

### Mysterious Destiny

## Bright Lights and Thunder – Part II

By

### D. J. Holmes

Smashwords Edition

Copyright © 2014 by Donna Holmes

All rights are reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, or transmitted in any form or by any means whatsoever, without permission from the author, except in the case of a brief quotation embodied in critical articles and reviews. In this case, recognition should be given in written form, in the article or review, to the author's name, D. J. Holmes, along with the name of the book, Mysterious Destiny (Bright Lights and Thunder \- Part II)

Contact Information - snowflowerpublishing@gmail.com

author.djholmes@gmail.com

ISBN-13: 978-0-9845576-6-0 – ELECTRONIC COPY

ISBN-10: 0-9845576-6-0

Mysterious Destiny™

Book Cover by Miss Mae

Smashwords format by L. K. Campbell

Snow Flower Publishing LLC Logo™

Library of Congress Control Number: 2011915808

This is the third book in a series of Mysterious Destiny Mystery Romance Novels.

Mysterious Destiny (Bright Lights and Thunder \- Part II)

Author: D.J. Holmes

Editors: Donna, Jaimie, Laureen, Bill, Stacey, Geri and Annell.

Web Sites Created By: Chad Holmes

Published By: Snow Flower Publishing

Donna Holmes

Spanish Fork, Utah 84660

FIRST EDITION: JULY, 2014

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### FOREWORD

In the Hall of Corridors at the Beach House, toward the end of the first book of this series in Mysterious Destiny Beckoning Corridors, Gray Wolf is forcefully thrown into the opening of a time portal as he falls down the tail of a huge fish that he had been riding. At the end of his journey in the portal, Gray Wolf finds himself on a Caribbean beach in the middle of a group of pirates. His destiny changes as he begins to live life as he never knew that it could be lived. As a young boy his parents were honest and loving; now he would become a full fledge pirate under the tutelage of the famous, ruthless Caribbean pirate, Black Beard. How does he determine what his life will be? What type of person does he become?

The focus of this book is on the fact that families are very important; that a simple life can be very rewarding and that God has a great plan for each and every one of us. All that He asks is that we remain true to the eternal principals He taught us before we came to Earth.

While every moment of life is very hard, if we remember His teachings and continue to do the best that we can, when it is time for us to return home we will take with us what we have learned on Earth, while moving toward our ultimate destiny, that of living once again with God as our Father, wrapped in His eternal love.

Additionally I would like to add:

If you have not read the first book of this series, Mysterious Destiny Beckoning Corridors, here is a very important part of the puzzle.

Daniel, owner and manager of the Beach House, is a main character in each book of this series. While living with his beautiful wife and two children on their own planet, he found a worm hole, a tunnel in time, a way to secretly leave their world and travel to safety. With great hope he made plans to take his family and travel through the worm hole to a new planet, Earth.

His own story, while living on Gliese in the Libra Galaxy, is told throughout the Mysterious Destiny Series. Now living on Earth he listens, he heals and he helps each character to fulfill their destiny. Within his Beach House on the lower level in the Hall of Corridors, are the portals which transport each character(s) to their designated point in time.

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CAUTION: WHILE THE MYSTERIOUS DESTINY SERIES IS FAMILY FRIENDLY, THE CONTENTS OF THE SERIES IS NOT MEANT FOR ANYONE UNDER THE AGE OF 12.

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### ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This is the third book in the Mysterious Destiny series. As with Beckoning Corridors, the first book, and Bright Lights and Thunder-Part I, the second book, Bright Lights and Thunder-Part II would never have happened without the constant influence and support from God, my wonderful children, grandchildren, family and friends.

### SIGNATURE PAGE

Through experiences that we have no control over, life can send you into the very depths of despair...

OR

It can be full of wonderful, unexpected, simple fulfilling pleasures.

My hope is that your life will be the second, filled with happiness and a clear vision of your destiny.

Sincerely,

D. J. Holmes

BRIGHT LIGHTS AND THUNDER, PART II

### CHAPTER 1

A beautiful sleek tall-schooner, by the name of 'Mysterious', has just left Antigua heading back to its home base on the island of Martinique. The Caribbean Sea is clear and tranquil reflecting a picture-perfect vessel onto the opaque watery surface; a picture of two ships, one above the water, and the other below.

All of this would soon change with signals sent by strong winds, dancing waves, and sea spray blowing up onto the deck. For now, its white cotton sails towering above the deck are completely filled to capacity by a calm consistent strong sea breeze, causing them to look like white triangle pillows floating in a clear blue sky.

Ian, captain of the 'Mysterious', a light blonde, blue eyed Viking and his first mate, Lucas, a Spaniard with curly black hair and dark brown eyes, have fought for many years alongside each other as privateers and as pirates. Both standing six feet tall, extremely strong and ruggedly handsome, they have been admired by the ladies at each port they have sailed into over the years.

Earlier today while walking through Antigua's markets, Ian is having fun tipping his broad rimed hat and smiling at all of the island women.

"Ian, quit flexing your muscles. You know that you are just trying to attract the women."

"I may have done it for that reason when we were younger, Lucas," smiling as he looks down at the muscles in his arms, "now I'm just trying to get a better price for a gift that I am buying for Grace."

As Lucas looks at his friend a thought comes to mind, "I always wondered how you did that. My gifts to Jasmine were always a lot more expensive."

"Just smile, Lucas. Flex your muscles and be kind to these poor lonely women. Their men have probably gone to sea... and here we are," Ian says beaming from ear to ear.

"Well, I guess it wouldn't hurt to say a few nice words. Maybe I could flirt, just a little."

"No... it doesn't hurt to be friendly and kind. But we flirt only with our own wives."

"It wouldn't mean anything, Ian."

"No my good friend, since we are married, kindness and respect is something that we give to all women; flirting is only for one woman, the mother of our children."

"You're right...as good looking as I am I don't need to flirt anyway." Lucas stands straight and tall and puffs out his chest. Smiling, he notices several women looking his way.

"They're looking at me Ian. I don't even think that you will get better prices than I do this time."

Looking at each other, they begin to laugh realizing this game of vying to be the best looking has gone on for several years. Lucas adds, "I would imagine that all of the women wish that there were more men that looked like us."

"You can be sure of that, Lucas," Ian smiles as he looks at all of the women who glance in their direction.

Soon the shopping for their island village is completed and they are both anxious to return home. Ian signals for some of their mates, aboard the schooner, to come and help transport their goods back to the schooner. Several small boats are lowered down the ships side; with men aboard them, they row toward the small dock where their supplies have been stacked. Finally, everything is loaded and as a group they head back to the schooner. Half way between the schooner and the island, Ian can hear Jody shouting as loud as she can, while jumping up and down in great excitement.

"...Papa. What did you get? Papa, I can't hear you...what did you get?" she questions yelling out to his row boat.

Looking toward the deck of the Schooner as the waves jostle the rowboat, Ian shouts, "Just a minute, Jody... Looking back to his mates who had rowed alongside him, he commands, "load everything onto the ship."

Half of his crew had stayed aboard to protect Jody and their ship. Hearing their captain's request, they run to the aid of their mates by throwing ropes over the railing. The shipmates in the row boats take turns tying each bale and box of cargo to the dangling ropes so that it could be hauled aboard and stacked on deck. The ropes are thrown over the railing again and again and each new box or bale is hauled up to the deck until finally the supplies are all aboard.

With the row boats empty of cargo, Ian, Lucas and his other rowing mates are now climbing the rope ladders to the deck of their beautiful schooner. Once aboard, Ian turns around to see Jody running toward him. He throws his arms out to his side to catch her.

"...Papa. Let me see it. I know that you got me something. What is it Papa?" she asks excitedly.

Sitting her on a barrel, which is waiting to be put into the main hold, he pulls out a beautiful shell necklace from his pocket and puts it around her neck. Looking down at the gift, Jody's small hands hold the string of shells, as her face glows with excitement and her exquisite smile shows off her dimples. Putting her down onto the deck, Jody turns away from her father and begins to dance around feeling like she is a princess who has just been handed the most delicate and precious of all gifts.

"I am so happy that Jody is with me," Ian comments, watching his daughter as she continues to dance. "She is so innocent, Lucas. I wish we could have taken her to the market with us, but with all of the pirates in this area, one can never be too careful with family."

"You made the right decision to leave her on board with most of our crew, Ian. Are you ready to put all of this below?"

"I guess we can't put it off any longer can we?"

"Not if you want to get home tonight!"

"You just said the magic word...home...." Turning to his crew he asks, "Have you rested enough? Let's get this in the hole so that we can get on our way."

Everyone jumps up from their short rest and begins working as a team as they lower the supplies into the main hold.

"Everything is taken care of Ian."

"Great! Give the orders."

Cupping his hands up and around his mouth Lucas starts to shout, "Hoist the main sails......let's get out of here mates."

The wind begins to fill the sails propelling the 'Mysterious' toward home.

"Look... now that we are sailing, Jody has finished dancing and has gone back to the starboard bow to look for her friends to emerge once again."

"I love to watch her excitement... it is her first time sailing in the open sea."

From the moment the 'Mysterious' left their island home, Jody had been fascinated with the clear-aqua, Caribbean Sea and it's creatures. She has watched a Blue Whale spouting water thirty feet into the air and she giggles each time the spinning dolphins break the surface of the water, spinning through the air at an angle.

"Papa did you see that?" she would say with everything that caught her attention.

Gliding over the surface of the water, several minutes away from shopping at Antigua, a group of Bottlenose Dolphins begin swimming close to the side of the ship, riding the wake as the bow cuts through the waves. The clearness of the water makes it possible for her to see the dolphins as they would dive hundreds of yards down and simultaneously turn, heading to the surface as fast as they can. With noses pointed toward the sky, they fly into the air as if propelled by a spring board, arching their tail and spreading their fins out to the side, all the while looking over at Jody as if to ask, "Can you do this?"

Jody claps and waves to them as she laughs, giggles and jumps up and down in pure delight.

"Look at your youngest daughter, Ian." Lucas says laughing, "While it is fine for her to be fascinated with the dolphins we need to watch her while she is standing up at the starboard bow, looking over the railing and watching their games."

"Yes, I agree."

A thought of his wife fills his mind as he looks at his daughter, "Lucas, don't you think that Jody looks like her mother?"

"No doubt about it, Ian. She is as cute as Grace is beautiful."

Smiling Ian asks, "What would our lives be like now without our families?"

"We would probably be sailing from port to port looking for wives."

"If we hadn't been fighting with Black Beard, we would never have met our wives."

"We were fated to meet!" Lucas adamantly answers.

"Good ole Black Beard..." Ian was going to recount one of the many stories of their bygone years as pirates with and against Black Beard, but in the background he hears his daughter calling to him and turns in her direction.

"Papa, PAPA! Come here and look at these funny dolphins," she says with a cute childlike demanding voice.

"Let me go and see what Jody wants, Lucas. When I come back we can continue recounting our old memories." Slapping Lucas on the back, Ian walks over to the starboard bow where Jody is looking over the railing, "What did you want to show me, my little jewel?"

"Look at them, Father" she declared happily, "they jump out of the water and then dive back in, going as deep as they can. The water is so clear that you can see how low they go... then, it seems like they have a race to see who can get back to the surface the fastest."

"They are great swimmers, aren't they, Jody?"

Pointing further out into the sea and over to her right, Jody begins to laugh, "And look at that one, Daddy. He looks like he is walking backward on his tail as fast as he can go. Then he looks over at me and laughs with that strange sound that only dolphins can make."

Her laughter and pure excitement put Ian into a teasing mood. "Why, I think that he likes you Sweetie. He's asking you which trick you like the best. What are you going to tell him?"

Smiling at her father, dimples showing, she sweetly says, "I like all of the things that he does. But...where he walks backward on top of the water... that's my favorite! I just wish I could swim as well as he and all of his friends do."

"Maybe if you lived in the water as they do, you could." Quickly picking her up and swinging her toward the railing of the ship as if he was going to toss her in, he asks with a smile, "...would you like me to throw you overboard so that you can live in the water with them?"

"NO, FATHER! I WANT TO STAY WITH YOU," she says as she wraps her arms around his neck as tightly as her little arms can hold him.

Bringing her back, and holding her tightly to his chest, he stops his teasing and seriously says, "I want you to stay with me also, my Sweet Little One. Make sure that you don't lean too far over the railing while you watch your dolphins."

"I won't, Father. I'll be careful," she says as she kisses his cheek.

Putting Jody down on the deck, Ian takes a few steps back continuing to watch his daughter, still amazed at her innocence and excitement as she views the world around her.

Caught off guard, Ian feels the point of a sword at his back. Slowly turning around, he sees Lucas with a patch over his eye and a sword in his hand. His whole crew starts to laugh.

"Lucas, what are you doing?" he questions.

"I'm not Lucas, I'm Black Beard. Can't you see the patch covering the eye that you hit when we last met at Port Royal?" he says seriously, pointing to the patch over his eye.

Realizing the joke that Lucas is playing, Ian gets into character. "Why, yes...now that you bring it to my attention, I can. What do you want?"

"Since you have told me before that you no longer want to be a member of my crew, I want to finish the fight that we had when we last met," Lucas says in a lower than normal voice, trying to sound more like Black Beard.

Not willing to show any fear, Ian answers, "Ha! You want to finish it? I thought that it was finished when I left you knocked out cold on the floor of the Corner Tavern. And when your crew came to your aid, my crew took care of every one of them."

"The only thing that your crew did was hit each of my crew, with the bottom of one of their feet, in the chest."

"It did the trick, didn't it?"

"Get your sword out! I want a fair fight this time," Lucas demands.

Ian takes out his sword.

Steel hitting against steel can be heard all over the schooner.

"At first I thought that they were joking around, but their sword fighting doesn't look like they are playing around...what's happening?" several crewmen ask. "Are they mad at each other?"

"No... it's just Ian and Lucas up to their games again."

"Oh, this should be great entertainment then."

"They always make me laugh when they do these role plays."

Blocking Lucas's sword and intentionally coming face to face with the pretend Black Beard, Ian asks, "What do you mean a fair fight?"

"You knocked my sword out of my hands, and then hit me with a left sucker punch to the head. How could you do that in front of my men?" Lucas puts his sword out to the side as his hands, palms up, jester the question 'why'.... "I fell to the ground and when I woke up, I had a black eye!" his eyes widen as he moves his face toward Ian so that he could see the damage that had been done as he points to his left eye.

Taking a moment to look at his eye, Ian jokes, "I think that your black eye looks good on you. It improves your appearance quite a bit!"

Lucas pushes away, trying to show anger in his role as Black Beard. The duel begins again, sword against sword, shuffling of feet, blocking and advancing, moving from bow to stern and back again, around the main mast, up to the bow again and back to the stern eventually covering the entire deck several times.

Ian looks around and jumps up on top of a barrel, "Come closer Black Beard," he shouts.

"Do you think that I am going to fall for that trick again? When your crew hit my crew in the chest, they fell backward halfway across the tavern floor. When they finally got up and walked back to continue the fight, they began coughing so hard they couldn't fight!"

"How would you know that? You were out cold."

"My men told me," Lucas quickly adds with a strange look on his face.

"Well, you know..." Ian says with his left hand gesturing up high and to his side, "survival makes everything fair!"

Looking at Ian's stance, and hearing his response, Lucas can no longer play his part as the serious Black Beard. They both begin laughing so loud that they can hardly stand.

Listening to their stories, watching them play their roles and hearing their laughter, the whole crew begins to revel in delight, remembering their own parts in that glorious exchange with Black Beard and his crew.

Finally taking a breath, Ian puts his hand on Lucas's shoulder. "That was a great night, Lucas. I used to love to fight like that."

"From that day till now, Ian... all I hear is your name spoken as the only man known to beat Black Beard."

Putting his sword back in his scabbard, Ian looks out to the horizon envisioning Black Beard's ship. "Remember, Lucas, it was because we won the fight at Port Royal that Black Beard came after us with a vengeance the next day."

"Yes, and when he finally found us, I can still hear you tell our crew... 'Don't worry, he can't hit the broad side of a barn'...and crash! One cannon ball finally hit the side of our ship. I still laugh when I remember the look of shock on your face!"

"Well, I couldn't believe it. My beautiful ship had a hole in it!"

"Ian, I hate to point out the obvious, but that's what happens when someone is sailing after us firing their cannons."

"I know, but we've always been able to out sail them! Come on! It was Black Beard! He's all bark and no bite."

"Well, captain," Lucas says pointedly, "he had plenty of bite in him that day. The only thing that saved us was that Williams and Bellamy quietly sailed up behind him and boarded his ship while he and his crew were concentrating on us."

Leaning against the quarterdeck on the port side, with his arms folded and thoughtfully looking toward the sky, Ian reminisces, "Williams and Bellamy... The adventures we could tell about them!" Finally sitting down, he bends over and rests his head in his hands as both elbows dig into his thighs. "What great friends and fellow pirates." He sadly continues, "For the first time in my life, I felt vulnerable when word came that Bellamy had gone down with his ship in that huge storm off the east coast of America. I never thought that anything would happen to any of us."

***

As he listens to Ian from the security department at the Beach House, Treysen sends a telepathic query to Daniel. "Daniel what is a quarterdeck on a ship?"

"Look at the mental image I just sent to you, Treysen. Do you see the raised portion of the deck toward the back of the ship?"

"Yes, sir..."

"That is what is called a Quarterdeck. It's just behind the main mast of a sailing ship. It's raised so that the captain can stand on it and all of his crew can see him as he talks to them or shouts orders. Many times it is also made as a type of cabin where the officers sleep."

"Thank you Daniel. I'm just trying to understand what they are talking about."

"It's good to add to your vocabulary" Daniel smiles, "so I'll give you a few more:

Aft is towards the back, while Stern is the back part of the ship.

Bow (pronounced bau) is the front part of a ship.

Bowsprit is a long pole that sticks out the front of the ship helping to secure the forward sails and masts.

Helm is a wheel that directs the ship in the direction that the helmsman (under the direction of the Captain) wants it to go.

Jib is a small triangular sail toward the front of the ship positioned to catch more wind to help propel the ship forward.

Man Rope is a long rope that has knots at three foot intervals. This enables the crew to climb up or down the man rope getting in or out of the ship.

Port is the left side of the ship when you are looking toward the front of the ship; Starboard is on the right."

"Is that enough for now, Treysen?" Daniel asks trying to keep from laughing as he looks at Treysen's wide eyes and open mouth.

"Yes, sir... I'll try to remember all of that."

Daniel leaves the Security Division to check on his patients. While he is working, Treysen's facial expressions flash in his mind from the new words and explanations of the parts of a ship and he begins to laugh.

Treysen remains at his position as he struggles to remember all of the new information that Daniel has just given him.

***

Trying to lighten things up, Lucas begins to laugh and says, "Bellamy probably had so much treasure on board that even the slightest little ripple of a wave would have sent his ship to the ocean floor. In fact, he was probably holding onto one of the trunks full of treasure, hoping that it would float," Lucas said with a huge smile.

As this image formulated in their minds they both began to laugh in fond memory of their old friend.

"I think that we have been sitting long enough," Lucas stands up and puts the patch back over his eye.

"Oh, so we are going back to Black Beard, ay?" Ian questions.

"Get your sword out matey," Lucas challenges.

"Just a minute, I want to check on Jody first." Standing up he looks forward toward the starboard bow and sees her smiling as she waves to her dolphin friends. Turning quickly around, Ian thrusts his sword forward advancing toward Lucas, "You will not win this fight, Black Beard!" he declares with great enthusiasm.

"Wait a minute, friend. Remember that I am just playing a part!" Lucas puts out his left hand, his fingers spread apart, "The part of OUR enemy," he adds with emphasis.

"Yea...yea...yea...you put a hole in my schooner. For that you will have to pay... Move it, Black Beard, or you are really going to be sorry."

Lucas begins to run away from Ian moving his feet as far forward as he can while pushing his rear even further forward, guarding it as much as he can with his hands, while Ian continues to poke him with his sword. The crew begins to roar with laughter at the antics they see taking place on the deck.

"Come on, Ian, quit being so rough."

"Why are you running, Black Beard? Are you afraid of me?"

"I'm afraid, Captain Ian. I didn't want to tell you, but I've been afraid of you since the day you gave me this black eye." Lucas looks back, lifts the patch and points to his eye.

Ian doesn't back down. The sea is calm. The Sailing Master is at the helm and the crew is having fun. Running around the deck, Lucas quickly stops. Looking serious he puts his sword into his scabbard as he puts his right pointer finger up while he has his left hand on his hip, looking directly at Ian. "I just had a thought."

"Yes, Black Beard?"

"No, Ian. I'm Lucas now."

Not wanting to give up his command over Black Beard, Ian says, "I beat you before, Black Beard. Are you saying that I beat you again?"

Tired of getting poked with the point of Ian's sword in his backside, Lucas gives up, "Very well, Ian. You have won again. I surrender."

Smiling while he sheaths his sword, Ian asks, "You said that you wanted to say something, Lucas?"

"Yes. Black Beard made it possible for us to find the most beautiful women in the world for our wives after he put that hole in our schooner."

"A bad situation turned into the most wonderful thing that has ever happened to both of us. Well, actually for our whole crew now that we are all married."

Sitting down and leaning back on a pile of ropes, he looks up to the sky with his hands behind his head...Ian reminisces ..."I remember that day as if it were yesterday," with a contented look on his face.

"What I remember is that when you came back to the ship, you were in a daze, and you were speaking gibberish."

With a confused look Ian questions, "What do you mean? I don't remember it that way,"

They both begin to laugh.

"You were... I would ask you a question and you'd start to answer and then you'd start whispering to yourself as you continued looking toward the island where you had just gotten us fresh water."

"I couldn't think, Lucas. I had just seen the most beautiful woman I had ever come across in all our travels."

"Since you didn't tell us about any woman, the crew and I were afraid to drink the water because of the way that you were acting."

I needed to see her again, and I certainly didn't want her to see you before I had won her hand."

***

On the day that Ian and Lucas were recalling Black Beard and the hole in the 'Mysterious' with a cannon ball, Ian had been able to out run Black Beard and found an inlet on Martinique where they hid their ship. Ian had gone to get fresh water for his crew. After returning he suddenly made some excuse to return to the island, unaware that Lucas was following him.

Crouching down behind a large green bush on the side of a fresh water creek, Ian hears footsteps.

"How did you get here, Lucas?" he whispers.

"I followed you."

"Why would you want to follow me? I'm just getting more water."

"Why are you whispering?"

Grabbing Lucas's shirt sleeve, Ian pulls him down to the ground. "Quiet!"

Hearing the sound of water splashing and the soft laughing voices of women, both Ian and Lucas look through the bushes they had been sitting behind, watching as the women who had come to the fresh water stream to get water, ended up in a water fight.

"You knew they were here?"

"I saw one of them when I was here earlier."

"So, this is what got your tongue?"

"Well, look at her..."

"Which one are you talking about? They're both beautiful."

"The blonde one...she is the one that I saw here earlier. I've got to talk to her."

"I wouldn't mind talking to the black haired one. She's just as beautiful," Lucas said admiringly.

"So how are we going to do this?"

"Flowers, women always love Flowers."

"That's right Lucas, but from someone that they know! They have no idea that we are here."

"Do you have a better idea?"

"No." Looking around, Ian chuckles, "I don't think that we are going to have any trouble finding flowers. This place is full of them."

Quickly filling their hands with flowers, they slowly stand up. Holding the flowers high, hoping not to scare the women they slowly walk from behind the bushes.

The women turn around as they notice two strange men standing on the opposite bank of the stream.

"What do you want?" the women question.

Surprised at their courage, Ian finally states, "We would like to talk to you."

"Actually, we need your help," Lucas adds.

"How can we be of help to you?"

"Our ship was blasted with a cannon ball and we need to repair it. Could we use the wood on your island to repair our ship?"

Lucas glances sideways at Ian who returns his glance with... it was the only thing I could come up with, facial expression.

Looking in the direction of the two men, but past them, the blonde asks, "What do you think, girls?"

A voice comes from behind Ian and Lucas, "I saw the hole in their ship, Grace. They are telling the truth.

Turning around, Ian and Lucas see several women with their bows drawn, aimed in their direction and ready to shoot. Raising their hands to surrender, the flowers fall to the ground. "You knew we were here?"

"Of course," Looking at Ian, the blonde says, "I saw you the first time you were here. We always know what is happening on our island." Walking toward them she adds, "You can put your hands down gentlemen. We're not taking you prisoner. We will, however, stay armed while we are around you."

"Grace, what do you want us to do?" An island sister asks the blonde.

"Ah, so your name is Grace?" Ian states.

"Yes," she answers surprised that he now knows her name.

"That looks like a nice bow. Do you know how to use it?"

Positioning the arrow in the bow she points it in his direction, "Would you like to see how well I can shoot?"

Putting his hands up and backing off, Ian smiles as he answers, "No, I think that you might be better than I am with that weapon."

"Good. I'm glad that you can see things my way."

The island sisters laugh at Grace's response.

"Shall we go and help them with their ship, Grace?" the island girl with dark hair asks.

"It's probably a very good time, Jasmine."

Lucas smiles with the knowledge that he now has of the name of the girl that he is interested in.

Walking out on the beach toward the schooner where the crew has been busy pulling their ship toward dry sand and were just starting to work on it, Ian states, "Gentlemen, we have company."

Looking in the direction of the sound of their captain's voice, his crew looks dumbfounded at the beautiful women that surround their captain and his first mate. The sound of tools dropping on wood, sand and rock can be heard from every point of the schooner.

As the island girl's leader Grace asks, "Is there something that we can help you with gentlemen?"

Ian responds, "If you could show us where we could get materials to mend our ship, we would be very grateful."

Lucas adds, "If you have any men that could help us, we would appreciate that also."

Grace answers, "There are no men here. And because of that you will be under guard at all times."

Both Ian and Lucas smile realizing that if there are no men, then these women are single. The same thought comes to the minds of all of the crewmen.

Looking at the men, the women begin to think that this could be a good thing. Maybe, finally they will have the chance to get married. "We would be glad to help you repair your ship."

"We would be glad to have your help," Lucas adds with a smile while Ian continues to stare at Grace.

Ian, Lucas and the rest of the crew fall instantly in love with these gorgeous women. While working together in small teams on different parts of the schooner, hoping to restore it to its original condition, each man is finally able to win the hand of the woman who had captured his heart.

***

"How could we have been so lucky to find an island with beautiful women and not a man to be found?"

"Ah, that 'Mysterious' feeling that takes over your heart...the feeling that all men look for to fulfill their lives; that's why we named our ship 'Mysterious', because of the feelings that we all have for our wives."

Looking out to the great waves dancing together on the horizon from the Port side, with the wind blowing through his hair, Lucas states, "We'll be home soon, Ian. I can't wait to see Jasmine. She is the only woman that I have ever missed."

"Truer words were never spoken, Lucas. I feel the same way about Grace."

***

After reading several books on time travel, Joshua, one of Daniel's many Security Technician's begins speaking out loud, thinking that he is the only one in the Security Division.

"Time is multidimensional... well it is. But it's something else. Time is like a pretzel...well, yes, but it's even more than that." Trying to get it clear in his own mind, after reading his books and seeing several patients come and go through the portals at the Beach House, along with hearing their stories, Joshua blurts out, "Time is like a jig saw puzzle where each piece is put into its own place. But, where a jig saw puzzle is one-dimensional, time is multi-dimensional. It is like a hologram, where all sides can be seen and all dimensions are playing at the same time, yet moving at their own speed; each piece being placed where it is needed, expanding or contracting to fit the specific requirement of that space in time... Now that is profound!" Joshua says to himself as he notices Daniel entering the Security Division. "Is that right, Daniel?"

"It's close Joshua. Keep researching and thinking about it, and someday you'll find out exactly how time does work."

RING. RING.

"Sorry, a new patient has arrived and I must go." Daniel walks to the Hall of Corridors to pick up his latest patient. Taking her to her room, she is effortlessly carried from the pod and placed on her bed. Her eyes slowly open.

"Where am I?" she asks.

"Don't worry...you're safe, little girl," Daniel assures her.

"I was on my father's schooner." Feeling her clothes she says, "Why are my clothes wet?"

"You'll be dry soon...how are you feeling?"

"I'm fine."

"What's your name?"

"My name is Jody."

"Do you remember what happened?" Daniel gently asks.

"All I remember is looking over the railing of my father's ship at the beautiful dolphins. I stood up on the bottom support railing so that I could stand up higher to wave to my new friends. I was standing as tall as I could waving both hands high above my head so that they could see me, and the ship suddenly lurched to the right...I remember falling..."

"Since you are feeling fine now, will you come with me?" Daniel asks.

Sitting up and moving her legs to the side of the bed, she slips off onto the floor. "Where are we going?" she questions as she looks around at her strange surroundings.

"I want to show you something." Taking Jody's hand, Daniel walks to the Security Division. After opening the door and walking in, Daniel says, "Hello, Treysen and Joshua. This is Jody."

"Hello, Jody," they chorus.

Confused, but always polite, she says, "Hello."

"Would you like to look at some pictures, Jody?" Daniel questions.

"...Pictures? What are pictures?" she questions.

"Come with me. We'll just go over to this other monitor."

Jody looks confused, "...Monitor?"

Daniel begins pressing several keys. Jody watches Daniel as closely as she had watched the dolphins. The pictures continue to change until Jody cries pointing to the screen, "That's my father's ship. What is everyone doing? They look like they are looking over the railing on the starboard side where I was standing."

"Yes, it looks like a lot of confusion, doesn't it." Daniel comments.

"Father, can you hear me?" Jody begins to yell. "Father, I'm right here. How do I get to you?" Touching the screen she yells, "COME AND GET ME, FATHER."

"Jody, he can't hear or see you. Don't worry little one we'll get things worked out... Let's rewind the events on this monitor frame by frame, and find out what happened."

Curious, Jody watches every move Daniel makes, trying to understand what is happening. Finally, she begins to laugh, "That's funny. Everyone is walking backward. There..." pointing with her finger. "There I am looking over the railing.... Look at that huge wave. That's what I felt."

"Watch the monitor, Jody... Listen to what your father is saying." Daniel rewinds the sequence a little further and turns up the sound.

***

As Ian and Lucas continue to reminisce on their fortunate past and the way they met their wives while also imagining what their arrival home will be like, they are completely unprepared as the wind begins to blow, the waves of the sea begin to dance and the bow quickly rises, tipping to the starboard and then to the port, as if it had been hit by something below the hull. As they hold on for dear life, the ship continues forward while torrents of rain begin to fall.

In disbelief, Ian questions, "What happened? Why did the ship move like that? Did we hit something?"

"It must have been a rogue wave, Sir," the helmsman shouts.

Concerned, Lucas remembers, "The last time the sea was angry like that, four of our mates fell overboard."

Hearing that remark, Ian's eyes widen. Looking up at the main mast, he notices the sails billowing full to capacity, propelling the ship forward at full speed. Fear grips his heart and goose bumps appear on his arms. Still on the deck floor where he had fallen, Ian quickly looks to the starboard bow where he had left his daughter a short time before, "WHERE IS JODY?"

Jumping to his feet he sprints toward the bow. Looking around the deck and over the railing where he had last seen Jody, he can see no sign of her. He runs to the port side of the bow. Still no sign! Ian and all of the crew scour every inch of the deck, calling "JODY... JODY WHERE ARE YOU?" never realizing that she could be anywhere else.

"WHERE IS SHE? CAN ANYONE SEE HER?"

One of the crew has climbed to the crow's nest, carefully searching the waves surrounding their schooner. He cups his left hand around his mouth and shouts down. "SHE'S IN THE WATER...OVER THERE!" pointing in Jody's direction as the ship continues to sail away from her.

Ian quickly marks her spot in the water and dashes toward the stern of the ship as he yells, "LUCAS, TAKE CHARGE. I'M GOING AFTER JODY!"

Knowing Ian, not only as his captain but also as a good friend, Lucas instinctively realizes his plan and with the rain hitting his face, begins yelling directions to the crew through the roar of the wind and the sound of the waves hitting against the hull of the schooner.

"Helmsman head into the wind... YOU"...pointing to each crew member... "Mikkel, Currito, Eduardo! ... GRAB THE END OF THE MAN ROPE THAT IAN HAS JUST GRABBED... AND HOLD TIGHT!"

Holding the life line, which had miraculously been left on deck, Ian continues to sprint to the stern and dives overboard. Slicing through the Caribbean Sea head first, the rope continues to unravel on board the 'Mysterious' until Ian finally surfaces and swims in the direction that his mate had seen Jody.

"THE REST OF YOU SLACK THE MAINSAIL ALL THE WAY AND CAST OFF THE HEADSAIL. STOP THE SHIP!" Lucas commands. I WANT ALL OF THE SAILS TO LOOK LIKE FLAGS THAT HAVE LOST THEIR DIRECTION! I DON'T WANT THEM TO CATCH ANY WIND."

***

Back in the security division, Jody states, "My father jumped into the sea to save me?"

"Yes, he did. Watch, let's see what happens next," Daniel answers.

Jody watches as her father swims in the direction that he had last seen her, frantically searching under the waves. She asks Daniel, "How can he stay under the water that long? He must be running out of air by now."

"A father will do anything to save his daughter, Jody," Daniel says with emotion, as his own memories return and tears start to flow from his eyes.

The monitor continues to show how frantic Ian is swimming and searching in the direction where she was last seen, for any sign of Jody.

***

Finally, Ian has to surface to fill his lungs with air. As soon as his face feels the familiar touch of air, he struggles to stay above the waves, looking in every direction for any sign of his daughter. Breathing deeply with the rain drenching his face, it takes a couple of breaths to get enough air to fill his lungs.

Still holding the rope, Ian dives back into the water. To his utter surprise, he sees a shark just below him. The shark is dazed from the pressure of the mixed undercurrents of the recent wave throwing it up against a large boulder, causing enough pain that it swims haphazardly.

Knowing that Jody would have no chance against this shark, he pulls his knife from it sheath, puts it between his clenched teeth, let's go of his life line and swims toward the shark as fast as he can. Catching it by surprise, he stabs it several times.

In anger, the shark swims deeper to get away from his attacker and in retaliation, it turns around and comes back with his mouth open, ready to take a huge bite of his new enemy. At the last minute, Ian dodges to the side, thrusting his knife into its flesh. Undeterred, the shark returns again, this time a little less aggressive and Ian is able to hit its nose, a tactic that all of the pirates had been taught to do when coming in contact with a shark. Almost as if it had forgotten why it was there, it quickly retreats with blood streaming behind him.

The effort that Ian has put into swimming deeper to fight the shark has taken all of his air. Concerned that blood in the water would attract other sharks, he refuses to surface until the very last minute; he has to find his daughter.

Aboard the schooner Lucas has ordered that one of the schooner's rowboats be put into the water, close to where the rope can be seen going into the sea. He knows that if Ian is able to find his daughter, he will surface at that very spot.

Worried, the crew members begin to talk among themselves. "Do you think that he will be able to find her?"

"I don't know. He's been underwater for a long time, and I can't see either one of them."

Concerned, Lucas asks, "What is that red color in the water over there?"

"...Where?"

"Over there by the rope," he says pointing to the surface of the water.

Just at the very moment Ian's lungs are about to burst, he sees movement out of the corner of his right eye. Turning his head he sees a dolphin swimming toward him. Extremely tired and out of air, he follows the dolphin's nudge until he can feel the rope, which he quickly grabs with his hand. A second dolphin swims over to him, carrying Jody in his mouth.

***

Pointing at the monitor in the security room, Jody says with excitement, "There I am... I didn't know that the dolphin brought me to my father?"

"Do you remember the dolphin that would look like he was walking backward on the top of the water?" Daniel questions.

"Oh, yes. He was soooo funny," she giggles.

"He is the one that found you and took you to your father."

Jody continues to quietly watch the monitor with Daniel.

***

Grabbing his daughter's body, while looking at the dolphin with gratefulness, Ian tugs on the rope.

On the Schooner's deck, the crew feels the tug.

"PULL... PULL!"

With all their strength they start walking backward as fast as they can, pulling the rest of the rope back on board the deck of their schooner.

The crew members, who had boarded the rowboat and lowered it to the ocean waves in their efforts to rescue their captain and his daughter, finally, over the roar of the wind and the continuous movement of the waves lapping against their small boat's wood side, hear Ian's first breath. Looking toward the very loud deep sound, they see his head as it appears above the waves opening his mouth to fill his lungs with the much needed air that his body is craving. Looking over in his direction they pull back on their oars and quickly maneuver the rowboat over in Ian's direction.

On board the 'Mysterious' in the crow's nest, a crew member who has been scouting the surrounding sea as everyone fights the torrential rain, notices the rowboat quickly moving toward their captain. Announcing everything that is happening for those on the Schooner, he finally shouts, as he watches his mates in the row boat, "THERE HE IS EVERYONE. HE HAS JODY! HE HAS JODY! STOP PULLING THE ROPE."

"Yea...Hip, Hip, Hurray." Happy joyful cheers can be heard coming from the whole crew.

On the unsteady waves of the Caribbean Sea, within the small rowboat, everyone begins to work as a team, "I'll hold the oars...you take Jody from Ian...you, grab Ian, let's get them both aboard." Jody and her father are pulled out of the water and into the rowboat. As soon as he can, Ian takes Jody from his shipmates, turns her over and begins hitting her back, trying to get her to spit out the water, and to take a breath.

***

"Daniel, that's me...I'm in the boat."

"Yes, Jody. Are you ready to go back?"

"I can go back?"

"Yes, sweetheart, your father will be given a gift that I was not given. In time your island sisters will need your strength, Jody. Remember...they will need your strength. Are you ready?"

***

Before she can answer, Jody finds herself coughing and spitting out the sea water she had swallowed. With the water out of her lungs she finally takes in a breath of air and Ian smiles as he sees the color come back into her cute rosy cheeks.

Pulling her into his arms and hugging her tightly, he says, "Jody, I thought that I had lost you."

Looking up to her father, she smiles.

"I almost gave up hope until your friends, the dolphins, brought you to me. They are the ones that found you."

"I know," She says.

Shocked at her response, he is about to ask her a question when from the crow's nest, a shout is heard.

"...SHIP ON THE HORIZON!"

Studying the approaching ship through his eye glass, Lucas yells over the railing, "IT'S THE QUEEN ANNE'S REVENGE, IAN."

Knowing Lucas well enough to hear concern and urgency in his voice, Ian shouts an order to the crew members in the rowboat. "GET US BACK ABOARD THE SHIP AS FAST AS YOU CAN."

