Pirates of the Caribbean, The Story of Maxine

by Witchy Pirate

This is the childhood story of a girl that I made up, she is Norrington's daughter and Jack Sparrow's wife later on. I have written about two stories with her in them with Akhet Masters and Irish Parselmouth! Coming along great girls!

1. Young Life

A young girl, about the age of five, was sailing from England to Port Royal, Jamaica to deliver the Governor and his daughter. With red hair, hazel eyes fancy dresses that were rarely worn, and a fierce, stubborn attitude, this girl was known as Maxine Anne Norrington.
Being the daughter of Lieutenant James Ardal Norrington, and with no mother, she was forced to move with her father. He had been given the order to protect Governor Weatherby Swan and his daughter, Elizabeth Swann on their journey to Port Royal.
Over the years, Maxine had made it clear that her full name did not suit her likings, it was called far too many times. Nor did she like wearing dresses. She much preferred to be called Max and to wear a common boys clothing, much more comfortable.
The Norrington▓s mid-wife maid, Rozia, tried frantically to keep the girl in the cream colored dress she had been barely able to get on.
⌠I don▓t want it!■ Max screamed, her young British accent was placed in a high pitched voice. The girl tossed her body around trying to get out of the strong grasps of the woman holding her. Rozia had become accustom to her behavior.
⌠But your father put so much effort into buying you this pretty dress┘■ she lied finishing with the fastening of the back. She pinned the girl▓s hair up the best she could with her fit.
⌠It▓s not pretty┘I don▓t like it┘take it off!■ Max yelled. She jumped from the seat and stood in front of the mirror, staring at her reflection, she made a look of disgust. ⌠I▓m a pirate┘not a lady!■ Max mumbled quietly and ruffled the skirt. It was hard for her to believe that James, her father, had spent too much time to pick out the dress.
Lately he had been so busy with pirates and such that it seemed there wasn▓t much time left for her. Countless time, Max had watched him sail away without her. Now, if it wasn▓t pirates, it was the new Governor. It was his fault they were moving┘again. If pirates got his attention┘than a pirate she would be! As if to answer her thoughts, Rozia spoke.
⌠The Lieutenant would have a fit if he heard you talking like that┘being a pirate and all.■ In her thoughts Max replied, ▒What else is new?▓ but before she was able to speak, she was interrupted. ⌠He is having dinner with the Governor this evening.■ Rozia told her. ⌠Again!?■ she turned around quickly. ⌠But he promised!■ Max told her, hurt.
⌠Yes, again,■ Rozia replied softly. ⌠But he remembered his promise┘you, and Elizabeth, are welcome to join them.■ Max only half listened, she didn▓t want to be with the Governor, nor with his daughter. The only thing the two girls had in common was that they both thought pirates interesting.
When Rozia finished tidying her up after she had half-heartedly given up the fight, she walked slowly out the door. On the deck, voices echoed across the ship and a strange glow turned the fog orange.
Max walked towards the other side of the ship and looked over the railing. The smell of smoked came to her as she saw the source, a fire, out on the water. Pieces of a ship floated ablaze beside their ship. A small boat left the Dauntless and rowed towards the wreckage, no doubt looking for any survivors.
More voices came through the mixture of smoke and fog beside her. Max walked towards the voices and found the men that were talking. She moved over and stood beside her father. A man she knew as Joshamee Gibbs spoke, ⌠Everyone▓s thinking it, I▓m just saying it┘pirates!■ Gibbs took a drink out of the canteen he always had with him.
Half excited, Max looked up at her father for confirmation. James Norrington just put his hand on her shoulder as if to calm her non-existent fears, and pulled her closer to him so that her shoulder was pressed against his though. Max smiled looking back to the men.
⌠Now┘there▓s no proof of that┘■ Swann▓s voice replied shakily. ⌠It was probably just an accident.■ Max had the feeling he only said so either because he was in denial of the evidence, or because herself and Elizabeth were present. The small boat returned to the ship with the same amount of familiar sailor. ⌠Has no one been found then?■ Max asked looking up to her father. ⌠A young boy was found earlier┘■ James replied leading her across the deck towards where Elizabeth stood not facing them. ⌠Has he said anything?■ Norrington▓s voice sounded loud as it cut through the still air.
Elizabeth jumped and faced them quickly, her hands folded neatly behind her back. ⌠His name is William Turner┘■ she answered quickly, ⌠That▓s what I found out.■ Norrington nodded ad motioned to a few men, ⌠Take him below.■ He turned back to Max, a hand on each shoulder as he bent down and looked into the eyes that mirrored his. ⌠I want you to accompany Elizabeth in taking care of the boy, alright?■ ⌠Aye, sir!■ she told him with a quick salute. With that, Norrington smiled and kissed her forehead. ⌠Go on then.■ he stood up straight and tapped her back as she ran passed him. ⌠I▓ll see you at dinner.■ ⌠Oh, and girls┘■ Max turned back around to face him as Elizabeth looked up again. ⌠You both look very nice this afternoon.■ he smiled giving them a small bow. Elizabeth smiled back and curtsied sweetly in reply. Max on the other hand stuck out her tongue but returned the smile before he turned away. This made him and a few of the crew members chuckle as she herself turned away from them.
⌠You▓ve got a wild one on your hands, Lieutenant.■ one said, the others nodded.
