Rena swore as she stumbled slightly down the gangplank, but luckily, I was there to catch her before she could fall onto the hard cobblestones of Skull Island Harbor. "Hey, watch it. Nikolai said you still need to be careful."

"Thanks, Matt." Rena mumbled, and I stayed close to her as we walked to Captain Avery's office, where the steward of Skull Island himself stood up from his desk to greet us. "Matthew! Rena! I'm glad you two are back! Did you find Egg Foo Yung's piece of the map?"

I shook my head as I sat down in a comfy armchair in front of Captain Avery's desk. "The Armada beat us to it, and Rooke knocked all of my trusted associates for a loop."

"The Supreme General of the Armada? Oh my..." Captain Avery said in surprise, and I noticed Rena wince slightly from pain as she sat down in her seat. "Any luck with Catbeard?"

Captain Avery shook his head. "I fear my efforts to gain Catbeard's piece of the map have run into a snag. While you were away, I sent several of my hearties to get it, but they didn't find hide or whisker of him."

"Did they look in his hideout? The cave carved to look like a monster?" Rena asked, and Captain Avery thought for a moment. "Cave? Why, I... no. I don't think so."

"How could they miss it? It's only the most conspicuous in the whole of Port Regal Skyway! What, did you hire Fin Dorsal again?" I asked, and the guilty look on Captain Avery's face at my last remark proved it, but then his expression shifted to that of indignation. "Well, since you're so familiar with it, I trust you two are the captains for the job."

"We'll have to wait for next morning's wind then. Our crews would mutiny if we left so soon after returning home." I said as I stood up to leave, and Rena followed my lead as we went back home to Nikolai's general store.

XOXOX OXOXO XOXOX OXOXO XOXOX

"So are you guys going to come with us?" I asked Nikolai, but he shook his head as he wiped down his counter, and Emma did likewise as she toyed with the chocolate Pocky stick in her mouth, making it wave around like a wizard's wan.

"It's about time I rejoin my crew aboard the Silver Rain, but I'll see you around, Matt." Emma said as she pushed off the bar, and she surprised me by giving me a peck on the cheek and a mischievous grin that only made her feelings towards me more ambiguous.

As Emma left with a ringing of bells, Nikolai threw the towel over his shoulder. "I've had more than my fair share of excitement during my three years at Ravenwood, and it's about time Lector, my Mander assistant, goes home to Krokotopia. You kids go on ahead."

I neglected to mention that he was three years younger than me, and I held out my hand for him to shake. "Well then, I'll see you around, mate."

XOXOX OXOXO XOXOX OXOXO XOXOX

"On the count of three! One, two, three!" I shouted, and together, my trusted associates and I leapt aboard the Catspaw, Catbeard's pirate ship, and landed with thuds onto the main deck.

"What's this? Looks as if Cap'n Kitty's flown the coop!" Ratbeard said as he looked around the weather decks, and instead his first mate, Mr. Norrington came to greet us. "It's you? Oh, what a relief! Captain Catbeard's in deep trouble and I fear he's none but himself to blame."

"What sort of trouble?" I asked, and Mr. Norrington explained. "We ran out of pickled herring awhile back, and there were no new shipments - not with the war. The Captain... just couldn't help himself. We made for Port Regal to restock... and the Redcoats were waiting! They declared Catbeard an enemy of the crown and transported him to Marleybone!"

"Marleybone? It's been ages since I've been home. Looks like we've got a long trip ahead of us to old Marley, eh, Captain?" Jack asked, and Mr. Norrington piped up. "You want to save Catbeard? You'll need a yellow Windstone. There's one in Fort Basset's vault, in Port Regal. Gilbert and Sullivan can help."

XOXOX OXOXO XOXOX OXOXO XOXOX

"You need to break into Fort Basset? No small feat, that. Since the war, they've locked her up tight as a drum. Still..." Sullivan the Pug said, and his business partner, Gilbert stepped in with some opera. "Carefully on tiptoe stealing, breathing gently as ye may, every step with caution feeling, ye will softly steal away."

I had no idea where that came from, but a lightbulb seem to go off in Sullivan's head. "What's that? Stealing? Why yes, the very man! You need Mr. Lytton. An expert, shall we say, in locks, second stories, and quiet exits. He's retired now, but if anyone knows a way into Fort Basset, he does. You can find him in his house next to the Hope and Anchor."

XOXOX OXOXO Third-Person Point of View OXOXO XOXOX

Lytton, a German Shepherd dressed in a fine green coat and a black bandanna, both stolen from an old gentleman and a young street rat respectively, opened the door to his house to reveal a young lady smiling prettily at him with long golden blonde hair tied in a ponytail with a black ribbon, and sparkling emerald green eyes that matched the color of her woolen dress. "I'm looking for Mr. Lytton."

"Aye, that'd be me. What do ye want, girly?" Lytton asked suspiciously, and the girl answered straightforwardly. "The yellow Windstone in Fort Basset."

Lytton raised an eyebrow at her. "Fort Basset? Aye, I could get ye in there... If I'd a mind to! What'd be in it for me?"

"We'll talk about it. May I come inside?" The girl asked, and Lytton looked around quickly before letting her step foot onto the oaken planks that was the floor of his well-appointed home, decorated either with stolen objects or objects bought with stolen gold.

Lytton roughly gestured for her to sit, and as she sat down in an armchair, she began to speak. "My name is Rena Raden, and if you help me steal the yellow Windstone from Fort Basset, I'll give you all the gold you can carry."

Lytton barked in laughter as he swept his arm around the rich room. "Gold? Ha! What's gold to one who can snatch the fillings from a toff's teeth in the town square in broad daylight? I want for nothing, except..."

"Go on..." Rena said, and Lytton finished. "Respectability. I made me nest egg and have a mind to settle down and marry me best girl. But the local vicar'll have nothing to do with me. If you can get Father McKenzie to overlook me checkered past and marry us legit, I'll get ye into the fort alright. Aye, and for free too."

"We have a deal." Rena said as she stood up and offered him her hand, which he shook, and with a thief's eye for value, Lytton could see that her long fingers were obviously used to being where they shouldn't. "Keep them fingers sticky, girl. Keep 'em sticky."

XOXOX OXOXO Matthew Exeter's Point of View OXOXO XOXOX

"Lytton? I haven't time to deal with that reprobate! Can't you see the Church of Saint Fido is haunted?" Father McKenzie asked, and I raised an eyebrow. "Haunted? With ghosts? Evil spirits?"

"I'm not mad, I tell you! There are dark forces at work in St. Fido's - you dare not enter!" Father McKenzie insisted, and Rena, still in her best dress, spoke up. "Well, what about Lytton and his wedding?"

Father McKenzie made a shooing gesture with his hand. "I can't be concerned with the likes of him while Port Regal's only house of worship is plagued with unholy ghosts! But your concern for the man's matrimonial bliss, however, moves me. I will marry him and his good lady. But first, rid my church of those apparitions!"