wasn't, boss,” Nikki agreed. “We looked very closely when dey left de stockade. He's wasn't dere.”

Steele looked at him, then looked back at me and pressed the gun barrel into my throat until I had to twist my neck to keep breathing. “Do you know where they went?”

“No,” I said. “No, I was...somewhere else when they left the stockade.”

“Yeah, some friends you've got there, Balto,” cracked Kaltag. “Left you to fend for your-”

“Quiet!” Steele ordered. He looked hard at me again and growled. “If you weren't with them, then where were you?”

I thought of lying. It would be foolish to tell them the ship was gone, but Mother always disciplined me very firmly to never lie, even if my life depended on it. “Stole the ship,” I said, trying to sound bolder than I felt. “I killed Scroup and sailed the ship somewhere you won't find it.”

There was a moment of silence, and then everyone, including Steele, broke into laughter. “A pup like you killed him?!” asked Kaltag, slumped over my arm in hysterics.

“Nobody could kill him!” giggled Star. “Even Flint himself couldn't kill that wolverine!”

Steele gave me an amused look. “I do love a good sense of humor,” he rumbled. Then he pointed the gun at me again. “But I never did like liars much. I ought to blow your brains out here and now.”

I just glared at him. I knew all I needed to know. If Steele didn't know where the others were, they must be alive. And Jenna wasn't here, which meant that she was safe at least for the moment. “Go ahead,” I said. “I'm not afraid to die.”

His eyes widened a moment, and then he withdrew the gun. “I'd kill you here and now if your friends weren't still on the loose,” he said. “But I never trust a beast that ain't dead, not even my own crew. So you'll be my protection from now on. And if, by some chance, you are telling the truth about my ship, you'll tell us where it is once we catch the rest of your pesky lot. If you don't, I'll kill 'em all one by one until you do.”

“Keel-hauuul!” screeched Flint.

Looking grim, Steele put the gun away and spun on his one leg. “Back to the fort, lads!” he barked sharply. “Tomorrow, we'll go hunting.”

We returned to the stockade, and they proceeded to tie my hands so far behind my back, I thought my arms would break. Then, as if they thought I might slip out of that, they wound several coils of rope around my arms and chest until I couldn't move a muscle between my neck and my waist. I barely had enough room in those ropes to breathe.

“Hold it,” Steele growled, raising a hand. He trumped over to them and took me by a loose end of rope. “Stay here. I'll be back after I have a talk with this wolf. Nikki, shoot anyone who leaves the palisade and anyone who comes near it 'cept for me and our little insurance policy.”

I was confused, and more than a little uneasy, as Steele led me on that leash well away from the stockade. Once we were out of sight in the jungle, he hefted me with surprising strength in one arm and sat me down on a rock. He then proceeded to lean back against a tree and regard me with a forlorn expression on his face. “Sorry about all this, lad,” he said.

I was baffled. “You?” I asked. “You're sorry? You had those pirates kill several fine sailors, you tried to kill us, you're after Jenna, and you tied me up, and now you're sorry?”

“Balto,” he said, his face deeply contrite, “I didn't want any of that. I never even wanted to be a pirate. But I was taken by Flint's crew when I was only your age, and once a pirate joins, he's never allowed to leave. Lord knows I've tried, but if I did, even if I let them think I was getting soft, they'd have gutted us both, you and me, in a heartbeat.”

He sounded so sorry it was hard not to believe him. “What about the badger I saw you murder?”

He hung his head. “A sacrifice, to be sure. But it was me or him, and if I go, there's no one to keep them in line. You saw me try to give your crew mates a chance to get out of this alive.”

He was right. I had seen that, but then... “What about Jenna?” I asked.

He sighed and shook his head. “Lord forgive me the way I've treated her,” he murmured. “My crew mates put me up to that as well, I fear. Oh, they were subtle about it, but I knew if I didn't go after her, they'd finish me off faster than you could say 'knife.'”

