A/N Thanks to everyone who has reviewed. Hope you like the next chapter!! ^_^

Chapter Ten.

The days seemed endless as we cruised the ocean, without a care in the world. Jack didn't seem to be going anywhere in particular, just flowing with the currents letting them decide our fate, our destiny.

But there was his compass. He held it with love, as though it was dear to him. Every so often he would open it, stare out at the rippling sea, and nudge the wheel to one side or the other. So he must have been going somewhere, right? The funny thing was, when I got a look at the compass it didn't point North.

I had started getting to know the crew. There was Sparks, the power monkey, I got along well with him. He seemed eager to talk, friendly, and didn't lust after women like the others. Maybe he was a eunuch, a word Jack often used in jest.

"Where is it the compass points to?" I asked him once.

He looked surprised. "Yer aven't asked Jack?"

I shook my head. "I dare not." I replied.

He cleared his throat, and bent down to my level, his voice lowered. "Good fer yer young miss, askin' too many questions is ne'er good."

The crew calling me 'young miss' put me off greatly, I was sure my mother would have been appalled. Then again my mother was enjoying eternal rest, how I was addressed could no longer bother her.

"Who for?"

"Yer." He said, without emotion. He spoke without feeling, but he had some inside. He turned away and carried on working.

"Where are we going?" I asked.

He grinned at me. "'Member what I says bout 'em questions."

Then of course there was Farrow, just a general deck hand. He seemed lively and happy enough, he drank too much then was good for him, but which pirate doesn't? I attached to him immediately, because he had been born just like me, into a rich family. He had had a title, lands, fortune, he had been a member of the British Navy, a first mate. But it wasn't the life for him. He had rejected his title, his lands and fortune, he had turned away from the path of righteousness and good, and had become a pilfering pirate, scrubbing the decks on a merciless vessel.

I was looking over the side, before the attack of the other ship, on a cold crisp morning. He put his hand on my shoulder, and I gasped. He grinned, wickedly.

"'Ello Missy." He said, in his sneering tone. From his voice one could not detect his past life, the life of a gentleman.

I stepped back.

"Watch it," he cried. "You'll go o'er board, an' I fer one won't jump in to save ye. I'm Mark Furrow."

"Theodora Harping."

"Name o' a Lady." He remarked.

"Something you wouldn't know anything about." During my time on the Black Pearl I had to rely on my wits, and my sharp tongue to survive. I wouldn't let any insult go unanswered.

He laughed. "Sorry to correct you, but I would."

I raised my eyebrows, a characteristic of my captor, Jack. I sighed in frustration. "How is that?" I asked, putting my question into words.

"Well, ye see, I were born jus' like you, into a fancy, fine-to-do family."

It was my turn to laugh. " I cannot imagine you a gentleman, Mr Furrow."

"None o' that Mister now." He said. "Reminds me o' 'ome."

But no matter what I asked, who I questioned, I couldn't work out where we were going. It seemed a stupid thing to keep secret, after all did it matter if I knew? Who could I tell? What could I do about it?

Then there was the first mate, Barbossa. He was slightly older then Jack, and seemed to have more experience at sea. He should have been the captain, but instead contented himself with arguing with Jack at every possible opportunity.

"If I had a servant like Barbossa, I should fire him." I told Jack as he stood calmly by the wheel.

He turned to me. "I beg your pardon, Dora?"

I hated him was on his calling me Dora. He slurred my name, spat it out as though I was nothing. I was Miss Harping, surely I deserved a little respect, especially from this pirate.

"Every man, or woman for that matter, is born equal. Out 'ere at least. So on my ship, you ain't any better then the lowest sailor." He said, taking a swig of rum. It was an interesting philosophy for a thief. Equality. He must have seen my surprised expression as a grin spread across his face. He gently nudged the wheel, his hands holding the spokes.

I suppose he was right in a way, I was on his ship now, I had to forget I was once a Lady, waited on hand and foot. I had never liked that anyway. Roberto was still in my thoughts, it hurt me to think how much he would detest me, it was as though accepting Dora as my name, I had disrespected my family.

"He's not coming you know?" Jack said.

I smiled, softly. "We'll see."

Jack nodded, flipped open his compass, and studied it for a few moments.

"Where are we going?" I asked. My conversation with Sparks was still strong in my mind, not to ask questions. My heart thumped in my chest as I stared up into his face. It took a while for him to answer, like he wasn't sure what to say. He turned to face me, one hand still gripping the wheel.

"To find my treasure."

"Who took it?" I demanded. Maybe I was pushing it a little, but I had to know. I had to know what all this was about. "Which treasure?"

He took out the coin I he had taken from me. "This." He said. He passed it back, and once more I felt the cold metal against my skin. My mind went back to it's finding, when Roberto had tried to take it from me.

"But you were just a boy? Whose treasure is it really?" I asked, as my fingers followed the patterns carved into the gold. He reached out and took it from me once more.

"Mine and Bill's."

"Bill?"

"Aye." He turned away.

What he was saying made no sense to me, and I didn't even pretend to understand. But it was enough to have Jack talking to me, to have him answering my questions. He didn't treat me like a little girl, more like an equal. As he had said, out here on the open waves everyone was equal. I suppose that meant male and female too. As I turned to leave I had a near collision with Barbossa. His figure scared me, and I was happy to escape as the two of them began to talk. But as I looked back I saw him watching me with what can only be described as longing.