The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle

The Seahawk has three main decks. The forecastle deck is just behind the bow and forward of a small structure called the forecastle, where the crew—and, later, Charlotte—live. The waists are the ship’s middle deck, where large rowboats called jolly boats are tied down and where the central cargo hatch is located. The quarterdeck lies atop the rear, or stern, of the ship; the wheel is on this deck, as is the captain’s cabin. Charlotte’s cabin is near the captain’s cabin. Beneath the decks are the bowels of the ship, including a large, smelly, dark region called the hold, where freight and equipment are stored. 

Zachariah gives Charlotte a dirk, “a small daggerlike blade hardly more than six inches in length from its white scrimshaw handle, where a star design was cut, to its needle-sharp point” (25). This knife is for her protection, but at first she doesn’t want it, tries to give it back, later offers it to Captain Jaggery, considers tossing it overboard, and finally decides to keep it. When she moves in with the crew, Jaggery finds the dirk beneath Charlotte’s old mattress; he uses it to kill his rebellious first mate Hollybrass, then frames Charlotte for the murder.