With all the strength they can muster, the crewmen row as quickly as they can to the side of the schooner just at the bottom of the rope ladder. As each crewmember takes a position on the ladder they lift Jody up to Lucas. Ian is next as he is helped to the top rung.

Finally aboard the 'Mysterious', Ian commands Lucas. "Take her to my cabin and make sure that the doctor takes care of her while I handle this."

"Yes sir."

Taking Jody, Lucas quickly takes her to the Captain's Cabin with the doctor following close behind him.

Ian asks, "Hand me the looking glass please." His heart sinks, "Yes, it's the Queen Anne's Revenge. Black Beard has found us again." He begins yelling out orders. "EVERYONE...GET TO YOUR STATIONS. WE NEED TO GET THIS SHIP MOVING."

Within his heart he says, "I can't let Black Beard get close with Jody on board. I don't want her to get hurt and I don't want her to see how dangerous it can be when we are fighting an enemy. Black Beard would surely kill me in front of Jody and then he would take her as his own"

"I will make sure that that will never happen! We are only a short distance from our home base where we can hide this ship. But we have to make sure that we are far enough ahead of the Queen Anne's Revenge so that they won't see our destination."

"TRIM THE SAILS! Ian commands. "Make them taut, men! We need to move as quickly as possible."

Moving at a dangerously fast clip through the waves, with water flowing onto the deck, Ulrik, the Sailing Master cautions, "Captain, should we be going this fast? We have to start turning in toward our base. We won't make it if we continue at this speed."

"I know that you are our navigator, Ulrik and I would take your suggestion to slow down. I would even continue in another direction if Jody wasn't with us. Even if she hadn't just fallen overboard, I might have thought of sailing somewhere else, but she is with me and she did fall overboard, and she needs her mother's care."

"Yes sir."

"Another thing that I am particularly concerned about is the fact that if Black Beard even gets close to us he will find out that we use Martinique as our home base. Our families are there. Do you want him to have that information?"

"No, Sir."

"You know what he would do, don't you?"

"Yes sir. He would take our women and children and sell them on the black market, or keep them for his own use," Ulrik replied with a shudder.

"...Exactly! That's why we travel at this speed; for our safety, and most importantly, for the safety of our women and children."

"I understand, Sir. Would you like me to take the wheel?"

"If you don't mind, Ulrik I'll take us in this time."

"Whatever you say captain, I'll help the others." Ulrik quickly looks around to see where his help would be of most benefit.

With concentrated effort, each crewmember works as a team performing his responsibility for manning the schooner. Effortlessly, the 'Mysterious' glides through the pounding waves keeping well ahead of the evil Black Beard.

On Martinique, Diana, Ian's oldest daughter and one of the oldest island girls, is on duty in the watch tower. Looking through the eye glass, she sees her father's ship sailing toward the island.

"Why is he going so fast? He's not going to be able to make the turn unless he slows down...there must be some good reason."

Looking once again further behind her father's schooner, she finally notices another ship following him. She sees the ships colors, "Ah, the Queen Anne's Revenge." Making the sound of a crow she alerts the islanders of the emergency. Sliding down the tower rope Diana runs over to her mother.

"Mother, Black Beard is chasing after father. We all need to work as fast as we can."

Diana's mother, Grace, starts giving instructions.

"Everyone, Ian is coming. He is being followed by the Queen Anne's Revenge. You all know whose ship that is, so we need to work quickly to help the 'Mysterious' move faster through the channel. Grab the ropes that the crew will throw over both sides, and pull with all your strength."

Pointing to the closest side of the cove where the boat will be rounding the curve she says, "We need two of you on each rope on this side, to make sure that it turns. Black Beard is following them, and we don't want him to know where our home is. We need to get them in and close the gate as quickly as possible." As she runs to the beach, she commands, "QUICKLY, MY SISTERS, QUICKLY."

As the 'Mysterious' rounds the base of a protruding island mountain, several women are running out onto the beach opening up a man-made gate, covered with vines and island foliage. As soon as it is opened, it uncovers a man made channel.

On board the 'Mysterious', Ian is shouting commands. "Mates, when it is time, jump with the ropes in your hands over to the shore of the cove and help pull the ship in." Rounding the point, he yells, "Ease out the sails!" As the sails flap in the wind, the speed is reduced and it slows while advancing toward the cove.

With the gates open, several of Ian's crew jump with their ropes in hand onto the sandy beach. All of the wives and older island daughters help by pulling on the ropes with the crew as fast as they can. The younger daughters use palm branches to erase any tracks left in the sand and run back as quickly as possible; the men and older women run to close the gates behind them. The shipmates still on board the ship fold the sails and quickly tie them down. The ship is now hidden from sight of anyone sailing by what now looks like a deserted island.

Diana has climbed to the top of the watch tower.

"Can you see him, Diana?"

"Yes. He's just rounding the point."

"Quiet everyone."

### CHAPTER 2

As the Queen Anne's Revenge rounds the point of the island, Black Beard stomps his foot and shouts, "Every time we get this close, we lose them...I don't understand where they go!"

"Captain, everyone says that the 'Mysterious' is a ghost ship... maybe it really is."

"Thomas, are you telling me that you really believe in ghosts?"

"Well, as you said, it seems to disappear. What else could it be?"

"I'm going to find out!" Black Beard says with determination. "Sail this ship over to the far end of the island. We'll anchor just out of sight. I don't believe in ghosts... they've got to sail around this area again some time. I'll just wait until I see them!"

Finding a cove that he is happy with, Black Beard and his crew hide their ship and drop anchor. Getting into their rowboats they row to a beach on the far end of Martinique.

As each pirate stands up and jumps out to the beach, a new sense of stability overcomes them.

"It sure seems good to have my feet on solid ground, captain."

"Ahhh, I'm standing on something that doesn't move."

"How long are we going to stay here?"

Black Beard growls, "As long as it takes...."

Pragmatic Thomas questions, "What if it takes a long time until the 'Mysterious' appears again, captain? What are we going to do for food?"

Looking at Thomas, Black Beard answers sternly, "We'll make camp on the beach. And Thomas, because you are the one who is so concerned about food, why don't you take four of the crew with you and go to investigate what this island has to offer." Walking toward the surf, Black Beard raises his hand to his forehead to shade his huge black eyes from the sun. "I'll stay in camp and keep an eye open for the 'Mysterious' to show up."

"Yes, Sir..."

***

On the other end of Martinique, Ian, his crew and the island women breathe a sigh of relief now that Black Beard's Queen Anne's Revenge has sailed by their island.

"Now that was a close one, my wife," Ian says finally daring to breathe.

"Yes. Ian, why did you come in so fast? You could have crashed the 'Mysterious'. You and your crew would have been hurt, we would have lost our ship and Black Beard would have found out where we live."

At that very moment, Lucas and the doctor bring Jody out to the deck. "Ian, here is your daughter."

Looking at them strangely, Grace questions, "Why is Jody being carried by the doctor?"

"A rogue wave rocked our ship while Jody was looking over the railing to watch the dolphins. She fell overboard."

Shocked, Grace asks, "She what?"

"Grace, she's safe now. But she needs you. That's one of the reasons why we came in at such a fast clip."

"Bring her here. I need to make sure that her lungs are dry," Grace says with concern.

The doctor hands Jody, still weak from breathing in salt water, to her mother. Grace carries her to their home, sits her down by a fire and wraps her in blankets. Making a beef broth, she begins to slowly feed it to Jody. "How are you my Daughter?" she asks.

"I'm fine now Mother, but you should have seen Father. He ran across the deck of the 'Mysterious', grabbed a huge rope at the stern and jumped overboard to save me. In the water he looked for me for a long time. He even killed a shark that was swimming by us. After the shark was dead, even though father was running out of air, he kept looking for me. One dolphin brought him the rope he had jumped overboard with and another dolphin brought me to him."

"How do you know all of this, Jody, if you were in the water?"

"Oh, my body was in the water, but I was with Daniel. He showed me everything that was happening on what he called a 'monitor'. He said that I had to go back because my island sisters would need my strength."

"You were with, Daniel?" Grace asked as her eyes widened.

Jody smiled. "Mother, he is so nice."

"He is nice isn't he... why don't you rest for a while? Just lean your head back and put your feet up. But I don't want you lying down just yet."

"I won't, Mother."

Walking out to the island dining area in the middle of their small village, Grace finds Ian sitting with his head in his hands. Sensing the pain her husband is experiencing she sits down by him and puts her hand on his leg. "She's going to be all right, Ian."

As Ian looks up at his wife, Grace sees tears in his eyes. "I thought that I had lost our little jewel, Grace."

Wrapping her arms around him, she whispers in his ear, "She was with Daniel, Ian. She saw everything that you did to save her."

"She was with, Daniel?" he questions with shock.

"Yes. Just like Diana, when she had that terrible sickness at about the age that Jody is now."

"Daniel healed both of them and sent them back to us?"

"Yes, my love. We are very blessed."

Taking his wife's hand, they both sit in silence, surrounded with a feeling of gratitude that Jody was returned to them. As the sun begins to set, their hearts are filled with love for each other and for their girls.

Looking out at the enormous waves that are starting to hit the beach, Ian notices how dark the sky is becoming, "Grace, look at that huge black cloud in the distance. Have you ever seen one so dark?"

"I haven't. We had better warn everyone to get inside."

***

On the far side of the island, a camp is being set up. Black Beard's crew is too busy to look toward the sky. Thunder rumbles through the mountains, accentuated with lightning spreading its tentacles from one end of the sky to the other. Rain begins to fall from the sky in torrents.

Black Beard stands up, takes his hat off and holds out his arms, and as he raises his face to the sky, he opens his mouth.

"COME BACK OVER HERE, CAPTAIN! GET OUT OF THE RAIN!" members of his crew shout.

"I LOVE THE RAIN!" he shouts back. "Come to think of it, all of you get out here," he motions to them. "You all need to get drenched in water I don't want to have to smell you any longer."

"But, Captain that rain is coming down too hard and too fast."

"That's exactly the point! DON'T ANY OF YOU QUESTION ME," Black Beard yells as his eyes widen and his face becomes red. His dominating stature of a large six feet tall man, with muscles bulging on his arms and legs, intimidates his crew as they stare in his direction. All the while his long curly black hair becomes straight and even darker as the rain falls on the top of his head. A red scarf tied around his forehead and draping down to his right shoulder accentuates his sparkling black eyes and thick black eye brows as he demands, "MOVE NOW!" pointing directly at the spot where he wants them to stand.

The anger in their captain's voice fills them with fear as they run out from under their shelter. Yet, even in fear they continue to complain, letting their captain know how they feel about being in the rain.

"Ouch. Can I go back to the shelter now?"

"EEE yow... That hurts!"

"What type of pirates are you anyway? This is rain! How can you be afraid of rain?" Turning around and looking at his men, he yells, "AND STOP DANCING AROUND FOR CRY-N-OUT-LOUD, NO WONDER I'M NOT THE MOST FEARED PIRATE IN THE CARIBBEAN ANY MORE!"

***

While Gray Wolf is still in the portal, he hears earsplitting claps of thunder. "What is that noise?" he asks, "I can see the light and hear the noise, but why am I stopped? I was moving, but something is clearly stopping me... I can push my hand into this clearness, but it won't let me pass through it."

A flash of lightning is so bright that Gray Wolf closes his eyes. "Wow! Now that was bright!" Quickly covering his ears with his hands as his forehead tightens, he adds, "And that noise is so loud that it really hurts my ears. What's happening now? I feel like I'm being pushed somewhere." A sense of falling feet first, overcomes him and he begins to yell as his arms rise above his head. "EEEEEEE...Watch out below...I can't control where I'm going to land!"

Black Beard and his crew hear Gray Wolf's cries. Looking to the sky, they see an object falling in their direction.

"What is it?" they question.

"I don't know, but we had better move."

As Black Beard and his crew quickly spread out, Gray Wolf lands on the sand, rolling into the middle of their circle and stops with his face directly planted in the sand. Finally raising his head up Gray Wolf says, "Ouch... Now that was something! This reminds me of what my father, Blue Cloud, told me about his best friend, Black Bear, and how he had landed with his face in the sand after he jumped from a Hoo Doo in Goblin Valley."

Laughing he continues. "Ha, ha, he was trying to fly, just like me...ha, ha, ha and I landed just like he did." Considering what he had just said, he added, "actually, that kind of hurt, why am I laughing?"

Standing up and rubbing his bruises as he looks at Black Beard and his crew, he smiles, "I sure am glad that I didn't land in your fire."

After their eyes adjust and their expressions of fear return to normal, Black Beard and his crew begin to ask each other several questions.

"What is it?"

"It's a young boy."

"Where did he come from?"

"What a stupid question. You saw him, he fell from the sky."

Finally, Black Beard says, "Be quiet, everyone." Turning to Gray Wolf he asks, "Where did you come from?"

"All I know is that I was riding a fish that bucked me off, and then his tail pushed me through a portal," Gray Wolf answered.

"What? You were riding a fish? Where were you when you were riding a fish?"

"I was in the Hall of Corridors."

"What is a Hall of Corridors?"

"I don't really know, I just walked down that hall with my brother, and then all of a sudden I was riding a fish. The next thing I knew I was pushed through the portal by its tail."

Motioning for his crew to move away from Gray Wolf, Black Beard gathers them into a circle and head to head discuss what they feel about him. "This youngster must have hit his head. I've never heard of such things. Have any of you?"

"No Sir. Are you sure that he's not crazy?"

Stroking his beard and glancing in Gray Wolf's direction, Black Beard thinks to himself "Crazy? Hum, let me see...."

Walking back over to Gray Wolf he asks, "You said that you were with your brother. Where is he?"

"Oh, Running Deer was pushed through another portal."

"So, he's not with you?"

"No."

"What color is the sky?"

"Right now it's very dark with lightning spread across the sky line."

"What sound do you hear?"

"Oh, that's Grandfather."

"...Grandfather?"

"Yes, he's always loud like that."

Looking back at his crew Black Beard asks, "Well men, if it's really Grandfather making all this noise, then why are you afraid of it?"

Looking in their direction also, Gray Wolf says, "My brother and I were afraid of the noise that grandfather makes."

"Why be afraid? Doesn't your grandfather love you?" Black Beard, questions.

"Yes, but he scared us."

"Listen, maybe your grandfather can't help all the noise that he makes. He's not trying to scare you...and he's not doing it on purpose. I know that this sounds strange for a pirate to say, but I want you to remember that your Grandfather loves you."

"I hadn't thought of it like that," Gray Wolf said thoughtfully.

Turning to his crew, Black Beard states, "I don't think that this boy is crazy. I'm going to take him on as our newest crew member." Looking directly at each member of his crew he asks, "Do you understand what I am saying? I am going to take Gray Wolf as part of our crew. He'll be my cabin boy. I'll teach him to be one of the finest pirates that there has ever been. SOOOO, NONE OF YOU HAD BETTER SAY ANYTHING, OR DO ANYTHING TO HURT HIM...OR YOU WILL DEAL WITH ME!"

"Yes sir," they chorus, shaking in their boots, always fearful of the captain when he uses that tone of voice.

Turning around and facing Gray Wolf he asks, "Is that your real name?"

"Yes. Gray Wolf is my name!"

"What a great name for a pirate."

"What is a pirate?"

"I'll teach you. And as the years go by, you'll learn the answer to the question that you just asked."

"Good. I learn quickly. What is the first thing that you would like me to do?"

Putting his hand on Gray Wolf's shoulder, Black Beard explains. "We're watching that side of the island over there. I need you to watch for any ship...."

"What is a ship?"

Quietly the rest of the crew mumble between each other, "A pirate... and he doesn't know what a ship is?"

Pointing to the Queen Anne's Revenge, Black Beard patiently explains, "It looks something like this. Do you see how it floats on top of the water?"

"Yes. I've never seen anything like that before in my life!" he says with awe.

"Well, maybe you'll see another one in just a few days," Black Beard states as he sits Gray Wolf up to watch for the 'Mysterious'.

Later that night, Thomas and the other crew members that Black Beard had sent for food come back from their investigation of their side of the island. "We couldn't get very far because of the steep mountains and it took us this long because of the storm; we found a small cave and stayed in it..." Thinking for a couple of minutes Thomas comments, "I bet that all of you were out in the rain weren't you?" He and the pirates that were with him start to laugh until Black Beard states.

"So you weren't out in the rain?"

"No captain. We stayed nice and dry," Thomas says with pride.

"So you stink as badly as you have for the last few days then?"

Smelling under his arms, Thomas says, "We stink? I can't smell anything."

"Well I can. You need to walk out into the waves over there and wash that stale odor off of you. The rest of us stood out in that storm and let the rain pour down on us."

"We did find some food though, captain...." Thomas finally notices Gray Wolf for the first time, gestures with his thumb toward the young man and asks, "Who is he?"

"He's our newest crew member," Black Beard announces.

"We need another crew member?"

Black Beard pulls out his gun and pointing it in Thomas' direction says, "We'll need one in just a minute if you keep questioning me."

Thomas and his group of men put their hands up in front of them. Taking a step backward while smiling, they all say, "just a minute, captain. We were joking with you. He'll make a great pirate!"

"Now, that's what I wanted to hear!" Black Beard smiles, spins his gun around his trigger finger, and finally puts it away.

"I didn't see him anywhere on the island when we arrived, captain. Where did he come from?"

"He fell from the sky!" Black Beard says as a matter of fact and with a great deal of pride as he looks at his newest crew member.

"...From the sky?"Thomas asks incredulously.

"Yes. He fell from the sky just before the end of that huge storm..." taking his eyes off Gray Wolf and looking directly at Thomas he adds, "the same storm that you hid from in a small cave where you stayed nice and dry," the captain added sarcastically. "His name is Gray Wolf." With the pride of a new father, Black Beard puts his arm around Gray Wolf adding, "Don't you think that is the best name for a pirate that you have ever heard?"

"Yea, sure captain...Whatever you say."

"He's going to help us watch for the ''Mysterious'.'"

"Well, that's a great first job." Patting his hand on one of the few logs on the beach Thomas says, "Come here, Gray Wolf. My name is Thomas. You can sit next to me."

Black Beard pipes up, "Thomas, he'll sit next to me!"

Thomas realizes that he is no longer the captain's favorite and takes his place among the rest of the crew.

After several hours of watching the waves ebb and flow along with the empty horizon, boredom begins to sit in. The 'Mysterious' is nowhere to be found and the sun is going down. The fire has exhausted its fuel, and the flicker of light gradually diminishes. The eye lids of Black Beard and his crew begin to close, and finally everyone falls into a deep sleep.

***

Diana has weathered the violent storm with her parents, the famous Pirate Ian, and his beautiful wife Grace, along with her younger sister, Jody.

Through the walls of their home, Diana can hear her parents talking.

"Lucas just showed me a poster that he had picked up on our trip. Look, it's asking for Privateers. The English are recruiting Privateers to help them in their war against France and Spain. Our job will be to attack the French and Spanish ships and to take their cargo to create havoc among the fleet."

"Isn't that what you do now, Ian?" Grace says with a smile.

"Yes, but by working for the English we would get paid a salary along with taking the cargo from the ships. Then we could sell it as we always have, on the black market. The only problem is that we would have to leave tomorrow."

"But Ian, you just got here. Can't you stay with us for a while longer?"

"My sweet little woman, I don't want to leave you."

"Then why are you going to?"

"My true wish, Grace, would be to stay on this island every day of my life so that I could be with you. But the sad truth of life is that I need to make money for my family to live on. In order to make money I have to leave this island."

"I just wish there was some other way, Ian."

"If you know of one, just tell me Grace. My heart breaks every time I have to leave you."

"My heart breaks as I see your ship disappear over the horizon. Isn't there some way that you can stay a few days longer?"

"Not if I want to become a Privateer. I'll need to leave as soon as possible before the rest of the Pirates understand what a great opportunity this is."

"Go if you must, my love."

"Grace, do you realize that as a Pirate we go against the law and as a Privateer we work with the law; yet under both, we do exactly the same thing. Strange isn't it? We have enemies no matter which way we create havoc, this just pays better," Ian answers with a smile. "And I'm an expert at it."

"That you are Ian! I guess we had better get to sleep if you have to leave early tomorrow."

Ian blows out the bed side candles. Sadness fills his heart, yet a strange excitement fills his head as he thinks of the possibilities of his anticipated new adventure. "Finally a legal way to provide for my family," he thinks to himself.

Throughout their village, rooms grow dark as candles are blown out. The village becomes quiet. No longer can a human voice be heard. Only the soft sound of birds singing in the palm trees and the chatter of small animals hidden under the tropical foliage can be heard; even the waves seen to be calming down.

The warmth of the evening has returned. Though her parents and younger sister have retired for the night, Diana, grateful that the storm has passed decides to take a walk to the top of a nearby hill to visit the statute of her Grandmother Diana.

As the name sake of her famous Grandmother, Diana is very well known among her island family, as a person of courage, honesty and principle.

Reaching her destination, she is unaware that there are enemy pirates camped on a nearby shore, separated only by a very small, but extremely tall mountain range. Diana sits down by the treasured Greek statue. "I feel of your spirit Grandmother," she says.

After the days excitement with Black Beard's ship chasing her father's ship and finding out about Jody's near drowning, Diana is overcome with fatigue and lying down by the statute she finally falls asleep. As clouds begin to form in her imagination, a voice is heard as clear as any she has ever heard.

"Diana, when that storm hit the earth today, three things happened that concern me and you. First of all, Gray Wolf fell from the sky and landed in the sand."

"What, or who, is Gray Wolf?" Diana asks in her sleep.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I forgot that you don't know who he is. You will someday. And remember when you hear that name, that he is NOT your enemy. He has come to help you."

"A gray wolf will come to help me? I have seen pictures of them."

"No, not a wolf, but a young man...Gray Wolf is his name.... Just remember he is not your enemy."

"I'll remember. Gray Wolf will help me some day," Diana repeats what she has learned.

Her dream continues. "Second, lightning hit the mast of a ship, which has been hidden in Treasure Cove. With the rising of the tide the ship will begin to rock back and forth in the water. With the rope now cut by the lightning the warning bell is now free to ring."

"Third, at that same moment, because of the storm in your world...on my world I found a book in the ancient library telling stories of women pirates. Their magnificent ship is the ship that you will find anchored in the cove when you hear the bell ringing in your world."

Diana feels like she is now awake and having a personal conversation with someone.

"You don't need to be afraid, Diana," he calmly states as he sees the panicked look on her face.

"You said Treasure Cove!"

"Yes..."

"We can't go to Treasure Cove." Opening her eyes wider as her head begins to clear, she asks, "Who are you?"

"I am a friend, Diana. My name is Daniel."

***

"Daniel, how can you be speaking to Diana from your world when you are here at the Beach House?"

"Time is a strange thing, as you well know, Joshua. What you are watching now, happened many years ago, before I came to this world. I can't explain it to you. I can only tell you that it happened."

"Ok...Gray Wolf has landed on the beach next to where Black Beard and his crew have camped. But I have a question about that, Daniel."

"What would you like to ask?"

"When Running Deer arrived at his destination, he had grown into a young man. But Gray Wolf looks like he is about ten years old. He didn't grow like his brother did."

"I was wondering the same thing, Joshua. We'll have to do some investigating and find out why."

"What are the coordinates where Gray Wolf landed?"

"They are 14 degrees, 27 minutes, 25 seconds north, 61 degrees, 3 minutes, 53 seconds west."

"That's a beautiful area, the island of Martinique. Thank you, Joshua."

***

Diana continues, "You dress so differently than we do."

"Yes, but don't be afraid of that. I don't live on your world. It's just how we dress on my world."

"...Your world?"

"Yes. Somehow this storm has created a strange connection between us. I read in one of my books that it was the biggest storm that there ever was, or ever would be. It affected the whole universe with its electricity."

"Where is your world, Daniel?"

"It is in the Libra Galaxy"

"What do you call your world?"

"It is called, Gliese."

"You know my name. How do you know my name?"

"You wrote the book that I was reading. You see, I was holding your book at the exact same moment the storm hit. A split in our two dimensions makes it possible for us to see each other and talk to one another."

"This is all very strange to me, Daniel. I feel like we are here together but I haven't met Gray Wolf or found the ship. Yet if you are here on this world...well, at least I can see you..."

"Diana, don't worry. Everything will come in its own time. You only see my image. I'm not on your world. I am in your mind, as you are in mine.... We can communicate with each other through thought or voice. You will find your ship soon. And after your adventure is over, you will write your book."

"Daniel, I'm still having a difficult time with all of this."

"That's understandable. All you need to remember is that no one completely understands time. It goes around and around, up and down and in and out of the many dimensions. The only thing that you need to know is that things connect when they are supposed to connect. Each dimension opens when it is needed, and every individual, no matter where they are...because they are a child of God... receive what they need; we all receive what we need at the moment we need it. All we need to do is open our eyes to see the gifts we are given and be grateful for them."

"Daniel..."

Interrupting her, Daniel says, "It's time for you to wake up and find your ship. Wake up Diana, hear the bell, go to the cove, and find your ship."

Opening her eyes, Diana listens, and hears the bell ringing. Turning her head toward its sound, she knows that it is coming from the cove. "Should I go? That dream was really strange!"

Arguing with her desire to go or not to go, she reasons, "Daniel said that it was in the cove. But from the time that I was very young I have been told to never go near the cove; there are strange things that happen there. No, I'm not going to go. It was a very strange dream." Diana gets up and begins to walk away. The bell continues its movement. And with each clang, it seems to be calling to her.

With each step the sound seems to become louder and louder. Finally, Diana stops. The bell continues to ring. "All right, all right," Diana concedes. "What is it going to hurt to see where this is coming from?" Remembering what Daniel has told her, she runs to Treasure Cove.

Looking in the direction of the ringing bell, Diana sees a sail wrapped around a mast which has been carefully concealed by the heavy island foliage. "...A ship... a real ship! It's here, just like Daniel said it would be."

Running down to the water's edge, she walks into the water and swims over to the ship. Finding a rope ladder hanging over the railing of the deck she climbs aboard. "This is really nice. A little old, but my island sisters and I could probably fix it up. Or I could tell father and maybe he and his crew would fix it up."

Realizing that the bell is still ringing as the waves jostle the ship, Diana acknowledges, "I had better secure this bell so that no one else will know it is here." Searching all over the deck, she finally finds some rope. After securing the bell she questions, "I wonder where it came from? How could I have lived here all this time and not known anything about this ship? I've never heard anyone talk about it. Even father and mother have never said anything about it."

Touching the wood as she walks the deck, Diana's soul thoroughly connects with it's essence. "What is this strange connection? It feels like I am part of it, and it is part of me! It's so beautiful. For now though I'll keep this secret to myself."

"Diana! Diana!" She hears her mother calling.

Because her mother doesn't hear any response, and knowing that the cove is off limits for all of the island sisters, she turns and begins to look in another direction for her daughter.

"Father must be getting ready to leave. I had better hurry back so that he can leave on his travels." Diving into the water from the deck she makes her way to the edge of the water.

As she reaches the shore, she looks back to the ship for one more time! Suddenly she notices its name. "Destiny" she says. "So that is why I felt a part of it, it's my Destiny."

With the name of the ship so recently discovered ringing in her head, she arrives back in time to tell her father good-bye, and to help open the gate.

"Why are you wet, Diana?" her father asks her.

"Oh... I went for a swim."

"Will you help with the gate? It's time for our ship to sail." Turning back to look directly at his oldest daughter, he softly says, "Remember to practice your sword fighting. I want you to be able to help your mother protect your sister while I am gone."

"I will, Father." With excitement in her voice, she asks, "Could I talk to you before you leave?"

"Diana, I'll be back soon. Would it be alright if we talk then?"

Sadly she says, "Alright, Father. We'll talk then."

Patting his oldest daughter's shoulder he, turns looking at his entire family standing nearby and tenderly says, "I will return as I have always returned to my beautiful family." Boarding his ship, the gates are opened and the famous 'Mysterious' begins to sail on the waves of the sea.

***

Over on the far side of the island where Gray Wolf has landed, the sea breeze carries the crystal clear sound of the bell. Waking up he looks around trying to understand where the sound is coming from and what would be making that noise. Because the morning wind is cool he decides to gather wood to make a fire.

Now looking over in the direction that Black Beard has instructed him to keep watching, he finds himself rubbing his eyes in disbelief as he sees something floating on the waves.

"Black Beard...Black Beard, wake up! Hurry, wake up! Is that what you are looking for?"

Black Beard makes no movement and continues to sleep. Running over and shaking him, Gray Wolf repeats, "Black Beard is that what you are looking for?" Excited that he may have found what Black Beard has instructed him to find, he points toward what he sees floating on the water.

Looking in the direction that Gray Wolf has indicated, Black Beard's eyes widen, and then a broad smile shows a mouth full of teeth. "Great job Gray Wolf, that's what I have been looking for, for so many years."

"That is what you call a ship? That is how it travels on top of the water?"

"Yes, and you're going to learn so much more about ships with me as your captain. For now let's get our equipment loaded back onto our own ship. Then we will go over to the spot where we saw the ship leave the island."

***

At the Beach House, Daniel asks, "Treysen and Joshua, what is that sound?"

"I don't know. The instruments indicate that it is coming from the Hall of Corridors."

"...The Hall of Corridors? Nothing like this has ever happened in all the time that I have been here."

"Do you want us to check it out, Daniel?"

"No, thank you. I'll find out what is happening. I need you to keep your eyes on your people and let me know if anything happens to them."

"Yes sir," they both chorus.

As Daniel is walking to the Hall of Corridors, the buzzing becomes louder and louder. Slowly opening the door, he pokes his head in to see what is happening. He finally observes that all of the refracted waves on the right side of the hall, where Running Deer had entered his portal, are normal. But on the left side, where Gray Wolf had entered, he found each and every portal's refracted waves are moving in strange motions and bubbling.

"I don't like this," Daniel says to himself. "It looks like half of the dimensions were affected differently by this storm, than the other half. This isn't good. The world and its dimensions are not balanced. That's why Gray Wolf is not as big as his brother, Running Deer. Running Deer landed in his destination at the beginning of the storm. Gray Wolf was held and then pushed out toward the end of the storm. So this storm created a disturbance which affected Gray Wolf's portal and the dimension he landed in, along with all of the other dimensions on the same side of the hall."

Continuing to study the strangely moving portal entrances, Daniel declares, "The Earth will correct this disturbance. But what will happen when it becomes balanced? And when will it happen?"

***

After the departure of her father, Diana runs to her island sisters. "Come here...come with me. I want to show you something."

Scampering with Diana to a side of the island they have been asked by their parents to stay away from, Stacey nervously asks "What do you want to show us, Diana?"

"You are going to be so surprised. Just follow me."

"But this is the way to Treasure Cove!" And the girls stop following Diana.

Diana stops to see what the problem is. Turning around she answers, "Yes, but don't be afraid. It's so wonderful. If you think that the flowers are beautiful where we live, you will be amazed at the varieties of Orchid's and red heart shaped flowers that cover the ground. The humming birds love these flowers, and there are so many butterflies..."

"Come on, you'll see what I mean when we get there." Diana continues running and the island sisters follow her. Shouting back she cautions them, "Watch out for dropping coconuts, no one has been around here to harvest them. The trunks of the Palm Trees bend over and cover many of the old paths, so you will have to jump over them. And be careful because there are moss covered vines everywhere which could be slippery or cause you to trip."

"It sounds wonderful, Diana."

"Wait until you see it!"

Nearing the edge of the cove, there is only one small bend remaining and she will be able to show her sisters the ship Daniel has told her about.

Suddenly, Kristen stops and points, "What is sparkling over there in the water?"

Everyone quickly stops, causing some to run into each other.

"...What? ...Where?" Diana asks, turning her head around.

"Over there," Kristen replies, pointing to the sparkling ripples in the opposite direction of where Diana knows the ship is anchored. "Look, can you see it?"

Walking over to the pool of clear sparkling water in the cove, Diana states, "Amazing, I wonder what it is?"Knowing that the rest of her village sisters are afraid to swim in the cove Diana dives into the water, swimming toward the spot where the sparkling hues are emanating.

"Diana, what are you doing? You know that we aren't supposed to swim in this cove!"

Already under the water, Diana is unable to hear any of their cries. To her amazement she sees wooden trunks lying on the floor of the pool, which she guesses may have fallen from the cave above the water. Several trunks are open enough for Diana to see some of the contents.... Diamonds as clear and sparkling as the stars of the sky; Rubies as dark red as many of the spectacular sunsets; Jade as green as the moss growing on the very rocks that create the path for the water to follow into the pool.... Opening another trunk Diana finds it full of gold coins.

Still under water and almost out of air, Diana picks up a delicate necklace from a pile of precious jewels near one of the cracked trunks. "What is this?" she marvels. It looks like the rose necklace that I have heard so many tales about... My grandmother Diana's Red Rose Necklace."

Diana kneels by the trunk, her hair rising, drifting back and forth with the movement of the water, as she gazes at the beautiful necklace. "I remember what mother always told me about the necklace. Grandmother's lover gave it to her. He knew that the red rose was her favorite flower, so he had a necklace made with red roses all around it so that she would remember how much he loved her, while he was away. I always thought that it was just a story, but apparently it's true!!!"

Finally swimming to the surface Diana shouts, "Look at what I have found!"

"What is it?" they all question.

"Sisters, do all of you remember the story of Grandmother's red rose necklace?"

"Yes, so the story is true?"

"It has to be...here is its proof."

All of the sisters marvel at the beautiful, delicate necklace in Diana's hand. "Each rose is perfect!"

"We'll keep it in remembrance of our grandmother. Do all of you remember the full story?" Diana asks the girls huddled around her open hand staring at the beautiful necklace.

"Yes, her lover gave it to her."

"Well, she actually thought that they were married," Marie corrects Kirsten.

"I know. It was sad wasn't it?"

"Anyway, let's take this beautiful necklace back and show our mothers."

***

Black Beard quietly sails the Queen Anne's Revenge toward where Gray Wolf thought he had seen the 'Mysterious' enter the sea.

"This looks like where you first sighted the ship, isn't it?"

Looking back to where he had been on the beach, Gray Wolf visually and mentally calculates the distance. "Yes, this looks like it should be the place."

Looking toward land, Black Beard questions, "How can that be? All I see is a deserted island. We would have seen any ship when we sailed by this area before, if it had been anywhere around here. Are you sure that this is the place, Gray Wolf?"

"Yes. This is exactly where I saw it..." Looking back and forth trying to make sure he was correct, he wavers, "Well maybe I am wrong."

"No. No, son. I saw it too. Let me think." Concentrating on the island as he stands at the stern of the Queen Anne's Revenge, Black Beard cups his hand on his beard covered chin.

Looking at the whole island while remembering how the 'Mysterious' would disappear in this area every time he got close to it Black Beard finally declares, "Well, it's not going to happen again! Lower the rowboats! We're going ashore."

"Come here Gray Wolf. You can sit next to me in this boat. You probably haven't been taught the finer intricacies of rowing anyway have you?"

"...Rowing?"

Slyly, Black Beard chuckles, "That's what I thought."

Once ashore, Black Beard begins yelling orders to his crew, "I want you to scour this beach. There has to be a place large enough for his ship to hide. Somewhere we can't see from here and I want you to find it."

***

"Who is supposed to be on the watch tower, Grace?"

"One of the girls, but they followed Diana somewhere. I'll take a turn until they come back. They all seemed so excited about something when they left."

Climbing to the top of the watch tower, Grace is surprised to see a ship anchored in the bay. Quickly grabbing the eye glass she recognizes the ships colors. With her heart beating in a sense of urgency..."The Queen Anne's Revenge...so they didn't sail on. They must have waited to see if they would see the 'Mysterious' again." Scanning the beach, she sees several pirates, searching every inch. "Ah, so they don't know for sure." Making the sound of a crow, she warns the other mothers that they have visitors.

Sliding down a rope, she warns, "Sisters, it is Black Beard. Go to your stations."

Having planned for this type of intrusion, each woman takes her sword and brightly colored native looking coconut mask. Behind the thick green foliage, they hide until the pirate closest to them turns around. It is at this time that they quickly poke them with their sword.

Turning back around the pirates only see each other.

Thinking that his fellow shipmate is teasing him, one pirate declares, "You poke me again and you are really going to feel my sword!"

"What are you talking about? I didn't do anything," the other replies incredulously. "You poked me!"

Adding to this confusion several coconuts fall on the heads of the pirates who are sticking their heads too far into the foliage.

"Ouch!"

"Hey, quit it."

Pulling their heads back out of the foliage and rubbing the spot hit by the falling coconut, they feel the sudden prick of a sword tip again.

"I told you if you poked me again, that you would really feel my sword!" Grabbing his sword from his waist band, one crewmember attacks the other and a fight ensues.

Black Beard hears the sound of steel hitting steel, and a lot of yelling. He looks at Gray Wolf, angered at what he sees as his right hand gestures toward his crew, "Do you see what I've been telling you? Not a one of them has the courage to fight against the enemy, but they fight against each other all of the time."

Continuing, Black Beard remembers another time. "When I was a lot younger Ian and Lucas and their crew fought with my crew. We were at the Corner Tavern, and of course my crew and I were drunk. Ian and Lucas never allowed their crew to drink, so they had an advantage all ready, but they had another secret weapon. They had trained their crew to swiftly raise their right leg with a lot of force from a back position, bringing it forward and hitting the chest of their opponent with the bottom of their foot. This caused anything that may be in their opponent's lungs to dislodge. My crew began to cough uncontrollably and because of this, we became the laughing stock of the whole Caribbean...I can't afford to let him get the better of me again. I have got to find where his ship comes from. It's got to be here somewhere, you saw it this morning! You did, didn't you?"

"Yes. We both saw it, remember?"

"Yes, my son. I remember. Let's get this mess pulled back together again."

Walking over to where the scuffle is going on, Black Beard asks, "Did you find what I asked you to find?"

Shocked to hear his captain, he quickly responds, "No, I was looking, but he poked me with his sword," pointing to his opponent.

Not wanting to be punished, the response is heard loud and clear, "I did not! He hit me with a coconut."

Louder yet the other answers, "I did not!"

Anger from the pain of being poked with sharp swords and having coconuts fall on their heads creates an uncontrollable mess as all of Black Beard's crew begins to fight with each other again.

Looking up and down the full length of the beach, Black Beard sees his men fighting. With a great deal of anger he yells, "WHEN WILL YOU LEARN THAT YOU DON'T FIGHT EACH OTHER. THE ONLY TIME YOU FIGHT IS WITH AN ENEMY!"

