Excerpt:

1 HOW IT ALL BEGAN

Jack Plank was an out-of-work pirate. He’d had a job, and a good job, too, on a lovely ship called the Avarice. But the thing is, Jack wasn’t good at plundering. There’s only one way to plunder: You have to yell and make faces and rattle your sword, and once you’ve got people scared, you take things away from them. That’s what pirates do. But Jack didn’t seem to have a knack for it.

Still, he was used to the life of the open sea, and he was fond of his shipmates, all of whom were just as fond of him, including the quartermaster, Leech, who mostly hated everyone. Even Captain Scudder was fond of him. So he kept his place for a good long time. After a while, though, Captain Scudder told him to stay behind and keep the soup hot while the others were busy plundering, and then, in the evenings, they’d all have supper together and go to sleep happy.

But a hard day came when pirating didn’t pay as well as sometimes, and there wasn’t always soup enough for everyone. So the captain said to Jack, “Plank, old man, hard days do not allow for sentiment. Like it or not, we’re going to have to let you go for we can’t afford to feed any but the plunderers.” And of course Jack could see the sense of this, even if it was a disappointment.

Later that same night, with the Avarice anchored well offshore from an island port called Saltwash, the crew lowered a longboat, and a bunch of them, including the quartermaster, Leech, rowed Jack in to shore – Jack and his little trunk of keepsakes. “We’ll miss you, Jack,” said Leech, holding his voice low so as not to rouse the Saltwash population. “Here’s a goodbye present. We all chipped in.” And Leech handed him a small bag of money – gold florins enough, they hoped, to start him in some new direction. Then they patted him on the back and shoved off in the longboat, leaving him behind. Poor Jack watched them go till they’d reached the Avarice and boarded her, and he watched as she slipped away, silent as a shadow in the moonlight, away and away till there was nothing left to watch except the lift of the waves and now and then a far-off shooting star.

“Well, that’s that, I guess,” said Jack. But he didn’t give in to feeling sorry for himself. Instead, he wrapped up warm in his cloak, stretched out right there on the beach, and managed to go to sleep. And in the morning, with a bright sun climbing the sky to cheer him, he brushed the sand off his clothes, picked up his little trunk, and with his florins in his pocket made his way into town.

The deepest part of the Saltwash harbor was crowded with docks, ships, and sailors, but Jack didn’t pause to watch them working. Instead, he walked about, up and down the streets, looking for a place to live, and settled at last on a boardinghouse that was narrow but tall, and had a window box with bright red flowers and a sign, above the flowers, that said:

ROOMS TO LET
BY THE WEEK, BY THE MONTH
MRS. DELFRESNO, PROPRIETRESS
RING BELL

Jack stepped forward, set down his trunk, and rang the bell. And here came Mrs. DelFresno herself, opening the door to him, a handsome widow, plump and neatly dressed, and she looked at him in the eye and said severely, “Yes?”

Jack bowed to the widow, hat in hand, and introduced himself, explaining that he wished to take a room.

“Well, sir,” said Mrs. DelFresno, “that’s as may be, but it’s plain to see you’re a pirate, so I’m not entirely sure you’ll do.”

“I was a pirate once,” said Jack, “that’s true. But I’ve put the life aside if not the uniform. King George, across the sea in England, is pardoning all of us who give it up. But now I must try a new career, with a nice place to live while I’m trying.”

“Ah!” said Mrs. DelFresno. “That’s different, then. Still, I hardly know…”

Then here came her daughter, Nina, sharp and smart and eleven years old, and she studied Jack from the doorway. “I like him, Mama,” she said at last to her mother. “Let’s take him in.”

“Well, perhaps,” said Mrs. DelFresno, frowning at Jack. “But tell me, Mr. Plank, how will you get along with my other boarders? Old Miss Withers and her uncle? They’ve been here now for many months, and I must consider their welfare.”

“Consider away,” said Jack, “and I’ll consider with you. That’s only fair. But I like the company of others, ma’am, and always did. There won’t be any problems, that I promise.”

At this, Mrs. DelFresno made up her mind. “Very well, Mr. Plank,” she said. “We’ll try you out, and if, in a week or so, you’ve found steady work and proved yourself fit, you may stay as long as you wish. One gold florin a day, please, and dinner is at seven.”

And Nina said “I’ll help you find the perfect job, Mr. Plank. I can show you around and introduce you, for everyone knows Mama here in Saltwash, and just as many know me.”

“My dear,” said Jack, “you are very, very kind.”

So they all shook hands, the widow and Nina and Jack, and Jack was introduced to old Miss Withers and her uncle and they all shook hands again. Then Jack moved into a pleasant room at the top of the house, where there was one big window looking out to the open sea, and that’s how his new life began.

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