Sorry for the extremely long wait everyone. Jack plushies to all the faithful, patient readers!!! Heehee.

Chapter 9

"And who's this?"

Katherine roughly jerked her forearms free of the grips of the strange men who had brought her to where she now stood and raised her eyes to an older one that now loomed in before her.

The large hat atop his head gave away that he seemed to be the superior to the others surrounding them. His eyes were rather small, his nose the predominant feature on his face, the sort someone gains from the consumption of too much alcohol. A graying beard seemed to make up the bottom half of his visage, not completely covering his mouth, but hiding it to a certain extent. He was tall, at least six feet, and yet Katherine sensed that his height was not what gave off his intimidating air.

He studied her carefully and curiously, head to toe in a very ungentlemanly manner (not that she expected anything more from him). "Where'd ye find 'er?" he asked, the question obviously directed at the two pirates still standing behind her.

"Out by the docks," the shorter and more portly of the two stated, taking a handful of her hair and running it through his fingers almost reverently. She cringed. "Figured by the attire she'd fetch a few shillin's."

"Mmm, more'n that," the leader agreed, still appraising her appearance. His brow was furrowed in concentration and she wondered fleetingly if he was trying to place her somehow, her expression turning as bewildered as his own. "What's yer name?" he demanded suddenly.

She didn't reply, glancing around at the many others who had gathered around the four of them as their captive audience.

"Cap'n asked you a question, missy," said the first of the two that had taken her, the one who had told where they found her.

She turned her head toward him when he said this, then back to the captain. "Katherine," she finally revealed. What did it matter? She had already given her first name to the other two when they were still on land, in hopes that compliance would gain her freedom.

"Have a last name, do ye?" the aging man asked.

"Weiss."

He nodded and she got the impression that he was confused again. "Never heard of ye."

"And what is your name Captain?" she returned. "Seeing as you apparently plan on keeping me here, I might as well know who I am conversing with."

A grin pulled at the edges of his mouth and he cocked an eyebrow at her confidence. "Barbossa," he said easily, though when she thought about it, there was no reason he shouldn't give his own name. "But Captain'll do just fine."

She considered his own exterior look, then spoke again. "Never heard of you," she echoed. This earned her another smile. "And what ship would I be aboard?"

Barbossa clapped a hand down on the railing of the ship that she took to be as old as him by the chipped paint and woodwork. "This be The Black Pearl. No faster ship in the Caribbean, no matter what the Navy boys tell ye."

Katherine swallowed nervously and took the time presently to thoroughly study her surroundings. The Back Pearl. The ship her mother had mentioned. Jack Sparrow's ship. Her…father's ship.

Her eyes returned to the Captain as she took this new information into account. Was he giving her a false name? Was this her father? The idea terrified her momentarily, but after looking him over again, she quickly dismissed the idea. While her mother's description of Jack Sparrow had been laced with apparent fondness and was therefore not entirely trustworthy, this man did not in anyway fit the bill. Even after her calculating exactly the effect time would have had.

So why was he the captain?

"Heard of the ship at least, I see," he said suddenly, startling her slightly.

She nodded, still somewhat dazed. "Yes."

He shrugged. "Not surprising." He glanced around them, his eyes falling briefly on anyone in their path before they rested somewhere over Katherine's shoulder. "Boy, c'mere!" he yelled.

Katherine turned when she felt someone else approach behind her. A young man, older than herself, but only by a few years by her guess stepped past her and stood beside the captain, obviously awaiting some form of instruction. The only word Katherine could think of to describe him was dark. Not simply in appearance, but so far personality as well. Black hair and damn near the same color eyes. His skin even had a darker tint, more than a good tan and her best assumption of his lineage was Gypsy.

"Take the girl down to the brig," Barbossa ordered, seizing Katherine's upper arm and shoving her toward the subordinate. He caught her uneasily, then, nodding to the captain gripped her by the wrist and began leading her across the deck in the opposite direction.

She reluctantly followed him through a door near the back of the ship that lead below deck, the down a flight of rather rickety stairs. When they reached the first landing of many, he stopped, darting his eyes back up the steps the way they had come as if checking to see if someone followed them, then he turned to her.

"Sorry 'bout this," he apologized, causing her to stare at him quizzically. "He's not exactly one for polite treatment of hostages."

She shook her head, still bewildered by his behavior. "I…"

"Katherine, isn't it?" he clarified, ignoring the fact that he received no confirmation from her. "I'm Isaiah."

She suddenly recalled her mother's word when she had insisted that pirates must be vile.

Not all.

He continued leading her down another staircase and she figured the brig must be in the absolute bowels of the ship. Arriving at the bottom level, he jerked open the creaky door of one of the cells and rather than shove her in, held it open for her.

Leaning her head in, Katherine inspected the interior, rather dismally.

"Relax," Isaiah insisted from behind her. "A few days; it'll feel like home."

She flinched at this, hesitantly stepping inside. "That's what I'm afraid of."

All about Isaiah will be revealed in due time, but REPLIES first! lol