At that very moment, many miles away, the merchant ship called the Jade Empress was hard driven by a storm. The sea crackled like a bonfire, and the rain fell in thick cables, so much that there was no seam between the sky above and the sea beneath.

"Captain, we must jettison!" cried the mate.

"Damn me to the hell of cowards if I do," the captain, named Stalwart, roared back. "We'll not drop an ounce of my cargo until my word, and any man who says otherwise shall get a lashing on the instant. Chop those sails! Down the rigging with cutlasses if you must!"

"We've a snag on the mainmast!"

"Up to cut it then!"

The sailors all bent to their tasks; no one wanted to climb the mast in a storm.

The captain struck one sailor with a whip. The sound was lost in the storm, and even the sting was slight on the sailor's numb skin, but the shock was enough to move the man.

"You! Goaty! Get up that mast or I'll ruin your legs!"

The sailor Goaty stumbled across the pitching deck. He knew well what the captain meant; a month ago, a sailor called Far Eyes had been caught pilfering rations. The captain had flogged the man's legs down to the bone, and now the poor wretch could not walk at all.

Yet Far Eyes the thief is not climbing this mast, and Goaty the honest seaman is.

A crack of lightning turned the whole world into the heart of a flame, and the thunder was so fierce that Goaty felt the mast, his bones, even the teeth within his skull rattle to it.

"Merrimee, sister of storms, watch this honest mate who loyally serves a mean and stingy captain. Do not sink us for his cruelty; we are trusty mates."

His ears were ringing, and the pounding of the rain drowned out even his own voice. He reached the snag.

Clutching the rough mast tight, he took a knife to the rope. It was taut, stiff as steel. When it parted, the loose end stung across his face. He felt, more than heard, the crash of rigging on the deck.

Below, the captain looked up.

"She's clear! Cut the mast!"

"But captain, Goaty's on it!"

"Cut it or we'll all perish!"

Upon the mast, Goaty felt the mast throb as the sailors below chopped at it. The ship rolled and tossed like a mad horse, and fifty feet above the deck, Goaty could barely hold - yet he knew his only hope was to climb down.

"Oh Merimee, I know this is but one of your jokes, a merry jest... the captain would jettison before losing the mast..." But in his heart, Goaty knew the captain would lose the mast, the anchors and everyone else aboard before casting aside the silks, sables and tapestries in the hold.

He clutched and reached and, for a terrifying moment, slid down the mast, staring at the sailors chopping below. One mate looked up, and Goaty saw a miserable look of hope on his comrade's face. The cutter's mouth moved, but Goaty was too far up still to hear the words "Hurry! Climb down or drown, Goaty!"

As Goaty reached down for another hand hold, he saw that he had torn a nail off his left hand. He did not feel it; his hands were too numb from the chill.

Then another wave, almost as high as the crow's nest, swept towards the ship. Goaty clutched the mast, but he felt it shudder as the wood sundered. He saw the black sea rushing towards him, and when he struck it was hard as stone.

He was in the water, and he was already so cold that the numbness felt only warm. Inside the wave it was strangely calm - only the surface felt the wrath of the storm. He relaxed, embraced by the water, falling deeper into the blackness all around.

Perhaps he heard - or only imagined - a woman's voice, sweet and kind. "Rest now, noble seaman. You shall sleep forever, rocked in the ocean's depths, upon a bed of pearls and coral. Yours will be the dreams of loyal sailors, with maidens of the deep to sing you lullabies."

The voice got harder as Goaty felt his life slip away.

"But for your captain there will be a greedy man's death - painful and cruel and long."

It was near midnight on the Merry Cask, and Onion's watch was almost over. His watch-mates were rushing to finish their tasks, for none of them wanted the other gang to think them lazy, but Onion himself was loitering by the longboat. Hidden within was Halfblue's chest of gold.

The earring was on the top. I'll just pop it open and take the ring. Then I'll go to the prow and put it with his body.

The thought of Ironbones' corpse, cold and naked, made Onion's stomach clench. He realized that to put it in the sailor's ear, he would have to crawl over the body - surely he would be seen.

Perhaps I can just tuck it into his belly button, he thought. Then he jumped as a voice spoke right by his ear.

"Good evening Onion. Working hard?"

He turned and saw that he was face to face with Glimmer Good. He blinked and blushed, as he always did when she was near. Even though she was weathered by the sea, she still had the palest skin he had ever seen, and her eyes were an exotic shade of green that looked unnatural to him - yet in her angular, foreign face, somehow exactly right.

"H-hello, Glimmer. I was just, ha, looking for the southern cross. Crow pointed it out to me earlier, and I wanted to see if I could find it myself."

