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grinned crookedly and turned with a flourish of his red coat.
    Jack shuddered. The truth was, he would much rather do battle with King Samuel, or even face the Shadow Lord all by himself, then go home with Teague to have dinner with his grandmother.
    But he had no choice. Lifting his chin, he led his motley crew through the crowd as the Libertalia pirates parted respectfully for Captain Teague.
    He just hoped they wouldn’t be serving that disgusting cod soup he remembered from his childhood.

C HAPTER F OUR
    C aptain Teague lived in the largest house in Libertalia—a three-story mansion built of mahogany and other strong jungle woods. The polished dark brown walls and bronze accents gleamed in the long rays of the sunset. Jack eyed the windows suspiciously as he approached. He was sure there were family members lurking behind each of them, watching him walk up with his crew and probably planning something sinister.
    One family member wasn’t bothering to hide. She sat in an ebony rocking chair on the large veranda that ran around the front of the house. Her sharp black eyes glared out from a spiderweb of deep wrinkles. The chair went thump- thump on the boards of the veranda as she rocked vigorously back and forth. A bright red bandanna covered her thick gray curls, and Jack knew that the false teeth she wore included two of gold and one with a small ruby set in it. As a child, that ruby had given him nightmares. To him, it always looked as if she had a spot of blood on her teeth, left there after she ate her enemies.
    “Grandmama,” Jack said, lifting his hat to her at the foot of the porch stairs. “Looking well as always. Better than I expected. Rather surprised to see you still alive, in fact.”
    His grandmother snorted. “Not as surprised as I am to see you still alive,” she snapped. “You must be as lucky as you are stupid.”
    Barbossa snickered, then quickly put on a bland expression when Jack turned to glare at him.
    Grandmama’s voice was as strong and husky as ever. She had been eighty-two when Jack left home as a teenager. Several years had passed since then, and she didn’t look a day older. Jack’s eyes went to the wrinkled hands that clutched her gleaming wooden cane. He knew from painful experience that there was a very sharp sword hidden inside that cane, not to mention the daggers she kept tucked away in various pockets of her attire.
    “Why don’t you introduce us to your crew?” Teague interceded smoothly.
    “Right,” Jack said. “This is my first mate, Hector Barbossa—bit of an odd duck. Has a thing for feathers, as you can see. Don’t mind the dreadful hat.”
    “I can hear you,” Barbossa growled at him.
    “I quite like the hat,” Grandmama said, giving Barbossa a suggestive smile. He squinted off at the setting sun, pretending not to notice.
    “Jean Magliore, my Creole friend from my Barnacle days,” Jack went on, waving his hand at the redheaded sailor. “His cousin Marcella, and our star-crossed lovers, Diego de Leon and Princess Carolina of Spain. I, of course, am the captain. Everyone may address me as Captain Jack.”
    “Very impressive, Jackie,” Teague said, and Jack frowned at him. Carolina and Diego both turned red and avoided each other’s eyes.
    “HEY,” Marcella said loudly. “I’m a star-crossed lover, too! It’s me and Diego, not him and Carolina! Get your facts straight, Sparrow!”
    Grandmama’s eyebrows went up, and her chair thumped faster on the porch floorboards. “You let your crew talk to you like that?” she sneered at Jack.
    “I’m not part of his crew!” Marcella shouted before Jack could answer. She tossed her lanky blond hair back. “I’m not a pirate! I’m a lady! A—an honored guest! Taken against my will!”
    Carolina rolled her eyes, and Grandmama chuckled in a faintly sinister way. “That is how we get most of our honored guests,” the old lady mused.
    “Shall we go in to supper?” Teague suggested. He held the door