His anger resonates within their body bringing fear, yet a clarity of what they are doing. Gray Wolf has never seen men fight with swords and is unaware of the distance there needs to be between him and the others that are fighting. As Black Beard's crew quickly turns around to look at their captain, Gray Wolf is pushed through the foliage landing on what should be dirt. "Help me," Splash, splash. "What is this? I need a boat."

Hearing water where it should be land, Black Beard looks through the foliage and finds Gray Wolf in the manmade channel which Ian and his crew had used for years.

Jumping through the foliage and into the water he grabs Gray Wolf. "There you are little guy. You're safe. Black Beard takes care of his son."

Hearing the sound of water behind the foliage his crew, follow their captain, and discover the gate that covers the channel.

Smiling Black Beard yells with glee, "You found it...the ship this morning and now their hiding place. I knew that you would be good luck when you came to us from the sky. I knew it!" he says with emphasis as he raises his right fist and brings it back to the water making a large splash causing ripples to form around them.

***

The island mothers watch the pirates every move as they discover the hidden channel. "My sisters, quickly go back to the village," Grace directs them. "Hide your swords. Do not become aggressive as the pirates find our village. Take on the persona of a helpless woman. They have guns and we don't want anyone to get hurt." With feelings of fear and concern the village women quickly gather their ingredients and start cooking. "You know that men always like the smell of cooking food."

***

As the island sisters walk back from the cove, their excitement can hardly be contained.

"I can't wait to show mother what Diana found."

"I can't either."

Each daughter is excited to show their mother the red rose necklace they had heard so much about all throughout their childhood. As the island girls approach the top of the ridge, something seems strange.

Marie has gone to the head of their group racing to be the first to the village when she suddenly stops. "Stop everyone! I don't see anyone walking around down there. Get down."

Looking down onto the village, through the island foliage they try to figure what is different.

"Are they in the chapel?"

"It's not time to be in chapel. Something just isn't right."

"Look... the gate is open. We shut it when father left, I know that we did," Jaci adamantly states.

"Who is that man down by the dock?"

"I don't know, but look. There are more men and they've all got guns. We only have swords. What should we do?"

"We have two things that we can do. We can go in peacefully, or we can hide here on the ridge and wait to see what will happen."

"What would you think if half of us go back to the village to help our mothers and the other half stays here on the ridge? That way we will have a surprise attack if we need it," Jaimie suggests.

"That's a good idea Jaimie. You always have the best suggestions. And because you do, I'm going to put you in charge of Kristen, Jaci, and Marie. They are a few years younger than the rest of us and I don't want the pirates to see them. So they'll stay here with you."

"...Alright."

Diana adds, "I'll take Stacey, Jessica, and Danielle. We'll see what is going on with our mothers and our other little sisters. Somehow we will get a message back to you. Oh, Jaimie... take the rose necklace. We certainly don't want them to know about this."

"Be careful, my Sisters."

"Watch your back. We don't know how many of them are on the island."

Walking toward their village Diana waves, while she quietly says, "Until we meet again, my Sisters."

"Until we meet again," they quietly chorus back.

Walking into the village, Diana and her sisters attract the attention of the pirates.

"Who are you?" the pirates ask.

"We are the older sisters of the island."

"Are there any more?"

"We have come as a group. Do you see anyone else?"

"No...put your swords over there," the pirate says pointing to an outside water barrel. "Captain..." the crewman called. "Can you hear me? Black Beard...Captain! These girls just came into the village."

Turning around he walks over to the new arrivals. Looking at all of the sisters with Diana, he asks, "So where have you been?"

"We just went for a swim," replied Diana.

"You're the only one who looks wet."

"Yes, well, I won the game."

"What kind of a game leaves one wet and the others dry?"

"It's a swimming game to see who can stay in the water the longest. The others got out sooner. That's why they are dry."

"That's a strange game."

"It amuses us. What is your purpose here?" Diana asks Black Beard.

"We are here to find the pirate, Ian." Walking over a few steps Black Beard looks around the village. "I have always lost him as we rounded the point. At first I began to think that Ian's ship was a ghost ship, that I would never find it. This time I was lucky. Gray Wolf, my new cabin boy, saw the 'Mysterious' leave early this morning. Then he found your secret inlet. The rest of my men were able to figure out how your gate worked."

Remembering her recent dream Diana says to herself, "Gray Wolf... that is the name of the person that Daniel told me would be my friend. But he is the one who told Black Beard where father's ship left our island and found our secret inlet." Looking back to Black Beard she asks, "So I repeat my question. What is your purpose here? You know that he is gone. What do you want?"

Looking at Grace, Diana and the rest of the women he adds with a glare in his eyes, "You should have let me finish what I was going to say. Since Ian and his mates aren't here, their women will do!"

Looking at each other, the women try to hide the fear that is raging in their souls.

Sensing what they were thinking Black Beard adds, "Don't worry ladies, we want the treasure that he has hidden."

Grace quickly answers, "He has never hidden any treasure on the island."

"He has no treasure?"

"No. He always shares his treasure before he even arrives at the island with those he knows need his help," Diana adds.

"Really... then you had better enjoy your last day with your little sisters, because we will take them with us in the morning."

Shocked Diana asks, "Why would you take them? All of the girls my age could be sold for much more."

"Looking at you, I can tell that you would be big trouble. And that tells me that all of the other girls your age would probably be equally as much trouble. The younger girls will be no problem, and I know many wealthy families who are looking for little girls to do work around their houses. They pay a lot of money for that type of service."

Filled with anger, Diana states, "But you just can't take them!"

"Really...who is going to stop me? Walking closer to Diana, Black Beard looks directly into her bright sparkling blue eyes. Talking loud enough so that everyone can hear what he is saying he warns, "I could tell from the moment that I first saw you that you were trouble! Because of that, and the courage that you are now showing, I will warn you this one time! If I have any trouble with you, with your mother or with anyone else, my men and I will kill everyone except you, Diana. You will be left here alone to tell your father and his crew what has happened to their families. You might have courage now, but do you think you could live with that on your shoulders?"

Looking around at her island family, she backs down, "There will be no trouble."

"Wonderful...now get us something to eat, we haven't had any good tasting food for a long time."

"Your wish is our command, sir," Diana answers politely, but with anger in her heart.

"Now that's what I like to hear," Black Beard states feeling that he has complete control.

Diana, her island sisters and mothers walk to the village kitchen to fix a meal for Black Beard and his crew that now hold them captive.

Quietly her mother asks, "Diana, where is everyone else?"

"They are on the ridge hiding until we could find out what was going on. If you will cook the pirates their meal, I will go and tell them what is happening."

"Be careful Diana. You know what Black Beard said."

"I know mother." Leaving the kitchen area Diana sneaks off into the island foliage.

Arriving at the ridge she quietly tells the rest of her sisters, "It's Black Beard and his crew. They found our secret gate. They have come here because they thought that father brought his treasure home. Mother told them that there is no treasure. And I told them that he gave it to others before he got home. Their plan is to leave in the morning. The problem is that because there is no treasure they are going to take our little sisters with them."

"What? They can't do that! Let's attack them Diana."

"Black Beard is prepared to kill everyone except me if there is any trouble."

"Why did he say that?"

"Because he knows that I don't fear death, but I don't want anyone else to be killed."

"Why don't we give them the treasure that we just found? Wouldn't that satisfy them and possibly make it so that he won't take our younger sisters?"

Looking at the ground as she walks in a circle, Diana explains, "If we take the treasure to them, they will know that they have been lied to. Then they will stay and continue to search for more and more. The longer they stay searching for treasure means that father might return before they leave. Knowing Black Beard he would kill father and the rest of his crew...all of your fathers. We have to let them take our little sisters."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, but don't worry I have a plan. Meanwhile I'll go back to the kitchen where I am supposed to be. The sisters that are with me and I will make friends with Black Beard and his crew. We will get as much information about them and where they travel as we can."

Jaimie stands up and says, "And while you're gone Diana, we will make this one rose necklace into individual rose necklaces which you can give to each of our little sisters. We will have one also and this will be our signal that we are sisters since no one else will ever have necklaces like these. We'll make them so that they will be worn under our clothing and won't be seen by anyone else but the wearer."

"That's a good idea, Jaimie. If for some reason things don't go as planned and we all change a great deal before we find each other, these necklaces will be our connection. I'll go back now and help prepare the dinner."

"We'll get these necklaces done quickly then I'll bring them to you."

"Be careful."

"I will... you too."

Leaving Jaimie's group of sisters on the ridge, Diana begins her walk back to where her village mothers are cooking the evening meal for their uninvited guests.

Meanwhile, Black Beard has walked into the kitchen and begins tasting the delicious smelling food. "This is the best food that I have ever tasted."

"We wanted you to be happy, sir."

After tasting a few dishes, he casts a discerning eye around the kitchen. "Where is that older girl...I think that her name is Diana, where is she?"

"I sent her after something for me."

"What did you ask her to get?"

Putting her hand up to her chin, giving the impression that she is thinking, Grace was desperately stalling for time. Turning around she asks, "Shelly what did I ask her to get for me?"

"I don't remember. I've been so busy trying to get the taste of this dish just right."

"Pauline, do you remember what I asked Diana to get?"

"I've been busy carving the meat. I forgot."

"Let me call her," Grace continues trying not to look or sound like she is nervous. "Did you need her for anything specific?"

"No, I just know that she is trouble and I want to keep track of her."

"Let me call her.... Diana...Diana where are you?"

"Here I am, Mother. Here are the berries that you asked me to get."

"Oh, that's right. Berries for the dessert...I thought that you might like some fresh fruit after being on a ship for so long, so I sent Diana to pick enough for all of you."

"How kind...you're right we haven't had any fruit for a long time. In fact, I'll try some of those beautiful berries right now?"

"Take as many as you wish. I can always have Diana pick more if we need them."

"And here I thought that you were making some type of plan to rescue your youngest sisters, Diana."

"Why do you think that I would be doing something like that, sir?"

"Because that's what I would be doing if I were you."

"You are a man of the world. I am a simple girl born and raised on this island."

"You do have a point. I've never seen a woman who could out plan a man."

"Yes... you have the answers sir...I do have a question for you though."

"Yes?"

"How long has Gray Wolf been with you?"

"Actually, I just acquired him the other day."

"Acquired him?"

"Well, actually just last night, when we had all that thunder and lightning. He flew through the sky and landed on the beach where we had set up our camp. I have taken him aboard as my cabin boy."

Inwardly, Diana can hear Daniel's voice telling her to remember that, "Gray Wolf is not your enemy." Well of course he's not my enemy. I haven't known him long enough to be an enemy.

Looking at Black Beard with a questioning look on her face she states, "Isn't that kind of strange for someone to be flying through the sky?"

"I thought that it was at the time, but he seems like a fine young man. I haven't questioned the fact that he fell out of the sky. I mean, after all, anything coming from the sky is heaven sent isn't it?" and he laughed heartily at his own joke.

"So, let me get this straight...you just met him the evening of the huge storm?"

"Yes...look at him. He fits into our crew like he was born into it. He'll make a wonderful pirate."

Trying to change the subject, Diana's mother announces, "Dinner is ready. If you will gather your crew, we will serve the meal."

Walking outside the kitchen, Black Beard states "Gather around the table! The food is ready."

A crewman states, "Blimey, they are going to serve us. And at a table too! Hey mate" he says to his fellow crew member with a nudge of his elbow and pointing with his finger, "have you noticed how beautiful these women are? I've been all over the world and I've never seen women this beautiful."

"Yea, captain," says another mate, "they're all tall, slim, lips to kill for and long hair of every color that a man could wish for."

Scowling, Black Beard yells, "I don't want any of you touching them, do you hear me? The only ones old enough for you must be the wives of Ian and his crew. Diana and her sisters are around fourteen years of age and the younger sisters are only five and six years old. We're going to have enough trouble on our hands as soon as Ian and his crew find out that we have taken their smallest village daughters. He will come after us with a vengeance if we touch his older village daughters, or any of their wives, and they will be out for blood!"

"Couldn't we just have a little fun?"

"Anyone that touches even a strand of their hair, will HAVE TO ANSWER TO ME!! DO ANY OF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS?" Black Beard warns with the meanest look he can muster.

With their mouths wide open and jaws dropped out of surprise and fear, his entire crew quickly answers, "Yes captain," and then returns to eating the meal placed before them.

Diana watches the mannerisms of Black Beard and his crew and comes to this conclusion, "So he controls his crew through fear and intimidation. That means he is a tyrant and his crew is weak."

Gray Wolf is quiet during all this time, but he watches trying to find out what is really going on.

After a cautious night's sleep, a cool morning breeze comes in from the sea. Red hues highlight the sky as the sun rises. After breakfast has been served the captain suddenly declares, "Come on everyone, it's time to go. Gather everything... the tide is calling for us. Diana, get your youngest village sisters... and remember I want no trouble."

"I will get them." Quickly leaving, she gathers her own group of sisters and her youngest village sisters in the woods at the edge of their village. The other older village sisters with Jaimie, have been waiting for them there.

"We have the necklaces ready."

"They are so beautiful, Jaimie."

"There are enough for each of us to have a necklace."

Each of the village sisters is given a necklace. Diana instructs, "My Sisters today we will be separated, but these necklaces will be our connection. No matter how long it takes. No matter how much we change, we will know that we are sisters because of these necklaces that will be worn underneath our blouses. No one is to see them. The code word is 'Red Rose'.

When any one hears that phrase, put your right hand over your heart, and if the other girl is one of your sisters, she will put her right hand on her heart and repeat the words 'red rose'. The next code words will be 'Treasure Cove'. If 'red rose' and 'Treasure Cove' are used then we know that we are sisters. But there is one question that then needs to be asked by the little village sisters and it is, "the day that we were taken we were given something, what was it?" The older village sister will show her own red rose necklace first. Only at this time, my little sisters, will you ever show your necklace. Only then, do you understand?"

"Yes, Diana we understand. We will do as you have instructed."

"Be strong, little ones. We will find you...never fear."

All of the sisters hug each other holding tightly... not wanting to let go.

With her heart breaking, Diana announces, "We must go before they come looking for us."

"Diana, I have something to say."

"Yes, Jody."

"My older sisters, I want all of you to know that I will be their strength, we will get through this. When I fell into the sea, I was with Daniel. He said that I needed to go back because my little sisters would need my strength."

"Daniel said that to you?" Diana asks in wonder.

"Yes, Diana. I saw him and he talked to me."

"We know that we are being lead to where we are to go. Be strong everyone. It will all work out the way that it should."

"Are you ready to go my little sisters?"

"Yes, Diana," they all chorus.

Looking toward Black Beard's ship, the mothers and little sisters say their good-byes with tears and good wishes, hoping that one day they will see each other again.

Black Beard and his crew keep their word that no one would be harmed if no aggression is shown on the part of the village mothers and older sisters, especially, Diana.

As the Queen Anne's Revenge sails on the tide, the mothers and older sisters with Diana watch from the pier. The other older sisters with Jaimie, that Black Beard knows nothing about, watch from the ridge.

The smallest village sisters, who are now with Black Beard, stand on the deck waving back to everyone on the island shouting "We'll be strong, don't worry. We'll be strong."

As soon as the ship is completely out of sight, the mothers drop to their knees and begin crying... "How will we be able to live without our little daughters?" The mothers had chosen to hold their emotions in until the ship passed over the horizon. Now was their moment of great sorrow.

Diana adamantly states, "When father gets back in a couple of days, those pirates will pay! They will wish that they never set eyes on our island, and that they never came looking for father and his ship 'Mysterious'."

Looking at the anguish that all of the mothers are going through, Diana's anger turns to grief. "Could I have done more? Should my sister's and I have charged them, even though they had guns?" Sorrow begins to fill her heart. Knowing that tears would soon fill her eyes, Diana turns and begins running to her grandmother's statue.

Kneeling down at the statue, with her head in her hands, bending over she begins to rock back and forth crying uncontrollably. "...Grandmother..." reaching out to the statue with her right hand... "Grandmother, please... I need you, they've taken our youngest island sisters...please help us."

Diana continues to beg her grandmother for help. Sadness consumes her body as she continues to cry uncontrollably. Finally she lies down in front of the statue exhausted from the emotions that have taken control of her body. Sleep finally overtakes her.

In her dreams, she feels a movement of the ground beneath her. Her body feels strange. Time seems to be speeding by as there is numbness in her brain. Yet, she sees bright lights passing by, and hears the jumbled sounds of voices and roaring wind. In her dreams, she sees a woman who looks very much like the statue of her grandmother reaching down to comfort her. "Diana, very soon you will be old enough to search for your sisters. At that time you will be given everything that you need to find them. Know that I love you."

***

Feeling wet sand beneath him, hearing the sound of Seagulls and the rhythmic ebb and flow of waves, Ian's mind begins to wake from a deep fog as his eyes slowly open. The brightness of the sun is excruciating as he lifts his hand to block the rays from hitting his face. Little by little he is coming out of the unconscious state he has been in since a huge wave threw him, his crew and the schooner onto the beach.

Lucas has awakened a few minutes earlier. Walking around the beach he has checked all of the crew members that have washed up onto the beach.

Noticing that Ian's eyes are opening, he asks, "Captain, how are you feeling?"

"Lucas, what happened? How did I get here?"

Kneeling down Lucas asks, "Don't you remember the storm?"

"The storm?...Oh, the huge storm with the blackest of black clouds; rain coming down so hard that we could barely see anything, and lightning that reached from one end of the sky to the other? But that happened while we were still on Martinique."

"Yes, but how often have the waves returned, like water in a bowl sloshing from side to side?"

"Ahhh..." Grabbing the side of his head, Ian thought of the experiences he had on the ship during the storm. Pictures begin to flash in his head, and feelings of fear fill his heart. "Yes, I remember the ship quickly rising to the sky... so high that we could almost touch the clouds; and just as quickly going to the lowest depths of the sea, with huge walls of water all around us. I thought the sea was going to swallow our ship."

"We all thought that, Ian."

"What about our crew, Lucas. Is everyone ok?" he asks with concern.

"We're still looking for a couple of them sir."

"Who are we missing?"

"Terrance and Jib..."

"No one has seen them?"

"No sir."

"What about Mikkel, Ulrik, Currito and Eduardo?"

"All are accounted for."

"Except for Terrance and Jib... what do you think happened to them?"

"We don't know, captain. Mikkel and Eduardo watched the sea, while Ulrick and Currito and I searched the beach. So far there is no sign of them."

"Please tell everyone to keep their eyes open, to look at the direction of the waves and estimate where they would have gone."

"I have captain."

"Lucas, what about the ship, where is the 'Mysterious'?"

Pointing just off shore to a clump of boulders, Lucas says "Right there captain, what's left of it."

Sitting up so he could get a better look, Ian says with a great deal of sadness, "Oh, no, the 'Mysterious'. How are we going to fix it?"

"I don't think that we'll be able to sir."

"Do you have any idea where we are?"

"Not yet. The waves were so high, that I lost what direction the wind and sea were throwing us. All I remember is standing next to you while you were talking to the English on the British Virgin Islands and signing papers to be a privateer for them. They asked us to go south toward Haiti... and then I remember the waves that hit while we were in the middle of the Caribbean."

"I remember all of that, so what happened next?"

"All I remember is that I could feel water moving up to my chest and rolling out again. By the time that this happened three times, I could hear birds, feel the wind and hear the waves that were continuing to get me wet...I lifted my upper body and looked around. I was shocked to see the wreckage of the 'Mysterious' and all of my mates lying on the sand in the sun. I walked the beach checking everyone. Then I heard you moaning."

"Speaking about everyone, let's get together, go in further on this island and make some type of shelter."

Looking around at his mates, Lucas begins shouting, "Everyone, come here. We're going to go inland and create some type of shelter."

Gathering together, they help each other, paying special attention to those who are injured. Lucas helps Ian to stand, and slowly they all begin walking off of the beach behind the tree line and further in toward the island foliage.

Looking back at the wreckage of the 'Mysterious', Ian says, "It's like leaving a friend in the water, and not being able to do anything to help them, Lucas."

"If anyone would help another person we all know that it would be you Ian, after what we saw you do to save Jody."

"Thank you Lucas. A life is always a very important thing to save under any circumstance."

Walking inland Ian asks Lucas, "How long have I been out?"

"I don't know, I have only been awake long enough to check on everyone. The only thing that I know is that its sunset and we need to find some type of shelter, or make it, so that we can get some sleep."

"Thank you for your help good friend."

"I know that you would do the same for me, Ian."

"You're right, I would."

A short time later, after creating a crude shelter of bamboo and palm leaves tied together with vines, everyone lies down to hopefully get some rest.

***

"Daniel, that buzzing has stopped," Treysen announces.

"Thank you Treysen, I'll go check the portals."

Walking to the Hall of Corridors, Daniel notices that the refracted waves of the portals are calm on the left side of the hall and look as normal as their counterparts across the hall. "I will look at the underwater city to see if this has affected them at all."

Pulling the refracted waves softly apart Daniel looks in the direction of the city. "It is huge! They couldn't have built this much in a day or two, there are too many ships coming and going now from this underwater city. Time must have moved ahead at least a year or two. In fact it could have been several years...time moving forward in the twinkling of an eye...that's how the Earth has chosen to balance what the storm caused to become unbalanced."

Looking to the affected side of the Hall of Corridors he says, "Everyone on this side of the hall will be much older. They have gone to sleep one day and will wake up the next day several years older...this should be very interesting!"

***

"Diana, Diana, wake up. We finally found you."

Opening her eyes she looks up to find several girls staring down at her. "Who are you?" she asks more than a little startled.

"Diana, are you playing your games again? It's me, Jaimie. Look at us. Surely if you don't recognize us, look at our necklaces. Remember the Rose Necklaces that we made when Black Beard took our little island sisters?"

"Yes, but you all look so much older."

"I don't think that we look any different than you do."

Still lying on the ground she raises her arms and notices the difference...she sits up and looks at her legs. "Now I know what she meant when she said that I would soon be old enough to search for our sisters."

"Who told you that, Diana?"

"Grandmother... Grandmother Diana told me that I would soon be old enough to search for our sisters, and that I would have everything that I needed."

### CHAPTER 3

"My sisters, look at us, we have been given the answer to our prayers. Last night I pleaded with Grandmother while I was on my knees, to help me... to help all of us, and look," Diana says with a sweep of her hand.

"I know Diana, can you believe it?" Jaimie answers in a raised tone, looking at everyone and wondering if it is all a dream.

"In my wildest dreams, I would never have guessed or even asked for this...but now I can see that it is the only way that we can successfully find our little sisters," Marie states.

"I agree with you Marie, but guess what? There is something that makes this so much better..." Getting up from the ground, Diana motions for them to follow her, "Quickly... come... follow me I have something to show you." She begins to run through a garden of palm trees with scattered Anthurium's and their colorful flowers and vines covering the pathway to Treasure Cove.

"Where is she going, and what is she so excited about?"

"It looks like we are going in the same direction she took us the last time we followed her."

Coming to the water where they had been the previous day in their own minds, but since the Earth had balanced itself, it had been years ago in their own dimension, Diana yells as she continues running, "Don't stop at this pool. Forget about the treasure that we saw in the water, there is something around this curve that I want you to see."

"Darn I wanted to get a hand full of gems," each sister thought as they ran past the treasure, trying to follow Diana as quickly as they can pushing the low hanging branches out of their way and jumping over the palm tree trunks.

Jaci has decided to stay behind and begins to walk into the crystal clear water. Kristen waits on dry ground prodding her to go with the rest of the sisters.

"Come on Jaci, Diana told us to forget about the treasure," Kristen insists.

"I just want to grab a couple. You never know when we might need them."

"Well, you can't dive into the water, besides Diana would hear the splash and wonder why you are wet!"

"Darn, you're right...what shall I do?" Jaci asks, standing with her hands in her pockets and her head down.

"Look behind you, down by your feet," Kristen says as she points to a nearby rock just barely out of the water. "The sun's ray's made two of the gems sparkle as the palm branches were pushed aside by our sisters."

Looking where Kristen directed her to look Jaci comments with a smile, "Hmmm, they must have fallen out of one of the trunks." She picks up a beautiful clear diamond and the purest red colored ruby. "Wow, these are beautiful! Where shall I put them?" she questions, overcome with excitement.

"Put them down your blouse in the crease of your breasts, you are big enough now that no one will ever see them there and they will be safe."

"Great idea..." she chuckles "we had better get going."

"I'll race you Jaci. I bet I can catch up to the sisters before you can."

"Ha, my legs are longer than yours Kristen, I'll pass you up in a second." Jaci smiles and climbs out of the pool.

Looking back, Kristen comments, "If that is true, then why am I so far ahead of you now?"

Trying not to step on all of the beautiful island flowers growing close to the ground, they finally catch up to their sisters just as everyone is rounding the bend where the ship is finally in full view. Shocked... they stand for a moment.... With their mouths opened and their eyes as wide as can be, they wonder if this could really be true.

Finally they all shout, "A ship!"

"I didn't know that there was a ship other than the 'Mysterious' on this island?"

"I didn't either until after the storm when I heard the warning bell ring," Diana says pointing in the direction of the ship, "...see that bell? I secured it again so that other people wouldn't hear it and find the ship."

"But, it looks so old?" Marie comments with a frown.

"You think this looks old now... you should have seen it the first day I saw it. It looks a lot newer today. "

"How can it look newer today than when you first saw it, Diana?"

Looking at every corner of the ship Diana begins to question herself, "Maybe I just forgot what it looked like with all this excitement. Anyway we need to get it into shape. When do you want to get started?"

"Now!" everyone shouts as they all jump up and down unable to contain their excitement as they smiled at each other. Finally they could see a solution to all of their problems. The possibility of finding their little sisters was real and they begin squealing with joy.

"Let's go back to the village and get some ladders, tools and paint."

Running to the village, the girls start gathering everything that will help them return the ship into a sea worthy vessel.

Hearing the girls as they run back to the village, Diana's mother is busy, looking in the opposite direction as she calls, "Diana, lunch is ready. Please tell everyone to come and get something to eat."

"All right mother." Diana realizes that her mother... well all of the mothers... will be quite surprised when they finally look in their direction. All of the girls put their tools in a pile and sit down to eat.

Bringing the food to the table and finally taking a good look at their daughters, Grace and the other mothers are shocked.

"What has happened to our daughters?" she questions in fear.

Diana grabs her hand, "Mother, somehow we have become older... When we woke up we were all older. But it's a good thing, mother, we are old enough to go find our little sisters. We don't have to wait for our fathers to come home."

"How are you going to do that?" Shelly asks still in shock.

"We live on an island and father has the 'Mysterious'," Grace adds.

"And if you haven't noticed that's the only ship on our island," Pauline states.

All of the girls begin giggling with excitement.

"My sweet daughters, what do you have up your sleeves?" Grace questions.

"Mother, it's so exciting! When we get it done we'll show you," Diana answers with a huge smile.

"Sweetie, just be careful." Grace cautions as she and the other mothers adjust to the change in their daughters.

Before she sits down, Jaci sneaks off to hide her jewels under her mattress and quickly returns. Sitting next to Kristen, she leans over and whispers, "Did I miss anything?"

"No, everyone has just been laughing. But no one has told our mothers the secret yet."

"This is going to be so exciting! I can't wait.... But right now I'm hungry."

"Me too, shall we have a contest to see who can eat the fastest?"

"Kristen, you always want to see if you can be faster than I can, but I always win."

Looking at Jaci, Kristen smiles, "Yes, but someday you won't." And quickly takes the last bite of her meal.

"Hey, you started before I did."

"Why do you think that I wanted to see if you could finish before me?"

Poking Kristen in the side, Jaci smiles, "You little rascal."

After everyone else finishes their meal, Diana and her village sisters quickly gather their tools and run to the cove. Rounding the bend they are once again stunned.....looking at the ship everyone is confused."

"Jessica what do you think?" Diana asks.

"It looks different...it looks like someone has been working on it."

"...See? What did I tell you? Or am I just looking at it differently?" Diana questions.

Stacey thoughtfully comments, "No, I can see the same thing...just like Jessica said, it looks like someone has been working on it."

"It does? It's not just me?" Diana questions.

"No, we can all see it!" Marie empathetically states.

"We believe you now Diana," Kristen states as Jaci shakes her head in agreement.

"Maybe this is a magic cove...maybe we won't have to repair it...chuckle...it would probably sink out in the middle of the sea if we worked on it anyway," Diana says with a huge grin."

Jaimie hasn't said very much because she has been formulating everything in her mind, "I think that Diana is right in what she says, something is happening here that we don't understand."

"If someone or something is fixing our ship, let's go practice our sword fighting as father asked us to do. We will check on it again in the morning," Diana suggests. "It seems like it is being fixed a lot faster than we could fix it anyway."

"Let me get this straight Diana, we're going to practice our sword fighting while this ship is magically repaired?" Marie asks.

"Yes, that's exactly what I said. Do any of you have any other ideas?"

"No, that sounds good to me," Stacey laughs.

"Me too," Danielle adds. "I think that I'll sunbathe for a while."

Looking directly at Danielle, Diana says with a smile..."No way, you're going to be my partner while we practice our sword fighting, and I want you to get your flips higher." Looking at Danielle, she puts her arm around her shoulder, "Let's take everything back and get started with our practicing, partner."

Looking at the rest of the island sisters she adds, "First of all I'd like all of us to practice front rolls, back flips, front flips and front tucks. All of this will help you to gain physical strength, agility and coordination."

Arriving at the practice arena Diana asks, "Jaci, would you please start?" Looking to the others, "Everyone else take your turn behind her doing one front roll after another over to" she points to her right, "that tree and back again. As soon as everyone has finished, Jaci start with back flips, then front flips and finally front tucks...Are you ready ladies?"

"Yes, Diana."

Jaci begins the front roll as Diana coaches each sister. "Keep your front rolls tight. Let's try them again."

"Ah, do we have to Diana?" Kristen questions, "My head hurts."

Looking over at Kristen, Diana says, "You need to get these front rolls down... the rest of you, be creative. Use ropes, barrels, anything that would be on the deck of a ship, learn to use them in your fighting. All of this can be a great distraction to your opponent and they can also be terrific maneuvers to get you to where you want, or need to go."

Watching her sisters as they practice, she begins to say words of encouragement, "You can do it Kristen, in fact why don't you start this time?"

"Diana, this is too hard. I don't want to do it."

"I know that it is hard, everything that we endeavor to learn is hard to do, but we must move forward. We must press on!"

Begrudgingly Kristen begins the procession as instructed.

"Great job Kristen, keep it up. Come on girls you can do it. We have to practice. Your body needs to become familiar with your moves. You can't make your body do something that it is not ingrained in your brain to do. We have to have these surprise moves if we are to survive; it is only with these skills that we will be able to find our sisters and bring them home."

Diana has said the magic words and each sister puts renewed effort into her practicing.

Finishing their front rolls once again, Diana goes to the front of the line and leads out with back flips, front flips and finally front tucks. "See, I need to continually practice also, otherwise my body will lose its ability to move as it needs to. My mind won't forget how to do it, but my body will lose its flexibility to perform these stunts."

Soon everyone has finished going through all of their gymnastic moves.

"Thank you all for working so hard. Let's go and get something to eat and then let's work with our swords.

Walking to the village kitchen the girls take a quick break sitting down to eat the freshly picked fruit.

As Diana looks at her sisters, she realizes that in order to be prepared for their journey, they must all have a common goal, a moment in time when everyone will be ready to find their sisters and bring them home.

"Sisters, we must talk."

As all of the island sisters listen to Diana as she expresses her concerns, her desire to keep everyone safe and to return home with the younger island sisters, a fire begins to grow in their hearts.

As Diana ends her conversation, everyone stands raising their right hand in agreement while shouting... "We can do this!"

Heading back to their practice area with renewed strength, they have all agreed on a goal... to be prepared for their rescue mission by the time the ship is finished. In this they have all united by making this pledge: "For our mothers, our fathers and our younger sisters, we will be prepared."

Now in the practice area, each girl gets her sword and stands in a line facing Diana.

"I know that you know a lot about how to use swords because our mothers have been practicing with all of us since we were small. What I would like to practice tonight is the advance, the lunge, the attack, the extension and the feint. Keep your body lines straight so that you can keep control of your advance and retreat. We need to also practice our press and the pass both forward and backward...are you ready?"

Soon everyone is following Diana's example, mirroring her exact moves.

After the food is put away their mothers, who have graciously told them to go and practice rather than to help them clean up their lunch, walk over to see how they are doing.

"Diana, would you mind if we added our expertise as we duel with our own daughters?"

"What a great idea!"Diana states with excitement.

As the mothers duel with their daughters, they continue to coach them as they have for so many years. With admiration, Diana watches the expertise and courage demonstrated by their mothers.

Over several days with loving encouragement from their mothers, the daughters quickly become experts in tumbling with and without the sword, finally becoming pirates to be reckoned with.

***

Aboard the Queen Anne's Revenge Black Beard throws a sword, handle first, to Gray Wolf.

"What is this?" he questions.

"It's called a Cutlass. If you want to be a pirate you need to know how to fight with it."

"Have you ever used a bow and arrow?" Gray Wolf asks.

"I can't say that I have."

"Don't you think that it could be an advantage if you are fighting pirates on another ship? They are great for long distance fighting."

"Well, we have cannons for that."

"I bet an arrow would go a lot further than a ball of lead would go."

"Gray Wolf, you might have a great idea there. When we get to the island, let's see which one goes farther. While we're there, I'll also show you how to use a pistol and a Cross Bow. You have a lot to learn if you want to be as famous as I am."

"I don't know what famous means, but my question to you is, what are you going to do with these girls?" Gray Wolf asks as he looks over at Jody and her island sisters.

Also looking in their direction, Black Beard walks forward a few steps. "Strange," he comments as he continues to walk toward them. "I was wondering if it was the light that was shinning on them or what it was. For some reason they don't look so young anymore. Did we go through a time warp or did I sleep too long? In fact..." finally looking closer at Gray Wolf, "you are no longer a little boy, you are a young man, and just as tall as I am. Did someone give us a magic potion?"

Smiling, Gray Wolf asks, "Didn't you feel the ship last night Black Beard? The waves were moving like they were dancing, and there was something weird in the air. When we all woke up this morning, we looked older and had grown a great deal...whatever happened, we've grown...we're not the same as we were yesterday. There's nothing we can do with what destiny has given us captain. Now back to the girls, what are you going to do with them?"

"I was going to say... I'm just going to take them to Haiti, my island, and keep them there until either we see Ian, or he finds us. I know that he has a large amount of treasure hidden somewhere, and rather than having to search for it, I'll use these girls to bargain with him."

"So you're not going to sell them?" Gray Wolf questions with a surprised tone.

"No. I could never sell the island daughters. I've got girls of my own, and if anyone ever did anything to them I would go wherever I had to go to get them back... and the person who took them would never escape my blade. I know that Ian would feel the same way. For now though, we're on the ship, and I have a lot to teach you about being a Pirate. Have I told you the rules of our ship yet?"

"Yes sir...would you like me to repeat them?"

"Yes, please do," Black Beard encourages him to see just how much he does know.

"First of all there is no stealing from other shipmates; there's no smoking or drinking aboard ship; don't bring women aboard for overnight pleasures, and all lights are to be out by eight o'clock...oh, yes and pray often."

"Good job, Gray Wolf, now for the sword. When I try to strike at you, you counter by blocking my move. We'll just go slowly back and forth until you get the feel of it."

"This sword is heavy compared to a bow. It's awkward too."

"I remember feeling like that when I was the age that you are now, Gray Wolf, but the more you use it, the easier it will get."

"Are you sure that you don't want me to just use a bow and arrow?"

"What good would that do you if someone came at you with a sword?"

"They wouldn't be able to get close enough to me, Black Beard. I would shoot them before they get anywhere near me."

"I can see that you have never fought on a ship before have you, Gray Wolf?"

"Well, no I haven't..."

"Look around you son." Black Beard sweeps his hand. "Look from the bow to the stern. Arrows are used for long distance. When the deck is full of our crew and the enemy, we are fighting elbow to elbow. Do you see the difference?"

"I'm beginning to, Black Beard," Gray Wolf states as he tries to envision their ship full of men fighting each other.

"Good, now let's get started."

Day after day, Black Beard and Gray Wolf continue their practicing as they move along the deck, bow to stern and Starboard to Port. The rest of the crew has made sure that they are aware of where they are on the deck, so that they don't get hit by their blades.

"Gray Wolf is catching on quickly," a crewman notices. "He'll soon be a match for Black Beard... and you know what that means...next he'll teach him how to shoot a pistol or crossbow and we'll really have to watch out!"

***

Daniel continues to stand at the refracted waves of the underwater portal watching as ships enter and leave different areas of the underwater city. "They have grown so much quicker than I ever thought that they would." The ships move so quickly, he isn't sure if all of them have the same insignia that he had seen before on Gliese.

"I've got to make sure. Do all of the ships have the same people who took over my world, or have they put together a confederation?"

Daniel goes to the security station to get his night vision binoculars.

Curious, Treysen asks, "What do you need night vision for, Daniel?"

He answers with a concerned tone, "I have to make sure of something."

Back in the Hall of Corridors he looks through the folds of the refracted waves. His night vision binoculars make it a lot easier to see every inch of the oval, silver colored ships darting about the underwater city. Checking and rechecking the insignia on each of the ships, his heart fills with a combination of anger and fear. Once again he wonders, "How did they find this world? Was I followed?"

Memories of what these people did to his people and to his family flood into his memory. "No, they didn't follow me or they would have taken me to one of their many prisons already. They have come to do to Earth what they did to my world."

Daniel continues to watch, amazed at their preparedness. "I found out too late on my world that they had taken over many other worlds... and their final plan is to take over the universe. All they think of is power."

Treysen walks to the Hall of Corridors, "Is there anything that I can do to help you, Daniel?"

"Do you remember when we talked about the water people?"

"Yes."

"I need to tell you about them. I want you to understand what they are like, because you will probably have to deal with them at some point in your life."

"What do you mean?"

"Treysen, they won't stay in the water forever. They will only stay there until there are enough of them that have come here and until their people are in positions of power."

"I don't care if they are in the water..."

Daniel cuts Treysen's comments short, "No, you don't understand! They aren't here to live in the water. The water is a transition place, yet, if they have done here like they have done on other worlds, they already have underwater access to tunnels that crisscross all over the world where they have landing docks. Besides the water, they are probably living within the mountains and miles underground all over this world. They can go anywhere they want."

Closing the refracted waves, Daniel is filled with sadness as he walks out to the beach. Treysen follows him wondering what is going on, but keeping his feelings to himself.

Pointing to the sky, Daniel states "Look at the stars, Treysen."

