Ten

Mary

So much for winning the hearts and minds of Nassau , Mary thought as she stared at Vane. He had a hungry look in his eyes she was familiar with, the cunning glint he had when he was about to take a ship. Only now it wasn't a ship he was after. It was her.

She was the target. Her humiliation was the prize.

She could almost hear his rasping voice saying her name—her true name—in front of everyone. She could halfway see the looks of shock and horror on the faces below. And she could nearly feel the noose around her neck.

But Mary had never respected the captains who'd just surrendered. She'd liked the ones who decided to fight back—even when resistance was futile. They'd gone out on their own terms.

And she would do the same.

She would fight.

"My name is Mary Read," she said. "I'm a woman."

And just like that, it was out.

"What?" Hook lurched up from his seat. "No, you can't be!"

Morgan jumped up next. "I knew it! You're a fake!"

Then all hell seemed to break loose. The other contestants began to shout and complain, the audience pushed forward, and Vane was lost in the crowd.

"She's been tricking us!"

"Has she been a girl this whole time?"

Then someone asked: "Hey, if she's a girl, is she even allowed to compete to be the Pirate King?"

A resounding "NAY!" filled the auditorium. "NO GIRLS ALLOWED!" And then, right there in the middle of GIRLS GIRLS GIRLS, a bunch of pirates drew cutlasses, rapiers, and machetes. They glared at her.

So it was to be a fight. She could handle a fight.

Mary drew her own cutlass.

At which point a few pirates drew pistols.

Oh. Well. She didn't have one of those on her.

Before she could come up with a plan, Penzance, Obvious, Ahab, and the other contestants had rushed up behind her and grabbed her arms, twisting them behind her back hard enough that she dropped her sword. Grunting, Mary stomped directly onto someone's foot. Bones crunched under her heel, Penzance screamed in a high F # , and then there were two fewer hands gripping her shoulders.

Then, while she had them on their toes, Mary jerked her head backward into someone's nose. Ahab shouted and moved away. Then Mary ducked and grabbed her sword off the stage.

She spun to face the contestants, lifting the blade to guard.

She would start by removing the competition. Literally. No murdering, but violence was acceptable.

"ARGGGGH!" There was a fierce cry, and Anne Bonny came barreling out onto the stage to Mary's aid, a dagger in each hand.

The two of them turned so their backs were nearly touching, surrounded by the angry crowd of men. "Why don't you try it," Anne growled. "It's been far too long since I've had to clean blood off me blade."

"Wait!" Tobias—with Jack close behind—ran forward. "Wait!" he called. "Calm down, all of you!"

No one calmed down. A dozen men started climbing up the stage, yelling about how it wasn't fair that Mary had tricked them, so why should they do what anyone said?

Then, Tobias drew a pistol (to Mary's great surprise, since he rarely carried one) and fired at the stage floor. The musket ball shot through the wood, creating a huge, splintering hole.

"I said calm down!" Tobias shouted, and this time they did.

On the stage, Ahab held his hand over his bleeding nose. Penzance was sitting, cradling his broken foot to his chest. (Wow, that guy was flexible!)

Mary scanned the audience for Vane, but he had melted back into the crowd. Which seemed unfair, that he could just force her hand this way and disappear again. She would have liked to fight it out with him.

"Thank you!" Tobias said, shoving the pistol back into his belt. "Now pay attention."

"Is that Teach?" someone asked. "As in Tobias Teach?"

"Babybeard," someone else confirmed, a note of awe in his voice.

Tobias heaved a long sigh. "That's right. You know me. I'm Blackbeard's son—the pirate prince , many of you have said. And I'm here to make the case that Mary Read should be allowed to compete for the title of Pirate King, just as much as anyone else."

"No girls allowed!" someone cried again. "Why is that so hard to understand?"

"I read the rules, same as everyone else." Mary lowered her sword but didn't lighten her grip as she moved to stand beside Tobias. "They don't say anything about needing to be a man to compete."

"Yeah!" Anne shouted from the back. "We all read the rules!"

"It was implied," said Hornigold. "Being that all pirates are men."

Mary cleared her throat.

"Except Read," Hornigold amended, clearly irritated. "But the rules of the Ranger , if I remember correctly, specifically state that no women are allowed to be pirates. So how is it that you are allowed to be here, as a captain?"

