We could hear some of what happened on deck, but we couldn't see anything. Over the ensuing minutes, we heard thuds, murmurs, splashes, and silence. We saw a pirate come below deck to go to my father's quarters, but he left empty handed. The hours passed by, and we didn't see or hear anyone else. I remembered the red-bearded pirate's ominous warning about saying the right thing. The thought that the Reverend had not survived crossed my mind, but I banished it from my thoughts.

"Why didn't you join the pirates?" Thorne asked. "You've been their best ally."

The words cut me to the quick, but I tried to imitate my father's courage and the Reverend's magnanimity.

"I want them dead just as much as you," I responded.

"All you have done is make noise, and not when we needed you to. You didn't even charge with your knife when the red beard stood within arm's reach."

"I lost my knife."

"You lost your --" He bit his tongue to stop from raising his voice. "You lost your knife, you lost us the ship, you lost your father. Can you hold onto anything?"

I began to cry. It slowly escalated into me weeping. Through the tears I saw Thorne give a wry smile. Then a hand flashed across his face. The Surgeon had slapped him. The Surgeon told Colin to switch places with Thorne, keeping him as far away from me as possible.

"You should have joined the pirates, Thorne. You're acting like one," the Surgeon said.

"I might have, had they a doctor," he shot back.

I abandoned all inhibitions and wept into the Surgeon's chest. No one seemed to care about the pirates hearing, since they all seemed dead to the world in their drunkenness. The silence, emotional trauma, and sheer exhaustion finally overwhelmed my senses, and I fell asleep.

The exodus of half our crew gave us more room in the cell, so I woke up with my face on the wet wood floor. My fellow inmates were eating something, so I shot up to see what it was. The Surgeon handed me some hardtack. The hard, stale bread was meager and had a little mold. I devoured it though. It certainly did not satisfy, but it delayed starvation.

Once I looked up from my meal, I saw Keith's face staring at us through the bars. I would have lunged at him, but Thorne's words still rang in my ears.

"Keith snuck us some hardtack and said he would try to bring us more when he could," Colin said.

"What happened to the Reverend?" I blurted out.

Keith looked conflicted. He looked around to see if anyone else was watching. It was still night, and he was satisfied that he wouldn't be detected.

"After the Reverend's words didn't go over so well with the pirates, I knew we were going to need another plan. I thought that I might better serve our chances of escaping or fighting off the pirates if I became one of them, so that's why I defected."

I gave him a critical look. "Why wouldn't he just fight?" I thought. The Surgeon sensed my disbelief and said, "He wouldn't risk his life if he had truly turned pirate."

"Anyway," Keith said, "when we went up on deck the Quartermaster, that is the red-bearded pirate, began inspecting our mouths and teeth for signs of scurvy. As if anticipating a question, the Quartermaster told the Captain that the Surgeon had decided not to join the crew. I heard the Captain click his tongue in disappointment. We then filed through and handed over our most valuable possessions: compasses, small knives, etc. Another pirate patted us down to ensure we had been 'honest'."

"What about the Reverend?" I asked.

"His face was emotionless," Keith whispered. "Then the Captain spoke. He had a cheery voice and stood behind me. He said, 'So, this is the new crew, Redbeard?' I heard the Captain slowly pace behind us, inspecting us. 'Do we have the Bible for the articles and oath?' the Captain asked. The Quartermaster asked the Reverend for his Bible, and said that he could then return to his cell. 'I can't do that,' the Reverend responded.

"The Captain said he admired the Reverend's honesty but would pull the Scriptures off his dead body if he needed to. The Reverend said that he didn't have any Bible to give. The Captain couldn't believe that the Reverend was telling the truth. The Reverend, who was as calm as a dove, said that he had left the Bible in the Captain's quarters. That was the Reverend's fatal error. The Captain sent a pirate to go look for the Bible, but returned with nothing. The Captain then said, 'You have lied Reverend. That's not very becoming of your profession. And as you know, our ship does not tolerate liars.' The Reverend stayed silent for a moment, before quoting what I think was a psalm. This was anathema to Captain Stith and he gave the order to his pirates to throw him overboard."

Keith paused and looked around to see if anyone was now listening. My heart screamed for the Reverend's fate, but my mouth stayed silent. I looked to the rest of our crew and they looked equally distraught and helpless. When Keith was sure that no one else could hear he finished his story.

"They took the Reverend away. Redbeard said, 'those were not the right things to say.' The Reverend struggled to break free, but we heard him yell in pain after they stabbed him in the side, which bled all the fight out of him. He then began saying his prayers over himself and his persecutors, blessing them. They stripped him naked, threw him overboard and we heard a splash and nothing else. After the pirates rifled through his clothes, they reported that the Reverend did not, in fact, have a Bible."