Compass on Person

Her eyes sharpened. “About this compass, you mentioned…what, exactly, does it do?”

Jack stood up, turned his back, and extracted it. “I got it from an Obeah woman,” he said, “when I was just a lad, younger even than Chamba. Tia Dalma has powers I never heard of any other Obeah woman having. I believe this will help us find your brother, if he’s still alive.”

“Do not say ‘if,’ Jack.” Her voice was fierce.

“Very well,” Jack said. “Scratch the ‘if.’ This should show us where your brother is.” He looked at her. “Just a suggestion…you might want to remove your shawl. Just in case one kind of powerful magic might somehow affect another type. Cancel each other out, so to speak.”

She nodded, then slipped off her shawl and tossed it across the table.

Jack watched her, wondering if he’d ever become accustomed to that amazing transformation. She was so very lovely…

He sat back down on the table, reminding himself to stick to the matter at hand. “Now,” he instructed, “I want you to think about your brother. Concentrate on his face, and how much you want to find him. Don’t think about anything else, love…savvy?”

She closed her eyes and held out her hands. “Yes,” she said, “I understand. I have him in my mind.”

Jack leaned forward and gently placed Tia Dalma’s compass into her cupped hands. Ayisha jerked violently, nearly dropping it, and her eyes flew open. She cried out, in her own language, a sharp exclamation that might have been a curse.

“What happened?” Jack said, putting his cupped hands below hers, in case she dropped his compass.

Ayisha was staring down at the compass in awe. Reverently, she stroked one finger along its casing. “This is…an extraordinary thing of power,” she said.

“I know.”

After a few moments of staring down at the compass, gently stroking it, as though it were alive, she sighed. “I’m going to try again.”

Jack watched tensely as she closed her eyes. Her lips moved, soundlessly repeating one word—her brother’s name.

The needle of Tia Dalma’s compass swung, and then settled into place. Jack craned his neck to see its face. The needle was pointing almost due West.

“If this compass is any indication,” Jack said, quietly, “your brother is alive, Ayisha.”

Slowly she opened her eyes and looked down, then back up. Sudden tears flooded her eyes, but she didn’t give way, only leaned forward and handed the compass back to Jack.

***

The Price of Freedom, Chapter 11