Scarlet paced the banks of the stream near the top of the waterfall. Already the sun had been below the horizon for hours. She guessed it close to midnight and still Carmine and Cerise had not returned.

Out of necessity, the two girls volunteered to go to the market, leaving before sunup to remain unseen on the road as long as possible. They both had changed from their dirty shifts into dresses the mistress had reserved for them to wear for clients. Carmine assured Scarlet that they’d blend in with the other servants buying goods for their masters.

They were due to return just after sundown. Scarlet knew something had gone wrong if Carmine hadn’t returned. She seemed an astute, capable and resourceful girl. Scarlet didn’t know enough about Cerise but trusted Carmine’s judgement.

Just before Scarlet decided to go to the road and look for them, a girl from the campsite called out. “Carmine’s back.”

Scarlet rushed down the slope and found Carmine slumped over, breathing heavily. She had returned alone.

“Bring water,” said Scarlet. Rose rushed away to bring some. “Where’s Cerise? What happened?”

Carmine guzzled the water brought to her. “The captain. He has her.”

As one, the girls drew in their breath.

“Where does he have her? How?”

“We were at the market and about to leave when he saw us. I don’t know why he was there. He recognized me and our dresses. We tried to run, but he caught Cerise. She screamed and bit him. The people, they laughed. He laughed with them, telling them his daughter had run away again to try and be with some boy. He was hurting her, telling me with his eyes he meant to kill her if I didn’t go with him into the alley. He wanted to know where we got the gold and the dresses. I said we stole them. But he recognized our dresses. He asked how Cerise and I survived the water. He knows we can’t swim. I said you saved us, but everyone else drowned.

“When he asked why we didn’t take the boats, I told him we were girls and too small to row the boats or even get them in the water. He believed that. He wants you, to meet you. Actually, he wants gold, but he wants a specific jewel. He knows you can swim. He wants you to get it. I have to bring it to him, or he’ll kill Cerise.”

Carmine told her the meeting place and the time. Scarlet planned to be there early.

“All of you,” said Scarlet. “Stay here until I return, which will be sometime tomorrow. If I’m not back by nightfall, split up the gold, split into groups of two, and leave here. Someone grab a sack of gold and bring it to me.”

Without waiting for their questions, Scarlet returned to the graves of the dead men. As she dug them back up, Carmine approached.

“I’m sorry, Scarlet,” said Carmine, setting the sack of gold beside the grave. “I should’ve fought him. I could’ve done something. I got scared. I froze. And now Cerise...”

“It’s not your fault. It was bound to happen. I didn’t expect it to happen the first time at market. You were right. He knew none of the girls’ bodies had been recovered. He suspected we stayed close since traveling in a big band of girls would draw attention. He’s probably paid men to watch the roads while he watched the market. Damn.”

Scarlet stopped digging a moment. “Were you followed?”

Carmine shook her head. “That’s why I’m so late. I went south then east and backtracked several times through the city, stopping often to see if someone was behind. I avoided the road and went to the coastline north of here. I kept to the trees. No one followed.”

Satisfied, Scarlet pushed the dirt off the men and began undressing the one with the least amount of blood staining his clothes. Carmine seemed to know what Scarlet planned and didn’t ask questions.

After dressing in their disgusting filth, Scarlet tied her hair back into a tight bun and pulled the hood of the man’s cloak over her head.

“I don’t think it’s safe to stay here, Carmine,” said Scarlet. “Sleep wary tonight. Spend the morning gathering everything together to travel. Although, if you are discovered, I don’t know where you can run to. Perhaps push the boats into the water and take your chances in the sea.”

Carmine nodded. “You’re missing something. Hold on.”

Carmine spit into some dirt in her hands to make mud and smeared it across Scarlet’s face. Scarlet allowed Carmine’s dainty and innocent fingers to push the dirt around, the girl’s touch soft and delicate, reminding her of the time that same gentle touch had before washed away the filth.

Scarlet held the girl’s hand with one of hers. “Carmine, why did you show kindness to me my first night on the ship?”

Carmine shrugged, holding Scarlet’s hand to her own cheek. “It felt good to do something for someone in pain. I’m sorry I couldn’t do more.”

Scarlet kissed the back of Carmine’s hand. “If I don’t return, you’ll have to lead them. You’ll need to stay alive for them. Promise?”

Carmine nodded. “Three days are passed. You promise to return?”

“I promise. It’s not sunup yet.”

Scarlet kissed Carmine on the forehead before stooping and grabbing the sack of coin. Carmine grabbed her by the hand and squeezed it. “I want you to take this.”

Carmine unstrapped her dagger and held it out. “If you say no, I’ll be offended.”

Scarlet’s shoulders slumped. “I’ll be fine,” said Scarlet. “You and the others stay alert.”

“Hold out your arm,” said Carmine.

It was a command. Scarlet couldn’t deny her. Carmine pushed back Scarlet’s sleave and strapped the dagger to the inside of her forearm.

Scarlet pulled Carmine into an embrace, pushing her own cheek against the soft skin of Carmine.

Carmine whispered in Scarlet’s ear. “I need you. Please.” Carmine pulled back and kissed Scarlet softly and gently and delicately on the lips, the contact not lasting more than a heartbeat.

Carmine turned and hurried away. Scarlet sighed, knowing the young girl who portended to be a young woman had the innocence of a child about her yet carried the guilt and weight of a grownup on her shoulders.

