Angie watched Pearl sort through the random stuff form the bag, and when handed the gold obediently started counting it, putting it into piles of 10.

Once the gold was counted, totaling a lovely 163 pieces, Pearl ordered Angie to the deck.

"Pearl, is that there paper a good thing? What is all this that Mort went crazy on me, and are ya gonna lose it too over whatever that is?" Realizing what she had just said Angie jumped up and scurried towards the door, closing it quickly before Pearl hit her, if she was planning on doing it.

Taking a deep breath Angie headed on deck to let Franz know Pearl would be up soon, and then she would find Maddie and let her know as well.

On deck Franz was gloomy at the wheel, bracing herself for whatever may come from him Angie headed over. "Franz, Pearl's gonna be up here soon an she wanted me ta tell ya. Found sumpin in my sack of goodies thats mighty interesting to her," Angie shrugged, trying to shake off her feelings of fear and foreboding.

Angie came up on deck first, and informed Franz that Pearl would be up shortly. He nodded at Angie, and said, "Danke...thank you, Angie."

He smiled at her in an attempt to regain his previously cheery disposition, as he really didn't want to pass his glum mood on to anyone on board the ship.

Angie informed him that Pearl had found something of interest in the sack of treasure they had retrieved from the island, and he wondered what it could be. Angie seemed a bit uncomfortable about it, whatever it was.

He thought about woman's intuition, and hoped that Angie's was wrong, as he didn't want any horrors to befall the small crew. Maddie had already been through enough as it was.

He smiled reassuringly at Angie, and told her, "Ich weiß...I'm sure Pearl would not do anything to intentionally endanger any of us."

He hoped he was right about that, but if she ever intentionally put the crew in harms way, it would be the last Pearl ever saw of him or Maddie either one.

163 pieces ain't much but it's more than we have now

Pearl was ecstatic that Angie Ray had come back with a little gold but more importantly the scrap of paper that her father had scribbled on years ago. Anyone who saw this paper wouldn't have thought much about it since it just appeared to have random words written on it with no real significance to anything. In addition the picture that was drawn on it was unlike anything most people had ever seen. Pearl had only seen something like it one time when she was a little girl and her father had told her it was a figment of her imagination, a child's fantasy.

Neatly folding the paper and stuffing it her pocket, Pearl rose and wandered out of the room and in to the young man's quarters nearby. He appeared to be resting, sort of, although he kind of gave Pearl the willies with him laying there eyes open. She would need him once he was rested since he was only the second man aboard and she needed all the brute strength she could get. She decided to let him be since he was still breathing and went back on deck, where Franz and Angie Ray were standing. She looked around and saw the direction of the boat had changed. "Where we be heading? Where's Maddie? We needs ta have a little meetin."

Franz looked over at Pearl as she approached, then she asked where they were headed and where Maddie was at.

Franz replied, saying, "Maddie informiert...informed me we were going to be needing supplies, especially water, so we're headed towards Ciudad de Sangre. Seemed the most likely place to head from our current location."

He nodded his head towards the galley then and informed Pearl, "Maddie vergehen...went to the galley to fix us all a meal."

Angie nodded at Pearl and when Franz mentioned Maddie she perked up, "I'll go get Maddie. Where ya want us to be meetin ya?"

Angie headed slowly towards the galley here Maddie was, looking back at Pearl so she would know where to meet her when she came back with Maddie.

While Angie went off to get Maddie, Franz turned the wheel of the ship over to Pearl and went over to the pile of things by the lifeboat.

Digging through it a bit, he finally pulled out the box he was seeking, and carried it over to Pearl. "Das ist...This is all we could save of yours from the tavern before it burned down."

He set the box down next to the wheel. "Maddie er hat...had said it's where you keep all your important stuff, so I figured if I had to save something, it should be this."

Pearl took the wheel and half assed steered while she watched Franz digging through the pile. She was surprised to see her lockbox in Franz's hands as he approached and handed it to her. She swept the hair from her face and reached for it. She stared it for a long time without saying anything. Her bar had burned and this was all that's left.

With a heavy sigh she tucked the box under her arm and went back to leaning on the wheel. She looked off in the distance and could see the coast. They should make port in about a day and a half at their current speed. "Thank ye Franz...for everything," she quietly said as she looked off at the water. "Hopefully Maddie will hurry the hell up so we kin get on with it."

Angie headed into the galley and stopped for a few second inside the door to allow time for her eyes to adjust.

