A/N: Ahhh, the map! Mystical! And Jack?!?!? He lashed Sage, oh my God! He's so mean! Why am I saying this? I'm the writer! Here we go. . .
Chapter Five: The Map
The crew left Sage alone the following day, they could all see the gashes thorugh her shirt, and they kept a fair distance from their Captain too. Benjamin was the only one to speak to Sage nearly all day.
"How many did 'e give ye?" he asks on deck.
"Three," Sage replies. "Nothin' like ten."
"I'm alrigh'," Benjamin says.
"Good. Everone's steerin' clear of me today," says Sage, mopping the top deck.
"Aye, I don' think anyone knows wha' ter say to ye," Benjamin smiles, "They're no' usually like this. He don' often ge' the cat ou'. So when 'e does everyone's always talkin' 'bout it."
"He doesn' normally use it?"
"Nah," says Benjamin. "He's a pretty good Captain. Treats us righ' ye know?"
"Yeah. So wha' are the crew sayin' 'bout me amongst themselves?" Sage asks.
"Jus' tha' yer wi' the Captain. Most think ye're no' jus' 'ere because of tha' map ye 'ad."
"You think I'm sleeping with 'im?"
"Tha's the general word round the crews quarters, aye."
"Well you can tell them I'm not. I asked 'im wha' he wants from me, 'e said he doesn' wan' anythin' from me, nothin' abou' the bloody map or nothin'."
"The map's wha' he wants. He probably wan's yer for 'is whore too, bu', ye don' strike me as the kind tha'll let him 'ave tha'." Sage smiles at him.
"No, I'm no'." They stand in silence for a moment.
"Wha's yer ship like?"
"The Silver Bell. She's not as big as this, I've got a smaller crew, bu' they're a good crew. We ge' on alrigh'. We're no' as 'umane to other people though. We've done a fair bi' o' plunderin'. We were goin' after the treasure of Cortez, before we knew abou' it's, afore we knew 'bout it. Glad we didn' now."
"Ye know abou' the Captain's adventures then?"
"Aye. Know 'bout them. Wha' 'bout me crew? Did ye kill all me crew?" Sage asks with some urgency in her voice, amazed she had never asked earlier.
"No. Captain took ye, we left good few of 'em. Ship weren't left in bad nick either, couple o' cannonholes, bit o' scratched woodwork, tha's abou' it," Benjamin comforts her.
"Hopefully they'll ge' to a port then."
"When ye plunder, wha' de ye do wi' it all?"
"We share it out, pretty equally," says Sage.
"Aye, bu' ye're a female pirate, ye don' spend yer money on whores, or dresses, wha' de ye spend it on?"
"Most of it goes back into the ship. 'S'everthin' I go'."
"I'm sorry 'bout yer crew, an' yer ship, an' bein' 'ere," Benjamin offers. Sage smiles and puts an arm round him.
"Thanks, tha' means a lot."
"Ye after more lashes, Creal?" comes Captain Sparrow's voice across the ship.
"No, Captain," Benjamin says and quickly resumes his work. The Captain comes up to Sage.
"I need ye in me cabin," he says, she puts the mop down on the deck and follows him, where he's set up the map he took from her, surrounded by other maps and pins.
"I wondere' when we'd ge' round ter this," Sage says, siting on the edge of the bed so she can see.
"Wha' did ye mean when ye said tha' I couldn' work ou' the map wi'out ye?"
"When did I say tha'?"
"When ye were in tha brig."
"Oh. I jus' said tha' so ye didn' starve me, an' let me outta the brig," says Sage. "I haven' a clue wha' it means. There's a few Spanish words round the edge, and a few English in the top corner, but I don't know enough of either to work out wha' it says."
"Ye know English."
"Can' read it though."
"Aye. So, wha' can ye read?" Sage steps up to the Captain and looks over his shoulder. She traces a finger over the words.
"Singing," she says.
"Singin'?" asks Captain Sparrow.
"Yes, this Spanish bit here. I'd hardly looked at it when our ships met. Isla de Cantar."
"I've 'eard of tha'. 'S in the middle of the ocean."
"Tha's what I thought. Isla de Cantar then?" she asks.
"Aye, Isla de Cantar."
