“Where’s Alitra?” Nan whispered back.
“See that lady standing beside the prince’s throne? That’s Alitra. She’s almost as good with a sword as Warron,” he added. “The others said she disarmed two of the guards at the Lorjee house before anyone else could win one fight.”
Nan whistled, staring at the tall, bony young woman with the braid of dark hair wound round her head. She wasn’t pretty, but she looked intelligent—and very capable.
“Next to her is Liav, who helped us out,” Joe whispered.
“Sh!” Nan whispered back, for the prince had begun to speak.
“It appears that rewarding you for what you have done for me will be no simple task,” he said. “Have you any desires? Speak freely.”
“I’d like title to my ship,” Blackeye said. “Though I’m not yet of legal age, I want to be captain, free and clear, so we can start on our voyages.”
“Granted.”
“Other than that, I think you should listen to Noss, and One-Eye, and the others. I promised if we set you free I’d make you do something about those Work Houses, but I think they can tell you better than I can.”
And Noss did, with a wealth of detail that made Nan laugh at times. Then all the kids crowded forward, everyone wanting to speak, until the prince raised his hands, laughing. “It is clear that this will take some time to sort out, but I promise the time will be taken, and you will have a voice in the decisions made. Until then, you are invited to live in the former garrison below, free to come and go as you please.”
A great cheer went up!
“For now, permit me to honor you as my guests at a Feast, after which we will be entertained by a troupe of players your own ages, and the court musicians. And from now on, the Eve of the Feast of Heroes will be known as the Children’s Day, in your honor.”
The prince bowed to them all, then stepped down. He held out his arm to Lady Alitra, who took it. Everyone else bowed—even Nan and Joe—then followed into the adjoining chamber.
“Feast,” Joe said. “Yum!”
“Music,” Sarilda said happily.
“Players!” Tarly put in.
“Eh,” Joe said, then he grinned. “Think we can start a food fight?”
Nan thought of all that wasted food—and the servants, some of whom were friends, who would be stuck with the mess. “Only if you help clean up,” she said.
“Maybe I’ll just stick to stuffing my face.” Joe laughed.
They went looking for seats. Nan saw Kevriac, who smiled shyly and beckoned her over. Near him was the smiling man with the star-stone ring.
“Nan!” Kevriac said. “Come on, sit with us. A few more days, then I’m off to Magic School with Master Dalved here. Didn’t you say you wanted to come?”
“But Nan has to return to her own world,” the man said.
Horror seized Nan, and suddenly all the triumph, the justice, the light went out of the universe. “No,” she said, backing away.
“But two came, and two must return,” the man said gently. “That is the nature of the spell we made—for you will return to your own time only moments after you left.”
“No,” Nan said again, hot tears filling her eyes. “Why? After everything I did, and finally I did something right, something real, why make me go back? And don’t tell me it’s for my own good, or worse, that you’ll take away my memories—I’d rather jump into the ocean and drown!”
Kevriac bit his lip, and the master magician looked soberly at Nan, who could not control the sobs tearing up from inside.
“We don’t take away memories, for that is wrong,” he said gently.
“And it’s wrong to send me back where they hate me, where no one wants me. The prince said that bond servants are slaves, and that’s just what I am over there, though they call it ‘foster child.’ Earth is evil, and horrible, and I won’t go back!”
“I don’t believe it is all evil,” he countered. “I believe your world has its good and its bad, just as ours does here. Even in your particular corner, there are good foster parents as well as the bad.” He frowned down at his hands. “You do have to return, for such are our laws. But...I can talk to the Magic Council. There are other spells for walking between worlds. Perhaps we can bring you back, and in trade send someone who wishes to study your world.”
“Don’t say perhaps,” Nan cried. “It’s always a lie.”
“I don’t lie,” the man said. “But you’ve learned little trust in your life, have you not?”
“None.” Nan’s voice wobbled. “Please. I promised myself if I learned magic I’d try to and help kids like myself.”
“And you do not think there are children on your world that could benefit from your help?”
“Too many to count.” Nan was crying not just for herself, but for every kid like her—every kid who had a hope, then found it torn away. For the kids who never had hope. “Too many to count. And I don’t see where I could start to fix it. I can’t even get people like teachers or Mrs. Evans to listen to me when I explain something small. How can I ever do anything about the big problems?”
Joe appeared next to Nan. “If it’ll help her stay, I’ll do it,” he said. “I mean, I like it here and all, but I miss my brother, and heck, I miss my computer.” He grinned sheepishly. “But I’ll give them all up so Nan can stay.”