Glimmer Good laughed, and Onion chuckled nervously as well. She jerked her thumb over her shoulder.

"You might try looking starboard and not port then."

Glimmer Good was on the other watch, and until that moment, Onion had not noticed that the first finger on her left hand was gone. He stared, then looked away into her deep green eyes, then looked down.

She smiled - perhaps a bit self-satisfied - and rubbed the top of his head.

"We'll make a seaman of you yet," she said, and then strode off towards one of the stays to go aloft.

When her back was turned, Onion reached under the tarpaulin and into the longboat. As he was feeling beneath the seat for the cask, he heard the planks of the deck creak behind him. He barely had time to pull his hand free and grab a cord to pull the boat's canvas cover tight before the first mate was upon him.

"Hello Onion. At ease. What are you doing?"

"I was, M'lady, uh..."

"Did I startle you? I'm sorry if I did."

"Uh, yes. Yes M'lady, that is."

There was a brief pause.

"M'lady, I saw that the, uh, cover was loose, so I made it fast."

"Ah." She didn't move. He swallowed.

"You're not here because this is where you killed him, then?"

For a second, Onion was sure she knew. He almost said "M'lady, I didn't know he had all the gold when I killed him, honest, I didn't think about anything, I was afraid like the time I had to rope a steer because I had my first beard, that's the manhood trial where I come from, Halfblue scared me so I roped him and then I had to make him stop, and I was frightened that he would sink the ship, I didn't know he had so much gold and I wouldn't take it but that my mother is sick and our farm is in debt, and I'm no sailor, I only signed on to make her the money to keep her from the poorhouse..."

What he actually said was. "Uh. Maybe a little." Then he quickly added "M'lady."

When she put her hand on his shoulder, he felt hot and tingly and uncomfortable where she was touching him, but he didn't want her to let go. He remembered that her family was too holy to touch commoners like him, and he wondered if that was why her hand felt that way. She spoke.

"Some would say that killing Halfblue made you a man, Onion. I don't. But I think you're a man because you know what it means to have killed him. What you did was important and necessary, and you were brave - but I know you'll never brag or boast or be proud of it, and that makes you a man in my eyes.

"Halfblue is gone, hopefully somewhere his spirit can learn the lesson it needs... it's better to put him from your mind. But remember Ironbones. He was your friend, I know. I think it would please his ghost if you remembered him with kindness, instead of thinking of Halfblue with hate and fear."

Onion didn't realize he was crying until the tear reached his mouth. He drew in breath to tell her of the cask, but she was already speaking again.

"I'm going to say a few more prayers over Ironbones' body. You can join me if you wish, or not." She turned to go.

He took a deep breath.

I'll get the earring and go and pray, and when she leaves I'll put it on his belly.

Earlier that day he had seen seagulls perched on Ironbones' face, pulling at his eyes.

I have to. I owe it to him.

He reached into the longboat.

The cask was gone.

"Land. Land ho!" The crier of the Jade Empress was exhausted and his voice was barely a croak, but soon the news swept across the ship.

"I told you!" said captain Stalwart. "You'd have had me jettison, but I knew we were near the coast. We'll make landfall and cut a new mast, take a day to find fresh water, perhaps hunt some game..."

"Say prayers for Goaty and the others who died in the storm," added the first mate.

"If you wish. Then, on to Bellsport and..." the captain's voice trailed off.

"Mate... do you make that ship to be an Imperial galley?"

The mate hated the tone of hope in the captain's voice. With a war on, the Empire was seizing sailors in every port. They wouldn't hesitate to take half the crew of the Jade Empress as well - but the captain feared the Empire less than their enemy, who would steal his freight.

"No captain. She flies the bones flag."

Stalwart stared, but he could see it; a black flag, bearing a skull, a sword and an hourglass.

"Pirates! To arms!"

The sailors looked on, unbelieving. Without mainsail or cargo, a buccaneer galley could carry a crew of forty or fifty, to match against the dozen men aboard the Empress.

The captain cracked his whip. "Hard about then, you maggoty sea dogs! If they catch us, they'll have our bones for stew!"

At that, the sailors leaped to trim the sails and come about. The pirate ship had only a small sail, but there were ranks of rowers in its hold. The Empress had only a tattered sail on a spare mast. The corsairs rapidly gained.

When he could hear their rowers' chant, the captain desperately ordered his crew to jettison the cargo - but the furs and the ropes holding them were so swollen with water that the weary crew could barely heave them over the side.

"Drop sails and anchor!" shouted a voice from the pirate vessel.

