Weevil and I smiled at each other. I took that as a challenge, and I knew he was up for it too.
We waited in place for several minutes after the wardens had left. I didn't know what we should do next, and I doubted Weevil knew either. We couldn't let the ship leave for Dulan with Marjorie and Clement and our other fellow Colonists on board. Della was still too weak to be much help in fighting, and even if the rest of us did our best, we could never take on that entire crew.
"You two were gone so long, we got worried," Della said as Jonas helped her down the hillside to join us. "Is everything all right?"
The expressions on Weevil's and my faces told her otherwise.
When Weevil explained to them what we had overheard, Della's only response was, "I suppose you're going to try rescuing them."
We nodded.
"And I suppose it will be the most dangerous thing you've attempted since coming to this island, and that you'll forget about the fact that I still feel like I've been sent to that treadmill, and that you'll charge onto that ship before you even have a full plan in place."
Again, we nodded, and I'm sure Weevil's heart was beating just as fast as mine. This was sounding better and better.
"I can help," Jonas said, picking up the warden's fallen hat. In it, he seemed to stand taller than before. "I think I'm remembering what it is to be from the river country."
Jonas's leftover rope was cut in half, then used to tie Weevil's and my hands behind our backs. They weren't actually tied--a sharp tug against the ropes and we'd be free--but we looked like prisoners. The soft sand beneath my now bare feet completed the look of a future slave.
Della remained hidden in the underbrush. She wanted to come with us, but we all knew she was struggling with more pain than she was letting on. For both her sake and ours, she needed time to rest and recover.
With the warden's hat on his head, Jonas followed us from the trail onto the beach. He wasn't much older than us, but we hoped with the hat and clothes as dirty as the wardens had worn earlier, he would pass for a warden. My knife was in his hands, and he shouted orders at us as any warden might do.
"Walk faster, filthy grubs!" he shouted.
Weevil turned back to him. "You know, Jonas, coming from a filthy grub like you, that hurts my feelings."
I giggled, then tried to remain serious. "Stop it, Weevil. Try to look scared."
"I don't have to try," he said. "This is like jumping into a lake and hoping you don't get wet."
Bartek, the same sailor who had approached the wardens before, now hailed us from a distance and began walking forward. "What's this?" he asked. "We've got your full group."
"You've got only nine, and then took one of our wardens onto your crew." Jonas nodded at us. "These are the two young people we told you about before. I found them, and I want to exchange them for the warden you took. Two grubs for one warden. It's fair."
Bartek rubbed his stubby chin, looking us over. "They're younger than I expected. They couldn't have caused all that trouble."
I lowered my eyes and tried not to defend myself, to insist that, in fact, I hadn't yet reached my full potential for causing chaos and general mayhem. But Weevil had reminded me of one of the most important rules: Everyone who goes aboard that ship must be broken.
"They created plenty of trouble," Jonas said. "That is, until the storm last night, when I found them huddling beneath a rock, alone and scared."
"Just take us somewhere safe and with food," Weevil said. "We'll do anything you want."
I peeked over at him. He might've been serious about the food.
"All right," Bartek said, grabbing my arm. "I'll take these two. Let's go get your man."
As we walked to the ship, Bartek said to Weevil and me, "There are only two rules you both need to know before you come with us to Dulan. The first is that you must leave any thoughts of Keldan behind. You belong to us now, by treaty with Governor Felling. Serve us, and we will treat you well. Dulan is not a cruel place, unless we have to be. As long as you are loyal, you will be rewarded."
Then I was already breaking the first rule, for I would never consider Dulan my home. I had only one home, and it was amongst rivers and grassy banks and near Weevil and my family.
"The second rule is that disobedience will be punished. It took us a while to understand the Keldanian spirit. Some of you will sacrifice yourselves in the attempt to escape or to defy us. So Governor Felling suggested a way to be sure you would not disobey."
"What is it?" I asked.
He turned away to face the shore. "Once we reach the ship, I will show you."
That worried me, and Weevil too. He glanced over at me with a grim smile.