The Devil and the Dark Water

Haan takes Arent back to his cabin. The two have known each other since Arent’s childhood, when Arent was sent to live with his grandfather, whose land borders Haan’s. Arent asks him about Sammy’s arrest, but Haan refuses to tell him why Sammy was arrested. He explains that the less Arent knows, the better it will be for him, as his ignorance will save him from being accused of helping Sammy.

Arent then points out that the ship is in danger and tells Haan of the symbol on the sails. Haan asks Arent if he remembers his childhood after his father disappeared.

When Arent returned to his village, most of the village assumed he had done something to his father. In response, without knowing why, he painted a copy of the scar on his hand on the door of one of the villagers’ homes. The act caused the village to turn on the man, leading Arent to do the same on more doors, sowing chaos. Eventually, the village formed a mob and killed a poor man, Old Tom, to stop the symbols from appearing. After that, the symbols did stop, but Arent’s mother recognized that the scar on Arent matched the symbols, and she sent him away to live with his grandfather.

Haan tells Arent that after he left the village, the symbol started appearing across the Provinces, causing disaster wherever it appeared. A group of witchfinders began hunting the symbol, insisting that it was the work of a devil named Old Tom.

Haan believes that Old Tom is on the ship and requests Arent’s help in finding him. He tells Arent that he met Creesjie through the last witchfinder, as she was the witchfinder’s husband. Although Arent insists that he cannot do what Sammy does and that Sammy should be the one helping with the investigation, Haan refuses to free him and implores Arent to help.

Arent reluctantly agrees to help. He tries to persuade Haan to move Sammy to a cabin or allow him to walk about the ship, but Haan only agrees to let Arent walk with Sammy at midnight.

Vos escorts Arent to the gunpowder stores, and they are let in by a constable with one arm. Arent sees the Folly and remembers opening it with Sammy: Inside is a brass globe surrounded by celestial bodies.

Arent questions the constable about the storeroom. He tells him that they believe the ship is in danger and thinks this would be the easiest way to sink it. The constable informs them that the room is surrounded by bread and tin – designed to stop any explosion—so sparking the gunpowder would do little damage. When Arent pushes him on how he would sink the ship, the constable admits that the crew is only held together because of Captain Crauwels; without him, the ship would “burn.”

On the deck, Sara and Lia look back at Batavia, as Creesjie approaches them about the symbol. She tells Sara about her husband Pieter’s work with the witchfinders. She says that Old Tom would corrupt people by promising them wealth in exchange for “favors”—which matches what they heard about Bosey.

The two are joined by Arent and Vos. The women fill them in on what they know of Bosey. Arent asks for more information about Pieter and Old Tom. Creesjie reveals that Pieter “confronted it directly […] four years ago” when he insisted they leave Amsterdam for Lille because “Old Tom had found him” (103). He died two days after they arrived in Lille. She now believes Old Tom has boarded the ship seeking revenge on her.

At nightfall on the first day, Arent goes to talk with Larme for more information about Bosey. However, Larme is brusque and dismissive, refusing to talk.

Captain Crauwels orders the sails closed and the anchor dropped, ending the first day of sailing. As he stands on the ship watching the crew ready the shift for the night, he thinks of how his duty to the sailors is done, but now he must entertain the nobles at dinner.

After dinner that evening, Sara pretends she has a headache so she can sit alone and watch the other guests. She sees Crauwels trying to impress the nobles while Kers sits to the side watching, and Vos obsessively watches Creesjie. She notes that Viscountess Dalvhain—a wealthy woman no one has ever met except the captain and whose lineage no one knows—is absent and rumored to be sick. Creesjie interrupts Sara’s thoughts to insist that she go find Arent, as she is more interested in the mystery than the party.

Sara finds Arent on the quarterdeck of the ship playing the fiddle while Drecht sings, with empty jugs of wine next to them. The three discuss the mystery. Drecht is adamant that the symbol likely came from a member of the crew who wanted to cause chaos; to him, evil is found within men, and there is no need for the devil with what men are capable of.

