Sail With Me (A Discovery Series Book) (21 page)

You could find out exactly what he said to me if you wanted to. The
fact that you haven’t searched my mind deeply means you don’t want to know.

Maybe he was right. Whatever had passed between them today was a good
thing. It would make life easier for me if they weren’t against each other.

Fine. I’ll drop it,
I thought.

Tizoc took the bowl of potatoes Citlali passed to him. Filling his plate,
he plopped a scoop down on mine and handed me the bowl to pass on. I took a
moment to examine the intricate carvings along the rim of the wooden bowl.

“My mother’s work,” Tizoc said.

“She is gifted.” I had not expected such artistry in simple things like
bowls, but as I looked around the table, I realized beauty was all around me.
From the bright fabrics of the Sunal clothing to the gold and silver jewelry to
the very people that had gathered for this meal, Ezenoch held many
masterpieces.

As the bowls made their rounds, my plate became covered, a mix of
delectable scents wafting up to my nose. Once everyone had been served, Yaoti
stood and spoke to Captain Finley.

“It is with great pleasure that my family shares this meal and our home
with your family.” He nodded at Daniel and me. “May the gods continue to bless
us, Sunal and English alike, in Ezenoch.”

Captain Finley raised his drink. “Thank you, Yaoti, Citlali. We have only
been here a short time, and yet I feel as if I’ve fallen in love with your
culture. Other places I will sail to next will pale in comparison to what I’ve
seen here.”

“Eat,” Citlali said. “Enjoy.”

And that’s exactly what I did. I dove into the food, not realizing what a
hunger I had worked up exploring Ezenoch with Tizoc’s sisters. Everything
tasted like heaven, as it had at the feast the night before. I took some pride
in knowing I had a hand in preparing this meal.

“So,” Captain Finley began, around the scanty remains of food on his
plate, “I saw Timmy and Jonah Leaven this afternoon. They were asking about
you, Charlie. Told them you’ve changed a bit since they last saw you. They’re
curious.”

“We’ll find them tomorrow.” Daniel added his own grin, thinking of the
trick we’d be playing.

“They’d like that.” Captain Finley turned to Yaoti. “I’ve told my men
we’d have a furlough here for two weeks if that is agreeable to you.”

“Stay as long as you wish, Captain. Your men have made no moves against
us,” Yaoti said.

“Two weeks is plenty of time to study, rest, and enjoy,” the captain
said.

“Uncle,” Daniel began in a firm voice, one that sounded commanding like
Captain Finley’s. “Charlotte and I have decided we’d like to stay in Ezenoch a
bit longer, with your permission and Yaoti’s, of course.”

Captain Finley’s mouth opened and closed several times. Finally he
managed to say, “You sure, Daniel? I mean, Charlotte is welcome on the
Rose
.
I would not deny her passage… or work.” He shot me a small smile around Daniel.

“It’s not that, Uncle Samuel,” Daniel said. “We would like more than two
weeks here amongst this beauty and some time alone together.”

“Oh, I see.” The captain’s smile expanded from ear to ear now. “Boy,
she’s captured you, eh, son?”

Some chuckles rippled amongst Tizoc’s sisters and their mates as they
listened to the exchange. Though Daniel’s cheeks pinked a little at the
attention, he leveled his gaze on his uncle. “Yes, and she can keep me.”

Captain Finley slapped Daniel on the back and roared in laughter
himself. 

“Good for you, boy! Good for you.”

“It is acceptable to me,” Yaoti began, “if Daniel and Charlotte wish to
stay. My house is welcome to you both.”

“They will be in good hands then,” Captain Finley said. “I will miss you
greatly on the
Rose
but will come back for you when you want to return
to England. Charlotte, I will send word to your father.”

“Don’t go out of your way, Captain,” I said. “He does not concern himself
with my whereabouts.”

Those gathered around the table sobered quickly at my tone and words. I
regretted speaking what I was feeling in my heart.

“My apologies.” The sting of tears burned at the corners of my eyes as I
fought to keep them back.

Daniel squeezed my hand under his and turned to his uncle. “Thank you,
Uncle Samuel,” he said. “Yaoti, your hospitality will be appreciated.”

The awkward silence passed. Conversations resumed.

Daniel to the rescue. Bless him.

