Four days later, we had Port Samusen in our sights, as well as a good time on the island. The place was a pristine tropical jewel, woven into an intricate blanket of blue, a sort of a rogue island. It had once been a British port, until it had been taken over by the rebel French. It was so far out in the middle of the ocean that Britain had pretty much let it go. Port Samusen wasn't as notorious as Tortuga for housing pirates and other filth of the sea, but it sure was a close second.

The unnervingly beautiful weather had kept up for the past few days, and Mr. Gibbs had rated us at an average of fourteen knots, a right brisk pace that kept our dear Captain Jack in a jolly mood for the rest of the trip, which is always, always good.

"There she is, Josh!" I sighed. Josh and I were standing on the fantail, looking due east as the Black Pearl made considerable headway towards the tropical island jewel, "Port Samusen!"

"Aye.." Josh muttered, his smooth brow furrowing, "But what on earth are we doing here?"

The wind was whipping my long, untamed hair around my face. I pulled it back irritantly, and glanced over to where Jack was.

"Ask our Captain!" I grinned, gesturing vaguely behind me. Jack had the wheel once again, like he had for the past few days. Occasionally he would pull out that compass, glance at it, and maybe tweak the wheel a few points to the south, or southwest.

"Alright, now, you whelps!" Jack called, the wind carrying his voice up the deck to us, "Mr. Gibbs and I have business to attend to on shore..so I want you to play nice with the other children….and try not to do anything….stupid."

I dearly wanted to turn Jack's characteristic line around on him, saying something clever and also Jack-like, for example, "Ah, but being stupid is what we do best!" But I could tell that Jack was dead serious about this. Something big was going to go down in Port Samusen, and I wasn't about to get into the middle of it.

"Made ready to go ashore, you dogs!" Jack roared, and there was suddenly a bustle of activity on the main deck.

Josh glanced at me, "Well , looks like we have a fun afternoon ahead of us!"

I smiled, "Too right, that!"