Silver stepped onto the wooden planks of the ship. He looked once more at the stars below him as the gate slowly closed-confining him once more to Lucy's ship. He rubbed his neck, fightin' the urge to jump back into the longboat and sail away.

"You came back," Lucy's voice echoed behind him.

"Aye, lassie." His voice was soft and he looked at her with sadness.

She shook her head. "Why?"

For a second Lucy could see him ponder the question, but then he waved his mechanical hand.

"Aww, lassie, ask me that in the mornin'. It be about time we got some shut eye." He headed for the stairs.

Lucy stepped in front of him and once more demanded. "Why, Silver?"

Silver raised an eyebrow, lookin' at the young girl blocking his way.

Her red hair fell in a long braid down her back. Her green eyes searched his for answers. The same green eyes that had stared at him eighteen years ago. Abigail's eyes. Lucy had her mother's spirit too, he knew, for right now she refused to let him pass, though with one push he could clear the path.

A heavy sigh came from Silver's lips. He sat down on a chest to his left and he watched his own mechanical hand flex open and closed. "I knew ye mother, lassie."

Lucy leaned back in surprise and sat down on the closest stair. She could tell he was serious.

Silver continued, "Abby and I, well, ya see," he coughed, "we were a couple and-well don't look at me like that! I know what ya thinkin'. Don't worry, ole' John Silver isn't ya father. Well ya don't have to look that relieved. Anyways, your mother and I, we had what you'd call an . . . open relationship. I worked as a cook at the time, savin' honest money up for another trip into the stars. Oh, I had a longboat much like yours, but it couldn't go far. I'd take ya mother out on it all the time, to show her the beauty of my previous life. At that time in me life, I'd given up piracy, tryin' to make an honest livin'.

"But, well I became restless and craved adventure. So I told Abby I was a leavin' one day, and I begged her to come with. She said no, sadly. She had her dear father to take care of after all-he was dying. Well, I promised her riches when I returned. A few months later, I returned with a small sum I'd got through capturin' a prize. That was when she . . . she admitted she was pregnant by another man. Pregnant with you." Silver glanced into Lucy's green eyes. "I told her to give up the baby, err, give you up. A baby-you-well, that meant, that meant settlin' down! I had already tried that! Well, Abby refused, and in my anger, I . . . well I said some 'tings that need not be repeated, and we went our separate ways." Silver coughed once more. "I never saw her again."

Lucy put her head in her right hand. Silver noticed she still wore her gloves to hide her mechanical hand. He pulled at the collar, guilty that he hadn't told her the entire truth. But what good would that do! He decided to tell her another time.

"Do you," Lucy's voice cracked, "do you know who my father is?"

"No, lassie. Abby never told me his name. I assumed she married the man."

Lucy shook her head. "The only man to come around our house was my uncle. Did you know him?"

Silver chuckled, "James. Aye, I knew him. Good lad, he was."

"He died when I was ten."

His shoulders shrunk lower. How much death had Lucy endured in her eighteen years?

Then, Lucy surprised him by touching his shoulder. "Thanks for telling me that, Silver. I know sometimes the past isn't easy to trudge up." She stood up straighter removing her touch. "But I wish you hadn't come back. I'm bound by the law. I must bring you to Arubassau. The High Judge, he . . . he already knows I have you in custody, and he will not accept failure. We will make port tomorrow in Bartorro for supplies. After that, it will be a little less than a week before we arrive."

Lucy whistled to someone up on the next level. The sound of footsteps approached and Silver saw the fair-haired Mr. Torrup descend the stairs. He had shackles in his hands.

"I'm sorry to do this, Mr. Silver, but you will need to spend the remainder of our trip in the brig. If the High Judge hears that I've given you free range, trusted you not to run away, and then heard you took the longboat for a spin . . . well, it won't be good." She nodded to Mr. Torrup, who then walked to Silver and placed the shackles around his large wrists. "These are only until we reach the brig. After that they will be removed and every effort will be made to make your stay comfortable."

Silver followed Lucy and Mr. Torrup to the brig, resigned to his fate. How could he not? He had chosen to come back even while understandin' there would be consequences for his actions. He had spent so much of his life runnin' from those consequences, and, he thought, perhaps it was time to face them.

Lucy shut the cold iron bars and stared at him, unsure why he wasn't fightin' back. Did he not value his own life? She wished with all her heart that he had run away when he'd had the chance. And she still couldn't fathom that he had returned for the sole purpose of telling her that he had known her mother. What was the purpose? Who cares if he had known her? Why had he come back? Did he want to get himself killed?

Lucy spoke, "Tomorrow, when we make port, if you wish, you can come with us. But . . . you'll have to wear the shackles. I'm afraid it is too dangerous without them."

Silver's eyes met hers. Lucy could read his response clearly. He would not allow her to parade him about the streets in chains, allowing citizens to throw any means of food-or worse-at him. She nodded, understanding him perfectly, and respectin' him more for it.

"Silver?" she whispered, pressing her face to the bars. "I never wanted any of this. I hope you know that."

Walking closer to the bars, Silver reached a hand through and placed it on her shoulder. So much like her mother she was. Lookin' at Lucy was like goin' back in time twenty years. He knew she hadn't asked for any of this, for it was he who had attacked her transport ship, he who had allowed his pirates to kill her mother, he who had forced her down onto the ice planet where she lost her limbs. All of this was his fault, not hers.

And he deserved to hang for it.