Sara asks Arent why he was not at dinner, and he promises to come the next day since she wants him to, causing her to blush. She changes the subject by giving Arent a sleeping draught for Sammy.

After sitting together for a while, Arent takes Sara back to her cabin. She enters alone and screams when she sees the face of Bosey, wrapped in bloody bandages, in the porthole of her room.

The captain and van Schooten come to Sara’s cabin. They tell her that no one could have accessed her porthole, and she becomes angry that they don’t believe her. They ask her to remain quiet about what she saw to avoid panicking the crew. Sara’s maid, Dorothea, angrily demands that they leave.

Art arrives and tells Sara he found nothing on the deck, but assures her that he believes her. He gives her a dagger to protect herself.

Arent goes to see Sammy in his cell. On the way, he comes across Wyck beating Henri for talking to Sara. Arent tries to intervene but is threatened by Wyck and several other crewmen. When Wyck offers to let Henri go with Arent, Henri refuses—choosing his loyalty to Wyck.

When Arent opens Sammy’s cell, he is overwhelmed by the smell of vomit and excrement. Sammy is dirty, pale, and thin, and he expresses his surprise at Arent coming back for him—he expected to be down there forever.

On the deck, Sammy asks Arent how he got in Haan’s favor. Arent tells Sammy about his past, admitting that his grandfather is Casper van den Berg, a member of one of the wealthiest families in the Provinces and part of the Gentlemen 17, who control the United East India Company. Surprised, Sammy asks why Arent would choose this life. Arent tells him simply that it is his choice. Privately, he thinks about how wealth became the “master” of his family, and he decided instead to seek “honor” (136).

Arent briefs Sammy on everything that has happened. Sammy believes that Haan, knowing everyone’s past, brought Creesjie and Arent together intentionally. Arent recounts his conversation with the constable, who suggested using another ship to sink the Saardam. At that, Sammy points out to sea: Seven ships left for Amsterdam, but there are now eight lanterns.

Arent gets Crauwels and Larme to the deck to see the Eighth Lantern. Crauwels instructs Larme to keep an eye on it but keep it quiet from the crew to avoid panic. Larme begins to leave but stops, finding Isabel hidden in the dark. He accuses her of eavesdropping but sends her on her way.

A few hours before dawn, the light of the eighth ship goes out. Crauwels calls the crew to their battle stations, as gunpowder is rolled out and the cannons are readied. However, as day breaks, the lookout shouts that the ship has disappeared.

The next morning, Sara, Lia, and Dorothea go to the deck for Kers’s sermon. He seems stronger and more alive while preaching, despite his normally frail state.

After the sermon, Sara asks Kers about devils, and he is initially dismissive, claiming to know nothing about Old Tom. However, after Creesjie tells him that her husband was Pieter, Kers becomes excited, telling them that he was friends with Pieter and needs to speak with them privately. Sara tries to get Arent, but Kers insists that he will only speak of these matters with Sara and Creesjie.

Kers tells them that he received a summons from Pieter two years ago, asking him to come to Batavia to help him fight Old Tom. Creesjie interrupts, saying that they were in Lille and that her husband died four years ago, but Kers insists that the summons was from Pieter.

Kers pulls out a large book which he refers to as a daemonologica—a collection of drawings and notes about every devil the witchfinders have been fighting. He turns to the page he had open on the deck with Isabel. He tells the women that the eye symbol represents Old Tom, but that this devil has many forms. He believes it is possessing one of the passengers of the ship.

When Isabel returns with the letter, Creesjie claims that the seal is Pieter’s, but the handwriting is not. Kers, as the last living witchfinder, is shaken that someone knows his past and lured him onto the boat.

He shows them pictures of Old Tom and the things it has done. He explains that there are always three “unholy” miracles performed to mark the presence of Old Tom. Then, once it has made itself known, it allows people to bargain with it. After the third miracle, those who have come under its control kill everyone who chose to resist it.