Hi guys! Sorry for the wait...

It is a lot colder on deck than when I last was up there. I show Will the hatch and we climb down the ladder and stand in the little corridor before the door. Will reaches out a hand and traces one of the many twisting swirls crisscrossing the door. His hand reaches the keyhole, and pauses for a minute. He bends and examines the keyhole closely. I take a look as well.

"We're looking for an old key," I observe, "quite a big one, probably. The keyhole's battered; it looks like it's been used a lot."

"So an old, big, battered key?" Will asks from somewhere behind me.

"Yes," I call back.

"It won't be this one, then," Will says archly. I turn and look at the key he is holding. It is tiny; probably about three centimetres long, and silver, with elaborate swirls decorating the handle. There is a strange glow about it; not something you could see, rather something you could feel.

"We may as well try it," I shrug. Will places the key inside the huge keyhole and turns it. To my complete surprise, there is a small click and the heavy door swings open. Will turns to me triumphantly, brandishing the key. I take it with a smile, and turn to look inside the room.

I wonder why a room like this was left locked when the mysterious candle room was open for anybody to walk into. The room is nothing special; just a bedchamber, probably a captain's, judging by the furnishings. There are few, but they are lavish. A locked gold-rimmed chest lies on the floor. A large cabinet occupies another corner, and a huge double bed, quilted in rich velvet of a deep red, sits below a small dais with large windows overlooking the sea, currently spilling moonlight into the room. All in all, the room is nothing special. It smells musty and damp. Will wrinkles his nose.

"Hardly worth the wait, was it?" he laughs, and yawns widely. "Do excuse me, Miss Costa; I have not had much sleep. I shall return to bed," and with that he leaves.

I find a candle and matches in a drawer of the cabinet and light the candle. I can't believe that this is all the room is: a long-forgotten bedchamber. I rake in another drawer of the cabinet; it is empty. All the other drawers are likewise. I try the little silver key in the chest, but it doesn't fit. I remember my little cluster of keys and try some of them. To my relief, one rather plain iron key opens the chest. I hold my breath as I delve inside, ready to retrieve secrets of the sea, but all I find is a dusty old book, about three inches wide, and with yellow, curling pages. I hurl the book onto the bed in disgust, and turn to go, but something makes me stop and pick it up. Captain's Log is scrawled on the front in fading ink. I turn to the first page.

Todaye we set out on our voyage, it begins, with the minimal amount of spelling and grammar. I skim through paragraphs of the wind direction and mast types, eager to find something good, but turn the page to find more of the same. I flick further on, but still there is nothing interesting. I reach a page about halfway through the book and the writing trails to a halt. I read the second to last entry.

...and although I have told him many times, he still seemes to Thinke that my daughter is alive and on this Isle. I replied to Him that even if this may be So, I shalle not go looking for Her. She was Taken from me by a Devil-Manne of the Navie thirteene yeares ago and I shalle not beg her back. She will be Poisoned by his Thinking.

Captaine Barbossa has Commanded that we put All the golde pieces back in the Chest so the Curse shalle be lifted. He Knowes we muste acte Quickly as the menne are chasinge us to Retrieve their Girle-friende.

I emerge momentarily. This last paragraph sounds remarkably like the Curse of the Black Pearl. Barbossa... I am sure that was the name of the Black Pearl's captain after Sparrow was marooned. I wonder if the pirate who wrote this knew Pintel.

The last entry is messier, as though it has been written at high speed. It reads: We have completed a Stage of our Planne. We have Stolen a piece of the treasure for, as Ragetti has tolde us that the Manne who stole my Daughter is Alive and Livinge in his Mansion in Port Royale, we shalle be Able to Kille him and all arounde him without having to fear of being deade, as cursed pirates cannot Die. When we reach Port Royale we shalle finde my daughter and take her Away from Him. Then she shall Saile with us over the Sea, and Norringtone will be deade!

My blood runs cold. Norrington. I scrabble to find the date on the front of the diary. It is dated just under sixteen years back. That obviously means that whoever tried to kill Norrington failed, or never got the chance, as he is still alive. I relax for a moment, then I realise, and my heart beats faster than before. I look for the date on the second – last entry. Three years ago. The Curse of the Black Pearl... when I was about thirteen... three years ago! I look for the date on the last entry. It is dated two months ago. I feel sick.

Norrington has always told me my parents were hanged shortly after I was born, but he may have lied, and now I know he has. How many other pirates can there be whose daughter was taken from them by someone called Norrington in a place called Port Royale sixteen years ago? It can't be a coincidence. One or both of my parents is still alive.

However, this doesn't explain why my parents didn't take me away after the pirate raid on Port Royale. It's not as if no pirates saw me; those two spotted me when they carted off Elizabeth.

Wait... Elizabeth! They must have thought she was me! A big mansion in Port Royale... a young girl lying in its grounds... of course they thought she was me. But... they must have thought the Governor was Norrington, otherwise Norrington would be dead by now. Half of me wants to let my parents know where to find him. I don't know exactly how I feel about this. I hate him and he lied to me for sixteen years. But he did bring me up...

My mind is racing. I've always wanted to know my parents, and now I have a chance! But no... I am just tired and delirious. Any minute I shall awake in bed and this shall all have been a dream...

I have to know. I close the book slowly and hold the candle close to the leather jacket so I can make out the name inscribed on the front...

John Costa.

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