Looking up to the magnificent sky he answers "Yes. They're beautiful."

"Have you ever seen a falling star?" Daniel asks as if he is remembering something.

"Yes, when I set in the sand on the beach I see several of them fall each night."

"They fall quite fast don't they?"

"They do. I've never seen anything go as fast as they do."

"I have."

"What do you mean Daniel?"

"I have... I've seen the same ships that I saw in the water today, fly across the sky faster than a falling star."

"We don't have anything that fast on Earth."

"You do Treysen, it's just that your eyes can't detect anything that goes that fast. You see it takes your brain one-tenth of a second to process what your eyes have seen. So by the time that the brain receives and processes the information from your eye, it is already out of date by the time that it gets to the visual cortex where you perceive what you have actually seen... Do you understand what I am saying?"

"Kind of..."

"So the ships...the only time you will see them is when they slow down.... One thing that they can't fly through is heavy dense smoke. If you saw one of their ships that had to slow down because of smoke, you could see it until it darted off again in another direction. And for that very reason I need you to understand these people."

"What's wrong with them?"

"On the surface they seem like nice people, like they could, and would like to be your very best friend. That's what I first thought of them. But what I learned was that this type of person will never speak the truth. You see, it is their belief that it is ok to lie to anyone that is not just like them. They look at you with a smile, as they lie to your face, all the while knowing that you would never suspect that they would do anything wrong, because you don't think that way. You would never do anything wrong to another person would you, Treysen?"

"Not unless they were trying to do something bad to me."

"That's what they are counting on. Because you are trustworthy, you trust... Because you are honorable, you honor... Because you are respectful, you respect all people and their belongings ... Because you honor and respect FREEDOM you want all people to be FREE... Make no mistake... these people have none of these attributes. All they want is power! Never turn your back on them. They will approach you as a friend, but behind your back they will pull a weapon to kill you and your family... in essence they are cowards. They have come here as an enemy, but they never reveal who they truly are so that you can prepare yourself for the fight that they will eventually engage you in. Unless you and your people understand who they truly are, they will take over the Earth, just as they did with Gliese. You must always be prepared and never completely trust them."

Daniel sits down on the beach; Treysen sits next to him. "After they gain your trust and move into positions of power, they will take everything that belongs to you, either by law or by thievery and they will take your freedom, little by little until... it is completely gone." Daniel takes a deep breath. Memories of his life fill his consciousness as he watches the continual ebb and flow of the ocean waves in silence.

Finally Treysen looks directly at Daniel.

"What happened on Gliese, Daniel? Who were you on that world?"

"My name was Cuvar Offian Moriatias. I was the guardian."

"You were a guardian?"

"Yes, a guardian.... It seems like it was just yesterday, but it was many, many years ago.... I was to guard all of the books and especially the old ones, on every subject, particularly our history. No one could see them, except me. They had taken all of the books from the people and put them in this 'library'. They gave the people of Gliese the books they had written, containing the knowledge that they wanted the people to learn.... In these books they changed our history and what our founders used as a foundation to create our wonderful, successful world.... Our founders had researched hundreds and hundreds of years of all of the civilizations that had risen and fallen on our world so that they could create something that would last and something that would afford freedom for all our people... and these people hid all of that information.... Of course, they had to do this if they wanted to change the minds of the young and the very essence of Gliese to fit their needs. They knew that soon the older people, (the parents and grandparents) who knew the truth and could see through their lies would be dead, and with them the exact history of a world that God truly wanted for his children, would be gone. All they had to do was to wait.... There would be no need for war and no need to look like an aggressor or have any light expose the true evil that filled their souls; they could hide what they were and what they were really trying to accomplish. They could continue to trick the young with their smiles and their fancy words.... Yes, they always had fancy words, but... their evil actions were kept secret and never spoken of.... In this way most of the world would never know what they did to those who would try to stand against them; and so they continued, year after year, not caring for anyone except for their own selfish, greedy cause, to control the world and to take control of everyone in it."

"So you see Treysen, I had the ideal job; I could read anything I wanted. I could learn from all of the old masters, on any subject. That's where I found out the lies they had told concerning our first leaders, and thankfully that's where I learned about time travel and how to heal with colors."

"One day," Daniel smiles, "I found a book about girls who became pirates to save their sisters. It talked about a magic flying ship. I became intrigued with their courage to go against men, much stronger than they were, to save their sisters; they were willing to give up their lives, if necessary.... This book opened my mind and reminded me of the courage that I had forgotten our ancestors had possessed. The lies that I had been told all of my life that I had taken as truth, was not correct in any shape, matter or form; the truth of what had actually happened at the beginning of our world had been lost, except in these books."

"The Landarians had come to our world and told us that their world was dying and they needed to be allowed to be one with our people, so they could survive.... We were so naive."

Daniel shook his head and looked away.

After a while, he began talking again, "We were a giving, loving people at that time and shared our world with them, giving them an area that they could call their own. We allowed them to work and to progress to stations of power within our government. Behind our backs, our kindness was looked on as a weakness to these people, and they took advantage of it by slowly taking over our world. We were blindsided. Before we knew it, they had all their people, and some of our people that had been bought off with money, power and promises for future alliances with their families in positions of importance. They made laws and treaties that were completely against what we stood for. That is when I saw what their plan was. It was at this point that I heard rumors of what had really happened on the world that they came from."

"They had traveled to the previous world with the same story that they had told us when they first came to Gliese. They had risen to power there just as they had on our planet. After they finally took over that world, they killed all of the original people, even the ones that had helped them and that they had made promises of future alliances with. They wanted no one but their own to survive because they felt that all others were beneath them. Finally, with all their enemies gone and no one to fight against, they began fighting amongst and within their own people."

Looking directly at Treysen and lifting his right index finger to make a point, Daniel said, "The problem is that it is in their very nature to fight, to deceive, to kill and to take over. In their eyes it is survival of the fittest, and they never stop... I'm not sure that they know how to.... Their children, through learned behavior have mastered their techniques. They have continued on and on, generation after generation, always taking over world after world, killing everyone and finally even their own family members so that they can be the one that survives.... They know nothing else. They have no comprehension of trust, respect, loyalty, love or freedom.... I could see that my children were learning their skills."

"You have children, Daniel?"

"Yes, Treysen, I had two beautiful children."

"Where are they?"

Sadness envelopes Daniel, as tears come to his eyes. Looking away, he stares in the direction of the Libra Galaxy, hoping to see Gliese.

***

With the morning ritual of singing birds, the sun rises lighting the path as the girls run to Treasure Cove.

Danielle is the first one of her sisters to reach the ship that was found in the cove.

"Look, it's almost finished. Whoever is working on this ship is doing a great job!"

Jaimie is carefully looking at the ship. She looks toward the stern and by the time her eyes return to the bow something has changed...thinking for a moment she then asks, "Everyone, look at the stern...now look all the way along the side to the bow. Carefully remember what it looks like. Close your eyes and turn around. Count to three. One...two...three... Now turn back around and look at the ship again... doesn't it seem like someone is working on it right now, because every time that I look at it, something has changed."

"She's right...Jaimie is right. It's changing right before our very eyes." Jaci says with excitement.

Looking around Danielle asks, "Where is Diana?"

"I don't know," Jaimie answers. "Why don't we both go and get her? She needs to see what we have all just seen."

Walking back along the shore of the cove, Jaimie notices something that none of them have seen before. "Danielle, look over there," she says. Looking in the water where the rose necklace and all of the treasure had been found, they notice a rock path leading to the cave.

"Let's find out what is in the cave."

"Great idea Jaimie, the last time we were here it was high tide and this path was covered."

Walking into the cave they find several barrels and trunks full of swords, daggers and pistols, along with several others full of more diamonds, rubies, pearls and gold coins. Helping each other to lift the trunks of swords, daggers and pistols, they walk across the rock path one by one, bringing the barrels and trunks to the shore line on the path to their village.

"The other girls can help us bring them to our village. Jaimie would you please stay with them and I'll ask the sisters to help us."

"I'll be waiting for you," Jaimie quips as she begins to look through the barrels and trunks.

Running to the shore where the sisters are waiting, Danielle waves her arm to come in her direction. She turns around and begins to run back to the barrels and trunks as the others follow her.

As they arrive, Jaimie is standing with a sword in her hand, a pistol tucked into her pants at her waist line and a dagger in her boots.

"Stop where you are my ladies, no one will pass me on this path unless you have a ...let's see," she puts her index finger up to her cheek and looks to the sky while she thinks. "a..." finally, looking back she adds "a...rose necklace."

All of her sisters show their rose necklaces. "Well, I guess I've met my match...you all may pass."

Laughing, Danielle and Jaimie excitedly show their sisters what they found. "Look...swords, daggers and pistols!"

"Where did you find them?"

"Over there in the cave. Pick up a sword... they weigh only half as much as the ones that we have been practicing with"

"Now that's music to my ears. Every time I would use our old swords my wrist would hurt, so I would have to use both hands just to make my sword move where I wanted it to move."

"Now you can use two swords...do you notice anything else about it?"

Picking it up and stretching her hand to touch the end of the blade Stacey says, "Yes, the blade is longer."

"Exactly, it's not even half as wide and its blade is seven inches longer. Can you believe what an advantage that would give us?"

Danielle adds, "Look at these pistols. There are so many that we could each have several to use. We could create some type of holder, either on each side of our hips, or something that hangs across one shoulder and down to our hip."

Jaimie adds, "There are daggers also. With all our weapons anyone would be really stupid in challenging us," she says with a smile.

During all this time, Diana is in her hut fast asleep, in the middle of a life like dream from Daniel.

"Diana, I have just finished the ship. Because the storm has connected our two dimensions, your ship in the cove and the one that I am building here in the laboratory will be finished at the same time."

"So, you are the one that has been fixing the ship?"

"Well, actually I have been building a new ship from the measurements that you put in the book, that I found in our ancient libraries...the book that you will write later in your life."

"So as you build the ship in your dimension, it is being refurbished in my dimension?"

"...Exactly."

"I am thankful for all that you have done Daniel, but do you remember when you told me that Gray Wolf would be my friend?"

"Yes."

"It is because of him that our little island sisters have been taken by Black Beard."

"What?"

"Black Beard, the famous pirate, took our little sisters and is going to sell them. It was Gray Wolf who helped him."

"What? Gray Wolf is not that type of person."

"Will, that little boy, Gray Wolf, as you call him, who was supposed to be our friend, told Black Beard when my father's ship left our island. Then Black Beard sailed to our island thinking that he would steal the treasure from my father while he was away. Because my mother said that we didn't have any treasure, he took the little island sisters so he could sell them and make some money...Gray Wolf did nothing, except what he was told to do by Black Beard."

SILENCE... "Are you there Daniel?" SILENCE was all that Diana heard. Then finally she hears a soft "shhhhhh."

A moment later, Daniel begins to speak. "I'm sorry. The guards of my laboratory are making their rounds. Diana, I don't have time to explain everything right now, but I have two very important things that I need to tell you. My time is short, please listen."

"Are you going to be all right?"

"Hopefully... First of all I will tell you again...Gray Wolf is your friend, remember that. No matter what has happened, he is your friend... Second, I have added something to the ship that I need to explain to you."

"I'm listening Daniel."

"When you board the ship go to the Captain's cabin. Usually the Captain's cabin is in the stern, but this room is in the front of the ship, in the bow. It's there for a good reason. By the windows there is a table. On the top of the table is an oil lamp that is secured. Reach your hand around the back of the base of the lamp and you will feel a button; press it down. It will release the lamp from the table. Lift the lamp and the table top will slide open from the middle; a hidden lever will rise up. If you push the lever forward, the ship will raise so that it lifts above the water, and at the same time it begins to fly forward. The further you push it forward, the faster the ship will fly. Experiment with the speed. You will learn what is best for whatever circumstances you are in."

Daniel continues. "To your left is a switch. Push it up and a green light will go on. This is what gives your ship power to fly. To your right is a silver round knob. When you have extreme weather, push it down. The knob initiates a program that will keep the glass clear so that you can see out of it at all times. If the sun is strong the glass will darken. If there is ice frozen on it, it will melt the ice. If there are torrents of water hitting the glass, it will create a film that will make the rain immediately slide off, so that the glass stays dry. There is another blue knob to the right of this knob. By pressing it, the cylinders begin to turn in your masts so that your sails are automatically rolled up. Your sails won't be able to stand the speed that your ship will be able to fly. Do you understand everything that I have told you?"

"I think so. It all seems so strange to me."

"Yes, I would imagine that in your time of the Earth's history, it would seem quite strange. All of these things are used in the future. I have given them to you now so that you will be able to find your sisters."

"How did you know that I would go to find my sisters?"

"I read the book."

"Ah, yes... the book that you said that I am going to write."

"You will write it Diana. You are a great deal like your grandmother, Diana. You know that you were named after her, but did you know that she also wrote a book about her life?"

"No. I didn't know that."

"It's important for you to read it. In fact, it is important for you to read it to all of your island sisters, since you are all related to this great woman through her children. She and her children were all exiled on the island that you live on."

"What does exiled mean?"

"In this instance it means that they were cast out of their society to live on this island alone."

"Were they bad people?"

"No, Diana. Read the book and you will understand."

Reminiscing Daniel continues, "Did you know that when she died, the next day the clouds were pink. Everywhere there was a pink hue that bounced off of the clouds covering the earth. And in the sky there was a cloud in the shape of a cornucopia and off to the right, there was a pink round puffy cloud by its self. It was just like an island. And on this cloud was a rose proudly standing, tall and straight as if to say, 'I'm alright'... It was so spectacular."

"I have never seen anything like that Daniel."

"There never has been anything like it before her death...or since."

"Daniel, where do I find this book?"

"...The statue that is on the top of your highest hill..."

"Yes? I love to go there, just to sit and daydream."

"If you stand in front of the statue and turn the rose that she is holding to the right, a drawer will open just below her feet. Inside the drawer you will find the book."

"It's been there all this time?"

A strong wind begins to blow. Extremely bright lightning reaches to all ends of the sky. The thunder claps so loud that one would think that the whole universe would be able to hear it. The rain comes down in torrents.

Daniel is answering Diana's last question. "Yes...she...to...it..."

"Daniel, what are you trying to say...Daniel, there are so many questions that I want to ask you."

Silence... "Daniel, are you there?" Silence...

Diana strains to hear Daniel. Her breathing becomes so shallow that all she can hear is the quiet beating of her own heart. A type of sad frustration overcomes her. "There was so much more that I wanted to ask him...."

Jaimie has left the sisters with the newly found weapons and has entered Diana's home just in time to barely hear her last words.

"My goodness that rain sure did come quickly. There wasn't a sign of it when I was at the cove. And by the time I reached your house it was pouring."

"You're drenched Jaimie, come and stand by the fire, I'll get you a blanket." Diana's mother, states. "I think that Diana is still sleeping."

"I thought that I just heard her speaking?"

"You heard her?"

"Yes, would you mind if I went into her room?"

Diana opens her door. "I am awake, Jaimie was right. What time is it anyway?"

"The rooster has stopped crowing, and the sun is high in the sky."

"Thank you mother, I had another strange dream."

"Another?" her mother asks.

"Yes. The last time that we had a storm like this, I had a dream. And then when I was in the middle of my dream this morning, the thunder, lightning and drenching rain ended it."

"Well, forget about your dream Diana. I have something exciting to show you. Come Diana. Come now," Jaimie said with excitement.

Jaimie, began running toward the cove. Smiling she turns back around and yells "Hurry... Diana. You'll never believe what we just found."

***

On the other side of the island, this same storm is bringing two more visitors to the island.

"I'm glad that we are together Blue Cloud, I don't think that I could do this by myself."

"I was actually thinking about the same thing Snow Flower, not that I am afraid, but I can't stand all of this waiting and not knowing what will happen next!"

As the storm becomes louder the portal begins to expel its contents. Before long Snow Flower and Blue Cloud are cast out from the portal into the air, falling to Earth.

"Hold my hand Snow Flower, we don't want to become separated."

"Hold it tight, I don't remember how to swim."

"Swim?" Blue Clouds eyes widen.

"Yes, look at all the water."

Frantically looking around, Blue Cloud sees the beach. "Lean over this way. I never learned how to swim very well, so I think that it would be better for us to land on that ground over there," Pointing to the Island.

Leaning toward the island, a sudden burst of wind pushes them toward it. Finally over the beach the wind stops, and Snow Flower and Blue Cloud find themselves quickly falling to Earth.

Landing on the sandy beach, Blue Cloud comments, "Wow, what did you think of that Snow Flower?"

"Ouch, this isn't as soft as it looks."

Rubbing his side, Blue Cloud responds, "I'll agree with that. At least we aren't out in the middle of all that water."

"That would have been a softer landing, but since we're not the best swimmers, this is the best scenario for both of us... what do we do next?"

"This is a small beach area, and I don't see Gray Wolf, do you?"

"No, that's why I'm asking...."

"Let me look around, Snow Flower."

Pointing her index finger toward a dark circle in the sand, Snow Flower states "Look over there it looks like someone made a fire, I wonder if the rain put it out?"

Walking over to the fire pit, Blue Cloud feels the pieces of wood. "It's hard to tell how old this fire is because of the rain, but I would imagine that it has only been a few days."

"Do you think that it was Gray Wolf that made the fire?"

"I don't know. I taught both of our sons how to make a fire. We can only hope that it was him..." Looking at the surrounding area a lot closer, Blue Cloud adds, "If he did, he wasn't alone."

"What?"

"Look at this piece of wood it isn't something that a person would use in a fire. They are made to hold something up, like a tent, or an overhang for shelter. Gray Wolf didn't have anything like that with him.... I'm going to look around this area to see if there is any sign of him, Snow Flower."

"Don't you want me to go with you?" she says nervously.

"I do want you to go with me, but then what if Gray Wolf comes back to this spot...would you please stay here, just in case he does come back?"

"I didn't think about that. I was actually hoping that he would be here when we arrived."

"If only it were that easy."

While Blue Cloud is searching the area, Snow Flower decides to search inside the pouch that Daniel had given them.

Suddenly a cool breeze begins to blow.

"Thank goodness there is a piece of material in here." As she pulls it from the pouch it expands to the size of a blanket. "Now that's interesting.... It's magically the size that I need." Putting the cloth around her body, she walks over to the surf and looks toward the horizon and the incoming waves.

Blue Cloud walks back to the beach after his search. Looking in Snow Flower's direction he sees only her head. "What happened to your body?" he questions with a lot of concern.

"What?" She looks around surprised by his remark.

"Your body; it's gone. All I see is your head."

Looking down to her legs, Snow Flower is frantic when she can't see her feet. Dropping her blanket, her body becomes visible.

"What is that piece of cloth, Snow Flower?"

"I took it out of the pouch that Daniel gave to us."

"Let me see it." Swinging it up and around his shoulders, Blue Cloud wraps the cloth around him.

"Blue Cloud, the same thing happened to you. With that cloth draping down around your shoulders I can only see your head."

"This is very interesting Snow Flower. Opening his own pouch, Blue Cloud finds the same type of material. "Is this it?"

"Yes, that looks exactly like mine did when I took it out."

"Well then, let's experiment with them, they might come in handy."

Laughter can be heard quietly coming from the beach.

"Look Blue Cloud, now you see me...now you don't," as Snow Flower raises and lowers her cloth.

"After I cover myself, count to three Snow Flower, and guess where I am. Are you ready?" he asks. "Start counting."

"One, Two ... Three... Looking around "You're right there Blue Cloud," Snow Flower says as she points directly where he is standing.

Letting his blanket fall to the ground he asks, "How did you know?"

"Foot prints in the sand. I knew where you were going, because I could see your foot prints in the sand," she said with a smile.

"What a smart wife I have. This could come in handy, Snow Flower, since we don't know what kind of people live here."

"This is really a great tool. I wonder if Jon and Julia know about them yet."

"I don't know...I think that I will call Jon and let him know. They might need them in their search for Running Deer."

***

Joshua finds Daniel and Treysen out on the beach.

"Sir, Blue Cloud and Snow Flower have arrived at their destination. I'm sure that they will be anxious to find Gray Wolf."

"Thank you for telling me. Now that we have both of our couples in the dimension that each son arrived in, hopefully everything will go well for everyone."

Seeing the extreme sadness on Daniel's face and hearing sadness in his voice he asks, "Are you all right Daniel?"

SILENCE

Looking at Treysen with his hands out to the side, Joshua is confused. He has never seen Daniel sad at any time before. He has always been uplifting, concerned and serving others.

Realizing that Daniel has retreated to memories of his past, Treysen requests, "Joshua, would you please go back to the Security Station and keep an eye on our couples?"

"Sure. Let me know if you need anything."

"Thank you Joshua."

***

Quickly, Jaimie and Diana arrive at Treasure Cove. Walking toward the ship Diana notices all of her sisters waiting on the path.

"What are you all waiting here for?"

The sisters move to the side, so that she can now see the trunks and barrels, "Surprise!" they yell as loud as they can.

"Where did you find them?" Diana smiles with a great deal of excitement.

Danielle points to the cave, "Over there."

"The cave...I didn't know that there was a cave over there."

"Jaimie and I didn't either until we saw the rock path."

"What's in them?"

By this time each sister has chosen her own sword, dagger and pistol. Playing around they pretend that they are going to come after Diana with their new found weapons.

"Wait my sisters..." she stretches her hands forward, "you are really scaring me."

"We are just teasing...we wanted you to know what great Pirates we would make, Diana."

"Well, you've made your point. I don't think that Black Beard himself would dare come against you!"

"That's why we are so excited...we want to get him... Hurry, get your own sword, dagger and pistol, and then we have something else to show you," looking in the barrels she picks her weapons.

"Are you ready?"

"I am. What great adventure are you going to take me on now?"

Running toward the ship they shout with excitement, "Look!"

"...It's finished...just like Daniel said it was...it's really finished!" Diana states with excitement.

Looking at Diana, all of the sisters are shocked.

Noticing their disappointment she simply says, "You think that you have something exciting to show me...wait until I show you something," she says.

Stepping into the water, Diana begins to swim toward the ship. Arriving to its side, she grabs the rope ladder and climbs up the side of the ship. When she gets to the railing she climbs over it. After she helps her other sisters to board she looks to the bow and begins walking toward the stairs.

"Where are you going Diana?"

"I'm going to the Captain's Cabin."

"Isn't the Captain's Cabin usually in the stern?"

"Yes, but this is a special room, and it's in the bow."

"How do you know?"

"Daniel told me in my dreams."

Hearing Diana's response, her island sisters look at her strangely. Looking back at them she says, "Don't look at me like that. Come with me and I'll prove it to you."

As Diana approaches the door to the cabin, she turns around. "Now, our very next move will answer the question that you all have...if I am crazy or not. In this room the windows are facing the bow of the ship. By the windows, there is a table. If I remove the oil lamp from the table, the top will open up. There are lights, switches and knobs inside the table that make it possible for this ship to fly."

"Did she say fly?" Kristen asked.

"I think so." Jaci answers as her eyes widen.

Jessica and Stacey look at each other, wondering if Diana is ok.

Walking into the cabin, Diana slowly walks toward the table in front of the windows. Feeling the base of the oil lamp, she finds the button in the back and presses it down. Hearing a click, she slowly lifts the oil lamp off of the table...the top of the table opens, just as Daniel said that it would. A lever pops up. She touches the other switches and knobs, but doesn't move them in any way.

Looking back at her sisters, she asks, "What do you think?"

Shock is reflected in the expressions on their faces. "Tomorrow, we will try this out." Diana states.

Excited with their discovery, they each dive into the water from the railing of the ship.

***

Hearing the splash of water, several times, Blue Cloud and Snow Flower run toward the sound. Finding a small passage way they hide a short distance away as they watch the island girls finish their swim to the shore of the cove and walk up the bank.

"Let's follow them Snow Flower."

***

Walking back along the pathway Jaimie says, "Let's take a sword, a dagger and a pistol for each of our mothers, and then put the rest of them back. Maybe we'll need the rest of them sometime."

Working together each girl looks for just the right weapons for their own mother, and walk across the rock path to put the barrels and trunks back in the cave for safe keeping.

Finally Diana and her island sisters begin walking back to their homes, on the same path that brought them to their adventurous cove. Looking over to her right Diana sees the statue of their grandmother. As she walks over to it, her island sisters follow her. Standing in front of the statue, wonderment over comes all of them, and all of the sisters begin asking questions.

"I wonder what she was like..."

"If she looked like this statue, she was very beautiful."

"Why did she come to this island?"

Diana puts out her hand and rests it on the rose. "Step back everyone, I think that I can answer those questions."

Moving the rose to the right, a drawer opens up from the base, under the statue's feet. "Look, here is her book where she wrote about everything that happened in her life. I think that it will answer all of the questions that we have."

Curious, Marie asks, "How did you know that there was a drawer there Diana?"

"Daniel told me."

"Who is Daniel?"

"He is the person in my dreams. He told me about the ship and about the book."

"Well, with that said, why don't we all go home?" Jaimie suggests. "Your mother was wondering what we were doing when I came to get you."

Kristen begins running. "I'm going to be the first one home," she yells. "I'm going to be the first one to give my mother her sword."

All of the other sisters begin running, trying to keep up with Kristen. Finally they all run to the middle of their village.

"Mother," everyone shouts, calling for their own mother.

All of the mothers come running thinking something drastic has happened.

Holding up the swords, they say, "Look at what we have found. We have one, and we have brought you one."

"Where did you find this?" The mothers ask. And each daughter tells her own mother the story of where the weapons were found and they all begin to report on every detail of the miracle ship.

***

"What are they talking about Blue Cloud?"

"I don't know. I can't hear them...I was going to ask you the same thing."

"Wasn't that book beautiful?"

"Yes, my wife, I wonder what is written in it?"

"I don't know, but I can't wait to find out."

***

"What wonderful adventures you are all having. Are any of you hungry? Lunch is ready."

"I'll be back in just a minute I have to put something up." And Diana takes the book of her grandmother Diana, to her room, and hides it. In her room, as she is putting the book in a safe place she says to herself, "After I find my island sisters and take care of Black Beard I will read this wonderful book to everyone."

Walking back to the meal that the island mothers have cooked, she hears her sisters continuing their stores about the ship.

"Yes, the ship's name is 'Destiny'."

"It's beautiful, and you should see the Captain's Cabin...it has a table that opens and has lights that indicate what switch to push."

"And it is suppose to fly," Jaci blurts out.

"Fly?" the mother's chorus.

Diana steps in, "My mothers and sisters, we will all go for a ride in this wonderful ship tomorrow..." Raising her glass she asks, "Would all of you like to go?" she asks.

Everyone raises their own glass, shouting, "Yes."

The meal is finished and everyone is cleaning up.

"Marie, wasn't there a huge piece of meat left here?"

"I thought so. Maybe someone else took care of it?"

"...Maybe."

At the opposite end of the table can be heard. "Kristen, did you eat that whole piece of cake that was here?"

"Not me. Maybe you did, and didn't know it," she says laughing.

Chores are completed. Excitement can be felt. And laughter is heard throughout the evening, as hope is finally filling their hearts.

***

"I think that I'm going to like this magic blanket Snow Flower. This meat and cake are delicious."

"Yes, husband. Your choice of meat went well with the cake that I chose. I'm going to have to get them to teach me how to cook like this."

"Now that would be a good idea, Snow Flower."

"Are you saying that you don't like my cooking?"

"Ahhhh...no. I didn't mean anything like that. I like your cooking, it's just that ahhhh, this is different. It's the smell of the sea breeze," Blue Cloud says as he tries to get himself out of the hole he just put himself in.

"So are you saying that my food would taste as good if we had lived by the sea?"

Quickly taking a huge bite of the meat, he makes a signal letting her know that he can't answer because his mouth is full. As soon as he finishes chewing, he feels that Snow Flower is still looking at him and waiting for an answer. He quickly grabs the cake and takes a huge bite. Once again signaling that his mouth is too full, to answer her question.

Looking at her husband, Snow Flower begins to laugh, "You coward, you are afraid to answer my question aren't you? Well keep grabbing the food and taking huge bites. Soon you will be too full to eat anything more...I'll just wait Blue Cloud."

"Knowing that he can't outsmart his wife, he puts down his food and begins to laugh. "You know me too well, Snow Flower, but do I need to answer your question?"

"Well, of course, why do you think that I asked it?"

"What was the question again?" Blue Cloud tries to stall for time.

"...Blue Cloud!" Snow Flower states a little louder and with a smile on her face.

Moving over to his wife, he puts his arm around her. "Snow Flower, you are the most beautiful woman that I have ever known, and I love your food...it's just that this food is something that I have never tasted before... I like it too."

"It is quite tasty. I'll have to agree with that. But to get out of trouble, you'll have to get all of our meal tomorrow."

"Oh, no problem, I can do that...so I'm out of trouble?"

"We'll see how you do tomorrow Blue Cloud. That will be the deciding factor."

"I'm feeling tired. Where should we go to sleep, woman?"

"I think that we are far enough away from their village, that they won't hear us, but we're still close enough to get some of their breakfast in the morning. This is nice," she says with a smile. "I'm expecting breakfast in bed, Blue Cloud."

They both begin to quietly laugh, knowing that they are both having fun.

"I hope you know that at some time we are going to have to tell them and repay them for their food...."

"I know. But until we know what is going on, it's safer for us to hide."

"There is one thing strange that I noticed Blue Cloud..."

"What's that?"

"I haven't seen any men."

"That is quite strange isn't it? Maybe we'll find out why that is, tomorrow."

***

The morning sun seems especially bright for this special day as the crowing of the rooster is met with excitement. After their morning meal, everyone gathers in the middle of their village, to begin their walk to the cove.

"Don't you think that we should clean up this food before we leave?" Diana asks.

"Let the birds have it, I'm too excited for our adventure," Grace says as she throws her right hand into the air in a nonchalant manner.

In her mind Diana thinks to herself. "Mother has never left food out like this. She always cleans up after every meal." Looking at her mother strangely Diana says, "I'm not going to argue about cleaning up."

"I'll race you to the cove Diana," her mother challenges as she starts running.

Surprised Diana yells, "Now was that fair?" as she scrambles to catch up.

Watching Diana and her mother race, the rest of the mothers and daughters take on the same challenge.

***

All of the commotion wakes Snow Flower and Blue Cloud. The mother and daughters run by where they are sleeping, with only a large bush between them, but with their cloth making them invisible.

"Where are they going Snow Flower?"

"I don't know... I was asleep."

Blue Cloud's stomach is growling, "Well, I'll go to the village and see if there is any breakfast left."

Putting his cloth around him in case someone is still there, Blue Cloud slowly walks toward the tables. "Look at all of this food, I wonder why they left it out on their tables?" He says to himself. Gathering as much as he can hold, he walks back to Snow Flower.

"Spread out your blanket my sweet, breakfast is served."

"Ah, this is wonderful."

"So, am I out of trouble?"

"I'll let you know Blue Cloud, you're coming quite close to being my favorite man," Snow Flower says with a smile.

Guessing that he is finally out of trouble, Blue Cloud sits back and enjoys his meal.

***

Quickly arriving at the cove, the island daughters show their mothers the ship. "There it is, isn't it beautiful?"

In awe the mothers look at each other. Knowing something that the daughters don't, tears come to their eyes. Making a circle, the mothers begin talking amongst themselves. "The time that Daniel told us about so many years ago has finally come."

"I didn't know that it would happen for this reason though," Shelly stated sadly.

"I don't think that any of us could have guessed it would happen this way, but it has and look at everything that we have been given to find our younger daughters. We will have to gather everything that we have prepared when we get back."

"Mothers, what are you doing? Come on, let's get on our ship," Diana yells as she walks toward the water's edge.

Following Diana's example they walk to the edge of the water and dive in swimming to the rope ladder. One by one they climb up, and onto the ship.

"Jaimie, Danielle, Jessica and Stacey, would you please get up on the bow and cut the branches of the trees that have been hiding this ship, so we can pass through it?" Diana asks.

As she goes to the Captain's cabin, Diana takes off the oil lamp. The table opens and the lever pops up. "I guess we are going to see if this really works." Flipping the switch up, the green light turns on. Pressing the lever slowly forward, the ship rises up, just high enough to fly over the calm water. It begins to move slowly forward as the girls cut, move and push the branches and vines out of the way. Finally the ship is clear and flying above the waves of the sea.

Pushing the lever further forward the ship begins to move faster. Pressing the knob on her right, the sails have rolled into their individual mast. And no matter how high the waves get, the ship seems to automatically know how high it needs to fly, to clear the water.

"Diana, this is wonderful," Grace states as she stands by her daughter in the Captain's cabin.

"Mother I wanted you to see how safe we are in this ship, because tomorrow, my island sisters and I will leave to find our younger sisters."

"...Tomorrow?"

"Yes, we need to leave as soon as we can. The ship is ready. All we need are clothes to wear so that other pirates will think that we are men."

"My daughter, we have already thought of that."

"What do you mean Mother?"

"You and your sisters will see tomorrow. All of the mothers have been very busy sewing outfits for you and your crew."

"You knew about the ship?"

"Yes, Daniel told me."

"You know Daniel?"

"Yes, Daniel has talked to me since I was a small girl. I met him at the Beach House, and since then we have always had a connection. But somehow this storm made it possible for him to also talk to you. But the dimension he was talking to you from, was when he lived twenty light years away on Gliese with his family."

"Daniel has a family?"

"Yes, a beautiful wife and two little children."

"How come he never told me about them?"

"It's probably because he knew that his time was short and he wanted to make sure that you had all the information that you needed."

"He told me that he was in a laboratory, that there were guards that would come by to see what he was doing."

"Yes. Daniel was a very important person on Gliese. His position was protector of the books, but what his government really had him working on was time travel."

"What is time travel?"

"It is where a person has the ability to move from one dimension to another and back again... if they choose to go back again."

"How do you know about all of this?"

"Daniel taught me when I was at the Beach House."

"Why were you at the Beach House?"

"I'll have to tell you about that some day."

"Is Daniel's family with him at the Beach House?"

"Sadly no..."

"Where are they?"

"I'll have to tell you about that some other day also...what I will tell you today is that when you were young he told me that one day you would be a woman pirate."

"...Woman pirate?" Diana says as she thinks of future adventures. "I never thought of being a pirate, mother."

"I know. But, the other mothers and I have been preparing for this day. We didn't know it would come under these circumstances, but we knew that it would come."

"And Daniel told you?"

"Yes, and he gave us leather to make your outfits."

"What do they look like mother?"

"You'll see in the morning. With this ship, your outfits and the new weapons that you found, you are now prepared to find your sisters."

"It's amazing what destiny helps us to do isn't it?"

"It is! Whenever destiny puts something in our path we are given whatever we need to see it through to its end, and this is just one example my child."

The rest of the day was a wonderful experience, as the ship gracefully glided over the waves in whatever direction it was directed to go.

Returning to the cove, Diana turns to her mother. "As you can see, we can handle this ship."

"Thank you Diana. After today, I will not worry while you are gone. You are a wonderful Captain. And with your expertise with the sword, you will be a wonderful pirate."

Walking back into their village, they notice that all of the food is gone. "My goodness, the birds must have really been hungry. They didn't leave anything," Grace comments.

"Well, think of it this way. If you want to go for a swim in the cove rather than cleaning up the meal, just leave the leftover food and the birds will eat it."

Everyone laughs.

Grace gathers all of the mothers together. "Time has gone so quickly and now it is here, the time that Daniel prepared us for. Our daughter's uniforms are finished, and as each one of us has tried their uniforms on, I can tell you that I would be afraid of coming against anyone dressed like they will be dressed. Do any of you have any questions?"

"Don't you think that it would be a good idea to make holders for their guns and swords?"

"That would be an excellent idea, especially with what they found in the cave."

"Are there any other questions or suggestions?"

"Yes. As we were all in the beautiful ship today I noticed that they didn't raise any colors. Don't they have a flag?"

"A pirate ship without a flag is no pirate ship at all."

"I think that it should look like their father's Jolly Roger, but with a gold crown on it. You all know what that means don't you?"

"Yes Grace. With that posted on their ship and wearing those uniforms word will get out to leave them alone."

Everyone begins working on their projects. All of the mothers work through the night to make sure that their daughters will have what they need to play their part so that they can find their younger sisters.

Soon everything is finished.

"I am so proud of all of the work that each of you has done to prepare clothing that will protect our girls...and the flag...what a great idea, it's message will be loud and clear!"

"Grace, morning is almost here."

"Yes, we should all go to bed so that we will be able to send our daughters on their journey."

Once again as morning breaks, the roosters begin to crow and wonderful aromas can be smelled coming from the village kitchen. As the island sisters appear, their mother's sit them down to a wonderful breakfast. While they are eating, each mother walks toward her daughter with the outfit that they have been working on for this occasion.

Variations of the outfit are made out of dark brown/black leather. The same color leather pants, with leather boots that come up to their knees. Black, long sleeve full blouses, so that it is easy to move their arms. A leather vest to protect them, a full-length leather coat with long sleeves, turned up cuffs and a collar, that if pulled up and buttoned to the last button, was high enough to cover their faces to just below their eyes.

"Here are some black scarves to cover your long beautiful hair to keep it up so that it won't fall out from under your hat. The hats are leather three cornered hats, like what your fathers wear. But on some of them we put pheasant feathers, and others have fancy trim."

"We have made these types of clothes so that if you come in contact with other pirates, they will not know that you are women. That is if you don't speak."

Grace continues, "Diana we have all talked and we would suggest that every time that anyone is on the deck that they wear their outfit. That way if someone is using a looking glass they will see that you are a crew of dangerous pirates, and hopefully they will not approach you."

Looking toward the mothers, Diana says, "We take your suggestions seriously, my mothers. We will do as you ask." Looking at her crew she says, "Do you agree my sisters?"

The sisters all agree with Diana's words, and with their mother's suggestions. "Thank you for all your work mothers."

"Wait a minute daughters...last night we made these for you to carry your guns and your swords. Work with it, it makes a cross in front. I would carry the pistol holder under your coat, and your sword holder that connects to the metal scabbard, over your coat. And why not carry an extra pistol in one of your pockets where you could keep your hand on it at all times?"

"My goodness, mothers, maybe you should be the ones going on this search. You seem to know a lot about pirates and what to expect."

Now what are you going to fly for your colors?

"...Colors?" The girls look startled as if they had forgotten one of the most important requirements of a ship, particularly a pirate ship. "We have been so busy we haven't thought of our colors."

"Last night we made a Jolly Roger just like your fathers have, but we added a gold crown signifying 'Death to Tyrants'. This should send a clear message to Black Beard and his crew; he has been nothing but trouble for all our families. What do you think?"

