DISCLAIMER - I do not own Pirates of the Caribbean or any of the
characters from that movie. I don't think I would be able to handle it if I
did, so perhaps that's for the best. *evil smirk*
A/N - This is my first POTC fic and to tell you the truth I'm not sure of where it's going, sooo...review and let me know if it's worth it or not. Yay or nay. Simple as that.
The streets of Tortuga were never quiet, even in the wee hours just before dawn. As the man strode down a side street, his boots echoing on the cobblestones he could hear drunken laughter, yelling, and music spilling out from the main square behind him. Hitching his belt higher up on his slim waist he cast about with eyes hidden in the dim light.
The small house he was looking for was set back almost on the outskirts of the town. It gleamed dimly in the moonlight and he was taken aback to see that it had a fresh coat of whitewash staining its pitted outer walls. A small window with wooden shutters next to a crude wooden door was hardly inviting. But the light pooling through the cracks in the wood let him know that whoever lived inside was still awake. Taking a moment, he straightened his effects and then rapped sharply on the door.
Removing his tri-cornered leather hat, he swept low in an elegant bow as the door was opened slowly to reveal a tall woman holding a rifle in the crook of her elbow. Lifting his head, he gave her a roguish grin his golden teeth glinting in the firelight.
"'Ullo love, how've you been?" The woman's lean face immediately relaxed and she gave the slender man a fond smile before stepping aside slightly.
"Well if it isn't Jack Sparrow, after all this time. Do come in Captain." Jack gave her a nonchalant grin and sauntered inside her home.
"Thank you Sally, you always were one of the few to call me by my title. Good lass for rememberin'." Sally rolled her sapphire colored eyes behind his back as he slumped into a crudely built wooden chair. Jack's voice was as always gruff and a trifle unsteady as if he had spent all day consuming his favorite beverage, rum.
He hadn't changed in the year since she'd last seen him, although she knew he would have stories to tell. He always did that one. He was still lean, his skin browned by the sun. He was garbed in traditional pirate clothes, his hair and even goatee adorned with carved wooden beads. A red bandanna was tied around his head and that too had a decoration attached to it. His clothing was drab for a pirate, all dark colors and rather dirty. But although Jack would seem it, he wasn't one for garish colors and fabrics.
Jack settled into the chair and watched Sally flit about the fireplace, stirring a small black cauldron that had stew bubbling in it. She had grown even thinner than the last time he had seen her if that were possible. Her dim blonde hair was tied behind her neck in a knot, and her dress was a dark blue homespun. Tired eyes looked at him occasionally as she set about making dinner.
Jack's dark eyes swept around the one-roomed cottage, past the curtain that hid her bed, past the spinning wheel in the corner to alight on a cradle that squatted near the fireplace. His eyes widening, he leaned forward and paused Sally in her work by laying a hand on her sleeve.
"What's this then?" he asked thickly. Sally wasn't naught to him but a dear friend, so he had no claim on her body or heart, nor did he wish to have one. But he was rather taken aback that she hadn't mentioned being with child the last time he had seen her. Sally sat down heavily at his side and heaved a sigh.
"You remember Hester don't you?" Jack nodded silently, remembering Sally's younger sister. The three had grown up together before Jack had stowed away on a pirate ship and started out his newfound life. Hester had been a fairy of a girl, a true free spirit. He had almost been tempted to bring her along with him, but he hadn't been altogether too sure how a pirate crew would treat a young girl, under the protection of a boy not old enough to shave.
"She showed up on my doorstep a week or so after you left the last time, bringing along two poppets in tow. The infant is almost old enough to toddle, and the other is abed over yonder." Her head nodded towards the curtain where her bed lay. Jack rose and looked in to see a small boy of about three years of age sleeping peacefully, his blonde hair brighter than Sally's and mussed with sleep. A deep, hacking cough made him turn around to regard Sally again, as she struggled to breathe.
She took a sip out of a pewter mug and inhaled painfully, pressing a hand against her collarbone to help ease some of the pressure. He knew then that she was very ill and wondered why he hadn't noticed it before. The dim light in the small hovel probably had hid her flushed cheeks but he should have noticed the glassy eyes that commonly went along with a fever.
