Tonight separated Rachel from the last day she would spend as Miss Swann. The day after tomorrow, she would have to get used to a foreign name. She had never sent for Clayton because he had given her the perfect excuse why she didn't feel like it. That wasn't even really an excuse – she really wanted to be alone.

The curtain in her room blew inwards energetically, and Rachel got up from the bed to close the window. Under the window, jasmine clung to the wall of the house. Rachel closed her eyes and breathed in the scent deeply.

The view outside showed a slightly choppy sea, lit only by the half moon. Rachel felt as if one spot in the water was blacker than the rest. It was too dark to tell exactly and she thought nothing more of it.

However, she could not ignore the desire to go to the sea. She had always liked the sea. Tonight, however, it pulled at her relentlessly, as if it were calling her. The thought of the wedding day did not help to fight this desire.

Sweat broke out even though it was pleasantly cool. Her heart was beating up to her throat, and she could not banish the restlessness that had kept her from sleeping for hours. She paced up and down, but even that promised no rest.

Rachel sighed, slipped out of her long nightgown into a simple dress and put on a pair of trousers and boots underneath. With an oil lamp in her hand, she left her room and crept down the stairs.

Simon – one of the servants – stood guard at the front door. He was watching through a window next to the door how the wind tugged at the palm trees.

Rachel hurried past behind him and headed straight for the spacious gents where the governor received his guests. If it was still like it used to be … yes, the window in the room could be opened silently. She herself had never done that in the few years she had spent here. But Elizabeth had often used this exit and shown it to her.

Tension fell from her shoulders and she set about climbing out the window. She had not yet placed her feet on the grass outside when a bright clang behind her drowned out the steady rush of the wind and revealed her to be a clumsy one.

Reflexively, Rachel closed her eyes and then hurried to run behind the corner of the house. Simon had certainly heard the noise and would go and see. So she waited for a while, with her heart pounding and the pleasant wind blowing in her face and calming her thoughts a little.

After hearing the window being closed again, she waited a little longer and only then went downstairs towards the stable.

The night wind increased in force and when she arrived just outside the stables, which were in darkness, Rachel couldn't say for sure whether it had caused her cheeks to become wet or whether she had actually been crying.

Speaking soothing words, she approached the stable to draw the horses' attention to her. Snorting sounded from the stalls, and movements produced rustling in the straw. The smell of it and the warmth in the building reassured her.

Rachel hung her lamp on the outside wall of her chestnut mare's box and lit two more.

"Shhh. It's all right," she whispered and rubbed the animal's forehead.

She tried to talk herself into it more than she did her mare, who was looking out completely calmly.

Only the taste of salt on her lips made Rachel notice the tears dripping from her chin. And this time she couldn't blame the wind. Her shoulders shook and she looked down at the ground.

Routinely, her fingers performed all the grips while she bridled the mare, and she sorted her thoughts and feelings.

The sea – she had wanted to go to the beach.

Just as she was closing the girth, the chestnut mare jerked her head back energetically. Rachel paused and listened in the corridor of the stable. She did not take her eyes off her horse's ears. They twitched in all possible directions and then pointed forward.

Rachel's arms grew heavy and she hardly dared to breathe. How long she stood there like that on alert she could not say, but when a horse snorted from one of the neighbouring boxes, she expelled the breath she had been holding shallowly and unhooked the chain to lead the horse out.

She put out the lanterns. Outside, the clouds that had dimmed the light of the moon had disappeared and lanterns, wind and stables were not a good combination.

The horseshoes clattered too loudly across the floor, and Rachel pulled her shoulders in as if that would lessen the noise.

From outside, the wind blew in and tore at her hair. As long as it stayed dry, the weather was perfect for a night ride.

Before she left the stable, she heard another undefinable sound just outside the entrance, and her mare's ears also almost touched at the tips as she stretched them forward. Again Rachel froze into a pillar of salt and the wild beating of her heart upset her even more. She swallowed hard.

"Is anyone there?" she called out, not really wanting to be loud.

She stepped over the threshold outside and looked along the wall of the stable.

At first, she didn't really notice the figure leaning against it. Only when a hand was raised and waved playfully at her did Rachel realise the man, and she cried out while wincing so much that she jumped briefly.

