Chapter 1

Many of you know the tale of Captain Jack Sparrow, the greatest pirate ever to sail the seas. Of his adventures with the blacksmith, Will Turner and the beautiful, Elizabeth Swan. Now, this legend has been passed down for decades. Most of it is true. Only, the storytellers forgot one tiny little detail… me. My name is Annalee Swan: The youngest daughter of Governor Swan of Port Royal, the little sister of Elizabeth Swan and the key to the true story. The story that will change the story. Here is the truth.

As I hear the laughter grow louder from my hiding spot, under a wagon, I realize what a fool I had been. Sneaking out from under Father's nose was one thing; following the cheers of carousers was another.

"Hey! I've found her!" A man kneels down beside me, his mouth turned up in a gruesome smirk. He is soon joined by his other friend who keeps trying to "lure" me out with kissing sounds and whistles.

I cram myself as far away from them as possible, the stench of the recently consumed alcohol breezes by forcing me to swallow back my dinner.

I wait, praying that the men would soon leave. They don't but I see my chance of escape when the men, losing their balance, fall over each other.

Scurrying out from under the wagon, I dart into a nearby alley. Finding no one following me, I sneak back and look around the corner and sigh with relief. The men are still on the ground, passed out.

Afraid of encountering more drunkards, I make my way towards the closest haven, the fort, to wait until all the men keel over.

Hearing voices behind me, I panic. I forgot to take in account the other four drunkards.

I dive into an alcove just as the men pass by. I peer out and just manage to see the men turn left at the next crossroad, stumbling the entire way. I sigh, relieved. That road leads all the way back to the square. It is unlikely that they would backtrack to the fort.

I continue to follow the road until I reach a small entrance beside the gate to the fort, marked "Servants". I shake the handle finding it locked. Thankfully, before leaving the house, I managed to sneak a servant's key off of the special hook in the kitchen where all the extra keys are kept. I take the key out of my pocket and just as I am about to fit it in the lock, the two men that had been walking towards the square appear around the corner. I jump and let out a yelp.

Where did they come from?

They race towards me and I frantically unlock the door and rush in at the last second. I quickly lock the door behind me and lean on it to catch my breath.

"What do you think you're doing?" I jump at the voice and turn around, my fists clenched and ready.

I chuckle nervously and sigh with relief at the familiar face.

"Captain Norrington, it's you. Please, don't frighten me like that again."

"Annalee, what do you think you're doing, being out in the town this late at night? You could be seriously injured with those drunkards around. Besides, it isn't proper."

"It's Anna," I correct him. "And I… I needed fresh air."

"Of course you did." He responds, sounding slightly sarcastic, "And of course the balcony was out of the question."

I ignore the comment, unable to think of a retort.

I unlock and open the door a few inches, seeing no one around. I turn back towards the Captain and curtsy.

"Thank you, Captain Norrington. It was a pleasure to chat with you," I tell him hoping he hears the playful sarcasm dripping off my tongue, "I will be on my way now."

He gives me an amused look, noticing my little attitude. "Absolutely not; I will send some guards to escort you just in case those ruffians appear again."

"I couldn't accept this offer. Your men are asleep. I would hate for them to wake up for such a petty reason." I tell him, keeping up the charade of extreme respect, making it obvious that respect is the least on my mind.

"Nonsense, I will only be a minute. Please stay where you are." He says walking away.

"Captain Norrington," I call, and he turns back to me.

"Yes, Annalee."

"Father, doesn't need to know about this. It isn't a big deal." I tell him with a small smile, dropping both the act of respect and sarcasm.

"About what?" He responds looking completely innocent. Then, returning my smile, he heads back towards the soldier barracks. When he is out of sight, I open the door, cringing when it squeaks loudly.

Thankfully, the captain does not reappear and I slip out. I waste no time getting on the road to home, only hiding once as a drunken man stumbles around trying to find his way home.

I quickly slip through the gates leading to my home, thankful that I had left them slightly open. Now, I wouldn't have to grow through the agony of cringing every time they creaked, as I did earlier.

As I reach the servants kitchen entrance of our manor, I slip the sack off my back. Thankfully, my cape and the darkness had concealed it from Captain Norrington.

I place my sack under a nearby bush, making sure it is well hidden. I then quietly open the door leading to the kitchen.

I slowly creep through the kitchen and into the dining hallway. After taking a few steps down the hallway, I stub my toe against a small stand, below a mirror.

You would think that after living around half my life in a house, I would know where everything was.

I quickly walked toward the entrance where the stairs where located, walking once into another small table and once into a wall, telling myself over and over again to take the pain and that a candle was out of the question. Anyone awake would probably be curious as to why a candle was floating around in mid-air.