Norrington looked back to her, she was talking to Elizabeth. ⌠She certainly is a lot like her mother.■ Both in looks and personality. Max didn▓t look much like her father at all, except for her grayish hazel eyes that looked exactly like his. Nothing else resembled visibly that the two were even related.
She didn▓t think they were anything alike personality wise. Max thought it would be exciting to meet a pirate. James thought it blessed to never encounter with one. A lot of things he though too dangerous for her, she would have loved to be able to do. ⌠A lot like her mother indeed.■ another sailor agreed. They didn▓t know her mother at all r not very well, but could see that she wasn▓t all that similar to her father.
⌠I just hope that she doesn▓t end up the same┘■ Norrington continued. ⌠But she▓ll settle down┘eventually┘■ and added in his thoughts, ▒I hope┘▓ Max felt the eyes on her and looked over towards them. Before she could say or do anything, she felt someone tap her shoulder. She turned back to Elizabeth and followed her gaze out towards the sea.
The two of them stared out through the fog and something appeared before them. The dark figure took the rough outline of yet another ship!
This ship was different from the other two. It had black sails instead of white, and they were reduced to tatters. The wood was rotting away like it was no less than a hundred years old. But the curious thing, was that it wasn▓t just able to stay afloat, but also sail faster than the ship they were on, the HMS Dauntless.
However curious, it was the flag that was most eye catching. Unlike the other two ships, this one was not flying English colors. Instead this flag had a black background, two crossing, white swords, and a skull in the middle. The two girls looked at each other at the same time. Each one with wide eyes and excited faces, both thinking the same thing: ⌠Pirates!■ Norrington glanced back to the two of them to see exactly what they were doing. It had been a while since he had heard anything from any of them. If Elizabeth was anything like Mac, it would be trouble, double trouble.
To his astonishment, they were just standing there looking to the sea. He himself looked over in the direction there were staring. He didn▓t see anything, the ship had vanished in the fog.
That night, as the four of them ate, joined by the captain, of course, Max glared at Elizabeth sitting across from her. She was hiding something from all of them and Max wanted to know exactly what it was.
Their silent fight was interrupted by a sudden question. ⌠What was it that you two were looking at earlier, on the sea?■ Before Max could come up with anything to say, Elizabeth spoke, ⌠There was a ship, in the fog. Looked like a pirate ship to me, right Max?■ she smiled.
The three adults looked at her as well as she slowly nodded, giving Elizabeth a kick to the shin.
⌠What? You two saw a pirate ship and didn▓t ell anyone! Max, I know you knew to tell someone. Did it not occur to the two of you that the same thing that happened to the boy▓s ship could have happened to ours as well!?■ Max looked at her father with a smile.
⌠A ship in the fog┘made out of fog, dad.■ she lied quickly with a smile. She knew what fate awaited the pirates if they were caught, a hanging no doubt. Elizabeth looked at her the same as her father, with an apologetic look. ⌠My apologies, Max,■ her father told her softer. ⌠I assumed you meant a real ship, do you forgive me?■ he asked the two of them.
Max felt that she had no choice but to accept the apology. He had just said he was sorry for her unknowingly knowing the truth, and she had lied to him. She smiled and nodded for an answer.
Elizabeth nodded as well, she knew the reason Max had lied, and half of her was glad she did. But what the Lieutenant had said stuck in her mind, as it did Max▓s. Max waved her bangs from her face and looked down the table to her father. ⌠When are you planning for us to head back to England?■ James stopped eating and looked at her. ⌠We haven▓t even gotten there, Max.■ he smiled trying to soften the blow to her. He sighed, ⌠It▓s difficult to say, really.■ he began. ⌠We▓ll have to see how bad Port Royal has gotten.■ Max figured that this was his way to tell her that it would be a very long time.
Upon arrival on the shores of Port Royal, they were able to see just how venerable it really was. As far as each of them could see, the place had no police of any kind, nor restraints. The soldiers that were stationed in the fort seemed as undisciplined as pirates, whom would come ashore to take over the place, night after night.
Prominent on the waterfront, there was a rude gallows, and from the yardarm of these gallows, the remains of bodies hung, ▒dancing in Port Royal sunshine.▓ These pirates only suffered this fate from attacking the wrong ship at the wrong time. Beside the carcasses, hung a sign that read, ▒Pirates Ye Be Warned.▓ Max looked at her father as if to say, ▒You▓ve got to be kidding me!▓ Port Royal sure had left a remembered first impression. Already Max was sure that she wasn▓t going to enjoy her stay at this town.
Max woke with a knock at the door of her room. She buried her face in her pillow and pulled the covers over her head. The knock came again, louder this time. ⌠Come in┘■ she mumbled into her pillow. The door opened a crack as Rozia stuck her head in the room.
⌠Get out of bed!■ she went over to the window and pulled apart the curtain and opening one of the windows.
Max ignored her with the covers over her head. But that only sheltered her from the morning sun for a few minutes before the covers were ripped away from her. ⌠Your fathers promotion ceremony is today┘■ Rozia told her. Max shielded her eyes from the light. She stood up and walked to the window. The breeze carried the smell and moisture of the Caribbean Sea to her window.
Even after eight years, Max couldn▓t find mush she liked about the town, Port Royal. Apart from the view, there wasn▓t much to like. There were hardly any children around, partly because the pirate attacks, and with not many children, it didn▓t make sense to build something to play on.
That left them running around the town, causing trouble, or playing around the docks. Civilians weren▓t allowed on the docks today, but no doubt one will try.
