Morgan Land

Day One:
It wasn't supposed to turn out like this! Mama and Papa sent for me from the Spanish bay. I was supposed to stay in Belfast until my schooling was finished, but Mama missed me too much.
Still, crossing from the Kingdoms to the Colonies was meant to be simple matter. A long wait on a ship, a storm or two and we were there. Yes, I am a bad luck charm. But pirates? Surely the life of simple Morgan Land was too small a matter to concern pirates!
No, no I am being unreasonable. Our vessels are loaded with jewels, mostly my own though I detest the varmints. So maybe being marooned has one advantage; no jewels and countless hours for swimming. But I still hate captain Hughes. I will never speak to him again, or his bloody son.

Day Two:
Anabella, my maidservant, still insists we bathe every day. Since we are entirely surrounded by men, we have to trek thirty minutes along this god-forsaken island's coast just to get some privacy! Anabella insists that corsets, shifts and bodices are still in order, but I don't see the need.
We are not the only women on the island. Katherinne Hughes, the captain's wife, is also among us. As well there are three chambermaids, and a she-pirate, Anna-Maria.
Anna-Maria is ebony skinned with long black hair. She is the whore of our jailer, Mr. Captain Jack Sparrow. He is the most detestable man on earth! He stinks of rum and cannot walk a straight line without the assistance of his rag-tag crew.
Stupid good-for-drinking-sad-excuse-for-a-captain-hits-on-every-woman-and-me-included git.

Day Three:
Ugh! Mr. Captain Jack Sparrow wont leave me alone! Honest to drunkenness, he is disgusting! Yes, alright, he is only seven years senior to me but you would think a man with a she-pirate whore could contain himself, even if he is a tribute to perpetual drunkenness.

Day Four:
I cannot keep Mr. Captain Jack Sparrow (who requests I call him Captain Sparrow) out of my head! Curses to his charisma!
No, what am I writing? I must stop this.
I spoke with Anna-Maria. I will, with a sigh, admit that she is not a whore, which may, by a sliver of reason, excuse Captain Sparrow's shameless hitting on both myself and Anabella (who is fourteen years his senior.)
And Anna-Maria.
And Katherinne.
And Jacqueline, Laure, and Belle (the chambermaids.)

Day Five:
I cannot believe it! I kissed Jasper Hughes. I kissed the captains son!
It was the rum's fault. I swore I'd never speak to him again, since it was his stupid idea to allow the black pearl to longside us. But I suppose it hardly matters since I've kissed him twice before.
He's about the one age with me, and has curly brown hair. He is admirable, but not to the extent of Captain Spa-
No.
I.
Do.
Not.
Like.
The.
Pirate.

Day Six:
Anabella and I had to give up her corset laces because we needed something to use as fishing line. I'm freeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!
Jasper has still not spoken to me. I must admit that I am relieved; I would be too embarrassed to speak to him now.
Bloody rum.
Anabella and Captain Hughes have been trying to figure out a way to signal the navy to search our island. They cannot set a large fire because Captain Sparrow will notice, and he has good reason to want to avoid the navy.
Still, he owes us freedom. He boards our ship, takes us captive, plunders our possessions, then shipwreck's into jagged rocks!
He says as soon as The Black Pearl is repaired we'll be off. As to where, he did not say.

Day Seven:
It all seems surreal. The Black Pearl is gone. It must have been Anabella, or perhaps Captain Hughes. It was set afire in the night. Not only did the smoke send up a signal, but now Captain Sparrow has no way to retreat from the white sails that now illuminate the ocean all around us.
I should be happy. And I suppose, in a way, I am. But I feel terrible. Mr. Sparrow (whom I no longer have to address as "captain" because he is no longer my jailer!!!) is headed for the gallows. But I miss my family and my old life, and its all Sparrow's fault that I've been away so long. Papa will hang him, I have no doubt. Unless...
No.
NO.
NO!!!
No, no, no, no, no, NO!
I will not meddle around this time.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Morgan seems to be suffering from STOCKHOLM SYNDROME, where a prisoner begins to identify with his or her captors.

Day Eight:
OH BOY-O! OH ME-OH MY! Have I ever screwed myself over now! But let me start at the beginning...
Anna-Maria came up to me as the navy ships drew closer.
"Morgan, please! Cant you make us a bargain?" I looked at my shoeless feet (my shoes were stolen) which reminded me these were pirates I was talking to (because they're the ones who stole my shoes.)
"I am not in any position to strike a bargain, Madame." I said in my most proper and even voice. I held my head level to hers so I would neither seem up nor down. Diplomatic speech. Mama taught me.
Enter Mr. Sparrow.
"Well luv," he spat drunkenly, "looks like you've done a first-rate job of putting my head in a noose." He clapped me on the back and I jumped at his touch, "Well done mate!"
That's what broke me.
Now don't go thinking I've no interest in plea bargains. I'm the daughter of a diplomat and have been bartering lives my whole life, but when Mr. Sparrow summed up this whole thing like it was simple as all that, well that just gave me this awful hollow feeling in the pit of my stomach.
"Mr. Sparrow," I stood on my toes to be at equal height with his drunkard's slouch, "I did not burn your boat, I have not put your head in a noose and who, may I inquire, has summed up that I refuse to help you?"
"But-" Anna-Maria stammered, "but you just said-"
"I said I wasn't going to help YOU." I turned back to Mr. Spa- to Jack.
"Mr. Sparrow-"
"CAPTAIN Jack Sparrow, luv, Captain..."
"Well, fine, Captain Jack Sparrow," I proceeded, "I will help you and your crew in exchange for your hat."
Yep, that's what I said.
I don't know why I said it, it just slipped out.
"You drive a hard bargain, Miss Land." he said. "I'll buy you a new hat. A real nice one."
I thought a moment. "Fine, that and one of your beads."
He smiled. He had so many gold teeth. "Agreed!"
His handshake was firm, and I trembled while we shook.
"Right then," I said "follow me."