"My crew didn't know," Mary said quickly. "Not a one of them. But now that I'm captain, that particular rule will not be on our books."

"Right," Tobias said. "Mary Read is a skilled and outstanding pirate. Why, she went from cabin boy to captain in only a year!"

"Aye," Hook said, "that's true. A bit of an overachiever, that one."

"Perhaps the rest of you are under achievers," Mary muttered.

"Not helping," Tobias said. Then, louder: "Look, the Teach family stands behind Miss Read participating in the competition."

Mary's chest squeezed. Tobias hated using his family name in this way, but here he was, using it to help her. Publicly. Loudly. And he hated the competition—hated that she was determined to win it—but he was supporting her now, all the same.

"Well, you still cheated your way aboard the Ranger ," said Hornigold.

"I didn't. The maleness was assumed." Mary shrugged. "I just didn't correct anyone. And when I'm Pirate Queen, I'll make a royal decree that any woman who wants to be a pirate should be allowed to be one. Equality for everyone!"

Only a few people cheered, and as Mary looked around, she saw they were all women. Everyone else looked like they wanted to keelhaul her.

"I move that Mary should remain a contestant for Pirate Queen," Tobias said.

"Aye!" Anne agreed. "Me too!"

"Me three!" Jack called.

"Well, the lass's aye doesn't count," Hornigold said, "but the pretty boy's does. Gentlemen? Shall we allow Mary Read to compete in our competition, or should we take her out to the deepest part of the ocean and force her to walk the plank, where she'll likely be eaten up by sharks before she drowns?"

"What's the point of it being the deepest part of the ocean if she's to be eaten by sharks before that?" Hook wanted to know.

"So that her bones are lost to the depths of Davy Jones's locker, of course, and can never be retrieved."

At that, the other two AARP members nodded in complete understanding.

"Let us discuss." Hornigold motioned Hook and Morgan to huddle close to him.

The audience went quiet as the three old pirates spoke, but their conversation was too low to carry.

Nervously, Mary looked at Tobias, but his gaze was fixed on the council. This was exactly what he'd been worried about yesterday, when he'd tried to get her to run away with him. Now it wasn't only Vane who knew her identity, but everyone.

"All right!" Hornigold and the other AARP members broke apart. "We've come to a decision."

Mary tore her eyes away from Tobias. "Well?"

" If your crew allows it, and you remain captain—keeping in mind that you deceived them, too—you may remain in the contest."

The resulting BOOOO from the audience was immediate and overwhelming. Someone threw a tomato. Another person threw a shoe. Someone (hopefully not anyone from the Ranger ) threw a banana.

That was when Vane climbed onto the stage. When he held up a hand, the audience quieted. "I would like to announce my candidacy for Pirate King," he rasped.

"You have to be a captain," Mary told him. "And in case you've forgotten, you no longer hold that title."

Vane sneered at her. "Oh, don't worry about me, lass. I've been doing a little campaigning."

"Just now?" Mary asked. Surely her crew wouldn't turn on her so quickly. But Hornigold was right: she had been deceiving them.

"Aye, just now." Vane grinned, showing his teeth. "I spoke with many fine men a few moments ago, men who miss the way things used to be. No women. More rum. No blathering on about the Future of Piracy. Bah!"

Mary risked a glance out at the audience, but she couldn't see any of her crew now.

"After I made my pitch to the crew of the Conspicuous ," Vane said, "their choice was obvious."

"Hey!" Captain Obvious cried out. "The Conspicuous is my ship!"

"Not anymore." Vane turned toward the audience, where the crew of the Conspicuous had bunched together. "All who want me to replace Captain Obvious, raise your hands or hooks!"

Dozens of hands and hooks lifted into the air, including some who weren't part of that crew.

Hornigold counted, then nodded. "Well then, Captain Vane, I suppose all that's needed is for you to sign your name here."

Vane hopped down from the stage, signed his name to the sheet, and then returned to stand in front of everyone.

"You all know what I advocate." He looked across the crowd, eyes narrowing. "And, most importantly, you know who I am . I should be the Pirate King."

"Very well," Hornigold said. "If you'll all put away your weapons and return to your seats, it's time to announce how the contest will be decided."

