to know who's going to be a problem. And I especially want to know who has any experience with
boats."
"Boats?" Fayth said.
"No place on this island is safe. We have to get off. There are four boats in the harbor right now- if we
can just find somebody to handle them." She looked from Daphne to Fayth. "I want you to bring me
back at least two sensible girls who have some chance of not sinking a powerboat. Got it?"
Daphne and Fayth glanced at each other. They nodded. "Right, boss," Daphne murmured, and they
started off.
Rashel sat, weighing a chain in her hand and
thinking. There was no need to tell Daphne-yet-that she didn't plan to ship out with the boats.
Half an hour later Daphne and Fayth stood before her beaming. At least Daphne was beaming; Fayth
was wearing that grave smile that was starting to drive Rashel crazy.
"Allow me to introduce Annelise," Daphne said, leading Rashel to a cot. "Originally a native of Denmark.
She's done the race circuit in Antigua-whatever that means. Anyway, she says she can handle a boat."
The girl in the cot was one of the oldest there, eighteen or nineteen. She was blond, long-legged, and
built like a Valkyrie. Rashel liked her at once. "And this is Keiko over here," Fayth said in her simple
way. "She's young, but she says she grew up around boats."
This one Rashel wasn't so sure about. She was tiny, with hair like black silk and a rosette mouth. She
looked like a collector's doll. "How old are you?"
"Thirteen," Keiko said softly. "But I was born on Nantucket. My parents have a Ciera Sunbridge. I think
I can do what you're asking-it's just the navigation that worries me."
"There isn't anybody else," Daphne stage-whispered in Rashel's ear. "So my advice is we trust the kid."
"I think the navigation will be straight west," Rashel said. She smiled reassuringly at Keiko. "Anyway,
even the open ocean will be safer than here." She gestured to Daphne and Fayth to come back to their
corner.
"Okay. Good job. You're right about trusting the kid; I don't think we have any other choice. We
definitely need two boats for all these girls. What else did you find out?"
"Well, the ones that are still under mind control are the ones that came with us," Daphne said. "Juanita
and Missy. And the one that might cause trouble is your buddy Nyala. She's not completely hinged, if
you know what I mean."
Rashel nodded. "The mind control may be a problem-how long did it take to wear off the others,
Fayth?"
"A day or so after they came in. But that's not the only problem, Rashel. Annelise and Keiko think they
can handle the boats-but not tonight. Not until tomorrow."
"We can't wait until tomorrow," Rashel said impatiently. "That's cutting it way too fine."
"I don't think we have a choice. Rashel, all these girls are tranquilized. Drugged."
Rashel blinked. "How-?" She shut her eyes. "Oh."
"The food," Fayth said, as Rashel nodded in resignation. "I realized right off that there was something in
it. I think most of the girls know-and they'd rather be tranquilized than think about what's happening to
them."
Rashel rubbed her forehead wearily. No wonder the girls hadn't asked her any questions. No wonder
they weren't all screaming their heads off. They were doped to the gills.
"From now on we've got to keep them from eating," she said. "They need clear heads if we're going to
escape." She looked at Fayth. "Okay. We wait. But that's going to make everything more dangerous.
How often do they bring food in here?"
"Twice a day. Late morning and around eight at night. And then they take us to the bathroom two by
two."
"Who does it?"
"Rudi. Sometimes he has another werewolf with him."
Daphne bit her lip anxiously. "Are we equipped for werewolves?"
Rashel smiled. Holding her knife, she pulled the decorative knob at the end of the sheath. It came off,
revealing a metal blade. She reversed the knob and stuck it in the end of the sheath, so the blade stuck
out like a bayonet. The hard wooden sheath itself was now a weapon.
"The blade is silver-coated steel," she said in satisfaction. "We are equipped for werewolves."
"You see?" Daphne said to Fayth. "This girl thinks of everything."
Rashel put the knife away. "All right. Let's talk to everybody again. I want to explain my plan. When we
do this tomorrow night, it's going to take cooperation and precision."
And, she thought, a lot of luck.
"Chow time!"
Rudi walked between the rows of cots, tossing packages from a plastic bag to either side of him. He
looked, Rashel thought, exactly like a trainer throwing herring to seals.
She scanned the aisle behind him. No other werewolf at the door. Good.
It had been a long night and a longer day. The girls were dizzy from lack of food, keyed up, and getting
more tense with each untranquilized hour. A couple of them couldn't seem to shake their first impression
of Rashel-which had come from Nya-la's yelling.
"Eat up, girlies. Got to keep up your strength." A slightly warm foil package hit Rashel's lap, another hit
the mattress. Same thing as brunch-hot dogs of the kind you get at a convenience store. Smeared with
mustard and drugs. The girls had been surviving on the grapefruit juice he'd poured for them.
As Rudi turned to throw a package to Juanita, Rashel rose smoothly from her cot. In one motion she