It wasn't long before I slowed my dash to a more inconspicuous walk. I was getting far too many strange looks from everyone else on the street, including some from an overly suspicious navy officer, who even went as far as to ask me if I was alright.

"Yeah—Yes—I'm alright, sir," I stammered in reply, still trying to catch my breath. He stared at my swollen cheek, apparently unconvinced.

"I was only running because I'm rather late. You see, I promised my mother I'd be home before sunset and now the sun's very nearly set and I'm on the wrong side of town and I was only supposed to run a short errand but—"

"Very well, miss," he interrupted, clearly uninterested in my rapidly spun lie. "Are you in any need of accompaniment for the way back? These streets are not the place for a young lady such as yourself after dark."

His patronizing attitude was getting quite irritating. "No sir, I shall be fine."

"Carry on, then," he said, walking away and finally leaving me be. But after another half hour of wandering the streets of Port Royal in the waning daylight I began to regret not asking the officer how to get to the smithy. I was not familiar with this part of the city: on one side of the wide street were huge, looming warehouses, and on the other side was the actual port of Port Royal, where about a dozen ships docked, waiting to be reloaded with cargo from the New World and sent back to Europe. Now the streets were mostly empty, as the sailors and porters who worked there by day had all gone to their homes or to a pub or where-ever.

I turned randomly on to another street, hoping to see either the smithy or Jack or anyone who could point me in the right direction. What I found was the Prancing Parrot, a small, nondescript inn wedged between two warehouses. I went in, vaguely wondering if whoever named this place had ever seen a parrot prance. The inn was crowded with salty sailor-types. I made my way toward the bar in the back and sat down.

"What can I get for you, dear?" the bartender asked kindly.

"A ha'pint, please," I replied.

She returned with my drink and asked, "So what's a young thing like you doing out here?"

The sailor sitting next to me leaned in and added, "There are pirates in these parts, missy! In fact..." at this he lowered his voice, "Rumor has it the Black Pearl is back in Port Royal."

"I've never heard of it," I said coolly, taking a sip of my ale.

"Never heard of it?!" he exclaimed. "'S only the most deadly pirate ship in th' Spanish Main!"

"An' it's captained by the most dangerous pirate in the world!" slurred another sailor sitting on my other side.

"Who?" I asked, even though I was well aware of the answer.

"None other than Jack Sparrow!"

It seemed every sailor at the bar had heard something about Jack.

"I've 'eard 'e's a jonah and can conjure wrecks from the depths of Davy Jones's locker!"

"'E escaped from seventeen East India agents!"

"'E's richer than the kind himself!"

"He sacked Nassau Port without firing a single shot!"

"The French were defending Nassau--- a bunch of children armed with sling shots could have sacked it!"

Everyone laughed at this, except for one sailor who replied in a thick French accent, "I've heard that he disappeared from a heavily defended British fort on the day of his execution!"

The sailors continued to talk about Jack as I asked the bartender how to get to the smithy. She gave me the directions, I left a coin on the bar, and slipped out of the Prancing Parrot.

"Maggie should have been back hours ago!" Jack said anxiously. He was with Will, at the smithy.

"She'll come! Calm down, Jack," Will assured him. Jack still looked nervous.

"I'll bet Dunnmore has something to do with this! I swear I'll kill him when I find him!"

"I thought you were going to do that anyway," Will said.

"Don't you have a sword to polish?" snapped Jack, who was getting very annoyed with the whole conversation.

"I've never seen you this nervous," Will observed. "There's not anything between you and Maggie, is there?"

"No! There isn't! And I'm not! And it's none of your business anyway!"

Will laughed at Jack's outburst. "I didn't think it was possible! Jack's actually in--"

"I'm not!" Jack protested. "And I don't have to listen to this! I'm going to find some rum."

He strode across the smithy and swung open the door and stopped. "Maggie!" he said in surprise.

"Hello," I said, a bit surprised myself. I was just about to knock when the door had opened.

"You're a bit late," he said, grinning.

"I got the map," I said, smiling back.

Suddenly Jack reached out and hugged me. I held him back, wishing that I never had to let go. Will suddenly started coughing rather pointedly. Jack let go of me and gave Will a very dirty look, which he didn't think I saw.

"So let's see that map!" Jack said, suddenly acting like an infamous pirate captain again.

I handed him the map and he studied it, and muttered, "I know where that is!"

We would leave the next morning. I couldn't wait to be back on the Pearl.

[A/N: For everyone who cares about that sort of thing: I am terribly sorry about the 1st person/3rd person switch.
For everyone else: don't forget to review!]