unmoving. The man let out a small laugh and looked back at his daughters. “Looks like you saved this one after all. What a waste.”
“Why did Kaille ask you about the lives of those men?” Hester asked. “What did he mean by that?”
“Stupid girl! He’s tryin’ to confuse you, t’ turn you against me! Can’t you see that?”
Hester raised her pistol. “Don’t you dare call me stupid! And don’t lie to me anymore! I want to know the truth!”
Osborne stared at her, dropped his gaze to the weapon in her hand. Ethan thought he might strike her. Instead he began to laugh, which might have been worse. “No, Hes, you’re not stupid. But you don’t know a thing about pistols. That’s a single-shot flintlock you’ve got in your hand. And there’s nothin’ in it.” He gestured vaguely back at Diver. “The lead’s in him, isn’t it?”
Her face blanched, perhaps with the realization of what she had done in pointing the weapon at her father. She looked down at the pistol and sagged into the nearest chair.
“But fine,” Osborne went on, his voice eerily calm. “You want the truth. I’ll give you the truth. That spell you both did, the one that was supposed to make me look and feel like I was dead. It worked fine.” He laughed again. “It worked more than fine. It was remarkable. A thing of beauty. It made me look dead all right.” His laughter bubbled over once more, but he talked through it. “It made every man on the ship look dead. Imagine what it was like. The officers from those other ships come to the Graystone, and every man on board is lyin’ there, lookin’ like someone came along and poisoned the food or somethin’ of the sort.” He wiped away the tears of mirth that were now streaming from his eyes.
“My God,” Hester whispered, covering her face.
“You girls forgot what I told you ’bout the way spells work on water as opposed t’ on land. They’re stronger on water, remember? So your spell for me worked on every man on that ship.” Osborne laughed again, and shook his head. “Wish I’d seen their faces-all those officers.”
Ethan remembered his own revealing spell aboard the Graystone and how it worked on several of the soldiers instead of just the one. It seemed the same thing had happened to the sisters’ spell.
Molly stood by her father, gaping at him, her mouth open, a stricken look in her large, dark eyes. “I don’t understand,” she said. “The spell we used to wake you-”
With a visible effort, Osborne managed to control his laughter. Still, a grin lingered on his face. “Oh, that one worked just the way it was supposed to. We was on land by then, at Castle William. That one worked just fine.”
“Do you mean to say that we killed every man on that ship?” Hester said, her voice breaking on the last word.
The question appeared to sober her father. “No,” he said, sounding earnest. “Hes, no! Don’t you see? That’s the beauty of it all! Neither of you killed a soul. You cast your spell and did just what you was supposed t’ do. The king’s men are the ones what killed all those others!” He opened his hands, a smile on his face now, a look of wonder, like that of a man explaining to his children how caterpillars became butterflies. “I’m proof that you killed no one. They did it all! They burned them, or buried them, or dumped them in the sea! It was perfect! And it’s all on account of the two-”
“Shut up!” Hester screamed at him, clutching at her belly and doubling over. She stumbled to the door and yanked it open. An instant later Ethan heard her retching.
Molly cast a furtive look at her father, but the sound of her sister being ill seemed to overmaster her fear of Osborne. She ran out of the house. Ethan could hear her speaking in soothing tones to Hester, but after a few seconds of this, the other woman cut her off.
Osborne stared at the door. Ethan could see that he was bewildered by his daughters’ response to what he had told them. He thought that this might be his best chance to surprise the man, but before he could even decide what spell to cast, Osborne seemed to remember that he was there.
He raised his pistol again, his eyes narrowing. “You think this is your big chance, don’t you? You think my girls will help you now.” He shook his head. “They won’t. They’ll understand soon enough. It’s better this way. There’s riches waitin’ for us. You’ll see.” He put the barrel to Ethan’s brow. “Or you won’t.”
Ethan closed his eyes, and was about to speak a spell that would shatter the man’s hand. But before he could cast, the two women entered the house once more, their footsteps heavy. Neither of them spoke.
“I’m sorry, Hes,” Osborne said. “I won’t laugh about it no more. I know you’re upset. I understand. Really.”
Ethan could see the women now without having to turn and give away his one advantage over Osborne.
“What were you going to do?” Hester asked, nodding toward Ethan. “Kill him here?”
“No,” her father said. He lowered the pistol once more. “That wouldn’t be smart. We need t’ do it somewhere else, far from here.”
Hester straightened. “Of course. We shouldn’t use that pistol, either. Someone might hear. It’s best done with a conjuring.”
Osborne beamed. “That’s my girl. You was always so clever, Hes. Like your ma.”
“And you’ll want us to do it-Molly and me-because our spells are stronger than yours. And we need to be sure. Kaille being a conjurer and all.”
“I suspect you’re right,” he said. “That’d be the best way. There’s the other one, too-Kaille’s friend. We should take care of both of them.”
Hester considered Diver. “Maybe we can put them in the cart, take them down to the Neck, or over to Mill Pond.”
“The pond’ll be better,” Osborne said. “That’s good thinkin’, Hes.”
“You’ll have to carry them for us. Molly and I aren’t strong enough.” She held out her hand to him, palm up.
Osborne frowned, unsure of what she was doing.
“The pistol,” Hester said. “I’ll hold it for you.”
He gave it to her without hesitation. Perhaps he had forgotten that a short time before she had turned the other weapon on him. Or maybe she had sounded so reasonable in these last few moments that he assumed her rage had spent itself.
It hadn’t. As soon as she closed her fingers around the wooden stock of the pistol, she leveled it at her father. Osborne tried to grab it back from her, but Hester jumped back beyond his reach. Molly screamed and threw herself at her sister just as the firearm went off with another flash of light and a deafening report.
Osborne dropped to one knee in front of Ethan, clutching his left arm. Blood flowed over his fingers and dripped to the floor.
“You stupid, ungrateful-!” He broke off, his teeth gritted, a snarl on his lips as he glared up at her.
Hester dropped the pistol and backed up to the wall, her eyes wide and fearful like those of a horse in a lightning storm, her cheeks bloodless. Osborne got to his feet, glanced down at his bleeding arm, and took a menacing step in Hester’s direction.