"It's perfect mother. Black Beard will shiver in his boots when he sees it."

"Daughters, we have heard many stories from your fathers. Be careful and know that our love goes with you."

Walking to the cove, the sisters board their new ship, as the newest island pirates. As Diana goes to the Captain's Cabin to navigate the ship, the other sisters stand on the deck in their outfits waving good-bye to their mothers.

As the 'Destiny' lifts in the air and begins to fly toward the horizon, the daughter pirates look back to the shore trying to find their own mother. The mothers stand on the beach watching the ship disappear.

Memories of the day that Black Beard left with the youngest island daughters fill their hearts with feelings of loneliness and pain from being parted from their loved ones, but this time there is also a sense of adventure and the possibility of finding the kidnapped island sisters.

### CHAPTER 4

To take up their time as they sailed across the Caribbean Sea, Black Beard and Gray Wolf have continued to fight each other with their swords. As they man their positions each pirate is always aware of where they are so that they won't get cut or stabbed.

"Where are they now?"

Looking toward the bow, a pirate answers cautiously, "Starboard Bow."

"Good, I'll go back to the stern.

"I'll go with you, I'm tired of getting stabbed...Black Beard thinks that it is funny."

Taking a break, Gray Wolf asks, "Black Beard, the girls have been below deck for days now, don't you think that it is time to let them come up on deck?"

"I let them walk the deck on the first day, but after that I thought that it would be better for them to stay below so that they wouldn't know how to get back home on their own."

"It's been four full days now. Don't you think that we are far enough away?"

"We've been averaging about eighty miles a day. Our trip will take us five hundred and sixty miles, which will take about seven days. I'll let them come up on deck tomorrow. That way I know that they will have no idea where we are."

"Would you like to continue practicing with the Cutlass then?"

"No, son, in just a short time you have mastered all of the techniques that I know. Maybe we should go to a pistol."

"What is a pistol?"

"You've seen the cannons on our ship haven't you?"

"Yes."

"Well, it's a type of small cannon that you hold in your hand."

"Do you have to light a fuse like I have seen your crew light the cannons?"

"No." Black Beard opens his coat. "Look at all of these pistols that I carry across my chest."

"I've never really noticed them before because your coat normally covers them... You carry quite a few of them don't you?"

"When in battle son, you want to be the one that has the most weapons so that you can win the fight and live another day."

"That's understandable, Black Beard. Would you show me how they work?"

"When you learn how to handle them and how they shoot you can do this," and Black Beard quickly takes a pistol in both hands and starts shooting at a nearby barrel.

As the water starts spraying out of the holes onto the deck, all of their mates quickly look around to see what is happening.

"Oh, no the captain is showing Gray Wolf how to shoot a pistol."

"Look, he just shot holes in our water barrel. What are we going to have to drink?"

One pirate runs behind the largest mate, who questions, "What are you doing standing behind me holding onto my coat?"

"In case he shoots in this direction, you're bigger than I am."

"How am I supposed to move out of the way if you are holding onto me?"

"I'll move with you..."

"No. No, this won't work. I'll get shot because I won't be able to move and you'll be just fine."

Looking over at the tussle between some of his crew members, Black Beard yells, "Oh quit complaining you lily livered so and so's."

The larger of the two crew members shouts back, "And what are we supposed to do without any water, you just blew it to smithereens."

"We'll dock in a couple of days. Don't worry I'll take care of you. Haven't I always taken care of my crew?"

"Yes Sir."

"Remember that..." Turning back around he asks, "Now Gray Wolf, where were we?"

"You were showing me how your pistols worked."

"...First of all you have to have as many pistols primed as you can hold. They only fire one shot at a time."

"So that answers why you have so many."

"Yes and after you shoot it, the only thing that it is good for is to throw it at someone or to hold it in your hand and hit someone over the head; that is unless you have time to reload and fire again."

"That seems like a lot of work for possibly one shot. I would think that a Cutlass would be more useful."

"They are both useful in their own ways. Here, why don't you try it?"

Taking the pistol in his hand, Gray Wolf points it toward the same barrel. Shooting, he makes another hole and more water pours out onto the dry deck.

"That's quite good. Are you sure that you've never shot a pistol before?"

"I just thought of it as an arrow and aimed in the direction that I wanted it to go."

"I knew from the moment that I saw you that you would be a natural pirate." Black Beard slapped Gray Wolf on his back and they both smiled at each other.

Feeling a strong wind on his back, Black Beard suddenly instructs Gray Wolf, "Help the helmsman tie himself to the wheel and tell him to keep land to Starboard. Then get below and check on the girls, this is going to be a rough one.

To the rest of the crew he shouts, "Tie everything down that can move. If the wind gets too strong be ready to make the sails luff, let them loose so that they wave back and forth in the wind. If we let the sails fill with air in this weather, we could lose control of the ship; and then for your own safety so you won't be swept overboard, get below."

The rain begins to fall from the sky just as it did when Gray Wolf fell from the portal to the beach where Black Beard had made camp on Martinique. As the ship continues to sail toward Haiti, the sea is extremely angry. Twelve-foot swells rush them for one moment to the clouds, and the very next moment they drop to the bottom of the ocean, with walls of water all around threatening to swallow them up.

The helmsman struggles to breathe as water rushes over the rails and onto the deck. Continuing to look at land, he holds the wheel with all his might keeping the land to his right.

Just as quickly as it started to rain, it suddenly stops. The sea becomes calm and the sun begins to shine.

Gray Wolf comes up on deck to check on the helmsman. Fortunately he is still breathing, but extremely tired. Gray Wolf offers to take over the helm and allow the helmsman to go below and rest.

Black Beard checks on everyone below and on the condition of the lower deck of his ship. He talks to the helmsman as they meet in the stairwell, "you did a great job. I'll give you a bonus for keeping us on track."

"Thank you, Sir."

Finally Black Beard comes up on deck to check the condition of his sails. "Thank you Gray Wolf, for taking over as helmsman while he rests."

"I'm glad to be of help, captain."

"It looks like I'll have to get my women to mend our sails. It's a good thing that we aren't too far from home."

Within a day and a half they anchor just off the coast of Haiti. Knowing Black Beard's ship, several long boats full of people from the island come to welcome him.

"It's been a long time Black Beard. Where have you been?"

"I've been looking for the devil himself," he smiles as he steps onto dry ground.

"Mata, I've got some girls that I need you to take care of for me while I sail to other ports."

"How much are you going to pay me?"

"I'll pay you for everything that they need and a large bonus included."

"Sounds good, captain... where are they?"

"Gray Wolf, will you bring the girls to me?"

"They are just getting off the ship. I'll walk down to the beach and make sure that they are brought to you."

Walking up to Jody, Gray Wolf asks, "Black Beard has asked me to bring you and the rest of the island girls to him."

"My, my, Gray Wolf knows how to speak. During this long journey sir, you have never spoken a word to us."

"Just follow me..."

Walking back to Black Beard, he states "Here they are, captain."

"Thank you, Gray Wolf."

"How long will we be here?"Jody asks.

"I don't know, but I'm sure that you will be comfortable."

"I'd rather be in my own home."

"We don't always get what we want, Jody. If all of the island women, on your island, would have given me what I wanted you would be there today instead of here."

"My mother told you the truth. My father never brings the treasure home."

"That's something that I find hard to believe."

"Gray Wolf, this is Mata. She will be taking care of the girls. Will you help them to get settled? I need to do some shopping."

"Yes, captain."

Though Gray Wolf rarely speaks to the girls he has been taking mental notes while he watches for his chance to help them return to their island home.

Black Beard has never been one to stay in one spot for a long period of time and within a few days he gathers his crew together to sail for Port Royal.

As the girls watch his ship leave for open waters Jody reminds her sisters, "I know what you are thinking, there goes the only way that we will ever get home. Queen Anne's Revenge was a nice ship and Black Beard was kind to us..." a thought comes to her mind, "did any of you ever talk with Gray Wolf?"

"No. I just remember him watching everything that went on all over the deck."

"It was like it was all new to him; he seemed to be in awe of every little thing."

"I know. His eyes were always so wide."

"Well, I heard some of the crew say that he came from the sky."

"That's impossible."

"...Well, that's what I heard."

"The only thing that I noticed about Gray Wolf... that is after the night that we all became older...was his broad shoulders and his strong arms."

All of the girls started to giggle.

"I know. When Black Beard was teaching him how to use a Cutlass his muscles would show each time he was advancing toward him."

"I loved the determination that he had on his face."

"And he learned so quickly."

"I remember mother using her sword as good as he does."

"Yes, but mother doesn't have the muscles that Gray Wolf has."

All of the girls begin to giggle once again.

"My sisters, listen to what I have to say." Jody raises her hands in the air. "Do you remember the time that I fell overboard and my father jumped over the stern to the sea below to rescue me?"

"Yes."

"I had tried so hard to stay above the waves so that I could breathe, but the waves were too strong... Do you remember when we would throw flowers into the sea and watch the waves take them away?"

"Yes, that was so fun."

"That's what I felt like, a flower being moved by the waves and I couldn't do anything about it. After a while, my strength was gone and I couldn't keep my head above water any longer... I remember being under the water for what seemed like eternities. And then I was shocked when Daniel spoke to me."

"Who is Daniel?"

"I don't know. All I know is that he had this strange thing that looked like a window, but I could see my father in it. And in a little while, after my father had killed that shark..."

"Ian killed a shark?"

"He was so brave. The shark was swimming toward him with his mouth wide open, ready to gobble him up. That didn't scare my father; he continued to swim toward him with his knife in his teeth. After stabbing him several times, the shark came after him again and he hit him on the nose as hard as he could. I guess the shark finally got the message that he wasn't the strongest one in the bunch and decided to swim away." Jody smiled with pride.

"Just a minute...didn't you just tell us that you couldn't keep your head above water any longer?"

"Yes...we got side tracked didn't we?" Jody smiles once again.

"Well who wouldn't when anyone says Gray Wolf, all of our hearts begin to flutter." Giggling once again erupts.

"I know it's hard, but let me remind you that while I was with Daniel he told me that I needed to go back, that my sisters would need my strength."

"He was right. We need you Jody."

"Just know that I'm here to help you. If you need to talk to me anytime day or night, I'll be there for you. We'll get through this my sisters and soon our fathers will find us."

***

The sounds of the birds and the ocean's ebb and flow sounded so familiar to Ian and his crew, but waking up with their faces in sand was something different.

Sitting up and slowly looking around, Ian sees what is left of the ''Mysterious''. Remembering that he has been shipwrecked, his mind relives the moments before they hit land. Covering his ears, his eyes quickly shut as he remembers the blinding bright lightening and the ear splitting thunder; the ringing in his ears became so loud and painful that he falls to his knees on the deck. He felt like he was kneeling in the seat of a rocking chair that was rocking violently forward and backward and wobbling side to side. Disoriented in the darkness of the storm, he was unable to help any of his crew who were also in the same situation.

"Lucas."

"Yes, Ian. I'm here."

"I just looked over in the direction of our ship. What happened to the sails, every one of them looks like it was shot by a cannon ball."

"It was the lightning, Ian. It was like it had a lot of fingers and each one of them fired at a sail."

Laying back down, surrounded by a deep sadness, Ian closes his eyes once again.

Walking up to his captain Lucas asks, "I just cut holes in the top of this coconut. Would you like some breakfast?"

"That's my favorite. Grace would always make sure that we had coconut milk every morning."

"Just don't get me mixed up with your wife, Ian."

"You don't need to worry about that, you look nothing like her."

"I was just making sure that your mind was clear, you were tossing and turning all night long."

"I was?" thinking about the previous night as he drinks his morning juice he adds, "I do have a few aches and pains from sleeping on this sand. It's alright for a little while, but not for a whole night."

"Here, here!" his crew shouts as they raise their coconuts to salute him in agreement.

"Maybe the first thing on our list should be to build a better shelter with comfortable sleeping quarters."

"Now that sounds like something that we are capable of doing."

"Lucas, this coconut milk is really good, but we need fresh water. Why don't you take three men with you to find some water and I'll keep the rest of the crew here to build our shelter."

"Sounds like a plan Ian. We'll leave as soon as we finish our breakfast."

As the sun moves to the west, its heat can be felt by everyone.

Lucas returns with good news, "We found a waterfall, Ian, and there are wild chickens everywhere." Raising the ones he is holding above his head, he says, "we brought a few back."

Turning around to see the returning men Ian states, "That is good news."

"Ian, I can hear the crew working, but I can't see them."

Pointing his finger to the tops of the trees, Ian smiles, "that's because they are up there."

Everyone looks up as Lucas declares, "that's a great idea!"

"It serves several purposes: first of all the island still looks deserted; second we are protected from roaming animals and possibly other pirates while we sleep. And since the heat settles in the sand we are up in the breeze staying cool, even in the middle of the day, since there are still plenty of palm branches above us."

"Now that is why you are the captain, Ian."

"Actually we all sat down and talked about what would be the best type of shelter to build here. The idea belongs to everyone that helped build it," he smiles.

"It's best to hear what everyone says since we all have different life experiences and we think of things in different ways. That is how we found the water and chickens."

"Exactly... If we want to be a team, we need to act like a team. One cannot survive on their own, we need to be a team, doing our part in helping everyone out."

"For instance Lucas, what would I have done without your help? I was too weak to help myself out of the water. And I was still too weak to walk by myself to the tree line and to shelter. Now I am able to help build a permanent shelter and hopefully we will be able to rebuild our ship."

"Do you think that we will be able to repair the 'Mysterious'?"

"Only time will tell. First we need to take care of our immediate needs; First a basic way to protect ourselves; next shelter, then water and finally food. As time goes on we can create better ways to protect ourselves, add to, or build a better shelter, save more water and grow more food."

"You sound like we are going to be here a long time."

"It's always been my plan to prepare for the worst, while I hope for the best."

"That is why you are our captain. We know that we will be safe in your hands."

"Thank you, I know that I can trust everyone here. Let's get a fire going so that we can eat these chickens. I'm hungry."

***

Black Beard prepares a ceremony for Gray Wolf. With his men standing at attention and Gray Wolf at his side, he turns and says, "Gray Wolf, because you have learned all the skills of a pirate so quickly, I will reward you with your first experience of taking a ship on the high seas." Looking out to his men he shouts, "ARE YOU READY MEN?"

"Aye, Aye Captain."

"Climb the rigging, let out the sails and raise the anchor...harden the jib sail. I want this ship to cut through the water at lightning speed. It's time to capture another ship."

His crew begins to chant as they prepare the ship for the open sea. Soon the sails are taught and a fresh breeze begins to blow.

"Here we go Gray Wolf. Are you ready?"

"I'm ready to be by your side, Black Beard."

Black Beard smiles with the pride of a new father as he shows his son the ways of his world.

Sailing throughout the open sea for the first day brings no sight of another ship. As the sun lowers red hues cover the sky, "Ah, red sky at night, sailor's delight."

"What does that mean, Black Beard?"

"Red sky at night is a good thing, Gray Wolf. You see it's something we say to help us remember what will happen. Listen to this: Red sky in the morning, sailors take warning. You see that means that a storm is coming and to prepare for it. Then red sky at night, sailor's delight, means that the evening is going to be very nice, that we can relax."

"How funny, I've never heard anything like that."

"If you think they are funny listen to this: When clouds look like black smoke, a wise man will put on his cloak."

"What is a cloak?"

"It is a coat or covering to protect you from the rain... here is another one: When a halo rings the moon or sun, rain's approaching on the run."

"What is a halo?"

"It's like a circle of light. Here is the last one: Onion skins very thin, mild winter coming in; Onion skins thick and tough, coming winter cold and rough."

"I know what an onion is, but I didn't know that you could tell what the coming winter would be like by looking at it's skin."

"People would make up these rhymes so that they would remember them."

"CAPTAIN, SHIP ON THE HORIZION."

Looking to the crow's nest, Black Beard blocks the sun with his hand as he asks, "What are its colors?"

"It looks Dutch..." looking through the eye glass again to make sure, the mate states with confidence, "yes it's Dutch, it's colors are red, white and blue. Red on the top; White in the middle; and blue on the bottom."

"Well then, let's get out our Dutch flag," Black Beard states with a smile.

Thomas answers, "Aye, Sir."

"Thomas, get it and put it up." Turning to the rest of his crew he yells, "cut down our speed men, we don't want to sail past her..." Looking at Gray Wolf he says, I'll go to my cabin and get ready for the party. You take over being captain until I return."

"Aye, Captain." Gray Wolf turns to the men and shouts, "Continue on men, cut our speed."

As they get closer and closer to the ship, Gray Wolf wonders where Black Beard is.

The Dutch colors are up, the ship is going slower and slower as a sign that they would like to talk to the other approaching Dutch ship. As soon as the two ships are side by side and Gray Wolf is talking to their Captain, Black Beard appears, the Dutch flag is quickly taken down and a black flag with a white skeleton, its black pitch fork pointing toward a red heart is hoisted in its place.

Looking toward Black Beard, Gray Wolf can hardly believe his eyes. This man, who had been the kindest man that he knew, now looked like the devil himself. The tallest man around with his six foot five inch stature, he had braided his beard and tied each braid with black ribbon. His sashes are crossed in front and stuffed with pistols and daggers as he carries his Cutlass in his teeth. He is surrounded in smoke as pieces of rope burn like fuses stuffed under his hat and through his black hair.

The Dutch Captain had enjoyed talking with Gray Wolf and had felt completely at ease. Now he was taken over with fear as it gripped his heart and mind, making it impossible to move. In this mindset he answered every question and did anything that Black Beard told him to do.

"Do you have any gold?"

"No, Sir. But I have twenty-nine bales of cloth and sixty bales of sugar. We also have livestock on our lower levels."

"Because of your honesty I'll take fourteen bales of your cloth and thirty bales of your sugar. What kind of livestock do you have?"

"There are six pigs, ten chickens and two cows."

"You have cows?"

"Yes, Sir, we have women and children aboard."

"Why haven't I seen them?"

"They are always put is a safe place when we come upon another ship in the open waters, Sir."

"You are a good Captain, you take care of your passengers without giving up where they are, and it is because of this and your honesty that I will only take half of your live stock. That is except for the cows, you can keep both of them."

"Thank you, Sir."

"No, thank you... After I share this with my men, all of our women will love us. We haven't had sugar for a long time and of course you know that women love cloth."

"Yes Sir, I know."

Turning to his men he shouts, "Two by two, go into their lower decks and get our bounty: Fourteen bales of cloth and fifteen bales of sugar. We also have three pigs and five chickens. Leave the cows alone."

"Aye, Aye Sir."

Turning around he whispers, "Gray Wolf, I want you to go down on the lower levels and make sure that they don't take anything else. If you see the women and children I want you to guard them from my men."

"Yes, Sir..."

Soon, Black Beard's ship is loaded and the Dutch ship is on its way.

While the men are putting everything into their lower levels, Gray Wolf asks, "Black Beard why are you dressed this way?"

"Did you see what just happened? Not one shot was fired was it?"

"No, Sir."

"It's all in the way that you direct their attention. I am tall and scary looking when I'm dressed like this, aren't I?"

"Yes. If I didn't know that you were a kind man, I would have been scared."

"That's the whole purpose. I draw their attention to me so that they are scared. While they are scared they don't think of their weapons; they are frozen. And while they are frozen they don't hurt my men and in turn my men don't hurt them. We just take their merchandise."

"Why do you take what doesn't belong to you?"

"I'm a pirate, and that's what pirates do."

"So this is what you want to teach me? To take what doesn't belong to me?"

"Well I hadn't thought of it in that way."

"Black Beard, I love you like a father, but I don't know if I can do this."

"Will you stay with me for a while longer son? I need you; you're the best thing that the skies have ever sent to me."

"I'll stay until we get back to Haiti where the Island girls are."

"That's a deal."

In the next few days Black Beard and his crew take several ships in the same manner as they did with the Dutch.

If for some reason the same tactics don't work the helmsman, on the enemy ship, is wounded. With no one at the ship's wheel, the ship drifts aimlessly. The pirates sail to the side and snare the other ship with grappling hooks. With all of the pirates pulling on the ropes of the grappling hooks they bring both ships side to side and jump aboard. Once aboard they ransack the ship looking for gold, silver and jewels.

Black Beard repeats both of these scenarios over and over again until the lower levels of his ship are full. Standing on the quarterdeck Black Beard announces, "You've done a great job. It's time to celebrate! First we go to Ocracoke and then we go home to Haiti."

Heading for open sea with a full cargo of grain, kegs of rum, molasses, rope, tools, sugar, cloth, live stock and ammunition, The Queen Anne's Revenge is riding low in the water, making it hard to maneuver.

"...Ship on the Horizon!"

"What are its colors? Maybe this time we will just pass by it."

"It's red on the top and bottom and yellow in the middle with a crescent."

"...The Spanish!"

"Gray Wolf get the men together, we need to take a vote on this."

The men quickly gather just below the quarterdeck.

"Men, there is a Spanish ship on the horizon and as you know their ships are usually full of gold. Our lower decks are full to capacity, which makes it hard to maneuver this ship. Do you want to take the Spanish, or let it sail by? ...Before I take your vote I want to remind you that they usually have soldiers and are armed quite heavily. Some of us might not make it... All those who want to take it say, Aye."

All of the crew yell "Aye."

"Are there any that I may have missed, that vote nay?

Silence...

"Then we had better get ready. Everyone to your stations and be sure to post the Spanish Flag. I'll go below and get ready. Gray Wolf, would you take over again?"

"Yes, Sir..."

Word that Black Beard was in these parts of the Caribbean Sea had reached the Spanish before they sailed and they were prepared for him.

Everything went as it had with all the other ships that Black Beard had taken the last few days, until he came out with all that gray smoke swirling around his head. Ready to fight, the Spanish soldiers pulled out their swords. In defense, the pirates pull out their swords concealing their pistols for later, if needed.

"As you can see, Black Beard, my men are ready to fight your men."

"And as you can see Captain my men are rugged, and within the last few days we have had a lot of practice."

"We cannot let you take our gold; it would mean our heads when we get home."

"Think of it this way, we take half of your gold and you get to keep your heads today."

"...What about a third of it?"

Standing straight and tall with his men he growls, "I'm not here to barter with you; it's either half or all of it."

The Spanish Captain states nervously, "I am sorry then Sir, we will have to fight."

Smiling, Black Beard replies, "I was hoping that you would say that, I felt like having a good fight today."

"What would you think about picking one of our men from each side and let them fight. Whoever wins is able to keep the gold."

"Now that is the first time that I have heard the Spanish give up a good fight."

"I am only trying to be fair, kind sir."

"...Fine. My deck is larger, would you mind having the fight on my ship?"

The Spanish Captain still tries to hide his fear, "Not at all... In fact I would feel a lot better about it if I brought five of my soldiers with me."

"You feel safe coming to my ship with only six of you?"

"Yes. I have heard that you are ruthless in your fighting, but you are an honorable man."

"Pick your man. The fight will start in five minutes."

"We will be there."

Black Beard brings his crew together. "Who do you want to fight for the gold on that ship? I will leave it up to you. Each one of you speak the name of the person that will represent us."

As the pirates state their choice there is only one name that is spoken over and over again. "...Gray Wolf."

Black Beard is sick. Speaking to his crew, he states "Gray Wolf has only fought a few times. All of you have fought for months."

"What you say is true Captain, but in those few short days, Gray Wolf has become better than all of us put together."

Knowing that Gray Wolf this to be true he asks, "are you ready to do this Gray Wolf?"

"Yes... You have taught me well."

Five minutes have gone by... Everyone is ready.

As Gray Wolf shows his Cutlass and the Spanish Soldier pulls out his double-sided Rapier; in his mind Gray Wolf wonders what kind of a sword the enemy is using.

Watching Gray Wolf and looking over at the smile on the Spanish Captain's face it finally dawns on Black Beard, "they knew that he would react this way. Their blades are usually wider than the one he is holding."

Lunging forward the soldier cuts Gray Wolf's shoulder. The dynamics of the longer sword are hard for Gray Wolf to maneuver until he decides to move forward, blocking and cutting at the same time. While the soldier is distracted with his first cut in his dominate arm, Gray Wolf quickly strikes again at the same arm knocking the sword to the deck.

Moving back he allows the soldier to bend over in an effort to pick up his sword. Something catches Gray Wolf's eye. "Where is the Captain? He was just behind his soldier." The Spanish Soldiers seem to be in position to board Queen Anne's Revenge. Quickly turning to check on Black Beard he notices the Spanish Captain with a knife in his hand standing directly behind him. Pulling his dagger from it's sheath he yells "father" and quickly throws the dagger hitting the Spanish Captain's arm directly above his wrist which stops the chance to wound Black Beard. At the same time he quickly kicks his opponent's sword out of reach before he is able to pick it up from the deck.

All of Black Beards crew pull their swords and stand ready to fight, as he walks toward the Spanish Captain and his bleeding arm. "What I learned today is that the Spanish are not honorable." Raising his sword as he holds the captain by his neck, Black Beard commands, "now have your men bring my half of your gold over here or I am going to run you through."

Sweating and squealing like a pig he shouts, "...quickly, quickly bring his gold up." His soldiers run up and down the stairs as fast as they can, bringing the gold that their Captain has asked for.

"That was quick. Now how are we going to get it to my deck?" Black Beard asks as he pushes the sword deeper into the Captain's neck.

Still squealing like a pig he shouts ever louder, "bring it over here!"

Looking at his men Black Beard states, "they may need some help."

With this monumental task of transferring gold from one deck to another, Black Beard's pirates and the Spanish Soldiers work together putting gang planks over the railing of the two ships.

Watching the team work, Gray Wolf comments, "This isn't going to work, Black Beard. The full trunks will break the planks and fall into the sea."

"What's your suggestion then, Gray Wolf?"

"Pour two thirds of the gold onto the deck and send the trunk over on the gang planks. Then put the gold coins into bags and walk it over. As soon as they are on our deck all they need to do is to pour it into the trunk."

"Sounds like it will work. What do you think Captain?" Black Beard asks the Spanish Captain.

"Yes, yes it will work. Just do it, get it done."

"Thomas, hold this sword to his throat while Gray Wolf and I supervise."

"Aye, Aye, Sir."

Finally the gold is on board; the Spanish Captain and his soldiers are on their ship and Black Beard along with his crew sail to his favorite island for a few days of fun.

Sailing their ship to the inner side of Ocracoke Island, they drop anchor. Black Beard has sent a message to all of his pirate friends to meet him. He is anxious to entertain his guests on the other side of the island and leaves after he has asked Gray Wolf to go ashore and be the captain over his men, making sure that they won't get into trouble. With all of this on his mind Black Beard forgets to set a lookout.

The party lasts all day long and well into the night.

Morning brings the strong rays of sun light. Black Beard and a small part of his crew are still asleep. Gray Wolf is still on the island trying to get a few of his mates that got out of control, out of jail.

The silence is broken with the sound of a cannon being fired. Realizing that his ship is their target, Black Beard cuts the anchor, while his small crew hoists the sails. Maneuvering his ship around to attack from the starboard, their jib sail is torn with small arms gunfire causing them to lose control and run aground on a sandbar. As the attacking ships close in, Black Beard and his men board the first advancing ship. A fierce battle with pistols and swords begins.

As his men fall to the fierceness of the fighting pirates, fearing that he would lose the battle, Lieutenant Robert Maynard of the Royal Navy to Ocracoke signals for more of his men, who had been hidden below deck, to come and help in the fighting. Bursting from the hold as they yell and fire their pistols at the pirates, Black Beard and his men are overcome with the enemy. Finally surrounded, Black Beard is ready to kill the captain, but in all the smoke from the firing of the pistols, a Navy Seaman has come from behind and slit Black Beard's throat.

The famous Black Beard is dead. When his body is examined they find that he had been shot 5 times and had been cut at least 20 times all over his body.

News of the fierce battle and how Black Beard's head is hanging from the bowsprit spreads all over Ocracoke. It is in the brig where Gray Wolf is trying to get his mates free that he first hears of his death.

Running into the brig, a townsperson yells, "He's dead. Black Beard is dead!"

Gray Wolf could hardly believe his words. The six foot five inch famous pirate is dead?

"No. No, this can't be true...there are always rumors that people love to spread around," he says to himself. "I'll get my mates out and then we'll meet our Captain on the Queen Anne's Revenge and sail away from this place."

***

As Diana and her island crew enjoy their maiden voyage, the waves of the sea begin to challenge them. "The waves are getting higher, Diana."

"I know. I'll make some adjustments."

Pushing the lever forward the ship rises higher in the sky, bringing the 'Destiny' high enough to be out of danger from the rise and fall of each wave.

"That should do it Diana. Now let's just see if those waves can reach us... Look down there at the sea it looks like the waves are playing a game to see if they can be the one that will touch our ship."

"Well it's not going to do them any good, I'll just go higher," Diana says with a huge smile... "Now that we can maneuver this ship, let's decide where we are going. Would you talk to all of the sisters that talked with Black Beard's crew, and bring back the information about the different places that the pirates said that they would go?"

"Sure thing, I'll be back in a little bit."

While Jaimie is gone, Diana begins talking to herself. "Father, why haven't you returned? Your ship, the 'Mysterious' has always brought you back before now, you have never been gone so long. How sad you would be to find out that your sweet little Jody was taken by Black Beard. I hope that by the time we get back, that you'll be home. And Daniel I wish that we could still talk. Both you and father would have been such a great help to all of us. While we search for our little sisters, please send your spirits to me, because I need your help. Everyone thinks that I am the strongest one, but I don't know if I really am. Please I need your help."

Walking back into the Captain's cabin, Jaimie says, "Here is the list. They all go to Port Royal, New Providence and their favorite is Ocracoke."

"Let's go to New Providence first its coordinates are 25 degrees, 02 minutes north, 77 degrees, 24 minutes west. We'll go east, along the outer edge of our chain of islands, so that we won't come in contact with all of the pirate ships leaving from and sailing west of our island around Port Royal."

"I've heard that New Providence has salt. Our village could use some."

"Jaimie, don't let me forget when we get there."

"I won't...there's something that I have been thinking about."

"What's that?" Diana questions.

Jaci walks into the cabin, and hears their conversation.

"When we arrive at our destination how are we going to handle this? If we all get out, and wear our pirate uniforms, then how are we going to talk? And if we go as women, we won't be safe, and they won't take us seriously."

"You've got a point, Jaimie..." Thinking for a moment Diana says, "go and ask the other sisters."

Speaking up Jaci says, "You don't need to ask anyone else, I have an idea."

"What is your idea?"

"Have one sister go as a woman, and the other sister as a pirate dressed in a uniform. That way the woman can do the talking, and the pirate can still be silent, but be there to protect her. And if there is a problem, both of them can use their swords."

"You are one smart cookie aren't you?"

"I thought that it was a good idea," Jaci says with a smirk on her face, a slight tilt of her head, and her arms folded.

"Jaimie we'll use Jaci's idea. Four of us will go in, while the rest are left here to guard the ship. You stay here as commander of the ship, in case something happens to me. I'll take Danielle, Jaci and Kristen. Jaci and Kristen will be the women. Danielle and I will be the pirates. You, Stacey, Marie and Jessica will guard the ship. How does that sound to you?"

"...Fine."

"Would you and Jaci go and tell the others our plan? And if anyone else has any suggestions, tell them to please let me know."

"I'll tell them.

A half a day later, they arrive at the island of New Providence, in the Bahamas. The harbor has a few ships anchored for the day. Nearing the island, Diana rolls out the sails, lowers the ship to the water and sails their ship, the 'Destiny' into the harbor.

"Well, here we are everyone. The show is on. Make sure that you all have your pistols and swords hanging in the holders that our mothers made for us. Remember that they are to make a crisscross so that you can access them easily. Put the daggers in your boots to hide them. And play your parts to the best of your ability."

"The show is on Diana," Marie says as the other sisters nod their heads in agreement.

The bay is deep enough that the ship can slowly sail up to the dock. Once the ship is secured they walk down the gangplank to the dock. Many visiting pirates are watching them wondering who they are. Impressed with the beauty of the women, yet wondering who the pirates are and noticing all of the weapons, they ask, "Who are those guys?"

"Don't know. I've never seen them before."

"Look at those women though. If they weren't with men already I'd sure take one."

"You always have women on your mind. Don't you ever think of anything else?"

"Not when you see women who look like that!"

Walking by the men who are talking about them, Diana looks directly in their direction. With her Tricorn hat and her collar buttoned as high as it could go only her eyes can be seen. She has darkened the area around her eyes so that she will look dark and 'Mysterious'.

"Well, that cinches any idea that I had. I'm not going to tangle with that guy. Did you see the look in his eyes?"

"Yea, I was thinking the very same thing."

"Don't think about going aboard their ship either, look at the ones they left behind."

"This looks like a mean bunch... Let's pass the word along."

Entering the main lodge where most of the pirates have congregated, all eyes are fixated on them as they walk in. The music stops, and silence fills the hall.

Diana is standing with Jaci, as Jaci kindly asks, "have any of you seen Black Beard?"

No one answers.

In fact, the music begins again and everyone goes back to what they were doing.

Going up to the guitar player, Kristen asks, while Danielle is standing by her, "Would you please stop playing your guitar while my sister asks this crowd a question again?"

Ignoring her, the pirate continues playing his guitar. Danielle looks over at him with menacing eyes, sending him a warning, but he continues to play his music. Walking over to his side, she kicks the chair out from under him. Falling onto the floor, his guitar flies through the air.

As a warning to the guitar player Kristen says, "Don't ever think that our kindness is a weakness..." Turning back to the crowd, Kristen says loudly, "NOW, I WOULD LIKE TO REPEAT WHAT MY SISTER HAS JUST ASKED YOU...HAVE ANY OF YOU SEEN BLACK BEARD?"

Silence...

In the back of the room there is a young man with very broad strong shoulders and long beautiful black hair. Though he is very familiar with Black Beard, he says nothing.

"IF YOU WOULD LIKE US TO BRING IN OUR WHOLE CREW, I GUESS WE CAN DO THAT...I WILL SAY THOUGH, THAT THIS PLACE WON'T LOOK THE SAME WHEN WE GET THROUGH WITH IT...AND YOU WON'T EITHER!"

The owner of the establishment begins to speak up.

"Come on everyone tell these people what they want to hear. I'm not going to serve any more drinks, until you start talking. If you don't speak up, this place is going to be ransacked, and then, where will you be able to get your drinks?"

Finally a voice from a pirate near to them says, "I heard that he is on his way to Port Royal, but then I know that he likes to stop at a lot of other places between here and there also."

"Like where?" she asks.

"He likes the Caicos Islands, Puerto Rico, Haiti and especially the Cayman Islands. He likes the women there."

"Thank you," Jaci says to the crowd. "Now was that so hard?" she says with her hands out to each side.

Diana goes up to the bar and points to a bag of salt. Jaci speaks for Diana. "Salt, would you please give us the salt?"

"Oh, sure thing...anything that you want..." Handing Jaci the bag of salt the proprietor asks "do you want anything else?"

"How much is it?" Jaci questions.

"Just take it and get out of here."

Diana puts coins on the bar.

As they begin walking out of the establishment, Kristen looks at the owner and says, "We don't take anything we don't pay for."

Once they are out of the establishment and are walking on the beach, the other pirates sitting in the establishment begin commenting.

"Who are they?"

"I don't know, but they mean business."

"Gray Wolf, you knew Black Beard, why didn't you say something?"

"And what could I say? You know what happened to him."

"Yes, and we were all afraid of him, but with these new pirates, I wish he was here to show them who is boss. They look as scary as he did. If I see them again, I'll just turn and walk the other way."

Echo's of agreement sound throughout the room. Diana and her fellow pirates had made a successful first impression.

Walking up the 'Destiny' gangplank, Jaci comments, "Now that wasn't so bad was it?"

Kristen almost screams with delight, "That was spectacular Danielle. You knocked that guitar player's stool completely out from under him."

"Well, he wasn't answering you and I didn't like his music," she says with a smile.

Finally standing on deck, Diana quietly states, "Everyone in your positions, we will leave in just a little while. We have no time to lose...Black Beard is on his way toward Port Royal. Apparently he has several stops in between so we're going to try to catch him before he gets there."

The 'Destiny' begins to move out of the Harbor, just as a few pirates are walking out of the crowded establishment.

"How can they sail out of the harbor now when there is no wind?"

"I don't know, but as you can see, they don't seem to be having any trouble."

"Now... I think that I've had too much to drink.... It looks like their ship is above the water, and moving backward."

"I must have had too much to drink also, because that's what I am seeing."

"Well, I don't know how you feel, but if I'm that drunk, I'm going back and getting another drink."

"Yea, if we're this drunk, what could it hurt?"

Walking back into the establishment and up to the bar, the owner asks, "What's the matter? You look like you've seen a ghost."

"Just pour the drinks, you wouldn't believe us if we told you."

In the 'Destiny,' Diana is figuring out the direction they need to sail, while Jaimie is at the helm moving their ship out of the harbor. "Jaimie, Port Royal is 17 degrees 56 minutes north, 76 degrees 51 minutes west. Which means that we need to sail South, then around this island," pointing at an island on the map "and then almost directly, west. Now after I said all of that, I remembered that one of the pirates said that he also likes to stop at the Caicos Islands, Puerto Rico, Haiti and especially the Cayman Islands."

"So while we are on our way to Port Royal in Jamaica, we'll stop off at the Caicos Islands first. Next we'll go to Haiti, and then the Cayman Islands. We'll hit Puerto Rico after Port Royal. How does that sound?"

"Anything you say, you're the Captain, Diana."

Since the 'Destiny' is now securely moving out of the harbor, Jaimie quickly looks over to where Diana has been working on their travel plans. "It looks like it will take a few days Diana," Jaimie comments.

"Well it would with a regular ship,... but remember, this ship flies."

"So how long will it take us to get there?"

"We should be in the Caicos Islands by tomorrow."

Walking into the Captain's cabin Marie hears where their next destination is. "The Caicos Islands, huh? How long are we going to stay there?" she asks.

Diana answers, "Not very long. We'll land, get out and see if Black Beard is there, and if he isn't, then we'll leave and go on to Haiti."

"I'm thinking that it will take a little longer than that, Diana."

"Why would it take any longer, Marie?"

"There are forty islands in the Caicos Islands. Are you going to search every island?"

Shocked, Diana states, "Forty?"

"Yes, I was reading about it just before we left on this adventure."

"Well, then this could change my whole thought process.... If we want to make sure that our sisters are not on any of those islands, then we have to look at all of them."

