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asked. “Show some manners.” With that, she returned to her sprawled position.
    “I see why she kept it to herself,” Magpie said.
    “Indeed,” Click said. “Not a lot of help there.”
    “Words are never of good use,” Jax said. “Only action will get us inside. Boom.”

    Rose was inclined to agree with her. In fact, almost every head nodded in agreement. The young Gabriella looked like she felt differently on the matter. She stroked her chin, tilting her head from side to side while she eyed the door.
    “Something’s missing,” she said.
    “Yeah,” Magpie agreed with a nod. “Like a handle.”
    The crew chuckled.
    “No,” Gabriella said. “I mean here.” She pointed to the face of the beast and the marble slab beneath. “Something was between the two. In this space.”
    “I’ve been giving that some thought,” Jayne said. “I think that’s where the opening mechanism was. I hypothesize that Loco dismantled it when he fled the island.”
    Rose sighed. She returned to her place in front of Click. “When were you planning on sharing this hypothesis with the rest of us?” She motioned to her shoulders and the native returned to kneading them.
    Jayne rolled her eyes. “I thought I just did.”
    Rose bit her tongue. This was becoming tiresome.
    Gabriella shook her head as she said, “No, I don’t think that’s it.” She dropped to her knees.
    “Guppy?” Rose asked.
    Gabriella ignored her. Instead, she ran her hands through the thick wildlife at the base of the door. “Ah ha!” She stood again, holding out a large, rusty metal ring.
    “What is it?” Rose asked, joining Gabriella’s side.
    “A knocker,” the young girl said.
    “You’re joking,” Jayne said, and then laughed. “As if it would be that simple.”
    Gabriella shrugged. She turned back to the door, held the ring aloft and pushed it into the demon’s mouth. The rung snapped into place with a loud click. Gabriella looked over her shoulder, past Rose, to smile at the tinker.
    “Tell me this is just a joke,” Jayne begged.
    Gabriella lifted the ring. She brought it down once, twice, three times against the marble pad.
    Each time the ring connected with the marble, a hollow, ominous knock echoed through the jungle.
    Rose held her breath, suspecting she wasn’t the only one, and waited. And waited. And waited.
    After a full thirty seconds of counting heartbeats while exchanging furtive glances, the crew heaved a simultaneous, disappointed sigh.
    “I told you so,” Jayne said.
    No sooner had the tinker spoken than a great rumble rolled from the door. The trees shook.
    The ground shivered. Rose grabbed a surprised Gabriella by the shoulders, lurching away from the door. Vines snapped. Tree roots shattered. A wave of birds crested across the clearing in search of safer climes.
    When the shuddering and shaking was over, the door stood wide open.
    “A knock!” Jayne shouted. “Why would he set it up to open with just a knock?”

    “You have to admit, it was a very polite knock.”
    Every woman turned to Click, because the voice they just heard was distinctly male.
    Although it sounded like the kind of lighthearted observation the native would make, it lacked his strange accent.
    “Wasn’t me, loves,” Click said, answering their unspoken question.
    They each turned back to the open maw.
    “Please, come in,” the stranger said.

Chapter 4
    Loyalty and Liberty
    In which we meet our host, and make an unexpected friend.
    Within moments of the mysterious voice beckoning them inside, Jax and Magpie whipped out a pair of matching sabers. The captain suddenly sported a blunderbuss of impressive size, while her cabin boy bore a dagger. Jayne held aloft a small weapon that was obviously her own design—
    a foot long tube of metal covered in wires and cogs with a barrel full of sharp shards of scrap metal.
    It took a moment for Gabriella to realize that she was the only one empty handed.
    The crew of the Widow fell into an arc