A small fleet of ships slinked toward the coast under the black curtain
of night. Ghost-like, their masts loomed tall and imposing, supporting sails
full of Atlantic wind. Anchors were dropped into the ocean, dories tossed into
the sea, and bodies crawled inside them. When they reached the shore, guns
blazed, horses stampeded, and greedy men lusted for gold.  

The Sunal came to meet these Europeans bearing lavish gifts of precious
stone and food. The Europeans took all that was offered and some things that
were not. A ravenous hunger for riches burned in their eyes. The European men
shifted into dark shadows that dropped to the sandy shore. Hideous beasts with
blood soaked fangs and ragged claws emerged from the black pools. Frothy saliva
dripped from their snarling lips, and serpent tongues flicked from their
mouths. With an ear-piercing screech, the monsters rushed forward, descending
upon the Sunal like merciless predators.

The beach became a grave for the fallen, and there were many.

****

The fear in the hearts of the Sunal seized my mind, and my eyes shot
open. I sat up and took a moment to get my bearings. I was in bed in my room
under the quilts, Daniel next to me above the quilts. My breath came in ragged
gasps, my nightshirt damp with perspiration. I had finished dinner, enjoyed
apple pie and conversation. Tizoc had left before anyone else, a pensive look
on his face. Daniel and I had excused ourselves to come upstairs. I had
pretended to convince him to stay with me again, but it hadn’t taken any persuasion
at all. He had followed me willingly into my room, had found new ways to set my
mouth on fire with his own, and then we went to sleep.

So what brought on the strange vision of beasts invading the Sunal
shores?

Tizoc
, I thought, staring into the darkness of my room.

Yes.

Where are you?

On the patio.

Beside me, Daniel snored lightly. He was so peaceful, so utterly perfect,
I hated to wake him with my movements, but I had to find Tizoc. After peeling
the quilts away, I slid my feet out and eased them to the floor without a
sound. Glancing at Daniel again, I waited for him to stir, but he slept deeply,
contentedly. Being close to me allowed him to get a full night’s sleep. That
made me feel important.

I ran my finger along the curve of Daniel’s cheek before I could stop
myself. Grinning at the sheer joy of being able to call him my own, I got out
of the bed and padded on bare feet to the doorway.

I felt my way down the stairs and through the dark kitchen to the
outside, my smile fading. In the bright light of the full moon, a shadowy
figure sat on the end of the patio.

“Why didn’t you talk to me from your room?” Tizoc asked.

“I had to make sure you were all right. In person.” I took a tentative
step closer. He had shed his golden vest, and silver rays of moonlight striped
across the dark skin of his exposed back. His head was in his hands, his elbows
resting on his knees. “Are you all right?”

Tizoc’s shoulders rose then fell, a huffed breath following the
movements. “Not really.”

I edged closer until I stood beside him. He patted the wooden floor next
to him without looking up at me. Gathering my nightshirt about me, I eased down
to sit, stretching my legs out in front of me. My bare feet sunk into the
grassy courtyard.

“You saw it too, didn’t you?” Tizoc turned his head to look at me.

“The beasts. Yes.” A cool night breeze zipped by, flitting against my
skin and reaching my insides somehow.   

“It means trouble,” he said.

“Which you need to protect your people from?”

“I think so.”

“But how?”

“I haven’t figured that out yet.” Tizoc folded and unfolded his hands
across his knees. “My people are wary of strangers, but as you’ve seen, we are
quick to get past that and trust. We also think we are more powerful than
anyone who might visit our shores. It might be a fatal mistake to think this
way with whoever is coming next. They are like those that took me as a slave.”

What was coming could not be welcomed as our crew had been. “They’re out
for gold,” I said. “I could taste their desire for it. They want it more than
anything.”

“We have plenty of it here.” Tizoc lowered his shoulders.

“You have many beautiful things here.”

“Many things that will need protecting.” Another puff of air rushed out
of Tizoc as he turned to face me again. “I know you and Daniel were planning to
stay in Ezenoch longer, but maybe you should leave with the captain. It will be
safer elsewhere.”

“No.” I shook my head. “Daniel and I are supposed to help. Both of us.
The good Lord wouldn’t allow us to come all this way to abandon you as soon as
there might be trouble. And your gods wouldn’t have linked us as they have if I
weren’t meant to play a role here with you.”

