Author's Apologies: Sorry for the lack of updates, classes started on January 12, and they've occupied the majority of my time. I'm trying to update as often as possible, but that might not be all that frequently. Thank you for the reviews, they helped keep me motivated. Here's the long-delayed chapter everyone's been waiting for.

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            Jack took his time before retrieving Adriana's belongings from the brig. It wasn't his favorite spot in the boat to visit, and so it was with great reluctance that he finally went below. He brought her things back up to his cabin. He had never seen anything quite like them before; however, Jack obeyed her request for her effects to remain 'unmolested,' and restrained his curiosity. When he reached the door to his cabin, he paused with his fist inches from the door, poised to knock. He felt silly knocking before entering his own cabin. His hand went for the latch, but he paused again. She might get mad at him for barging in on her, and Jack didn't want her hate him. He wanted her to like him.

            "Damned if you do, damned if you don't," he grumbled as he opened the door.

            Nothing was hurled at his head, and no one shrieked at him for infringing on a lady's privacy. Perhaps she was pleased to see him. He glanced around the room for her. To his disappointment, she was fast asleep in his bed. Lying next to her on the floor, he noticed a rather large pile of her clothing. He crept over, careful to skip the floorboards that squeaked; he didn't want to wake her. He deposited her bag and sweatshirt next to the pile she made earlier. He took another step so he was standing at the edge of the bed. Very cautiously he leaned over to verify that she was really asleep. She emitted a slight snore, and Jack flinched involuntarily. He chided himself for letting her snore startle him. His hand inched toward the corner of her blanket. He wanted a better look at her, and if she just happened to be naked at the time, well then that was just an added bonus for him. He gently lifted the blankets off her, revealing her pale skin. Jack's face fell when he noticed she wasn't nude. She wasn't fully clothed either, he reminded himself, and the corners of his mouth turned up in a smirk. She stirred slightly. Jack dropped the covers, turned on his heel, and quickly left the cabin.

            When she heard the door click shut, Adriana turned over and smiled. She caught him red handed. She couldn't help but stupidly grin knowing that he lusted after her just like she lusted after him. She kicked the covers off, letting the air cool her skin. As the day went on, it had become much hotter than the night before. She surveyed the cabin she was in now. It was all wood, mostly finely carved. It wasn't extravagantly large, but it was much more spacious than the cell she had occupied earlier. There were exotic knick-knacks scattered everywhere, among them she could see shrunken heads. Sunlight filtered in through arched, mullioned windows. She could hear the creaking of the ship, the splash of waves, and the muffled shouts and laughter of the male crewmembers.

            As she relaxed in bed, she thought about the events of the past 12 or so hours. She pinched herself to check for consciousness, and left an angry red welt on her forearm. She clearly was not in Kentucky anymore. Try as she might, she couldn't come up with a logical explanation for any of it. She remembered vaguely a book she had read in the fourth grade about a tesseract, but it was fiction. That sort of thing never happens in real life. A Wrinkle in Time, that's what it was called. Time certainly was wrinkled here, she frowned. From the way the people she had seen dressed, she figured it had to be the early 1700's. The best thing she could do was to play along, and find someway back to the cave. The answer had to be in the cave.

            Adriana stretched and got out of bed. She wasn't all that thrilled to be getting dressed again, but she couldn't lie around in the Captain's bed all day, no matter how comfortable it was. There were a pitcher and a basin of water on a table against the wall. Still in her underwear, she crossed the Persian carpeted floor to splash water on her face. She rubbed the water into her eyes to wash away all her smeared mascara. On the table next to the basin was a cloth, which she used to dry her face and wipe away the last traces of makeup. She rummaged through her bag for her toothbrush and toothpaste. Using the leftover water in the bowl, she brushed her teeth to remove the foul taste left in her mouth from dinner the night before. To try to make her hair more presentable, she brushed it out and loosely re-braided it. Finally, she squeezed herself back into her corset and jeans, and jammed her feet into her boots. As she strapped on her belt, she stepped out of the cabin.

            Captain Jack wasn't to be found below decks. Adriana took her time her time wandering around his suite of rooms. Perhaps his varied collection of artifacts could give her some clue as to how she could persuade him to take her back to the Isle de Muerta, as he called it. The way she saw it, that was her only chance of returning back to 21st century Kentucky. She wasn't particularly fond of Kentucky, but it had a few things she couldn't stand living without, like running water and French fries. With the mere mention of fries, her stomach gave an angry growl.  She abandoned her snooping and went out on deck.

            The sunlight assaulted her, forcing her to shield her eyes with her hand. All action on deck ceased with Adriana's appearance. The men in the rigging openly stared at her, making no effort to conceal the wanton looks upon their faces. The only man not staring and drooling all over himself was the Captain. He stood nobly at the wheel, his dreadlocks occasionally whipped back by the breeze.

            "Back to work!" he bellowed as he turned to have a look at the source of his men's inactivity. "Sleep well, luv?" He grinned, flashing his gold teeth.

            "Well enough, thank you Captain Sparrow. I am, however, quite famished. Is there anything edible aboard this ship?"

            "I wouldn't be insulting our cook like that, luv. If ye be thinkin' what ye had last night was foul, just you wait." He shook a finger in her direction for emphasis.

            "My apologies, Captain, it's just that I'm starving."

            "I'll have somethin' sent up to me cabin. Ye best wait there."

            With his dismissal, Adriana went back below deck. While she waited, she browsed the small collection of maps strewn across the table. Some had indecipherable script scrawled on them, some were old with tattered edges, and some were in pristine condition. She was so absorbed in the maps that she didn't hear Jack enter.

            "What are you doing?"

            "Nothing," she sounded like a child caught with her hand in the cookie jar as she looked up with a start.

            Jack narrowed his eyes at her as he set down the tray of food she requested. She had never been completely honest with him, and he couldn't bring himself to trust her. And just now she seemed like she was up to no good, snooping around his maps. He couldn't help but feel she was after something. He eyed her as she ate. She picked at the food, obviously not pleased with it.

            "Somethin' wrong, luv?"

            "Err… no, the sea just doesn't agree with me all that well," she stammered.

            Despite her lack of enthusiasm for salted fish and hard tack, she finished everything on her plate. She drank the rum last, hoping it would wash the bad taste from her mouth. Jack seemed impressed as he watched her down the rum. She smiled at him as she put the cup down. He got up, and after some searching procured a bottle of rum from one of the chests that lined the wall.

            "Have some more, if ye like." He set the bottle down in front of her, but not before he took a long pull from it for himself. Jack was going to get the truth out of her, and to do that, he was going to get her drunk.