Scarlet turned her back to the camp and followed the stream until it reached the road. Half walking and half running, her feet sliding about in the too-large shoes of the dead man, she hurried toward the city.

Several hours later she reached the outskirts, passing unnoticed through its streets. Only once before had she been to the capital city of Udaeharana. It was confusing them. It was confusing now. From Carmine’s description, the inn where the captain dwelt sat near the wharf. Scarlet looped to the west of it, wanting to come at from the south.

It took little effort to find the place, the directions good. Scarlet slipped in through the back door and crept up the back stairs toward the second floor. Men – no doubt sailors and reprobates – lay passed out in the hallway. She stepped over and around the snoring and snorting men. Some didn’t snore. It appeared they weren’t breathing either.

Taking a bottle from a sleeping – or perhaps dead – man, she stepped up to the door behind which the captain and Cerise waited. Using her fist she banged against the door and grunted in as deep a voice as she could muster. Before waiting for a reply, she slumped against the opposite wall near a passed-out man, resting her head against his shoulder.

The door creaked open. Her hood over most of her face, she saw the man’s boots as he stepped into the hallway, turning each direction in search of the one who’d knocked. As he turned back toward the door, Scarlet sprung to her feet, drawing the dagger as she leaped toward the man’s back.

She grabbed a fistful of his hair and pressed the tip of the dagger to his neck, enough so he felt its sharpness and understand her seriousness.

Keeping her voice low, she ordered him inside, disappointed that he wasn’t the captain.

Once inside, she closed the door with her foot and pulled him back against her, her back against the door. She questioned him on the captain’s whereabout. The man didn’t answer straight, not showing concern about the dagger pressing into his skin. Growing frustrated with his lack of cooperation, she pressed the steel until it drew blood.

The man winced and chuckled, saying something about a message for her.

“Captain say, you want to see girls ever, you bring him Eye of Bhuta,” said the man. “He tell later where the farm at. He say, you know jewel when you see it.”

Scarlet cursed the man and the captain. Something sprung to the forefront of her mind.

“You said girls,” said Scarlet. “He only has Cerise. He only has the one.”

The man cackled but said nothing.

Scarlet pressed the dagger in deeper. “Where is the captain?”

“He’s hunting.”

Scarlet wanted to ram the dagger deep into the man’s skull. She refrained.

She fled the inn, running straight into a young man leading a horse.

“Careful there, lad,” said the young man.

Scarlet scrunched her nose at him before remembering she was dressed as a man. “Let me have your horse.”

“I’m so sorry, young miss. My apologies. And this horse doesn’t belong to me, it belongs to...”

She shoved the bag of gold into his chest. “Tell him you sold it.”

As he hefted the bag to feel its weight, she climbed into the saddle.

Scarlet turned the horse north and kicked his flanks.

“Take good care of her,” the young man called out. “Her name is Cherry.”

Cherry. Really? The gods must really hate her to play such a joke on her.

She walked and trotted Cherry several times, pushing her as much as she thought possible. It’d do no good to run her to death.

By the time she reached the stream connecting the road to her camp, the sun had risen partly above the horizon, providing enough light for Cherry to pick her way among the rocks and trees as Scarlet guided her downstream. Reaching the top of the waterfall, she leaped off Cherry and dropped to her knees as she surveyed the empty campsite. The girls were gone.

Scarlet tied Cherry to a tree and descended the slope. Blankets remained where the girls had been plucked from them. The overturned chests spilled their innards onto the leaves and rocks. The gold had been taken.

Someone whispered her name from behind her. She spun.

“Carmine!”

Scarlet sprinted toward a girl sprawled awkwardly over a rock, her back arching over the hard surface. Blood oozed from her red lips to run down porcelain cheeks and mix with the waters of the stream. The sun peeking over the trees shed its golden light across her features and hair, giving them a golden glow.

Carmine stared blankly to the sky, her breath a struggle. She tried to speak.

Scarlet shushed her. “Save your strength. I’ll go get a doctor.” When those words came out, she knew that would be pointless.

So did Carmine. “No,” she said, wheezing. “Stay.”

Scarlet slumped back to her knees, not knowing what to do. If she moved the girl, she’d kill her. If she did nothing, she’d die.

Scarlet ripped a piece of fabric from the dead man’s cloak and soaked it with water. After wringing it out, she wiped the blood from Carmine’s lips and face.

“I should have stayed. I should have made us leave here.”

Carmine wheezed another few words. “I fought.” She coughed and sputtered. Blood sprayed across her mouth and dress.

Scarlet wiped the girl’s face again. “No,” said Scarlet. “That’s not what I meant.”

“Hold. Me,” said the girl.

The girl would die either way. She must’ve fought back against her kidnappers, and the damned assholes threw her from the cliff.

Bastards. All of them.

As gently as possible, Scarlet drew Carmine to her bosom, rocking the girl as she breathed her last.

A tear slipped from Scarlet’s cheeks onto Carmine’s lips.

Skamsen. This was his fault. All his doing. The captain was equal to every other prick of a man. Skamsen was not. He was a greater prick. She’d been right to hate him. And now her hatred against him renewed and redoubled. After trading the jewel for the girls’ freedom, Scarlet would turn her attention to tracking down Skamsen. It’d be easier for him to find her, though, and she had no reason to draw him to seek her.

Then she remembered she did.