Johnny kept listening to them for a while. He felt as if he had come back to the day he had unintentionally listened to the meeting between Avery and Bartolomeu. He could remember his excitement, anxiety and fear. He was feeling like that evening again, but in a different way: because it was different this time, oh yes, very, very different.
As he was feeling a determination he had never felt before rising inside himself, he heard Teach taking his leave of the first mate. Then the door began to open. He was caught by anxiety for a short moment, but he was able to hold it back and replace it by courage. A simple and mere courage, generated by that same determination.
He cast a glance at the painting, unsure whether to hide or stay there and face the captain. He had to tell him the truth a