Max occasionally snuck down to the blacksmith▓s shop when the owner, Mr. Brown was out. Will had gotten a job there and made some of the best swords Max had ever seen. One of her favorite swords was the small sword with gold filigreed in the handle. William had worked hard on that sword, and it was by far the best looking one in the shop, not to mention impressively styled and formed. Knowing that she had liked the sword so much, Will had recommended that one to the Governor for Captain Norrington▓s promotion today. He agreed, impressed by the sword himself.
Max▓s wandering mind was pulled back into the room when Rozia spoke again. ⌠Come on, let▓s get you into the dress.■ Although she had grown to become thirteen, Max still didn▓t much like wearing the dresses she was given. She did, however, get used to them and didn▓t argue so much anymore about it.
With a sigh, Max walked back across the room towards Rozia. ⌠I don▓t see the purpose of these ceremonies. They are all the same and you just stand there. Then I have to listen to all the women talk about my father, how great he is, that he is such a fine man┘■ ⌠Enough fuss, Maxine!■ Rozia told her pulling the strings on the back of her dress. She was nice enough to not pull them as tight so that she couldn▓t breathe at all, but it was still difficult.
⌠The only reason I am going is to see his reaction to the sword when it is appointed to him.■ Max continued. ⌠I helped with is myself!■ she paused. ⌠Well, actually, I stood and watched, but I was sure to point out that I liked that one and it should be used in the ceremony.■ ⌠Is that so?■ Rozia asked back distracted by her own wandering thoughts. She concentrated on removing the tangled knots from Max▓s hair and pinning it up, thinking of almost everything. Then catching the last part of the girl▓s story, she smiled. Rozia was brought completely back to reality with a knock at the door. The maid opened the door slowly to find Gillette standing on the other side of it.
⌠Good afternoon,■ he gave a quick bow to Max and she returned it with a small, reluctant curtsy. ⌠I am here to deliver a message,■ he continued. ⌠Once you are ready to leave, you are to go to the Governor▓s house. Your father has already gone.■ Max looked away from him as she was informed that her father had already gone. ⌠Thank you, Gillette.■ she smiled to him. He bowed again and prepared to leave the room when Max spoke again. ⌠Wait, Gillette, would you care to escort me to the Governor▓s then?■ she asked standing up.
⌠Certainly, Miss,■ he smiled holding out his arm to her. Looping her arm with his, she gave Rozia a polite nod of a good bye before leaving then room and descending the stairs to the large room below.
⌠If you excuse me for one moment, Miss┘I shall need a word with the guards.■ Gillette smiled before leaving her.
Max watched his disappear around the corner of her house and into the hallway as she stood. A few men passed her and bowed their heads to her and she did the same to them. Max had grown accustom to seeing a few Navy officers in her house, but never this many of them.
It seemed to repeat the theory, that because there was a ceremony and the town would be close to empty and most members of the Navy at the ceremony, that the promoting officers house needed to be guarded more.
Max looked out the door, down the street for a while before she heard footsteps, followed by a man▓s voice. ⌠Sorry about that┘shall we?■ She turned to see Gillette offering his arm once more to her. She took it once again and they stepped out of the house. Instead of walking as Max had in mind, they got into a silver horse-drawn carriage.
⌠You▓re looking beautiful this evening, Miss.■ Gillette told her as the horses began the journey down the road. The Governor▓s house wasn▓t far, but it wasn▓t near either, a fair distance lay between the two.
Max smiled to the compliment, ⌠As are you, the uniform looks great for you.■ she looked him over again. ⌠I wouldn▓t mind at all if you just call me Max though.■ she smiled again. He looked to her strangely. ⌠Max?■ he asked with a small smile. ⌠I guess I can do that┘Max.■ After a few minutes, the carriage slowed and the trotting stopped. The door was opened by a man outside, the driver of the carriage. Max followed Gillette out of the carriage taking his hand until her feet were flat on the ground. She bowed her head to him and looked to the house in front of her. Max walked up the steps to the house and the door was opened for her. She walked inside and saw that Will was standing in the room with her, carrying a package that held the ceremony sword. She smiled and curtsied to him. ⌠Good afternoon, Max.■ Will told her bowing back. ⌠Just delivering the sword to the Governor before the ceremony┘you were right, he was very impressed by it.■ he smiled proudly standing up straighter. ⌠Thought he might be,■ she replied. Max looked around, Gillette wasn▓t around anymore, had she just missed where he was going? Why was she supposed to be at the Governor▓s? ⌠If you excuse me, Will┘I have to find what it is that I am doing here┘■ she smiled to him again, ⌠Good day, Mr. Turner.■ Elizabeth came down the stairs shortly after her father had. Max was standing in the other room listening to the two of them talk of the sword. As Will looked up and saw Elizabeth walking down the stairs, he straightened up and stared. Max rolled her eyes as he fumbled around with words, she heard Elizabeth ask. ⌠How many times have I asked you to call me Elizabeth, Will?■ The answer was more than could be counted. As her father left the two alone for a moment and walked out the door, she added. ⌠You seem to have no trouble calling Max by her name.■ she smiled.
