On the beach, not far from where her siblings dueled, Katrina had found a nice tree to sit under. She had moved on to looking at a new spell when a couple of boys about Bobby’s age wandered by. They were both lean and dark haired and relatively attractive looking. Katrina studied their clothing from collar to foot and then back up again. They were well dressed too. She had an eye for that sort of thing. They were dressed in simple tan capris and lightweight shirts with sleeves just long enough to reach the elbow. One might not have thought much of their clothing, other than it looked nice, but Katrina’s aunt had pointed out how different types of fabric moved and she could see this was well made clothing, and probably expensive. She perked up as they noticed her.

Likewise the two first looked at her with some measure of curiosity. But as they approached she saw the expression of the slightly taller one deepen into a frown.

“What is this?” he asked. Before she could stop him, he snatched her book from her. He looked between her and the book and his face twisted into a sneer. “You’re not a sorcerer.”

“One does not need to be a sorcerer to read a spell book,” Katrina replied in that airy tone of hers, that so annoyed Salem.

“What have we here, Morris?” he spoke to his friend. “This girl thinks she can cast real magic.”

Katrina’s hands curled into fists at his taunt. Her gaze fell to her stolen book, held in what she now knew were enemy hands.

Noticing all of this the boy pushed further, all the while holding the book out of reach. “What are you going to do? Hit me?” He glanced toward the port where their ship was just visible. “That is what pirates do right?”

“We’re not pirates,” Katrina replied calmly, although inside she raged. She had learnt early that remaining obnoxiously calm in the face of an opponent often proved a very useful tactic.

She could see it was working too. The boy’s nostrils flared and his face twitched, while his companion looked equally ruffled.

She hadn’t really intended to antagonize them any further though. Mostly she just greatly valued her own dignity and saw no other way out of this particular situation with it still intact, or much of a way out at all. Perhaps if they thought she was unmoved by their jabs they would just move along? Inside, a part of her was frightened. They were probably sorcerer’s kids, which meant they probably had strong magic, and while they were unlikely to initiate a magical fight without knowing what her magic was, it was still a scary possibility.

The younger one finally decided to join in with the teasing. In a deliberately whiny voice he started to sing,

“Scrawny scrabble.

Seaside rabble.

Little pesky pirate.

There was a girl who took a gander,

In a town that couldn't stand her.

Read a book.

Wasn't worth a look.

Her eyes just like a panda.”

The taller one sniggered at his friend’s rhymes.

Katrina got to her feet. Both of them were taller than her.

“Oooooh,” they taunted in unison, and pretended to shake in fear, before bursting into laughter.

“Oi, give my sister her book back!” A loud voice commanded. From Salem’s position further down the beach he had seen everything. The moment the boys had taken the book he’d made a move towards them, grabbing Gemma and Bobby’s attention on the way. Now Salem stood just a metre or two from the bullies, an angry expression on his face.

“Or what? You gonna do something about it squirt?” The taller one replied quickly, at first only seeing Salem, who was much smaller than himself. But as the last of the words left his mouth he noticed the other two approach as well.

“Max, maybe we should go?” Miles whispered so low that only Katrina caught what he said. Obviously the increase in enemy numbers had put them at a disadvantage he did not wish to contend with.

But Max assessed them. Only the redhead was taller than himself, although the boy she’d been sword fighting with did look reasonably strong. The other two he figured were no match, but still there were four. He hesitated, and he might have called it quits there if it hadn’t been for their response.

Gemma strode forward so she was standing slightly in front of Salem. “He might not, but I will. How would you like my fist to meet your face?”

Katrina could see the barely disguised fury in her sister’s eyes, like she wanted a fight, and in that moment Katrina did not feel any less afraid. Quite the opposite in fact.

Bobby, perhaps worried about the same thing, held up his hands and remarked softly, “Look, let’s be rational about this. Just give my sister her book back and we can all go on our way. No need for fighting.”

There was a hint of fear in his voice, but it was the combination of the two siblings attempts that was the killer. In attempting to placate things, Bobby marked himself a pacifist, unlikely to fight. And Gemma’s challenge tickled Max and Miles pride. They could not back down from such a thing, least of all one issued by a girl. And if only she and the smaller boy were up for a fight, then the odds were looking pretty good for Max and Miles.

