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I looked at him from the corner of my eye, hiding my surprise at his convincing accent.
Keane looked skeptical. “Away with ya. Sounds like a whoppin’ cod to me.”
Graham spoke again, his accent seamless. “We’re outlaws like the rest of ya.”
“Then how’d’ya get that fancy floater we saw sailin’ in?”
“Fancy?” I asked. “It’s nothin’ but scrap.”
“Nevin, you’re the man that spotted it,” said Keane. “Did it look like bleedin’ scrap?”
The scrawny boy with the patchy stubble scratched his head. “Uh, I dunno. It was far away, comin’ in from the north, but it looked like it were a city boat.”
Graham glanced at me at the mention of the wordnorthbut stayed quiet. We’d come in from the east and he hadn’t seen Cael’s boat like I had.
I laughed. “Can’t trust a word from that hairless twit. We’re from Tramore.”
“Tramore?” Keane furrowed his brows. “Whaddya think, men? Pond-hoppin’ outlaws? Or bloody liars?”
The men stared us down with anger in their eyes, but Nevin looked unsure.
Their leader continued. “I dunno ‘bout the rest of you, but I’m pickin’ up a whiff ofnobilityhere.”
I kept my breathing steady and my mouth shut.
“Are y’all men on this island?” Graham asked.
“We’re askin’ the questions,” said Keane.
I wanted to stall them and avoid the accusations. “More like boys.” I gestured at Nevin. “This guy can’t even grow a beard.”
The boy looked unaware for a moment before reaching up to touch his chin. “Hey, that ain’t very nice.”
Keane looked at Graham. “Course we’re all men. If they let us make babies here, we’d raise ‘em up to be the biggest threat Cambria ever saw.”
I hadn’t known that, but I was glad—for the sake of the hypothetical women. I wondered, not for the first time, what these men’s crimes might be.
“Let’s get to the point.” Keane crouched down in front of us. “It don’t make a drop of difference whether yer wallers or Tramorians. Just tell us where the boat is and you’re free.”
Graham frowned, shaking his head.
Whether or not I talked, they’d find it eventually. I wondered why they were even asking. I could think of just one reason—there were more criminals here than the ones in front of us and they wanted to get there first.
“How many men are on the island?” I asked.
Keane shrugged. “More yesterday than today is all I know. Let’s just say you’re lucky you met us and not the other guys.”
I bit my lip. If they tried to take my boat, they’d see the crack and probably kill us out of disappointment. Still, it could give me time to find Cael’s, but I didn’t trust him not to hurt Graham. And if they took Cael’s boat . . . well, I could live with that as long as I found a way to fix my own.
“The boat’s yours,” I said, “if you swear not to hurt us.”
Graham squeezed my hand and shook his head. “There might be another way.”
“Thisisthe other way,” I whispered in his ear.
“I thought you had more fight in ya,” said Keane. “Makes me think you’re planning on tellin’ us wrong cuz you ‘spect you can get to it first. That ain’t gonna work. We know every bloody rock on this island.”
“I’m not. I got what I want,” I said. “To ditch Tramore. Our parents. To be together without anyone controllin’ our lives.” I wrapped my fingers around Graham’s to sell it.
