Dashiel's eyes shot open and she swiftly sat up in bed. An unfamiliar noise had disturbed her usual peaceful sleep. Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted a pair of hefty, brown sea boots vanish around the leg of her bed. She began to call out when a rough and callouses hand covered her mouth. Another hand firmly clamped her right arm to the bed.

Dashiel fought to break free of the iron grip, but when she saw the face of her captor, she stopped. It was her long time friend, Sebastian.
"Sebastian, what in the- " she stopped when he put a finger to his lips. Heavy footsteps sounded in the downstairs part of the house and the ladder to Dashiel's loft shuddered. Sebastian pulled on Dashiel's arm and hustled her to the open window. Sebastian lept out onto an immense haystack beside the house. He recollected himself speedily and stretched his arms out to Dashiel. She gathered herself to jump when a shout from behind her caused her to turn as she hurled herself from the sill.
When Dashiel landed in the haystack, she saw a hateful group of faces staring at her through the window. But she didn't have a minute to spare. Sebastian seized her hand and began to sprint down the street toward the docks.
Yelling, shouting, and the sound of running feet followed behind them through the town. Dashiel turned her head and saw six pirates chasing at a fairly close distance.
"What do we do?" she cried breathlessly to Sebastian, who hadn't said a word through the entire ordeal.
Still quiet, Sebastian ran to the end of the dock and jumped into the cold water. Dashiel unwillingly plunged in behind him. On either side of the dock were two ships, one bulky black one and another, smaller blue one. The dark ship towered considerably over the blue one.
Dashiel observed this as she swam behind Sebastian to the other side of the black ship. The pursuers had momentarily lost track of the two runaways.
On the other side of the ship, there sat a ladder leading up to the main deck. Swiftly, Sebastian and Dashiel clambered up the wooden rungs.
On board, Sebastian led Dashiel behind a barrel to hide. The pirates ran heavily onto the ship. Dashiel drew a sharp breath. One of the men barked out orders
"Search the ship!" he yelled. "Don't stop until you find the girl!"
Dashiel whipped around and stared at Sebastian. He motioned again for her to stay silent.
One of the searchers had strayed rather close to the barrel. Dashiel could barely breathe. Then suddenly, out of nowhere, Sebastian turned and dove over the side. Without thinking, Dashiel stupidly stood and cried out,
"Sebastian, wait!"
The pirate snatched her arm and called out to his comrades.
"Here she is!" he gloated. "I found her!"