Disclaimer: I have no claim to any part of the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise. The original characters and original plots are owned by me.

A Pirate's Life

"All hands! Step lively! She's at it again!" Jack called out in mock alarm. He had just seen me emerge from the hatchway carrying several cabbages. There were only a few men on the Pearl's main deck still finishing their morning's work, and they scrambled out of my way.

I approached a capstan and positioned one of the cabbages securely upon it. Drawing my scimitar from its scabbard, I took aim, and then swung the weapon suddenly from over my shoulder in a great, sweeping arc. I brought the blade straight through the side of the cabbage, making an equatorial cut. I inspected the result, set up a second cabbage on the capstan, and continued my exercises.

We had been a few weeks out to sea on the Pearl, with barely enough crew to sail her, looking for vessels to pillage. Although we took her out near the "roads" most frequented, we had only discovered three ships, all of which had already been pillaged and ransomed. In the interim, I took every opportunity to practise my weapons skills, which had languished during my stay in Port Royal.

From the quarterdeck, Jack watched the proceedings for a while; then he descended to the main deck. "Remind me to stay out of the galley if you're cooking, love," he said, waving his fingers at the scimitar as he sauntered past. "Quite a lovely swing you've got there."

All at once, he stopped and turned back to face me, dismayed. "I suppose it's cabbage for supper, then? Again?"

"I thought you liked cabbage," I said, knitting my brows. "In any case, I need to keep up my skills. It's remarkable what can be done with a properly honed blade." I turned the hilt backwards, and, with the sword's blunt edge resting against my arm, proceeded to slice the cabbage to shreds.

Jack crouched down so that his black-rimmed eyes were level with the top of the capstan, the better to watch my efforts. "Nice close work, too." He frowned, tapping his fingers against his chin. "Should I be searching for a merchant ship with more vegetables?"

Our stores did need replenishing, but as it turned out, Jack had a grander design in mind. He started towards the leeward rail, nodding his head to indicate I should follow him. Then he leaned back against the rail, propping himself on his elbows, and began to tell me more of his most cherished project.

"All I need is to get a good cargo of provisions and enough swag to sign on more crew - lots more crew - and we'll be ready to chase the really big prize," he glanced around and lowered his voice. "The Chest of Cortes!"

My blank look must have disappointed him. "What sort of a ship might she be with a name like that?" I asked.

He sighed with exasperation and turned his eyes heavenward. "You're wanted in the captain's quarters, you are," he announced.

He grabbed my wrist, steered me to his quarters, and shut the door. "Not a ship, love," he said carefully, speaking slowly so that I would miss not a word. "It's a trove."

His dark eyes positively shone with anticipation, and he gestured with both hands for emphasis. "A lovely, sparkly trove of eight hundred and eighty-two gold pieces - medallions, actually - they're said to be huge! Ransom paid by the Aztecs to stop the infamous Cortes from slaughtering 'em; but he was so bloodthirsty that he took the gold and pressed on with the slaughter, golden ransom notwithstanding!" He threw an arm about my shoulders and conducted me to his chart table.

"It's reputed to be hidden on the Isla de Muerta. But you can stow these charts," he said, laying his hand across the maps on the table. "You won't find it on any of 'em. It can only be found by someone who's been there, savvy? And that's - no one." He paused dramatically.

"It doesn't sound very . . . attainable," I said, tentatively. I was no stranger to Jack's eccentric taste in adventure, but this sounded like a game of blind man's buff.

"Can't be any worse than chasing ships what have already been plundered, now, can it?" he countered, tilting his head and coaxing me with a grin.

"At least we know where the ships are," I reminded him. "How do you intend to discover this island that no one can find?"

"Ah, that's the crux of the matter, innit? But you leave that bit to me - I've got it sorted. I have the bearings right here - look!" He set down his compass.

I backed away from the table, averting my eyes. "No, don't show me; not if you really have them! Keep them to yourself, just as my father would treat his dispatches! The world is full of rogues that would carve us up in an instant to get their hands on that information!"

Jack narrowed his eyes and nodded approvingly. "I see Rufus has put his stamp on you," he said, wagging his finger at me. "And just as well! By all means, we'll be cautious, but it's only the two of us at the moment. However" - he picked up the compass - "just as you like."

"Now, Captain Jack Sparrow will teach you some pirating, love. Before we set out on a venture like this, we've a bit of business to attend to." He placed a scrap of parchment on the table and, taking a piece of charcoal in hand, began to explain his design.

