A/N - Heres the next chapter. Thanks for all the reviews, I'm glad you are enjoying the story. Feel free to leave a review or send me a PM. Enjoy the chapter...

Chapter Nineteen

And so Annamaria settled into life at the harrowing Star, she endured four months of sleepless nights, morning cleaning and afternoon wandering of Tortuga. She had saved up thirteen shillings from the allowance given to her by Molly, and was happily contemplating what she would do when she had enough money saved up to leave the Harrowing Star. She rarely saw Molly except in the early morning, and then the woman would disappear and not turn up again until opening time at three. Until that time, Sarah would take care of any guests who were spending the night at the inn, supplying breakfast and collecting their bill.

Annamaria had finished mopping the floor, she was much quicker at it now, and didn't even mind tackling the grime that seemed to fall there. It had been a particularly bad night, and to her disgust she found herself mopping up blood. But once that was finished and the chairs and table were stacked neatly, the girl stared longingly out of the clean window at the sunny day beyond. Sarah was in her room with Arnold, and Annamaria had to hold the fort until she got back, this included dealing with the guests.

As she said good day to the last of the guests, Annamaria added the last of the money to the money pot, and slinked out through the door. The yard was empty, and there were no horses in the stables. That was perhaps why Arnold had more time to spend with Sarah.

Annamaria was half way out when she noticed a coat slung over one of the stable doors. The visitor must have left it when they collected their horse. She was sure they'd come back for it. She pulled it down and slung it over her shoulder. Lost property was left in the bar, and if it wasn't collected within the day, then Molly would claim it as her own. Waste not, was her motto.

She double backed and returned to the bar, as she stepped through the door, she heard the hushed voices of Arnold and Sarah and stopped to listen. She knew it was wrong to eavesdrop, Tobias had told her that plenty of times, but Harriet on the other hand told her to get anywhere in life she needed to know what other people were up to. It was much better to listen to a situation and assess it, rather then walking blindly into it.

"That stupid woman stays out all day." She heard Sarah say.

Arnold laughed. "Are you sure she won't notice?"

"Listen, a lot of money has been collected this morning since the overnight guests left, she won't have any idea how much is missing!" Sarah insisted. Her voice had changed, it no longer droned and slurred as it once had done. And she was talking properly, no longer dropping letters with her strong Caribbean accent.

It then occurred to Annamaria that since she had arrived at the Harrowing Star, everyone had been playing a part. Molly was playing the barmaid, when really she was rarely in the pub, Sarah had been playing the worthless drunk, when she was actually quite intelligent and had been playing to rob Molly all along. And as for Arnold, well he had been playing the protector, warning Annamaria against stealing from Molly, when he was plotting with Sarah to do that very thing. Annamaria backed away disgusted. She had seen Jack steal before, the worst being when they were in the church, but nothing was as bad as what she saw before her. Mainly, because Jack didn't steal off those who had helped and trusted him. (Except perhaps, Annamaria).

She sneaked a glance at the pair of them. Sarah had emptied the money pot into her selfish fist and was gloating happily over the contents. "And you know who'll get the blame, don't you?" She demanded, gleefully.

Arnold raised his eyebrows, as he pocketed his share of the money.

"That foolish little urchin that Molly took from the streets. She'll be out of here in no time. She almost caught me the other day, horrible suspicious girl that she is!" Sarah said, quickly.

We'll see about that! Annamaria thought, angrily. She had been thrown out of her home for something she hadn't done once too often, and she wasn't going to let Sarah take this away from her.

As soon as Sarah and Arnold had left, she sneaked up to the pot, and lifted the lid. It was much lighter then this morning, and many of the coins had been taken. She plunged her hand into her pocket and pulled out the vast collection of shillings she had saved since when she had first arrived.

Her fist unclenched and she emptied the coins into the pot. Now, that she was sure Molly wouldn't notice, it was time to sort Sarah and Arnold out. This was war.

The next morning, both Sarah and Arnold were extremely surprised that Annamaria was still there. Sarah looked on the point of cracking, and asking Molly why she hadn't thrown her out. But she kept her tongue, and just looked daggers at the little girl instead. Annamaria smiled sweetly in return, and was as nice as possible to the two of them that morning. She took Arnold out a drink of water (it was a very hot day, and he had a full stable) as well as helping Sarah with the delivery. The pair were bewildered, but did not dare to ask.

This was far from over; Annamaria had not sacrificed her own money to help those who had been plotting against her. They were trying to get her kicked out, well, she was going to go one step further; she was going to get them kicked out.

It was a beautiful day, the sun had arrived early that morning, lighting up on the compulsory chaos that was Tortuga. It lit up the dark doorways where the homeless and drunk had spent the night, bringing warmth to their alcohol filled bodies. The women were no where to be seen, and only a few children paraded the streets, trying to earn a few shillings by offering to help the taverns with shifting the drunks, or aiding with deliveries.

There was a seven year old girl who was trying to sell some flowers. Annamaria felt really sorry for her, after all if she hadn't found the Harrowing Star she could be out on the streets, selling her wares to survive. She desperately wished she had a bit of money left to give the girl, but walked passed her with a smile. The girl did not return it, she was sure there had been a sale there.

It was lunch time when Annamaria returned to the Harrowing Star, she took some bread from the kitchen and made herself a quick lunch, before running up the stairs and knocking powerfully on Sarah's door. There was no answer. Sarah and Arnold had gone out.

Annamaria returned to the bar area, and the first thing she did was check the money pot., there were a few shillings missing but nothing that Molly would take much notice of. She may even have taken it herself. Annamaria took a deep breath before returning to the yard to put her plan into action.

She had never been very good with horses, Tobias had insisted that as a lady she should learn to ride, but after a very disastrous first lesson, he told her to stay away from his horse and his stables or he'd make her sorry she was ever born.

"Jack would be proud of me." She said, softly to herself with a cruel little smile. And with that she approached the stables. Her small hands fumbled with the bolt that had been drawn clumsily across the stable door. She opened the five doors in turn, and the horses fled out. They pranced around the yard, bobbing their heads at the freedom she had granted them. One, however, bolted straight out of the yard and into the cobbled streets, she heard a scream as the horse tore down the cobbles.

"Follow him! Follow him!" She insisted, ushering the other horses towards the streets. "Now we'll see who gets thrown out."