Page 6 of The Curse Breaker

You cannot let that happen.

You are my blood, Everly Benedict, and Terrys were built to do hard things, as my papa always says. I can’t help but worry for you, but Aggy says I shouldn’t. Smooth seas don’t make good sailors. You can do this. You have to do this. We are all counting on you now.

With deep love and admiration,

Evelyn Terry

Three

Gil

Present Day

“What did Sparrow mean by the treasure stealing our chance to age?” Gil asked the girl who was said her name was Everly but went by Benny. Wasn’t Ben a boy’s name? Gil tried not to let his confusion show.

Benny looked at Aggy as if she knew her. Or at the very least, as if they shared a secret he wasn’t in on. But how was that possible?

“And what did Sparrow mean when she said Aggy told her not to worry?” Gil continued. He stared suspiciously at his friend. “How would Evelyn know what worries you when the two of you haven’t spoken since we’ve been trapped here?”

Aggy’s eyes flitted to Benny’s again, and Gil felt a prickling sensation at the base of his neck. He was being kept in the dark about something.

Moments ago, there was a part of Gil that wanted to follow Axel and that other strangely dressed boy through the cave off the island. Now that they had been rescued—just as Aggy swore they would be—Gil didn’t want to waste any more time. Forget about the treasure. He just wanted to see Sparrow. There was so much he wanted to say to her, and he didn’t want to wait another second to do it.

Gil heard the pirate give an exaggerated sigh. “I can see we’re doing nothing till you tell the kid what’s going on.” Gil assumed kid referred to him. “Get it over with.”

Gil knew who Kimble was. Aggy had told them about Captain Jonas Kimble, but Gil had never met him. To Gil, he was a legend. Someone mentioned in bedtime stories. The pirate who had found a treasure that could make an individual immortal and save them from illness or peril. And now Kimble was standing in front of him. He wasn’t dressed like any pirate Gil remembered seeing paintings of. He had on a heavy-looking pair of blue pants and a short-sleeved shirt made of cotton that looked like an undergarment.

“When you’re done filling them in, come get me.” Kimble moseyed over to the nearest palm tree and sunk down next to it. He closed his eyes. “I’m going to take a nap.”

“You’re going to nap?” Benny looked like smoke was going to come out of her ears. Her manner of dress was unusual too—a girl in short pants? Rubber shoes that looked like clogs? There was something about Benny that felt almost familiar. Was it her brown eyes that reminded him of Evelyn? She held Sparrow’s letter tightly in her hand. “No. Now is not the time for a nap! I need your help explaining all this. If we’re going to break this curse, we’re all going to have to work together and fast.”

Kimble snorted. “Together? No way. Kid, I work alone.”

“Not anymore you don’t.” Benny held herself high and looked defiant. “Evelyn said you could help me, and you will. This curse affects you too, you know. So get up. We’re on the clock!”

On the clock? Gil didn’t know the expression.

Kimble groaned and opened his left eye. His brow furrowed as he pulled himself up again wearily. “You sound just like her.”

“Who? Evelyn?” Benny’s eyes flashed. “I’d hope so. We’re related.”

“You are?” Gil and Kimble said at the same time.

“We’re getting off track here,” Zara said hastily.

“I agree,” said Aggy, moving to stand beside Zara. There was something about the two of them that felt similar also. How strange, Gil thought.

“Look,” said Kimble. “Leaving the island does nothing—you’re all still cursed till we deal with the matter of the treasure.”

“I don’t like the word cursed,” said Laurel, scrunching her toes and looking down at her feet in the sand. “I prefer trapped.”

“I agree,” Thomas echoed. “We were trapped, and now we can leave. Isn’t it that simple?”

Gil heard a purr and looked down. Winks, Aggy’s cat—who somehow the pirate also claimed was his cat—was winding her way around Aggy’s legs. Aggy picked the cat up, and she blinked her one good eye at Aggy, letting herself be petted rather than trying to get away. How could the cat they’d been trapped with on the island also be with the pirate who lived off-island? Nothing made sense. Gil scratched at his chest, which was suddenly itchy. “I just want to go home.”

Aggy’s face seemed to crash then, like the waves lapping at the shore. “Oh, Gil.” She reached for his hand and then, with her other hand, grabbed for Laurel’s. “I’m afraid I haven’t been honest. I didn’t withhold the truth to be cruel. Evelyn and I just thought that the best way to help you survive was if you didn’t know.”

“Aggy,” Thomas said, his voice hoarse. “What haven’t you told us?”