"Come up on the deck, Miss Amelia, and see what the horizon has in store for us." Mr. Gibbs, Amelia's guardian, took the girl's arm and brought her up to the deck. She saw Elizabeth Swann on the bow. She was singing the old pirate song.
"Cursed and bad luck to have a woman on board."
"I am a woman, Mr. Gibbs."
"You were raised by a pirate. That counters bad luck." Mr. Gibbs walked over to Miss Swann and put his hand on her shoulder. She jumped.
"Quiet, missy! Cursed pirates sail these waters. You don't want to bring them down on us, now do you?"
Elizabeth looked frightened. A sharp voice from behind them startled Amelia. "Mr. Gibbs! That will do."
Lieutenant Norrington stood with his usual posture; straight back, arms behind him.
"She was singing about pirates, sir. It's bad luck to be singing about pirates with us mire in this unnatural fog. Mark my words."
"Consider them marked. On your way." The lieutenant dismissed the other man with a wave of his hand.
"Aye, Lieutenant. Amelia, you stay here and play with Miss Elizabeth." She hated that. Elizabeth was ten, and Amelia was fourteen. Far too old to play.
"I think it'd be rather exciting to meet a pirate." Elizabeth spoke to the lieutenant.
"Think again, Miss Swann. Vile and dissolute creatures, the lot of them. I intend to see to it that any man who sails under a pirate flag or wears a pirate brand gets what he deserves. A short drop and a sudden stop."
Amelia knew exactly what the man meant, but Elizabeth looked behind her, where Mr. Gibbs mimed hanging himself with a noose. She gasped. The governor, Elizabeth's father, came to the bow.
"Lieutenant Norrington, I appreciate your fervor, but I'm, uh, I'm concerned about the effect this subject will have on my daughter and her friend."
"My apologies, Governor Swann."
"Actually, I find it all fascinating," Elizabeth said. Amelia rolled her eyes. The governor's daughter had no idea of the ways of the world. Where she had read of pirates in books and been told stories by the women in the market back in London, Amelia had lived that life.
"Yes. That's what concerns me. And you, Amelia? Do you find it fascinating?"
"No, sir."
"No?" Elizabeth asked. "How can you say so?"
"I do not find it fascinating. I could not bring myself to care less about pirates."
"Good. See that you stay that way." The lieutenant left.
"I don't understand how you can not be excited by the thought of pirates. They live on the sea, they pillage to make a living," Elizabeth argued. No one on the ship, save Mr. Gibbs, knew of Amelia's upbringing.
"They steal from innocent people, and they care for nothing but treasure."
"You are so ridiculous. What is that?"
Amelia saw a pretty lacy parasol float by the ship in the water. It was followed by a few pieces of adrift debris, one of which held a small, thin boy who was unconscious.
"Look, a boy, there's a boy in the water!" Elizabeth shouted. The lieutenant looked over the rail.
"Man overboard! Man the ropes! Fetch a hook! Haul him aboard!" The men hauled the boy aboard, and Elizabeth and Amelia went to inspect the situation. Lieutenant Norrington checked to see if the boy showed any signs of life. "He's still breathing."
"Mary, Mother of God," Mr. Gibbs muttered. They all looked up. There was a ship in the distance, burning down to the sea.
"What happened here?" Governor Swann said.
"It was most likely the powder magazine. Merchant vessels run heavily armed."
"A lot of good it did them," said Gibbs. "Everyone's thinking it. I'm just saying it. Pirates."
"There's no proof of that," Governor Swann answered.
"Rouse the captain immediately. Heave to and take in sail. Launch the boats." The lieutenant was taking a search party to look for survivors.
"Elizabeth, Amelia, I want you to accompany the boy. He'll be in your charge. Take care of him." They nodded and walked over to the boy. He suddenly awoke and grabbed Elizabeth's arm.
"It's okay," she said. "My name's Elizabeth Swann."
"Will Turner."
"I'm watching over you, Will." Will fainted again. Elizabeth picked up a medallion that was hanging from a chain around his neck. "You're a pirate!"
"Shh. Hide it," Amelia said. Norrington was approaching.
"Has he said anything?"
"His name is Wiliam Turner. That's all I found out."
"Take him below."
As the sailors took the young boy below, Elizabeth studied the medallion, and Amelia looked up when her eyes were burning with smoke. There was a ship with black sails fleeing the wreckage. A ship she knew well. It was the Black Pearl. And her father was on it.
"Miss Sparrow," Mr. Gibbs said. "Come on, dearie, I'll take you to your cabin.