"Damn me if I do!" cried Stalwart. He was answered by a crossbow bolt.

"To arms, my men! If we cost them dear enough, they'll run in fear!"

"Surrender, and no sailor will know harm!" shouted the marauder.

"Don't believe them!"

Perhaps the sailors of the Empress would have fought, if the captain had not begun striking out with his whip. They ran across the deck, up the rigging, down into the hold, leaving the captain alone as the grappling hooks of the pirates flew over the railings. Stalwart cut the lines with his cutlass, but he was only one man, and the buccaneers swarmed up the lines, boiling onto his ship like lice fleeing a cooling corpse.

They were of coarse aspect, men and women alike, with rotted teeth and skin like weathered saddles. They carried cutlasses, gaff poles, harpoons, crossbows.

Then one stepped forward. She had blonde hair, bleached nearly white by sun and salt. Her skin was a deep bronze. It made a stark contrast with her hair, and her eyes burned like chips of blue sky, cut from next to the sun.

"Are you the captain of this vessel?" she asked.

"Who are you?"

"My name is Stormborn, and I am captain of the Black Queen's Revenge."

Stalwart laughed derisively.

"What, don't believe me?" she asked.

"Oh I do. There's no port-side whore so common and low that she'd want to be mistaken for Stormborn, the pirate slut."

Stormborn smiled. All of her teeth were perfect, and made of silver.

"Drop your weapon."

"I'll fight you 'til I die."

As he spoke, a man behind him struck with a harpoon. Stalwart shrieked and tried to turn, but the weapon was barbed and stuck in his skin.

The sailor holding the harpoon was yellow as cornsilk, and covered with swirling scars. "Drop the cutlass," he said softly, and gave his own weapon a little shake.

Stalwart's sword clattered to the deck.

"Captain Stormborn! We've cleared the belowdecks!"

Stalwart stared with contempt at his crew as they stood, hands upon their heads, unarmed, defeated.

"Cowards."

"What did you find below?" the buccaneer captain asked.

"Full holds - 'tis a rich find!"

"Your holds are full - yet you cut your masts? It must be a rich cargo indeed."

"Don't presume to tell me how to sail... aaaaahhh!"

"He left Goaty to die in the sea," said a voice. The pirates turned, opening a space between the speaker and their captain.

The man who spoke pulled himself along by his arms, for his legs were limp behind him.

"Don't listen to this wretch. Would you take the word of a thief above that of a captain?" Now Stalwart's voice had a sound of fear.

"I wouldn't have stolen if you'd fed us right, as you ought to," said Far Eyes (for that's who it was). "We were to get a pound of meat four times a week, and we were lucky to get it once. You were to give us pinch-gut money at landfall when we had to have lean rations, and you did not pay it. You charged us for rum and for tobacco at rates that would make a Basahn blush, and you beat any man who complained."

"He made us work in port, and gave us no liberty!" cried another sailor.

"When Candlewick dropped a cargo crate and ruined it, the captain cut off one of his fingers!"

"And Righteous Servant! The captain beat Righteous so badly with a tar mop that the man was taken by the falling sickness!"

"Aye, and then he had such bile in his belly that he left Righteous in Grand Widow Cove without a penny of his pay!"

The corsair captain held up her hand.

"Enough! Captain Stalwart, you are accused by your own crew. We have seen that you risked their lives to protect only your cargo. How plead you?"

"What the hell are you talking about, you crazy pirate whore?"

"Innocent or guilty?"

"Innocent, you daft bitch!"

She shrugged, and her silver smile glittered again.

"Bosun - fetch a rope and drop him over the side. Keep his waist above the water, be sure of it. The sharks will be our jury."

Stalwart was numb with shock and horror as the raiders tied him. He started to scream when they pulled the harpoon loose, and didn't stop as he was lowered over the side. The salty brine stung his deep wound, but that was far from the worst; he knew the smell of blood would bring sharks, and soon.

"Drown me at least! Do me that kindness! Or let me down so the sharks can have my heart, my throat! Oh please, don't give me a death by inches! For the love of heaven!"

Stormborn ignored him completely.

"Do you think Pieces cooks better food for her watch?" Carmine asked Slate as they worked the bilge pump. It was hard work, and the hold stank of stale water. Spider was with them. His official duties as wind caller were to summon and calm spirits of wind and storm - but the requirements of a ship the size of the Merry Cask required him to perform more mundane tasks as well. Of the three, Spider was the only one who lacked the breath to speak.

"I shouldn't think so," Slate replied. "True, it's a far cry from fresh, but what can one woman do with biscuit and peas? There's only so many ways to fix salted beef. If anything, I'd wager we get the better of her meals, since she cooks on her own watch - our break - and her watch-mates can only eat when they're off watch. At least we get it hot."

