CHAPTER 9Someone else appeared on the poop—a girl with gold brown skin, her black hair done in a knot at the back of her neck. She wore a dress of faded blue stripes with a red cord knotted around her waist. The wind leaned against her, and she did not have on many clothes. But she stood with her fists on her hips and her legs spread to the pitching of the deck and her head raised to look at the sails. It was plain that she did not care what eyes looked at her. She was free as a boy; she had a boy’s pride about her.
Burke passed into another theme. He said: “Chinee Valdez is on the sea now, or he’ll soon be, and we’re going to try to be on his heels. And if we ever cross his wake, we’ve got his dog to follow ’im! I’ve seen to that!”
A quick, deep murmur came from Alec and others. They we
