“There is a skiff,” he says as we creep close to the cliff. “My son headed home long ago, and the boat is there for his return. He has left Emily with a single guard. They are belowdecks, in the captain’s quarters.”

I relay that to Nicolas, who nods. “An excellent choice of location. Well, excellent for us. They doubtless chose it because it is the most comfortable room on the ship, but it is also situated in a way that will allow us to sneak up.”

Before we see the skiff, we hear it, knocking gently against the waves. The Temerity looms a hundred feet from shore, a shapeless hulk swathed in fog. While I cannot imagine anyone spotting us in this tiny boat, I am not comfortable rowing straight to it, and neither is Nicolas. He agrees to my suggestion, which is that he will hide as best he can, stretched out at the bottom of the skiff as I row, gritting my teeth so that Nicolas does not notice when my arm begins to ache. I must be the one who rows—if someone spots me, I will look far less menacing a target.

I am not spotted. Lord Thomas, being able to sprint over the water, has reported back that no one else is onboard. It is only Emily and her single guard, both in the captain’s quarters. Norrington is confident he has chosen his spot well. Wherever Nicolas chooses to hide, it will not be on the broken and sinking remains of his former ship.

It is only as I speak to Lord Thomas that I realize a flaw in my plan. Not the plan to rescue Emily—Nicolas is working on that, and I will leave him to it, as he knows the ship’s layout best. No, I mean my plan to never let Lord Thomas know about young Andrés’s fate. They are both ghosts on the same ship.

Will Lord Thomas not see Andrés? I admit I am not entirely certain how that works. I have never been in the company of two ghosts. I presume they exist in the same plane.

Lord Thomas will see Andrés. And then what? Can I ask Andrés not to say what happened to him? Is that fair to the boy? Should I remain silent and hope it does not come up in conversation?

When Lord Thomas flits off, I ask Nicolas, who agrees that I should not mention it. Neither will he, and if Andrés does, we shall deal with that. Perhaps we can at least avoid telling Lord Thomas that we suspect his son of the deed.

For now, Lord Thomas does not mention seeing Andrés. We make it to the rope and up onto the deck unseen. The ship lurches to one side. Her hull is heavily damaged, but the water is too shallow for her to properly sink. From the deck, she appears whole, as if someone has simply tilted her.

I peer about for Andrés, and when Lord Thomas leaves us to check on Emily again, I call to the boy but get no response.