"Well, that makes it better then."

"Knowing the other watch has it worse?"

"It's ever so."

The two were silent as they turned the pump, and then Carmine spoke again.

"Slate? What do you think happened to Halfblue's money?"

Slate made her eyes wide and glanced over at the windsman, then frowned hard at Carmine. Carmine winced, then kept speaking.

"(Ahem.) What I mean by that is, he made no secret that he'd won a lot of money gambling in Aurora. That's what I meant."

"Oh, that money. I don't know."

Spider knew full well that the both of them had seen Halfblue's treasure when gambling with him aboard the ship - an activity Lightwing had declared strictly off limits.

"I'm sure it wasn't on his body when it was flung overboard."

"I don't know... that Lightwing..."

"Surely the captain wouldn't let her waste gold for a funeral ceremony?"

"He wouldn't - if he knew about it."

They were quiet, mulling it over. In the darkness, Spider smiled.

"Do you think she'd hide it from him?"

"I'd like to think not - but someone else could have found his trove."

"Where could he have hidden it?"

"There's any number of places aboard this ship." Both women peered out into the dark hold, as if expecting to notice the glint of gold.

Spider tried hard not to smirk. He'd noticed the bulge beneath Halfblue's shirt, and he'd noticed it was gone when the body was moved later. There were few people who could have moved the cask, and few places to hide it. Spider had been a thief longer than he had been a wind caller, and much longer than he'd been a sailor; it had taken him little time to find the casket.

He had not yet decided what to do with the gold; but he knew he'd think of something.

Halfblue's body, fish-torn and waterlogged, washed ashore not far from the pirates' encampment. It was found by two buccaneers who had snuck away from the others to make love on the beach. (One of the buccaneers had been an honest sailor on the Jade Empress until that afternoon, and was very pleased to join a crew with fewer beatings and more women on board.) The sailcloth had been torn aside by hungry fishes, and the naked corpse put an immediate end to their amorous mood.

When they called Captain Stormborn to see, the corpse's rotted eyes had opened.

All three jumped back as the body sat up.

"Who are you, and what ship were you on?"

"My name was Halfblue, sailor upon the Merry Cask."

"Your captain?"

"Captain Large, damn his eyes."

"Really? How died you?"

"Strangled, slow and painful."

Stormborn's eyes narrowed. "Why were you strangled?"

"I was only trying to protect my own money, but the captain set every sailor on the ship against me! He's a vile man - he's grown grossly fat off the food he skims from our own tough rations, and he's never seen without a flask in hand."

"What port were you set towards?"

"New Willow town. I hoped to see a lass there... before I was cruelly killed."

"Rest easy Halfblue; your captain shall get the punishment he deserves."

"Oh lady, I shall go on to face Karma now that I know you will get me revenge on that accursed ship! But beware; she has a sorcerer aboard, a man named Spider, who has many powers dire and invisible!"

Stormborn's unnatural smile glinted in the moonlight. "I fear no sorcery," she said. A few more words were muttered under her breath, in a language foreign to human ears. "The storm will be upon them soon; we can take them in two days."

"Damn," muttered Captain Large, and blew hard into his whistle.

"All hands! Up to deck! Storm coming!"

Those on watch were quickly set to raising sails and flinging ballast over the side.

"Helm, cut to starboard! I'm going to try to outrun her if I can. Get the sails into a Grand Dragon rig and water them down!"

"Captain, isn't this risky?" Lightwing asked him. He chewed his beard for a moment.

"Aye, it is; but the crew is short as it is, and if we can outrun the storm we'll be better off than putting them through it. She's shaping to be a fierce blow." He turned to the second watch, groggily emerging from their barracks. "Sailors, we've been thrown a storm. We'll try to run ahead of her, but for now I need you three to work the pumps - if we're overtaken, I want that hold dry as a monk's kiss."

The sailors indicated groaned and trudged below.

"The rest of you, help with the rigging - except you, Spider. I want you to try to witch those winds down."

"Aye aye, sir."

Spider went to the officer's quarters and tried to ignore the sounds of labor above and below him. He took deep breaths and sought a calm state of mind.

His apprenticeship as a shaman had been brief and painful; when he fled his master, Spider had stolen his master's talisman of spirits as much from spite as greed. He knew he had little skill at sorcery and imperfect mastery of the amulet, but he shifted the beads and joints of the device, trying to remember the configuration most pleasing to spirits of the air.

When the atmosphere in the cabin changed, he knew he had made contact.