Will looked at her for a minute before answering with, ⌠I have spent longer times with Max. It▓s just habit┘I suppose.■ he told her hoping that she wasn▓t angry. The Governor called to her and she left the room. Max walked around the corner again and stood beside Will. ⌠Every day you are getting better at talking to her┘■ she smirked before passing him and walking out the door herself. ⌠Good day, Mr. Turner.■ As she walked down towards the street, she was once again accompanied by Gillette. It wasn▓t long before they were all at the fort for the ceremony. Before them, soldiers formed two lines and walked through the fort, most of them carried gun, but a few carried drums and played as they walked. The women were dresses their best and standing on one side of the soldiers, the men, also dressed in their best on the other side. ⌠Ten hut!■ a man yelled as the soldiers stopped in a line. ⌠Right about face!■ he shouted again and the soldiers, in one swift movement turned towards each other leaving a isle between them. ⌠Present arms!■ Their guns were held in front of then in an angle as the new Commodore walked between the two lines of men.
As James Norrington reached the other end of the isle formed by Navy Soldiers, he turned and stood before the Governor with his hands clapped behind his back, standing straight. Swann turned and grabbed the package that the sword was still laying in and held it out in front of him to Norrington. The new Commodore grabbed the hilt of the sword and held it up, the gold in it reflected the light as he turned and flipped it about to examine and show it off.
Although he showed no emotion of it, Max knew that her father had liked it, and she had let William know that she liked it very much. As often as she could, Max would go down to the Blacksmith▓s Shop, of course this wasn▓t very often. Max would try to go back after the ceremony to pass her father▓s complement▓s personally. ▒Finally,▓ Max thought as the ceremony ended and she was able to walk out of the beating sun and at least into the shaded area of the fort. As Max walked up the steps around the fort, she looked back to the courtyard where there, in the middle of the fort, were the gallows. It seemed rather unused and unnecessary, and rather rude to Max. Max looked around the place nodding as she, as known, received many compliments on her father▓s promotion. It was the second one in the eight years she had spent in Port Royal. Her eyes finally fell upon her father, he was standing outside on the ramparts with the Governor▓s daughter, Elizabeth. Just as he turned away, Elizabeth fell over the side of the ramparts and into the bay below. Max would have thought the sight funny, but she stepped forward quickly as her father struggled to remove his coat. Just as he was about to jump over the ramparts himself, Gillette put his arm out to stop him. She sighed with relief knowing that what lay in the bay were many sharp rocks.
When she was satisfied that he wasn▓t going to jump over the side, Max turned and ran in the other direction out of the fort and towards the docks. Not being able to move very fast with the weight of the dress and the lack of oxygen she could take in from it, she was not as fast as she usually were and the men were right behind her. With the dress already getting caught on a few branches, she knew it unwise to take any of her shortcuts to the docks. As Max looked down the hill she saw that in the distance, on the docks, Elizabeth had already been taken out of the water by another man that had seen her fall. Max couldn▓t tell who he was but knew that he was accompanied by two navy officers. Just as she was about to step foot on the docks, Max felt a heavy hand touch her shoulder and stop her from going any farther. ⌠Stay here,■ the deep voice of her father told her as he ran ahead onto the docks. He was easy to find, one man in a blue coat surrounded by men in red coats. The other soldiers joined the four on the docks and quickly circled them wielding their swords. It only took Max a few seconds to figure out why, the man that had saved Elizabeth from drowning, was a pirate! A real pirate! The swords were put away on Elizabeth▓s orders, but then something that Max didn▓t expect to happen, did. The man grabbed Elizabeth and was able to get away from them.
As she followed with her eyes, the pirate swung up from the docks and towards the town. But as Max ran around the trees and tried to see where he went, he was gone. The moment it took for her to move to see again, was all it took for the pirate to drop from the rope and back onto the ground.
Max sighed, disappointed, and decided to just go on to talk to Will about the sword. She only walked a few steps before she heard her father call her name, ⌠Maxine!■ Max looked back but couldn▓t see him, smiling, she ran down the street towards Mr. J. Brown▓s Blacksmith Shop. The distant sound of her name being called could still be heard but then it was replaced by much nearer shouts, the men looking for the pirate. As she reached the shop, she heard swords▓ clashing together. ▒Will must be practicing again,▓ she thought as she pressed on the doors. It was always fun to watch Will practice with his swords, and occasionally, if they were sure that no one would come, Max was able to duel with him.
But the door didn▓t open, so she tried the one next to it. Not one of then moved more than a few inches, they were locked. Max peered through the crack between the doors. But couldn▓t see anyone in there. ⌠Will┘■ she pushed the door again, her voice not being heard by any. Just then, someone came up behind her, she turned thinking that it was John Brown, the owner of the shop. The red coat in front of her told her otherwise, she looked up with a sweet smile. It was one of the many navy men that she did not know the name of, she only knew a few high ranking ones, or the officers positioned at the docks.
⌠Did you know that your father is looking for you, Miss?■ he asked her.
⌠I did know that,■ she nodded, ⌠I just wanted to send my compliments to Mr. Turner, but I cannot get into the shop.■ ⌠And did you also know that there is a pirate running around somewhere and that you could be in danger?■ he more told her than asked, ⌠And that is the reason why your father is now searching the town?■ Max thought of what he said, did he mean that he was searching the town for the pirate┘or for her? Her thoughts were interrupted as another sound of metal on metal came from the door behind her. ⌠Who is in there?■ he asked looking at the door walking past her. ⌠I don▓t know┘I just told you that I can▓t get in there!■ she turned and looked at the door as well. The man pushed on it, but being locked, it only moved in a few inches. ⌠Get to your house and stay there,■ he told her before running off and gathering a few more men to help open the door.
