Lola looked at me, still laughing and asked, "What do you want to know about him?"

"I don't know. The Captain mentioned him, and I guess I just need to meet me him, don't I?" I said. We walked up the stairs and back onto the deck. She once again smiled and then walked away to do her work. Now, all of the crew was back on the ship, getting ready to set sail. I glanced around to see if I could find this 'Jack', figuring it wouldn't be too hard, but no one looking about my age was to be found. So, I gave up and found the captain.

"Captain, is there anything you need me to do?" Anxious to do something to get my mind off the mysterious boy. I wasn't even sure why I couldn't stop thinking about him, I hadn't even met him!

"I'd like ye to follow Lola around. She'll teach ye what ye'll need to do on the ship, and soon enough, ye'll be on yur own." He turned back to the helm, and I walked off to find Lola. I glanced around and finally found her on the port side, climbing the ropes to get to the crows nest.

"Captain want you to learn from me?" She asked. I nodded, and she told me to follow her. I grabbed the ropes and began to climb, hoping that once I got to the top, I could watch for Jack.

'So much for forgetting about him.' I thought and continued to climb.

I finally got to the top, and I stepped into the nest. I looked down, it was about fourteen feet off the ground, and I glanced around at the deck. I saw a flash of my father, but then he disappeared.

"Looking for Jack?" Lola joked. She probably didn't know that I was.

"No." I lied. I gave up looking and decided to look out into the sea. We had gotten far enough from the port that England was just a thin line of land on the horizon behind us. I looked in front of us and saw nothing but sea and the open sky. Most would think this sight was despairing, but it struck something in me, and really made my thirst for adventure grow.

"Alright, so here's how this will probably go, considering this is your day aboard. Today, we have an hour up in the crows nest. After this hour, we'll go on deck and work down there." I probably looked like I had just seen an octopus fly through the sky and ask for the closest sushi store. I had never expected so much work. "We have a pretty good sized crew, so there's always plenty of time for talking, and having fun." Lola said, sensing my distress. We sat up in the nest for the rest of our time, and then another man came up. We climbed down the ropes, and back onto the deck.

"Over here, the left of the ship is the por..." I cut her off.

"The Port, I know. My father was a merchant sailor, remember?" I said sarcastically. "When he was home, he would tell us all about ships."

"Then you're a step ahead." We then continued to work on the Pearl. I learned almost everything possible about working on a ship, and on that first day, I was proven good at it. I got my sea legs very quickly and I could do any kind of work anyone asked me to do. All the men respected me, and would allow me to do the work I wanted. Later that night, Lola and I went to the cabin and were talking before bed.

"You really surprised us out there, Selesta. I think the crew really like you, and the Captain said nothing but good words about you at dinner tonight." Lola wouldn't stop talking about how well I did, and I couldn't believe it. I thought I did pretty well for the first time, but I guess sailing was just something I was naturally good at. After all, it ran through my blood.

I woke up that night to the sound of yelling voices. A storm had hit, and all hands were needed on deck. I jumped out of bed and pulled on my boots, and Lola and I were off. We ran up to the deck, and Lola started to show me what to do during a storm. The work was harder, and of course wetter. The waves were huge, and The Pearl was getting tossed around like a little toy boat in bathtub.

After a while of work, I glanced up and saw that the sail was loose, so I ran to tighten it. By the time I had gotten there, someone else was there to help. With some effort, we were able to get the job done.

"Thanks," I said. "I couldn't have done that by myself." I looked at my helper and wondered how old he was. He looked about my age.

'This might be Jack!' I thought, and figured I had to take a chance. "My name's Selesta. What's yours?"

"Jack." He said, and ran off to help fix a broken cargo net.