Chapter ONE - Weebly

Rod. Once more he knew that he risked alerting the
conjurer to his whereabouts, and if Derne was Jennifer
Berson’s killer, the merchant would have no trouble
seeing through Ethan’s spell. But he would deal with
that when the time came. The casting would at least
allow him to get past the guards at the base of Derne’s
Wharf, and whatever others the merchant had
positioned between the street and the warehouse where
he had his office.
As Ethan walked, he took care to tread softly. This
was easy enough on the cobblestones of Boston’s
streets, but when Ethan reached Derne’s Wharf, it
became far more difficult. Like most of Boston’s
wharves, this one was made of fill: solid refuse from
shops and homes piled into wooden cribs and covered
over with a blend of dirt and sand, of crushed seashells
and rock. There wasn’t a man alive who could walk on
fill without leaving an imprint with every step. Even after
he slipped past the first guards onto the wharf, he had
to creep along its edge, constantly watching for anyone
who might come too close. Late in the day, he might
have been able to reach Derne’s office quickly, but in