Compulsion (41 page)

Barrie wondered if she’d ever have the courage to read her mother’s letters. For all she had lost that night, that week, Watson’s Landing had given her back a family. The Fire Carrier had saved her life.

She had known since the moment she’d stepped out of the cab and touched the bricks on the gatepost that she had found where she was supposed to be. But there was a difference between being stuck and choosing to stay. Between being found and finding yourself.

Watson’s Landing had bound her without giving her a choice. In the tunnel today she had chosen. She had chosen in the river, and she was choosing again. Now all she had to do was find a way to make Eight choose.

“We should start a restaurant,” she said to Pru. “Out here, I mean.” She wasn’t sure where the words came from, but they felt right. It shocked her. Not only did she want to stay, but she was willing to invite strangers in. Turning to Pru, she gestured down at the garden. “I can picture it, can’t you? People sitting out under the fairy lights, watching the water and the fireflies. We could float candles on the river to set the water on fire. Play romantic music. Put out dessert stations and let people stroll along the paths so it feels like they’ve been invited here as guests.”

“Would people pay for that?” Pru looked at the garden with her eyes wide, as if she were seeing it too. “Yes, I think
they would. We could catch our own shrimp and fish, dig oysters. We already have pecans, strawberries, and vegetables.”

“Eight would always know what people wanted. When he wasn’t off playing baseball.”

Pru’s smile dimmed a little, and she folded her hands together, her expression guarded. “What about art school, sugar?”

“I’ll go someday, but not yet.” Barrie leaned out over the balcony railing to take it all in: the landscape of her heart, and the spirits and the family she had chosen all around her. She stood a moment breathing in the silence. “Right now,” she said, “I can’t think of anywhere else I’d rather be.”

Pru slid her arm around Barrie’s waist and stood beside her. “Sugar, that’s the whole point of being home.”

Stay tuned for
Persuasion
, the next book in the Heirs of Watson Island series, coming Fall 2015!

I owe boundless gratitude to so many.

To Doug, who believed this story would be the one, and who by example makes me want to work harder and be a better person every day.

To Hailey, whose perseverance and sheer grit inspire me, and who came running at one in the morning to tell me she had finished a book I
had
to read, kicking off our shared exploration of YA literature.

To Ryan, who has loved and hoarded books since he first used them to climb out of his crib, and who reminds me how important it is to try the things that scare me.

To my parents, who taught me the power of hope, and whose courageous journey led to a life filled with freedom, books, and intellectual curiosity.

To Kent Wolf, my stellar agent, who championed the book and made it more pyrotechnic than I could ever have made it on my own, and who continues to save me from myself all too frequently.

To Amanda Panitch, whose leap of faith started Barrie on her journey, and the team at LMQ, whose fabulousness knows no bounds.

To Annette Pollert, who
got
Barrie, Eight, Cassie, Pru, Mark, Lula, Julia, and even Mrs. Price more than I could ever have hoped, who wanted to call Barrie on the missing cell phone, who turned this first book into a series, and who coaxed more out of me than I believed I had.

To Sara Sargent, who never faltered no matter what I threw at her, and whose unfailing wisdom and patience are beyond price. I’m looking forward to the rest of the journey together.

To Bara MacNeill, who copyedited the manuscript and made me look better than I deserve.

To Patrick Price, who shepherded Barrie off on a solid start, and to Carolyn Swerdloff, Mara Anastas, Mary Marotta, Lucille Rettino, Christina Pecorale, Paul Crichton, Anna McKean, Hayley Gonnason, Emma Sector, Michelle Leo, Anthony Parisi, Katy Hershberger, Candace Greene, Katherine Devendorf, Sara Berko, Nicole Ellul, and the editorial, art, marketing, publicity, sales, and rights teams—all the magicians at Simon Pulse—who took in a dingy manuscript and made it a shiny book.

To Regina Flath, who took the time to read
Compulsion
, and whose design and cover created a wonderful invitation for the reader.

To Andrew Agha, whose patience and enthusiasm for answering my zillions of archaeological questions have been a gift. All mistakes (and liberties) are entirely my own fault.

To Jan, who has been my rock and best cheerleader, not to mention my fellow night owl, who does the work of ten mere mortals, and without whom this book and I would be a red-hot mess.

To Susan, whose words gave me strength when I had almost given up, whose insight and editorial wisdom are infinite, and whose heart is a bottomless well of kindness.

To Cici and Carol, the strongest, bravest, most kick-ass women I could ever hope to laugh with, who have been with me through every step, from the birth of this story and before.

To Kimberley, my lately discovered soul sister and fellow PID, who is quite literally a saint.

To Shannon, who has blazed trails and offered guidance that has kept me from making countless mistakes.

To Kari Stuart, Lorin Oberweger, Brenda Windberg, and Emma Dryden, whose expert advice and kindness have been instrumental, and to my beyond fabulous CPs and early readers: Lisa, Clara, Marco, Mariana, Chris, Vivien, Carolyn, Erin, and my beautiful (inside and out) sister, Alena, who have all made it possible for dreams to come true.

To my wonderful AYAP partners, YASI sisters, blogging friends, and fellow wanderers on what was once a solitary road, whose generosity, support, and enthusiasm have been the kick to my butt every morning.

To the authors whose books have given me human
connection, growth, hope, and joy throughout the years. Thank you especially to Cynthia Leitich Smith for igniting my daughter’s love of reading and for rekindling my goal of writing. Thanks also to Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl for reminding me how much I adore Southern Gothics.

To every librarian, bookseller, reviewer, and book blogger who encourages reading and who provides a foundation for those of us who write.

Last, and definitely foremost, to all the readers who bring books into their hearts and breathe life into them with the turn of every page.

Thank you, everyone, for your trust and faith and kindness.

This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people,

or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places,

and events are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

SIMON PULSE

An imprint of Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing Division

1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020

www.SimonandSchuster.com

First Simon Pulse hardcover edition October 2014

Text copyright © 2014 by Martina Boone

Jacket photograph copyright © 2014 by Oleg Oprisco/Trevillion Images

All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form.

SIMON PULSE and colophon are registered trademarks of Simon & Schuster, Inc.

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.

Jacket design by Regina Flath

Interior design by Hilary Zarycky

The text of this book was set in Granjon.

Full CIP data is available from the Library of Congress.

ISBN 978-1-4814-1122-6 (hc)

ISBN 978-1-4814-1124-0 (eBook)

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Twenty

Chapter Twenty-One

Chapter Twenty-Two

Chapter Twenty-Three

Chapter Twenty-Four

Chapter Twenty-Five

Chapter Twenty-Six

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Chapter Thirty

Chapter Thirty-One

Chapter Thirty-Two

Chapter Thirty-Three

Acknowledgments

About Martina Boone