For at least a week, Diana and her crew search each of the forty islands, asking anyone living there if they had seen Black Beard. On the islands that were not inhabited, they fly over them making a crisscross pattern to make sure that they don't miss anything. When they are fully satisfied that Black Beard, and their sisters are not on any of the islands they decide to continue on, finally finishing in record time.

"Diana, I am so glad that Daniel made it possible for our ship to fly. Can you imagine how long it would have taken us to search each of those forty islands if we had to walk across everyone of them?"

"I know that it would have taken longer than I would want it to take...I love flying this ship. Daniel made it so easy to maneuver with all of these switches and lights to let us know what is happening."

"And since we fly, we can see for miles around. We can see people and they don't believe their eyes, it's not familiar to them, so they don't believe that they have really seen anything."

"Haiti is our next destination. I know that you are all tired, but we need to keep looking... Rest while I fly our ship."

Exhausted from a week's worth of investigation on all forty islands, all of the sisters fall into their beds, while Diana continues to fly the 'Destiny' to Haiti.

Haiti is one island. Larger than any of the Caicos Islands, but everyone knows everyone that lives there and they all know who is arriving and who would be leaving.

After anchoring their ship, Jaimie and Jaci row to the beach and walk onto the island asking questions, while Diana rests. The other sisters guard the ship.

Walking through the market place, Jaci asks, "Have you seen Black Beard? We are looking for him?"

"No, he was here a few months ago, but he never stays here very long."

"Do you know where he went?"

"He had business in the Cayman Islands, and then wanted to go to Port Royal for some fun."

"Thank you."

"When you see him, tell him that he still owes me," an islander says.

"What does he owe you?"

"When he came here a few years ago he brought some girls with him and I took care of them for him. He owes me for all those years... Do you know that not once did he pay me...."

"...Girls?"

"Yes, they were all courageous little things, especially that Jody..."

"Jody?"

"Where are the girls now?"

"Gray Wolf just picked them up about a week ago. He said that bad people were looking for Black Beard and he didn't want the girls to get hurt."

"...Gray Wolf?"

"Yes, Black Beard wasn't with him. In fact he had a whole new crew, but he said that Black Beard would pay his bill as soon as he could."

"Did he say where he was going?"

"Just wherever the girls would be safe, wherever that is..."

"Thank you for all the information. How much does Black Beard owe you?"

"...A lot. All I can say is a lot. Do you know how much it costs to take care of so many girls for all those years?"

Jaci had been carrying the jewels that she had secretly taken from Treasure Cove. Pulling one out of her pocket, she asks, "Is this enough?"

Shocked, the woman holds out her hand... "Yes, I think that this will cover everything. Thank you very much. Come back again any time."

Jaimie begins to pull Jaci's sleeve, "Oh, sorry" Jaci says, "we have to go. Thank you for all the information."

As Jaimie and Jaci walk from the market to their ship, Jaimie asks, "When did you get that jewel?"

"The day that we were looking at the 'Destiny' for the first time, I picked up a diamond and a ruby. I brought them with me, because you never know when you'll need something like that."

"Well, what a smart sister I have. Just don't show them to everyone, or we'll have people following us, and trying to steal them from us."

"How long have we been on the ship, and you haven't known that I had anything did you?" Jaci asked.

"Just keep it to yourself until we get home."

"I will." Jaci says with a huge smile.

On board the ship, Diana asks "What did you find out?"

"The girls were here in Haiti, until Gray Wolf picked them up about a week ago."

"...Gray Wolf?"

"Yes...the same Gray Wolf that betrayed our father. I'm sure that no other person has that name."

"Where did he take the girls?"

"He said that he was taking them somewhere it would be safe."

"What does that mean?"

"I don't know, but where else would he take them, but to Black Beard?"

"The last thing that I heard about him was that he had business in the Cayman Islands and then he was going to Port Royal for some fun."

"Then the Cayman Islands are our next destination. Its coordinates are 19 degrees 20 minutes north, 81 degrees 24 minutes west. Let's get going."

Marie walks in and quips, "Well at least we only have to search three islands this time."

"It has three islands?" Diana looks around confused.

"Yes, that doesn't sound like very many after we searched forty islands in the Caicos, does it?"

"No, we should be able to do that in a day."

Finally arriving at their destination the crew is shocked.

"Is there anyone here?" Marie questions.

"I don't see any ships," Jessica states. "In fact I don't see very many people either."

"This could be a waste of time, my sisters, but we have to check it to make sure if our sisters are here or not...Jaimie, would you and Jaci go again this time while I rest?"

"We'll be glad to Diana."

"The rest of you, please protect the ship, while I rest. We'll use the same plan that we used in Haiti."

Throughout the islands the people are friendly, but have no information.

"Hello, have you seen Black Beard?"

"No. We haven't seen him for a long time."

"So you haven't seen him with any little girls?"

"No. We haven't even seen him, for a long time."

"So he's nowhere on any of the islands?"

"No where!"

Sensing a little hostility, Jaci decides to stop questioning the islander.

"You have a beautiful island here."

"Thank you."

Walking back to the ship Jaimie reports to Diana, "He's not here...and apparently hasn't been for a long time. They haven't seen the girls either."

"Then it's on to Port Royal."

"Diana, could we all rest before we go to Port Royal? If it is as rough as I have heard that it is, we all need to be rested up and ready for a fight if it happens."

"I agree with you Jaimie. Halfway, there we'll find a safe place to rest for a while, and then we will continue on."

True to her word, half way to Port Royal, Jamaica, Diana finds a small area on the Southern tip of Cuba which seems to be deserted. Sailing around the tip she finds a small cove where they can stay hidden.

Sitting the 'Destiny' down into the water their ship floats on top of the water as they rest throughout the night. The feel of the rolling waves rocks them to sleep.

As the morning sun begins to come up over the horizon, the waves seem to become angry that something is still sitting on top of them. The waves roll back and forth, reaching higher and higher trying to gather the warmth of the sun's rays.

"Wow, what was that?" Stacey questions. "Marie, did you feel that?"

"Yes, what's happening?" Marie questions.

Within a second, water splashes on Jessica, Stacey, Marie and Danielle, where they had been sleeping on the upper deck. Looking over the railing they see how rough the waves are getting.

"Diana. DIANA, WE HAVE TO GET OUT OF HERE," They all yell.

Trying to stand up as she comes out of a sound sleep, while the ship is rocking back and forth, Diana awkwardly runs to the Captain's cabin. Quickly flipping switches and pushing the handle forward, the ship begins to rise above the waves.

As they begin to move forward, they round the tip of Cuba again as they come out of the cove. Jaci looks back to the beach that is now visible. She sees foot prints that no one had noticed before. "Diana, there are foot prints on the beach."

Because of the tight quarters that she is maneuvering in at the moment, Diana doesn't comprehend what they are saying, as the 'Destiny' begins its flight toward Port Royal. While everyone else is looking forward, Jaci and Kristen quickly look back toward the island. From the heights that the 'Destiny' is now flying they can see huts, and to their surprise they see several men running out onto the beach weaving their hands over their heads.

"Diana, there are men on the beach."

Still concentrating on her ship, without looking back, Diana says in a frustrated tone, "look girls I don't have time for your games. We need to get to Port Royal before Black Beard leaves. I want to know if our island sisters are with him, or where he took them. It's imperative that we get there as quickly as we can, do you understand?"

Looking sadly at each other, Jaci and Kristen begin to express their feelings to each other.

"She's going to feel bad if she ever finds out that we're not playing a game this time Jaci."

"I know Kristen, she's going to feel really bad," Jaci quietly and sadly states.

"...Really bad!" Kristen repeats. And both of the girls begin to look forward also.

As the waves push higher and higher, Diana adjusts the height of her ship.

These same waves move a large piece of wood from a wrecked ship, close to where Jaci and Kristen had seen the men on the beach exposing the name of the ship... 'MYSTERIOUS'.

### CHAPTER 5

Flying over the clear turquoise waters of the Caribbean Sea, the 'Destiny' shows its beautiful lines against a peaceful blue sky. All of the older island sisters, including Diana are on the upper deck of the 'Destiny.'

"Diana, how can this ship fly if you are up here on the deck?"

"Oh, I learned how to make it fly by itself, while we are over calm water."

"This is so beautiful, I wish we could fly forever," Danielle says as she holds onto the railing with her hands, closing her eyes and feeling the air as it brushes past her face. "I feel like a bird," she says.

"Look Jaci, Danielle is a bird," Kristen declares

"Don't move your arms up and down Danielle or you might fly off," Jaci jokes.

Danielle opens her eyes and smiles at the youngest crew members. Suddenly, she starts running after them; Jaci and Kristen start squealing as they run past Marie, Stacey, Jessica, Marie and Jaimie down to the Captain's cabin.

Diana has taken control of the ship again, because they are coming close to Port Royal. It is important that no one sees their ship while it is in the air. "It is time to take your positions. Would you ladies tell everyone else? Make sure that the sails are where they are supposed to be, and most of all get your uniforms on. And by-the-way, don't forget your pistols, daggers and especially your beautiful swords."

"Who do you want to go as women, Diana?"

"Port Royal has a great deepwater natural harbor which protects ships while they are anchored, but the harbor and the town close by have attracted all types of pirates and most of them are not gentlemen. Because of this, I think that Stacey and Jessica should go as women, and Danielle and I will still be the pirates. Jaimie will be in control of the ship as she was before."

"Ahhh, Diana, I want to go," Kristen says.

"You did a good job at New Providence Kristen. You did also Jaci, but this time I need Stacey and Jessica to go with me, and I need both of you, along with Marie, on the ship with Jaimie. It's important to protect our ship girls. It's very important!"

"We'll do our best," they both state a little discouraged.

As they sail into the harbor, everyone begins making statements and asking questions.

"This is huge. It's a lot bigger than New Providence."

"Look over in that direction there are several ships out of the water, on their sides. Why are they like that?"

"There's nothing wrong with them, they beached their ships during high tide, and have laid them on their sides so that they can repair them. It's called Careening."

"Wow, I've never seen anything like that."

"Well, now you have. And now you understand why this harbor is so huge, and why so many ships are here. There's room enough to fix anything that needs to be fixed."

Getting close enough to see other pirates, Diana states, "Everyone, looks mean.... We're getting close to where we will leave the ship. This time we won't go up to the dock, we will leave it further out in the harbor, and take a rowboat to shore. We don't know what kind of people we will meet here."

"Diana, how is that going to help?"

"Jaimie, if the ship is out in the middle of the harbor, then if anyone is going to try to board her, they will have to row one of their rowboat's to get to the 'Destiny'. By being out in the middle of the harbor you will be able to see if anyone is coming in your direction, and prepare to protect yourselves."

"Good idea, Diana."

"I'm just thinking of you guys," she says with a smile. Walking over to the railing and climbing down the rope ladder to the rowboat, she adds, "Keep your eyes open."

Rowing the boat up to the dock, all of the pirates on the other ships are looking over at the newbie's. "Look at those guys looking at us Diana, they sure look rough."

"I know how bad this looks, my sisters, but we have to do this if we want to find our sisters. You want to find your sisters don't you?"

"Of course Diana, it's just that these guys look scary..."

"I know, but we have to play our parts, if we are going to find them. We have to look as tough as they do. We can't be intimidated by them. We have to be INTIMIDATING TO THEM!"

Taking a breath, they reply, "Don't worry we'll play our parts."

The next time she looks at them, they have become what she envisioned them to be. Stacey and Jessica have become strong, intimidating women. Danielle is even more intimidating as a pirate. Looking back at everyone left on the ship she sees that they now portray strong pirates, experienced and ready for battle if approached.

Walking into the pirate meeting area with the confidence of a group of shining knights, silence is the only thing that is heard, as all of the original pirates of Port Royal are eyeing their new rivals. Since there are many more pirates that are congregated in this area, Diana has decided to take a table, and sit for a while, to see if she can hear anything about Black Beard.

Stacey exclaims, "I'll go get everyone a glass of cold water. Would you like to go with me Jessica?"

"Sure, I'll go with you."

Continuing to sit at the table, Danielle and Diana hear from one side, "Did you hear that North captured two British Ships?"

"No, the latest thing I heard about him was that he wrecked Charles, his ship."

On the other side, they hear pirates talking about a fight. "Davis took five bullets, and the Portuguese had to cut his throat before he would go down."

"He was one tough pirate."

Still from another table they hear, "Guess what flag William Kidd is flying?"

"He's changed his flag?"

"Yea, the 'Blessed' now flies the skull and cross-bones."

Suddenly there is a little commotion coming from the direction that Stacey and Jessica have gone.

"Leave me alone, you rude barbarian."

"Come on beautiful just one little kiss."

Glasses are thrown to the ground as both Jessica and Stacey reach for their swords. Diana and Danielle, quickly make their way to them, pushing every pirate to the side that is in their way. As they stand together with all four swords ready to duel, Stacey looks directly at the pirate that had grabbed her and said, "Now, do you want to try that again?"

"Not me," he said backing away with his hands in the air.

Noticing that everyone is looking at them, Jessica states, "We are looking for Black Beard. Who knows where he is?"

Someone in the back shouts, "He left two days ago for Ocracoke."

"Thank you."

"Do you know what direction he took?"

"Yea, he wasn't in any hurry, and decided to take the scenic route around the Southern tip of Cuba."

Turning gruffly around, Diana and her crew begin walking toward the door. As soon as they reach the threshold and are looking out toward their ship they notice that there are several small boats rowing toward it.

"Quickly, we need to get to the ship as fast as we can."

Running to their dingy as fast as they can; grabbing the oars and pushing the handles forward, finally plunging the paddles into the water and then pulling back; forward, plunging and pulling back, over and over again as fast as they can.

"We're not going to make it. I don't think that Jaimie and the girls are aware that there are rowboats full of pirates that are getting close to them." Pulling two of her pistols out, Jessica shoots warning shots into the air.

Looking in the direction of the shots, Jaimie, Marie, Kristen and Jaci, in their pirate uniforms stand closer to the railing, "It looks like these strangers want to get a closer look of our ship!"

"Don't they realize that it is impolite to board another vessel without an invitation?" Jaimie questions as she looks over the railing.

Smiling Marie states, "Are you ready ladies? Let's show them what we think of their surprise!"

Aiming their pistols at the approaching row boats, shots can be heard loud and clear.

Feeling a bullet whiz past his head one of the local pirates expresses with fear, "They have pistols!"

Quickly turning their rowboat around, one pirate states, "I'm not going any closer.""Me either. As far as I am concerned this surprise boarding is canceled."

Diana, Jessica, Stacey and Danielle decide that they are going to teach all of the other pirates a lesson. Reloading their pistols, they look toward a group of row boats that had followed the first ones. "Where did they go? I could have sworn that all of those boats were full of pirates?" Looking closer they see several men in the water swimming back toward land.

"I don't know about the rest of you, but I need target practice and those boats are perfect."

Looking toward Stacey, the others smile, "What a great idea."

Soon spouts of water can be seen, small compared to that of a whale, but never the less enough to fill a boat and sink it.

Danielle starts laughing, "Look, the harbor is filled with fountains."

Continuing to row toward their ship, Diana quips, "Well that should buy us a lot of time. If anyone tries to come after us, they will have to swim to their ship since the rowboats can no longer be used for transportation. Their guns will be wet, and they won't be able to take a sword, unless they carry it in their teeth while they swim toward their ship." Smiling at the picture that just came to her head, Diana quietly says to her shipmates, "Let us hope that we never have to swim with a sword in our mouths."

"Our swords are a lot lighter than theirs, Diana, we could still swim with them, however, we would have to wrap our gun holders around our heads."

"Now that's something new, Danielle."

Stacey asks, "If our gun holders are wrapped around our heads what would we do with our beautiful hats then?"

Quickly Jessica states, "I don't know about the rest of you, but I'll wrap the gun holder around my beautiful Tricorn hat, making sure that both of them don't get wet, if we ever have to swim to our ship."

Listening to the funny comments, Diana quietly laughs as she says, "we're here ladies. Who wants to be first getting back aboard ship?"

Stacey suggests, "Jess why don't you go first, I think that you sank more rowboats than anyone else with your perfect shooting."

"I will Stacey, if you'll go next."

"She has to Jess. She's the only other woman with us...according to the pirates watching us from the shore," Danielle states with a smile.

Finally aboard the 'Destiny,' Diana looks back at the rowboats. "Look everyone they won't be floating very much longer. Most of them are all ready sinking into the water."

Everyone smiles trying not to laugh loud enough that the pirates watching them from the shore will hear them.

"What do you imagine that they are thinking?" Marie questions.

Jaci answers, "I'd be really mad..." Looking over at Diana she asks, "Did you find Black Beard?"

"We must have just missed him. I wonder if we flew over him when the sea was rough..."

Jaimie adds, "I remember seeing a ship in the waves below us. That could have been him."

"Why is it that we are always just one step behind him?"

"I hate that pirate so much for all the pain that he has caused our families."

"We all have the same feeling about him. What should we do next?"

"If we just keep taking it a step at a time, moving forward...we'll find him."

"Yes, and as soon as we find him, we'll find our little island sisters."

In a hurry after they leave the harbor, Diana flies the 'Destiny' all night long, trying to catch up to Black Beard.

In the morning as soon as Jaimie wakes up, she walks into the Captain's Cabin. "Have we been flying all night?"

"Yes, Jaimie, I want to find him so badly, I can taste it."

"How far have we come?"

"We are coming to the Southern tip of Cuba, but before we start going up the Eastern Coast of America, to get to Ocracoke, I want to ask everyone a question."

"Would you mind asking everyone to come to the captain's cabin? Tell them that I need to talk to them, and I'll sit the 'Destiny' down in the water while we all talk."

"...Sure thing."

While Jaimie is gone, Diana begins speaking to herself hoping that in some way, Daniel will be able to hear her. "Daniel, we've been to so many places and we haven't found our sisters yet. What are we doing that is wrong?"

In her mind, she hears a familiar voice, "Diana... you need to go back to Martinique.

You need to talk to your mothers so that you can reconnect with your sisters. You have lost your connection."

"Go back home?"

"Yes."

"But we have come so far, Daniel."

"Your ship flies Diana. You'll be able to make up your time. When you reconnect to your true mission you will go further and at a faster pace, Diana."

"What have we done that's wrong? Our goal has been to find our sisters and nothing else?"

"What has your heart felt like every time that you have left your destination without your sisters?"

"My heart has been filled with frustration for always being one step behind; anger because they were taken in the first place; fear that we won't find them; concern for their welfare and I have begun to wonder if I have the skills to find them."

"So do you have a clear direction?"

"No, I'm scattered."

As her sisters enter the cabin, Diana announces, "We are going home everyone. What do you think about that?"

"What about our sisters?"

"I would like to talk to our mothers. We all need to reconnect, and then we will continue our search."

"It is a good idea. We have all worked hard. If we go back home for a short while, maybe ideas will come to us," Jaimie adds.

"It's not like we are giving up, we'll find them," Diana adds. Suddenly she hears a thump coming from the deck somewhere above them while her other sisters are talking amongst themselves. Diana holds up her hand with a stern look "LISTEN... everyone!"

Silence can be heard throughout the cabin for several minutes as strange sounds can be heard.

"That sounded like a grappling hook. Did someone board our ship?"

"I can hear steps on the deck."

"So can I."

"There is only one person... Stay here. I'll go up and take care of it I need some exercise to wake me up. If you hear more steps, come up and join me..." Diana says with a smile.

Grabbing her sword and knowing that her dagger is in her boot, she walks quietly out of the captain's cabin in her pirate's uniform. Cautiously she walks down the hall, up the steps and slowly opens the door to the deck. She sees a lone man with his back to her looking toward what would normally be the captain's cabin. Shutting the door quietly behind her, Diana stands ready for battle.

To let her opponent know that she is standing behind him she hits the heel of her boot twice, on the deck floor. This resonance attracts his attention, and he turns around. Diana looks directly at him, bringing her sword in front of her and bowing to her opponent. The intruder brings his sword up showing that he is ready to counter her attack. He bows to his opponent. Soon the echo of clinging swords sound in succession, as steel meets steel, and feet move quickly, trying to outmaneuver the other.

"Are you sailing this ship alone?" the intruder asks, as he moves out of the way of her blade.

Silence...

"Your swordsmanship is wonderful, but you don't talk very much do you?" as he approaches closer and blocks her sword with his, pushing her up against the lower part of the Main Mast, he notices that the wind has changed direction. Now that he is in between the Main Mast and the Foremast, the Fore Boom begins to swing toward him. As he moves out of its way Diana makes her move, undercutting his blade, and twisting it out of his hand. As his sword falls to the deck, the intruder runs after it as the waves of the ocean jostle the ship causing it to roll around on the wood flooring.

Diana walks toward him as the intruder quickly performs a front roll standing up with the sword in his hand. Knowing that she is too close to him, Diana quickly executes a back-flip. The intruder watches her beautiful form as her head goes backward, her feet leave the deck, rising into the air and finally landing an appropriate distance away.

"Wow, I've always wanted to learn how to do that! If we end up in a draw, would you teach me how to do that trick?" he states in amazement.

Silence...

Knowing that he needs to show more of his skill, he decides to move his sword back and forth between both of his hands while he moves his blade toward Diana. This throws Diana off, as she has never seen anyone move their sword like he is.

Realizing that his opponent is distracted he quickly squats down on his left leg, spinning in a circle with his right leg extended on the floor, knocking Diana's feet out from under her. As she falls to the ground, her hat falls off. Taking advantage of the situation he lands on top of her, holding her arms down, as they begin to roll over and over on the deck trying to get control of the other. Finally her beautiful long hair falls out from under her black scarf, and her lack of strength is ultimately realized.

Stunned he says "You are a girl!"

At that very moment, the rest of the sisters emerge, with a rope. Jaimie directs them, "Tie him up, and look over the railing to see if there are any others."

"I don't see any one on this side," Jessica states from the Starboard.

"I don't see any one on this side either," Danielle reports back from the Port.

After he is secured to the forward mast, Jaimie asks, "Where are the others?"

"There are no others."

"Oh, so I'm supposed to believe that you were out here in the middle of the ocean swimming, and we were the first ship that came by, so you decided to see if you could hitch a ride? Where did you get your grappling hook? Surely you weren't swimming with a grappling hook strapped to your side?"

"My goodness for such a beautiful woman, you sure have a lot of questions," he says with a smile.

Frustrated and looking over at Diana, Jaimie says, "What do you want done with him? He has no answers to my questions."

Looking at the captive, Diana asks, "You're not alone are you? You were sent ahead to see who we are, weren't you?"

"Ah, so you do know how to speak. How do you do that trick with your feet in the air? I would really like to learn how to do that."

Diana snaps back, "Look I don't know what type of game that you are playing, but I'm in no mood for games. We have a job to do. Now I ask you again, are you alone?"

"First you don't speak. Then when you do speak, your voice sounds like you are very angry...do you always treat strangers this way?"

Turning around and looking at her sister Diana says, "WOW, Jaimie I'm starting to get really angry here. Would you please take over?"

As Jaimie steps up to the intruder he says, "Ahh, the nice one. Thank goodness."

"Don't get her wrong. Usually she's nice, but we're on an important mission. What is...."

Breaking into her questioning he asks, "Why were you following me?"

Walking over to the intruder Diana states, "Following you? Why would we be following someone who is swimming in the sea? I would think that you would be following us instead," Diana quips.

"Touché." he says with a smile. "Let me ask you a question. What direction are you going?"

Calming down after taking in deep breaths of the cool sea breeze, Diana begins to feel a type of connection to him as she answers, "We're on our way to Ocracoke."

Her sisters look at her with a surprised look, knowing that they were not going there at this time.

Noticing the reaction of the crew he still says, "Well, then I guess that I was wrong, I'm going in the opposite direction."

"So, while we go north, you're going south?"

"...Exactly."

"Where is your ship? Or were you really swimming in this beautiful sea?" she asks.

"No. I have my own ship. It's just over there in that small cove. I have some passengers that I am taking back to their home."

"And we are looking for someone. That is why we are on our way to Ocracoke. Who are your passengers?"

"People who never did anything wrong and were taken from their home. Since I was a small boy, my only goal has been to keep them safe and return them to their home."

In her mind, Diana thinks, since he was a small boy. He looks like he is in his early twenties now... that must have been a long time ago. Looking at him she asks, "Why are you taking them now?"

"Destiny has finally opened its doors."

"I can understand that. It is only because of destiny that we search for those who mean a great deal to us now. So you are being kind and taking them to their homes?"

"Actually, I am trying to right a wrong."

"That sounds like a good thing to do."

"In many ways that is what we are doing also. We are trying to right a wrong."

"Then why don't you take these ropes off of me and we can both be on our way?"

Looking at her crew, Diana asks, "What do you think everyone?"

"He has nothing to do with our goal. Let him go,"

"Yes let him go, he is no threat to us."

As the island pirates take the ropes off of him, he says, "It was nice meeting all of you. Hopefully, even as beautiful as you all are, my wish would be that we never meet again...I mean, since you are going north, and I am heading south." Gathering his hat, he turns to all of the ladies and bends over, bowing from his waist, swinging his hat down in front and out to the side. "It's been a pleasure," he says with a grin. Walking over to the side of the ship, as he climbs over the railing, he says, "good luck on your journey, ladies."

"And good luck with yours sir" Diana answers back.

Once they can see him swimming back to the small cove, where he said his ship was, each of the girls start talking.

"That sure was one beautiful hat. It has more feathers on it than ours do." They all begin laughing quietly into their hands.

"He sure was handsome though."

"Too bad, we're going in the opposite direction."

"Did any one ask him his name?"

"I didn't...Did you?" each sister, asks the other.

"I was going to, but he asked me another question instead and then I forgot what I was asking him," Jaimie states.

"That's fine Jaimie. We'll never see him again anyway."

Diana is oblivious to their questions as she continues to watch him for as long as she can. He also turns to watch the lone figure looking in his direction, with her long beautiful hair blowing in the gentle breeze.

"Diana...Diana. We need to go."

Reluctantly turning around, Diana takes over and gives commands to sail on the water until they are out of sight of their visitor.

Finally Diana asks, "Are you ready to launch into the air."

"Yes," everyone shouts.

"Jaimie, would you mind taking the helm? I think that I overdid it."

"I would be glad to Diana."

Later that day, after flying for several hours, the 'Destiny' sets down onto the water and sails into the island cove of Martinique. All of the mothers have seen the 'Destiny' and have run to meet their daughters. Waiting on the cove shore, they meet and walk to the statue of their grandmother Diana.

"It is nice to be back home grandmother," the daughters say to the statue.

"It is nice to have them home mother," the mothers declare also to the statue.

Looking around, Diana asks, "Mother has father returned yet?"

"No, we haven't heard anything from them."

Walking together to the center of their village, though there is sadness in their hearts wondering where their fathers are, there is laughter, and tales of great adventure that are told.

Finally Diana asks, "My mothers, we have come home to ask your advice." Suddenly noticing that there are two strangers that are among them, she questions, "Who are these people?"

"They came here the same day that you left. In fact, they said that they saw you leave."

"They said what?"

"They saw you leave. They were on the beach when you left."

"I didn't see anyone when we left."

"I know. You wouldn't have seen them. They have magic cloaks that make them invisible."

"Invisible? Have you seen these cloaks?"

"Oh, yes. They've shown them to us. In fact that's how we found that they were on our island. We were talking about Gray Wolf one night and the woman took off her cloak and said "Gray Wolf? What do you know about him? He is my son. My husband and I have come to find him and bring him back home."

"They are Gray Wolf's parents?" Diana questions.

"Yes, they came from the same place that Gray Wolf came from. And they landed on the same beach that he landed on when he met Black Beard."

Diana's mother continues, "Speaking about Black Beard, have you been able to find him?"

"No, that's one of the things that we want to talk to you about...where did Gray Wolfs parents go?"

"They're right over there. See they are talking to Jessica, Stacey and Marie."

"Would you introduce them to me, mother?"

"I would love to, come with me."

Walking over to a table, Diana's mother taps Snow Flower on her shoulder. As Snow Flower and Blue Cloud turn to them she says, "Snow Flower, and Blue Cloud, this is my daughter Diana."

"Ah the Captain of the 'Destiny', we've heard a lot about you."

"Yes. I'm the Captain...my mother said that you are the parents of Gray Wolf. Is that right?"

"Yes, he came here by mistake. We have come to take him back home with us."

"He came by mistake?"

"Yes."

"Yes? Is that all that you can say?"

Diana's mother looks startled as she sees her daughter act in a manner that she has never seen before.

Snow Flower calmly answers her question, "Diana, it's not all that we can say, but what we have to say to you would be very hard for you to understand."

"Just start talking. I'll let you know if I don't understand what you are saying," she states forcefully.

Sensing a little anger Snow Flower begins to explain where they came from, while Blue Cloud stands patiently by her side.

"We were at the Beach House with Daniel..."

"You know Daniel?" Diana questions.

"Yes. He was helping me find Gray Wolf and his brother Running Deer. Our sons were in the Hall of Corridors when they were knocked into different portals. We have come here to find Gray Wolf."

"Gray Wolf was with Daniel?"

"Well, actually he was knocked into this portal before he met Daniel."

"Snow Flower, what is a portal?"

"A portal is a way that people can travel from one dimension to another."

"So you traveled here?"

"Yes, we came here because we know that this is where Gray Wolf landed."

"Has my mother told you that it is because of Gray Wolf that our little island sisters were taken after our fathers left?"

"Yes Diana, she has told me and my husband the whole story."

Blue Cloud decides to add, "Diana, Gray Wolf would never have done anything to intentionally hurt anyone. Where we come from, there are no ships like these. And this great body of water, with its waves is something that he has never seen before. If he did something to hurt you and your family... that was not his intent."

Blue Cloud feels a tightening around his upper arm and quietly says, "Snow Flower, Daniel is calling."

Watching Blue Cloud, Diana is intrigued as she notices that he has a silver rectangle that he is talking into on his upper arm. Looking at her mother she is wondering why she is not scared.

Perceiving what her daughter is thinking Grace states "oh, Diana we've seen this quite often since they came. He is talking to Daniel. You should see the instrument on his arm, not only can they hear each other, but they can their faces also?"

"You can see Daniel?"

"Yes, I've seen him several times since they came."

"I want to see him."

"What do you think Snow Flower... would it be all right for Diana to see Daniel?"

"Let's walk over to Blue Cloud and ask him."

Walking over to him, Snow Flower moves her hands, and mouths the words, "Could Diana see Daniel?"

Smiling back, Blue Cloud says, "Daniel, Diana wants to see you."

"I would love to see her. It has been a long time since I have spoken to her."

Apprehensively looking into the screen Diana is shocked. "It's you, the Daniel of my dreams."

"Yes Diana, Daniel answers with a smile. I came to you when I was on Gliese. That was many, many years ago."

"Daniel, I just saw you in my dream a few weeks ago."

"Yes, Diana, time is a strange thing... An example of that would be the book that I found in the ancient archives that you wrote. But in your life you haven't written it yet... When I spoke to you I was on Gliese, building the boat from the measurements that you put in your book. But, I have been here on Earth, at the Beach House, for several years now."

"You are right Daniel. Time is a very strange thing."

"What we all need to remember is that everything will happen in its own time."

"Thank you Daniel," she says, and then steps away, while Blue Cloud continues to talk across the dimensions of time.

Looking at her mother, she says, "Maybe you are right mother. Maybe these people can be trusted, and maybe I have judged Gray Wolf wrongly."

"Diana, it is good to not trust all strangers that you come in contact with. Get to know them first and your heart will tell you what to do."

"Mother, I think that, that has been my problem. That is why I haven't been able to find our little sisters. I have been searching with revenge in my heart. My hatred for Black Beard and the revenge that I wanted to take out on Gray Wolf has closed my heart. And with my heart closed I haven't been able to connect with our little sisters."

"Yes, my sweet daughter. What you need to concentrate on, is a connection with your mind and your heart. Use your rose necklaces as a reminder of the bond that you have with your sisters. Let your heart be full of love, and let it guide you in your search. Love will help you find your way... Revenge will only build walls."

"My pirate sisters, please come here. I have learned from mother, and from the example of Snow Flower and Blue Cloud, that anger and revenge have blocked our path. If we are to find our little sisters we need to have a heart full of love, and we need to allow it to guide us in our search."

She continues, "I want all of you to bring your rose necklaces out so that they show, even when you have your pirate uniforms on. These necklaces are to remind us of our island sisters, and they will help us to find them...."

Everyone takes their necklaces out from their blouses so that they are now showing.

Snow Flower and Blue Cloud are shocked to see duplicates of the same necklaces that they are wearing. Deciding to also wear the rose necklaces that Jon and Julia had given them on the outside of their clothes they pull them out so that they can be seen.

Looking at them strangely, Diana asks, "Where did you get your necklaces?"

"They were a going away gift at the Beach House with Daniel. Jon and Julia gave them to us...there is a whole story that we will have to tell you someday" they say with a smile.

"...Daniel?" Diana guesses.

"Yes."

"Does anything ever happen that he's not involved in?" Diana asks.

"Not very much," they answer.

Turning to her sisters she says, "If you will notice, Snow Flower and Blue Cloud also have rose necklaces. They received them while they were with Daniel, the man who gave us our wonderful ship..." Looking back at Snow Flower and Blue Cloud she says with a smile, "We'll have to tell you that story also."

Snow Flower and Blue Cloud nod their heads agreeing that in a future time they will share their stories.

Turning back to her sisters she continues, "The reason that I want our necklaces to show is to use them as a connection to our little sisters."

Marie states, "Diana is right. Whenever I see my necklace, it always reminds me of our sisters. If our minds are completely on our sisters, and not on the pirates that took them, then maybe we will connect. Maybe we will be able to find them sooner."

"Exactly, if they are in our minds, we will connect with their minds, this I am sure," Diana states.

***

Walking to where the surf washes over his feet, Daniel looks to the stars in the direction of Gliese. "Mira, I have tried to live without you for so many years. I have done what is required of me, but now my heart is breaking. I want to be with you and our children." He closes his eyes as tears stream down his cheeks.

Feeling a warm vibration next to him, he opens his eyes and looks to his right, "Mira! Are my eyes deceiving me?"

"No Daniel, part of my energy is here next to you."

"Since I can see you now, why can't I see you all of the time? Why can't I be with you, Mira... I need you."

"When I first got to the other side, Daniel, I thought that I would feel the same as you do now. But then I learned that you were already there."

"What do you mean?"

With the excitement of a young child who had just discovered something wonderful, Mira explains, "Our spirits are miraculous. They have the ability to divide their powers, leaving most of their force in Heaven and sending the energy that is needed to dwell within our assigned body."

"Part of me is where you are?"

"Yes, my love, most of your energy is here with me."

"How could that be? If I were there I would know it, wouldn't I?"

"No. While you are on Earth it is too painful to remember the greatness of the other side. Because your earthly life is so hard while you are learning your life lessons, your mind protects you by not allowing you to remember it."

"But I wasn't born here Mira. I wasn't born on Earth...you know that. I came from Gliese, so why can't I remember?"

"I wondered the same thing Daniel and so I asked. The answer I was given was that you were meant to come to Earth to help the people through the Hall of Corridors. You are a wonderful help to all that come to you."

"But what about me Mira, don't I have the right to think about myself?"

"Daniel, I have never heard you speak like this, you have always thought of others. Don't you realize that this is what your life is all about? All of the great ones think of others."

Mystified, he questions, "Great ones?"

"Yes, Daniel. On the other side, you are called 'Great one'... You have a mission on Earth that only you can achieve. For the sake of the Earthlings you have come to help them. And while you are on Earth you have the capacity to help people from the whole universe...." Mira stretches forth her hand and touches his cheek, "I have to go now. I have told you all that I am permitted to tell you."

Putting his hand over her hand, his expression turns to sadness as he pleads, "No, Mira. Please don't go."

"I have to Daniel. I was only granted a few minutes. We will meet again and though you won't be able to see me, I will be by your side at all times."

"Please, Mira, just a little longer," he continues to plead as tears drop from his eyes and he falls to his knees.

"Be strong my love, we will be together again soon."

Feeling her presence leave his side, Daniel feels a mixture of warmth, love, sadness and finally a deep appreciation that he was able to be with his love, however short it was. With renewed strength he stands up, looks to the sky and finally turns around as he walks back toward the Beach House.

### CHAPTER 6

Standing in the surf on one of Martinique's beautiful white sand beaches, Snow Flower enjoys being with Blue Cloud as he embraces her within his extremely strong arms.

Completely mesmerized Snow Flower states, "I love how the rising sun looks so big here."

"It seems so close; if I just reached out maybe I could touch it."

Looking up at her husband, Snow Flower smiles, "I wouldn't try it, you might get burnt."

Knowing Snow Flower is playing on his words, Blue Cloud smiles at her joke. Feeling a ripple of water over his feet he comments, "I've never been this close to so much water."

"It reminds me of the place my family and I left when I was a little girl."

"The only place that I have seen this much water before is at Daniel's Beach House. Well, I do remember seeing another Ocean, but we had been traveling on land for months, and it just seemed to fit. You know, large land, large water, but this, this land is surrounded by all this water!"

"It's an island, Blue Cloud, that's why it's surrounded by water; an island always seems smaller than the water that surrounds it. I will always remember standing on this beach, with our toes digging into white sand and water washing over them. I'll remember looking out at a beautiful turquoise sea, feeling the warmth of the rising sun and the strength of your arms around me."

Looking into her eyes, Blue Cloud intimately says, "Wherever I am, Snow Flower, as long as we are together, I will be happy."

The smell of food cooking begins to make their stomachs growl. "Are you ready to go back Snow Flower? My stomach is telling me that it's time to eat."

Without answering she begins to run.... "I'm taking that as a yes," Blue Cloud comments to himself as he begins to run, trying to catch up with her.

Snow Flower yells back, "I'm going to beat you there, Blue Cloud."

"Oh yea, we'll see about that" he yells as the distance between them begins to close.

As they reach the dining area they notice all of the swords that the island girls are cleaning.

Blue Cloud asks, "Where did you get these beautiful swords?"

"We found them in a cave close to the same cove that our ship is in."

"I have never seen a hilt like this before."

"It's very complex in its design. It's made to be beautiful and at the same time it protects my dueling hand."

"Would it be all right if I held it?"

"Sure... here it is," Diana says handing it to Blue Cloud.

Snow Flower looks at her husband with a surprised look. "Have you seen a sword like this before, Blue Cloud?"

"Yes, many times on the trade routes that we would take every few years. The men who lived a full moon south of us had many swords, but I only remember seeing one that was similar to this one, but it wasn't as well balanced as this one is, nor was it crafted as well as this is. Examining it closer, he says, "It's straight-bladed, two-edged and light enough that a woman can hold it with one hand."