Just as Max walked around the corner, she walked into someone and fell back. ⌠There you are!■ a very recognizable voice exclaimed. Max grabbed the hand that was being held out to her. ⌠I have been looking all over for you! Where have you been?■ her father asked his voice becoming a little more harsh. ⌠I just wanted to talk to Will,■ she told him. ⌠He made your sword┘I helped pick it out┘■ she told him slowly. ⌠I can▓t get into the shop┘and I think they are going to try and get inside it┘there▓s a sword fight, dad!■ Norrington looked at the side of the shop just as the soldiers began to ram the door. He quickly returned his gaze to his daughter, ⌠I want you to run home and stay there┘understand?■ Max looked at him, ⌠But┘■ she began but was interrupted.
⌠No┘that▓s final, get yourself back up to the house and stay there this time!■ he told her giving her a small push in that direction. Max turned back and glared at him before walking up towards her house. As soon as she heard her father▓s footsteps fade, she turned back and looked around the shop. There was another door around the back! When she stepped forward to say so, she was just told with a wave of the hand to keep going in that direction. Max huffed and walked away, but as soon as she was out of sight, she turned and went around to the back of the shop. When she reached the other side and looked through the crack in the door, she only saw the pirate and Will standing┘a gun pointed at Will. She was just about to open the door to try and help when Mr. Brown hit the pirate over the head with an empty bottle and seconds later the Navy members were in circles around the three of them. James looked at the door, and Max turned away from it and ran in the direction of her house. If she was caught still out here she wouldn▓t ever be able to come out alone! Half way back to her house she looked back in time to see that the pirate was being carried away to the cells. Breathing deeply, she decided it best to walk the rest of the way up the hill. Max was sitting in her room, writing on a piece of parchment at her desk. The desk was placed in across from one of the windows so that she could just look up and see the moon reflecting on the Caribbean. Tonight, the moon was covered by a gray cloud and it gave the air a gloomy, bleak feeling. Max turned back to her writing but quickly looked up again when she heard a small thud and the answer of an explosion. She dropped the quill on the desk and ran to the window. It was late but the flashes of light down in the bay lit up the firing ship floating in the center. Torches were lit on the ramparts showing figures of people running along them to the cannons to return the fire. Cannonballs hit the ramparts shattering it in places and men fell to the ground. Max turned and ran for the door but was soon stopped by the maid, Rozia. As Max tried to run out the door, an arm caught her right around the waist so that she could get no more than a few feet down the hall. ⌠Let me go!■ she screamed kicking out trying to get loose. ⌠We can▓t just sit here while the town is blown to pieces!■ Max stopped fighting the hold and looked at her hard. ⌠My father is out there and could be in trouble┘I have to try and help them!■ The maid looked at her with sorrowful eyes for a few moments but didn▓t let her go. ⌠You must stay here like your father told you┘he▓ll be fine, Miss.■ But Max would hear none of it, she was able to get herself out of Rozia▓s arms and run down the hallway in the other direction. As she stepped out the door and looked around, explosions everywhere were going off. Her father was with the Governor last she saw of him, somewhere on the east port. That is where she would start her search, she ran off in that direction, and ducked a few splinters of wood.
⌠Sight the muzzle flashes!■ she heard over the loud mixture of noises. She looked down the side of the fort and finally caught sight of a blue coat and ran towards him. ⌠Max!■ he yelled, his eyes bigger than usual as he looked at her. ⌠What are you doing here? You are supposed to be up in your room!■ To Max he didn▓t sound angry, but she knew he was worried and would be later. ⌠I had to see if you were alright┘I▓m sorry!■ she told him. ⌠Come back with me┘we can take the people there┘the cannons don▓t reach it!■ Max begged him meaning that the house was safer than right here. As to prove her statement, an explosion went off right beside them and everyone ducked. Max screamed and her father covered her by pulling her closer to him and ducking. As the earth stopped falling around them, he stood up again and let her go. ⌠Governor, barricade yourself in my office.■ The cannon behind them went off and made Max duck again. ⌠That▓s an order! Take her with you!■ he added pushing Max towards him. ⌠Lead him to the house┘■ he told Max.
Max shook her head but the look that her father gave her made her step back towards the house. Governor Swann pulled on her arm and made her walk away from the ramparts and her father. James gave her a look that he meant for it to say, ▒It▓ll be alright┘I▓ll be there later.▓ Max had no choice but to go with him back to her house. As they walked, she kept looking back to the crumbling wall that she knew her father was still standing on. With every blast of the cannon, her heart skipped a beat, her breathing stopped when she saw that the cannonball had made contact with the wall. Rozia was standing by the door when they arrived and quickly ushered them inside the house. It seemed like ages that they sat there, Max having no way to get out of the house again. The door was locked and the two adults sat in the sitting room drinking tea like nothing was wrong. Max wandered why her father had wanted the Governor to barricade himself in his office and not just in the house. Curiosity won over and she slowly opened the door to his office. She had never been into this room, she had only just passed it catching a glimpse. Something shimmered on the desk and she picked it up. It was a small locket just sitting there, she remembered it faintly . Max wasn▓t sure what made her do it, but she picked up the locket and placed it in her pocket. The distant thuds slowed and the screams became lower and lower. Max couldn▓t stand it, she walked up stairs back to her room and looked out the window. The bay was black, that meant that the ship had stopped attacking them┘but was it gone? As she looked down she saw someone walking towards the building she was in. Quickly, Max ran down the stairs and into the room to join the other two, ⌠Someone is coming┘they▓re at the door.■ she told them quietly looking at the closed door. The handle moved as the person tried to get into the house, but being locked, the door didn▓t open. From the other side a man▓s voice came, ⌠It▓s me┘it▓s alright┘open the door.■ Without thinking, Max ran to the door and unlocked it. She opened the door rather quickly and saw her father on the other side. ⌠Max┘where is the Governor?■ he asked walking in the house quickly and shutting the door behind him. She was more concerned in looking over her father for any sight of injury, she couldn▓t see any but maybe a few scratches. He was unusually dirty and looked ancient, like he was hundreds of years old. James put an arm around her shoulder and looked in the direction she pointed. ⌠Governor Swann┘Elizabeth has been taken by the pirates!■ Max looked up to him quickly to see if he was in fact telling the truth. There was no mistaking it, he was indeed.
