“I’ll say. I’d be in a foul mood, too, if I let one woman get the better of me, let alone two,” said Wibbles, a hulking man with a wide smile and bushy black sideburns and eyebrows.

“Do you mean Anne Bonny and Mary Read? They’re notoriously good fighters. Mr. Jones shouldn’t be ashamed; by everything I’ve read about them, Mr. Jones is lucky to have survived the experience,” said James.

“Well, I wouldn’t bring it up with him,” said Wibbles, looking to see if Rusty was still in earshot.

“Well, he shouldn’t be ashamed. Did you know some of the most formidable pirates are women? Take Grace O’Malley, now she was a bold woman—she requested an audience with Queen Elizabeth, demanding her brother and sons who had been captured be released, and the queen released them. Fancy that!” said James, feeling like he was at last in his element, talking about one of his greatest passions. But the men didn’t seem interested.

“Thank you for the history lesson, Professor,” said the friendliest-looking man in the crew. He had a gold earring, a large sharp nose, and a yellow-and-red-striped shirt. “I’m Skylights, and this here is Bill Jukes, Turk, Mullins, Black Murphy, Starkey, and Damien Salt,” he said, motioning to the assembled men, who gave a grumble in reply.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, gentlemen,” said James, bowing to the men with a tip of his hat and a flourish with his hand that made all the men laugh heartily.

“Good evening, Professor James,” they all said in a mocking tone like petulant schoolchildren.

“That’s enough, men,” said Blackbeard. “Now get to your posts. We’re off to find ourselves the Dreaded Queen!”

Blackbeard’s voice brought James back to the present between taking great gulps from his tankard. “What were you thinking about, James?” he asked, spilling his drink on his long black beard.

“I was just musing about my first days here,” James said, his head still filled with the images the memories had conjured.

“You might go over better with the crew if you stopped using words like musing. Though I must say you’re better company than Rusty Jones,” said Blackbeard, laughing.

“I didn’t expect such fine dining on a pirate ship,” said James, changing the topic.

“And why shouldn’t we eat like kings?” said Blackbeard, pushing his bread into the meat juices and shoving it into his mouth, as James carefully cut his beef into bite-size pieces.

“You’ve become an impressive pirate, James. I knew you would be an asset to my crew. You handled yourself well in our scuffle with the Dreaded Queen,” he said, shoving another generous heap of food into his mouth.

“Thank you, sir,” said James, dabbing the corners of his mouth with his handkerchief.