We heard a sneeze and turned to see Mr. Foot. He came out from behind his hiding place.

"I 'earrr ye all be in a predicament. I certainly understand 'ow ye feel. I, meself, 'ave been locked away in many an iron cell with little to 'ope fer, so I 'ave a proposition fer ye."

I was amazed and wondered whether to trust him or not. Colin looked scarred and scooted away from the bars. Thorne was stoic and told him to proceed. Negotiating with a pirate in our position seemed like walking on a knife's edge. I wondered what the Surgeon would do, so I watched the pirate's every move. I saw him move slowly and with a limp.

"Well, I know that there many o' yer former crew ain't totally satisfied with their new lot an' I believe they would be more than glad to sail under the union jack again. I also 'ave the key to the cell that there will set ye free."

"What do you want from us?" I asked, holding my voice steady against the fear in my stomach.

"I know yer ship carried letters o' marque. They was in yer captain's record book, ye cannot deny it. I ask fer that there an' to spare me life if ye recapture the ship."

I knew that he meant the letters that the Reverend had stuffed in the table and his words about their importance echoed in my mind. I couldn't let these fall into the pirate's dirty hands. Regardless, we now had a bargaining chip and a flicker of hope. We held steady on the knife's edge.

"We won't negotiate with pirates," I interjected. Colin and Thorne gave me a quizzical look. I thought I wouldn't make the negotiation so easy â?" we needed to show strength - but the pirate was so furious with my insolence he nearly busted through the cell walls.

"What do ye think I be, a diplomat?" the pirate jeered, "I be a gentleman o' fortune. I don't parley. I been thinkin' o' a game o' chance." He then pulled out a pair of dice.

Colin, Thorne, and I looked at each other, wondering what to do. I wished the Surgeon was there to provide his wisdom. Neither of them seemed to know about the letters of marque, so they looked lost. I tried to think quickly and fortunately an idea sprung to my mind and I told him we would make the wager. The two looked at me, stunned, most of all Thorne. Then I saw a flash of indecision across Thorne's face too. I know he wondered if he could trust me.

I took the Bible the Reverend gave me and placed my bluff close to the iron bars, opposite the dice. My cell mates gasped.

Mr. Foot sneered. "Be ye jestin' with me? I don't want a spiritual pardon; I want a legal one. Show it to me."

"The letters are in the Bible. You can see them if you win it. Since we also don't know if your key is the real one, we will just have to trust each other until the game is played," I said, hoping my bluff would hold.

He growled but pulled out the key, bloody from the sailor who carried it before the pirates attacked, and placed it on the floor boards. He then pulled out the dice. I suspected that they were false dice but that fact concerned me little. He sneezed again and rubbed the snot hanging from his nose onto his thin arm. The rail-thin pirate explained the simple rules to us. He said that he and one of us would each roll a die and if they added up to seven or above then he would win, six and below we would.

He gave me the die, but I handed it to Colin. They all gave me a quizzical look and I said that I felt that Colin had the lucky hand. Colin looked at me as if I had handed him a smoking grenade.
Mr. Foot said that he would roll the die after Colin counted to three. Then, he would count to three and would roll. A silence hung in the air as Colin's hand shook with nerves, and Mr. Foot watched him with an eerie pleasure. Colin tried to eek out a count, but his fear paralyzed him. Thorne took charge and counted in rapid succession.

The pirate rolled his die for all to see and it came up with a five. I saw Thorne and Colin's heart drop as they thought our fate was all but secured. With little fanfare, the pirate counted in a low, guttural voice. 1...2...3!

In Colin's fear, he threw his die. He beautifully played the part I hoped he would. The die rolled farther and farther away â?" the pitch and yaw of the ship rolling it away from us. Mr. Foot looked scared and chased it so as to be the first one to read it. Colin and Thorne's eyes followed it intensely.

The momentum turned it over and over until its purposefully distributed weight finally caused it to land on two â?" for a total of seven, a win for the pirate. I heard my fellow prisoners give a collective gasp as they saw our demise before their eyes. Mr. Foot turned his triumphant and mischievous gaze back to us.

Suddenly, his countenance changed to fear as he saw me stretching with every inch to reach through the bars for the key. Mr. Foot lunged for the key, but suddenly the ship rocked and threw him into the side with a mighty blow. The same force threw myself and the crew against the side of the ship, but also gave us the good fortune of having the key within our grasp. Thorne was quicker than me and reached back to grab it, then raced away from the bars. I instead grabbed the Bible again and hid it on my person. We crowded around Thorne, and prepared for Mr. Foot's retaliation.

When he regained his senses, he approached the cell with murder in his eyes. He searched his wardrobe, and then his anger turned to horror as he discovered that he no longer had his pistol anymore. He looked over to the table where he had thrown it earlier and saw that it was not there. Then a glint of the flintlock from behind the barrels caught my eye and it took extraordinary discipline not to turn my head and reveal its location.

"Ye give me that there key an' bible," the pirate seethed.

"You better go back above deck," I said, my voice steady. "Or should we call the Quartermaster down here to hear what he thinks about you losing the key and pistol?"

"They'll punish us," Thorne added, "but I don't know how long you would have to live."

Mr. Foot calculated his position against our threats and, probably thinking that we didn't have long to live, he gave in. Before he went up though, he grabbed his dye and hastily completed his inventory of the carpentry equipment (almost scaring me that he would find the pistol). I stopped him before he left us completely and told him that we would still honor our deal and spare him when we took the ship.

"Aye, if ye have the courage, laddy," he said then returned above deck.