⌠Will┘that▓s it┘the pirates!■ Max told him when he found out. ⌠They have to know where they took her!■ She looked to him, but he seemed just as down as before. ⌠I have already thought of that┘■ he told her, half heartedly. ⌠Commodore Norrington thinks that it won▓t work, seeing as they left Jack Sparrow to his cell┘■ Max looked over to the cells, it had a huge hole in the wall where it had been smashed that night during the attack, but one pirate remained there. Jack Sparrow. ⌠That doesn▓t mean he hasn▓t got an idea where they went!■ she gave him a small smile.
⌠You could be right┘but what do we do?■ Will asked her looking around the town, it had taken a great beating but had been cleaned rather quickly. ⌠I can keep the Commodore busy and away from the cells if you want to go talk to him?■ she told the young man. ⌠But I seriously doubt that he will need much more to do┘he was planning to marry Elizabeth┘but she never had the chance to answer him.■ Max shrugged as if it didn▓t bother her too much that she had been taken.
⌠Would you please?■ he asked meaning to keep Norrington away from the cells while he talked to the pirate. ⌠It would be much appreciated, Max.■ ⌠Of course I would!■ she told him with a nod. ⌠But you have to give me the plans on what you are going to do┘I▓ll be down by the docks later, the Interceptor is being prepared to set sail later on.■ ⌠Thank you,■ he nodded and walked off towards the cells and Max towards her father in the other direction. Max looked at the map that he was leaning over and studying. There were many marks on it where they cold have headed towards. ⌠Where you headed, Commodore?■ she asked looking under his arm at his face.
⌠We▓re planning to take the Interceptor and search these islands first.■ he ran a hand over the map to show her the general direction they were going. ⌠By we┘you mean me as well┘don▓t you?■ she asked hopefully, still looking at him. Max didn▓t want to be left behind again as her father went away, plus┘she loved to sail on the seas.
James Norrington looked at her, ⌠No┘I want you to stay here.■ he told her. ⌠You can watch after the Governor in my stead┘■ Max looked at him hard.
⌠Why can▓t I go with you?■ Max remained looking at him as he walked around the table to her. ⌠I▓ve been sailing with you before┘and pirates attacked here just last night! I don▓t see what the big deal is!■ ⌠I said no, you▓re staying here with the marines to protect you!■ ⌠I don▓t need protection! I want to go with you!■ ⌠Maxine Norrington!■ he raised his voice slightly. ⌠Do as I say and stay here!■ ⌠Why do I always have to stay! No matter where it is that you are going I want to go with you! I hate staying here!■ she shouted at him. Norrington didn▓t answer her, he wasn▓t sure what to tell her to make her stay this time. Max glared at him before turning on her heel and stamping off. As he called her name to come back she ran, she ran all the way down to the docks. Max sat on a few crates that were by the docks and watched the officers pack the boxes onto the ship in front of her. The sea was calm and there was a slight breeze that was going out to the Caribbean from the bay they were in. Norrington came down from the building where he had been studying the map a while ago and looked over the ships. Max ducked out of his sight not wanting to let him see her there┘she wasn▓t in the mood to talk to him and if he saw her he would probably tell her to go back to the fort or something. A voice came from a small boat out in the bay, from where she was at, Max couldn▓t tell who it was, or what they were saying. As the boat came closer, she guessed by the coat and the muffled voice, that it was Gillette. The Commodore joined the rest of the men on the ship and Max was able to run aboard the ship before it set sail out to the Dauntless that now contained William and Jack. Max hid herself down in the cabins so that she wouldn▓t be seen. If she wasn▓t wearing this dress as she wanted, then she might have been able to hide above the deck and see what was going on. The Interceptor stopped sailing and she heard a few shouts from the deck. Max opened the door a crack and looked out at the deck. It had been abandoned by the Navy and taken up by Turner and Sparrow! As the ship began to move again and the Dauntless fell behind, Max came out of the room she was in and made her presents known.
As William caught sight of her, he stopped what he was doing. The pirate known as Jack hadn▓t yet seen her. ⌠Jack┘■ Will spoke. ⌠This is Max.■ he nodded in her direction. Max looked at the pirate and stepped forward. ⌠I wish to sail with you. I▓m going to help you get away from here and to find Elizabeth. And if it is quite alright, I shall like to stay.■ she told him.
The pirate looked at her for a while, not sure what to say or do. ⌠Welcome to the crew then, Miss.■ he decided to say. Max smiled pleased with herself for finally getting away from Port Royal. But still something sat at the back of her mind, what would her father think, she was now a pirate.
