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soldiers. Gritting their teeth, they led the way down into the hold with Barbossa and a few of Jack’s other pirates following right behind.
    “Carolina, this is Captain Jack Sparrow. Captain Jack Sparrow, this is Carolina.” Diego made introductions as Billy took charge of the Spanish captain. Jack saw a girl of about fifteen with long black hair and dark flashing eyes. She was disguised as a boy, in long trousers and a shirt that was too big for her, and there were smudges of dirt on her face, but she was still strikingly pretty. Jack could see right away why Diego had been so intent on saving her from marrying someone else. He also noticed that Carolina didn’t seem to recognize the adoring look on the boy’s face.
    “Thank you for your assistance,” she said in beautifully accented English, holding out her hand regally to Jack. “I would have escaped on my own, but this is certainly more convenient, and I appreciate your gallantry.”
    Jack made a low bow and kissed her hand. “Well, I am quite a gallant fellow, love,” he said. “Never say no to a noble mission. Always…doing the right thing, that’s me.” His gaze slid sideways to the open hatch. Both Carolina and Diego knew he was thinking of his pirates down there with all that gold.
    “I’ll take Carolina back to the Pearl ,” Diego offered.
    “Excellent,” Jack said, taking a step toward the hatch. “An excellent—fine—splendid—” He darted down the steps and disappeared into the hold.
    “Your capitan seems a little odd,” Carolina observed. Diego nodded as they wove through the surrendering soldiers to reach the rail, where the two ships were bobbing within easy reach of each other.
    “He is odd, but he is brave in his way,” Diego said. He hopped up on the rail and reached down for Carolina. She put her small, smooth hand in his, and he felt a jolt of joy in his heart. Only a day earlier he’d thought he’d lost her forever. He put his arm around her to steady her as they stepped across to the Pearl ’s rail, and then he jumped down and lifted her to the deck of the pirate ship. She put her hands on his shoulders for a minute, and he resisted the urge to wrap his arms around her.
    “A pirate ship!” she said with great curiosity, stepping back and looking around. “This is so thrilling. I’ve always wanted to sail with pirates! Can we stay with them, do you think?”
    “I’ll show you the captain’s cabin,” Diego said. “I’m sure Jack will want you to have it.”
    “No way,” Carolina said. “I don’t want to be treated like a princess anymore. I want to be a regular pirate, like everyone else. Maybe they’ll teach me to sword fight, Diego! We could learn to sail and battle and plunder just like they do! Wouldn’t that be wonderful?”
    Diego pulled her out of the way as a bag of gold came flying across from the other ship and crashed to the deck where she’d been standing. “Let’s try not to get killed by flying loot first,” he said with a smile.
    Pirates were starting to emerge bearing chests of jewels and gold coins, just as Diego had promised. He led Carolina up to the wheel to keep her out of the way. With great interest she picked up Jack’s spyglass, which was leaning against the rail.
    “My father would never let me touch these,” she said, lifting the glass to peer through it. “He said ladies shouldn’t be involved in ships or sailing or anything at all interesting. I’m sure el Cruel would have been the same way.” El Cruel was their name for the governor she’d been betrothed to. Carolina adjusted the rings of the spyglass for a moment and then sharply drew breath.
    “What is it?” Diego asked.
    “Do you see it?” Carolina asked, pushing the spyglass toward him. He looked through it in the direction in which she was pointing. For a moment all he could see was the dark mass of clouds reaching down to touch the black sea at the horizon’s edge.
    Then he felt a shiver of fear as a shape