"Greetings spirit. I am Spider, and I would have you pass our ship by."

The voice of the spirit was loud and harsh - Spider could sense great power behind its words.

"Greetings, Spider. I have a mind to toy with your ship, and I have been given strength to do so."

"What strength? Perhaps I can make another offer." Spider had initially been surprised to learn that spirits could be bargained with like horse traders.

"I have the hatred from a dead man's heart, flung full force at your ship and you. What can you offer?"

"Damn!" shouted Captain Large, staring at the horizon. The storm clouds had risen up like a lighthouse, then sank back to the sea again. "All sails down! All sails down! Helm hard to port!"

He began ringing the alarm bell fiercely.

"All hands, we've a gale upon us! Work for your lives!"

He ran down to the deck and shouted down into the hold.

"Belay all pumping! Jettison the anchor and the grain crates!"

At that moment, Spider staggered from the officers' quarters, dazed and bleeding from his nose.

"Sir, the spirit of this storm is evil and malign. I tried to put it down, but it is too strong for me. Worse, I think that it has been conjured upon us!"

The captain gaped for a moment, then asked "Can you not call some other spirit to aid us?"

The windsman nodded, and his hands shook as he turned the pieces of his amulet.

"Lightwing! Get those sails down before the ship takes to the air!"

"Captain! The wheel!"

The captain heaved his way up to the aft deck where the helmsman was straining, every vein bulging, to turn the rudder. The captain's hands, with fingers thick as anchor chains, grabbed the wheel and heaved hard, turning the ship into the storm.

"Chain this in place for now, then we'll help jettison!"

Belowdecks, three sailors struggled with the spare anchor. As the first thick drops of rain fell on the deck, Large ordered them to grab other crates.

"He's mad," muttered Talk Talk as he saw the captain grab the anchor chain. "Captain, we'll never move it out without the windlass!"

"No time," grunted the captain. Then his teeth were bared in his face, and the sound he made was like the groan of a falling tree. Hand over hand, he pulled the great anchor from the hold, and with a roar of effort flung it over the side.

In the rigging, Onion saw the captain's feat but had no time to think on it. He had first climbed the rigging two days ago, and now he was forty feet up in howling winds, desperately trying to remember the difference between a brace and a brail as Goldenleaf shouted at him to take in the sails. Then he heard a shout from below.

"You! Onion! Throw me a rope and help me up there!"

It was the wind caller, who had never been in the rigging before as far as Onion knew. Onion hesitated, looked for Goldenleaf, then obeyed.

The wind caller began climbing with little skill but great dexterity. When he had reached the young sailor, he put his mouth next to the boy's ear - for the wind had redoubled in strength, and now the sound of striking rain made giving orders difficult.

"What's the fastest way to the crow's nest?"

"It's the horses on the mainmast, but sir..."

"I have to call for a spirit," the windsman said, and to Onion's eyes, he looked quite mad. Then, like his namesake, Spider was off through lines of the rigging. Lightwing stopped him to shout something in his ear, but Onion only had time to see him shake her hand off his shoulder and keep climbing before Goldenleaf was beside him.

"Down lad! You're courting death up here in these winds!"

Gratefully, Onion descended.

In the crow's nest, Spider held up his talisman and shouted.

"Kindly spirits of the sea! Answer a sailor in a time of need! I beg you by all holy heaven, bring us some mercy against this savage storm!"

At that moment, the first great wave of the gale struck.

In the rigging, a cable snapped and Lightwing began to fall. On the other side of the mast, Goldenleaf saw her. He was holding one line, standing on another. Without a single thought, he cut the sheet and stepped off. In his mind, he had not known which rope he held, but his hands knew from the feel of the rope where it was connected, and that cutting it would swing him at the first mate. She had fallen only a man's height before his body swung hard into hers, both flying into a collapsing sail. It gave behind them, and they slid down its twenty foot slope onto the deck.

She stared at him in shock. His expression held the same surprise. Then, wordlessly, they ran in opposite directions. There was no time to realize how close death had come; death was still too close for contemplation.

Onion was with Crow, cutting at the foremost mast when the first wave struck. Onion staggered and fell, and the blunt back of his axe head struck him full in the face. Water crashed down from the forecastle, sluicing him towards the deck's dipping rail. The older man dove for him, and their fingers brushed together - but could not hold.

Onion rolled on his back just in time to catch the railing with his stomach. He wrapped his arms and legs around it and clung just as the ship lurched and came almost upright. The water that smashed against him tasted like cold tears. He knew he had to stand and get back to work, that his mates needed him, but his muscles kept him wrapped around the rail and he could not move.