"I've got the bearing, but not the distance, meanin' I don't know whether it's near or far. So, ergo, Q.E.D., and ipso facto, before I set out, I need money and goods to provision the Pearl and more crew to carry the swag and defend the ship." He glanced at me to make certain I was following him.

I nodded, eyes fixed upon the parchment.

"Right, then." He drew a shape like a quarter-moon. "Not seven miles from here lies an island with the unlikely name of Buena Suerte. In here," he indicated the inner curve of the moon-shape, "There be shallows, savvy? Many a crew careen their ship here for an easy cleaning and leave their goods aboard."

He gave me another quick look, then explained his strategy. "We'll come up here," he said, pointing to the moon's tip, "Anchor off the shallows, and I'll lead the boarding party. I want you to stay aboard the Pearl."

He took a deep breath and grasped me sternly by the arms, staring deeply into my eyes. "Just remember; I'm trustin' you with me ship."

"And then we relieve them of their goods, money, weapons and effects, and give 'em our heels before they can right their ship and take after us?" I asked eagerly.

He smiled his bright, pirate smile. "Aye, you've twigged it. I can see you have a strong natural turn for this line of work. And then it's on to Tortuga and a full crew. And after that? Gold! More than you've ever dreamed of!"

As he spoke, he looked keenly into my eyes. "By the by, darlin', I've been meaning to . . um . . instruct you on something."

Seeing my look of uncertainty and apprehension as he moved closer to my face, he chuckled. "Oh, not that - I'm speaking about your eyes." He touched the skin just under my eyes with a very dirty forefinger.

"You should be rubbin' kohl - or surme I think you say in Turkish - all round your eyes and in your eyelashes as well, like me," he said confidently, rummaging through his pockets.

"I don't know that it would suit my appearance," I mumbled, reluctant to embrace such a sooty-eyed look.

"Ahhh! But it ain't for looks," he replied, producing a tiny glass jar with a sealed stopper, which he uncorked. "It's medicinal! And it protects you from curses," he added in a low voice. "Makes your eyes stronger, helps against the sun - which you need, savvy?"

Jack dabbed his finger in the sticky, cindery paste, and swiped it across my right eye before I could stop him. He grinned at me charmingly, gold teeth sparkling below his moustache. "Best let me finish now," he laughed. "Or you'll look like someone gave you a right banger."

I stood still as he applied more surme, and blinked away the tiny grains that dropped into my eyes.

"There!" he exclaimed, very pleased with his work. He took my hand and pressed the little jar into my palm. "Now, don't let me catch you without your eyes properly done up," he warned, pointing his finger at me.

"You should have had a booth at the last Michaelmas Fair," I told him. "You'd have made your fortune and no mistake." Then I thanked him and made for my cabin, where I inspected his handiwork and wiped away as much as I dared whilst leaving enough to satisfy him that he had set me straight on the merits of surme.

The next morning we weighed at dawn and made our way to Buena Suerte in time to catch low tide, which is the only time a prudent captain will careen his ship. To our great delight, a ship was indeed careened in the shallows. We could see several longboats upon the island, although there was no sign of the crew, with the exception of, perhaps, five or six seamen who were cleaning the hull.

"Right, then," Jack exclaimed. "Make ready the guns! Raise the colours! Lower the starboard anchor! To the boats - prepare to lower away!"

As I oversaw the anchoring of the Pearl and the readying of the cannon, Jack and the men went forth to take the ship's stores and goods. Though we showed them our colours, we did not give them a broadside: with our cannons trained upon their hull, they struck at once.

All went smoothly as we began to load the Pearl with our plunder. We took some gallons of rum, a chest of medicine, a large quantity of ammunition, eight barrels of flour, two barrels of pork, some bacon, some barrels of rice, gold dust, chains and trinkets of some value, two barrels of green apples, a hogshead of molasses, and ten chests of sugar.

As Jack climbed aboard, he threw a large black cloth onto the deck. I unfurled it to see pirate colours, with two crossed swords on a field of black.

"We'd best make this quick and avoid an embarrassing moment," he said. "Looks as if it's not a merchant ship, don'it?"

He took the boats over again, and once more they returned loaded with cargo; however, there was a sudden development.

A great clamor of voices came from the island, and the beach filled with angry pirates, swarming the longboats so as to return to their vessel and join the fight. The crew cleaning the hull also showed a new ferocity, and some of them made to board the Pearl.

