Revenge (Book 3 in the Rise Trilogy)

A Stupid Scavenger, Another Little Piece of Paper, and Some Girl Time

A Stupid Scavenger, Another Little Piece of Paper, and Some Girl Time

"So how is it that you came to meet Haytham, Ziio?"

"Well, he actually rescued me and several other members from my village when we were held captive by the British and later perused me so that I would be able to help him find something only our village can find," Ziio replies casually while she sits behind me and braids my long pale blond and rainbow hair down my back as she talks to Ellen, Prudence, Corrine, and I by the river.

I smile as I take in the view of the Homestead and the people around me. I've needed some girl time now days. There's too many guys around me all the time. God, it can be annoying sometimes. So we sent them away to do some work with Big Dave and Terry and Godfrey around this place. It could use some cleaning up. The girls and I are having a nice quiet afternoon by the river washing clothes and just talking. It's been so hard on all of us these last few months, I think we all need the peace and each other.

"So what about you, Riley?" Ellen asks looking over at me. "You never told us how you came to meet Connor and come here."

I grin as I look back at the first moment I met Connor in Boston three years ago when he saved my life and thought I was crazy from the start. "We met in Boston when these redcoats thought they could put up a fight against me."

Ziio chuckles behind me. "You two always seem to find trouble when you're together."

I smile as I look at the women around me as they talk with one another and laugh like family. But these people are my family, they took me in.

"Riley!"

I turn my head slightly to not damage the braid Ziio is making but just enough to see Connor walking towards us in his Assassin robes and weapons strapped to his body like we're about to go somewhere.

"What's up, Ponytail?" I ask while looking up at him when he blocks the sun with his big head.

"Gear up," he says down to me. "We are going to a ship graveyard."

I groan just as Ziio is finishing my braid and I can throw my head back and complain. "Why?" I whine. "We got back like yesterday from the fort."

"That was almost a week ago," Connor chuckles.

"Oh," I mumble as the other women giggle around me. I turn around to look at Ziio. "Think you and Haytham can hold down the homestead without us for a few days?"

Ziio smiles at me. "You can count on it."

...

"Ship graveyard's just around the point. Can't miss it," Mister Faulkner says to us as he rows our little long boat towards the cliffs of this abandoned island. "The men say Abel Owens was aboard one of the doomed vessels. It it's true, you'll find what's left of him here. Scavengers love the graveyard! So be on your guard!"

"Aye, aye," I say as I pull up my hood before following a very eager Connor onto the rocky shore.

"If Abel Owens' ship wrecked around here, they must have been looking for something themselves," Connor says to me as I follow him up the steep cliff side. 

"Yeah, but if they found it and didn't get off the island, then we may have a problem," I call up to him.

"I agree," Connor says. "If that is the case, then we will need to be careful."

"When am I not careful." I scoff as Connor is helping me up the ledge of the cliff and I begin walking down the path towards the ships.

"You nearly fell onto the dinner table surrounded by guards in Fort Wolcott," Connor calls to me as he follows.