I slowly made my way up the mahogany steps, stopping to hear if anyone was awake every time they squeaked.

I quickly make my way to the chamber I share with Elizabeth, my older sister. When I reach the door, I place my ear against the door. After a few moments of complete silence, I quietly let myself in. I start taking off my cape when a candle is lit.

"I see you've been out again." Lizzie says nonchalantly.

I groan, angry with myself for forgetting how silent she can be when she wants. When we were younger, she would always win the hide and seek games, sometimes staying hidden for hours on end.

"You do realize that you could have been injured."

"Lizzie," I say turning to her, "I am not a child anymore. I can take care of myself. I don't need you mothering me."

"Anna," She says, her voice changing from accusing to pleading, "When will you stop sneaking out? Don't tell me this is the first time you do. I've noticed your disappearance before. I just hoped you would come to your senses and stop. I guess I was wrong."

She sighs, and I feel slightly bad for disappointing her. "What do you even do so late at night? Father will find out soon and then you'll have no freedom whatsoever. "

"Father will not find out." I lay down on my bed, disregarding the fact that I am still fully dressed. "Unless you tell him."

Lizzie joins me on the bed and makes me face her. "Anna, I know you. You wouldn't just wander around town for the fun of it. And you wouldn't do anything stupid or dangerous. If it isn't anything wrong, why can't you tell me?"

I sigh. What I am doing isn't wrong in my eyes but Father would be horrified if he knew. I don't know how Lizzie will take it but I can't keep the secret and her trust.

"Lizzie, you know the money that Father gives us once a week?"

She nods once, curiosity burning in her eyes, and I continue.

"Well, once a week, for the past couple months, I have been taking the money to a man that lives in a little cave a ways down the beach. He used to be, um," Should I tell her?"Well, he used to be a pirate."

Lizzie's eyes grow at this information. Father detests pirates and wouldn't mind seeing all of them hanged. He has tried over the years to instill this dislike into us but so far it hasn't worked except for the fact that Lizzie is partially frightened of them

I continue, "Every week I give him the money and a bit of food in exchange for this." I hold up a book.

"You give him all that money and food for that small thing?"

"Well, no. I give him the money for the book but I give him food because he is really nice."

Lizzie gives me a shocked look.

"Lizzie! How dare you even think that?" I slap her on the arm. "I haven't done anything with him. He's older than father for crying out loud!"

Lizzie gives a little chuckle and sits beside me on my bed.

"What is so amazing about these books?"

I just hand the book to her.

"Anna, pirates? Really?" She says, sounding a little disappointed in me. "Making deals with a pirate behind Father's back is bad enough. Do you really have to read about them too? How many of these do you have anyways?"

I quickly climb onto my night table and take a small box from the top of my four poster bed. I sit back down beside Elizabeth and open the wooden box, revealing almost two dozen books.

Lizzie just sits silently before reaching into the box and taking out a small book titled "To Love a Pirate."

"Um, Lizzie," I start.

"Mm-hmm?" She says, slowly flipping through a few pages of the book.

"Please don't tell Father about the pirate. I can probably deal with being unable to visit him or reading the books, but I wouldn't be able to live with myself if Father found out and had the old pirate hanged."

Lizzie looks up from the book and gives a quick one armed hug.

"Don't worry," She reassures me, "I won't tell Father about the pirate. I might even let the books slide if you do me a favor."

I smile at her, relieved, "I'll do anything! Well, almost anything. I won't do things that are disgusting or crazy or dangerous. Actually, I'd probably do anything in those categories. At least don't make me do anything super girly, or proper, or ladylike. I have a couple weeks left of freedom before my coming out party. I mean, these are the last few days before I will start attending parties, and luncheons and stuff and I don't want to spend them doing something I probably will be doing for the rest of my life. The fun time of life is soon over and I don't want to waste my time doing things that are—"

"Anna." Lizzie says sharply, pulling me out of my rambling.

"Yes?" I look at her expectantly.

"—if you do me a favor." She repeats, "The favor is letting me read some of these stories."

"Oh." I say, an embarrassed grin slowly taking form on my face. Sometimes I just can't stop the rambling.

"Of course." I tell her and she gives me a smile before returning to her side of the room "To Love a Pirate".

She gets into her bed and lights the candle on her night table. She re-opens the book and I can tell that she is already sucked into the fabulous adventure of pirates and damsel's in distress and treasure.

"Thank you." I whisper to her.

After a small "Mm-hmm" from Elizabeth, I quickly change into my nightgown and get under my covers. Turning away from the light, I close my eyes and enter my adventure filled dreams of pirates and treasures.