The next day proved to be more successful. Filled with renewed determination she had woken early, hammered out another hook and woven a stronger line, stomping down the beach with a steely glint in her eye that promised vengeance on any fish that refused to jump onto her hook. The fish still avoided it for quite some time, long enough for her resolve to start to dim, but eventually she got a bite and managed to haul in a fair sized fish that to her inexperienced eyes was quite the largest anyone had ever caught. She grilled it on her stones and gorged herself on its flaky white flesh and crispy skin, safe in the knowledge of its guaranteed freshness.

Having seen some of the insect life crawling around on the forest floor she was motivated to construct a hammock, weaving a fairly sturdy platform of plant fronds around some of the rope she had salvaged from the wreck. The first trial was a tense experience but despite some ominous creaks and settlings both her knots and the base held. She quickly learned the limits of movement her new bed allowed her, by dint of falling unceremoniously to the floor on several occasions, but despite an array of colourful bruises that now covered her legs and shoulder the hammock proved to be a much more comfortable resting place than the ground.

Despite her fears she also made several tentative forays into the forest, ignoring that odd sensation of not being entirely alone and on one occasion found a clutch of eggs, and on another saw both some sort of duck and a drift of small wild pigs at a distance. She considered how she might catch both but decided that she had a much more realistic chance of catching a duck than a pig. She didn't have any idea how to construct a snare but thought perhaps if the ducks had few natural predators she might be able to stalk one and kill it with her dagger. She knew she needed meat. A diet of fruit and the odd fish she managed to catch was not providing her with enough nutrition and already she knew she was losing weight. Her wrist bones were jutting out, the bones sharp against her skin. She felt weak all the time, even the simplest task was an effort and at this rate she knew she would starve to death before anyone found her.

She was still working out the details of her plan when she arrived back at her camp and stopped short at the sight of a leaf laid on her hammock with a cluster of ripe purple berries sat in the middle. She looked wildly around, expecting to see someone but again there was nothing to be seen. The beach stretched emptily into the distance in both directions. She looked back at the berries and they were still there, looking delicious. She approached cautiously, alert to any movement but aside from the rippling of the trees in the breeze there was none. She picked up one of the berries and examined it carefully. She didn't really know what she was looking for, it looked like a berry, not one she was familiar with but a berry nonetheless. It tasted like a berry she found when she popped it in her mouth, tart and juicy, and while it was still fruit it was at least something new. It was only when she was half way through them that she suddenly wondered if perhaps they were poisonous. There was nothing to indicate they were and she couldn't explain why someone would leave her a gift of poisonous berries, they would only have to look at her to realise she wasn't a threat. It was clear now that she was being watched by someone, someone who had possibly filled up her water cask when she was ill and now had left her some food. Those didn't seem to be the actions of someone who wished her harm so she finished the berries and hoped that at some point soon she would have the opportunity to thank whomever it was who had left them. The opportunity was not long in coming.

The man was sitting on the sand a short way down the beach when Sarah woke a few days later, arms folded loosely around his knees, staring at her shelter. She got quickly to her feet and waited but he didn't say anything. He was a tall man, heavily muscled dressed in loose fitting linen trousers and a dirty looking shirt with a number of leather thongs and beads around his neck. His hair was a sandy blond, cut short so raggedly she assumed someone must have done it with a knife. There was a week or more growth of beard on his chin but she thought he looked a similar age to her. Although he appeared to be feigning relaxation he wasn't doing it particularly well and the coiled awareness of his demeanour made her tense and eye him warily. She couldn't tell if he was trying to appear casual as a kindness or because he had some more nefarious intentions, but his inability to do so added to her unease.

'Hello?' she called, the lengthening silence making her uncomfortable. He continued to stare at her but didn't say a word. Sarah inched her hand down to pat her pocket, to feel the reassuring weight of her knife. She considered running but by the look of him he was fast and she was not, she knew she wouldn't get far. She tried again.

'Are you my mysterious benefactor?'

This time he gave a short nod and squinted to look at her better. It was a response at least. Emboldened she took a step forward and then stopped as he tensed.

'I am just glad I now have the opportunity to thank you. I was getting rather tired of those yellow fruits.'

'Are you here to kill me?' he said in rough voice, like he hadn't used it in some time.

'Pardon?' Whatever she had been expecting him to say it had not been that.

'Did they send you to kill me? I thought someone would come eventually.'

Sarah almost laughed at the absurdity and couldn't help saying rather dryly, 'They would probably have sent someone slightly more effective.'

For the first time he met her eyes and she thought she saw his lip twitch, although his expression remained blank.

'Who are you? Do you live here?'

He nodded, she assumed in response to her second question, and then clearing his throat said, 'Billy, Billy Bones.'

'Does that mean there is a settlement some whereabouts?'

'No, it's just me…and now you' he said shaking his head. Sarah's heart sank, his appearance had given her such hopes.

'Is there a way off the island? I was shipwrecked you see but I was on my way to Nassau and I still need to get there.'

'There is no way off this island.' His tone was hollow and a frown pinched at his brow. She nervously considered the idea that he might be lying but she was loath to interrogate him too hard, that coiled intensity was still there and she wasn't quite sure what she dealing with.

'Surely ships land here sometimes?'

'No ships,' he said baldly. 'I'm not even sure how it is you came to be here.'

'No ships…ever?'

'No.'

That one syllable, so unequivocally bestowed was her undoing.

'Oh dear, this is not good. Not good at all. What am I to do?' she all but wailed, falling down heavily on the sand and putting her face in her hands, her breath coming out in short and uneven gasps. She could feel hysteria building, a tightness in her chest and the threat of a sudden loosing of her almost uncontrollable emotions. She looked up to find he had stalked quite a lot closer but she was too caught up in her turmoil to pay him much attention.

It was a mistake.

'Why are you here?' he asked.

'I came to find my husband. Oh God.' The thought of the man who had cast her aside made the lump in her throat grow larger. How would she convince him to take her back if she couldn't find him? This was a worse situation than she had been in in England and there was no way out now. She had made her choices, choices she now realised were stupid and senseless, and now she would have to live with the consequences.

'Your husband? In Nassau?'

'My husband, Woodes Rogers, Governor of Nassau.'

The way Woodes' first marriage was dealt with really annoyed me when I was watching Black Sails. His wife got barely a mention and then suddenly he has ditched her and is married to Eleanor. It made me wonder what her feelings might have been when her husband presumably sent her a letter to inform her of their divorce and this story is the result. #justiceforSarah.

I did a bit of research so some of the details are taken from history but others I have altered/ignored for the sake of the story so if you are looking for historical accuracy, umm, sorry?