Coop nodded.<br/><br/>“Well, there was the problem. She was out of the maze, but still inside the pirate fortress. Melendez knew it. He knew some other things too, ‘cause when Rosalinde pulled his gun on him he just smiled and applauded. She came<em>this</em>close to shooting him for that, but then she remembered she only had one bullet and she better save it.”<br/><br/>He illustrated the point by making a wavering gun finger that dropped, dejected, to his side.<br/><br/>“The question was, where was she going to go? She had escaped from her father and Lord Chumley. Now what? Back then there weren’t many things a single woman could do. Governess to some lord’s rug rats, or paid companion to a dowager duchess, or maybe run a hat shop. None of which Rosalinde was interested in. But Melendez had another idea. See, there was another field women could go into, even in those days.<br/><br/>“He asked if Rosalinde wanted to join his crew. She had shown she had the guts, smarts, independence and treachery to be a pirate. Besides, he was about to be a man short, once they found they guy she had pantsed and kicked him out. And you know what? Rosalinde thought about it for a minute or two, and then she said yes.<br/><br/>“Funny thing was, she realized that escaping from the tower was the most fun she had had in years. This was her chance to strike out on her own, no parents, no husband - maybe the best she would ever get. So that was how she became Red Rosalinde, scourge of the Barbary Coast. And now that she was the Captain’s comrade instead of his prisoner … well …”<br/><br/>Cooper smiled and gave the flower in Sarah’s hair a gentle twirl.<br/><br/>“Her opinion about some other things might have changed too.”