X Marks the Spot (Queerly Classic Collection) by Kit Barrie

Author:Kit Barrie [Barrie, Kit]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: anonymous
Published: 2023-05-25T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Ten

The sun was only just rising when I awoke, stiff and cold in my makeshift shelter. Lying on the hard ground in a briny cave was a far cry from my last few weeks of waking up under silk sheets, but at least I was alive. I tucked the map away in my shirt again, checked the compass in my pocket, and then set about finding something to eat. I was shaky with hunger, and my throat felt dryer than the sand beneath my feet. I made my way into the jungle, finding some morning dewdrops on a few lower-to-the-ground plants, and I licked them up, praying that the plants were not poisonous. There were many trees with various unknown fruits hanging off of them, but my knowledge of such fare was untested. I found several birds pecking away at a citrus-type fruit that had fallen from a tree, and I figured if it was safe for the birds, it was likely to be safe for humans as well. So I plucked one of the lower-hanging ones and sliced it open with a jagged stone. The inside was sweet and a little sour. I made short work of its innards and then another one as well until my stomach no longer pinched with hunger. I was sure I could have eaten the whole tree-full of whatever these were, but I had to keep my wits about me.

And then I found myself quite at a loss of what to do. The squire and Mister Kearns were dead, killed by Captain Ambrose and his crew members on the beach. Was there anyone on the ship I could trust, or were they all under the sway of Captain Miles Ambrose? Had he enchanted all of them the same way he had enchanted me, with his rakish grin and poisonous words? Words that he had dripped into my ear night after night, words that I had absorbed like a sponge because he was handsome and made me feel special. My heart ached in my chest as I wondered if anything that had come out of Miles Ambrose’s mouth had ever been true, or if the man was a construction of nothing more than lies and charm.

I could not trust anyone currently on the island with us, that much I knew. I remembered Ambrose mentioning that first day we had met him at the inn that he was looking for a few more hands, and I thought these last few men he brought on were the least likely to be under his power. But for the life of me, I was unsure if any of them could be trusted, save for one. My friend and kindly companion, Silas Cross.

As I considered my interactions with Silas during the weeks we had been in each other’s company, it made sense in my head that he was not likely to have anything to do with Captain Ambrose’s mutiny. He had come on late; he was an ex-privateer

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