He startled, eyes going wide, but without a word he helped the other men sweep out the carts and store them for the night. Then he grabbed a lantern and beckoned to Kayleigh. She looked surprised but excused herself to his mother. I walked behind them as they made their way to the back courtyard and entered a shed for broken axles and wheels not yet repaired.

When I unwrapped the shadows, Kofi jumped back in alarm. Kayleigh chuckled. My secret ways did not trouble her, for she had grown up in a hunters’ village and with a grandmother who was a wise woman with strong magic.

He frowned, glancing at Kayleigh as his shoulders tensed. “I tell yee, Cat, yee shall not ever do that in front of any but them who know yee well. It don’ seem natural.”

“My apologies.” I kissed Kayleigh on the cheek and Kofi likewise. “I’ve been accused of the murder of Queen Anacaona by Prince Caonabo. He came to the boardinghouse and arrested me himself. Once we were away from Aunty’s, I fled.”

“Whsst!” Kofi rubbed his forehead. “Now yee’s a fugitive, Cat. It make yee look guilty of the crime.”

“How can I be sure the Assembly won’t hand me over to the Taino?”

Kofi rested a big hand on my shoulder. “Cat, every Expeditioner shall call the cacica’s death an act of war, and yee a soldier fighting against the Taino in defense of Expedition.”

“That will scarcely help me if I’m brought to trial and everyone believes I killed her!”

“I don’ have the authority to let yee seek refuge here. I must ask permission of the elders of the house.” He shifted broken wheels off an overturned wagon bed so we could sit. “Wait here.”

As he stepped outside, I said, “I told Uncle Joe to send Rory here. I don’t want the Taino to take him into custody. Because he’s the one who killed the cacica.”

“I don’ see it that way.” The lamplight made his scars shine, a reminder that he had endured torture in the cells of Expedition’s Warden Hall for being a radical and revolutionary agitator. Few things intimidated him now. “’Tis true yee made the suggestion and yee brother struck the blow, but ’twas the maku spirit lord, the one yee call master and sire, who had the power to command it done. Seem to me the spirit lord is therefore the killer.”

He walked off, taking the lamp to light his way. In the darkness, Kayleigh took my hand. She was a sturdy, big-boned young woman, not more than seventeen, who looked like her older brother if not nearly as striking. We had not always gotten along, but I was very glad to have her next to me tonight. “What do you mean to do, Cat?”