José’s body went rigid. “Anita will be my responsibility.”

“Jesus Christ, José, what are you thinking?” Rossetti crossed himself. “This is no place for a woman.”

“I am the captain and what I say goes. You don’t have to worry about her.”

“But I have to worry about you losing your head!”

“Why must you question everything I do?” José asked through clenched teeth.

“Gualeguay,” Rossetti said, moving closer so that his nose was only inches away from José’s.

“What happened in Gualeguay has nothing to do with this.” José’s fists clenched at his sides.

“I seem to remember you losing your head in a very similar manner,” Rossetti responded. “If it weren’t for me questioning you, we would both be in a prison right now.”

José let out a flurry of words in Italian. I could see a muscle clench in Rossetti’s jaw. “Get a hold of yourself, man, she is only a woman,” Rossetti hissed.

“Stand down.” José growled. The men glared at each other.

I wasn’t sure what to do until I felt a tug at my elbow. “How about you come with me.” I turned to find Griggs at my side, pulling me away.

He linked his arm with mine and led me to José’s ship. “I wouldn’t pay them any mind,” Griggs said, patting my arm. “One minute they are closer than brothers, the next they are at each other’s throats. I am surprised Rossetti hasn’t run José through yet.”

José’s ship, the Rio Pardo, was a hive of activity as the sailors prepared her to set out for our mission. I watched in awe as men scurried up the ropes, disappearing behind the sails. “What are they doing?” I asked.

“Tying off the gaskets. Without doing that, the ship won’t be able to move.” He clapped his hands. “All right, first off, we are going to teach you how to tie the ropes up properly. When we begin to weigh anchor, we need to have ropes prepped so the men can direct the ship. Whenever we aren’t using the ropes they need to be wrapped up, but not just in any old way. A tidy ship is a safe ship. In this case, we wrap these ropes like this. I don’t want to come aboard your ship and see a single thing out of place.”

He expertly wrapped the rope around the belay pin, then unwrapped it. “Your turn.”

I grabbed the rope and copied the movements he’d made.

“Fantastic!” He clapped my shoulder. “We’ll make a little renegade out of you yet!”

He continued giving me lessons until José boarded the ship. José nodded tersely to John and then kissed me roughly on the head before heading to the helm.

“And that is the first command to prepare to set sail. Take a spot over there.” Griggs pointed off to the side of the helm. “For now, sit and watch and learn. Watch what these sailors do: If they spit, you spit. Do what they do, exactly how they do it. Everything you see around you has a purpose. Learn from them. I’ll see you soon, little renegade.” He tipped his hat to me and left the ship as our sailors prepared to weigh anchor.