High up in the crow's next, Spider had gone into Otherwhere.

That was the name his master had given to the place where the worlds of spirit and humanity met. He could feel the deck tilting perilously, as the mainmast swung like a fisherman's pole. He could see the tiny figures on the deck below, and the great, vertical planes of rain raking down from the sky - but he could also see the storm itself, the spirit of it. To him it looked like a great serpent. The storm ghost opened its jaws, and the fangs within were silver lightning.

"You were brave to come challenge me, little sorcerer. Simply by doing so, you have bought your crew a few more moments of life. I will not entertain myself with them while you are here to amuse me."

"What do you want me to do? Sing a song? Do a little dance?"

The storm's laugh was thunder.

"Your miserable attempts at magic are more amusing by far. Please, try to call for help again. The first try was a good joke indeed."

"Damn you!" cried Spider, but then he thought about the teachings of his master.

'Spirits of the air are the easiest to call and the hardest to persuade; they are proud of their wit, and delight in trying to trick their summoner.'

Maybe he mocks my calls to keep me from calling?

"Oh spirits of the water who watch over sailors, heed now a ship that is sore beset!"

The thunder chuckled, but there were eerie glints of light crawling along the rigging. Spider clutched his amulet and called again.

"Some kind spirit, come to the aid of a crew loyal and true!"

Then he saw her. Where once there was only a great wave, there was suddenly a blue-green woman with four arms. She had a serpent's tail in place of her legs, a tail that was also the undulating waves all around the ship.

"Who calls Merimee, the sea sister?"

"This ship is mine!" shouted the storm spirit.

The sea ghost looked unimpressed, and Spider was heartened. He knew that Merimee was a powerful spirit - but one who gave aid only as she chose.

"Merimee, this ship is full of loyal sailors, led by a good captain. Surely you have it in your power to save us from this evil storm?"

"I do - if I wish."

"Then look at the captain, wrestling the wheel fit to burst his great belly. Or the first mate - who could have had a life of luxury and privilege, who is supposed to be too holy to touch - look at her straining with the others to bring down the mizzenmast!"

"Oh, I don't deny that there are loyal sailors on this ship," said the storm. "But even the sorriest scow can boast an able mate or two. What of Slate? She was trusted, given a place of her own in the carpenter's hold. She repaid this trust by turning her home into a gambling den - against the first mate's direct orders!"

Now the storm spirit had changed form, and appeared as a great judge, garbed in black clouds, with white rain for his magistrate's wig.

"Carmine too, disobeyed by gambling - and the pair of them gambled away the lives of two crewmen! Or look on the ship's youngest; the bones of the mate he strangled had barely fallen on land when the rest of the crew were drinking toasts to his death!"

"Not to the death of Halfblue," said Spider. "They were drinking to Ironbones, who was a true mate! Halfblue killed him in cold blood, and burned our supplies and holed the hull. If anyone ever earned a cruel death, it was Halfblue - but still he was given a proper burial, because he was of our crew, bad man or not."

"Oh, a bad man has every place in this crew. The dead Ironbones who you praise - was he not a gambler, disobedient to the first mate? And how have you treated his ghost?"

"We have given him the funeral of a Screaming Sky tribesman!"

"But you have stolen the funeral rights of a sailor! His earring, Spider, the earring sailors wear in hope - stolen first by Onion, then by you!

"Indeed, this is a crew of thieves and cowards. Look now how the lad huddles in fear, giving no care to the danger of those around him. Merrimee, look with me into the boy's heart, if you have the stomach for it. He was brave enough to kill, but is he brave enough to live? He hates the sea and all upon it. That's why he stole Halfblue's gold, and Ironbones' earring with it. He wishes nothing more than to abandon ship and betray the captain!"

Merimee raised an eyebrow and tilted her head at Spider.

"Surely you can't judge us only by our greenest hand..."

"Then let me judge you by one of your officers!" bellowed the storm ghost. "Shall we measure your heart, Spider? Your mother marked you well when she gave you a vermin's name. You stole the gold from Halfblue, from Ironbones, and from Onion as well. You lied to the captain about your powers - after he saved you from jail or the noose! You deliberately mislead the whole crew, giving them a dangerous confidence in your ability to quell storms. You used your lies of sorcery to claim privileges - short watches, and officer's rank! You said you were too valuable to risk your life in the rigging, when you're the most worthless man on board!"

The thunder had long since deafened Spider, but he heard the spirit voices as clearly as his own thoughts.

"All your goods are stolen, and all your power lies. Even the small skill at magic you have was stolen from your master, along with an amulet you're unfit to even look on."