"Do ye have any money? You don't seem well, Sally love." The woman would have laughed if she didn't think it would start up her coughing again. Truth be told, she was out of what little money she earned weekly as a seamstress, patching up whore's and pirate's clothing as they so wished. Her cough hadn't gotten better and blood came up with each racking explosion now. She knew that it wouldn't be long before the cough took her over. Her eyes wandered across towards where her sister's son slept in her bed and the baby lay in the cradle by her feet.
"I'm dying Jack." Jack's face tightened momentarily before he stroked his beard and made a face, anger crossing his handsome features. Sputtering ineffectively to hide his emotions, he took a pewter mug she handed him and gulped down the cheap rum.
"You have two wee ones to take care of now, Sally. You'll not be leaving this world anytime soon, savvy?" Sally looked at him again fondness tinting her eyes as she placed a work-worn hand on his arm.
"I am leaving this world Jack and sooner than ye may think. Wee ones or no, death doesn't have feelings and strikes where it would no questions asked. I must ask you to take the children and find them a home when I go." Jack's eyes shot upwards to meet hers and she almost chuckled at the incredulousness in them.
"I don't think I heard you quite right, love." He wiggled a finger in one of his ears as if cleaning it out and cocked his head towards her, squinting his eyes in mock determination.
"What was that you said again?"
"You heard me, Jack Sparrow. Now do we have an accord? It's my dying wish and you're the only one to help me."
"And where be there mother then?" Sally's eyes grew distant and Jack knew before she answered that Hester had passed on from this world. When Sally confirmed it by saying as such, Jack gave a defeated sigh.
"This is ME you're asking to leave the life of two innocent babes in the hands of; you do realize this don't you?" Sally's laughter echoed softly throughout the room and she clasped Jack's hands in her own.
"Aye and I couldn't think of a more worthy person than ye, Captain." Jack swore under his breath, a stream of curses that would make even the most sea-worthy pirate's beard curl and ears turn red. Sally didn't blink an eye, waiting for him to finish.
"Fine," he said sulkily crossing his arms and averting his kohl-lined eyes away from her face. He muttered the rest and she squeezed his hands tightly before he glowered at her.
"Fine, I'll find them a home," he managed to say at last audibly. Sally relaxed and felt her whole body unclench its muscles. She hadn't been sure that he would agree, but now that he had she felt a weight lifted off of her shoulders. Jack hunched forward slightly as her responsibility settled around his own shoulders like an iron mantle.
What in the bloody Hell had he just gotten himself into?
A/N - This is my first POTC fic and to tell you the truth I'm not sure of where it's going, sooo...review and let me know if it's worth it or not. Yay or nay. Simple as that.
The streets of Tortuga were never quiet, even in the wee hours just before dawn. As the man strode down a side street, his boots echoing on the cobblestones he could hear drunken laughter, yelling, and music spilling out from the main square behind him. Hitching his belt higher up on his slim waist he cast about with eyes hidden in the dim light.
The small house he was looking for was set back almost on the outskirts of the town. It gleamed dimly in the moonlight and he was taken aback to see that it had a fresh coat of whitewash staining its pitted outer walls. A small window with wooden shutters next to a crude wooden door was hardly inviting. But the light pooling through the cracks in the wood let him know that whoever lived inside was still awake. Taking a moment, he straightened his effects and then rapped sharply on the door.
Removing his tri-cornered leather hat, he swept low in an elegant bow as the door was opened slowly to reveal a tall woman holding a rifle in the crook of her elbow. Lifting his head, he gave her a roguish grin his golden teeth glinting in the firelight.
"'Ullo love, how've you been?" The woman's lean face immediately relaxed and she gave the slender man a fond smile before stepping aside slightly.
"Well if it isn't Jack Sparrow, after all this time. Do come in Captain." Jack gave her a nonchalant grin and sauntered inside her home.
"Thank you Sally, you always were one of the few to call me by my title. Good lass for rememberin'." Sally rolled her sapphire colored eyes behind his back as he slumped into a crudely built wooden chair. Jack's voice was as always gruff and a trifle unsteady as if he had spent all day consuming his favorite beverage, rum.
He hadn't changed in the year since she'd last seen him, although she knew he would have stories to tell. He always did that one. He was still lean, his skin browned by the sun. He was garbed in traditional pirate clothes, his hair and even goatee adorned with carved wooden beads. A red bandanna was tied around his head and that too had a decoration attached to it. His clothing was drab for a pirate, all dark colors and rather dirty. But although Jack would seem it, he wasn't one for garish colors and fabrics.
