Chapter 1

London

"This is so exciting!" The other three girls nodded in unison, and again they started talking – all at the same time, every one of them broaching a different topic, trying to pull Celine's attention to what they wanted to make the topic of their conversation. Celine felt great. Again, she found herself the centre of their combined interest.

Just a few weeks ago, she had used their almost daily meetings to announce her upcoming marriage – back then, she had just known what her father had told her, that it would be a man of a high social status, a good family, and a personal friend of his. Her father had spent more than two hours telling her of her fiancé, trying to persuade her where there was no need to – she had always trusted her father to make the right decisions. And although she didn't even know the man she was supposed to spend the rest of her life with, she was confident. In addition, her father had promised she would get the opportunity to get to know him beforehand, and should she find she could not agree to a marriage, she would be free to break off the engagement.

This very morning, her father had told her that she would leave in two weeks for Port Royal. It would be her first journey leading her out of Britain, and thus she could hardly wait to pass the news to her friends. Which, in fact, were now even more excited than she was herself. Thanks to mother, she mused. The most important lesson you have to learn, the voice of her late mother sounded through her thoughts, is to never loose countenance. Behave like the lady you are, supposed to be and you will be treated as one.

"But isn't it dangerous?" Diane inquired, comfortably leaning back. "I mean, it's a long journey across the ocean. There might be storms, or worse-", she straightened her back again, pursing her lips, half breathing, half whispering the following word," pirates." Caroline clapped her hands together with joy, interrupting the other's giggles. "This is so romantic!" she exclaimed, tipping the narrow silver ring she wore against her glass to make sure she had all the attention.

"Your ship will be destroyed by a storm.", she started. The other three girls fell silent. There was a humorous twitch around the corners of Celine's lips. Sometimes, she thought, these ladies were just unbelievable, and hopelessly unrealistic. How she would miss them, their afternoons spent talking and dreaming, making plans for the future yet to come, or just gossiping. "You will be floating in the water, pushed up and down by the waves, holding on to a single plank, when –"

"- when, all of a sudden, a great ship appears, carried forth by billowing white sails, almost as if hovering over the surface of the water." Sarah continued the tale. "The sailors will send a boat to take you safely aboard the ship, where-"

"- you will be greeted by the captain. However, what you did not know until then, you are now aboard a pirate ship. As awareness hits you,-" Diane passed the imaginary relay on to Caroline, skipping Celine intentionally.

"- this polite, handsome pirate captain will prove himself to be honourable, reassuring you, promising to take you to your destination unhurt. Just when you are about to reach Port Royal, you will realize –" She turned her face to Sarah, who went on.

"- you have fallen helplessly in love with him, just as he has lost his heart to you. But dutiful as you are, you will leave the ship, finally facing your fiancé, determined to forget about the captain, but –"

"- a few days later, after you went to bed, you find a small note on your pillow. It's a note from the captain, saying that he feels unable to keep his distance. It also says that he asks for a decision, and if you should chose him, he would wait for you tomorrow night at the beach. The next evening -. And now, dear, it's your turn. Tell us how the story ends." Diane finished their shared role of narrator. All eyes fixed on Celine, amusement as well as excitement to be found in them. Celine repeatedly touched the tips of both her forefingers to her chin, thinking.

"Well, I guess, the next evening I will secretly pack those things most necessary, as I won't be able to carry much. As soon as it is dark and the personnel is asleep, I will sneak out of the house, down to the beach, to meet him there, to follow him into freedom.", she spread her hands, opening her palms, and closed her eyes, sighing theatrically. Again, they fell silent. There was a certain tension between the four of them. It lasted several moments before they burst into happy, clear laughter.

"You wouldn't!", Sarah managed to force enough air into her lungs to speak.

"Of course I wouldn't!", Celine breathed deeply. "But don't we agree, it has to be allowed to dream. What would become of us if we didn't break out from time to time – mentally.", she protested without seriousness, furrowing her fine brows.

"Now, dear, let's talk in earnest for just one or two seconds. I mean, it can be dangerous, can it not? What did your father say?" Caroline expressed a faint worry. Celine shrugged her shoulders, reaching for her glass.