Not wanting to surprise Maddie Angie shuffled a bit has she headed in, "Hey, Maddie - Pearl's looking ta get us all up and meetin with her. Ya up fer it?"

Franz nodded silently at Pearl, when she thanked him, then said gently, "Sie sind...you're welcome."

When she mentioned Maddie hurrying, he became a bit agitated at Pearl, as he felt Maddie should be taking it easy and that they should allow her to take all the time she needed to do things.

He would have gone to check on Maddie himself, but Angie had already gone to do that, and he didn't want to upset Maddie by seeming too overly concerned for her, so instead, he busied himself with the pile of stuff by the lifeboat, moving things into their proper places, and carrying his bag down to his own stateroom.

As there was only the captain's quarters and two other staterooms on that level, and he figured Angie probably would feel more comfortable close to Pearl and Maddie, he chose a room below theirs, but near the stairs.

Grabbing his sharpening stone and a rag from his bag, he made his way back up to the deck, and crouching down near the mast, he set to work cleaning his pistol and sharpening his dagger.

Franz would have to see about getting a new sword in Ciudad de Sangre as he'd lost his in the ocean when he'd escaped the other pirates. This saddened him as he had really liked that sword, a prize he'd gained from his previous pirating days.

Maddie had been searching around the galley to find something suitable for cooking when she heard the door open and Angie Ray enter. She stood up and brushed her hair away from her face and smiled. "Hey Angie Ray! Good to have you back. We're going to need to bring up supplies or port, one or the other. There isn't a damn thing in here worth eating."

She smiled wide and genuine at the other woman. "Of course I'm up to meeting with Pearl. Anything to get out of this infernal kitchen. I hope I don't get stuck in here for the long haul. I'd rather be out there in the sunshine. Lead the way Angie. I'm sure Pearl is tired of waiting by now."

Angie nodded at Maddie, "Aye, Pearl's gettin impatient at waitin fer us. We ran out in such a hurry ta find ya guess proper supplies slipped our minds," Angie giggled at the absurdity of setting sail without proper supplies.

"We'll have ta work out a cookin schedule sos we all take turns, can't let Franz keep ya pinned in the kitchen forever," Angie winked at Maddie and headed up the stairs, waiting at the top to make sure Maddie could make them OK. She didn't want to baby her, but she didn't need Maddie falling down and making her injuries worse either.

Maddie opened her mouth and then closed it again. She wanted to say to the woman you're the one who said we had supplies but chose not to since she had not really looked down below deck. Only thing she had done was sleep.

Her body had begun stiffening up a bit so Maddie bent backward and popped her back and stretched and then bound up the stairs behind Angie Ray. She knew Pearl hated waiting and would probably not have anything nice to say when she got up there but Maddie had learned long ago to take it with a grain of salt.

"Well, let's find out what the old bird wants," Maddie laughed as she passed Angie Ray.

Franz silently cleaned his gun and then cleaned and sharpened his dagger, hiding the pistol back inside his shirt and the dagger back inside his boot when he was through.

Angie shook her head and followed Maddie on deck to find Pearl and see what she had planned for them.

"Well, it's about time ye all got here. I've been waitin ferever! We be headed toward La Ciudad de la Sangre. Be on your guard. This is a very rough city, even for pirates."

Pearl fumbled around in her pocket and withdrew the two pieces of stone that were now interlocked. "This here is the first two pieces of a puzzle. I mean to find them all. If ye ain't with me, that's fine. You can stay behind once we dock. I's hopin you'll all come fer the ride though. You've been a good crew and loyal friends. What say ye?"

Angie look at Pearl to make sure she was serious about where they were headed, and when she was sure that she was serious Angie's hand wandered to the hilt of her cutlass.

The small stone that had been in Angie's treasure sack was now connected to another similar piece and Angie leaned in to get a closer look, squinting at the stones, "Whats this puzzle do when it's all together?"

Franz looked to Maddie to be sure this was what she wanted. He could see the glint of excitement in her eyes, and he looked back at Pearl, and nodded. He would go where Maddie would go, and being out on the sea again left him feeling exhilarated.

((Let's get them to the city, and something can happen to Franz to keep him from making it back to the ship, and they can leave him behind. Poor Maddie :( ))

((sorry guys but I am going to lock this for right now. I just don't have the time and Fizi is going to be gone for a while :( It will just be a hiatus and we can unlock it as necessary.))