The twins were shocked. They knew of their parents' pasts for a while now. There were hints everywhere. Brianna's hat was hanging with her bonnets in her bedroom. There were swords above the mantle: cutlasses. Andrew knew a lot about pirates and their doings whenever he told stories to them, more than the average navy man. But one big factor was a diary that Ella had found in the study. It was bound with light brown leather with black covers with elegant gold trim around the corners. There was a navy ribbon pressed between two pages. It was nearly filled. It was written in their mother's writing, but it changed throughout the book. At the beginning was a tale of Brianna falling off a Naval ship and William saving her like a valiant man. It continued on with stories of pirate attacks, how James got his permanent limp and how she met Andrew, and then there was a story of the kill that started her reputation. But as the dates got closer to present times, the stories became varied. But the twins loved to read of their birth. They laughed because everyone was fainting all over the place.

The candles brought Andrew into better light. He wasn't wearing his normal uniform, but a raggy one with holes and tears and stains. There were hints of blood on his cuffs. His graying red hair seemed more faded than usual. He wore light brown breaches under a dirty, mud stained waistcoat. Instead of stockings and buckled shoes on his feet, there was a pair of boots with cuffs.

William's hair was hanging freely instead of being tied back. His eyes seemed thinner and colder like those of a rabid dog or a snake. He looked like he was wearing some of their Grandpa Will's clothes. There was a long brown vest like Payton's over a shirt that actually fit. His hair even seemed darker than usual.

Then came Brianna. She was really different. Her usually straight, silky brown hair was now slightly wavy and brittle. It was like her eyes had changed shape from nearly round to sly and thin. Her voice when she spoke to William was lower than usual. Two cutlasses hung at her waist. She looked like a woman, but she wanted to look a lot like a man. You couldn't see her feminine figure.

"What is all this?" Payton asked in a way that sounded almost disgusted.

"Your grandpa Jack passed all of this onto William and me when he died. You never got a chance to know him though."

"Fine then…another question. How are we going to crew this ship? There are only 5 of us!" Ella pointed out.

"And what about grandpa Norrington?" Payton asked. "He will be on our tail when he finds out what's going on."

"All taken care of. A few more crew members are coming when we get to the next port," Brianna said.

"And what about grandpa Norrington?" Ella asked.

"He won't know where we are."

"You two need to go pick bunks. We've got ours," Andrew said. Payton instantly turned around and bolted.

"Hey!" Ella called as she followed behind her. Andrew laughed at the sound of two gracefully girls thundering down the stairs like elephants. Ella was very graceful by Payton was known for tripping over her feet at random times, but her balance was fantastic. Both of them were known for balance and their amazing dancing ability that they inherited from their mother.

Payton ran to a hammock at the far end of the lower deck. She jumped into it and almost fell out but didn't. Ella didn't have such luck. She came to a stop and then slowly crawled in, but she still fell out the other side.

"How did you do that?" she asked.

"Where do you think I do most of my reading?" Payton explain.

"In the tree by the shoreline. You look out for Thomas there."

"Don't mention Thomas Patterson."

"Thomas Patterson?" Andrew asked as he came walking down the stairs.

"Do you know of him?" Ella asked.

"I knew his father very well when he was alive and I could see. What did Thomas do to you that is making you upset? I am quite sure that you loved him a few days ago."

"I did. Then he said something not so proper, like he wanted me to take my dress off the day of Mr. Beckett's funeral."

"That doesn't sound at all like Thomas. He was always a young gentleman. Now his older sister is a different story," Andrew said as he sat in his hammock.

"I've met her. She didn't seem to be a ray of sunshine. I would catch glances of her when Thomas and I were dancing and she always looked at me like I was some young woman of inferior birth."

"Marina hasn't been the same since her parents' deaths. Left her suddenly in charge of the family. It was a position she didn't want until she had a husband to help her. She was engaged, but her fiancé never showed up on their wedding day. She soon found out that he was with another lady. Scarred her for life that did. So now she is really protective of her brother. If she considers someone unsuitable, she breaks them up immediately, but through him. She will tell him what to do and if he doesn't do what she says, he's punished."

"Marina needs to get over it," Ella said.

"Ella, you don't know how hard it is to get over things until you experience them. Mr. Beckett's death was a wake up call for you. You had never experienced death before." Andrew yawned. "I need to get some sleep, ladies. You should probably do the same.

"I have no need to argue with that," Payton said. "I wish I had a good book."

"Your mother did tell me to give you this." Andrew pulled a book out of his pocket.

"Mama's diary…" Ella took it and flipped through it's pages.

"Many years ago your mother went on a similar journey. Write your experiences. Pass this diary through the girls in your family. Write in it together. I have a feeling you will want to read it later. Don't break the chain."

"Sounds like a curse to me," Payton said.

"I don't believe in curses," Ella finished. Andrew chuckled

"You best start believing…"