It was an early spring morning. Too early, in my sleep-deprived opinion, to be up and scouring the Lady Jaquelene's living cabin for any evidence of dust or dirt. Not as if there would be dirt, as we were on a ship, crossing from England to Port Royale on the Oro Bello. I had to admit that early mornings in the Caribbean were much prettier than those in England. The sky was a brilliant blue, the sun sparkled on the blue-green water, and a warm breeze gently lifted the flags on the topmast of the ship.
Unfortunately, when you work for someone like the Lady Jaquelene, there is no time to admire the warm beauty of an early tropical morning. Lady Jaquelene was the daughter of Sir Richard Dunnmore, a noble-born merchant, whose wealth was rumored to be the greatest in all of England, second only to the King himself. Lady Jaquelene led a life of incredible wealth and privilege, and, as a result, was an absolute priss. She always insisted that her rooms be swept and dusted everyday, and I was usually the one who had to do the dusting and sweeping. I took one last look at the brilliant Caribbean sunshine and with a sigh stepped into the dim cabin. Lady Jaquelene kept most of her clothes, some furniture and other belongings she used everyday in this room. I pulled opened the curtains to let the light in and grudgingly started my chores, feeling mutinous toward my employer. Only Sir Dunnmore would be able to afford a ship so large his daughter could have two rooms, one for her to sleep in and one for her things.
But for as much as I despised working for the Dunnmores, there was one chore that I almost enjoyed. Every day I had to polish the mirror inside her wardrobe, which gave me the perfect opportunity to admire the dozens of beautiful dresses Jaquelene owned, the finest I have ever seen anyone wear. There was one dress inside this wardrobe that was by far the most exquisite. It was The Dress that was designed just for her to wear at her debutante ball when she arrived in Port Royale. I had been fascinated with The Dress since I first saw it, and since then I was constantly staring at it, always wishing I could be the one who went debutante ball, wearing The Dress, dancing with the most handsome man in Port Royale. And it was this morning (of all mornings!) that a sneaky idea crept into my head. What if I, just for a few minutes of course, tried on The Dress? Lady Jaquelene was asleep, and she would be for another few hours. Everyone else had his or her own business to attend to; no one would be near this cabin for quite a while. What could it possibly hurt?
Tentatively, I slid into The Dress, and gasped at my reflection. The effect the dress had on me was amazing. It made even my messy braids and plain shoes look like the height of Parisian fashion. I spent a good while admiring the affect of The Dress, the way the skirt spun every time I twirled, the way the color made my eyes look greener and generally prettier than they normally do. I tried a flirtatious smile at my reflection, and saw myself at the ball, being admired by all of gentleman and envied by all of the ladies.
A sudden crash outside and the sound of men's shouting brought me abruptly out of my daydream. A few gunshots went off, and a voice I didn't recognize was yelling something. Forgetting about everything else, I rushed toward the door and flung it open to see what was going on, and screamed. Pirates! Chaos ensued on the main deck, as a group of pirates climbed from their ship onto ours and fought our sailors fiercely. The Jolly Roger flew ominously over their ship.
Suddenly, someone came from behind me and grabbed me around my waist and pulled me out of the doorway to the center of the deck. I screamed and kicked until the pirate put something cold and round on my temple and I knew right away that it was a gun. I stopped midscream.
"NOBODY MOVE!" Yelled the pirate from behind me.
The fighting stopped instantly. I could see Sir Dunnmore in the crowd staring at me, and then looked at the pirate, and looking like he was about to faint. He kept looking from me, to the pirate, back to me again, obviously wondering what the blazes was going on. I silently cursed myself for my puerile game of dress-up. I just had to try on that stupid dress. And now I was going to end up getting shot.
''Well, well, well, if it isn't Richard!" The pirate said, sounding a little shocked but nonetheless menacing. "Fancy meeting you again!" he snarled. "Well, I don't intend on harming the darling Miss Dunnmore if and only if you and all of your crew do exactly as I say."
I stared at Sir Dunnmore, pleading silently for him to not give me away. For what purpose would the pirate have in keeping me alive if I was not a valuable hostage? He'd simply shoot me and find the real Lady Dunnmore.
Fortunately, Sir Dunnmore seemed to be thinking along the same lines, and simply replied, "What do you want?"
"I want everything in the hold, Richard. That should be quite a fortune, if I remember correctly."
Sir Dunnmore blanched, but to everyone's surprise gave the orders to the crew without question or protest. "You heard him!" He shouted to the crew, "Everything below deck! Comes up!"
The crew, looking very puzzled at the strange behavior of their Captain, nonetheless followed orders and went below deck to retrieve the cargo. I fervently wished for them to move faster. All I could think about was how incredibly stupid I was. Why did I have to try on The Dress? Why did I even leave the safety of the cabin? Meanwhile pirates and crew alike were bringing all the cargo up from the hold. And there was a lot of cargo. There was all of the luggage, as well as a full shipment of wine from England. Sir Dunnmore never missed an opportunity to make a profit.
"That is everything," Sir Dunnmore spat, "Now kindly return my...daughter." He put a lot of emphasis on "daughter".
But instead of releasing me, the pirate said softly, "Richard...you know and I know that thar be more beneath yer ship than that."
Now Sir Dunnmore was looking very strained. "See for yourself, there's nothing."
The pirate pulled back the hammer on his gun, making a very ominous click. My heart was pounding, and I could barely breathe from sheer terror. I braced myself for the shot.
"What's more important, Richard, yer business or yer only daughter," the pirate challenged.
Sir Dunnmore just stood there speechless, never taking his eyes off the pirate and me. I was beginning to think this was all a horrible dream. It was absurd to think that there were really pirates! Actual pirates! Attacking the Oro! And me in Jaquelene's dress! It was so crazy I could have laughed, if I couldn't feel the cool pressure of the pirate's gun against my temple, ready to shoot.
"Very well...You leave me no choice but-" He stopped suddenly, as if changing his mind. "Tell ye what. There's an island several miles north of this very spot. You bring everything else you be keeping in that hold of yourn to said island in exactly one weeks time and I'll return your daughter." He backed up slowly, still keeping his gun to my head and his arm around my waist. He shouted to his crew, "Back to the Pearl gentlemen!"
Suddenly realizing what was going on, I started to scream, "NO!! I'M NOT--" But before I could finish, he lifted his gun from my temple and hit his gun against my head, and everything went black.