Mery and Alice took turns telling Mimay and Gil about the group’s encounters with the mapmaker and her halfling companion. Marissa hadn’t heard the tale either, so they had three rapt listeners. When Alice got to the part about the wall she said, “At the time I thought – and I still think this – that she had done us a favor. We’d taken some lumps fighting the mummy. A safe night’s sleep was just what we needed.”

“That sounds like my Dockma,” Gil said. They were the first words he’d spoken since Mery and Alice had begun their tale.

Mimay nodded at Isa. “This is the tomb you mentioned earlier?”

“The very one.” Isa tried to keep her tone light. In her periphery she saw Gil pull on one of the ropes. There was a tinkle of metal hitting metal, and then the raft tilted to one side. Everyone tumbled and yelped with surprise. Isa slid toward the edge of the raft as the right corner gouged a furrow in the sand. She grabbed hold of a rope just before her feet shot past the edge of the boat. A flash of red hair caught her eye as Mimay slid off the boat and rolled in the sand.

The raft came to a shuddering stop, and Isa felt someone resting against her shoulder. She yelled, “Alice! Are you—”

“I’m right here.” Alice’s voice was in her ear. “Holding the same rope as you.”

“We lost a wheel,” Gil called out from above Isa’s head. She tilted her head back and saw him standing with one arm wrapped around the mast. Lund clung to the far edge of the raft with Mery beside him.

Marissa had been clutching at the netting that held their gear, but one tie came free and Marissa swung down, almost to Isa’s level. She muttered, “Son of a—” as she tried to get a better purchase on the netting, but it pulled free completely, and she, too, fell to the sands below. The bags and packs tumbled after her.

Mimay’s skirt was over her head, and she wasn’t moving. Isa loosened her grip on the rope. “I need to get down there,” she said to Alice. She felt rather than heard Alice nod.

Hand over hand Isa lowered herself toward the sand. Her arms shook with the effort, and she could see that the rope ended before it reached the ground. She would need to drop about ten feet to the ground.

Behind her Isa heard Gil shouting orders. Marissa had rolled over and gotten to her knees. She was holding out her left hand. Her lips moved, but Isa couldn’t tell what she’d said. “Mimay!” Isa wiggled down so that her hips were over the edge of the raft. “Are you all right? Mimay?”

The halfling stirred, rolled over, and smoothed down her skirt, all in one motion. She put her hands on her stomach. “What foolishness was that?” she called out. “Gil Whitsel, what have you done?”

If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

“It’s just a wheel. I’ll have her righted in a jiffy minute.” This was followed by lower murmurs between Gil, Mery, and Lund.

Marissa got to her feet, still holding her left hand out.

Isa said, “Ally, I’m going to roll on my stomach, OK?” Using her left hip and leg as leverage, Isa rolled on her right side and then over on her stomach so that she was facing the deck. The rough, bleached, and dirty boards came into sharp focus. She could see a line of five grains of sand stacked one next to the other in a tiny crevasse.

“Splinters,” she muttered to herself.

“I’ll follow you,” said Alice. “Looks like we lost most of our luggage.”

“No. Stay put. For now, OK? Please?” Isa raised her head to look at Alice. “No telling what creatures live in the sand.”

When Isa’s legs were both dangling free of the deck, she closed her eyes and let go of the rope. She landed with a thud on sand. Mimay was collecting bags into a central spot. Marissa was still looking at her left hand. Isa walked toward her with her hand out. “Are you injured?”

“Splinter,” Marissa held up her hand, showing Isa a long gash on the outside of her left hand. A piece of wood stuck out of the wound. “Big fucking splinter.”

Isa immediately put her hand on her Lockwood necklace and began to speak.

“Save it,” said Mimay. “I’ve got a kit around here somewhere. That’s good enough for a splinter.”

“But I’ve got healing sp—”

Mimay looked up at Isa with her arms akimbo. “And I said, ‘Save it.’ You don’t know what we might find out here today. That healing spell might be the difference for you or one of your friends here.” Mimay patted her belt. “So help me find my kit and my sickle. No good without my symbol, eh?”

Marissa held up a small canvas roll. “This your kit?”

Mimay grinned. “The very one. Have a seat.”

Mery helped direct Gil in dropping anchors over the left side to help pull the right side out of the sand. Once that was done, Gil dropped to the sand and climbed up under the raft. With her hand now bandaged, Marissa joined Lund in tossing the bags up to Alice and Mery, who stood on the deck of the raft.

Isa looked up at the boat. Now that she was on the ground, she could appreciate the construction. The underside was a web of crisscrossing boards and three wooden axles, banded in metal. Fixed to the ends of each axle were large black tires.

Isa blinked. Tires. Not wheels.

She took a step toward the middle one. Could it be rubber? But she’d never seen anything like this anywhere in Varana. With a grunt and a few curse words, Gil emerged from the shadows under the raft with a long box. “Tools,” he said as he placed the box on the ground. “Now all I need is a wheel.” He grinned at Isa and said, “Come on. I could use a hand with retrieving it.”

“About these wheels, they don’t— I mean, I’ve never seen anything like them here.”

“Yeah. New design. Like I said, most sailors are superstitious. Don’t trust new ideas.” In a gruff voice he said, “Wood was good enough for Granddad, it’s good enough for me.”

“But where did you find them?”

“Don’t you worry, they’re safe as wood. Better, even! I’ve been sailing with them for months. What happened here – that was a fluke. Just need to make sure all the nuts are tight. Foolish of me to leave dock without doublechecking. I’m just worried about Dockma, I guess.”

Isa spied the wheel in the near distance. Even from here it looked like a monster truck tire, black and ridged. And what if it says Michelin or Goodyear? Well, Isa told herself, that tells you what you already know – objects and people can move between the planes.