Kaleb nodded. He was in tremendous internal conflict, his emotions oscillating between anger, fear, and an absolute amount of helplessness. If it weren't for the fact that he was counting on you, he couldn't have made any decision at this moment.

The pirates laughed and two of them jerked him up off the ground.

-It seems we have a new cabin boy -said the captain with a mocking tone-. Your name, boy, what is it? -the captain ordered.

-K-Kaleb -he said hesitantly.

The captain frowned, and the pirates holding Kaleb yanked him to the ground again.

-Now Captain Fuego is also your captain, so show respect, you little worm bastard -said one of the pirates who was near the captain.

-Get to work, young Kaleb -said the captain.

-Y-yes, captain -said Kaleb with a mix of anger and fear.

So Kaleb was recruited as part of the scarlet crew. His first task was to scrub the deck. So they gave him a brush, a bucket of water and based on bad manners and physical pain incentives, they put him to work.

The boy scrubbed the wood, it seemed that his body was working on automatic pilot. He couldn't stop thinking about Nango, the huachi, and especially Tabet. In addition to the fact that he kept thinking about how he had ended up in all this since that thing imprisoned him inside the book. It really was hell.

Suddenly his trance was broken by another pirate scrubbing the floor very close to him, who was calling to Kaleb in a whisper, not wanting to be seen.

-Psst, hey! You, new guy -he whispered.

Kaleb turned to look at him. The pirate who spoke to him was a little different from the rest, this one thin, his brown skin was darker in the parts that his outfit left visible to the sun. He was wearing a small hat, a waistcoat that reached to his ribs, and an old shirt that obviously didn't fit him. His face seemed that of a hyperactive person, he had wide-open eyes and made many faces; besides, his beard was very thin, if that's what you could call it. He had a few hairs on his chin, but that was it.

-Don't look at me too much, keep chipping away and listen -the pirate told him.

Kaleb looked down.

-You're not from around here, are you? -asked the pirate-. My name is Jonathan, but they call me Ratchet.

-What do you want? -Kaleb repeated, annoyed.

-You don't know where you are, do you? -asked Ratchet with a smirk.

-It's the pirate ship that hunts the huachis -Kaleb said. His voice cracked a little.

-Yes, but you don't know the whole story -he said-. Look, I saw you when you arrived. You obviously didn't want to be a pirate. You want to get out of here like many of us.

Kaleb looked at him, puzzled. In his mind he wondered if he had been imprisoned by Black Hat as well.

-Look for me at night in the cabins, I'll tell you more -that was the last thing Ratchet said to him for the rest of the day, which was full of forced labor for the boy.