Nobody put away their weapons or returned to their seats. Tobias remained on the stage beside Mary. Jack and Anne stood nearby, their eyes on the other contestants like they were expecting another attack. And Vane stayed put, his glare firmly on Mary.

"A Pirate King must be well endowed," Hornigold declared. "And by that, obviously I mean he must be rich."

Ahab dabbed his nose with a grimy handkerchief. "So it's to be a contest of who has the most money?"

"Aye," Hornigold said. "Our captains will go out in search of treasure! That is what makes a king, after all: the ability to take ships, take treasure, and take power. Whoever returns with the most gold and jewels—by the noon bell at first of next month—will be crowned the Pirate King!"

So that was it. Treasure. Bring it back to showcase their incredible pirating abilities.

In three weeks.

Mary reached into her pocket and touched the magical hourglass. "Tobias," she said softly, "when is the next full moon?"

He tilted his head, thinking. "In about three weeks. Why?"

"No reason." She let go of the hourglass.

"Worried, Read?" Vane sneered. "You can always give up."

"Not a chance," she said. "I beat you once. I'll do it again."

But if winning had seemed like a long shot before, it looked impossible now.

Back on the Ranger , Mary called the entire crew to the main deck. She stood on the quarterdeck where they could all see her. Wind tugged at her jacket as she gazed down at them: Nine Toes, DuPaul, Child, Swift, and all the rest.

"If you were at the presentation earlier," she said over the sound of water hitting the hull, "then you already know what's happened. But for those of you who weren't—I wanted you to hear it from me first."

They definitely wouldn't be hearing it from her first; pirates were the worst sort of gossips. But still, she had to pretend. For their pride.

"I'm a woman," she said quickly, before she could lose her nerve. "I know that's probably shocking to many of you, but I'm the same person you voted for. We're still going to do all the things I promised. We make a good crew, all of us together. And I want you to know that nothing is going to change—except I might let my hair grow out. And I'd like this woman, Anne Bonny, to join us." She motioned to where Anne stood before her, red curls flying in the wind. "And the fact that if we don't win, we'll probably all be killed. But that's it!"

"Honestly, Captain," Quint said, "we already knew you was a girl."

"What?" Mary stared at the boatswain. "Since when?"

He shrugged. "Since you first came aboard."

"That's right," Howser (the ship's doctor) said. "We all thought you'd cry and want to go home after the first day, but you didn't. Then we thought you'd only last a week, but you kept going." He shrugged, too. "Some of us lost good money on those bets, but I guess it's working out for us now. Look at you, Captain Read!"

"Hear, hear!" the others shouted.

"So you all knew?" Mary frowned.

"Show of hands from everyone who knew!" Gaines, the ship's carpenter, called.

Everyone except the parrot, the chicken, and three other guys raised their hands.

"Oh." Mary wasn't sure how she should feel about that. Proud that she'd defied their expectations? Annoyed that they'd known about her this whole time and just... never said anything?

She eyed Tobias, who wore that crooked smile of his.

"Shake it off, Captain!" Swift called. "We're with you."

"Aye," agreed Gaines. "And now we're against Vane. I don't like that he took command of the Conspicuous just to get back at you. That's mean-spirited."

"The Conspicuous crew will pay for their mistake," Quint said. "Mark my words, they'll regret voting him in. Meanwhile, we've got the best captain in the Caribbean!"

There was a round of ARRRs and AYEs and a single (but enthusiastic) BEGAWK!

Their faith set a fire under her.

"Very well!" Mary shouted. "Then it's time to vote on a new rule. Everyone who wants to allow women aboard the Ranger , say aye!"

"AYE." It was unanimous. Every pirate (and chicken and parrot) was in agreement. Mary tossed her copy of Vane's rules into the ocean and immediately started thinking about what she would call hers. Captain Mary's Definitive Guide to Piracy , perhaps. Or Piracy for a New Generation . Hmm, not quite. How to Embrace Your Inner Pirate .

Well, it was a work in progress.

Mary turned back to the crew. "Well, what are all of you still doing here? Get to your stations! We need to move! The other competitors will be gunning for us first. They think we're weak. But we'll show them."

