Marina Dre's Arc

Chapter 2 of 2

Marina walked fast, the pendant warm in her fist. The shore wind pushed at her coat, and her mind ran the list she always kept ready. Bandages. Water. The small knife. The folded map. All gone with the bag. She had nothing to hand Mia when they met. Nothing to set between her daughter and whoever was hunting her. Marina slowed at the bend in the path and forced herself to think. She needed to replace what was taken, and she needed to do it before the sun dropped. She cut down toward the water and found the squat boathouse she had used once before. The lock was heavy, but she knew the trick of the latch. Inside, the shelves held what working hands always kept close. Clean cloth. A coil of twine. A short blade dulled by salt but still sharp enough. She took only what she could carry and left a coin on the shelf. Outside, she sorted her finds into a battered foraging pack she pulled from a hook by the door. Cloth at the bottom. Blade wedged along the side. A small flask filled at the rain barrel. It was rough work, nothing like her old kit, but it would hold. She tightened the rope straps and shouldered it. The sun was already low when she reached the ring of stones. Marina set a small sea lantern on the lip of the sinkhole and waited. The glass warmed under her palm, then bloomed with a soft pearl light. Mia would see it. Marina sat down beside the glow, pack at her knee, and let out the breath she had been holding since morning.