Page 54 of Astrid at Sea

“We don’t have any Captains,” Sten told us, his voice a little too firm for my liking.

“Sten means to say that we don’t use those ships for sailing,” Brank quickly explained, his smile bright and wide enough to compensate for Sten’s obnoxious behaviour. “But forget about the ships. They’re not important. Let’s get back to the tour.”

We all smiled, but when the trio’s backs turned to lead the way, we all exchanged funny looks. Crosby included. Their answers were a little strange, and it seemed like they were desperate to stop speaking about the ships as soon as possible.

Why would you have eight large ships and not use them?

Why go to all the effort only to have them take up permanent space along the shore and gather dust?

It made no sense.

Brank, Rune and Sten were quick to rush through the first part of the tour that Bjorn had already taken us on, and we started off the second part at the town square, where it appeared that nearly all the females in the island had gathered to start work on preparations for the feast tonight.

The women laughed and talked loudly, seemingly not noticing us standing there. When Sten called out to them sternly, not sounding pleased in the slightest, their musings and laughter immediately ceased as their attention turned to us.

I kept the interested smile on my face the entire time as I made a show of listening to what Brank had to say about the island square and the women who were cooking for tonight’s feast, but on the inside, my heart was pounding dangerously fast.

“Did you just hear what I heard?” Caspian leaned over to whisper when the trio momentarily turned their backs on us.

I gulped and nodded, trying not to look too alarmed. The horrified expression marred my face for all of two seconds before I slapped a bright smile on my face just in time for Brank to glance in my direction.

“I’m really looking forward to the feast tonight,” I smiled.

If Brank or the others saw through my lie, they didn’t show it.

“I’m glad to hear that. I assure you, you’ll love the food. The meat will be nothing like you’ve ever tasted,” Brank grinned, and we moved on to the next part of the tour.

I took advantage of the split moment to glance over my shoulder and lock eyes with the other four, Crosby included. They all looked as baffled and afraid as I was, but we couldn’t risk saying anything right now. Not when we needed to speak to the rest of the crew first.

But one thing I was sure of. One of us could have easily misheard, but the chances of all five of us mishearing what the cooks were discussing were slim to none.

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

When the tour ended, Hammond came up with the excuse of needing to return Crosby to the ship to lock him up once again. Caspian and I eagerly joined him while Roscoe snuck away to join Viktor and the rest of the crew.

“We must have misheard,” Caspian muttered under his breath, not for the first time, as he marched back and forth on the bottom deck, looking more troubled than I had ever seen him.

“What? All of us?” Hammond asked, tinkering with the chains as he secured them around Crosby’s wrists, who, somehow, on the way back, had swiped a third orange without us realising it.

“No.” I sat on an empty barrel, not in the mood to pace like Caspian. “We all heard what they were talking about. There’s no way that all of us could have misheard.”

Caspian still looked very alarmed. “But what if we did?”

“It’s not possible,” I insisted with a firm shake of my head.

“What’s not possible?” Viktor asked, catching us by surprise.

I glanced over my shoulder to see Viktor, Roscoe, and the crew walk into the bottom deck. Roscoe closed the door behind them to give us privacy to talk; I assumed in case any islandershad followed them back onto the ship. It was improbable, but I suddenly felt very paranoid.

“You’re not going to believe what we overheard,” I said.

Viktor moved to stand behind me, looping his arms around my waist. “Try us.”

“Did you guys notice anything strange during the tour?” I glanced at Viktor over my shoulder, even though my question was meant for everyone.

“Strange?”

“I’m sure there were a few strange things, but nothing pops to mind right now,” Garth frowned, moving to sit on the barrel next to me.

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