As small and insular as her island was, Leelo had never considered leaving. She didn’t even try to imagine what life on the mainland was like, because her elders made the rest of the world sound terrible and frightening. Endla’s Forest was ruthless in some ways, but it was all she’d ever known, and as long as she played her part in its survival, she had nothing to fear from it. So it was strange to hear her mother say that Endla was less welcoming than the rest of the world. Hadn’t the outsiders been the ones who drove the Endlans to this island in the first place?

“Go on,” her mother said. “I’ll be fine here.”

Leelo kissed her cheek, drank some water from the pitcher, and headed back outside. She’d been up and walking for hours, and it was starting to take a toll on her. At least her mother had given her a plausible story. As long as the outsider was dead, everything would be fine.

Except that a person will be dead.

When she finally arrived at the beach, she found Hollis and Sage sitting on a log together, talking.

“I’m so sorry I’m late,” Leelo breathed as she trotted up to them. “Mama was ill and I—”

“It’s fine,” Sage said abruptly. “Hollis was able to cover for you. But you’ll have to take his shift this evening.”

Leelo had expected Sage to be worried or frustrated. At worst, she’d expected Sage’s anger. But she hadn’t expected her cousin to side with Hollis over her. “We still have over half our shift left. I can take half of his tonight, if he wants.”

“It’s fine,” Hollis said. “I can do a double shift.”

“No,” Sage said. “That’s not fair. My mother will take care of Aunt Fiona. And Leelo can take the shift with Kris.”

Leelo stared at her cousin, hurt despite the fact that she’d brought this on herself. Sage stared right back, as if daring Leelo to argue again.

Suddenly remembering the outsider, she glanced around the beach. The boat was gone, and there was no sign of him.

“What happened to the boat?” Leelo asked.

Hollis shaded his eyes against the sun and looked up at her. “The council members found it washed up on this side of the shore this morning. Huge hole in the hull. They took it away for repairs.”

Where is the outsider? she wanted to scream, but she couldn’t admit that she’d seen him.

Sage was still watching Leelo with an inscrutable expression. “Why do you care about the boat?”