As Max ran about the riggings, taking in the rare scenery that she had been able to see, Jack and Will remained below on the deck. By the looks of it, Will was talking about something that Jack didn▓t much care about.
For a moment, Max took her eyes off the two of the men and looked to the locket she had taken. Suddenly, a thought came to her, a small box that Rozia had given her after her father had left for another journey to find pirates. She remembered now that it had something shiny in it, could it be the locket? Her father had intended her to have whatever was in the box, but she refused it and threw it to the floor before running out of the house. Max was brought back to the ship she was sitting on when she heard the creaking of the wheel being turned quickly and a soft thud sound. She looked down to see that Will was hanging onto one of the foremasts over the ocean. Max watched what was going to happen, Jack didn▓t seem all that threatening to let him drop off and drown.
As Will was brought back over the ship, he let go of the mast and lay on his back. Jack put the sword to Will▓s chest for an instant before flipping it around and handing the sword back to him. Max gave the empty horizon one last look before she began to climb down. Was he not coming after her or was he just taking his time and plotting a course. Maybe repairing and stocking another ship for the voyage?
Whatever the reason, Max pushed it from her mind, she was a pirate, and by the sounds of it, heading for Tortuga to pick up a buccaneer crew. How far was Tortuga? It being a pirate port, she had never gotten the chance to see it┘or much hear about it either. But the trip wasn▓t too long, there was plenty to do on a ship with a crew of only two men and a young girl.
There was a line of men standing on the docks at Tortuga. Jack studied each man up and down the line, followed closely by Will, but Max kept at a distance on the other side of the line. As Jack questioned a few of the crew members, he was interrupted by a woman▓s voice farther down the line.
For a moment they must have thought that it was Max who had spoken, but then Jack spotted the real speaker, Annamaria. ⌠You stole my boat!■ she shouted at Jack after she slapped him once.
⌠Actually,■ Jack began, but was interrupted by yet another slap across the face. ⌠I only borrowed it, with ever intention of bringing it back to you.■ It was later that all the men and Annamaria were allowed to join the crew on the Interceptor. Jack studied the sky before he boarded the ship again. Max and Will looked up to the sky just as he did, but each with little sailing experience saw nothing. Jack, however, saw the storm that shortly after was known to all of the ship▓s crew and everyone else out that far at sea.
Once back on the ship, Jack asked her, ⌠What made you want to join the crew if you were in Port Royal?■ he asked looking to her. ⌠Don▓t you have family or something there at all┘why leave it?■ ⌠I have always wanted to sail, I like it, the sea and the ship┘and being a pirate sounded very exciting to me.■ Max told him. ⌠As for family, my mother died when I was very young, I am an only child. As for my father┘he is gone as well┘■ It was later that Max learned, the pirate, Jack Sparrow hadn▓t agreed to help to get Elizabeth back, rather the ship that she was on. The Black Pearl, it was the same cursed ship that her and Elizabeth had seen on the crossing from England. Although that was after the mutiny and Jack was not aboard it at that time.
Max also learned that the pirates that had attacked were the same ones that mutinied against Jack, and that they were immortal. She recalled the memory of that night when she was taken back by her father. As Elizabeth was locked in a room aboard the Dauntless, Max▓s presents was still not know at this point. She was aboard the Black Pearl with the rest of the crew of Jack Sparrow. It was later that Elizabeth was able to get herself away from the Dauntless and aboard the Black Pearl to unlock the cells that held the crew.
Together, both Max and Elizabeth were able to get inside the cave where the rest of the pirates were, including Jack, Will and the man that had captured them, Barbossa. Inside the cave, they arrived just in time to see that a duel had already begun. Barbossa and Jack were running around slashing about swords, and Will was fighting with a few other pirates himself. It wasn▓t long after that the two of them joined in with the fight.
Max saw that the pirates would not die, Jack had run his sword straight through the pirates chest and still he stood. As he quickly removed it from his own chest and drove it through Jack▓s, Max took in a deep breath in shock.
Jack stumbled backward into the moonlight, his skin rotted away from his body and a skeleton remained. Will and Elizabeth walked up beside her and stared as well, Jack flipped around a coin in his hand. ⌠Who side is Jack on?■ Elizabeth asked the two of them. Will replied, with a shrug, ⌠At the moment┘■ Max wasn▓t able to hear the rest of it, she ran forward and blocked a blow from a pirate and went on towards the two dueling pirates. As a shot sounded off through the cave, everyone froze in their own tracks. She looked around quickly, Will was standing in front of the chest filled with Aztec Gold, Elizabeth had a look that made Max think it was her that had been shot, but she quickly found that it wasn▓t. Max looked back to the pirates on top the hill of gold, Jack had his gun out and pointed at Barbossa▓s chest. Barbossa also had his gun out, but it was pointed off in the distance, untrained now as he looked at Jack. It was later that they all saw the dark red spot appear on his shirt, and Barbossa, fell dead, the curse lifted from him and his crew. It was later that Jack had indeed offered her a spot on the crew, and she accepted that. But with one problem, as the four of them climbed into the long boat and they set sail to drop the two off on the ship, it was gone. The pirates had left, and they were due to hang in the gallows. As the long boat made its way to the Navy ship floating off shore, Max felt a strong feeling of unease. Her father was no doubt aboard that ship┘and she would soon have to be as well! Will got out first, followed by Elizabeth, but Jack and Max stayed in the small boat for a while longer arguing on who went aboard the ship first. Soon after, they were both pulled aboard the ship by the soldiers aboard it as well. Max tried her best to hide, but a pirate surrounded by officers of the British Royal Navy sticks out pretty well and she soon found herself facing her father again. She was alone, Jack was immediately taken to the brig. After she looked around and noticed this for herself, she hung her head and stood there. Norrington couldn▓t believe his eyes, was this pirate his daughter? He looked at her face and knew without a doubt that it was her. Of course he couldn▓t hang his own daughter, he would have to find a way to get her out of it. And he did, along with Will and Elizabeth, the three of them were excused of their crimes, but Jack was not┘ No matter how she tried, she was unable to get Jack off the hook, her along with everyone else knew that he would just go back to pirating straight afterward. As they arrived back in Port Royal, Max felt strangely uncomfortable there, not to mention that Jack was scheduled to hang the next day, and the town was going to be present, like it was a circus show.
