"So tell me, friends. Have you heard of the lost settlement of Roanoke?" Vane asked over dinner. His voice was tinged by an upper crust drawl, like someone who had all the time in the world, and all the power in it too.
"Sounds somewhat familiar," Jack said, but Will, Elizabeth, and William seemed slighty lost. Seeing this, Vane went on.
"Of course it happened long ago, nearly 200 years ago. There were a group of men sent to settle in America. They disappeared without a trace. Nobody knows what happened to them . . . except for me, that is. For I have discovered a personal log of one of the settlers. They were taken away by a spirit guarding a great, great treasure." The word 'treasure' had piqued Jack's interest.
"Treasure, you say?" he asked, suddenly curious.
"Yes. The gold of Cortez and the jewels of Pizarro would seem like trinkets compared to this."
"How do we get there?" Jack asked. Plundering Spanish ships was not as lucrative as it had once been.
"It's quite easy. Just head for the Carolinas, then follow the directions. I've been planing a venture myself. Only, there are two small problems. One, I haven't got a ship; and two, the island of Roanoke itself is haunted by spirits trapped on this earth. Of course, I shan't bore you with the details..."
"Did you say there were spirits trapped on this earth?" asked Will. It was, after all, his duty to ferry lost souls to the next world.
"Well, yes. The amulet in which the lost souls of Roanoke are trapped lies in the very same place as all the treasure. They were never properly ferried to the next world, or at least that's what they say. Oh, if only there was a way to free those poor, poor souls," Vane said woefully. Will looked at Jack, and then at Elizabeth. Elizabeth caught the glint in his eye and frowned.
"Will, no," she said sternly.
"Hm?" Vane looked at her quizzically. "No what?"
"Will, I know what you're thinking," Elizabeth continued. "And you simply can't--
"We could use the Dutchman," Will said abruptly. "I must help those souls." Vane looked at him with mild shock.
"Well! Mr. Turner, you are most kind, but I really must agree with your wife on the matter. It is a most perilous voyage, perilous indeed, and I should hate to drag you into my own affairs. I only mentioned it as dinner conversation."
"Actually, Vane," Jack said, "I've been wanting an adventure. And since dear William has a ship that he is readily offering. . ." he raised an eyebrow.
"Oh goodness. No, no, no. Listen, it's only a silly plan, a fleeting fantasy. If I'm to face the deadly dangers that lie before that bountiful treasure and free the poor souls trapped upon that island, then it is not my place to implicate my childhood friend and his companions."
Elizabeth nodded in agreement. "And besides, Will, you're only allowed one day on land every ten years. What are you going to do once we get there?" Will frowned. He hadn't thought of that.
"If I'm on land for the purpose of freeing souls. . ." he said and trailed off.
"Careers always have loopholes, don't they?" Vane asked pleasantly.
"So it's settled," Jack said quickly, hoping to deter Elizabeth, who glared.
"No," Elizabeth said, "it is not."
"Elizabeth is right," Vane said. "She knows a ship is no place for a woman." This touched a nerve and Elizabeth sat up straight.
"I beg your pardon, sir, but if you think that my being a woman is going to stop me from sailing on a ship then you are very mistaken!" she huffed. "Will, we're going." Vane's eyebrow raised in surprise.
"Well, if that is what the lady wants, then that is what we shall do! How well provisioned is your ship, Mr. Turner?"
"She's fully stocked, and moored just out on the bay."
"Wonderful! I have the map in my salon. I'll just fetch it and we'll be off." Nobody commented of the brusque nature of the negotiations, for they were all too excited.