Max took a step back and held the book just out of reach, daring Gemma to make a grab for it.

She fixed her eyes on him instead and, ignoring the book, while still clutching her sword, she started to take a step toward him.

“Gemma!” Bobby choked out, his voice thick with disapproval and fear.

But Gemma soon found herself stuck fast. She tried to move her legs but she could not. It was like they were stuck. Her expression of anger turned to one of confusion as Max started to laugh.

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“Max, you’re not supposed to,” Miles whispered, realising what his companion had done.

Gemma, coming to the understanding that he was using magic to hold her in place, worried for a moment that he might be a mindwalker, one of the most dangerous powers one could possess, but when she felt no commands forcing her hand, she relaxed, and then her rage returned. He was no mindwalker, but something else, perhaps it was telekinesis or localized time manipulation. It didn’t matter, she’d figured out fast that whatever it was, he may be able to hold her body still, but her mind was hers. And if her mind was hers, then her magic was hers.

She knew better than to start a fight with magic, especially one so wild as her own, but he had played that hand first, and from her point of view that meant she was free to do the same. She knew well enough the dangers of using fire on people, but she didn’t need to burn him. She just needed to scare him.

She imagined the flames at his feet, their heat pushing in on him, licking at his shoes. She meant to stop there. But the next thing she knew he was surrounded in flames and screaming in terror.

Gemma tried to pull the flames back, truly she did. But starting fires was much easier than stopping them. Even a practised full grown firestarter had trouble controlling where the flames went, especially in the presence of something flammable. And there was only one firestarter Gemma knew of who could outright snuff out a fire.

She looked in horror at what she had done, as Max tried in vain to bat out the flames. Gemma didn’t even notice that she was able to move again.

Miles backed away from his friend, eyes wide. He stumbled over some sand and fell backwards onto the beach. He crawled a few feet, then scrambled back up and took off running.

Katrina and Salem stood frozen, unable to look away. The book of magic spells lay forgotten on the ground where Max had dropped it.

Only Bobby sprung into action. “Gemma pull back!” he commanded as he tackled Max to the ground and tried to cover the boy, flames and all, in sand. He paid no mind to the flames that began to spread to his own clothing and threatened his own life.

Then the flames vanished. Snuffed out like a candle. A small pillar of smoke wafted up from where the two boys lay tangled on the ground panting hard.

Seeing that Max’s calves were burnt and blistered, Bobby reached over and began to heal the boy’s injuries.

As Max realised what Bobby was doing, he roughly shoved him away. “Don’t touch me freak!” he screamed. Then, he scrambled backwards and took off running after his friend.

Worried the boy was still badly hurt, Bobby got to his feet and made to chase after him. Bully or not, Bobby didn’t wish anyone to have to end up with possible burn scars. The sooner a wound was healed, the easier and more effective the healing, but leave it too long and a healer was no use.

“Bobby, wait!”

Bobby skidded to a stop, filling his shoes with sand. He turned to see his mother had joined them, no doubt the reason for the fire’s extinguishment.

As she walked up to where Gemma stood, and noticed the concerned expression on Bobby’s face, she added, “This is Rambandit, he’ll probably find some one who can heal him soon enough.”

Gemma stood stock still, her back to her mother, and her green eyes cast downward.

“Gemma...” Amanda placed a gentle hand on her daughter’s shoulder.

The moment the hand touched her shoulder Gemma spun. If her mother had been angry it would have been one thing, but she could not stand that tone of pity. She brushed past her mother and walked back towards the waiting ship, her fury at her own actions simmering beneath the surface.

“Gemma!” Amanda called after her. But it was no use, the girl was not listening.

Amanda sighed, then her gaze fell on the fallen book. “What’s that?”

Amanda grabbed the book before Katrina could. Katrina pulled her own reaching hands back and her face took on a guilty look.

Amanda turned the book over in her hands then looked Katrina dead in the eye. “I thought we discussed this. I don't want you reading these. You’re far too young.”

“You weren’t though. You did spells at my age.”

“Mmm, and I made a lot of mistakes.”

“It’s the best way to learn,” Katrina replied earnestly, but her eyes betrayed her as she glanced toward the smoldering sand that was Gemma’s most recent mistake. When she looked back at her mother she saw the decision had already been made.

