Chapter 22

Mand sat on her bunk, waiting for the pain to return. Nothing happened.

"What was that?" Claire asked.

"I suddenly had the worst headache," Mand said. She massaged her temples, trying to figure out where the pain came from. "It just hit me for just a couple of minutes and then completely vanished. I've never experienced anything like it."

"You mentioned the concussion? Do you think it's related to that?"

"I thought so at first, but now I'm not so sure."

The four sat in silence for a moment.

"We're getting closer to the port," observed Hida. She and the boy stood looking out the porthole. "We just passed the crab's claws."

Indeed the room had momentarily grown darker as the boat floated past the two breakwaters that served as the entrance to the harbor.

"Did you still want to try your plan?" asked Claire.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Mand said. She stood up from the bunk. "If you're all willing to give it a try, we should do it. We don't know if we'll get another chance."

"What if this is their final destination, and we're just running out to an island full of bad guys?" Hida asked.

"I doubt it. The sailors that visted Mand's inn talked about this place, so it's fairly well know. I get the feeling that wherever they take us will be more secret."

Mand looked to the boy, "You're the biggest of us all, so, if this works, you'll be carrying Claire. Are you sure you're OK with that?"

The boy nodded enthusiastically.

With that, they waited for the right time.

***

Catalitica Ular sat on the bunk in her room, massaging her temples. The pain had faded, but there was a sort of phantom anticipation that it might return at any moment.

"Really, what in the fuck was that?" she asked the empty air.

The headaches had grown more frequent with each passing month. Each time they seemed a little worst, but they had always been manageable. Nothing this debilitating had ever struck her like this before.

There was a knock at the door.

"Yeah?" she asked.

"Cat, the Captain wants to know if you're alright. The ship need time to restock, so he says we can delay a day if we need to."

It was the voice of her brother, Ugha. Cat couldn't believe that the dolt had followed her down here.

"I'm fine. Be ready to hit the ground running once we make port. Tell the captain that I want to ship ready to go by next sunrise. It will take us a little time to find our quarry, and once we do we may need to make a quick exit."

"Yes sister." She heard the shuffling of his boots as he turned. He paused before leaving, "Cat, we can stop this any time. We've made our money."

"We don't stop until it's done."

"Yes sister."

The sound of the big man's boots echoed down the hallway.

***

Mand strained to listen at the door.

The ship had made port about a half-hour ago. She had heard some traffic in the passageway outside. Sailors talked loudly as they walked passed their cell, heading for the upper decks to help berth the ship and carry supplies from docks.

"Remember, if we make it to the upper decks, just run. Get as far away from the ship as possible." Mand had told the other three when she first proposed the plan.

"Shouldn't we ask the town guard or someone for help?" asked Hida.

Mand thought back to the shopkeeper who had let her and Val hide in the basement. That poor woman had been injured and had lost everything just because she tried to help the sisters. "No, we shouldn't put our own troubles on anyone."

Mand then thought about what the pair had told the shopkeeper before attacking, "The two that captured us were also using the story that we were runaways. I wouldn't be surprised if they bribe the guards at every port to keep an eye out."

"So we run, and then what?" Claire asked.

"Find a place to lay low and hide. They seem to skip town as soon as they capture their prey, so if you can stay out of sight until they leave port, it should be safe."

"And what about the person.... or people that they capture here."

A coldness went down Mand's spine. She hadn't considered that she was relying on the misfortune of others to aide in their escape.

"We have to think of ourselves right now," she said. Most every fiber of her being felt wrong by saying it, but some tiny sliver told her that it was the only way for her to save herself.

They waited and listened for another hour. Nobody came to retrieve them from their cell, so it seemed likely that this port was indeed not the final destination for their captors.

"Now."

All four started concentrating the lock to their cell door. They had tried this shortly after Mand had come up with the escape plan. Back then, with all of them focusing on the same piece of metal, they had been able to move it.... just a little. It wasn't much, but with all of them working together, they had been able to overcome the crystals.

Mand believed that if they waited long enough at port, two out of the three blocking crystals would be taken ashore by the man and woman. Hopefully, with only one crystal to contend with, the four of them working together would be able to pop the lock.

The lock started to glow and shift in cascade of colors. Mand could feel her energy drain she mentally tried to command the lock to open. She wanted to look to see how the others were doing, but she knew is she broke her concentration, then the effort might fail.

It wasn't much at first, but Mand could feel the mechanisms of the lock starting to move and shift little by little. Then, in one sudden burst, the lock clicked open.