The storm had changed form again. Now it stood as a towering warrior, drawing a sword of lightning from its sheath.

"I was called to destroy this ship, to punish the guilty upon her. I have seen no reason it should be spared."

"I have," said the sea spirit. The storm hesitated.

"Spider," it said at last. "I will offer you a deal, for I am generous at heart. I will spare the ship; calm the air and sheathe the lightning. All I ask is one concession, and it will cost you little."

"What concession?"

"Give me the boy."

Spider was silent. Both spirits stared at him. Then the storm spirit spoke again.

"You're an officer; you have authority over him. He's failed his mates in a storm. He's a thief and he plans to abandon you. Tell me I am right to strike him down and I will spare you and all the others."

Spider shook his head.

"His life is not mine to give."

"Then you'll all die!"

"The only life I have to offer is my own."

The next morning, the sea was still as glass. The sailors aboard the Merry Cask were sprawled on stairways, sitting on kegs or coils of rope, drinking rum with shaking hands and trying to light pipes of wet tobacco.

"I tell you," Talk Talk said "The windsman must have powerful sorcery indeed. I've never seen a man fall from a mast, get struck by a thunderbolt, fall in the sea - and then get washed back onto the ship! He must have the love of a mermaid or a sea goddess."

"Maybe he was just lucky - maybe we all were," Goldenleaf said. He knocked his pipe against the splint on his leg, winced. "I was lucky Onion was there to pull me from that rigging before it went over the side."

"Next you'll say you're lucky to have a short leg," Thousands said.

"Better a short leg than dead! He may be farm born, but he's a storm brave lad all the same."

At that moment, the door to the captain's chamber opened. Large emerged with an angry look. Trailing him were Onion and Spider.

The crew sat up, and a few gasps were heard as the wind caller came within sight. Before the storm his hair had been black as pitch; now it was cobweb-white.

"Listen well, crew; this pair has something to say."

Spider stepped forward first.

"I..."

He cleared his throat. Looked at the crew. Thought of the sea spirit's voice in his ear last night, as she carried him back to the ship's deck. 'You're a sailor, now.'

"I stole Halfblue's gold." The crew began to murmur, and their eyes began drifting over to rest on the small chest in the captain's arms.

"That's not all," Spider said - and his sharp tone drew their eyes crew back to him. "I lied to you. I'm not a great sorcerer; I'm a great fraud. I deceived you about my powers and used my lies to do less work. I've cheated you all, and I'm sorry. But I'm willing to take my punishment, and from now on I'm going to be more than a wind caller - I'm going to become a sailor."

Amidst the muttering of the crew, Onion stepped forward. "I stole Halfblue's gold too. After I... uh, after he died, I saw that he had that chest, and I hid it. I was going to take it and jump ship."

"So that's what blocked my sword!" cried Goldenleaf.

"These men have lied to you and kept secrets and been bad mates," the captain declared. "But they were brave in yesterday's storm and they had the guts to admit their crimes. Myself, I'm weary; but if you wish them punished, I'll do it."

"Not Onion," said Goldenleaf immediately. "Had I seen the chest, I'd have had the same temptation. Besides, we can't condemn him for only thinking of jumping ship; which of us didn't think the same thing on our first voyage? I'd wager my life that even undiscovered, he wouldn't have had the heart to leave the sea, for he's a true sailor - I know it!"

"If you don't punish me, don't punish Spider," Onion said.

"Why not?" It was Exact who spoke. "He's an officer; a higher standard should apply. Besides, he himself has confessed to slacking, and that's a worse crime than hoarding if you ask me."

"It's true," Spider said. Lightwing squinted at him, and spoke.

"I say leave him be. Giving up gold is painful enough... besides, I think he's paid more than we realize."

"Hmph. I'll not punish them when they're spoken for," the captain said. "That leaves only this." He opened the chest, revealing the gold coins within.

"Lightwing - take this earring and put it with Ironbones' body, for I'm told it is his. As for the rest of this gold..."

"Buy us a feast in the next port!"

"Rum! Or fine brandy for the next voyage!"

"A bonus! Split it among the crew and we'll all be well done by!"

"Quiet!" roared the captain. He blew a sharp breath out of his nose and glowered at the crew.

"I can see I was right not to punish this pair, when the rest of you are just as greedy! I was going to say that this money belonged to an evil man, and encouraged him in his evil deeds. Greed for this gold has led to murder, to sabotage and to lies. It's brought this ship nothing but bad fortune, and it can rest on the bottom with its miserable owner!"

With that, he flung the coins over the side. The crew howled with disbelief.

"There! That's done, and hopefully it will be the end of our misfortunes!"