“Give it a few years.” With that, Amanda turned and started back, spell book under her arm. She gave a final glance over her shoulder. “Come on, we’re setting sail soon.”

Sirius was pacing up and down the dock when they got back. The kids all trailed back onto the ship, Katrina giving the book under her mother’s arm a longing look.

“What’s that?” Sirius asked of the book, as Amanda reached him.

“Your father’s old book.” She handed it over.

His face darkened, as it often did with any mention of his father.

“Katrina was reading it. I told her she was too young for it.”

He nodded. “I’ll put it somewhere safe.”

“Where are the crew?”

Sirius nodded toward a line of bars. Then he turned his eyes back to the northern sky.

She gave him a questioning look.

“I’m just trying to decide,” he explained, “If we stay here another night or not. If we stay we might get stuck. Weather’s not so bad now, I’d rather sail through, but I just went in that bar, and half the crew’s drunk already, including Pierre.”

“Can’t someone else steer?” Amanda asked.

Sirius gave a half nod, half shake.

“Or I could?” she suggested. She suspected someone else probably could steer just fine, but Sirius wouldn’t like them doing it while drunk.

He turned to her, eyebrow raised.

She shrugged. “I’ve done it a bit before.”

“When I’ve been there.”

“Just for this bit. I’m sure Shiv can help while you get some sleep. He’s well rested, and he’s probably hasn’t had that much to drink yet. They just got in there not so long ago. How drunk could they be?”

Sirius frowned. “You’d be surprised, but I didn’t see Shiv, so if he’s sober enough I suppose that works just for a few hours.”

Amanda smiled and nodded. “You get the ship ready. I’ll go get the crew.”

“Amanda!” Shiv called drunkenly as he saw her enter the tavern. “Come sing us a song!” he gestured to the stage where a recent performer was just packing up. A few of the other men started to cheer as well. Sirius hadn’t been wrong. In the short time they’d been here, she could see they’d already managed to empty dozens of jugs. In addition to that, piles of empty shot glasses littered the table top.

She shook her head. “We’re pulling anchor.”

Shiv frowned and shook his head as if he thought he hadn’t heard correctly. “Now? I thought we weren’t leaving until tomorrow?”

“There’s a storm coming. Sirius wants to outrun it.”

Understanding crossed Shiv’s face. “Ah, of course he does.” He sat up straighter and took in the state of the rest of the crew. “Um, I’m not sure if you’ve noticed but...” he gestured to the drunken mess that surrounded them.

“Are enough of them sober enough to sail the ship?”

Shiv thought about it a moment, then jumped off his stool and stumbled a few steps to get a look out the window at the still blue sky. Finally he nodded. “I’ve seen them sail in worse states. Not sure I’d want any of them steering the boat, least of all Pierre...” He nodded at the blonde under the table who, had just fallen off his seat and was now laughing uncontrollably.

“That’s fine. If you can act sober enough then Sirius said I can steer.”

Shiv’s eyes widened, then he got a focused look on his hardened face and he stood straight and gave a firm nod. He hesitated as he turned back to survey the crew. “That’s all fine with me but you'll have trouble moving this lot now they're comfortable. Might need to get the Captain in here.”

Amanda sighed. “Just tell them they can bring a few barrels with them if they make sure they’re on the ship within the hour.”

Shiv nodded. “That might work.”

Work it did, although Sirius did not look happy as the crew piled back on the ship with a couple barrels of alcohol.

“It was the only way to get them moving,” Amanda told him as she and Shiv boarded.

Sirius eyed Shiv, trying to assess how drunk his quartermaster was, but Shiv was a pro at appearing sober, and he passed the Captain’s inspection.

“Now try and get some sleep,” Amanda told Sirius before she and Shiv made their way to the wheelhouse.

Sirius nodded. He was tired. He’d just sleep for a few hours. Shiv could handle anything that was likely to happen in the meantime. There was nothing obvious that stood between them and the horizon they could see. Still, it was unmapped territory.

Sirius fixed his eyes on the already darkening clouds ahead wishing he’d slept more on the way over here. Oh well, too late now. It was time to venture into uncharted waters. What was the worst that could happen? Better not to think about that.