The ship rolled from side to side as the waves crashed against its exterior. Catherine had tied herself to her bunk to keep from falling onto the floor. She had vomited for three days while crossing the ocean, and at this point she was so weak she could barely stand. She now thought it was a foolish notion that had driven her to leave the comforts of England and journey to a land across the ocean. When her parents begged her to stay in England and to let George go and take the silver punch bowl to the wealthy plantation owner, she had insisted she would be all right. George was the son of her father's brother. The order for the silver bowl had come months ago, and the bowl had been lovingly made. Because of its size and the quality of the silver, the bowl was priceless. Catherine's father, Horatio, and his brother, Onsworth, were world-renowned silversmiths and had an international following for their products.

Catherine was a young woman who lived for adventure, and there had been a serious lack of adventure in England. Why not go and see the place so many people were talking about? Catherine was also a headstrong woman who stayed the course once she had made up her mind. No amount of talking by her father and weeping by her mother could make her decide to remain in England.

She had finally gotten past the point where she was continuously vomiting. For that she was grateful, but she lay there wishing she had a sip of water. She was so weak she was afraid she could not even think of getting up and asking a steward to help her. She could only hope the steward would come around and check on her. She heard a tap on the door, and a voice she assumed belonged to the steward said, "Miss Catherine, may I get you anything?"

She wondered how he could even walk with the ship rolling back and forth as it was. She asked, "Could you please bring me a pot of tea and some biscuits?"

He responded, "I will see what I can do." She thanked him kindly.

The steward did not return for some time, and Catherine, in her bunk, had managed to doze off. She was awakened by a loud knocking on the door and someone yelling, "There's trouble on deck; stay in your compartments, and lock your doors." Catherine realized the ship was not rolling as it had been previously, and the winds had died down. She wondered what could be wrong but wearily crawled out of her bunk, dragged herself to her door, and locked it. She realized that the steward had not returned with her tea. She wondered how long it had been since he had been there to take her order. She peered out of the porthole and saw another ship tied alongside the one she was on. What could this possibly mean?

Even though she was in the lower part of the ship, she could hear noises on what she thought was the deck. She even thought she heard gunshots. The thought that the other ship might be a pirate ship was slowly coming to mind. She thought of the silver punch bowl. She had promised her father she would guard it with her life. Perhaps that would be closer to the truth than she even dared to think. She looked around her compartment. Where might she hide the bowl? Why did it have to be so large? At that moment, the only thing she could think of was to remove the crinkling wrapping from the bowl, turn it upside down, and sit on it, hoping her long gown would cover it. If someone broke into her cabin, would she be able to convince the person that she was simply sitting on a cushioned stool?

Catherine removed the bowl from its wrapping as quickly as she could. Why did it have to be so heavy? She was in such a weakened condition that working with the bowl brought out beads of perspiration on her forehead. She folded the wrapping and placed it in the closet behind her suitcases. She grabbed a cushion from the porthole ledge, set it on the bowl, which she had turned over, and then positioned herself on the bowl. As she sat there, she checked to make sure her gown had covered every inch of the bowl. Thankfully, her gown was extra full, and it seemed to conceal the bowl entirely.

Catherine was visibly shaking. The weakness and dehydration were taking a toll. She could only hope she would not faint. At that moment she heard a knock on the door. At first she did not respond. She heard a second knock, and this time it was much louder. A voice said, "We know you are in there, so you might as well open the door. She yelled back, "I can't get up. I am too ill." The door was kicked open. Catherine could only hope they would see how ill she was. One of the men said, "We want your valuables, lady." The other man said, "What is wrong with you?" She said, "There has been a storm, and I have been ill for the last three days. I am so weak from vomiting I cannot stand up without fainting." Again they demanded to know where her valuables were stashed. At that moment Catherine began gagging and was trying hard not to vomit. The first man was kind enough to empty some apples out of a bowl and give the bowl to her. She vomited once again, and it was all she could do to keep from fainting.

The other man was going through all her drawers and suitcases. He found her sack of money and took it. She began to cry, and the man who had handed her the bowl asked, "Why are you crying?" She wailed, "I don't know anyone in the Americas, and now I will have no money. What will I do to live?" The first man ordered the second one, "Give her back the money." The second man was going to argue, but he could see the steely stare the other man was giving him, so he dropped the money back into the suitcase. Catherine thanked him profusely. The one man said, "Let's go on to the next compartment." Before the men left, he walked over to Catherine; and asked, "Would you like me to help you get to your bed?" Catherine said, "No, the vomiting becomes worse when I lie down." When the two men finally left the room Catherine was still seated on the silver punch bowl.

She could hear the two men going up and down the row of compartments and breaking into the rooms. The passengers were screaming at them to leave. She knew she must not faint, and she must stay seated because they might stop by and look in on her again. She had to hold it together a little while longer. Perhaps her parents had been right in suggesting that her cousin, George, come on this trip. No one had told her there was the possibility of pirates on this sea voyage. A smile played across her lips as she thought of the picture she must have made for the two pirates.

Sure enough, one of the pirates opened the door before the two of them went back to deck. He smiled at her and told her he hoped she would soon be feeling better. He doffed his hat, took a deep bow, and said, "When you reach the Americas, should you travel to a place called New Orleans, you may find me at the Silver Lantern. My name is Bowregard Le Faye. I will certainly do what I can to help make your stay more pleasant. Good day, Madame."

Catherine smiled weakly at the man and thanked him for not taking all her money. He smiled and bowed once again saying, "It was my pleasure, lovely lady." The pirates left the ship, jubilant about their acquisitions. They had shot two people who dared to defy their orders, but otherwise the passengers were unharmed, though they muttered and complained a great deal after the pirate ship pulled away.

Captain Roark called all the able-bodied people together on top deck and told them they were fortunate not to have been killed. He told them this type of thing had been happening, but, in view of...