Master Dalved sighed. “You don’t understand that spell, my children. Two came, and the same two have to return, or there is forever an imbalance between the worlds.” He considered his hands, then faced the kids. “Nan, you have to go back, but now I want you to take something back, and that is faith. Until now, you’ve only had yourself to believe in. Know this: that there is a greater purpose behind your being chosen to be here. There is a greater purpose behind us all. I will go back to my Council, and see if there is someone who wishes to study your world, who can go back in your place. And if that person comes forward, then I will come for you. Remember, magic is real here, and if you came across worlds once, it can happen again. And you might learn enough to travel back and forth, and figure out how to help. Even if it’s one child at a time.”
Nan gritted her teeth, fighting against a grief so large it seemed to fill the world. Faith. I’ve got to have faith.
It seemed the hardest challenge of all.
“All right.” Her whisper was desolate.
o0o
The look on Nan’s face as she said those words stayed with Joe through the rest of the meal. He laughed and joked with the others, but his mind kept returning to Nan’s face, her words.
She’s so serious, he thought helplessly. Like this is a life and death thing. And then he understood at last that it was. This was her whole life she was talking about. Not just the business about crossing worlds, and hating her foster parents, but wanting to help kids. Like Blackeye, who knew she wanted to be a ship captain, Nan knew what she wanted to do. It was like they’d crossed some kind of invisible barrier, and for a short time, anyway, they were adults. Or at least making adult decisions. Joe shook his head; he didn’t even know what he wanted to do next summer.
After they ate, the musicians played, and a lot of kids got up and danced. Even Nan did, though from time to time Joe saw tears glittering on her face, as bright as any of the jewels the toffs wore.
Joe didn’t want to dance—he felt stupid doing it. A kind of restlessness seized him, which the others didn’t notice.
Suddenly Master Dalved was next to him, and touched him on the shoulder.
Joe got up and followed the magician further back into the room.
There, away from the music and the noise of the dancers, they faced one another. The man smiled. “So what will you take back, Joe Robles?”
Joe grinned. “A set of great muscles.” He slapped his arms.
The magician laughed. “And?”
Joe sighed. “Is this like a quiz? Am I going to be graded on right or wrong answers?”
“There is nothing to take back besides so
me weeks of weapons training?”
Joe rubbed his jaw. Truth was, he hated conversations like this. But, remembering Nan’s, he said, “I don’t know, I guess I have to think it through. One thing is, that I’m lazy. I mean, about serious stuff. Like what you do with your future. Like thinking you can’t do anything while you’re a kid, so why try? Only I don’t know what I want to do as an adult.”
“Are there things you can do while you’re young?”
“My brother,” Joe said. “The parents just don’t seem to notice him. I keep waiting for them to take over and be parents, but lately I’ve been wondering if they ever will. He trusts me the most. If there’s a problem, he always calls my name first. I guess I never thought about it much—until that long day I was in the potato sack.”
Master Dalved laughed. “A sense of responsibility is a fine thing to take back, Joe. Come! Enjoy the rest of your visit. We’ll have to perform the spell at midnight, for then the crossing will be easiest since it was at midnight when you left.”
Joe went back gratefully, and found some of the guys had already gotten tired of dancing, and were busy with an arm wrestling match. He joined in, delighted to find that there were some people he could beat—though Warron won, of course.
Then came the play, which was a kind of enactment of the freeing of the prince. It was full of adventure and laughter and surprises, made by the magician who did stage illusions. Joe enjoyed it, though the characters didn’t talk even remotely like he and his friends had. The one who played him kept making all these heroic statements. Joe shook his head, half proud, and half embarrassed.
And finally it was time to go.
Master Dalved led them out onto a terrace. Blackeye’s gang came with them, and one by one said their good-byes.
“You’re a good hand in a fight,” Warron said, gripping Joe’s shoulder.
“And a good friend to have by in the good times,” Tarsen said.
“Thank you for helping us,” Blackeye said. “If you ever cross worlds again, you always have a berth on my ship, and a bunk at the island.”
The others said quieter good-byes, passing on to Nan, who stood hunched and white-faced, her lips compressed. Sarilda gave Nan a big hug, which made Nan sob again, and to Joe’s relief Master Dalved didn’t prolong the moment, but did the magic suddenly, so they wouldn’t have to wait for it.
The same weird swirling sensation gripped them, and when it cleared away, Joe found himself standing, alone, in front of his house.
The street was quiet, and cold. It smelled of car exhaust, and wet trees, and home.
He dashed inside and up to his room, where he realized he still had on his clothes from Blackeye’s world. Quickly he shucked them off, and folded them, and put them high in his closet, where he could take them out and look at them whenever he started thinking the whole thing had been a dream.