"He said I had nothing to worry about. So I shall not"

The Caribbean Sea

It had been two years. Three months. 23 days. And Jack kept counting them. He never lost his track of time since that glorious day they had won their everlasting feud against the East India Trading Company. Well, it wasn't just the Company they had sent to the depths of the Caribbean Sea. It was also the rule of the British over these parts of the world's oceans they had broken, or at least driven back. For about half a year after the battle, the pirates had continued to keep together closely, pushing the British marine further out of the Caribbean, breaking up every British brigade group they came across, until His Majesty's marine was reduced to the task of protecting merchant ships. His Majesty soon found he had more important things to do, and thus all that was left of the British marine were a few ships anchoring at Port Royal and those protecting the Company's merchant ships. Merchants not connected with the Company soon started to pay for safe passages, more and more of them even chose Tortuga to sell their goods. It became and still was a good time for all pirates, especially for one certain pirate: Jack Sparrow. The day of the final battle, he had had a very long talk with Hector Barbossa aboard the Black Pearl. Well, it wasn't quite a talk – when they both realized they would never come to an understanding which of them would be the future captain of the ship, they had agreed to let the cards solve the matter. Surrounded by the ship's crew, they had played the whole night long. When finally Jack had won the match, he felt the strong urge to ease Barbossa's loss, so he left the crew to the former Captain of the Undead. Together, they arrived in Tortuga – Barbossa getting a new ship, Jack hiring a new crew, except for his long-time mate (and friend, although he would never speak it out loud) Gibbs, who had asked to stay aboard the Pearl. At first, it had been a little difficult to get the new crew used to his interpretation of being pirates, but it had taken them surprisingly little time to adjust to these periods of sailing here and there, indulging in card games and rum without taking over any ship, while their captain was just watching the sea or locking himself up in his cabin for hours. As Gibbs had once explained, from time to time their Captain needed a few moments to himself, just to come up with the next inconvenient, but ingenious idea. They had even learned to trust that strange compass to lead them exactly to what they desired most – be it rum or something shiny.

Yes, it indeed was quite a good time, Jack pondered, lazily tapping his fingertips against the glass of the bottle of rum on his desk, which was, as always, covered with a thick layer of charts. The sun's warming rays broke through the windows of his cabin at the back of his Pearl, filling the room with soft light. Small waves splashed against the ship. Jack leaned back in his chair, his left hand describing small circles to the rhythm of an imaginary music, his right hand grabbing the bottle, lifting it from the desk.

"To the now and then!" he murmured. A quick glance at his compass assured him that, at this very second, there was nothing else he wanted more than one, two or maybe even three sips from the bottle he was holding, and with a small smile of satisfaction, he brought the bottle to his lips.

Chest after chest, barrel after barrel, the pirates of the Black Pearl carried across loosely tied planks connecting the two ships. Whilst his crew was emptying the hold of the ship, Jack was joggling at the door to the captain's cabin. Much to his displeasure, it just wouldn't open. But if it was locked from the inside, Jack thought, then there got to be someone in there.

"Hey there!", he called through the wood of the massive door, "Open up now or I'll shoot tha lock!"

"Now, Captain,", Gibbs laughing voice sounded behind him, "people always have a character less difficult than a ship. If you can't coax this one out of the cabin, how do you plan ta coax the Pearl out of the next storm, eh?"

"Be gone, Gibbs!" Jack hissed angrily at his loyal mate. But there was no denying the truth Gibbs had told. Determined to get the mysterious someone out of the cabin without using a bullet, he turned to the door again.

About ten minutes, a lot of coaxing talk and the whole amount of Jack's patience later, a single shot echoed over the surface of the ocean. The wood the lock was embedded in slivered, and the door creaked open. Carefully, Jack stuck his nose into the room, surveying the richly appointed cabin. Underneath a heavy desk, a small, skinny boy had pulled his knees up to his chest, shaken to his bones, staring terrified at the pirate. Trembling, the boy pushed himself further under the desk. His big eyes were filled with upcoming tears and fright. Jack couldn't avoid returning the boy's staring rather surprised – he had expected a much more capable opponent, even had prepared to be confronted with the muzzle of a gun. Which would have been much less alarming than being forced to realize this crying mess had bested his staying power. "Bugger.", he finally broke the silence. This was a defeat he never would get rid of – nor would his men ever get tired of spreading its tale, which would be then, of course, not utterly true, in fact, it wouldn't even be almost true. They would be making such a great deal of it, he knew that, adding something here and there, until they had painted a whole different picture of what had really happened, and very soon all Caribbean pirates (and perhaps even all the others, too) would know that he, Captain Jack Sparrow, had lost first a verbal battle and then a terrible swordfight against a four-year-old boy. The Kraken only knows, Jack pondered, if it won't be a little girl by then, or her puppet. The vision of his own scimitar clashing against a much smaller one guided by the porcelain hand of a golden-haired puppet in a rose silk dress triggered his decision. He just wouldn't let them set foot on land as long as they would remember this episode. With enough rum and some nice storms giving their brains a good shake, he would perhaps get out of this without any loss.

Determined, he turned away from the door.