When Whitley winds up on the top of a pirate hit-list thanks to her con-artist father, she must hide her identity and board another pirate ship, trusting in one shape-shifting pirate named Bluff to help her escape. Too bad you can never, ever, trust...
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Whitley
A massive moon rises overhead as the sky turns a deep blue and I know it's time. Now or never. If I don't find a way to reach Bluff and get off this ship without being noticed before the sun rises-I'll be meeting the pirate who has haunted my dreams for weeks.
Despite the rumor's implication that Bluff will be fine after our "trade"-and I won't-I somehow get the feeling it's Bluff who holds the greatest risk. I don't even know what that would mean. What secrets could he truly be hiding that hold that much danger? The feeling in my body, mind, soul, tells me, I must save him.
Regardless of my strange instincts, there is one basic truth that's as crystal clear as the Caribbean water we're now sailing through-we have to get off this ship. After that... well things get a bit murkier. There's a lot that I don't know, and the deeper I go the darker it gets.
But-one step at a time. Escape. Then maybe I can dig and uncover what truths are hiding from me.
I pull my hands from the itchy ropes easily, after spending the whole day loosening them, I twisted myself back in hours ago, pretending to be bound in case anyone looked too closely. In a matter of seconds I'm unrestrained.
Now for the hard part.
I stand and take a good look around. I haven't seen a pirate for nearly an hour, since the captain headed to his quarters for the night. There are two others about somewhere, which is infinitely better than the dozen there would be otherwise-but still two sets of eyes that could ruin everything.
I begin towards the railing, but after just one step I realize I have one major flaw. The clink of my shoes is entirely too loud. After one reminiscent smirk to the first time I met Bluff, and my "clickity shoes," I sit to rip off the white leather boots -bare feet are much quieter. The liberty it gives my toes is a happy side effect.
Then, I resume my mission. At the edge of the railing, I look down at the water. Dark blue waves crash into the side of the ship, white caps fading back to black. Otherwise, there isn't much to see. The sea looks dark as can be and I can't tell if that's because we're in deep water or simply because it's night time. Will I be able to distinguish the shallower areas without the light of the sun? I'm not sure.
I tip toe farther back, closer to the helm where I'm guessing at least one of pirates will be through the night. Two quiet voices drift my way. If the captain is truly sleeping, that means the only two I have to worry about are just ahead, making this part fairly easy.
"From here, you just need to keep your South East heading and we'll have a wide berth from the reefs of the Crown."
I creep closer to Luster's voice, no doubt he's speaking to Jimmy what with the instructing tone.
"We'll pass that around midnight. Captain will be up an hour or two later to steer us into the Cay's."
I peek up at them from my lower vantage point and see Jimmy nod, his face pale in the moonlight.
