A blast startled the children out of their sleep that night. Some screamed, some questioned it, but Rose whooped with joy.

"The magic?" she asked Jack.

"The magic!" he said. "Oi!" he called to the children, silencing their hysteria. "We're all being rescued!" This caused the room to become aflutter. "But wait! Shh! Hold on! Shut it!" he cried, once again regaining control. "I need you all to stay very quiet! You, Tiny!" he called out to a boy Rose later found out was quite large for his size, "We're going to wait by the port door. They're going to start coming quick because this is where they keep their cannons. When the first man comes down, I'll knock him out with this beam, while you search his pockets for a key. Savvy?"

Just at that moment, frantic footsteps came scrambling down the stairs. Jack silenced everyone, waited for the door to open, then BAM! The children laughed and cheered when Jack knocked him down. The robust child known as Tiny searched for keys, but found none.

But as soon as this failure was discovered, another man was one his way. BAM! Once again, Tiny looked, and a key was discovered. Jack yanked the key out, jiggled it into his shackles, and they released him! The children cheered again, but Jack wasted no time in racing back to Rose to free her. Once he did, he handed the key to Tiny. "You're a good chap, mate. Free yourself and the others, then go hide in the cargo hold. I'll be back for you!" he ordered. He then hoisted Rose up, and she instinctively wrapped her arms around his neck, and they were off.

Rose could not tell what was happening, as it was just barely dawn and she still could not see. But her body jolted with Jack's as he swerved to avoid people, kicked and hollered at the other ship. "Oi! Over here! Oi!"

He set Rose down in the corner of the ship and boxed her in, telling her to stay put. He then drew a sword of a passerby and began to fight defensive sailors as they came by. Rose was scared beyond her wits, but was glad she could not see the fight that was occurring. Some things were better left to the imagination. Still, she jumped at every cannon blast, and she searched with her mind's eye for Jack.

Finally, after about what seemed to be a half hour of fighting, the noise died down. Rose's eyesight was beginning to recover, and she could make out silhouettes of what was going on. The main sail of the ship had been ruthlessly marred, and now pirates from the attacking ship were taking ropes and leaping over onto the merchant vessel, going hand to hand with the few last slave ship sailors they could find. These pirates were unlike anything she had ever seen, and instead of being frightened of them, she was intrigued. Her sense of adventure was sparked, and she wished she was big enough to join in the fighting. A large plank was lowered, and a hefty pirate led the children to scurry across it onto the safety of the pirate ship. Rose wondered if she too should flee, but Jack told her specifically not to move.

But just as she started to second guess him, she heard, "Rose! Rose!" she turned to the voice, and saw Jack for the first time. She was uncertain whether or not it truly was him at first, because he looked nothing like what she expected; dark eyes, scruffy hair tied back with a red bandana, unnaturally dark makeup around the eyes, and the beginnings of a beard. He held out his hand to her, which was adorned with a variety of cloth ties and rings. "Rose!" he cried. "It's me, Rose. Come on, let's go!"

Rose took his hand, and he hoisted her up again, grabbing a line. "Don't look down," he yelled, and they soared across the waters and landed haphazardly on the other side. Rose was awestruck at the enormity of this vessel. It was brightly colored and intricate in design and form.

Jack let her go and ran to the helm, cutlass hoisted high above his head. "Retreat men! Back to the ship! Give her another broadside and she'll go down with the tide! Leave no survivors!" They took his orders and blasted the ship again and again until it was riddled with cannon blasts. The ship finally did sink, after this last effort.

The men celebrated on deck after the ship had cascaded into the depths below. Jack went back to Rose. "See?" he told her, breathless. "Magic!"

"Magic!" she cried. "I didn't know you were a pirate captain!"

Jack looked impressed. "Well, I wasn't going to say anything, but I..." His voice trailed off when he realized that no one else on board was speaking. He looked behind him and stared directly ahead at another man. This man was older, but looked similar to Jack in that they had a similar style and a similar way of carrying themselves. This man had long hair that was tied together, the dark makeup poring into the skin around his eyes, his coal black eyes which reminded Rose of someone she knew.

"No survivors?" this man asked Jack. "No survivors? Please tell me that wasn't you that made that decree."

Jack pursed his lips. "It was, Captain."

So this was the captain. The Captain pointed out to the sea. "Then what do you call that?"

Jack squinted over the water to where the Captain was referring. On a piece of wreckage, bobbing in the water, was one last sailor, floating on the tide. Jack gulped. "A...floaty...thing?" he replied weakly.

"That 'floaty thing,' is also known as 'a survivor,'" the Captain growled, "And that survivor can float until he hails help from another merchant ship. He then can take back word to his employers about which ship attacked him, and we could have an entire fleet after us within the week." Jack grimaced, as the Captain took his pistol out of its sheath. "Thankfully," he said, aiming the pistol at the survivor, "That won't happen." He pulled the trigger, which caused several of the children to whimper and jump.

Jack looked shocked. "What did you do that for?" he asked.

"You ordered 'no survivors,'" the Captain retorted. "That is not an order that should be taken lightly. And see? We could have all been dead. And for what? A group of orphan gypsies and an insolent boy who cannot stay out of Spanish brothels!"

Jack grinned and winked at a pirate standing near him. "It was actually a convent," he said under his breath.

"Silence!" the Captain roared. "I should have let them take you all the way to Cuba so you could find your own way off that blasted plantation! Teach you a much-needed lesson. And what do you expect me to do with all of these children now?"

"We're taking them to Tortuga," Jack replied.

"Are we? Because last I recall I did not order that, as the captain. My heading was in the opposite direction. Now we have to alter course because of your insolence?"

"Trust me, sir," Jack said, grinning cockily. "I think you're glad you came to rescue this group."

"I had better be," the captain said to him. Then, to the crew. "Make way for Tortuga!" Turning once more to Jack, he said, "And I'll be seeing you in my cabin." Then he walked away, amidst the commotion on deck.

Jack gave an order to one of the men to see to the children that they got a proper meal and a place to rest. He then came back to Rose and took her by the hand.

"Come on, Rose," he said. "You're going to meet the Captain."