Her mare neighed and reared. The man who had just been leaning so calmly against the wall hurriedly backed away from the panicked snorting animal. The horses in the stable joined in the din and Rachel tried to calm her mare, who was still jumping up and down like crazy, prancing around her in circles and tugging at the reins.

Rachel didn't have the slightest chance to hold the horse and was pulled along when it decided to run away down the sandy path towards the beach. Rachel let go of the reins and slowly opened her cramped hands. The insides burned like fire.

Then she remembered the man and jerked her eyes open and her head up. Jack Sparrow's face reflected her terror, but he overcame his more quickly.

"Dear, small but valuable tip: if you sneak out at night, you should have nerves of steel, not just silk."

Her heart was still racing around in her chest, but Rachel hurried back into the stable and tried to calm the agitated animals. At least she succeeded that night, and after a few minutes it was quiet again.

Jack had followed her slowly, but kept a conspicuous distance from the horses and also regarded them with much suspicion.

"Treacherous beasts," Jack muttered.

Rachel's nerves of silk snapped completely at this remark, and over the rising anger Rachel forgot that she had been afraid of Jack a moment ago.

"What are you doing here?" she snapped at him, and while he leaned his upper body back in surprise and raised his forefinger, she was already running back outside.

Rachel did not feel as much fear around him as she did on the ship. Maybe the home advantage. All she had to do was scream and he would hang from the gallows … besides, she had other things on her mind. She had to catch her mare, and she didn't want to make a fuss about someone coming here and finding her in the stable. The loud chaos in the stable could well have been noticed. Then one of the two stable boys would show up here soon. Or – they had better show up here, otherwise they were doing a miserable job.

Rachel clenched a fist angrily, her thoughts scattered in all directions. The horse – the horse first, she tried to admonish herself.

Jack ran after her and caught up.

The shock of the last few minutes acted as a trigger for Rachel to give free rein to her despair and anger about her impending marriage. Something she had tried so hard to suppress.

Jack kept pace with her, even though she was almost running.

The anger that was there because her life was being decreed over her head was now mixed with the anger directed at Jack. He could do absolutely nothing right in her condition, and when he leaned towards her with interest and asked if she was crying, Rachel stopped instantly.

"No! I'm not crying. In case you haven't noticed, the wind is quite piercing!"

Defensively, Jack raised his hands in the air and followed her again, barely hurrying on in the direction her mare had disappeared. The pirate even found the breath to yak to himself as he went.

"Somehow I thought you would be more interested in finding out why I am here. Or else run away screaming. You run away – but not screaming. I won't keep you in suspense any longer … you know, I'm at risk of being seen and imprisoned right now. I'm afraid this is not one of the waters around Port Royal … in case you missed it."

"You know what? I couldn't care less right now why you are here or if you are incarcerated. My horse has bolted and I want to find it."

Jack pursed his lips.

"The beast has no name?"

"Not yet, no."

"How about Beast?"

Rachel looked at him even angrier from the side as she followed the sloping path that led to the beach. The bushes, which repeatedly provided splashes of green beside the wide path, rustled incessantly. That, plus the pounding of the foam-covered waves from the sea below, made it almost impossible to hear anything.

Finally, the pirate shut up and Rachel reached the beach in this conciliatory silence. She stopped and looked around. Jack elbowed her in the side and pointed to a spot in the sand where prints could be seen. The wind and the sea brought about what would have taken her hours to do herself, calming her mind gently but steadily.

Rachel exhaled through her mouth and finally she no longer felt the heartbeat pressing so hard against her ribs. More slowly, she followed the trail, which went on and on and then got lost as the water washed over them and was eventually swallowed whole by the sea.

"Would you be interested in a little tour?" Jack asked incoherently, as if it were perfectly normal.

Rachel let the question sink in, her steps slowing until she finally stopped and looked at Jack. She expected fear to reach for her heart again as she tried to find his intentions behind the pirate's dark eyes.

But neither did she shudder, nor did her heart make unpleasant movements, nor did sweat form on her hands and forehead for the umpteenth time that night. Even her thoughts remained calm. As if the huge fright Jack had given her had taken away all her future fears and anxieties about this one pirate.

