I turned when the tavern went silent as a shot was fired into the ceiling. A man walked into the middle of the room and stood on the bar. Nobody moved a muscle and

every eye was on him. He was tall, and his eyelids were covered in charcoal. He moved ungracefully, kind of swinging side to side. His clothes were dirty and grungy,

except for his hat that looked old but well kept. He pointed to Keeley and me and curled his finger, gesturing us towards him. Keeley pushed the man out of the way and

helped me up onto my feet. I grabbed my sword from his grasp and poked my tongue out at him. We stood a while before he gestured at us again. Slowly, with every eye

on us, we walked towards him. Towards my, or rather our, father. Captain Jack Sparrow.

When we reached the bar he grabbed Keeley by the arm and pulled her up onto the bar. Then he just stood there, looking down at me. I waited for him to help me up,

but he didn't. He watched me intently, waiting for me to make the first move. I sighed softly and clambered onto the bar stool next to me and tried to climb up onto the bar. As soon as I went to put my foot onto the bar he unsheathed his sword faster than I ve ever seen anyone do it and pointed at me.

"If you act and dress like a boy, I have to treat you like one. Savvy?" he said, his sword unwavering. I became furious. I wouldn't have cared if he had called me a man but

he said I acted like a boy. Like a child. I wasn't going to take that lying down. I held my sword at the ready position.

"I wouldn't 'ave it any other way." We stood in silence, the whole tavern was staring at us. No one was moving. The world was completely still.

"Wacha gonna do girlie?" He asked teasingly.

"Well, I'm gonna beat ya, then ya gonna talk to me and my sister over there, and then ya gonna take us where ever ya goin'," I replied. "and I'm not takin' no for an

answer." The whole tavern laughed at me. Keeley was shuffling her feet on the bar uncomfortably. She wouldn t meet my eyes.

"You? You think that you a woman can beat me?" He laughed but stopped when he realised that I was being serious. He sighed.

"Come on, up you get."

"Do you accept my terms?" I asked, hestitating before putting my right foot onto the bar. He smiled wolfishly at me.

"Only if you accept my terms." He swiped at me with his sword. I ducked under the blade and stepped backwards. His strokes were clumsy but quick and I parried them

with difficulty.

"I want, fifty shillings straight up." He said right away, still fighting me. "I want you to leave Tortuga and I want you and your sister to stop messing around with my

adopted son." I paused for a second. Apparently, a second was all he needed. He turned and booted his heel onto the top of my foot. I screamed in pain and dropped my

sword. I wasn't feeling very lucky today. He smirked and turned around to expect the crowed cheering for his victory but instead met a glass of rum right in the head. It

shattered on his forehead. He stood for a few seconds before falling off the bar and down to the ground, knocked out cold.

"Does that mean we won?" Keeley asked, still holding the remains of the glass.