Sorry for the late post, I'm on a training course for the next three days so will have to post in the evening. I must also announce after Wednesday there will be no new chapters until the following Sunday/Monday, 24th/25th (depending how travelling goes) as I'm on holiday.

I know things are very traumatic right now but it will tie up all the loose ends and make the happy ending all the more happy...

SPOILERS - this week - Questions are asked, clues start to come together and David finds out more about his captors.

...

Kendall sat on deck looking out across the water towards their next port of call. They had been island hoping, asking at the local villages about sightings of the pirate boat. So far they had very little information, but a couple of fisherman told them about two strange boats at a trading post a few islands over. It was their first real lead.

"Hey cuz." said Reggie taking a seat beside her on deck. "How are you holding up?"

"I'm fine." said Kendall. "We're going to find them!"

Reggie nodded and patted her knee. Kendall had been a wreck when Bianca's brace had been pulled from the water. He thought maybe then and there she was going to give up and accept that Bianca was gone. Jackson had been the one to dismiss it. He wasn't going to give up on Erica and his determination was pulling the rest of them along with him. The navy was focused on the wreck and they had no idea what the local police were doing. If they were going to find Erica and Bianca alive and well it was up to them. Reggie did wonder how much faith Kendall had left in this whole expedition but she wasn't backing down. Reggie wasn't either. He'd made a promise to his father and he was going to keep it.

"We'll get something this time, I can feel it." he said.

"I hope so." said Kendall sadly. "We are running out of places to look."

…

The village they moored at was little more than a cluster of grass huts beside a jetty. The only notable building was the corrugated iron trading post built beside the settlement's only road. This was where the fisherman had seen the sailors from the two strange boats trading for fuel.

They found the owner of the trading post wasn't a native. He was a thick built Australian with long greasy hair and an eye patch making him look more like a pirate than any of the island raiders had. He gave them a hard look as they entered until his eye settled on Kendall.

"What can I do for you." he asked, gesturing expansively to his half empty shelved, "Finest goods within a hundred miles of ocean."

Jackson pulled a substantial wodge of money from his pocket and placed it on the counter.

"We're actually looking to buy information."

"Information you say." the man said eyeing up the pile of notes in front of him. "I guess that depends on what sort of information you want."

"We're looking for my mother and my sister." said Kendall stepping forward. "They were taken!"

"I heard about that." the man drawled. "And I heard they were at the bottom of the sea."

"Well, we are looking for facts not rumours." said Jackson, picking up the money and making to put it back in his pocket.

"Now hold on a minute. You yanks are always in such a hurry." the man said desperate to keep the money in sight. "Now I said I heard that… but what I know is that two boats came to fuel up here. One rusty hulk that was barely floating… wouldn't take much to sink… and one very nice yacht. I didn't get a close look, mind. They weren't the sort you get curious around, if you get my meaning…"

"There was a yacht here?" Jackson asked pulling the cash out from his pocket again so the notes just showed.

"Oh yes sir, and it was nicer than yours." The man leaned forward, his eyes not moving from the money. "Very expensive. Like I said, I couldn't get close but you don't need to when you own a telescope… I might even have it's name."

Jackson pushed the money back out of sight again.

"Only might?"

"No, no, no…" begged the man, "I mean definitely, I definitely have a name."

"So what is it? Jackson asked, his hand unmoving.

"Something Spanish-y; the Tiro de Gracia from the port of… not Penelope Cruz but like it…Vera Cruz!"

"Veracruz? And the yacht was definitely with the other boat?"

"Definitely." He looked expectantly at Jackson's pocket.

"And did you see the boat again?" Reggie asked.

"No… I didn't." The guy was looking a little desperate now that the money wasn't reappearing. "But I do know more. Like… like… that your two women are not the only two women to go missing…so maybe the two in the ocean aren't the two that were took..?"

Kendall, Reggie and Jackson all shared a look; that gave them hope.

"Anything else?" Jackson asked.

"Ah come on!" exclaimed the guy, still watching Jackson's pocket. "I've given you plenty. Give me something in return!"

Jackson pulled out his bundle of cash and separated about a third from the stash and placed it on the table.

"What I gave you is worth more than that!" the man exclaimed.

"Not to me." said Jackson.

"What if I could give you a name?" the man asked. "I… might have overheard them talking. I can give you a man's name."

Jackson halved his stash and held it out to the man, although just pulling short of handing it over.

"Well!"

The man looked at the money greedily but didn't speak. Jackson added another five notes to the bundle.

"Just a hundred more?" The man asked almost quivering in anticipation. "It's worth a hundred more!"

Jackson added two more notes and the man grinned contentedly.

"Norrell. They talked about a Dr Norrell."

"Thank you." said Jackson as the man snatched the cash away. "It has been a pleasure doing business with you."

…

…