Drawing our weapons, we met them at the railing. I pulled my scimitar from its scabbard and charged my opponents. Constant movement and turns helped me dodge their attacks as I swung my blade. Then, holding the scimitar flat along my arm from wrist to elbow, I would swiftly move inside their attacks, so close that they had no room to parry and I could cut the weapons from their hands with quick, slicing motions of my blade arm.

Yet, even though we managed to prevent them from getting on to the deck, it was plain that their numbers would increase mightily as more of the ruffians made their way back from the island.

From the corner of my eye, I saw our lads were having some trouble with the anchor rode, which kept us from departing. To make matters worse, the tide was beginning to rise, so that the other ship would eventually come off the shallows and engage us. As more pirates tried to board us, the rest worked frantically to right their ship. I caught Jack's eye, and he nodded me towards the hatch, where our cannons lay ready with fuses already primed.

I ran to the gun deck and lit two fuses, and a moment later, with a load roar, the Pearl's guns blew two great smoking holes in the other ship's hull. Angry shouts issued from her crew, but Jack had succeeded in releasing the rode, our anchor came flying up to the cathead, and we sailed off, cheering and laughing, before they could mount a pursuit.

"Turn and turn about," remarked Jack. "Unless I miss my guess, that's the ship that made off with the goods from the two Dutchmen and the Portuguese that we discovered earlier. We'll make a good market in Tortuga, and I'll be back with more crew in no time." He gave me an appraising glance, taking in the brightness in my eye and flush of color in my cheeks caused by the excitement of our battle. "And I think I shall want you to keep to the Pearl and leave me to manage things ashore."

Happy to be spared the excesses of Tortuga, I readily agreed. Had I insisted upon going ashore, events might have unfolded differently.

With Jack in Tortuga, life aboard thePearl became dull and quiet. I spent much of my time looking out across the water, hoping to see him returning from his venture. One day as I stood gazing, I heard a voice hail me by my alias.

"Ahoy! Miss Boscawen!" our lookout called down, as he descended from the rigging. A gentle, quiet-spoken fellow from the Isle of Man, "Bootstrap" Bill Turner was an amiable soul who lacked the rough, unpredictable temperament of most pirates. He was as bereft of company as I was, and we struck up a conversation.

Bootstrap told me a bit of his history, but chiefly spoke of his longing to return to his home, where his wife and infant son awaited him. Perceiving some trace of sorrow in my manner, he asked me if I, too, missed my home at times, and longed to return to it. His innocent question brought a lump to my throat, and a great desire to unburden myself of my fears.

"My home only exists in my heart and memories now," I confided. "It was a place filled with love, friends, and kindness. Being only a child, I took it as certain that things would ever be thus, until highwaymen took my father's life. I was left to suffer the mercies of a monster - my own uncle. It was a matter of escape or death." I shivered, even in the hot tropical sun. "I chose escape."

Bootstrap's face showed sincere concern. "Ye mustn't vex yerself so," he said. "You escaped. Whatever cruelties you suffered, the future may yet bring fair winds and followin' seas."

"I wish I believed it true; but worse than the past is the fear of what may yet be," I replied miserably. "I have never told anyone - not even Jack knows all I've endured - but there is yet a price on my head. My uncle was not a man to countenance defiance. After I escaped and hid with the gypsies, I heard that he had offered a fortune in gold to anyone who captured me. I left their camp rather than wait for that temptation to do its work on my friends." Anxiety made my chest tighten, and I drew my hand across my eyes.

"Even the name you call me by is not my own," I confessed. "I'm so very afraid that he will find me out, even in the Caribbean."

"Ah, miss, we're a long ways from home out here. Just a wee speck in a vast ocean," Bootstrap said in a soothing voice. "He'll not discover ye this far away."

I seized upon his words as desperately as any drowning swimmer lays hold of a lifeline. "You comfort me, Bootstrap," I said in a steadier voice. "May it be that I've passed through all my troubles! But please keep my secret for now - I didn't mean to burden you, but you have such a kindly face, and I can't help but trust you as Jack does."

Bootstrap nodded and patted my hand. "Ay, I'll keep your secret safe, miss. And don't tell anyone your true name, not whoever Jack brings from Tortuga - no, not even me. You can just go by 'Nina' - same as I go by 'Bootstrap', and most don't even know me as William Turner." I thanked him as he made ready to return to his post.

"Me an' Jack'll protect you, miss," he assured me.

Next: Chapter 4 - Mr Barbossa - In which the new crew arrive, and life aboard the Pearl undergoes a fateful change.