"Captain! To arms! A pirate approaches!"

The crew turned weary necks in disbelief as Lightwing staggered down the steps.

"To arms I tell you! A ship flying the skull and sword is closing fast!"

The captain glanced despairingly at the tell-tails on the mast, but there was not a whisper of wind.

Crossbows were cocked, cutlasses drawn, and then there was nothing to do but watch in dread as the ship drew near.

On the pirate ship, Stormborn stared with disbelief at the sea-ravaged corpse lashed to the prow of the Merry Cask. "This captain must be a devil in human form," she muttered.

"Ahoy! Merry Cask!"

"Ahoy pirates! Board at your peril!"

"Throw your weapons down and your crew will not be harmed!"

"Ha! The word of a pirate has no worth!"

"I swear upon my name; Stormborn of the Ebony Queen's Revenge!"

Large thoughtfully pulled his beard. "Lightwing," he said. "I know of her. She is a pirate, but with honor. She does not slaughter crews... do you think I ought to take her at her word?"

"Captain! Don't talk nonsense!"

Large slowly looked at his crew - exhausted, injured, battered by the worst of nature's fury - yet still ready to fight at his command.

"If you won't harm us, what do you want?"

"We've come for you, captain Large!"

He could see the women and men swarming on the pirate deck. He counted at least two dozen, and more were below rowing.

"Lower your arms," he said to his crew. Disbelieving, they stared. "Lower them! If we fight, we'll die one and all." He turned to the side.

"Stormborn! We surrender on your promise that none of us know harm!"

"I promised only that your crew would be safe," she called back.

Then the grappling hooks bit into the ship's wooden skin, and the corsairs were aboard.

Stormborn stared at Large in frank amazement. Never had she seen a sailor of such girth.

"I heard true about your vast size. Do you leave any food behind for the crew?"

"My crew eats well!"

"I've heard otherwise. I've heard you're a drunk and a brute, and from seeing that poor mariner lashed to your prow, I can well believe it!"

"That was my doing," Lightwing said, stepping forward. "That sailor's name is Ironbones, and I believe he would have wished it."

Stormborn raised an eyebrow.

"What about a sailor named... Halfblue? What do you have to say of him?"

"Only that he was a liar, a cheat, a murderer and a damnable fiend in man shape!" cried the captain. "If you're here in his defense, you'll have to kill every man and woman aboard!"

"No! Just me!" Stormborn turned to see a young sailor, his face swathed in a bandage. "I killed Halfblue. If I had to, I'd do it again."

Stormborn turned and looked at the sorry crew of the Merry Cask.

"You would have me believe," she slowly said "that Halfblue was strangled by this lad? That he had it coming? That a captain so fat is not cheating his sailors? That a sailor would wish his bones strung up for birds to eat? I have heard your captain accused by the mouth of the dead, and I would see justice served."

"Justice was served with Halfblue's death," Large declared. "And for me? If any here accuse me, I will step down as captain and submit to your punishment. If I must do that to keep my crew alive, I will - but remember your vow."

"Well then, there it is!" Stormborn turned to the crew. "Does any of you have a complaint with your captain?"

Talk Talk thought of the gold sinking to the bottom of the sea. He thought of rum, fine meals, all the things it could have bought.

"Has he made poor judgements while addled with drink?"

Pieces considered her astonishment when the captain had announced Ironbones' funeral.

"Has he chosen to put you in danger when he could have kept you safe?"

Goldenleaf thought about the desperate rush to set sails the night before, trying to outrun the storm, only to take them down again when the captain decided the winds were too fast.

"Has he been in any way offensive? Given to any of you a great injury of body or spirit?"

Lightwing pondered the captain's disrespect to Halfblue's body and ghost.

"If any of the crew has any complaint - anything to say against the captain, without fear of reprisal - step forward now and speak."

Slowly, Crow stepped forward. The other sailors stared at him, the oldest crewman, as he spoke.

"I would rather serve Large than any other captain on the sea. If you kill him, you kill this ship; for he's her heart."

Stormborn looked around. Slowly, every member of the crew nodded. She turned to the captain.

"You are truly rare, sir. I have never had a crew with no complaint against a captain. Not once." She gestured at her sailors. Uncertainly, they began to return to their ship, then faster as she barked orders to depart. "You shall know no piracy today, captain Large - and if you ever decide to fly the bones flag, I would be honored to sail by your side." Impulsively, she leaned in and kissed him on the mouth. Then, with a silver smile and a wave, she climbed back to her own ship.

Large stared, bemused, for a few moments. Then he put his hands to his mouth and called out after her.

"I don't suppose you have a spare mizzenmast?"