shiver. She cried for her uncle, her only chance to help him lost. “We left him behind,” she said. “I can’t believe we left him behind.”
“Do not waste your time crying for a fool.”
Kate glared at Silas, angrily wiping her tears away.
“You are out of Da’ru’s reach,” he said, looking across the water. “We have the book. That is all that matters.”
The stone they were sitting on was all that was left of an old jetty. Most of the wooden landing stage had rotted away, leaving behind only the mooring posts where boats had once been tied. The skeletal remains of a forgotten boat lay moldering beneath the water, a large oil lantern spluttering light from the ceiling was dangerously dim and two more lanterns farther along had already gone out. No one had been to fill them in a long time.
“I know this place,” said Silas. “It is the Thieves’ Way. A smugglers’ tunnel.”
The light splash of oars echoed along the walls and a puddle of light turned around a distant bend.
Someone was heading their way.
“Stay here.” Silas slipped silently back into the water, as lithe as a fish, and disappeared beneath the surface. Kate clambered to her feet, soaked to the skin, and looked up. Artemis was so close, but the shaft she had fallen down hung over the water and the ladder that had once led up to it was long gone. There was no way to reach it.
She looked out over the river, trying not to think about how far underground she was and how far she was from home. There was no sign of Silas. He had not even come up for air and there was only a faint ripple in the water to mark where he had been.
The sound of oars splashed closer and the dark shape of a rowboat paddled into sight. Kate could see two men on board, one holding a lantern out over the front, the other rowing steadily behind him. The boat traveled low in the water, weighed down by sacks overflowing with bones and old pottery that were slumped around the two men.
Kate did not like not knowing where Silas was and she definitely did not like the look on the lantern carrier’s face when he spotted her standing there alone, soaked and shivering in the dark.
“Hey! What do you make o’ this?” he said, patting the shoulder of the man behind him. “Where do you think this ’un came from?”
Kate stepped back until her spine was pressed against the wall.
“Looks like a runner,” said the rower, twisting his neck to look around. “Serving girl maybe. Reckon there’s a reward going? Rich folk’ll pay good money to get their servants back.”
“The whisperers haven’t said anything about a missing girl.”
“Maybe she’s fresh out. The whisperers mightn’t even know about her yet.”
The lantern carrier grinned. “Turn the boat,” he said. “They’ll name her soon and we’ll be ready when they do.”
The side of the little boat scraped against the stones as the rower steered it in to the bank, and the lantern carrier stepped off onto land before it came to a full stop.
“Nice an’ easy,” he said, approaching her warily, as if she were a wild animal. “Don’t want no trouble now, do we?”
Kate spotted a short knife tucked into his ragged belt.
“That’s right. Nice and—” The man’s sharp eyes locked with hers and he stared at her, fear claiming his face as his hand reached quickly for his knife.
“She’s one o’ them!” he cried. “Get out of here, Reg! Row! Row!”
The man turned on his heel, skidding on the wet ground in his hurry to get back to the boat. But his friend was already gone. The oar blades lay abandoned on the water and Silas stood in the center of the little vessel, dripping wet, looking wilder and more dangerous than Kate had ever seen him before. The lantern carrier gave a small cry of fear. Silas leaped for the bank and with one sharp snap the man’s neck was broken. His body slumped onto the jetty and one lifeless arm stretched out and floated upon the water, bobbing gently beside the boat.
“Get in,” Silas said to Kate. “And throw some of these sacks out. They’ll only slow us down.”
Kate stared at the dead man. It had been so quick, so sudden.
“Now!”
Kate climbed into the boat and pushed the bags out one by one while Silas balanced the lantern on the bow. He had killed the two boatmen