Though the vision had scared me, I knew—more than I knew anything else—that
I was here for a reason.

Tizoc extended his legs so his feet also nestled in the grass, and he
leaned back on his arms. His body stretched on forever next to me.

“You would stay to help my people?” The dim light that spilled into the
courtyard got caught in his unusual eyes, and the soul of a tiger shined through.
The soul of someone who would give his last breath protecting his people.

“You’re talking to a girl who pretended to be a boy for months to get a
little adventure. What wouldn’t I do?”

It felt good to hear Tizoc laugh, some of the worry lines slipping off
his face and getting lost in the darkness.

“You English women have courage.” He jabbed my side with his elbow, and I
squirmed away, laughing softly.

“Tizoc, your family has given me what my own has not been able to in a
long time. Attention. They see me. If there’s a way to repay them, I’m going to
do it.” I slid my hand over his and left it there for a moment.

Tizoc turned his hand over and wove his fingers between mine. They fit
together. Perfectly.  

“Thank you,
Cihuapilli
.”

His dark hand overlapped my light one, so different yet the same. Five
fingers, one palm, a pulse in his wrist that beat beneath the skin just as mine
did.

With a squeeze to his hand, I took in a breath. “I should get back.” A
lonesome frog croaking away in the courtyard somewhere punctuated my words.

“Sleep well,” Tizoc said.

“You too.” I stood. “We’ll figure out what has to be done, Tizoc.
Together.”

As I slinked back into the house, I glanced over my shoulder at Tizoc
sitting alone at the end of the patio. I would do whatever it took to help him.
Anything and everything.

****

When I went downstairs in the morning, Daniel following behind me, two
voices greeted us.

“You can’t catch him, Captain!”

“Oh, I’ll get him!”

“What if we corner him like this, Jonah?”

A white streak zipped out the door and onto the patio as Daniel and I
rounded the corner.

“Oh, no!”

“He went outside, Captain!”

“Now we’ll never get him!”

“We’ll get him!”

“Not unless he wants you to,” I said, startling everyone in the kitchen.

The captain, Timmy, and Jonah whirled around simultaneously. The boys
gaped at me, wide-eyed and frozen in place.

“S-sorry, miss.” Jonah bowed and elbowed Timmy.

“Yeah, sorry,” Timmy squeaked as he looked down at his feet, which were bare.
“We didn’t mean to make so much noise.”

Daniel snickered behind me as he slung his arm around my shoulders. “Knew
they wouldn’t recognize you.”

The captain leaned against the doorway. “Take a good look at her, boys.”

Timmy and Jonah looked at each other then back at me. “Should we know
her, Daniel?” Jonah asked. He narrowed his eyes and studied me. Timmy stepped
closer to his brother, a confused look washing across his little round face.

“I’m deeply offended that you don’t.” I swiped Jonah’s hat off his head
in one quick motion.

“Hey!” he cried. “That’s
my
hat.”

I held up my hand to quiet him then proceeded to gather my hair up into
the hat. When I had it snuggly on my head and slouched a little as I had done
aboard the
Rose
, Timmy yelled, “Jonah, it’s… it’s Charlie!”

Jonah’s brows knit together. “Is it, Daniel? Is it Charlie?”

“It sure is.” Daniel stepped next to the boy who seemed as if he were
waking from a dream. “It’s Charlie.” Stooping low to get level with Jonah’s
ear, he whispered so I could still hear him. “She’s beautiful, huh?”

Jonah nodded as I removed his hat and held it back out to him. He stared
at the hat and finally Timmy came forward, taking it from my hands.

“You’re a girl,” Timmy said. He suddenly looked worried. “Did the natives
turn you into a girl?”

Captain Finley and Daniel burst into laughter while I ruffled Timmy’s
curly, blond hair. “No, Timmy.” I kneeled down to look him in the eye. “I was
always a girl.”

“You pretended?” He shot a quick glance to the captain.

“I pretended.” Fortunately he hadn’t asked me if I’d lied.

Timmy slowly shook his head. “You’re as pretty as Mummy.”

“Well, thank you,” I said. “Did you and Jonah take good care of Ghost for
me?”

“Yes, but now he’s run off.” Timmy turned a sorrowful gaze out toward the
patio.