"Let me look at it too, Blue Cloud," Snow Flower asks.

"Have you ever seen this kind of a sword before?"

"Yes, many times when I was a little girl. My father and his men had swords that looked a lot like this one."

While Snow Flower is examining Diana's sword, Blue Cloud turns around and motions to one of the other sisters to hand him her sword. Putting on his magic cloak he walks over to Snow Flower and begins moving his sword in front of her.

Knowing what her husband is doing, Snow Flower says, "Ah, so you want to duel huh?"

Covering herself with her own invisible cloak, Snow Flower begins to block Blue Cloud's strikes. The island mothers and sisters begin to laugh as they see two swords dueling together in the air.

"That is the funniest thing that I have ever seen," Grace states as laughter can be heard throughout the dining area.

"If I didn't know about the magic cloaks I would really be scared," Kristen says as she stands behind her mother.

Finally the cloaks come off of Blue Cloud and Snow Flower and they bow to their audience as clapping can be heard coming from all of the women of the island.

Looking over at Diana, Snow Flower asks, "Diana, now that you know us and our abilities to use swords, would you mind if we join your crew while you try to find your sisters?"

Diana looks to her mother.

"I think that it would be a great idea Diana."

"If my mother feels that it would be a good idea, then I agree with her. Welcome to our crew."

With this good news Snow Flower and Blue Cloud hug, knowing in their hearts that this could be the only possible way that they will be able to find their son, Gray Wolf.

Diana looks to her sisters, "Now that we have reconnected with our purpose, are you ready to leave again sisters?"

A resounding "Yes," is heard from everyone.

"Fine, then we will leave at first light."

An evening of laughter follows as everyone takes turns using the magic cloaks to pull their own little tricks on each other.

As the roaster crows the sister's wake up to the smell of breakfast their mothers have been busy baking.

"This is one of the things that we miss the most mother... your cooking."

Smiling, Grace says, "That's what everyone says when they leave. But don't worry we have baked enough for you to take with you."

"Thank you so much..." looking at the other mothers Diana asks, "When we get back would all of you please teach us how to cook? I noticed while we have been gone..." she starts laughing, "that some of us really need lessons."

"Hey, my cooking is fine," Stacey retorts back.

"Mine is also," Jessica stands with her hands on her hips.

Looking over to Stacey and Jessica, Diana says, "No, I'm not talking about you two..." starting to run toward the ship, she looks back "I'm talking about everyone else."

Trying to catch up with Diana, all of the sister's joke back and forth with each other yelling out the worst things they had eaten.

"...Jaci's green gravy."

"Well... your burnt bread."

"What about the yams that weren't cooked all the way through."

"Half cooked yams aren't as bad as biscuits that are still plain dough in the middle."

Finally reaching the cove and out of breath, the sisters stand laughing at each other while they continue their teasing.

Snow Flower, Blue Cloud and their mothers finally catch up to them.

"Daughters, before you get into your row boat, have some of this pineapple that we just heated over the fire."

"Oh, this is my favorite," Danielle says.

Everyone else agrees with "mine too" as pieces of pineapple are handed to them.

Grace takes this opportunity, "Now while you are all quiet...remember your purpose...to stay connected with your sisters so that you will feel of their spirits. This will lead you to them."

Everyone takes a moment to have a group hug.

"We look forward to your return daughters. May Snow Flower and Blue Cloud add magic to your trip," Grace says with a smile.

"Yes, magic swords," Kristen says with excitement.

Smiling Diana says, "Blue Cloud you get to row this boat back and forth until we are all on our ship."

"Yes Captain," he says with a salute.

"I'm going to like this," Diana says quietly to herself, smiling back to her mother.

With everyone aboard, Diana goes to the Captain's Cabin. In a moment the 'Destiny' is rising in the air and moving forward. All of the daughters have put on their pirate uniforms and stand at attention looking back to their mothers.

All of the mothers, with a mixture of pride and sadness wave back to their daughters.

The pirates and their two new passengers are now flying away from Martinique, on their way to North Carolina and their final destination, Ocracoke.

On their flight the island sisters, remember the young man that had boarded their ship a few days ago.

"Why didn't we keep him tied to the main mast for a lot longer? We could have just looked at him...he was so handsome."

"I remember his long beautiful black hair."

"What about his broad, strong shoulders?"

"It was his smile that I thought was beautiful."

Diana, has put the ship on automatic and has walked up to the upper deck to get a little sun. Hearing what they are talking about she says, "Can't you girls talk about anything else?"

Almost in a trance Marie responds, "But, he was so beautiful Diana. It's been a long time since we have seen any men our age."

"We're going to have to talk to our fathers about that."

"Yes, why is it that there are so many girls on the island, and not any young men, Diana?"

"Now, why would you ask me a question like that? I don't know. There are many of us now who are of marrying age. Like I said before, when all of our fathers come home on the 'Mysterious', we're going to have to talk to them about this situation."

***

Sailing away from Haiti, Gray Wolf's first mate, Ramon asks him, "How did you get the young island girls away from that woman without paying her anything?"

Looking down at his sleeve he dusts it off and answers with a smirk, "I just turned on my charm... you know what magnetism I have,"

Slapping his leg and laughing, Ramon can't believe what he has just heard, "You are so full of it Gray Wolf. All of the rest of us are just as handsome as you are. Why would she let you take them without Black Beard?"

Realizing that he had been caught in his story, he smiles and tells the truth, "Oh, I pleaded with her, and you know I made that adorable sad face that gets all women, saying that I'd make sure that Black Beard paid her every penny that he owed her, if she would just let me take them."

"The sad face, huh? And she fell for it?"

Standing with pride, Gray Wolf raises his knuckles to his mouth, breathes on them and rubs his chest a couple of times, "The first time I tried that face, I was amazed at how well it worked. And it worked as well this time as it did the very first time."

Not letting Gray Wolf get away with it Ramon asks him again, "So how are you going to be able to pay her...Black Beard is dead."

"Yes...he is... but she believed me because I'm telling the truth. Someday I'll make sure that she gets paid."

"So are you telling me that women can sense that you are telling them the truth, and that's why they fall for you?"

"Why yes...truth is a great attraction."

"And what have you told these girls?" he asks as his arm sweeps toward the girls who are sitting on the quarter deck.

"I've told them that I am taking them home."

"Do you even know where they call home?"

"Yes. I know where they live..."

"Well, I hope you're telling the truth because we're losing several chances to make a lot of money."

Looking directly into his eyes, Gray Wolf talks with conviction, "Listen Ramon, I am the reason that they were taken from their families. I made a promise to myself the day we left their island that I would make sure that everyone of them would be returned to their parents. I didn't know how I was going to do it, but I learned everything that I could and I waited for the opportunity to fulfill that promise." Looking toward the quarter deck, Gray Wolf says emotionally, "Look at them. If you were their father how would you feel if your daughters were taken from your island home?"

"I would be angry."

"So don't you think that their parents would feel the same way?"

"Yes."

"And don't you feel that they have a right to be back with their parents?"

Looking directly at them, Ramon states emphatically, "They do Gray Wolf... and I will help you in any way that I can."

"Thank you. You are a great first mate."

"What are they laughing about, Gray Wolf?"

"...Who, the girls?"

"Yes..."

"They look at clouds to see if they look like anything in the world. It's a game that they play to amuse themselves."

"Jody, look at that cloud, it's the biggest cloud that I have ever seen, and it's actually giving us a little shade for a while."

Laughing, "Maybe it thinks that it is an umbrella."

"...Maybe. But even if it doesn't know, it's doing a great job of keeping the sun from us."

"Oh, oh you shouldn't have said that, here comes the sun again."

Holding a cute little monkey in her lap, Jody points to another cloud, "look Cici, that cloud looks just like you."

Laughing, both girls lean back. "Why did you bring that monkey anyway?"

"A nice pirate from another ship that docked at Haiti gave it to me because I looked so sad. He said that he had found Cici on one of his travels and he always made him laugh."

"Well, that pirate must have felt bad for you, because he's right I hear you laughing all the time when you have him with you."

Looking down at her little furry friend, Jody rubs his head and says, "He makes me forget about how we were taken from our island home." Looking back at the clouds Jody says, "Now that's what I call a beautiful magnificent cloud."

"...Where?"

Pointing toward the moving cloud she says, "Right up there. It looks like the most beautiful Schooner that I have ever seen, but it doesn't have any sails."

"How could it be a Schooner? Schooners sail in the water...and why is it going in the opposite direction than the rest of the clouds?"

"You're asking me?" Turning to Gray Wolf Jody yells, "Gray Wolf, look up there, a cloud is going in the opposite direction than the other clouds."

Shading his eyes from the sun, Gray Wolf, looks up to the sky. Spotting the cloud Jody is pointing to, he watches for a long time. Not able to understand why something that looks like a ship would be flying in the sky and going West, when it should be going East with the other clouds, he says to himself, "That's strange."

As Gray Wolf takes his eyes off of the cloud he looks back at Jody with his arms out to his side and an 'I don't know glance', as Jody notices the cloud begining to turn North. Her eyes widen, but she decides to not say anything to Gray Wolf. She just looks back to Cici and begins playing with him.

***

Jacie and Kristen have been watching the ships sailing beneath them as they fly in the 'Destiny' in search of Black Beard's ship.

"Jaci, look at that ship down in the water, doesn't it look small?"

"It sure does...do you think that it's father's ship?"

"No Kristen. That's a Man-Of-War and the 'Mysterious' is a Schooner."

"I wonder where our fathers are Jaci."

"I don't know. Maybe after we find our sisters, if our fathers aren't back yet, maybe Diana will take us to find them."

"I certainly hope so."

Diana walks out onto the deck. "Ladies, we will be arriving at Ocracoke in a little while. I will take Marie with me this time, and the rest of you will need to guard the ship."

"What about us Diana?" Blue Cloud asks.

"Ah, yes, the magic swords," she says as a joke. "Since Ocracoke is such a bad place, why don't you come with us Blue Cloud, and Snow Flower, you stay with Jaimie and the other girls."

"This should be fun," Blue Cloud comments as he envisions what he will be able to do with his magic cloak.

Continuing, Diana cautions, "I've heard that in Ocracoke only the strong survive; everyone is out to take everything from everyone else. That is why I want more of you guarding the ship. Marie is a fast runner, and I am the strongest with the sword. That's why we are going together.

"We're all ready to do what you think is best Diana," Snow Flower states.

"All I know is that I don't want to go in there. I'm glad I get to stay on the ship." Stacey states. "Just be careful Marie. These pirates think nothing of slapping or pinching your butt."

Marie looks at Stacey, her eyes widen and she looks at Diana in a questioning manner."

"Don't worry Marie I won't leave your side." Turning to the rest of her crew she says, "This time, I need all of you to put dark paste around your eyes. I noticed that this freaks the other pirates out, when we are wearing it with the rest of our pirate outfits. Hurry and get ready, in a short while I'll go back to the helm and I'll be setting the ship in the water to sail into the harbor."

"We'll be ready in just a short time, Diana."

"Thank you. Remember, we all need to be on guard here; each place we've visited becomes worse than the last one."

Soon, as the 'Destiny' is approaching Ocracoke. Diana asks, "Are all of you ready?"

"Yes, we're ready."

"Good, I'll set her down. Jaimie, will you take over the helm at that time?"

"Yes, I'll be there in a minute, Diana."

"Remember everyone. While I am gone, Jaimie will be the only one in charge."

"We know Diana. Jaimie is good at what she does. We'll do what she asks us to do."

"I'm here Diana," Jaimie announces.

Whispering to Jaimie, Diana reports, "There is one more switch that I haven't told you anything about...if by chance you are attacked and you need help from us, flip this switch up. It will light up the sky, so you can see the attackers better and it will signal us that you are in trouble."

"...This switch?"

"Yes. Push it up. Daniel told me that it will be the most beautiful thing that anyone has ever seen."

"...Really? And it will bring light?"

"That's what Daniel told me."

Turning around to the other sisters, Diana instructs, "Once again we will leave our ship out in the harbor so that you can see if anyone is rowing toward our ship. Make sure that you stand close enough to the railing so that they will see that the ship has not been left empty."

"Yes, Diana. We'll make sure that we look menacing enough that no one will even think of boarding this ship."

"That's the spirit, Kristen."

"I'll look even meaner than Kristen," Jaci says in competition.

Smiling Diana responds, "I know that you will Jaci."

Climbing over the railing, down the rope ladder and into the row boat, Diana rows as Marie and Blue Cloud sit in the boat.

"Why aren't you rowing the boat, Blue Cloud?" Marie asks.

"I will if you would like me to, but as you can see I am wearing my cloak, and wouldn't it look funny to see two oars rowing a boat by themselves?"

"That would be quite weird wouldn't it?" Marie raises her right eye brow and smiles.

"Not only that, but our surprise would no longer be a surprise," Blue Cloud points out.

"Ah, not only are you a good swordsman, you are smart also."

"That's what Snow Flower tells me all the time," Blue Cloud says with a hidden smile.

Soon they are close to the shore. Just before they exit their boat, landing in shin high water, Diana looks at Marie and says, "Take a breath to clear the fear from your face. Walk with your head held high...walk like you are a queen and these people are your servants...don't let any of them shake your confidence... We will both walk like a King and Queen." Confidence begins to show in her face. Looking back at her again, Diana comments, "That's good Marie...we want them to know that we are not afraid of them."

"I'll do my best."

"You'll be fine. Just never leave my side, unless I tell you to, and Blue Cloud, maybe you should walk behind Marie and just in front of me so that they won't see your foot prints in the sand."

"...Great idea!"

Walking into the gathering hall of Ocracoke, the atmosphere is quite different from New Providence and Port Royal. Everyone is busy doing their own thing, and no one seems to notice that they entered the establishment.

Walking to the far side of the room Diana sees an empty table. Putting her hand on Marie's shoulder she motions for them to sit at that specific table.

Sitting down, Diana leans back on her chair, and puts her feet up on the table, while Blue Cloud stands in anonymity behind her. A woman walks over to their table. "Can I get you anything?"

"Just some water, please...for the both of us," Marie states.

"Water?" she asks with a weird look on her face.

"Yes," Marie repeats, "water will be fine. Thank you."

Within a short time she returns with two glasses of water."

"Is there anything else that I can get for you?"

"Just some information..."

"What would you like to know?"

"We are looking for Black Beard. Do you know anything about him?"

"I don't, but..." looking across the hall and at the bar, pointing her index finger, she says, "that gentleman knows him quite well."

"Would you mind asking him if he has time to talk to us?"

"...I'd be glad to, just a minute."

Walking over to the man at the bar, the bar maid asks him if he will talk with them. He turns around looking directly at Diana and Marie. Diana recognizes his face. Suddenly her mind is going a million miles an hour, retracing how Danielle knocked the guitar player onto the ground in Port Royal. Talking inside her mind she says "HE LOOKS LIKE THE GUITAR PLAYER! TAKE A BREATH... MAYBE I SHOULD TAKE TWO...CALM DOWN, calm down. MMMM, breathe in, breathe out. Oh, my goodness he's walking our way..." Quickly bending over to whisper into Marie's ear she says, "Ask him if he plays the guitar. If he does, watch out. If he doesn't then there won't be any trouble."

Wondering what Diana is talking about, Marie does understand that she is trying to make her aware that there might be danger, and she needs to be prepared.

At that moment, he has arrived at their table. "I hear that you want to talk to me about Black Beard."

"Yes." Marie begins, "Yes, we do. May I ask you something first?"

"Sure beautiful, I'll tell you anything."

Diana takes her feet off of the table and sits up straight, in a warning posture, to let this man know that the way that he is treating Marie is not proper.

"A...I didn't mean anything by that. I talk that way to all the women," he says with a smile, looking directly at Diana.

Diana moves closer to him, letting him know that it didn't matter.

"Ok...simmer down. What did you want to know about Black Beard?"

"We want to know where he is."

Loudly laughing he then asks, "You want to know where Black Beard is?" Standing up he yells, "THEY WANT TO KNOW WHERE BLACK BEARD IS." The whole hall is laughing.

Marie quickly asks, "What's so funny about that?"

Putting his left foot on the seat of the chair next to her, he bends over looking down at Marie. "It's funny, because he's where no one can ever reach him...ever again!"

"But, we need to find him. We need to talk to him."

"Well then, you had better start praying, because that's the only way that you are ever going to talk to him."

"Praying?" Looking at Diana, an idea comes into focus in her head. "Are you saying that he is dead?"

"Yes, pretty lady. He's dead!"

"What happened to his ship?"

"Oh, his crew elected Gray Wolf as their captain."

"...GRAY WOLF?"

"Yes, he'll make a great pirate Captain."

"Isn't he a little young to be a Captain."

"...Young? I was his age when I was Captain of my first ship."

"What is your name?"

"Morgan, Henry Morgan."

"I think that you were older than eight when you were made a Captain for the first time weren't you?"

"Lady, I don't know what Gray Wolf you are talking about...but the Gray Wolf that I know is a young man in his early twenties. Black Beard taught him everything that he knew. And his crew respects him.... Well actually he kept their ship the 'Queen Anne's Revenge,' but he got a new crew as soon as Black Beard died. They are all handpicked, and around his same age."

"Then do you know where Gray Wolf is?"

"The last thing I heard was that he was heading to Martinique, for some odd reason. I don't know why he would be going there... it's only a deserted island."

"That's what we've heard also," Marie states.

"Oh, there's one question that I wanted to ask you in the first place... Do you play the guitar?" Marie questions.

"I do!"

Diana, takes a breath, wondering if he was the one that Danielle knocked over in Port Royal, when he adds, "...EVERYONE HERE DOES."

"Oh, that's good to know" Marie smiles, "Thank you for answering our questions."

"It was nice meeting you." Looking over at Diana a little strangely, he adds, "Welcome to our Pirate Family, but next time you're going to have to talk a little. We want everyone to take part in the fun that we have."

"Thank you sir," Marie says trying to get his attention so that Diana won't be made to talk.

Getting up to walk out to their ship, Morgan begins talking again. "Don't be in such a rush to leave...the night is still young...I'll buy you a round of drinks."

"No thank you."

"No? I want to pay for your drinks," he insists.

"We don't allow others to pay our way sir."

"SIT DOWN. I want to pay for your drinks," Morgan demands.

"We don't drink your beverages sir. And we have already had a glass of water. If you will excuse us, we'll be on our way."

Looking around the room, Diana notices that all of the other pirates are now looking their way. Sensing danger she quickly stands up, pushes the table over, pulls her sword and puts it to Morgan's throat.

Looking at Marie, she motions with her head for Marie to start for the door, while she nudges Morgan forward and continues to hold her blade at his throat. Moving toward the door, as soon as they pass the threshold Diana stabs Morgan's leg, hoping that this will slow everyone down as she and Marie run for their boat.

Once out on the beach, two pirates have caught up with them yelling "No one hurts Morgan and gets away with it," while drawing their swords.

Several other pirates pull their swords and begin to move toward Marie and Diana. Suddenly one pirate yells, "Hey, you're supposed to use your sword on them, not on me!" looking at a pirate standing behind him.

"What do you mean? I didn't do anything."

"You just hit me with your sword."

"I didn't."

Turning around, and beginning to walk toward Diana, he is hit again on his back side with a sharp twang of a steel sharpened sword. Turning back to the pirate he had talked to a minute ago he says, "I told you that I didn't want you hitting me. Now you're going to get it." And he jabs the pirate behind him, who then fights back.

Several other pirates are also feeling the twang of steel on their back sides. "Hey that hurts!"

"Do you think that that's funny?"

"If you hit me again with your sword, you will never see the light of another day."

Soon, all of the pirates are fighting with each other on the beach as Marie and Diana, and unbeknownst to them, Blue Cloud, are making their way to their row boat. As soon as their boat is in the water, streaks of light are leaving the 'Destiny' and suddenly exploding into the air with sparkles of every color of the rainbow.

"Hurry Diana, hurry, they must be in trouble," Marie states.

"Move over, let me row the boat," Blue Cloud commands.

As the light from the colors brighten the sky, making everything visible, the pirates on the beach stop their fighting while they look at the strange sight. Finally, they notice a boat rowing toward the new ship in the harbor. "Look over there, are those oars rowing the boat by themselves?"

"That's strange. I don't see anyone sitting by the oars either."

"It must be too dark to see."

"What do you mean dark? Look at all the light in the sky...this has been one strange evening; boats rowing themselves, and lights coming from a ship that we have never seen before."

As Blue Cloud quickly rows back to their ship, they all notice that there are several boats around 'Destiny.' On the deck they can see the gleam of the moon reflecting off of each sword as it is poised to hit their opponent's sword.

Everyone is engrossed in their own duel, yelling, threatening, and maneuvering their position to gain the upper hand, as Blue Cloud, Diana and Marie climb the rope ladder up, and over the railing. No one notices that they have arrived.

"I'll stay on deck and help Snow Flower." Blue Cloud laughs... "Now the fun begins...Snow Flower, let's get in the middle of these guys and have some fun," he whispers.

"Fight each other?"

"Yes, this should be fun."

One by one pirates notice the swords in the air fighting each other. Soon other pirates notice their shipmates have stopped fighting and are looking at the ghostly dueling swords.

"Look, those swords are in the middle of the air."

"How can they be in the middle of the air with no one holding them?"

In the Captain's Cabin, Diana quickly raises her ship into the air.

"What's happening here? This ship must be haunted."

With the fighting stopped, the pirates run over to the railing to see why the ship is moving so strangely. As they get to the railing they notice that the ship is above the water. Looking down to figure out what is happening puts them at a disadvantage as the island sisters push them overboard. Landing in the water the intruding pirates are completely in shock.

Morgan and his pirates on the shore are also in shock, as they see a ship that is above the water and flying in the air.

"...I must have had too much to drink!"

"Me too, this can't be happening!"

"I'm not going to tell anyone what I just saw," Morgan spits out, "but you can bet that one day I'll meet that Pirate, and I'm going to return his favor." Looking at his mates, he asks "And what is with you guys, fighting amongst yourselves?"

"Morgan, he stuck the point of his sword into my behind."

"I didn't."

"Yea, he did that to me also."

"I didn't either."

"What you are saying then is that there is someone that we can't see walking around on this island just poking everyone with his sword?"

"No, I'm not saying that Morgan, I'm just saying that I didn't poke him with MY sword."

"I just wanted to see what any of you would say, because anyone that thinks that there are invisible people and flying ships are not going to be a part of my team...DO ALL OF YOU HEAR THAT?"

"Yes Sir."

"I CAN'T HEAR YOU!"

"YES SIRRRR!"

"Now that's more like it. Let's get back to what we were doing before they came."

"Yes, Captain."

On board the 'Destiny' as they fly from their harrowing experience at Ocracoke, Diana asks Marie to go and see how everyone is. Walking over to Jaimie and Snow Flower who have taken charge of caring for everyone's wounds, Marie states, "Diana wants to know how everyone is."

"There are no life threatening injuries, but Danielle is hurt the worst. While you are here Marie, would you please get us some clean water and bandages?"

"Yes, do you need anything else?"

"Just your help when you return."

"I'll hurry."

"Danielle, this is a bad one," Snow Flower states.

"You didn't see the wounds I inflicted on the ones I was fighting with, did you?"

"I can only imagine..."

Looking over at Jaimie, she can see that all of the rest of the island sisters only have minor wounds"

"Danielle. Why are your wounds so bad compared to your sisters?"

Kristen answers for her, "Danielle was fighting with two at a time."

"Well, you now know why she is called the 'Island Warrior,'" Jaimie states as she looks in her direction.

As soon as everyone is bandaged, Jaimie, Snow Flower and Blue Cloud go to the Captain's Cabin to talk to Diana. "Diana, everyone is bandaged up."

"Thank you. I'm so glad that you all have that knowledge."

"When did they board the ship Jaimie."

"...Shortly after you and Marie entered the meeting hall."

"Oh... so that is why Morgan was so nice to us. He wanted to keep us in the hall as long as he could."

"What did you find out about Black Beard?"

"He's dead, Jaimie."

"...Dead? So what are we going to do now?"

"Guess who their captain is?"

"Who..."

"...Gray Wolf."

"...The same little boy that told Black Beard about father's ship?"

"Well, to be perfectly honest I don't really know. Morgan said that he wasn't a little boy, that he was a young man in his early twenties."

"That means that he would be around our age."

"...Right. The thing that I am worried about though is that Morgan said that he is on his way to Martinique."

"...Martinique? Why would he be going there?"

"I don't know, but we need to get there as fast as we can so that we will be able to protect our mother's, incase our fathers haven't returned home yet. For that reason I am going to fly this ship as fast as it will go. I don't know how fast that is, and so we won't have to worry about the safety of everyone, will you please ask everyone to come here to this cabin, so that they won't fly off of the deck?"

"Of course, I'll get everyone as quickly as I can."

Going up on deck, Jaimie asks, "Would all of you please go down to the Captain's Cabin? Diana has something that she wants to talk to you about."

As soon as everyone is seated, Diana announces. "The Queen Anne's Revenge is headed for Martinique. Because of that, I am going to fly our ship as fast as it can go. I need you all to stay in this cabin, and while I am at the helm, I need each of you to search the sea to see if you can see any ship headed toward our home."

"I'll help." everyone choruses.

After they are flying for a while, Jessica states, "There's a ship down there. Never mind it's starting to turn west. It must be going to the Dominican Republic."

A short time later, Jaci shouts, "I see one. I see a ship."

"I'll slow down a little. Watch it to see where it is going."

"I have an idea Diana," Jessica says. "Why don't we use the looking glass to see if we can see the name of the ship, and if it isn't the Queen Anne's Revenge then we can pass over it and not waste any time."

"What a great idea, Jessica. Where is my looking glass?"

"I found it," Kristen says. "Get in position Diana, so that we can see the stern of the boat, and then I can look at the escutcheon, where the name is displayed."

Positioning the 'Destiny' just right, Kristen reads the name of the ship. "It's the 'Bounty'... move on, Diana."

Ship after ship, Kristen reads the name of the ship. And ship after ship has every name, but Queen Anne's Revenge. "Are you sure, Diana that Morgan was telling you the truth?"

"No, I can't say that he was telling me the truth, but I would rather trust his word and make sure that our mothers are safe, wouldn't you?"

"Yes, the pirate sister's chorus."

"Then, let's continue to look at each ship that is sailing in the direction of Martinique."

Throughout the evening, as they are found, several ship names are shouted out.

"It's the William."

"It's the Ranger."

"It's the Royal Fortune."

Everyone is getting tired looking at the rolling waves and watching for ships after their grueling fight, and now this long fast flight.

"Diana, we aren't going to be able to see the names too much longer, the sun is starting to go down."

"Just keep watching for as long as you can, my sisters."

And they begin their search again, shouting out each name of the ship, as they come up behind it.

"It's the Neptune."

"... the Pearl."

"... the Rising Sun."

"Yes, too bad the Sun is setting rather than rising," Jaci quips and all of her sisters giggle.

Diana announces, "Well, we have been flying south and we'll soon be turning south east, everyone brace for the turn."

"Look over at those strange lights in the water, Jaimie," Kristen points in their direction.

Turning her head Jaimie says, "I've never seen them before, but I remember our fathers talking about them. I remember them saying that just after the light show that bubbles begin forming all over that area."

"I remember those stories." Stacey adds. "They actually saw a whole ship go to the edge of one of those bubbles and then it fell into it without any warning."

"...A whole ship?"

"Yes, the whole thing."

"The whole ship sank?"

"Yes. Father said that it just disappeared; after it fell into the bubble the water just covered it up and they never saw it again."

"What happened to her crew?"

"They didn't have any time to make an escape and went down with it."

Snapping her finger Kristen states, "Just like that?"

Snapping her finger back, Jaimie replies "Just like that!"

***

"Daniel, what are they talking about? How can a huge ship just disappear?"

"It's a strange, but natural occurrence that very few humans know about."

"...So what happens?"

"I want you to picture a door that you walk through that goes outside."

"Just like the one that we walk through to go to the beach?"

"Yes. That's a good example. Do you remember that when we open that door and we walk to the sand you can feel heat can't you?"

"There is a huge difference in how cool it is in the Beach House and how hot it is when we walk out on to the beach."

"That is how the earth is. There are faults, places in the crust of the earth's surface that move at different times, like the door. Sometimes these faults move a little and very little happens. At other times they will move a lot and cause a great deal of damage, like earthquakes and tidal waves."

Treyson's eyes widen.

"In different areas of the ocean floor, normally close to a continental shelf or edge of land, there are mounds of what is called hydrate methane. It's an ice crystal that is a combination of water and methane (gas). Sometimes when the earth's faults move in these areas, they cause friction which causes the methane in the ice to catch fire. This is when you will see strange lights or colors coming from the ocean floor because of the fire. The fire melts the ice; the methane escapes creating a bubble full of methane. As the bubble rises it pushes the water to the side taking its place. Sometimes there are several bubbles and other times the bubble is larger than a ship; when either one happens the water density, in that area, is no longer capable of providing adequate buoyancy for a ship to float. As a ship begins to sail over that area it sinks; as soon as the bubble is broken the methane escapes to the air and the sea water fills in where the bottom of the bubble use to be and where the ship is now, never giving its crew a chance to escape."

"So in other words it's gone?"

"That is one way you can put it."

"Without a sound or trace of what happened?"

"Yes, Treyson, what you have just said is sad, but true."

***

While listening to Kristen, Jaimie and Stacey, Jaci has been looking down to the sea, pointing toward a ship that she has just noticed, "Then that ship is going to go down, just like that!" and snaps her fingers.

"What ship?"

"...That one. It's heading right toward the colors that you were talking about."

Marie adds, "What's that huge thing behind them?"

Getting the looking glass, Jaimie can see a huge wave moving toward the ship. "That's why they are going so fast. They've seen the rogue wave coming up behind them...it must be at least a hundred feet tall...DIANA WE'VE GOT TO HELP THEM."

Diana has been concentrating on flying her ship and has not heard what they have been talking about, "Help who?"

Walking over to the wheel Jaimie says, "Let me take the helm. That ship can see the rogue wave behind them, and they are racing from it. But they can't see the bubbles that they are sailing toward..."

"What are you talking about?" Diana questions.

"Kristen, Marie and Jaci explain what is happening to Diana." Jaimie directs, "While, you're doing that I'm going to take us down to help them."

Quickly her sisters explain the situation to Diana. Once she understands, she starts giving orders. "Get your pirate uniforms on. We are helping them, but we don't know what type of people they are. We have to be prepared."

"Jaimie, where are you going to land the 'Destiny'?"

"Next to her, we don't have time to land behind her and sail up to her side."

"Good idea. Stacey and Jessica, as soon as we are next to their ship, position the planks that the pirate ships in Ocracoke so kindly left behind... that we can get more people in a faster amount of time. I'll walk over the plank and let them know that they are in danger and that they need to board our ship...after they are all aboard we will fly away from this mess... does that sound like a plan?"

"It's a great plan, Diana."

"Does that work for you, Jaimie."

"It sounds like it should work."

Diana wears everything except her long coat. Landing next to the pirate ship that is running from the rogue wave, Diana walks the plank from her ship to their ship. Looking in her direction the crew is having trouble comprehending how another ship is sailing by their side, but because of the situation that they find themselves in, they question nothing. The Captain turns around to face Diana. In her mind she says, "He is the same man that boarded our ship when we were resting next to Cuba."

Recognizing Diana he asks, "Well now, where did you come from? Did you drop from the sky? I didn't see you sailing anywhere close by."

"We don't have time to talk about this right now. I need you to..."

"So you're following me, right?"

"Listen, I can see where you would think that every woman would be following you, but the reason I'm here is to save you and your crew."

"...To save us?" He questions with his ego crushed.

Pointing to the direction of the wave, "Yes, you see that rogue wave..."

Looking back at the hundred foot wave, "Yes I saw that. That's why we're going as fast as we are. We're trying to outrun it..." Looking over to her ship, he asks, "Which brings up a question, how is your ship going as fast as we are and you have none of your sails up?"

"I'd be glad to explain that to you as soon as you are aboard my ship."

"Now why would we be any safer on your ship than in my ship? We both float on the water."

Frustrated and realizing that time is short, Diana motions to Jaimie to raise the ship and then bring it down again.

Gray Wolf hears the sound of the planks falling onto his deck as the 'Destiny' rises; he notices Jaimie waving to Diana through glass from the bow and sees their ship raise and lower a foot or two, not to mention that they have no sails... Diana can see the shocked look on his face. "Listen whatever your name is...I don't have time to explain anything. The only thing that I will say is that you are sailing into several areas that your ship will sink and none of you will survive...and since I'm on your ship, I'll be going down with you...and I'd rather not do that... I have to complete my mission."

"The same one you said you were doing the last time we talked?"

"Yes...now quickly will you get your crew aboard my ship?"

"Ramon, tell our passengers to come up on deck. They will be the first ones to board her ship."

"...Aye sir." Running to the stairs he yells, "Everyone on deck."

As the passengers appear Diana asks, "Who are these young women and older men?"

"The young women are the people I said that I was going to return to their home. The older men, we found on the southern tip of Cuba where their ship had wrecked from those horrible storms in that area. It's a wonderful story... these men actually turned out to be..."

"Hopefully you won't take this as being rude, but our time is extremely short, would you mind if we talked about this later? We've got to get everyone aboard my ship before it's too late."

"...Whatever you say, beautiful lady"

Men put the planks back up on the railing. Looking at Jody he says, "Since you are their leader, you go first, and the rest of you follow her."

"This is scary," Jody says to herself but turns around to her sisters with a smile because she knows that she has to show leadership. She has to be strong like Daniel said that she would be.

Grabbing a rope off the deck, Gray Wolf holds one end while he throws the other end to one of Diana's pirates. Tying another rope around her waist he lifts her up onto the plank and says, "Now hold onto this higher rope with your hand as you quickly walk to the other ship. The rope around your waist will protect you if you fall."

Making it safely to the other ship, she takes the rope from her waist and throws it back so that it can be put on another girl. Three planks in different spots along the railing are connecting the ships, and the same process is being used for each person that crosses a plank. Finally everyone is aboard Diana's ship

"Do we have everyone aboard?"

"I think so."

"Since we are the only ones on this ship who is going to leave first?"

"I'm the captain, I'm supposed to leave last," Gray Wolf states.

"Don't stay too long, or we might all go down with you."

"I'm right behind you."

On Diana's ship Kristen pushes her way through the other passengers to the railing, "Gray Wolf, Jody went back to get her monkey."

In the middle of crossing the plank to get back to her ship, hearing the names of Gray Wolf and Jody yelled out breaks Diana's concentration, as she looks back to the man she had been working with. Losing her balance she falls back, tumbling off the plank, heading toward the water, quickly grasping for anything to keep from falling into the sea. Gray Wolf springs into action and grabs her hand. Pulling her up, both Gray Wolf and Diana fall back into his ship. "Are you all right?"

"Yes."

Bringing their attention back to Jody, they hear Jaci yell, "She's up there on the bowsprit."

"Why would she be on the bowsprit?" Diana questions.

"The monkey must be there. That's one of his favorite places to go," Gray Wolf explained.

Running to the bow, both of them can hear shouts coming from her crew, "Diana you are coming to the edge of the bubbles, HURRY."

Throwing a rope to Gray Wolf, Ramon yells, "Tie this around you." Quickly tying the rope around his waist he climbs up on the bowsprit where Diana has already climbed to get Jody. "DIANA GRAB JODY," as he puts his arms around Diana.

Diana yells to Jody, "GRAB YOUR MONKEY," as she puts her arms around Jody.

All of this happens in one split second as the rogue wave pushes Gray Wolf's ship forward into the bubbles; the 'Destiny' quickly pulls up and flies to the right as the hundred foot wave continues on its way filling in the holes of all the popped bubbles, pushing Gray Wolf's ship to the bottom of the sea.

As though nothing has happened the wave continues on its way.

"THAT WAS CLOSE," Diana shouts while she, Jody, Gray Wolf and the monkey dangle in the air from one life line at the side of Diana's ship, with the ever changing sea beneath them and the sea breeze blowing them back and forth.

"Yes, but all this is worth it."

"What do you mean?"

"Everyone is safe, and I'm holding a beautiful woman. I wouldn't mind being this close to you for the rest of my life," Gray Wolf says with a great deal of pride.

"Is that all that you can think about at a time like this?"

"No, I'm also wondering how ships fly."

"I'll have to tell you that story, sometime."

"Well, it looks like you can take your time, because I'm going to have to build another ship before I can go anywhere."

"How are we going to get up onto the deck of my ship anyway?" Diana asks.

At that precise time a bucket large enough for Jody to sit in is lowered. "Jody, get in the bucket with the monkey."

Once in the bucket, she and the monkey are pulled on board. One of the older men pulls her aside, "why did you go back for that monkey?"

"I had to father. If you couldn't help yourself, wouldn't you want someone to help you?"

"After being shipwrecked for so many years, I understand that all too well, Jody."

Putting their attention back to helping Gray Wolf and Diana, Ramon starts yelling, "Gray Wolf, have..."looking over to her crew he asks, "What is her name?"

"Diana. Our Captain's name is Diana."

Hearing him ask their names, Jody and her father can't believe their ears. "Diana?"

Ramon continues, "Gray Wolf, have her turn around so that you are face to face. That way she can hold on to you while we figure this out."

Gray Wolf bends forward to speak into her ear, "Diana, turn around so that..."

"I heard him, I heard him," she says a little out of frustration that she is in this situation, combined with a small amount of fear; she slowly begins to turn around. Finally face to face, she relents "I hope you're happy with all of this."

"I'd be happier if you would hold me tighter...I mean you wouldn't want my arms to get tired would you?"

Holding him tighter she says, "Your men had better figure something out quickly."

"I'm personally happy just where we are," he says smiling and content with their situation.

"Oh really..." Looking around as she surveys her position and her surroundings, she grabs the rope above his head and begins to pull herself up.

While Gray Wolf is enjoying her movement, he is concerned for her welfare and asks, "Where do you think that you are going?"

"You might be happy hanging over the side like this, but since I'm Captain of this ship, I'd like to be giving my crew orders." Holding onto the rope as tight as she can she steps onto his belt, then his shoulders and finally his head as she yells up to her ship, "Do you think that someone could give me a hand?"

Reaching over the railing, Ramon bends over as far as he can, while other mates hold onto him, pulling her aboard. Looking back down at Gray Wolf, he makes an expression like, "What happened, you had a perfect set up?"

To which Gray Wolf shrugs his shoulders and signals... "Pull me up."

