The Ship of Lost Souls 1 by Rachelle Delaney Page A

interrupted. “But how could he just leave his parents?”
    â€œHow could he not?” Scarlet said. “Fitz, we’re a ship full of pirate children! We sail the seas without grown-ups to disappoint us or tell us what to do.” She waved at the party going on beside them. “I mean, how often does this happen where you’re from? Admit it, it’s far past your bedtime, right?”
    Jem seemed to consider this for a moment, then conceded. Encouraged, Scarlet drove her point home. “And think of it: We practically rule these waters. You saw those pirates’ faces when we hopped on board to save you. How jolly was that?”
    Jem started. “You came to save me?”
    Scarlet shrugged, wanting to act modest even though she knew it’d been a brilliant capture. “I saw you and your uncle get kidnapped in Port Aberhard,” she said, omitting the part about spying on them. And the fact that her motivation hadn’t been entirely selfless. She had needed this raid to inspire the crew as much as Jem needed a rescue. “Anyway, it was a fun raid. Who wouldn’t want to join our crew?”
    Jem settled his chin on his fist again and sighed. “I think I’d rather go home.” Then he added, “But only if the last day had never happened.”
    Although a little taken aback—he was the first recruit ever to show any reluctance to join the Lost Souls—Scarlet was intrigued by Jem’s ominous tone and the look of longing in his eyes. She gave him a friendly nudge with her elbow. “What’s your story, Fitz?”
    Jem clicked his tongue against his teeth and took a breath. At first his story trickled out slowly, but as he gathered speed and confidence, it began to gush like a river approaching the sea: a voyage across the Atlantic with a near-famous uncle, an abduction by pirates, a refusal to comply with the pirates resulting in the near-famous uncle being forced to walk the plank.
    Scarlet nearly tipped her barrel, leaning so far forward to hear the tale. Now she understood the boy’s distress and even his reluctance to join their merry crew. He seemed like a good sort, this Jem, despite his pish-posh accent. He’d make a fine young pirate once he got his hands a little dirty, of that she was certain. But if she didn’t play this right, he would be the first child she’d ever met who genuinely didn’t want to join her crew. And that would positively scuttle.
    When Jem’s tale came to an end, Scarlet felt a fierce urge to help him. The Ship of Lost Souls was, after all, a haven for children in a world of grown-up pirates and King’s Men. Children like Liam and Ronagh, whose father, one of the king’s captains, had left them at a nasty boarding school where they went to bed hungry each night. Children like Gil and Lucas, who had worked on one of the king’s schooners and were treated no better than Port Aberhard’s stray dogs. Jem was one of them, even if he didn’t know it yet. His eyes were an open book, with loneliness scrawled over every page. He didn’t have to admit it aloud. His parents had abandoned him, and there wasn’t a Lost Soul on board who didn’t understand that feeling.
    But one part of Jem’s story remained untold, although Scarlet thought she could fill in the blank herself. “You haven’t told me,” she said once Jem finished, “why you and your uncle came here in the first place.”
    Jem seemed to shrink inside his tailored coat, as if he was hiding something in there with him. He twisted on his barrel and bit his lip.
    â€œYou came for the treasure, didn’t you?” Scarlet said. “It’s no big secret. Everyone’s after it. That must be why they kidnapped you.” Jem had fallen silent again, so she continued.
    â€œWe looked for it ourselves for a while. But looking for a treasure that no one can describe isn’t exactly