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From Evelyn Terry’s Private Journal, Dated June 6, 1825

Aggy knew what I’d done. And for reasons I didn’t yet understand, she was keeping secrets from me too...

“Sparrow!” I could hear Aggy shouting for me as I left the fort on the island.

I ran, thundering down the rocky path with Winks in my arms. I was trying to put as much distance between myself and Kimble and this mysterious fort that had appeared out of nowhere before Aggy spotted us. Rounding the bend at the bottom of the hill, I found Aggy waiting for me. She didn’t look like her usual self, but I didn’t yet understand why.

“You went to see him,” she said accusingly, and we both knew who she was talking about without saying his name.

Winks jumped from my arms with a loud meow and slinked over to my friend. Aggy didn’t seem pleased with her either. “Traitor,” she said to the cat. “I know you went to see him too.” Winks hissed at her.

“You told me not to tell the others what I saw,” I argued. “You didn’t say I couldn’t return to the island to talk to him.”

Aggy gave a deep sigh. “ Sparrow ,” she said wearily as if to say, What am I going to do with you? She looked tired, as if she hadn’t slept the night before either. She was wearing her white dress, the one she always washed for school, and her beautiful brown curls blew in the warm breeze. The sunny sky on our island masked the truth of the weather in Greenport—more rain, more storms. She and I, it seemed, were the only two people who could find their way to the island on their own and enjoy its spoils. I looked up at the sun, basking in its glow. “You shouldn’t be here. We have school,” she reminded me, picking up Winks, who tried to claw her way out of her arms. She sounded like my mama.

“I’m not late. Class hasn’t started yet,” I said stubbornly and bit my lower lip, hesitating. What I was about to say would sound absurd, but so did seeing a pirate ship no one else could see. “Aggy…the man told me his name. It’s Jonas Kimble.” She was quiet. “He says he’s the Jonas Kimble. The famous pirate from the 1600s, but he looks Papa’s age. Younger! That’s impossible, isn’t it?”

Aggy stared at her bare feet and said nothing.

“Tell me it’s impossible,” I pressed, growing anxious as Winks calmed and watched me from Aggy’s arms. “Tell me, Aggy.”

“I can’t,” she blurted. “Because he is Captain Kimble. I have seen him in my dreams.” Aggy closed her eyes as if in pain. “Several times, in fact. Mama has too. He and the island, they are tied together.”

“What does that mean?” I asked as I tried to ignore the island whispering my name again.

Her face twisted as if she was fighting to find the words. “This island was his long before it was ours. And it belonged to someone before him too. And now…” She trailed off. “I didn’t mention knowing who he was yesterday because I wanted to deny it. Just like I tried to ignore my dreams. But Mama explained…this is meant to be. It is what has to happen if we’re to have a future.” She looked at me again, and I saw there were tears in her eyes. Winks meowed mournfully as if she understood what Aggy was saying. “This is the only way to save us.”

“Save us?” I didn’t understand.

“Gil. Thomas. Laurel.” Aggy seemed sad. “You are going to be fine. Kimble will be too…eventually. He still has more he needs to do first.” Her eyes were pleading. “Please don’t fight this. You need to let fate take its course.”

“What do you mean?” I snapped. She was frightening me.

Aggy unhooked the locket around her neck. It had an A inscribed on the front. “I want you to have this.”

“Your locket? No. That’s yours,” I protested. The chain was her one luxury, a simple silver chain and locket her father had given her when she moved to Greenport, before he died. I knew it meant the world to her.

“I want you to hold on to it,” she insisted and started to cough. “It will come back to me someday.”

I paled. Was Aggy sick? “You’re scaring me.”

“Don’t be scared. Be brave. You’re the bravest of all of us, Sparrow. Your job is going to be the hardest, but I know you were made to do hard things. I’ve explained what’s going to happen in this letter,” Aggy told me. “Keep it safe! Share it with no one. I only wrote it because Mama said you would want to hear everything from me before…” Her face scrunched up, and I thought she might cry. “Please read this after I’m gone.” She held the letter out to me.

I wouldn’t touch it. “Gone? Where are you going? Are you leaving Greenport?”

She shook her head. “Not exactly. But after the Blood Orange Moon, you won’t see me again.”

“Why not? What is going to happen on the Blood Orange Moon?” I demanded.

Aggy shook her head harder and tried not to cry. “Please. I don’t want to speak of it. Just take the locket, and read my letter after. It will bring you peace.”

“Are you dying?” I said, starting to cry now.

“No!” Aggy insisted, and Winks meowed louder. “Not dying. We just won’t… Look, I can’t explain. It’s all in this letter. Take it. Please.”

“No! I am tired of your riddles!” I backed away, frightened by the truth I knew Aggy’s sight foretold in that letter. “I don’t want to hear anything about you leaving! Or our friends! Maybe your sight is wrong. Maybe the man in the fort is lying about treasure!”

Aggy’s eyes widened. “He told you about the treasure? And you found the fort on your own? I didn’t see that happening in my vision.”

“You know about these things?” I felt betrayed. “Why didn’t you tell me who he was yesterday?”

“Sparrow, I—” Aggy started to say, but I didn’t want to hear any more.

I was so angry. I turned and ran away from my best friend on one of the last days we’d be together. Off the island I rushed across the sandbar, the warm sun disappearing behind dark clouds as I returned to the real world. A light mist fell in Greenport, heavy fog draping everything in mystery. I could hear Aggy calling for me again, but I didn’t care. I just kept running till I finally reached the path between both our roads home. That’s where I cried in earnest.

I may not have had the gift of sight like Aggy, but even I could tell that between the island, Kimble, and the Blood Orange Moon’s imminent arrival, things were changing. And I didn’t want them to. For some reason, even then, I knew I was the one about to be left behind. I heard a meow and looked down. Winks was winding her way around my legs, the orange tabby meowing urgently. She reached out a claw and swiped my leg, drawing blood.

“What is wrong with you, cat?” I barked, and the cat took off, back toward the island.

I watched her hurry over to something on the ground, and I paled.

“Aggy!” I cried. When I reached her side, she was coughing violently. She held a linen handkerchief to her mouth, and when she removed it, I saw it was covered with blood.

“Stay where you are!” she told me. Winks sat down beside her, watching me like a hawk. “No closer. You can’t get sick, Sparrow.”

I sunk down on the sand nearby. “Neither can you,” I said, frightened. Why hadn’t I noticed how pale she looked? “I’m sorry I yelled. I’m so sorry, Aggy. I won’t leave you here.”

“It’s alright, Sparrow. I’m not alone. Winks will wait with me. Go get my mama,” she said, lying back on the sand and closing her eyes.

“Alright,” I promised, standing up again and running, tears streaming down my cheeks as I thought of Aggy succumbing to the Cough.

I knew then I would do everything in my power to prevent that from happening.

The Cough was coming for all of us, and I was determined to stop it.