Diana's first thought is to go to the helm to talk to Jaimie. As she opens the door, Jaimie looks back, and begins crying.

Running to her side Diana asks, "Would you like me to take the helm?"

Shaking her head yes, Diana takes over the helm while they both stand in silence for a few minutes.

Finally Diana asks, "Why did you begin to cry when I came in the door?"

"Because I didn't know if we had you or not; I knew that I had to break away at that precise moment or that stupid rogue wave would have pushed our boat into the bubble also, sending us to the bottomless sea. Every time I looked back at that wave, I felt like it was reaching higher and higher."

"Your timing was impeccable, as always Jaimie. Everyone made it aboard safely, even that monkey."

"Who was the young lady that went after the monkey?"

"They call her Jody."

"...Our Jody?"

"I wouldn't think so. This Jody looks like she is either fourteen or sixteen."

"What if the same thing happened to her that happened to us?

"Are you referring to how we grew up over night?"

"Yes. If it happened to us, why wouldn't it happen to her also? And that would explain why Gray Wolf is so much older also."

Sitting on the quarterdeck, Jody and her sisters are watching their rescuers and quietly talking.

"Look at these pirates. They don't talk, and their eyes are scary...but if you'll look closer, each one wears a rose necklace that looks just like ours."

"Why would men, be wearing this type of necklace."

"I don't know, but I'm going to find out," a determined Jody declares.

As she stands up, her sisters reach out their arms cautioning, "Be careful."

Walking up to one of the younger pirates she asks, "What is your name?"

Silence...

"Hasn't anyone ever told you that it's rude to not answer a question?"

Quietly Jaci answers, "Yes, but we don't want those other pirates to know who we are."

"...Why not?"

"Because we don't know if we can trust them or not..."

"Gray Wolf and his crew are complete gentlemen."

"Well you see there, even that name tells me not to trust them. A boy by the name of Gray Wolf helped Black Beard take our sisters." Jody is shocked by this remark. "So we don't trust anyone by the name of Gray Wolf."

"What is your name? Please tell me your name." Jody pleads.

"I am speaking only because you are close to my age, and you seem like you are nice...my name is Jaci."

Pointing to another pirate, Jody asks, and what is that pirate's name, "that's Marie."

"And that pirate?"

"Kristen."

"Where do you live?"

"We were on our way back home to Martinique when we saw your ship in trouble...you see we have been looking for our sisters...."

Tears come to Jody's eyes, "Do all of the pirates wear rose necklaces like the one that you are wearing?"

"Yes... how would you know that?" her voice raises.

Pulling out her rose necklace she says, "My name is Jody."

"Jody?"

"Yes, I am the same Jody that Black Beard and Gray Wolf took from Martinique."

"You are my sister?"

"Yes... I know that I look older...I'm still trying to figure out what happened, but one morning we all woke up and we were all older."

"That's the same thing that happened to us. But it worked out for us because our fathers haven't come home yet and it made it possible for us to look for you. Where are the other sisters?"

"They are over there sitting on the quarterdeck."

Jaci looks in their direction. Feelings of sadness; a loss of time; familiar yet not familiar because of years of separation; scramble in her heart. Though for some strange reason the air is filled with excitement.

"There are so many adventures that we experienced trying to find you that I need to tell you, but before we let anyone else know, come with me."

As Jody follows the pirate she quickly turns and signals to her sisters that she will be back in one minute. Her sisters become concerned.

"Do you think that she will be alright?"

"I don't think that Jody would go anywhere that isn't safe. Remember how strong she has been all of these years?"

"Yes, and the pirate didn't push her downstairs, she was following him."

"Let's give her five minutes. If she doesn't come back on deck we'll tell father."

"That's a deal." And all of the sisters hold hands as they watch for Jody's return.

Following behind Jaci, Jody is taken to the Captain's Cabin.

Opening the door Jaci runs up to Diana and Jaimie, "I've got a surprise for you."

Turning around she gestures with her right hand, "This is Jody. And Jody this is Jaimie and Diana."

"Oh, I know what her name is Jaci, Gray Wolf told me," Diana sadly states as she thinks of her little sister.

"No, I mean..." Jaci's eyes widen and her smile broadens, "THIS IS JODY, OUR JODY! ... Jody, show her your necklace."

Pulling her necklace back out Jody says, "I know that you told us to never show our necklace but I'm too excited."

Jaimie walks over to her to inspect it. "This is the necklace that I made from grandmothers necklace, Diana." Looking at her almost forgotten face, she grabs Jody and hugs her. Then she asks, "Where did Black Beard take you?

"He took us to Haiti. We have been living there for years...well I really don't know how much time it's been... we grew up over night for some strange reason."

"How did you come to be with Gray Wolf?"

"Oh, he picked us up about a week ago. Black Beard was killed in a battle and he finally had a chance to take us back to our home...but do you mind if I answer all your questions later? I have a surprise for you."

"...A surprise?"

As she runs out of the cabin, she yells back, "You are going to be blown away."

Looking at Diana, Jaimie smiles, "Now I know for sure that she is Jody, she always talked that way."

Smiling Diana adds "She always made me smile when she used words like that."

Going up on deck Jody motions for one of the older men, who is talking to Gray Wolf's crew, to come to her.

"Oh, Jody wants me. Would you excuse me please?

Her sisters see their father walking in her direction, "There she is and father is walking toward her, she must be alright."

"What do you want my sweet daughter?"

Grabbing his hand she says, "Just come with me." Walking back down to the Captain's Cabin she opens the door and stands there with the older man.

Not knowing what is happening, both Jaimie and Diana put their hands on the handles of their swords, ready to defend themselves if need be.

"Oh, there is no need for that Diana...this is father."

Diana's eyes widen trying to see the face of the man that she knew as her father behind the long hair, beard and mustache.

"Diana?" he questions.

"Yes father... our Diana," Jody responds with excitement.

"Jaimie, would you take over again?" Diana walks over to this man, still trying to see something familiar as she asks, "Ian, father, where have you been?"

"Our ship wrecked in a huge storm off the southern tip of Cuba, shortly after we left Martinique. We would be there still if it wouldn't have been for Gray Wolf."

"So all of our sisters and our fathers are with us now?"

"Yes, Diana we are all here because of Gray Wolf, and of course because you came to our rescue...I must say this is a magnificent ship."

"Yes. I'll have to tell you its story. We'll tell you all of our adventurers, but for now would you and all of the rest of our fathers like to get cleaned up, we'll be at Martinique soon?"

"That would be wonderful. I haven't shaved in years."

"Well, down the hall in the second room to your left you will find razors, and a change of clothes. I always wondered what they were for, but now I know that Daniel knew that this would happen and he wanted you to look your best for mother. He wanted all of you to look your best for when you arrived home." Looking over at her long lost sister she smiles, "Jody, there are also clothes for you and the rest of our sisters...go now, get cleaned up and we will talk later."

Love, electricity and a feeling of gratefulness that God has brought them back together manifests itself as everyone is told the news. Though they can neither see nor feel it, they sense the thunderous applause of everyone in heaven clapping because of their reunion. Knowing that it was only because of their efforts and their faith in God that this had such a happy ending, they are extremely grateful to be going home to Martinique, to their wives and mothers.

While all of the fathers and sisters are getting cleaned up, Diana walks up to the deck to find Gray Wolf.

"I owe you an apology," she says as she stands face to face with him.

"What? The great Captain is apologizing?" he says as he looks directly at her with his gorgeous smile.

"Yes. It is because of you that I have my whole family back."

Becoming serious he states, "Diana, it is me that should be apologizing to you. It is because of me that your sisters were taken in the first place."

"Gray Wolf, you were a young boy and you weren't from here. You didn't know what Black Beard was capable of."

"I'm glad that you feel that way Diana, because it looks like we'll be staying in Martinique for quite a long time while we build another ship."

"My sisters and I will be very happy to have men on the island that are our same age."

"There are no men on your island?"

"Only our fathers..." She says as she looks up and to the side, finally becoming a little shy.

"Now this should be very interesting. I hope that you won't mind if I spend a lot of time with you."

Looking toward the stern Diana sees two people, that because of all of the excitement, she has completely forgotten about.

"I would love to spend time with you Gray Wolf, but there are two people that I need to introduce you to."

Walking over to Blue Cloud and Snow Flower, Diana says, "Blue Cloud and Snow Flower, this is Gray Wolf."

"Yes, we have been watching him. He is quite a brave young man."

"What did you say your names were?" Gray Wolf asks.

"My name is Snow Flower, and this is Blue Cloud...do those names sound familiar to you at all?"

The sound of drums, begin pounding in his head and pictures begin flashing of a family that always laughed and worked together; pictures of a kind loving father that taught him how to shoot a bow and arrow, to ride a horse, and dance the Eagle Dance; and a mother that loved him. Finally pictures of his twin brother, Running Deer, appear.

"Yes, they do sound familiar. Where is my brother Running Deer?"

"We don't know where he has been, but we do know that he has returned back to Daniel's Beach House and is safe there.

As their ship nears Martinique, Diana begins to worry. Will our mothers be able to handle the fact that our fathers and sisters are returning on the same day?

"Jaimie, Stacey and Jessica, I have a question for you. How do you think that we should handle this? I'm afraid that our mothers won't be able to handle everyone returning at the same time. What do you think?"

Stacey responds, "I can see what you are concerned about. Why don't we turn it into a presentation?"

"That would be perfect, Blue Cloud and Snow Flower and their magic swords can stand at the door of the Captain's cabin holding their swords up to form a threshold."

"So everyone would be invisible until they walk under the swords?"

"Yes. Wouldn't that be wonderful?"

"That would work, but I just had another thought. The last time we flew home our mother's saw us and met us in the cove. So if we are going to do this everyone will need to be in the Captain's cabin before we sail into the cove..."

Jessica adds, "What if we all dress in our pirate uniforms and stand on deck asking our mother's to come aboard. Once they are on deck, we'll have them sit on the quarterdeck looking toward the door that everyone will come through. We'll explain that we have a surprise and want to share it with them. First, our sisters will come out and I am sure that our mothers will run to them, giving them hugs and asking them questions. After that calms down a little we will announce our final surprise as our fathers walk onto the deck."

"That sounds great, Jessica... Our mothers will be a crying mess, but it will be wonderful."

"What do you mean that our mother's will be a crying mess, I think that everyone will be part of that crying mess."

"You're right, Diana."

With the island of Martinique in view, Diana instructs, "everyone get in your places."

Down on Martinique, Jasmine has noticed movement in the sky from her right eye... after looking again to make sure she calls, "Grace, I see the 'Destiny'."

"...Where?"

Pointing to the sky, Jasmine states, "right there."

Grace shouts, "EVERYONE, THEY'RE HERE. I'LL BE THE FIRST ONE TO THE COVE."

"Oh, no you won't," all of the mother's chorus as they race to the cove.

Arriving at the cove they notice that their daughters are standing on the deck at attention.

"Grace, what are they doing?" Jasmine questions.

"I don't know, but Diana is walking forward."

"Mother's, we would like to invite you aboard. We have a great surprise for you!"

Swimming to the 'Destiny' they climb the rope ladder. Once on deck they are taken to the quarterdeck. "We would like you to sit here and look toward the Captains door."

The swords appear. "Mothers, we have completed our mission."

With that said the sisters begin walking through the door.

Tears fill everyone's eyes as they meet after such a long time of being apart.

"Oh, Diana we couldn't have asked for anything better."

"I think that there is something that would make you even happier, and that is our next surprise."

"...Another surprise?" The mothers are already overcome with joy. What else could make them any happier?

Ian leads his men through the door. Grace stands up hardly believing her eyes as she runs, squealing, to meet him. Next Lucas appears and Jasmine runs toward him. As each man comes through the door his wife runs, crying, overcome with happiness, to be by his side.

Tears, crying, questions, hugs and a lot of kissing are part of this reunion. Blue Cloud, Snow Flower, along with Gray Wolf and his crew watch with joyful hearts.

Diana asks for everyone's attention. "We need to thank Blue Cloud and Snow Flower for protecting us on our last journey. And we are so grateful to Gray Wolf and his crew for bringing our fathers and sisters back to us. Thank you all for what you have done to make our families complete."

Grace adds, "Yes, thank you. If you will all come to the village kitchen, let us prepare a festival so that we can celebrate this great occasion."

As the celebration begins, Diana walks toward Gray Wolf wearing a pink dress.

"The great Captain is wearing a dress?"

"Yes, I wanted you to know that I can be a woman also."

With his heart pumping and a large smile on his face, he remarks, "Oh, I never had any question about that, Diana...would you like to walk along the beach and watch the sun set?"

"I would love to," she says softly as she looks into his beautiful dark eyes.

Taking charge of the situation he suggests, "Then come with me, woman," Gray Wolf says as he softly holds her hand, walking under the palm trees toward the beach.

Jaci can hardly believe what she sees as her mouth drops. Pointing in Diana's direction she bends over the table... cups her hand up to her mouth and says, "Kristen and Marie, look at Diana, she is wearing a dress."

"...A dress? Where did she get a dress?"

"I don't know, but she is walking hand in hand with Gray Wolf."

"He's so good looking I wish I had a chance with him."

"I think right now they only have eyes for each other. I think they are in loooove." Kristen puckers her lips and pretends like she is kissing the wind.

"Ah, so that's the look on their faces."

During all this time Marie has been listening to her sisters, but she has been looking at all of the young men that make up Gray Wolf's crew. "I agree that Gray Wolf is a very good looking man, but have you taken a look at his crew? They are all good looking."

Marie's comment turns Jacie's attention to all of the young men that are now on their island. "MMM, I haven't had time to look at them, but now that I do..."

"So let's get to know them," Kristen suggests.

Grace and Ian, Jasmine and Lucas, along with the other mothers and fathers talk together as they watch their daughters mingle with Gray Wolf's crew.

"It looks like our daughters are smitten with Gray Wolf's mates."

"They all seem to be good hard working men."

"They saved us from the island we were stranded on."

"We wouldn't be here today on Martinique, if it wasn't for them. And then to find out that the young girls that he had with him were our daughters... what a God send."

Grace looks at her husband. "What happened to you and your crew, Ian?"

"Do you remember the morning we left to sign up as Privateers?"

"Of course, you had just returned from getting the island supplies and Lucas had picked up a poster advertising the opportunity to be paid for the same type of work that you had been doing as a Pirate."

"Yes, I wanted to be on the right side of the law so that we didn't have to worry about any soldiers coming to this island. They would have taken you and all the daughters, burning our village down."

Looking at her husband with sad memories coming to mind, Grace points out, "Instead, Black Beard took them."

"That's the problem with being on the wrong side of the law, not only do the soldiers come after us, all of the other pirates try to take everything that we have won along with everything that is near and dear to our hearts."

Listening to Ian, Lucas adds, "We've had some great adventures and we have always felt invincible until we found ourselves shipwrecked and stranded on that island."

"We built a beautiful village while we were there."

"Yes, we built our homes in the trees. After that storm we felt that it would be safer being above the ground in case the area we were in had those types of storms all the time."

"Sweet heart... what happened to the ''Mysterious''?"

"Grace, it was so heart breaking... let me tell you what happened."

"We had just filled out the Privateer papers and boarded our ship. We could tell that a storm was coming in, but we had weathered storms before while at sea, so there was no terror in our hearts, just the feeling of excitement and adventure with the possibility of making money on the right side of the law, to provide for our families," his hand extended out and around to include his whole crew as they sat in a circle listening to their captain tell of their adventure. "The wind became quite strong. It reminded me of the storm that hit our island, the night before we left Martinique. The skies were full of lightning extending from one side of the sky to the other. I had forgotten, but Lucas reminded me that everyone was busy putting out the fires in our sails after the lightning had hit them."

Ian's crew nodded their heads in agreement, remembering their part in putting out the fires.

"The walls of the sea felt like they were going to swallow us up, they were so high... the ''Mysterious'' was a large strong ship, but in the middle of the sea, in this storm, we felt like a single coconut bobbing back up to fill our lungs with air after a wall of sea water had breached the side railings of our ship and had covered our deck."

"The ''Mysterious'' kept cutting through the waves, and I thought that this would be like any other storm that we had sailed through in our many adventures, but the next thing that I felt was sand on my face and water flowing up to my neck and then retreating down to my ankles, back and forth over and over again," he looks over at his quarter master, "until Lucas tapped me on my shoulder and asked how I was."

"I was concerned, Ian. You had banged your head pretty hard."

Looking at Lucas and feeling his head, "My head?...Yes... I remember now flying through the air and hitting something quite hard, but that's all that I remember."

Ian's other crew members begin to speak up.

"I remember your command 'prepare to douse sails!' when the winds became so strong that it was almost blowing the ship over on its side."

"Yes, when I heard that command, I began to fear if we would never be able to return home."

"The storm was a bad one, but every one of us knew that if we ever heard 'man overboard' that we could depend on our captain to rescue us," he looks at Ian, "just like you did for Jody."

"Thank you Terrance. We were just happy that Lucas found both you and Jib."

"Ian, do you know where I finally found them?" Lucas questioned.

"Thinking about it, I've never heard that story, I was just happy that they were still alive."

"Well, you have got to hear this. Jib, had tied himself in the crow's nest and was unconscious. I found him with one leg still in the basket and the rest of his body hanging over the rim of the basket. We had a hard time untying the rope he had tied himself with. And Terrance was still in the kitchen inside a cupboard lying on a bag of white flour. I just let him sleep it off, once I realized that he was still alive."

"...Inside a cupboard?" Ian began laughing.

"Stop laughing captain it's not such a bad idea. I've talked with others that have said that the food in the cupboards didn't even move around, so I thought that if I got in there that I would be alright."

"You were just lucky, Terrance. Most of the kitchen is smashed up."

"Yes, sir." He looked at Ian and around the circle of his mates with a smile showing his gorgeous white teeth, "it worked didn't it?"

Lucas begins laughing, "Yes, but if this ever happens again, don't walk up behind me so quietly. When I turned around and saw you with all that white flour all over you, I didn't know who you were; I thought that I was looking at a ghost. You scared all the pineapple out of me!"

"I thought that it would be a great joke, Lucas. You're always playing jokes on all of us."

Everyone nods their heads in agreement as they remember the jokes that were played on them.

"Is that what all that screaming was about, Lucas? I thought you had stepped on Sea Gull poop."

"If I screamed at Sea Gull poop, I would be screaming all the time since it's all over our deck."

"That's why there was no mistake when I heard you scream. I just said to myself, 'Lucas must have stepped in another pile of Sea Gull poop.'"

Loud laughter and slapping their hands on their knees can be heard throughout the village. Lucas laughs at the joke that is being played on him, knowing that his crewmates are finally getting back at him.

Jaci and the rest of the island girls along with Gray Wolf's crew stop talking long enough to look in the direction of the loud laughter, with smiles on their faces.

On the beach Diana and Gray Wolf enjoy the hues of the setting sun as they also listened to the loud laughter.

"That is one thing that I have missed most of all; the laughter of my father and his crew...." While looking toward the direction of the laughter, she notices a familiar palm tree. "I used to sit on the trunk of that windblown palm tree over there, watching the sun set, as often as I could as a little girl."

"It's a perfect spot, Diana... When I was a little boy I saw beautiful sunsets, but they were never like this..." Looking into Diana's eyes, "you are the most beautiful thing that I am looking at now, Diana."

"When I first saw you Gray Wolf, I thought that you were a pretentious, self indulgent, arrogant young man; I was looking for a man that was hard working, mature, loving and someone that gave of himself rather than taking from everyone. From the experiences that we have been through in the last few days, I can tell you that you are not what I thought you were...you are what I am looking for."

"From the moment I first saw you...well not the first moment, because I thought that you were a man in that black leather pirate outfit, but when I realized as we were wrestling, that you had no strength and you lost the scarf and hat that covered your hair, I knew that you were the woman for me. I knew that fate would bring us together again; I didn't know how or when, but I knew that we would be together."

"I love you, Gray Wolf."

"From that moment on your ship, my heart has been yours, Diana."

The brightness of the full moon added to the softness and connection that Diana and Gray Wolf felt for each other.

"Diana... you are the woman that I have always looked for. Would you be my wife?'

"I want that more than you know, but what about Blue Cloud and Snow Flower?"

"What do you mean?"

"They came here to get you and bring you back to where you came from."

"What do you mean, take me back? No one has said anything about that to me. All I want is to be with you."

"I just had a cold chill go through my body, Gray Wolf."

"Let's go back to the village and stand by the fire, maybe it's getting too cold for you."

"That would probably be best, perhaps everyone is wondering where we are."

Returning to the village they enjoy laughing over and over again along with expressions of concern telling of their individual experiences and listening to all of the other adventures that everyone has experienced.

At the evening's end everyone has migrated to one circle. Ian suggests that they stand and hold hands as he thanks the Lord for the protection He has extended to everyone.

"Father, as we stand in honor to Thee, we would all like to thank you for the protection that you have surrounded each one of us with. First of all thank you for watching over our wives. Thank you for returning all of our island daughters from Black Beards hands. Thank you for protecting Diana and her crew while they looked for their sisters. Thank you for bringing Gray Wolf and his crew to this island, they will make a great addition to our island family. Thank you for allowing me and my crew to return to our wives and families. We know that it is because of fate that you have sent Gray Wolf to our world; it is because of him and his crew that we are together as families on our beautiful island of Martinique. Please be with us always for we know that our fate is in your hands, in the name of our Lord, Amen."

"Before we go to sleep, let's have a dance," Ian announces.

"Ian, aren't you tired?" Grace asks.

He smiles, "never, with you around, my love."

The evening continues as everyone goes from partner to partner dancing with everyone in their island family. The celebration continues into the late evening just as it had begun, with laughing, talking about their adventures and playing jokes.

Ian and Grace walk to a log and sit down for a while. Diana and Gray Wolf walk over and sit down beside them.

"Diana, there is one thing that I haven't asked you about."

"Yes, Father?"

"The colors that you ran to the top of your flag pole, I noticed that it had the skull and cross bones on it just like mine, but why did you put a crown on it?"

"Did you notice the pirate suits that we wore?"

"Yes."

"The first morning that we were going to leave to find our little sisters, all of our mothers presented each one of us with our leather pirate suits. Mother said then that all of them had noticed that when we took them on our maiden cruise we didn't have any colors hoisted on our flag pole, so they quickly made one for us. The one on our flag pole is the one that they made."

"What is the meaning behind the flag, Grace?"

"If you will remember, this is just after Black Beard had taken the island daughters. He had taken them by force, while he and his crew had their guns pointed at us. He thought only of what would benefit him without regard for anyone else. In my eyes he was a Tyrant. The flag represents 'Death to Tyrants.' The crown represents someone who has unchecked power over other people. The skull and cross bones represent death. We, all of the mothers, were sending Black Beard a clear and decisive message."

By this time everyone had gathered around Ian and Grace.

Looking at his crew, Ian proudly states, "All the while that we were gone, the strongest of our families were left at home. What would we do without our wonderful wives; and our daughters, look at what they have become. We are proud of all of you."

"Here, here," the men shout as their right hand, in a fist, shoots for the sky.

Gray Wolf and his crew join in agreeing with what has been said, "Here, here!"

Lucas adds, "May we all become as strong as our women are!"

Shelly, one of the queens of the kitchen and Jasmine's mother, walks forward with a huge pineapple upside down cake, "Dessert is ready."

Smiling at Shelly, Grace states, "What a fitting ending to our evening."

Soon the fires are out, the candles are dark and everyone has gone to sleep.

***

"Cuvar Offion Moradius? The 'guardian', you found him?"

"Not exactly Commander. My midshipman saw him."

"If he saw him, why isn't he by your side, why don't you have him?"

"We were in our ship and he was looking in our direction."

"He was in the water?"

"No, Sir."

"Let me see...you found the 'guardian'; he was watching you, but he wasn't in your ship or in the water."

"Yes, Sir... Let me explain."

"Go ahead... I can't wait to hear this explanation."

"We were in our ship returning from an assignment. All of the landing spots were busy, so we went to the secret entrance... As one of my midshipmen looked out of his window he saw a man that was looking in our direction... he wasn't in a ship and he wasn't in the water, but he was standing and looking in our direction. I asked my crew member to take a picture of him and put it in the face recognition registry. When the results came back it said that the face belonged to Cuvar Offion Moradius, 'the guardian'."

"How can that be? We have looked for him for years after he escaped from the laboratory on Gliese. We put our best people on it because he had gained so much knowledge concerning what we had planned for the future of his people."

"We know where we saw him... we just need to find out how to get to him."

"Then make it happen. We can't have him telling this world what we did on Gliese; they might think that we have the same plans for them!"

"That would cause us a lot of problems since our trap isn't completely ready to spring yet."

"You are correct, captain; get your men on this."

"Yes, Sir..."

Arriving back at his building, the very moment he walks into his office he yells, "Get me that midshipman who took the picture of the 'guardian'."

"He is right here sir."

"Really...what a coincidence...send him into my office."

Curious as to why he is needed, the midshipman walks into his captain's office."

"What is your first name midshipman?"

"My name is Mandar."

"Mandar, do you remember the other day when we were approaching the secret landing area and you saw a man standing looking in our direction and I asked you to take a picture of him?"

"Yes, sir..."

"We need to find that man. Do you think that you could find that place again?"

"Yes, sir... If we could approach the landing area in the same way we did that day, I could show you where I saw him."

"That would be good. Are you ready?"

"...Now?"

"What better time could there be?"

In the midshipman's mind he thought, "This man must really be important. I've never seen them in such a hurry to capture anyone before. I'll keep my eyes open."

As they approach the landing area, the midshipman points up to the area when he saw a light and a man standing.

"Cancel the landing and direct our ship to that area."

As they fly to the point in question the captain queries, "What is this?" noticing that part of the cliff is made of different material.

"I don't know, Sir."

"I am going to put you in charge of this assignment. You are to find out what this is, how we get in, and I want a plan to capture 'the guardian'."

"Yes, sir... I'll need a hovering machine so that I can constantly watch this area to see when he shows up. Once I see him again, I'll be able to create a plan."

"As soon as we get back, I will tell my staff to give you everything you need."

"Thank you sir, I won't let you down."

"I'm counting on you to make me look good to my superiors."

"Yes, sir... you can count on me."

After the hovering machine is assigned to him, Mandar moves it into place to constantly watch the area of Daniel's ocean portal.

***

Morning has come to Martinique. The sun is bright, the birds are singing and everyone has a smile on their face.

Gray wolf and his crew wake to the smell and sounds of breakfast cooking.

"This is heaven!"

"Let's go to the village kitchen and see if there is anything we can do to help."

With their stomachs growling they enter the cooking area. Paulina notices the look in their eyes, "Are you hungry boys?"

"Yes, Madam..."

"You know, one reason that I like to cook is that in order for the food to taste good, the cook has to sample it during the process of cooking." Smiling she asks, "would you like to become our tasters?"

Surprised at her request, all of the young men answer with huge smiles, "...yes madame."

"Ladies we have official tasters," she announces and the other mothers that are cooking beckon for a few boys to come and taste what they are cooking.

Finally the island daughters, after their quick morning swim and the fathers after finding wood for their ships, arrive to help with the morning breakfast. Though the job of tasters, the most sought after job, is taken, with such a large group there are still other things that need to be done and everyone does their part.

Week after week Blue Cloud and Snow Flower help Ian and his crew bring logs from the forest to the cove where the 'Mysterious' would usually be docked. Gray Wolf and his crew stack the wood so that it will dry. After enough wood is gathered for the first schooner, Ian and his crew teach Gray Wolf and his crew how to build a ship. The purpose of this is that while they learn how to craft a schooner on Ian's ship, they will take on more responsibility with their own.

As the men carry the heavy timber, the women bring water and food so they can continue to build all day long.

"Blue Cloud, you see how Diana and Gray Wolf interact with each other, how will we be able to take him back to Daniel's Beach House and leave her here?"

"I have been wondering the same thing Snow Flower. You can see how they work together; their love is growing stronger and stronger each day."

Blue Cloud's upper right arm begins to tighten with a buzzing sound. Looking at his arm, he can see Daniel's face on the monitor. "Daniel, Snow Flower and I were just wondering if we should call you."

"How is Gray Wolf doing? Treysen tells me that he is safe and is now on the island of Martinique."

"Yes. He and his crew are helping Ian and his crew, build a ship.... When it is finished they will build a ship for Gray Wolf's crew."

"Have you told him that he will need to come back here?"

"No, we haven't said anything about it yet. He has fallen in love with Diana. Isn't there some way that they can be together?"

"It is always hard to leave a dimension when you have gotten to know the people. Though he was sent to help Diana in fulfilling her destiny, he must return. As hard as it is for all of you, you must return. I'm sorry, it is only meant for you to be there temporarily."

"This is going to be so hard on him, Daniel."

"I know. His brother, Running Deer, fell in love with Jehanne and had to return also. You have got to talk to him as soon as possible. They must both live in the dimensions they were born in."

"Thank you Daniel. We'll see you soon."

"I'll talk to you when you get here." Daniel's face disappears from the conversational device.

"How are we going to do this, Blue Cloud?"

"All I can say, Snow Flower, is that Daniel knows what is best. We have to do what he has asked us to do." Looking down to the ground Blue Cloud states, "We are going to have to talk to him tonight."

Snow Flower's heart sinks as she hears her husband's last comment. For the rest of the day they sit on a log positioned just out of sight, but where they can watch their son work on the first ship.

Ian and Grace notice that Snow Flower and Blue Cloud are watching their son with intense feelings of sadness. Walking over to them Grace asks, "We noticed that you are extremely sad. Have we done something?"

"No, we just got through talking with Daniel and he has instructed us to bring Gray Wolf back to the Beach House."

"So all of you have to leave?"

"Yes. This is what is making us so sad."

"Have you talked to him yet?"

"No. We'll talk to him tonight."

"Even though we knew that you came from the Beach House, we were hoping that you could stay. Watching Diana and Gray Wolf work together on this ship reminded us of when Ian and I first met and were mending Ian's ship; Black Beard had put a hole through it with one of his cannons and he and his crew had sailed to Martinique to patch it, so we know what they are going through. This will be a sad time for all of us, but especially for Diana and Gray Wolf. Our daughter will never be able to find anyone that will be her match as much as your son is."

"We feel the same; they love each other so much... this is going to be extremely hard for both of them."

The sun finally sets and the beautiful moon lights the island. The embers of the village fire have become very low as Ian and Grace have been talking with Snow Flower and Blue Cloud. Gray Wolf and Diana have gone back to the beach to look at the stars.

At long last Blue Cloud walks out to the beach and calls to his son, "Gray Wolf, Gray Wolf, could I talk to you?"

"Yes, Father, what do you want?"

"Your mother and I would like to talk to you."

"I'm ready. What would you like to talk about?"

"We talked to Daniel earlier today, would you mind if we talked to you alone?"

"Diana, would you mind sitting with your parents by the village fire?"

"That would be fine, Gray Wolf."

While Diana sits with her parents on a log by the small fire, Gray Wolf walks with his parents, a short distance away.

Blue Cloud asks him, "Do you remember the day you came to Martinique from the time portal?

"Yes. I remember the bright light from the lightning and the loud thunder. I also remember falling from the sky and just barely missing Black Beard's fire on the beach."

"Do you remember anything else?"

"I remember riding a fish and being pushed into a portal"

"You know that we have come here to find you."

"Yes."

"Daniel, spoke with us earlier today, he has instructed us to bring you back to the Beach House."

"What does that mean?"

Sadly, Blue Cloud continues as he looks to the ground, "It means that you need to return with us."

"What about Diana?"

Looking into his sons eyes he sadly states, "She will have to stay here with her family."

Gray Wolf is silent as he looks to the ground; his body is filled with a great deal of pain. He continues to be silent, knowing that if he were to speak he would express that pain with a great deal of anger.

Snow Flower reaches out to him, "Son, we know that you have strong feelings for Diana."

"Mother, I love her just as Father loves you. How can you ask me to leave her?"

"Gray Wolf, this is not our choice. Daniel has reminded us that we all need to live in the dimension that we are born in."

"I can't leave her, Mother... I've got to talk to Diana and then I'll talk with you again."

"We'll be here, Son."

Blue Cloud and Snow Flower sit down in the sand.

"It hurts twice as much when you see your own child hurting, doesn't it Blue Cloud?"

"Yes, sweetheart, it's extremely painful."

Gray Wolf goes back to the fire. "You were right, Diana... Daniel has asked them to take me back to the Beach House."

"When do you have to leave, Gray Wolf?"

"They didn't say, but I don't want to leave you, Diana."

"I don't want you to leave either, but if Daniel has asked them to bring you back, he knows what is best. He has helped me, my mother and Jody, and through us, we have been able to help others. You see, life is never about one person...that is why you were sent here Gray Wolf. Think about all the people that you have been able to help. We are all God's helpers. Life is all about what we can do for others to help them to return to the place that we all came from."

"But, how can I leave you, Diana? I don't even know Daniel. How do I know what kind of man that he is...."

"You will always have my heart, Gray Wolf."

"You want me to leave?"

Diana begins to cry. "No... I don't want you... to leave..." she takes a breath, "but Daniel knows what is best for all of us." Looking at his face she adds, "The fact that he knows where you are and has sent your parents to get you... tells me that he knows you, even though you don't know him. You must go with your parents, Gray Wolf."

Looking into each other's eyes, both Diana and Gray Wolf begin to cry as they hold each other tightly.

"We must trust in Daniel, Gray Wolf."

"Diana, I'm so torn... I can't bear to leave you, but if I must leave, I need to leave now or I'll never be able to do it..." Putting both of his hands on his head Gray Wolf explains what he is feeling. "My mind is frozen Diana, I can't make this decision. If we could just stay in this moment, everything would be fine..."

Reaching over to comfort him, she speaks softly, "My love, if we stayed in this moment, then how would we be able to have a family and watch them grow? Time, with its continual march forward, is the instrument that helps each human to continue to move toward their destiny. If we didn't have time, there are many wonderful moments in life where we would never want to move again, times when we would want life to stand still. But that isn't the plan. We are not meant to stand in one spot and never move again. We are meant to move forward with time and to experience life and all that it has to offer; because of this we must both be strong."

"I hear your words, and I know that you speak the truth, Diana. Since my mission is complete in this dimension, I must return with my parents. Will you tell everyone that I wish them well.... Tell my crew that it was my pleasure to be their captain..." Tears come to his eyes as he touches Diana's face, "and you, my love, I will never forget... forgive me... if I don't go now I'll never be able to leave you..." Turning around he walks to where his parents are waiting.

"Where is the portal? We have got to go now!"

"It's right behind the statue of Diana's grandmother."

Quickly and quietly, Gray Wolf walks with a long stride full of focused determination.

***

"Daniel, Gray Wolf and his parents will be at the portal in one minute."

"Open it for them Treysen and tell Running Deer, Jehanne, Jon and Julia that they will arrive any minute."

"Yes, sir..."

***

Walking through the portal, they are finally in the Hall of Corridors as Daniel stands waiting to greet them.

"It's nice to have you back."

With grief and pain etched on his face, Gray Wolf asks, "Are you Daniel?"

"Yes, I am."

"Why is it that I had to leave the only woman that I have ever loved?"

"We must all live in the dimension that we were born in, Gray Wolf."

"Yes! But if you remember, I died in the dimension that I was born in at the hands of my own uncle."

A light goes off in Daniel's head. "Could this be an exception?" he thinks as he watches Gray Wolf storm down the hall toward the double doors leading to his clinic.

As Running Deer enters the hall way his face is extremely happy as he watches the return of his brother. Walking toward him his body begins to feel a sense of caution as he notices a huge black eye looking into the hall from the ocean portal.

Gray Wolf is in so much pain that he isn't thinking about anything except walking forward; one more step and he will be in front of the ocean portal. Running Deer begins to run trying to warn everyone of the danger that is lurking behind the refracted waves. Jon, Julia and Jehanne have just entered the hall. Gray Wolf's parents have been apologizing to Daniel for Gray Wolf's actions. Blue Cloud notices that Running Deer is running toward his brother with fear on his face. Knowing that he is the closest one to Gray Wolf, he sprints toward his youngest son.

Through the refracted waves the tail of the fish enters the hall just in time to wrap around Gray Wolf's right foot. Blue Cloud leaps forward and wraps his arms around his son, trying to hold him from being pulled into the ocean. The fish is too strong, pulling both father and son through the portal and into the deep, bone crushing ocean water.

Struggling with the cold water and the movement of the fish's tail forcefully holding onto Gray Wolf, Blue Cloud is finally able to loosen the grip it has on Gray Wolf's foot. The fish has pulled them into the water at least 100 yards (9 meters) and they struggle to swim back to the portal as the intense cold excruciating pressure of the water makes it impossible. The fish feels satisfied and swims away into the cold dark ocean water.

In shock, Running Deer questions, "Daniel, what can we do?"

Before Daniel can answer, Jon asks, "How deep is it?"

"It is at least 150 feet (50 meters) deep. If they go any deeper they could feel 400 times the pressure that we experience here on the surface of the Earth."

"How can they survive that much pressure?"

"They can't."

***

"Commander, you will never believe what has just happened..."

"Quickly, tell me. I'm in the middle of a meeting."

"I have been watching the area where I saw the 'guardian'... a fish just put its tail through some type of wall and the next thing I knew it had grabbed a man's foot and was pulling him into the water. Another man was holding on to the first one. Once the fish's tail is made to let go of the man's leg, it swam into the dark abyss leaving the two men in the water."

While the midshipman is talking to his commander, a strong movement of water causes the hover ship to quickly circle several times as it is swept away by the movement of something large and dark swimming above it.

"What in the heck is that!!!" the midshipman wonders, full of fear as he tries to keep control of his ship.

***

Everyone in the Hall of Corridors runs to the refracted waves of the portal, hoping in some way to help Blue Cloud and Gray Wolf. Fear strikes their hearts as they watch a huge whale open its mouth wide enough to scoop up Blue Cloud and Gray Wolf and swim away.

Fear over takes everyone, except Daniel.

"DANIEL, A HUGE FISH JUST GOBBLED UP BLUE CLOUD AND GRAY WOLF!"

Calmly Daniel responds, "I know... Please go to the Security office and ask Treysen to put the monitor, that he is watching the fish, onto the huge screen. This will let you know what has happened.... It will be easier for you to see, rather than for me to explain it to you."

***

"Are you still there Mandar?"

"Yes, sir.... Now that was a scary experience."

"What happened?"

"I don't know. My ship just started circling and circling around and around, quickly moving away from my position... I've got it under control now... But because of this experience, I have it all figured out."

"You have a plan?"

"Yes, sir... I have a plan to get the 'guardian' !"

