Skull Candle
	By Jerry

After a while, her eyes adjusted. The mirror over her head reflected a little light from the ceiling overhead. At first she took a fright; in front of her was the most hideous thing she had ever seen - a candle within a man's skull. No matter what she saw in that room, she could not take her mind off of that skull. She tried to imagine who had worn it at one time; was it made of wax? But she knew she was her father's daughter when she decided that she was not afraid.

There were several barrels clustered in one corner. She could not see beyond that. To her right, on the floor, were smooth bars of what must have been gold, as the light caught it on occasion. A sudden rocking of the room and the sound of wind chimes told her that she was not in a house, but indeed in the hold of a ship.

	Gold Bullion
	By Jimbo/Jenny

And then it came to her: the fellow outside of the bathhouse. She struggled a bit, but then stopped struggling. Had he taken her? No. She would have known that then, and even now. He gave her a whiff of the ether, and carried her to this place. And she prayed, under her breath, that this had been the extent of it.

She pulled on the ropes, but sailors knew their knots. She could not escape. She proceeded to launch herself from the chair, and then fell hard on the dirty floor. She hit her nose on a gold bar, and tasted something like sawdust in her mouth.

The light from the ceiling darkened suddenly, and the rat-a-tat-tat of feet across the planks above told her someone was coming. She quickly contorted her body and after much effort wriggled into the chair. The door of the hold opened quietly, and someone came down the steps. They walked rather lightly.

"Miss-miss, are you alone?" The voice was small and quiet. "I am - over here."

"I am Hans. The Captain's boy- His cabin boy."

Rachel swallowed hard. "What does your Captain want with me?"

"Miss, I don't know. I only know what I am told." "And what has he told you?"

"Nothing, Miss. They- they seemed interested in a map."

"But what do they want with me?"

By this time she could feel the boys breath on her back. She still could not see very well. He whispered in her ear.

"I don't know, but you have to leave here."

"Am I in danger?"

	Cabin Boy
	By Rainman Comes with 3 different stripe colors.

"Please… I'm going to untie you now. You must tell no one what I've done here."

"You're a kind boy," she said, a wry smile crossing her lips that he could not see. "Will you- will you be in trouble?"

"I'm not a boy. I've seen enough to make me a man."

"Of course you are." she paused while he finished the ropes. "Can you get me to safety?"

"The two men on deck… they are drunk and asleep. The others are in port. I can get you to the deck. Where you go from there is your decision."

"Why are you doing this?" she asked, now looking directly into the boy's eyes.

"I saw him bring you here… all limp. Your dress hung off of your legs, and you appeared to me to be an angel. My Captain is a fierce man, without a heart. I love you, I am sure. That's why I have to let you go."

Rachel grabbed his arm and kissed him quickly on the forehead.