The three of them pushed the boat back into deeper water. Aunt Esther saluted, and turned the boat around. She followed the curve of the island and soon disappeared.

“Do you think she meant she ate berries or sat in poison ivy, or both?” said Tess, once she was out of earshot.

“Hard to know with Aunt Esther,” said Theo.

Jaime consulted his phone. “Your aunt named her tuna boat after the most successful female pirate in history. Cheng I Sao ran a whole fleet of pirate ships and had a code of conduct for her pirates. They weren’t allowed to abuse female prisoners. If they did, they would have their heads chopped off.”

“That sounds like someone Aunt Esther would like,” Tess said.

“Except for the whole pirating part,” Theo said. “She doesn’t approve of stealing.”

“Let’s hope we don’t have to steal anything, then,” said Jaime. He sealed his phone in a waterproof bag and put it in his pocket next to Ono, who beeped irritably. Then they turned to face the woods. From the pack, Theo pulled out the map. The map marked the general location of several buildings on the island, but it didn’t say which building was which.

Jaime pointed at one of the structures. “Let’s start with this one.”

“Why that one?” Theo asked.

“We have to start somewhere.”

It was as good a choice as any.

Stepping into the dense thicket of trees was like stepping into another country. Outside the forest, it was hot and dry and bright; inside, it was cool and damp and dim. Moss covered the bases of the trees; mushrooms fanned themselves against rotted logs. Branches and leaves cracked underfoot.

“This is amazing!” said Theo.

He had taken only a few dozen steps when he felt the ground give way, dropping him into the darkness.

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

Jaime

Theo was there, and then he wasn’t.

“Theo?” Jaime said. “Theo!”

A thin voice seemed to warble up from the center of the earth. “Help! I’m down here!”

Jaime and Tess dropped to the ground. In the middle of a pile of leaves and vines, there was a dark hole—some kind of utility shaft or sewer—that dropped straight down into the dirt, all the way into the bedrock, for all Jaime knew. Theo was hanging from the strap of the backpack, which had luckily gotten caught on a jagged pipe jutting from the edge. Unluckily, the strap was in the process of tearing. It made a small but terrifying shhhhhhh sound as it ripped.

Tess and Jaime plunged their hands into the shaft and caught Theo’s arm. They managed to haul him out just before the strap on the backpack tore.

“Thanks,” said Theo, panting into the dirt. “That was close.”

“Yeah,” Tess said, panting just as hard.

“Everybody watch where they’re walking,” Jaime said. “This whole place could be riddled with these open sewers.”