It is Brutus,” Keturah breathed, drawing closer. “From where did he come?” she asked, eagerly seeking the waters for signs of her brother-in-law’s ship, the Inverness. But she saw only a couple of ketches—small vessels heading to St Kitts.
    Selah felt her silent disappointment as well as her relief. After so many months apart, both sisters were keen to see Verity but knew if Angus Shubert got wind that Ian McKintrick lingered in nearby waters, Shubert would rouse the British troops to pursue him. Ian’s attack on him—justified or not—had resulted in a warrant for his arrest. Only his flight to America has saved him . . . and he had taken Verity with him as his bride.
    “Look, Miss Selah,” Abe said, gesturing to a scrap of parchment strapped to the falcon’s leg with a leather band. Brutus had already swallowed the salt fish whole and nosed about as if hoping Abraham carried another. The boy placated the bird by stroking his chest and cooing lowly to him, much like Verity had often done.
    Selah untied the strap and slipped the tiny scroll from his leg. Keturah turned Madeleine in her arms so she could see the falcon, and the pretty, round-faced babe stared in wide-eyed fascination. “What is it? What does it say?”
    “Patience, Sissy,” Selah said, feeling none of it herself. With trembling fingers, she unwound the band of parchment and whispered the words written in her sister’s hand. “We linger in the harbor we discovered a summer past,” she read. “Come to us this afternoon if you can. Bring sugar. We have supplies.”
    Keturah’s face became beatific. Not only their sister but supplies as well? With the war in the American colonies gaining momentum, Nevis’s supply chain had come to a near halt. Across the island, many plantation owners had significantly cut rations for the slaves. Few slaves had much to lose; already the sisters had seen far too many in Charlestown who had become alarmingly thin. Even the Double T struggled to feed her own.
    “You must not tell a soul,” Selah said to Abraham and Mitilda. “Take Brutus quickly into the stables, Abe,” she said. “Ket and I shall compose a message for him to take back to Verity.”
    “Yes’m.” Abraham immediately turned to do as she bid.
    Selah reached out to his mother and squeezed her hand. “She’s nearby, Mitilda. We shall see her efore the day is out.”
    “God be praised, Miss Selah!” Mitilda shook her head in wonderment. “God be praised.”