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“Mom,” I breathed. “You know how you used to leave and disappear for a while, and you would tell me to trust what you were doing? You said you were trying to help. You were off doing something you thought you needed to do.”

She didn’t reply, but kept her shining, worried eyes pressed onto me, as if already knowing—and dreading—what I would say next.

“The fact is, I can’t tell you everything right now, Mom. But you have to trust that I’m doing something I have to do. There’s something in Cuba I need. And it won’t make sense if I explain it now. You just need to know it wasn’t safe for me to leave you behind.”

She opened her mouth as if to question me further or argue. “Please, just trust me,” I said. “I know it doesn’t make sense, but it’s what I need from you now.”

She looked down, her brown hair rolling across her shoulder. Finally she looked back at me, her voice filled with something heavy. “I owe it to you to say okay,” she uttered. “And your dad?”

“I’ve already called him. I told him you’re here with me. In Constantine. On campus.” I spoke firmly, thinking back to the phone call I’d made this morning. “He’s perfectly fine, I promise.”

My mom looked around, her breath short as she held back a reaction I could easily see brewing. Immediately, I felt my stomach turning in knots. Had I just made a huge mistake? Bellamy would’ve no doubt disapproved of telling her all that, but I couldn’t just keep singing my mom to sleep this entire journey. Eventually—whether sooner or later—she was going to find out at least some part of the truth. But I just had to make sure she didn’t find out too much at once. I couldn’t foresee Mom handling it well. The sad truth was, I still didn’t trust what she might do. I wondered if I ever would stop seeing her as someone on the brink of a mistake, so weak that I needed to protect, instead of my mother.

“Don’t panic, please.” I added. “My friends are with me. You’ve met them. Bellamy, McKenzie, and Noah. They’re all coming with us and we’re safe.”

Mom nodded, her head movements growing faster and jerkier the more she processed. “I’ll try to trust you. Because I know I’ve asked the same thing of you too many times not to.”

“Thanks. It’s the best thing for the both of us right now. I promise.” I felt the water getting choppy. It was a subtle change that I could detect by a change in the boat’s movement. I wouldn’t have expected anyone else to notice.

“I’m going to go check to see how much longer we have to sail,” I said, standing and making my way to the door. My mom nodded, her face still ridden with a look of worry. I hoped she’d stay put in the room at least long enough for me to get to Bellamy before she did.

On the way up to the helm, I ran into McKenzie, who was leaning on the hull, watching the never-ending landscape of water through her designer sunglasses.

“Your mom still good?” She asked.

“If by good you mean awake…then yes.” I swallowed.

“What?” McKenzie exclaimed.

“She can’t stay asleep forever,” I said. “We’re going to have to work together to keep her calm. I made her promise not to ask any questions.”

“What are we gonna do with her when we reach land and actually have to go looking for this Pirate King dude?”

“I haven’t thought that far yet.” I grimaced a bit. “But I don’t think it’s safe for her to leave the ship.”

“Then looks like we’re drawing sticks for who gets to be her babysitter,” Noah said, coming up behind us. “Because we’ll be docking by the end of the day.” We both glanced at McKenzie.

“Why do I have to do it?” She yanked off her sunglasses, her blue eyes narrowing at us.

“You were so good with her back at the marina,” I pleaded. “I swear I’ll never ask you for another favor ever.”

Noah folded his arms. “It might not be so bad, Kenz. Besides, do you really want to go marching around a rainforest with no idea where we’re going? In the heat, sweating, probably lost and getting eaten alive by insects? Remember how gross you said you felt in Nassau?”

There was a clear shift in McKenzie’s face. Her eyes softened and her shoulders eased. “Well…that actually does sound like crap. But you have to put her back to sleep, Katrina. Just to buy me more time in case you guys are gone longer than you think you’ll be.”

I groaned inwardly at the thought of manipulating my mom again. But what could I say? I couldn’t ask my friend this favor without being willing to help her through it.

“Allright,” I said. “Whatever you need.”

I turned away, burdened a bit by the plan, but my attention quickly shifted to other matters. Like what it would be like when we reached La Isla. Bellamy claimed to know exactly where Bastian would be, but I couldn’t help but wonder if it’d still be the same as he remembered after all these years. And what would we say if we found him? What could we possibly offer him in exchange for this Crown of the Sea? What if he didn’t even have it anymore?

No…I had to silence those fears. That’s all they were…fears. And even if they were right, we’d just find another way to bring Milo back. There was always another way, I told myself, though I wasn’t sure how much of it was convincing enough.

I imagined what Bastian might be like, painting him clearly in my head. I pictured him tall and stern, rigid and unyielding…maybe like Valdez, but less threatening, with a long beard and a flowing coat. As I dwelled on it, I took each step up to the helm with subconscious effort, barely paying attention as I ascended to the cockpit.

“Don’t you ever get tired of being up here?” I asked, stepping up beside Bellamy. “I mean, you’ve only asked me or Noah to take the wheel like once each. Are you sure you don’t need a break?”

Bellamy raised an eyebrow. “A break from what? Captaining a ship? My, my…it’s like you don’t know me at all.”