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So he cooked and cleaned, scrubbed the galley and sorted the ship’s limited foodstuffs, and by sunset he was so tired that he could barely stand

In the corner of the galley, bloody pelican feathers and the proud creature’s bones sat ready to be flung overboard All thoseand gutting it,the most of the carcass--had prepared hi the bird a difficult task, and the compliments fro to lessen the i that the dead bird had provided an enjoyable meal to these bastards made Jack despise himself, just a little He could have spat in the lass inside--a e for the bird’s death But instead, he did the best that he could It was all part of his instinctive effort to survive, and he was sure the bird would understand

By the ti across the western horizon, and the sea had risen into a heavy swell The sails slapped in the wind, and rigging rattled as the Larsen dipped and rose Maurilio stood silently at the wheel, ignoring Jack and staring up at the h clouds A few others were on deck, but there was no sign of Ghost nor, to Jack’s continuing dise, and he knew that she was somewhere close

Jack tipped the waste bucket over the side and bade a final farewell to the pelican Then he descended to the galley, blew out the oil la for the past few hours, and settled into the galley’s tight sleeping nook, which still smelled of Finn Ghost had moved Jack from the sailors’ cabin in the forecastle, at least

Midnight, he promised hi, he slipped into an exhausted sleep

Jack snapped awake and sat up, and soing his hands up to defend hi his bare feet striking wood He paused, listening and sensing There was nothing He was alone, and the night his head in that confined sleeping space

He gathered his senses, breathing in the foul scents of stale cooking that peralley, however much he cleaned The ship creaked and rolled, and aon a wall hook scraped back and forth across the bulkhead, back and forth, a metronome that had aided his sleep

No tialley work surface, scooping a ritty and warm but quenched his thirst He’d need a clear head for as to coalley lay the mess, and in the other direction, at the ship’s stern, the captain’s quarters and several other smaller cabins Johansen kept one of these, another was the chart roouessed Sabine ate the in his exploration of the ship

The way he had it figured, the pirates had snatched at least six people from the Umatilla There couldn’t be many places for them to be hidden away, and it was time now to find them And then what? Steal a boat, roay across these vicious seas? But that was a proble where they were must be his first step

He left behind the old boots Johansen had provided for higed on board the pirate ship As he took his first step out of the galley, an iht hi in his bunk with eyes wide open, hearing and sensing everything that happened on his ship and s the short, dark corridor Ghost’s door was out of sight in the shadows, but the weight of his presence was undeniable Jacksothe captain’s attention his way

A single weak oil la shadows But Jack heard no breathing or snoring and saw no sign of anyone sleeping behind the benches or beneath the table

Once through the ain at the foot of a staircase Up the stairs, through a small hatch, he would reach the open air He could breathe more freely up there, and yet he knew that Ghost would always post a watch, even in the dead of night So the decks or doing other sailors’ duties He could not afford to be caught now He had not been locked away, yet he suspected the punish would be severe

Jack closed his eyes and gave his senses free rein That underlying scent of old wet animal was just as prevalent here as elsewhere The ship rode the sea, dipping and shifting in rhyth stretched and hummed with tension, sails slapped at the air And somewhere above him, casual footsteps trod the decks

For the moment, he would need to remain belowdecks That suited him, because the prisoners would not be found topside He needed to explore the ship’s hold

Jack bypassed the staircase and approached the forbidden door It was not locked The hinges creaked and he shoved it quickly, darting inside and closing it behind him He squatted in the darkness and held his breath, and slowly his vision i the gangway, castingeither side to take away any water that cah It smelled of the sea

With soway seemed darker than ever He walked slowly, crouched down, listening for any movement that would indicate he had been discovered There was none … but there was so the dark air, and he sensed an awareness brought alert by his arrival

Stepping softly, breathing through his ht He looked up before passing through, expecting one of those pirates to be staring down at him with a blade in his hand But he was still alone

He stopped at the first door set into the bulkhead to his left It was a heavy, wide door, bolted shut and locked with three iron padlocks The hinges seemed to be embedded in the bulkhead, and Jack was sure he could see, in the cracks between ti the door’s inside surface He raised his fist and alht be used to iht in the air before lingered here as well, but even more powerfully It was as if the wood itself stank of it, and for abehind the door But when he reached out with his senses, searching for so but the o, like the quiet of a bear’s den when the beast is out hunting and er to leave that strange door behind

The second door in the hold area was smaller and nowhere near as secure, and Jack sniffed at the crack between door and fraetables, sea biscuits and flour, and heard the cackle of chickens startled by his arrival

Footsteps above Jack froze and shifted along the corridor, out of the weak splash of h the grille The sailor moved on, and it was as Jack approached the third and final door that he began to hear the whispers

He froze, head tilted to one side, and for a mo so strange about this ship, and he’d already entertained the possibility that the prisoners were dead, and that he alone had been kept on as…

As what? A cook? For the moment perhaps, but that had been the result of Finn’s punishment, and not part of Ghost’s initial decision to separate Jack from the others Had he been kept aside for so? No, because there was so more than amusement in Ghost’s eyes when he looked at Jack The captain of any ship was kept apart from his crew by virtue of his position, but Jack had noted al in Ghost’s eyes and hinted at in his words Could it be that he truly did want to discuss Hawthorne, or other subjects about which his creere doubtless woefully ignorant?

The whispers cah Jack could make out no individual words, their desperation was obvious He pressed his ear to the door and listened, and now he could catch snippets of as being said inside

"… get rest…"

"… do so soon…"

"… kill us, like they did…"

"… ransom…"

"… I’m scared!"

These had to be the prisoners from the Umatilla

Jack scratched at the door and the whispering stopped They’ll think it’s rats, he thought, but then realized that he had seen no rats aboard this ship Not one

"Hey, in there," Jack whispered, pressing his mouth to the space between door and frame There were two bolts here, but he could tell fro between boards that this door was not lined withthe corridor to that first, ht be inside