Jag drops a spanner on the table. ‘Neoma?’ he says like he can’t believe it.
‘This one?’ Saleesi asks, and grabs him with her good hand like he’s jus’ a spare part we need to pluck off the shelf and get out of here.
‘Who is you?’ Jag asks, pushing her hand off.
Saleesi don’t answer, and she don’t let go, she jus’ drags him around the table to the door.
‘This is my friend Saleesi and she’s a pirate and we’re rescuing you,’ I tell him.
‘Ex-pirate,’ Saleesi says.
Jag’s shaking his head, eyes wide like there’s a problem.
‘You don’t wanna come home?’ I ask. I blink sudden tears. Has he forgotten all our plans to be the best fisher team, the best salvage team ever? Does he jus’ want to be an engineer now?
‘I do!’ he says. ‘But you heard them, I gotta pay your fine or you or Da will be taken instead.’
‘They won’t come chasing across the sea after you again. I pulled out a wire, they put it back. Jus’ how many wires and bolts you collected for them since then? I reckon you paid off my measly debt already.’
‘But what if they catch us?’ he asks.
‘Jag, you wasn’t so cautious about getting in here. I reckon you gotta be a bit daring to get out. And a bit quicker.’ I pull him by his shirt, but he still ain’t coming.
‘I been learning so much here, Neoma. Stuff that can help us back at Cottage Hill. Cleaning up old metal, welding bits together, connecting wires—’
‘Boy, they charging you room and food while you’re working off this debt?’ Saleesi asks like she’s some ol’ grown-up lady, even though she’s jus’ a head taller than us.
Jag nods.
‘Then you ain’t never gonna be able to afford to leave here,’ she says. ‘You may as well run now or live out your life here like these other kids from poor families.’
Jag looks at her and looks at me and looks at the other kids.
‘Jag,’ I plead. ‘We’ve seen how this works. If you don’t come with us now, you could never make it back home.’ Then he runs out the door like he knows the fastest way out of here.
‘Hey!’ a teenager shouts. ‘It’s not break time! I’ll report you!’ He starts after Jag, but Saleesi runs and shoves the teenager into the room full of gold and silver bits. The rattling of lots of bits of metal and a girl yelling follows us down the hallway.
We chase after Jag and reach him as he’s hauling open a heavy door. ‘We’ll take the stairs,’ he says, and holds the door for us.
We leap over an old lady sleeping on a blanket on the floor. I turn back to check if she’s alive and she’s blinking faded blue eyes at me.
‘Sorry, Aunty Susan,’ Jag says, following us.
We’re heading up the stairs, but Jag’s pulling a coin from his pocket and he bends down, shoves it in Aunty Susan’s bony hand and starts down the stairs. ‘We can’t get out that way, there’s guards on top decks. We gotta go down to midships, take a gantry.’
‘Great idea,’ Saleesi says, like she understands that ship-speak, and we both jump over Susan again, and call, ‘Sorry, Aunty Susan!’
We charge down the stairs, leaping two at a time.
‘Why’s that old lady sleeping on the floor?’ I ask. I thought she was dead.
‘Susan used to work in parts too, but her hands got old and curled in and it hurt too much to keep working. She don’t got no family except those she used to work with, so they let her sleep in the stairwell and give her food when they can. I don’t got no family here either, and though I only got a da back home, at least I got a village what won’t never treat me like that when I’m old. I’ve missed Cottage Hill so much, Neoma!’
‘And we missed you,’ I say, even though I been away as long as he has.
‘Quit yer gabbing,’ Saleesi says. ‘Save your breath for running or we’ll all wind up like Susan. We gotta get back to Licorice Stix real quick.’