Day Eight Continued:
When my father's ship, The Imprintor, anchored offshore some, Jack and his crew hid themselves within the jungle. Such a cover is fine, but only for about three hours. So I called for help and pretended to be hysterical. Papa was quickly brought ashore and could hardly contain his joy at finding me. I must admit that for some reason I was not at all happy to see him, what with thoughts of Jack and Anna-Maria ebbing on my mind. By the time I was on board and in a stateroom "recovering", the redcoaters were searching the jungle. All of them, every single one. Bloody fools.
That in itself made it oh-so-easy to slip down into the barrack prison.
I know the cells inside out, and I know how easy it is replace the hinge nail-pins with embroidery needles. It swings plain and easy- for about four times. It's easy for prisoners inside to remove them without making noise, so long as someone has bent their ends up. Which, may I add, I did rather well.
Then I stashed Jack's dagger under a sliver of wood.
Done.
As I crept back over the twilit deck to my room, I could see the silhouettes of the crew being clapped into irons and dragged to boats. Jack among them.
So now I'm alone in an atrociously over-furnished state room, waiting.
And wouldn't it be fitting, I have only Jack's bead on a leather chain to keep me company.

Day Nine:
Has a boy ever told you that you've thrust a dagger into his heart and killed him? Jasper Hughes used to say that to me. He said I'd broken his spirit, and he would always love me. He said I'd pierced his heart.
Now I really have.
And I've left the Imprintor in a rower with a crew of pirates.
And I've made my life go off in a totally different direction.
And I will never be able to see my parents again.
And worse than all that is what I said to Mr. Captain Jack Sparrow.

Day Nine Continued:
I was waiting in my room by the door, fully clothed and armed with a stolen pistol (don't even ask.)
When I heard the commotion outside, I flung the door open. There was Anna-Maria fencing a redcoat, Mr. Cotton shooting a decker, and Jack cutting the ropes of a rower.
Oh, and Jasper Hughes threatening him with a dagger.
Jack Or Jasper.
Sophie's choice.
So what was I supposed to do? "Jasper?" I cried, "Jasper, stop! No, stop!"
He didn't stop.
I pulled out the pistol. Someone called my name in the distance. Jasper drew closer to Jack. I breathed hard.
I pulled the trigger.
Jasper Hughes fell crumpled on the floor. Anna-Maria whipped past me and grabbed my arm as she ran. The rest is a blur, but somehow I ended up in a fleet of seven rowers headed back to the island I had just left.
Yeah, life is good.

Day Ten:
When dawn broke we pulled the boats up on shore and scrapped together a shelter out of palm leaves. Then I hiked out down the shoreline to the spring where Anabella and I used to bathe. I removed my new corset and my hairpins, which served nicely as rigs to make my own small bathing shelter.
I was barely done folding my gown when I heard a rustle coming from the pathway. As I spun around (in nothing but my shift), my bead flew off it's leather chain and into the pool.
I stared into the rippling water. The bead was gone. I uttered a foul oath under my breath.
"That's not the kind of language you'd expect of a lady, now is it?" I reeled around and lost my footing.
Splash.
I jutted my head up a notch and saw Captain Jack Sparrow standing next to my bathing shelter, laughing.
"You," I spluttered through my mass of wet hair, "you made me loose my bead!"
He laughed again. "If I recall correctly, Miss Land, that would be MY bead!" This time I laughed too. I raised my hand in his direction.
"Here, help me up." He took my hand and I pulled him in with me. "Hah, that shows you!" He didn't come back up. "Jack... Jack?"
HE SPAT IN MY FACE!
He actually spat water in my face!
I spluttered again through my dark wavy hair. He grabbed my shoulders and pushed me under. When I struggled back up, I fumbled for his shoulders and accidentally grabbed his beads.
"Oy, luv, you lost yours of your own accord." I brushed my hair away from my eyes and looked into his. "Why you want that bead is beyond me."
"It's not the bead I want," I said without thinking, "it's the pirate."
I stared into his eyes. He wrapped his arms around my waist. They seemed to fit there so perfectly. He leaned closer to me.
Suddenly remembered my parents, and I remembered that I would never see them again. And I remembered that it was all the fault of this pirate holding me in his arms like I was his own.
He leaned closer to me. He was going to kiss me. So he thinks.
"Sorry, Jack."
I drew a breath. As he leaned in closer I ducked out of his arms and under the water. I swam away faster than I'd ever swam before.
I had just blown off the infamous Captain Jack Sparrow.