Word of safety and a place to call home

Ling Chu turned to Titch, who was registering the weapons beside her. "This one goes to the Skeletons squad."

Titch froze for a moment, then looked at the six-barreled rotary gun on the table. The soul fire in his eye sockets brightened noticeably.

He had been a gunman in life, and one glance told him how much firepower this thing packed.

"Find the best shot among the Skeletons and have them use it from now on. Test-fire it first. If the recoil is too strong, we'll figure out how to add a gun mount."

Titch immediately spread his jaw in a grin. "Don't worry. Leave it to me."

He lifted the machine gun in both hands. The heavy weapon weighed down his skeletal frame, making for a rather incongruous sight.

Ling Chu rubbed her chin. Why did it feel like... the Skeletons were about to evolve from the age of cold steel straight into the age of heavy firepower?

Still, used properly, this gun would make a formidable mobile firing platform.

By the time they had nearly finished taking stock of the weapons and supplies, Ivy and the kitchen assistants from the Back Kitchen had also been brought aboard the Ghost Ship.

Before Ling Chu and the others left the kitchen, they had repeatedly warned Ivy not to come out, no matter what happened outside or what noises she heard.

So however fierce the fighting outside became, they stayed huddled in the storeroom at the very back of the kitchen, never even opening the door.

Later, the gunfire grew fainter. Then even the cannon fire stopped. When everything outside fell silent, they became more frightened instead.

None of them knew which side had won.

If Lucas had won and discovered that Ling Chu had slipped aboard by delivering vegetables to