"Rose!" a husky albeit shrill voice snapped. "Always shirking yer chores in the mornin'! Get yerself to the kitchen at once, ye worthless, blasted..."

Rose stopped listening there. She had learned to shut her mind off from hearing the insults slung her way by Mrs. McHenry. McHenry and his wife meant well, but they were not adept at caring for a girl her age, let alone for two years more than they ever expected to care for her.

Rose did not increase her pace, though Mrs. McHenry's orders persisted. She did start listening again once the burly woman grabbed Rose by her hair sharply. "And fix this dirty mane of yers!" she barked. "Though me customers are being served by a no-account gypsy orphan, they don't need to be made aware of this straight off!"

Mrs. McHenry released her, and Rose mumbled a begrudging, "Yes ma'am," and rubbed her scalp. As she entered the kitchen through the creaky door, her eyes met a pair of gleaming ones.

"What are you smiling about?" she growled.

The owner of the eyes was a boy her age, with short brown hair and a happy face. His name was Benjamin McHenry, and he was the son of the tavern keeper, Mr. McHenry. "She caught you again," he said.

"And this gives you glee?"

Ben smiled again, "Why don't you just fix your hair straight off in the morning? It'll at least save you the pain of her pulling it out for you!"

"It's not that..." she muttered.

"Oh don't let her get to you!" said Ben, nudging her shoulder encouragingly. "Josephine is all bark and no bite!" Josephine McHenry was not Ben's mother. His mother had died in childbirth, taking his unborn brother with her when he was only three. His father had remarried not four years later, though Ben was personally not a fan of his step-mother. "You should know that by now!" said he.

Rose shook her head, looking up at him. "No, it's not Josephine."

Ben nodded understandingly. "The Black Pearl, isn't it?"

She shook her head sadly. "It's been so long...you don't reckon he's in any danger do you?"

He shrugged. "We can't be sure." He treaded carefully on his next question to Rose, already anticipating her reaction. "I'm only worried that...perhaps, he's...forgotten?"

Just as he suspected, Rose sharply turned to him. "Jack would never forget me!" she firmly stated. "He won't go back on his word! He swore!"

Ben backed away. "Alright!" he said supportively. "Then if that's what you think, I'm sure he'll be here soon!"

"I'm sorry," said Rose guiltily. "I just...I can't take much more of this place."

"Neither can I," he replied. He looked around, then lowered his voice. "Does your offer still stand?"

Rose grinned. "Yes!" she cried. "When Jack finally comes, you simply must come with me!"

"Come with you where?" a gruff voice interjected.

Rose and Ben were startled by the sudden appearance of Mr. McHenry. Both began to stammer, searching for a lie until Rose finally said, "To...the docks! To fetch the new barrel shipment!"

Rose knew that this lie was at least valid, for it was Ben's daily duty to go down to the docks and fetch barrel after barrel of wine and liquor to restock the bar for the evening.

Mr. McHenry furrowed his bushy, grey eyebrows at this. "Who said you could go?" said he to Rose.

Rose opened her mouth, though no answer surfaced.

"I did, Father!" Ben said on her behalf. "I promised her that I would teach her how to move the barrels!"

McHenry bristled. "How hard can it be? You take a barrel, roll it up, go back for another!" To his son, he scoffed, "Why do you need a girl's help? You're not growing soft on me, are you, boy?"

"No, Father," Ben replied, face flushed. "I just...could use the company."

McHenry shook his head. "Get Veronica or Marie to help you. They're bigger than Rose is."

Rose interjected, "But Veronica and Marie have to clean the tavern from last night! They are far too busy."

"Aren't you supposed to be cleaning the tavern as well?" McHenry said skeptically. Rose was sheepish at this revelation, but finally McHenry broke under the pleading gaze of his son. "Fine," he groaned. "But mark me! If we lose a single barrel because of the work of a novice, both of you will be cleaning the tavern on your own, while Veronica and Marie get the day off. Understood?"

The children were elated despite the threat, quickly thanked McHenry, and raced each other to the docks. Once they arrived at the ship, it was quite simple for Rose to catch on to the duty at hand. Ben handled the payment for twelve barrels, then one by one, they began rolling them back up the hill into town.

"I think Benjamin McHenry is a fine pirate name," Rose said to her friend on their third round of transporting the heavy containers uphill.

"You think? I find it too commonplace. You don't think something like...like, 'Ben the Buccaneer?'"

Rose shook her head. "It's not nearly as commonplace as 'Rose Teague.'" She stuck her tongue out at the name in disgust.

He laughed. "Commonplace? Who else do you know with the name, 'Teague?'"

Rose didn't answer him, thinking to herself precisely who had the name Teague. Jack wanted to disassociate himself with the family name, and that was therefore a good enough reason for her too to want separation from it. If Teague didn't want anything to do with her, why should she then carry around his name as a constant reminder of that fact?

"What was it?" Ben asked, disrupting her thoughts. "That name you used to make up when we would play Pirate? Hex-something?"

"Hexfury," said Rose, embarrassed. "And no, I'm not using that!"

"Why not?"

"First off," said she, "I thought it sounded fearsome years ago! Now it's just silly! And second, I couldn't go around with a name like, 'Rose Hexfury.' People will think I'm an angry witch!"

Ben stopped his barrel and made it stand upright, though they were only halfway back to town. Rose followed his lead, though she was unsure of why they had stopped. Suddenly, Ben sprang backward and hid behind his barrel. "Quick, Miss Hexfury!" he exclaimed. "Ghost pirates are attacking! We must retaliate!"

Rose laughed, rolling her eyes. "Aren't we a bit old to play Pirate?"

"I'm not!" he yelled, peering over the barrel. "Besides, this is our last chance to play without any real peril! Soon these adventures will be the rest of our lives!" He reached his arm over his barrel out to her. "So what's say you, Rose Hexfury?" he asked. "Will you join me aboard the Black Pearl?"

Rose grinned, taking his hand and joining him in their game of make-believe. "Just imagine the adventures we'll have!" said Ben. "Now! Let's give those knaves a good blast from our starboard cannons!"

"Aye aye, Ben the Buccaneer!"

Through their play, Rose couldn't help but swallow impending sadness. Ben was right, soon this childlike bliss would dissipate into very real violence and danger. And even more frightening, what if Jack really had forgotten about her? Ben was so excited to leave the tavern on Tortuga. What if that was never meant to be?