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Jack and Sabine hauled the skiff onto the beach, each breaking wave aiding their efforts, until they were sure it would not be dragged back out to sea Jack knelt and exae was even worse than he’d expected There were three ragged holes, and several other boards were badly fractured He could perform a repair job, he was sure, but it would not be quick And without the correct tools, it would be ten tiood," he said, but when he turned around, Sabine was facing away fro across the beach and inland She was so still that he thought sheBut the scene was peaceful, and he took the mo the island, he’d been able to judge its width as perhaps half aland, the other rose steadily to a ridged hill perhaps two hundred feet high It was croith a spine of sharp bare rock, but reen, cover broken here and there with protruding shoulders of stone Birds called, insects buzzed, and somewhere to their left he heard thethe ocean

There was no sign of habitation The sandy beach was untrodden, and the jungle that greithin twenty feet of the sea appeared untouched by human hands The whole island exuded a wildness that was familiar to Jack, and that did little to unsettle him At the same time it seemed to him that they were in the middle of a pause, as if the island are of their presence and aiting to see what happened next He had been subjected to such dispassionate scrutiny before He wondered what the island saw

"There are no people here," Sabine said "But there were once Two men lived here for several years Bad men, alone and lost The shelter they built is beyond the spit of land to the north, close to the beach"

"A shelter would be good," Jack said "So, you know all this?"

"I know it all Each breath is history"

"And you read it"

"Well…" Sabine turned back to him, and he saw the reh only in brief flashes" She looked pained, as if talking about her talents was revealing her darkest secrets

"Co out his hand "Help me with the food and water We’ll walk and find this shelter And if you feel like talking as alk, I’d love to know more of your life I want to know all of you"

"Ghost," she said She looked past Jack and out to sea, and over the horizon stor flashed there, so far away that the thunder never arrived

"We beat him," Jack said "We won"

He felt a rush of unalloyed joy at their escape, and he swept Sabine into his arood beneath his feet, a ment of success But when he released her and Sabine pulled slightly away so she could look into his eyes, her delight was less intense

"But Ghost is not yet dead," she said softly

"That doesn’t ht not be dead, but he’s many miles away"

"And we are trapped on an island with a holed boat"

Jack looked around again There were fruit trees growing close to the strea down the beach Birds flitted from tree to tree There would be fish, and farther inland perhaps small mammals inhabited soraphy Even with violence still playing across the horizon, this place ht well be paradise

"Let’s find that shelter," he said

As they started walking, Sabine told him why she was a mystery to herself

"I remember the Great Boston Fire of seventy-two I watched don burn, and even though I brought rain, it was only a light autuainst such flames I saw a man I cared about die that day--he was not the first, and will not be the last"

They alking along the gently curving beach, ai for where a shoulder of land thrust out into the sea Jack hoped they could clio too far inland, but he was not troubled He enjoyed hearing Sabine’s voice, unconcerned at being overheard and unworried about whether Ghost would like what she was saying Her voice sounded different, and perhaps the difference was that she was finally free

As they started walking, Sabine told him why she was athe Lower Canada Rebellion I was looking for a e of my history, but I never found hi the Colonials burning down three buildings where they thought rebels were hiding, only to find that they had fled the night before They’d left their fa them to be safe The screao, Jack thought, but he did not speak She had already told him that she was old--ancient, she had said--and he wondered howat her; beautiful hair, radiant skin So that despite her age and sad wisdom, her heart remained youthful as well

They left the beach and headed into the jungle, seeking a safe route over the ridge of land Giant fronds hung fro orchids spotted trunks and grew froher inland

"In the mid-seventeen hundreds I spent a lot of time in Europe I worked for some tieological es fascinated ht perhaps they could answer so like e

"I had returned to Ah the Jamestown settle away the shock, heart thunificance of what she claimed And yet be believed her without a shadow of doubt She had no reason to lie, and he felt the pain that excavating these meht passing between heavy,leaves dappled her skin "I have much more to tell," she said "Earlier memories are not so clear, and it’s difficult forher eyes, and Jack went to her, fearing her ill

"Sabine?" He held her arain, she was in control, cals She stared only at Jack

"How can you claim to love a creature such as me?" she asked, and Jack felt his stomach sink in despair and syeness? Lesya had been aware of her abilities, but mad at the saht of her years ," Jack said "My love for you is a fact And if you truly believe yourself a creature, then I aainst, and an ant ran across his finger "An ant I arub was exposed "Or a grub, born, living, and dying in the dark Because you are a fine, proud creature co "Proud once, perhaps But I’m too old for that now"

"You’re not old at all" He thought of what he’d felt when he had first set eyes upon her, and all that he had seen of her since "In ht of experience in her eyes, perhaps, but stillSabine"

"Oh, Jack It’s you who are so young" With that, Sabine turned and started up the slope, heading for the low ridge from where they would stare down into the next small bay And each step seemed to take her further back into the past

"I met Leonardo da Vinci in 1502 An incredible ma in me I scared and fascinated hiht I had found so leaf aside, and water dropped down her back She shivered