Once the Ranger was sailing out of the harbor at top speed (so about six miles per hour), Mary found Tobias, who was leaning against a rail and scribbling a note in his logbook. She watched him, waiting until he finished and put the book and pencil back in his pocket.

"So," she said.

"So," he agreed.

This was hard to admit. She leaned next to him. Their shoulders were nearly touching. "I think you might have saved my life today."

"You think I might have?" That smile was back. "Read, they were going to peel your banana this afternoon. I definitely saved your life. I think that puts me one ahead of you."

Mary's mouth dropped open. "You're not ahead. Or are you forgetting about the lobster incident again?"

"That one doesn't count, and you know it."

She scoffed, but that was a fight for a different day. Instead, she turned to face him directly. "What I really came to say," she said, "is thank you. I know what it must have cost you to stand up there in front of everyone, to use your pa's name like that."

Tobias closed his eyes and let out a breath. "Pa would be proud I finally did it. He always wanted me to throw my weight around a bit more, lean into his legacy, be a better pirate."

"Of course he'd be proud of you."

"I didn't do it for him." Tobias lifted his eyes to hers. There was an urgency in his gaze, like he was working himself up for something. He kept his voice soft. "What did it feel like today? Standing up there and telling everyone the truth?"

Mary drew in a sharp breath. That wasn't what she'd expected him to ask about. "Freeing, I suppose. Once it was out, that is. I didn't like getting forced into it and I didn't think I was ready for everyone to know, but now that it's done—well, it's one less thing I have to worry about, one less secret I have to keep. Why?" She let out a nervous laugh. "Is there a huge secret you're keeping? I thought I knew everything there is to know about you."

He shook his head. "I was just thinking about how you told everyone else the truth today. A truth. But when are you going to tell me your other secret?"

Mary's shoulders tensed. "What... do you mean? You knew about me from the beginning?"

He sighed. "There's something else. Your past. Where you're from. The reason you suddenly changed your mind about entering the contest. You're holding on to something big, I know it. And, well, after everything, I was hoping you might decide to trust me with it."

Oh. The Mer thing. She couldn't tell him that. What if he hated her after learning the truth? What if he was disgusted? Humans could be unpredictable when it came to unfamiliar things. "Does it really matter?" she asked hoarsely. "You know who I am now. Who I was—that's all in the past."

"Of course it matters," he said. "You're my—"

"Ship!" cried the lookout. "Ship off the port bow!"

Mary stepped back from Tobias in alarm and looked into the... harbor? They hadn't even left the harbor yet.

But sure enough, there was a small sloop just floating there, anchored. With the contest on, parking was obviously a real problem, but who in their right mind would leave a sloop out where anyone could just take it?

Then Mary spotted the single figure on the poop deck, waving their arms over their head, as though trying to get her attention.

Mary strode toward the helm, where DuPaul was waiting for her orders.

"Take us to her," Mary said. "But it could be a trap, so be ready to maneuver away at a moment's notice."

"Aye, Captain."

A few minutes later, the Ranger came alongside the William (that's what the other ship was called) and a plank was set between them. "Keep your eyes peeled," Mary cautioned as the boarding party crossed. "We don't know who left this here. If you even get a whiff of a dance number starting..."

But it wasn't a trap set by Penzance or any of the other competitors. Instead, Effie Ham strode down to meet them, a folded slip of parchment in hand.

"Good afternoon, Captain Read. This is for you." She handed Mary the note.

Captain Read,

I hope this missive finds you well. Thank you for saving my little sister during the Chango incident. Given your announcement today, I hope you'll be willing to take Effie on. She comes with the ship, four cannons, and supplies for a whole crew.

In any case, the Ham Fam wishes you all the best in the Pirate King contest.

Warmest regards,

John Ham

Mary lowered the note. "You're willing to serve under my command?"

"Eager to, Captain Read. I asked for this specifically." Effie lifted her chin. "I've been sailing all my life. I was born on the ocean, in fact. And I know everything about the William ."

Mary smiled. Nodded. "You'll be an asset, Ham. Glad to have you with us." Then she called out to the rest of her men, "Heave the anchor!"

All the pirates with her cheered.

Then she headed back to the Ranger , ordered DuPaul and a few other men to help crew the William , and settled herself at the helm.

They had a contest to win.