I frowned at her, then slapped Mystic’s backside. Imogen turned back to look at me and said, “Jaron, please.” But they were already leaving.
As they rode away, I heard Fink ask, “Who’s Jaron?”
The clanging of an alarm bell broke through the early morning peace. I was already awake, as I had been all night. It was one week since I had left Drylliad, and too much had happened in that time. But nothing worried me like what the next few hours might bring. Obviously, Imogen’s absence had prompted the alarm.
Agor ran into our hut and yelled, “One of the serving girls is missing. We think she stole a horse.”
Erick stood beside his bed, looking around. “Fink is missing too — the boy who came with me.”
“It was your horse,” Agor said to me.
“It’s Fink’s horse now,” I said. “He won it last night in a bet. They can’t have gone far, perhaps just gathering berries in the woods.”
“Those places were checked already.” Agor’s eyes darkened. “Besides, they’d have still needed permission to leave. Devlin’s convinced they got scared and ran. But where?”
“Fink would go back to Dichell,” Erick said.
“But the serving girl wouldn’t want to go there,” I said. “Last time I talked to her she was very clear on that.”
“So far we can’t find anything missing other than the horse.” Agor called to everyone, “Get dressed. We’re going to make a thorough search of the camp.”
I began pulling my boots on. Erick already wore his and came to sit beside me.
“What do you think happened?” he asked. “Do you think Fink wanted to leave?”
“He didn’t belong here,” I said. “If he got away, you should be happy for him.”
“Yeah.” Disappointed, Erick clicked his tongue. “But I was getting used to having him underfoot.”
Once I was ready, we joined in the search around camp. It was an entirely useless act, not only because it was obvious they had left, but because so many of us had been ordered to look for them we nearly tripped over one another in the effort.
I’d gone first to the stables, ensuring nothing had been left behind to incriminate me. Then I traced each of our steps back as far as I could, but everything was clean. Eventually, Agor came to the only conclusion he could: Imogen and Fink had run away.
With that, the pirates began gathering to the tables for breakfast. Unfortunately, the serving girls had been questioned about Imogen all morning, so nothing was ready. Everyone was already irritable at having their morning taken up in a vain search for two people who really didn’t matter here anyway. Hunger wasn’t helping the situation.
I started down the hill toward the beach, putting myself as far as possible from everyone else. Time was running out and I needed a place to think.
“Someone’s coming!” a vigil yelled from up at the main part of camp. “The girl and the boy are back.”
My head whipped around, and I scrambled up near him and some other men to where I could get a better view. How dare she? It was hard enough to get her safely away the first time. There was no chance I could do it again, and even if I could, not before it was too late. But from where I stood, I still couldn’t see her.
“They are not alone,” the vigil continued. “They’re prisoners.”
“Whose prisoners?” Agor yanked the scope from the vigil’s hands and pressed it to his eye.
“Who is it?” Devlin demanded.
Agor returned the scope to the vigil and called back, “It looks like that Carthyan soldier, the one who helped Vargan get our men into Drylliad. What was his name?”
Devlin pulled out his sword and his tone went sour. “Gregor Breslan.”
I shrank against the nearby tree, my heart pounding wildly. Gregor had come to Tarblade Bay. And Imogen was his prisoner.
I was carefully hidden from Gregor as he rode into camp towing Imogen and Fink on Mystic’s back, yet from where I stood I still had a good view of everything. Imogen and Fink were tied together with the rope I’d given Fink, and both looked terrified.
My mind raced to decide what to do next. Neither Imogen nor Fink was a pirate, so they weren’t bound by the code. Not officially anyway. I figured they’d be taken to the jail unharmed, where they’d remain until I could sneak down there and get them out.
With that settled, I turned my attention to Gregor’s arrival at camp. From the grumbles I heard, nobody was happy to see him here. But nothing they felt could’ve matched my distress. I couldn’t ignore the possibility that he’d already discovered Tobias and knew I was here. If so, then he’d come to expose me.