at one of the lines that secured the sails. The weight of the water slammed the breath out of him, and as it receded, it dragged them all hard towards the side.
‘I know, but—’
‘Mr Tournier, he’s lying to you!’ Fred shrieked. He had lost his ordinary self. He was just enraged. If he had been a toddler, Joe would have called it a tantrum, but on a boy of fourteen it was something else. ‘It’s not right, lying is wrong, let me go—’
‘I will have you flogged,’ Kite said, and Joe couldn’t tell which of them he was speaking to now, or both of them.
‘Mr Tournier, you’re not really Mr Tournier—’
The crest of another wave broke over them. They were riding it well, and it wasn’t as frightening as the last surge, but it was enough to make Joe look away.
When he got the water out of his eyes and he could see again, Fred was gone.
Kite was still at the rail, staring into the heaving water.
At least four officers had told Joe what you were supposed to do if someone went overboard. Shout at the top of your lungs, and point with your entire arm, and don’t move, or the men with the lifelines wouldn’t know where to go.
Kite turned away and put the small of his back to the rail. ‘Get below,’ he said to Joe.
‘He could still be alive, aren’t we going to—’
‘He can’t swim.’
Joe scanned the water, willing there to be even a flash of blond hair somewhere, but there wasn’t. He looked at Kite again. It would be utterly stupid to accuse him of murder, even though Joe was certain that was exactly what had happened. An accusation like that – it would be Kite’s word against his, and Joe would be locked up for the rest of the journey. Or worse, locked up without kneecaps.
But he couldn’t just stand here and pretend everything was fine.
‘Is it that fucking important?’ Joe asked, fighting to keep his voice low. ‘That no one tells me who I am? So what if he recognised me? You’ve given me Madeline’s letters, for God’s sake, and I still don’t remember anything! Fred could have told me a name and I’d have been none the wiser, I think that’s pretty bloody obvious by now. Something else is going on here, isn’t it? It isn’t just about whether I remember or not!’
‘Your business is not the policing of this ship,’ Kite said, quiet and dangerous now. ‘Get back to your watch, Tournier. We’ll be coming into Edinburgh soon.’
‘My God!’ Joe heard his own voice go high. ‘A child is dead! Were you born a machine, or was there a time when you were human? Can you even remember?’
Kite looked as though he wanted to say something, a dozen things, and all of them filled the air with a charge. For a delirious moment, Joe thought he might explain. But then the charge vanished, Kite shut down, and only stepped silent and fast around Joe to go into the stateroom.
Joe had to stand where he was in the rain, shuddering with rage. When he could think in a straight line, he ran down to the infirmary to find Agatha.
‘He’s just killed Fred Hathaway,’ he said flatly. ‘I watched him do it. He pushed him overboard.’
He expected her to tell him not to be so stupid. Instead she only set her hands on the edge of her desk and studied him. ‘Why?’
‘Fred was about to tell me who I am.’
‘Right.’ She didn’t say anything else. She didn’t look surprised in any way.
‘I don’t understand why that matters,’ Joe said into the silence. ‘I haven’t remembered a damn thing since I’ve been here, and I’m obviously not going to. Even if I turn out to be Napoleon fucking Bonaparte it wouldn’t matter. Agatha, what is going on? This doesn’t feel like – Kite doesn’t give a toss if I go back through the gate and tell the French government in my time! Why would they believe someone like me? And even if they did, all you lot have to do is brick up the bloody gate and it isn’t a problem any more. This is personal. He was scared. I have something on him, don’t I?’ he asked. He swallowed, because he was still soaked, and he felt unbalanced now, because his thoughts were arriving while he was speaking, and they were running away from him. ‘If I remember – I could wreck him, couldn’t