1Chapter Ten

"I have to do what?!" Sariah cried.

"All you have to do is walk into the town and ask for some supplies," Jack explained. "The man will give them to you, then you dash out wildly trying not to get caught. That's all. We don't have enough money to pay, so we will have to steal."

"I know all that, but- but-" Sariah couldn't think of an excuse. She was to go ashore with Elizabeth to get a few supplies for the ship. Jack and Will both needed to go to the shipwright, and Sariah didn't really have a reason for staying. She sighed and glared at the purse full of coins that Jack had given her. "Fine. I'll go. But I want you to-"

"Good. Now get going." Jack pushed her out of the cabin in a rush. "Don't forget to take Elizabeth with you, and have a lovely time." He smiled mockingly into her scowling face, then slammed the door shut.

On shore Sariah and Elizabeth wandered about Lythelos. It was a shabby, but well populated little town that Jack had visited many times. They stopped by several stores to pick up the things that Jack wanted them to get, then Sariah thought about something. She fingered the stone as she asked Elizabeth. Elizabeth said it was fine with her, so they quietly wandered into a store. Sariah walked up to the counter and ordered what she wanted, then pocketed a leather bag of something while the store keeper wasn't looking. She and Elizabeth giggled with each other as they walked back to the ship.

"What did you get?" Elizabeth asked her as they wandered back to the shipwright to meet Jack and Will.

"Oh, nothing," Sariah said mysteriously.

Elizabeth cut in front of her neatly. "Oh c'mon! It has to be something important! Or else you wouldn't of made such a big deal out of it."

"Fine!" Sariah opened the small leather bag she had taken from the store. "It's called chocolate. I stole some back on Oxbay, and it's great! Feel this bag! It must be completely full of the stuff." She licked her lips in anticipation, then started walking again.

"Chocolate?" Elizabeth followed her. "I've never heard of it. What does it taste like?"

"It's great! It's creamy and smooth and rich. It has a complete flavor of it's own, so it's flavor is kind of hard to describe. But other than that, it is the most delicious thing you have ever tasted. Look! There's the shipwright!"

The two girls raced into the big house-like place and skidded to a halt in front of Jack and Will. Jack turned and smiled at them. "Hello you two. What took you so long?"

Elizabeth tossed a bit of hair out of her hair. "We strolled. Nothing men would know about though. It's a girl thing." She and Sariah started giggling for no apparent reason.

Jack grinned wryly, then saw Will's smile and lost his own almost immediately. "We had better get back to the ship before Will and I need to use that." He said, pointing at the stone around Sariah's neck.

Sariah put her arm around Elizabeth's shoulder. "Aw c'mon! Can Elizabeth and I walk around here for a little longer? We could go out into the jungle and talk to the locals and play with the monkeys and- oh. Oops, sorry Jack. No offence about the monkeys."

Jack scowled playfully. "None taken love. You two enjoy yourselves, but be back by nightfall, or you'll have to spend the night in the town, savvy?"

"Yessir!" Sariah threw an extra-smart salute, then grabbed Elizabeth's arm and took off. "C'mon!" Jack heard her say. "I though I saw some catacombs! We can explore them!" He shook his head and started walking back to his ship.

-o-

Elizabeth strolled through the thick jungle with Sariah. It was such a lovely place. The strong sunlight shining through the thin, rustling leaves made everything look green and speckled. The shadows were constantly changing, making everything look as though it was alive. She thought briefly to herself how she and Will could maybe come here for their honeymoon, then remembered Will's actions towards Sariah. She looked at the pretty girl, who was playing with the strange stone while looking at everything with her big blue eyes. Elizabeth could understand if Will liked her as a friend, but what if he loved her? That would be horrible!

Sariah looked over at her friend. "Did you hear something?" she asked, jerking Elizabeth out of her disturbing thoughts.

Elizabeth shook her head. "No, I don't think I-" She turned her head as a sharp crack rang out behind them. "Look out!" she cried, then barreled into Sariah, knocking her out of the way of a big rock strewn net that came crashing down where they had been standing. Sariah grabbed Elizabeth's hand and pulled her into some thick ferns.

"What was that?" Sariah whispered.

"Shhh!" Elizabeth clamped a hand over Sariah's mouth, but it was to late. Another big net fell from a tree and landed on top of the girls, instantly entangling them. They thrashed around for a few minutes, then where still when they saw it did no good. A small mousy boy leapt out of the tree and surveyed his catch. He whistled sharply, and three other men crawled out of the surrounding bushes. "Lookey what I caught!" the boy said gleefully in a high, squeaky voice. "Two purty girls. I'll bet that there mommies want 'em back, eh?"

A tall skinny man walked forward and looked at the two terrified girls. "Der mommies aren't gonna get 'em back. Dees two are goin' with us." He cackled as a huge burley man yanked the two girls out of the net and started trying to tie their hands. Sariah immediately went into action. She spun away from the big man expertly, then threw Elizabeth one of her twin swords. Ripping her favorite necklace from her neck (it was a round circlet that had sharpened spikes going all around the edges), she twirled it dangerously.

Three of the gangsters surrounded her. She struck back and forth with her necklace, and slashed with her sword, but the gang was tricky. They avoided the sword completely, and only got hit a few time with the sharp necklace while closing in on her. The small boy leapt forward and threw a handful of dirt into her eyes, making her drop her sword (her necklace was strung around her wrist), then kicked her onto her back so that the big man could pin her to the ground and tie her up. But Sariah was tricky too. She rolled aside and flailed at the big revolting man as hard as she could with her necklace, then leapt up and put her back to Elizabeth's. The small gang, now completely enraged, circled around the two girls. Elizabeth had been trying to fight the tall man with Sariah's sword, but to no avail. He was almost as good with a blade as Will was.

The mousy boy had climbed up another tree, and now dropped a heavy black piece of cloth over them, forcing them to drop their weapons so they wouldn't hurt each other. The big man grabbed the black cloth, completely picked it up, and slung it onto his back. The tall man gathered up the twin swords and necklace. He gave the boy the necklace, a short slimy man one sword, and kept the other one for himself. The four set off to get back to their hideout before the patrol came by on their rounds.