Page 105 of The Secret of Drulea Cottage

The two sailors froze. Santiago marched over and put his hands on his hips. “Well?”

The younger sailor swallowed hard before looking up. It was Adriano Rodriguez. Claudio, on the other hand, refused to make eye contact.

Adriano shifted from foot to foot. “S-Senhor Mendes! We didn’t see you there. We were swabbing the deck, and—”

“Aye, sir! That’s what we were doing! Except I just remembered the first mate has another job for me. I better get to it!” Claudio scuttled off before Santiago could say anything else.

“As slimy as a worm,” Santiago muttered under his breath. “Rodriguez! Where do you think you’re going?”

Adriano Rodriguez, who had been trying to slip away too, began mopping the deck as though that had been his intention all along. It was almost believable, except he’d already washed that spot. “Just cleaning up, senhor!”

Santiago crossed his arms and looked pointedly at the younger man. “What were you talking about before I came over?”

“Nothing important.”

“Whohelped Policarpio escape?”

All the color drained from the sailor’s face, and the mop began to shake in his hands. “You heard that?”

Santiago said nothing as he waited for an answer.

“I… I don’t really…” Adriano shifted his eyes in all directions, searching for an escape. But when he found none, he sighed in defeat. “Claudio saidyoudid, senhor.”

“What…” Santiago shook his head. “Why would he think that?”

“That’s what he heard when he was at the tavern the night we left. He heard your family’s carriage was in Lisbon last year when Policarpio was about to be executed. The men are saying that you got him out and that’s why we had to leave in the middle of the night…” Adriano’s voice was just above a whisper as he shared, “And that’s why Capitão Costa killed the quadrilheiros.”

Santiago thought back to the previous September, wondering how anyone could think his carriage had been in Lisbon.The only people who use the carriage are Lucia and me.

…and Andreas.

A scowl formed on Santiago’s face as the memory came to him. Aye, Andreas did ask to borrow the family carriage last year.Was it late summer or early autumn? But he wanted to visit relatives in Évora, not Lisbon, so there’s no reason anyone would have seen it there.

Unless he lied to me… Nay, Andreas is still my friend. He wouldn’t do something like that. And even if he had, he would never help a wanted man esca—Santiago almost chuckled at the irony.Andreas may be helping Lucia and me get to safety, but Policarpio tried to murder the king. He wouldn’t help someone like that.

“Nay, it must be a mistake. I haven’t been to Lisbon in over a year. It must have been someone else’s carriage,” Santiago said confidently.

Adriano cocked his head to the side, puzzled. “Then why—”

“Rodriguez, just forget about it,” he said in a stern voice.

The young sailor snapped his mouth shut and nodded.

“You best get back to your swabbing. And if you hear someone talking nonsense like that again, just tell him what I told you. Understood?”

“Aye, senhor!”

“I’ll need to find Perreira, then, too.” Santiago started to head in the same direction the rigger had gone, but then he paused. He looked toward the door to the captain’s quarters. The tiniest doubt lingered within him, slithering through his thoughts, whispering of what could happen if his trust was misplaced.

Santiago clenched his fists, ashamed at his disloyalty but unable to crush his fears.Nay, I’m being ridiculous!

But that little doubt refused to succumb to reason.I’ll just confront him directly, then. Once I ask where he took the carriage, I’ll be able to rid myself of these impossible notions.

Santiago tramped up to the door and threw it open. “Andreas, I need to speak to you—”

“Ah, I was wondering when you’d be at my door,” the captain said with a smile. He sat at his desk, hands folded in his lap.

Santiago stopped at the chair on the other side of the desk, but rather than sit, he stood behind it. For some reason, he didn’t feel comfortable taking a seat right then. “You were, huh?”