“Why don’t we go look for him?” I asked.

“All right.” Timmy’s face brightened. “Come on, Jonah.”

I walked to the threshold leading to the patio as Timmy rushed ahead and
bounded outside. Turning to Jonah, I asked, “You coming?”

Jonah stood in the middle of the kitchen, his hands by his sides. He
looked as if he’d grown some since I saw him a few days ago, which I suppose is
exactly what a young boy should be doing. 

“Why don’t you and Timmy go ahead and we’ll be along in a moment.” Daniel
put his hand on Jonah’s shoulder as he spoke.

“All right.” I stepped out onto the patio after Timmy.

Daniel and Jonah stayed in the house for only a few minutes, but when
they emerged, Jonah bowed to me then ran off after Timmy.

I got up from my hands and knees where I had been searching for Ghost
under a wide-leafed bush. Brushing my palms on my dress, I walked over to
Daniel.

“What did you say to him?”

“Told him that you were the same old Charlie. That a dress and fancy hair
didn’t change the fact that you’re his friend.” He slipped his hand into mine
and pulled me closer to him. “You know what Jonah said?”

“What?” My eyes focused on Daniel’s lips inches from my own.

“He asked if you belonged to me now.”

“What did you tell him?” I met Daniel’s eyes as I wrapped my arms around
his waist.

“I told him you belonged to you, but you didn’t mind sharing with me.” He
kissed me as the sun spilled into the courtyard, another perfect Sunal dawn
unfolding in this flowered paradise.

Something furry brushed up against my ankle, and I pulled away from
Daniel to see Ghost slinking around between my feet.

“There you are.” I reached down to scoop up the cat.

“Guess you named him accurately.” Daniel scratched between Ghost’s ears.
“He sure knows how to vanish.”

Ghost climbed up onto my shoulders and nosed around in my hair. His soft
whiskers tickled my cheek, and a wet nose sniffed at my neck. I giggled as a
deep purr buzzed in my ear.

“I think he likes you as a girl,” Daniel said.

“He probably knew all along. Cats are extremely intelligent, you know.” I
lifted Ghost off my shoulders and held him in my arms.

“You found him!” Timmy ran barefoot through the courtyard grass. Jonah
came running after him as Tizoc came toward us.

“No,” I began. “Ghost found me.”

Timmy stomped closer, and when he was within arm’s reach of Ghost, the
cat leaped from my hold, flicked his tail, and darted off into the house. Timmy
pounded his little fist on the patio and turned to sit on the end of it,
slumping his chin onto his hands.

“I don’t think Ghost likes me.”

His face was so long, his blue eyes moist, and his bottom lip quivered. I
stepped toward Timmy, thinking of something to say to console him, though I
feared he might be right about Ghost. Tizoc, however, reached Timmy first.

“Cats don’t like to stay in one place for too long.” He sat next to Timmy
on the patio. His legs were ridiculously long next to Timmy’s short legs. “The
best way to get a cat to stay around you is to rub this on yourself.” He handed
Timmy a sprig of something with green, velvety leaves.

Timmy looked at Tizoc warily but took the stem. “What’s this?”

“It’s mint. Cats like the smell and taste of it. At the end of this
courtyard, there’s mint growing. Go pick a couple more samples like that one
and leave them around where the cat will find them. Put some in your room, in
your pocket. Wherever. I’ll bet you’ll see more of him.”

“Ghost was easy to look after on the
Rose
. He couldn’t run away
too far, but here…” Timmy spread his hands out. “Here, there are too many
places to hide.”

“Ghost can take care of himself.” I kneeled in front of Timmy. “But Tizoc
is right. Why don’t you and Jonah collect some mint and see if you can’t coax
that cat to hang around longer?”

Jonah pulled his brother to his feet. He stared for a few more silent
moments at Tizoc then urged Timmy to get going.

I shifted to sit beside Tizoc as the two boys walked toward the mint
growing at the far end of the courtyard.

“Where is everyone else?” Daniel asked.

“My father is at the emperor’s palace,” Tizoc explained, “and my
sisters...” He went quiet for a moment, turning an ear toward the house,
listening. “They are still here. Yaretzi is coming right now.”

Yaretzi stepped onto the patio and waved at us.