It felt good to be able to face him so fearlessly.

"Why should I?" she asked him.

Jack shrugged.

"Boredom? I'm not quite sure about that myself yet. But to give a finely defined answer: You can come along voluntarily or I … how can I say it nicely …"

"For how long and you assure me to drop me off here again?"

That sounded more thoughtless than Rachel felt. All she could think about right now was the upcoming wedding and the trouble she had no doubt got herself into tonight. It would have to border on a miracle if the thing with the horses had gone unnoticed.

Yes, she felt like escaping – escaping from the day after tomorrow. And even though she didn't believe in coincidences, it was like an invitation from fate that Jack was here with her, offering her an escape.

He looked at her curiously and appraisingly.

"You are a spoilsport. I was prepared to wave my sabre in front of you. Just a little trip – tell me when you want to be back here and that's how it will be … I had missed you."

The last words sounded … different – embarrassed. Rachel didn't know Jack well enough to expose that as a lie or to attribute it to actual shyness. Whereas he had never done anything that could be attributed to shyness …
Rachel narrowed her eyes and remembered that tiresome dice game where he was so good at deceiving others.

She listened deep inside herself. Her intuition shrilled alarmingly like a siren inside her and yet she had already made up her mind.

"Wasn't I just a brilliant opportunity to collect an overpriced ransom?"

"You are a breathing human being. How could I reduce you to an opportunity?" he asked with that cheeky and charming smile.

"Deal? You'll bring me back here?"

With a grimace, he looked down at the proffered hand and leaned his upper body back. His fingers moved in the air and he punched.

"Aye deal."

"Good. Find the horse, take it back to the stable, and in an hour or so we can meet here. And just so you know, I will write a letter and slip it into Elizabeth's room. It will have your name on it and that I went with you. If you do anything to harm me, the Royal Navy will hunt you down. Agreed?"

Jack pretended to be unconcerned and nodded.

"Agreed."

He accompanied her until she saw her chestnut mare in the distance, trotting lightly across the sand, head held high.

Relief crept down Rachel's spine with a calming effect, and at last she could turn to the sea without worry. She tasted the salt in the air and watched the waves play, amplified by the wind and accompanied by a roar. For a few seconds, Rachel allowed herself to close her eyes, then she remembered Jack standing a few yards behind her, not even trying to hide the fact that he had just been watching her.

Rachel ran up to the mare and had no trouble catching her. The neck was barely covered with sweat as she stroked the coat several times with her hand. Rachel looked around searchingly. There was nothing here that she could mount.

She caught Jack's eye, who was standing a fair distance away from the horse.

"Could you help me into the saddle?"

Jack shook his head and hesitantly approached the horse.

"If you don't get mad when my hand slips," he said with the experience of having caught a slap in the face for less cheeky remarks.

As a precaution, he did not approach her any further for the time being.

"You know how to lift someone, don't you? Like thieves helping each other over walls."

"I'm a pirate, not a thief," Jack said, offended, yet he held out his hands to her. "You don't happen to read contentless prose, aye?" he then inquired, and Rachel blushed.

Jack nodded. "How else would you know how thieves climb over walls … and no, they rarely do it that way. Walls are to be avoided, and often you are better off alone."

Rachel gathered her dress, and she couldn't help but notice how Jack leaned back to stare blatantly at her legs. When no skin was revealed but a pair of trousers and Rachel placed her left foot on his hands, he looked at the sea with a mixture of disappointment and annoyance. As if he was too good for this if he was not rewarded accordingly.

As he pushed her up, Rachel couldn't help but smile because she had never met a man so indecently lacking in all decency.

Rachel raised an eyebrow as she sat side-saddle and Jack held the stirrup ready for her.

With a disgusted grimace, Jack looked at his hands. He moved away from the horse and took some sand, which he rubbed to clean his hands. Then he looked at Rachel and his eyes sparkled.

"One hour. If you don't show up, I'll assume you've been imprisoned for so disobediently leaving your estate at night."

Rachel had finished getting the mare ready for a well-deserved night's rest, having convinced herself from a safe distance that there was no one in the stable. She left the building again with her lamp and practically ran into Elizabeth, who was waiting outside alone.

"Where are you going?" asked Elizabeth.