The rain soon stopped, and Charlisse spent the afternoon sitting under the palm trees, examining her captors with a mixture of interest and trepidation. Most of them busied themselves hoisting barrels, crates, and furniture into cockboats, which they then rowed out to the ship.
Back and forth they went, returning all the ship's supplies in preparation for what Charlisse assumed to be its imminent departure. She gulped and grabbed a strand of her hairstill wet from the oceantwisting it between her fingers. What will they do with me? They had fed her and nursed her back to health, but for what purpose? Would they take her with them, or leave her here to die alone?
She thought of her father. As her strength returned, her quest to find him resurfaced with renewed fervor. Yet her only hope of