He pulled on some jeans, noticing that they were tight in the legs. The shirt was worse. He looked in the mirror, grinning, and wondered if he flexed his arms the shirt would rip, like some kind of idiot TV superhero.
Then he thought: Unless I keep working out, all this definition will go away.
Working out. Working.
He went in to his little brother’s room. Benny was still sleeping. He bent down and kissed the soft little boy cheek, and noticed the trace of tears. Bad dream?
I think I’ll tell him all about Blackeye’s world, Joe decided, looking down at his brother. He can think it’s make-believe, but what he’ll learn is how kids as small as he is can band together and make a difference, just like Blackeye and the others in the Work House.
And so he did, starting the next day.
He joined the basketball team, and found that all that work he’d done had gotten him into great shape for sports. The coach promised he’d be on varsity by the next year.
He still saw Nan at school. She was as skinny as ever, and pale, and grim-faced, but she didn’t slink around corners any more. In one class, he saw that pest McKynzi start ragging on her, and wondered if he should say anything, but Nan just turned around and looked. It was not a threatening look, but not a nice one, either. It was a kind of look that went right through, and McKynzi giggled, said something stupid, then backed off.
In subsequent days, he noticed, McKynzi left her completely alone.
At home, Joe put his plan into action—with an unexpected result. Mar Tee started listening in on the stories. At first Joe refused to talk when she was around, but she kept trying, and finally he gave in, threatening that if she did anything stupid, he’d call her Martha all the next year, when she came to his school.
But she didn’t make fun of the story, she sat and listened. Benny, of course, drank it in, and asked a zillion questions about details, which Joe provided—and when he couldn’t remember, made up. He figured Blackeye and the rest wouldn’t care.
When it was done, Mar Tee said grumpily, “I suppose you’ll say I plagiarized you if I write it all down.”
“Write it down? Why?” Joe asked, amazed.
She shrugged sharply. “Because I have this assignment due at school. Because I like stories like that—except I’m not as good at you at making them up, obviously. As usual.”
Joe wondered then if Mar Tee wasn’t so different from Benny. She didn’t get much attention, either, unless she was yelling—Marie’s problems seemed to use up all Mom and Dad’s energy. Mar Tee and her tantrums were a way of getting attention, any attention. Bad was better than none at all.
“Sure,” he said. “Be my guest.”
“Can I use your computer?”
“We’ll negotiate,” he said. “First off, no more hassling Ben or his pals.”
Mar Tee snorted—but she agreed.
And so they worked it out, and the days sped by. Mar Tee finished her project, and got an A, and basketball season ended, with the school taking second place at the playoffs. Benny started karate lessons.
And then spring came.
And one day, when Joe got to school, Nan wasn’t there. At first he was afraid that the Evanses had just sent her to another foster home... until he got home from school and found in the mail a little package addressed to him in a kid’s handwriting.
He ripped it open. Then he stared down at a little book, one he’d thought left behind on another world:
Barefoot Pirate.
Surprised, puzzled, hopeful, he dropped his backpack onto the ground and sat on the front step, opening the book. Yes, it was the same as before—but there were more pages added to the end.
He flipped back, and instead of the appeal that had first sent Nan and him to the other world, Kevriac had written an account of what had happened after they arrived. Joe grinned, swiftly discovering that—unlike the play presented before the prince at the celebration—Kevriac had worked hard to get everything right.
And at the very end, it said:
So Blackeye and her crew finished refitting the Blue Falcon and set sail for new lands. Joe and Nan returned to their own world.
But only for a time. The Mage Council found a way to bring Nan back, sending a young mage in her place to study that mysterious world called Earth.
And so Nan joined Kevriac at the magic school as a new student, with a new name, and a new life.
The book vanished with a flash like sunlight on water.
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Copyright & Credits
Barefoot Pirate
Sherwood Smith
Copyright © 2010 Sherwood Smith
ISBN: 978 1 61138 053 8
Published by Book View Café April 2011
Cover by Gillian Standing
All Rights Reserved.
This book is a work of fiction. All characters, names, locations, and events portrayed in this book are fictional or used in an imaginary manner to entertain, and any resemblance to any real people, situations, or incidents is purely coincidental.
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About the Author
Sherwood Smith was a teacher for twenty years, working with children from second grade to high school, teaching history, literature, drama, and dance.
She writes science fiction and fantasy for adults and young readers.
Her most popular book, Crown Duel, is currently in its 16th printing. The ebook edition contains extra material not available in the print edition.
Though she is known primarily as a fantasy writer, Sherwood and fellow BVC member Dave Trowbridge have collaborated on Exordium, a five-volume space opera.
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