“Walk the plank,” squawked Captain Flint from his shoulder, and I think even the bird sounded sad.

Steele then looked up at me, his face like that of a beggar on the brink of starvation pleading for a bowl of stew. “I'm telling you, pup, I don't want this at all. I don't even want Jenna. I'd much rather you have her; I could see well enough you got along when we were on the ship.”

I nodded. It was true, Jenna was a good friend. And a beautiful girl, too. “I'd rather she decide,” I said, as if it made any difference at the moment.

“Well, I'll tell you what,” he said. He tapped his temple with a finger. “This could be the chance for both of us. I've got a way out of this figured, and if we play our cards right, we'll both walk away rich as kings. Your crew mates'll be safe, and the pirates'll be no one's worry anymore. And not only that, but the little lady will be free to choose any chap she wants, no matter what that snub-nosed pa of hers says.”

I could hardly believe it. It was completely ridiculous; he might as well have claimed to be my brother. And yet it made so much sense. What if he really was just a prisoner of the pirates, bound by their lifestyle as I was by their ropes? And anyway, what choice did I have? If he was lying, I'd be dead either way. Better to go along with it for now. “How?” I asked.

“You and me,” he said. “When these swabs have dug up the gold for us, ye tell me where the ship is. To save your friends, o' course. Do it good and loud so ye can be heard a ways off, because I've a feeling your friends are keeping an eye on us. Once the ship is found, I'll order the gold brought aboard and let everyone get drunk. Then you and me will shove 'em off, hail your crew, and be away for England scot-free. What do you say?”

It sounded like a trap to me. If I cooperated with his plan, he could kill me any time he wanted, especially once I told him where the ship was. But as long as I went along with it, I reasoned, I could keep him busy and hopefully buy the others more time. “Alright,” I said, “But as a gesture of trust, do you think you could ease up on the ropes a little?”

He grinned. “Of course, of course. But not just this moment. We've got to keep them convinced that I ain't going soft on ye. But on my oath, I'll do what I can when I can, and ye may lay to that.”

I nodded. It seemed I had no choice.

Whether or not Steele would keep his promise, I wasn't sure. But when we got back to the stockade, we found the other pirates gathered in a bunch. There were five of them, now that I had the presence of mind to notice: Nikki, Kaltag, Star, and two foxes – the brown one we'd had bound up at the fort, and a red one as well. I remembered they'd been so hostile to me on the ship that I'd never learned their names, and by the looks on their faces now, I was worried Steele might not get a chance to keep or break his promise.

“What are ye all staring at?” Steele demanded.

The other pirates seemed to push Nikki forward. He seemed nervous, but he held out a fist with the palm down. Steele extended a hand, and Nikki put something into it. I knew before I saw what it was: the black spot.

“Youse gotten us nowhere,” said Nikki. “Wese coulda just finished dem off on duh ship and had no more trouble, but youse said to wait, and now dey got away. We sent a lookout up duh flagpole, an' he says duh ship ain't nowheres in sight.”

I was getting worried that the pirates would kill Steele, who at least for the moment was the only thing between them and me, but another part of me was relieved I had beached the ship somewhere with lots of tall trees to hide it.

“So wese got no ship, no map, and duh rest uh duh crew is out dere somewhere, all because of youse. Now dere's dis her pup yuh won't let us gut neither. We want George Merry as our captain now,” he pointed to the red fox, who drew himself up proudly, “So if youse don't resign as cap'n now, we'll make yus.”

This last statement was emphasized by the whole crew drawing their knives.

I was terrified, but Steele seemed as calm as anything. He took a piece of dried fruit out of his pocket and fed it to Flint as if the pirates weren't even there. When the bird was done eating, Steele stroked his head and looked back to the crew. “So, that's how ye wants it, eh?” he asked. “Well, here's my answer. Yes, I wouldn't let ye kill those sailors before, and if ye had listened to me like I said, we'd all be right fine, back aboard the Aurora and on the way to more plunder. Remember, lads, it was me that got us here at all, me that found out about