Jack settled into the chair and watched Sally flit about the fireplace, stirring a small black cauldron that had stew bubbling in it. She had grown even thinner than the last time he had seen her if that were possible. Her dim blonde hair was tied behind her neck in a knot, and her dress was a dark blue homespun. Tired eyes looked at him occasionally as she set about making dinner.
Jack's dark eyes swept around the one-roomed cottage, past the curtain that hid her bed, past the spinning wheel in the corner to alight on a cradle that squatted near the fireplace. His eyes widening, he leaned forward and paused Sally in her work by laying a hand on her sleeve.
"What's this then?" he asked thickly. Sally wasn't naught to him but a dear friend, so he had no claim on her body or heart, nor did he wish to have one. But he was rather taken aback that she hadn't mentioned being with child the last time he had seen her. Sally sat down heavily at his side and heaved a sigh.
"You remember Hester don't you?" Jack nodded silently, remembering Sally's younger sister. The three had grown up together before Jack had stowed away on a pirate ship and started out his newfound life. Hester had been a fairy of a girl, a true free spirit. He had almost been tempted to bring her along with him, but he hadn't been altogether too sure how a pirate crew would treat a young girl, under the protection of a boy not old enough to shave.
"She showed up on my doorstep a week or so after you left the last time, bringing along two poppets in tow. The infant is almost old enough to toddle, and the other is abed over yonder." Her head nodded towards the curtain where her bed lay. Jack rose and looked in to see a small boy of about three years of age sleeping peacefully, his blonde hair brighter than Sally's and mussed with sleep. A deep, hacking cough made him turn around to regard Sally again, as she struggled to breathe.
She took a sip out of a pewter mug and inhaled painfully, pressing a hand against her collarbone to help ease some of the pressure. He knew then that she was very ill and wondered why he hadn't noticed it before. The dim light in the small hovel probably had hid her flushed cheeks but he should have noticed the glassy eyes that commonly went along with a fever.
"Do ye have any money? You don't seem well, Sally love." The woman would have laughed if she didn't think it would start up her coughing again. Truth be told, she was out of what little money she earned weekly as a seamstress, patching up whore's and pirate's clothing as they so wished. Her cough hadn't gotten better and blood came up with each racking explosion now. She knew that it wouldn't be long before the cough took her over. Her eyes wandered across towards where her sister's son slept in her bed and the baby lay in the cradle by her feet.
"I'm dying Jack." Jack's face tightened momentarily before he stroked his beard and made a face, anger crossing his handsome features. Sputtering ineffectively to hide his emotions, he took a pewter mug she handed him and gulped down the cheap rum.
"You have two wee ones to take care of now, Sally. You'll not be leaving this world anytime soon, savvy?" Sally looked at him again fondness tinting her eyes as she placed a work-worn hand on his arm.
"I am leaving this world Jack and sooner than ye may think. Wee ones or no, death doesn't have feelings and strikes where it would no questions asked. I must ask you to take the children and find them a home when I go." Jack's eyes shot upwards to meet hers and she almost chuckled at the incredulousness in them.
"I don't think I heard you quite right, love." He wiggled a finger in one of his ears as if cleaning it out and cocked his head towards her, squinting his eyes in mock determination.
"What was that you said again?"
"You heard me, Jack Sparrow. Now do we have an accord? It's my dying wish and you're the only one to help me."
"And where be there mother then?" Sally's eyes grew distant and Jack knew before she answered that Hester had passed on from this world. When Sally confirmed it by saying as such, Jack gave a defeated sigh.
"This is ME you're asking to leave the life of two innocent babes in the hands of; you do realize this don't you?" Sally's laughter echoed softly throughout the room and she clasped Jack's hands in her own.
"Aye and I couldn't think of a more worthy person than ye, Captain." Jack swore under his breath, a stream of curses that would make even the most sea-worthy pirate's beard curl and ears turn red. Sally didn't blink an eye, waiting for him to finish.
"Fine," he said sulkily crossing his arms and averting his kohl-lined eyes away from her face. He muttered the rest and she squeezed his hands tightly before he glowered at her.
"Fine, I'll find them a home," he managed to say at last audibly. Sally relaxed and felt her whole body unclench its muscles. She hadn't been sure that he would agree, but now that he had she felt a weight lifted off of her shoulders. Jack hunched forward slightly as her responsibility settled around his own shoulders like an iron mantle.
What in the bloody Hell had he just gotten himself into?