CHAPTER ONE
A NEW BEGINNING
Elizabeth Turner stared out the window at the beautiful day. The sun was high in the sky, seagulls called to each other and in the bay, she could hear the sailors singing merry sea chanteys as they unloaded the cargo from their ships. Her husband, Will, the blacksmith, had already left for his shop, but not before saying goodbye to both her and their daughter, Samantha. At the moment, Samantha was busy at the table with her studies as her mother washed the breakfast dishes.
"Mother, may I go out to the fort now. I've finished."
"Everything?" Elizabeth asked.
"Yes, see?" Samantha held up her paper and Elizabeth looked it over. "Can I go now? Please?"
"Yes, you may. But be careful and don't get dirty. It's time you started acting like a lady." Elizabeth said.
"Fine." Samantha said.
"And be home for lunch!" Elizabeth called after her.
"Yes Mother!" Samantha called over her shoulder on her way out the door. Elizabeth smiled at her daughter and returned to the dishes.
Samantha was a sixteen year old tom-boy. She would much rather be outside than in, she was always at the docks, and she had a fascination with pirates. Mostly because of the stories her father told her about his friend, Jack Sparrow, captain of the Black Pearl, a mythical pirate ship that few had ever seen. Samantha spent hours at the stony overlook at Fort Charles, the fort in Port Royal, watching for the magical ship that had at one time been crewed by cursed sailors.
Samantha was the spitting image of her mother. She had long, brown curls. She was tall and lean, and brave. She enjoyed helping her father in his shop and had learned at an early age how to sword fight with the swords Will made. After Will closed up at night, they would walk home together, and after supper, they would sit by the fireplace and he would re-tell the tales of the Black Pearl as Elizabeth sat in her rocking chair listening.
Today was no different. On her way to her father's shop, Samantha stopped at the market to look at all the imported trinkets. Something gold caught her eye and she picked it up off of the table to take a closer look. It was an Aztec gold medallion on a weathered gold chain. Within a split second, a ghastly white hand wrapped around her wrist. She screamed and looked up.
"Pirate gold! Two shillings Lass." the man said. Samantha reached for her money and paid him, then ran off to show her new trinket to her father.