Max stood with Elizabeth, the Governor, and her father as the incredibly long list of crimes was read off and the rope placed around Jack▓s neck. She looked away from the allows and her father looked to her. She heard a voice speak, ⌠This is wrong┘■ and knew it to be Elizabeth and the attention was thankfully taken off of Max and to her. ⌠Commodore Norrington is bound by the law┘as are we all┘■ the Commodore smiled as the Governor said this, but Max glared at him and looked back to the courtyard. It was then that she saw the neon colored bird she recognized from the past time on the Black Pearl.
Max looked over to Elizabeth and nodded towards the bird so that she would see it and the others wouldn▓t. Just then, Elizabeth looked at her own father and James, and pretended to faint again to draw their attention. It worked and Will was able to cut Jack down as the lever was pulled and the door fell from beneath him.
After a short fight against everyone, the two of them, William and Jack, found themselves cornered again by the entire Royal Navy. Jack was able to get himself away from the pointed guns and towards the ramparts. Max figured what he was going to do and turned to run in the other direction. Running as fast as she could, she ran towards the docks, sure enough, there was a ship floating in the bay, but not one that was normally there┘it was the Pearl! With a broad smile, Max quickly took the top, heavy layer of her dress off so that she was in a sort of white slip and jumped into the ocean bay. Max quickly swam towards the ship and was pulled aboard after the captain himself and a blanket was clapped over her shoulders as well. Looking up to the ramparts, she saw her father looking down to the ship, but he did nothing else. He just let them go┘it was not like him to do so┘but all in one day, she knew his heart to be torn in so many directions now┘that she wasn▓t surprised that he did nothing. Looking around the ship again, Max felt at home, but also a painful thorn of guilt. Time would heal that┘wouldn▓t it? Years later, she found the answer. In Tortuga, inside a pub, Max saw a sight she never before would have imagined to see:
Her father, still dressed in his Navy uniform, though it was so dirty that he blended in well with the crowd of pirates, drinking a bottle of rum. He swayed up to the table in which Gibbs was sitting and tried to get onto the Black Pearl, sort of. Still having a knack for the navy ways, and hate for pirates, he pointed his gun at Jack, and a fight broke out between the entire pub. Norrington was in the middle of it, this action stunned Max for a while and she stood there watching. What had the world done to him? He looked awful┘but then the thought that pestered her so crept back into her mind, what had she done to him? Here, he was going to get himself killed acting like this, and she was somewhat relieved when a sailor hit him over the head with a rum bottle, knocking him out. James was thrown over into a pigsty and covered in smelly mud. Max slowly walked over to him and kneeled beside him, he was still unconscious when she arrived. ⌠Oh, no┘■ she whispered to herself. Rolling him over, she studied his face, moving a muddy strand of hair from his forehead. Jack had already made his way out of the pub and into the night back to the ship. Max however, stayed a little longer to look at this┘stranger that was her father. But then, he opened her eyes. His vision was blurred and his eyes stung from the mud, and he didn▓t know who was beside him. With a smile, Max stood up over him, ⌠Best be off┘Commodore┘Norrington.■ she tipped her hat to him and began to walk away. Norrington sat up and stared after this sailor┘who was he?
⌠How do you know my name?■ he asked, his words slurred. ⌠Who are you sailor?■ James stood up a little and tumbled back down into the mud.
Max looked back at him and smiled again at the sight, ⌠A friend┘or your daughters┘■ she turned and walked away again, this time not stopping for his questions. If she stayed too long, or answered too many┘she could give herself away.
Norrington wanted to ask how he knew her, thinking that she was a guy, but she had gone. Max had disappeared in the crowd of pirates, but then, he saw someone he did recognize, and was able to find his way to the Pearl.
When Max saw that her father had indeed found his way to the ship, she was half relieved, half disappointed. She didn▓t want him to find her, not yet anyway, so she stood out of the way and watched the crew. Reluctantly, she caught Jack and was able to tell him that she wasn▓t going on this journey with him.
Jack knew that something was up, but he also knew enough not to get into any of it. He let her stay in Tortuga, where she was able to work for a few extra coins, and was even able to steal from a few drunken men at the bar from time to time. Max, being in the bar, heard a lot of tales about Jack Sparrow, but one caught her interest. Davy Jones.
It was said, that Davy Jones had caught up with Jack Sparrow and taken him to the locker. Max knew enough about the legends of Jack Sparrow to tell which ones were true or not┘but not seeing him for near a year, this one seemed true enough. That was why she joined the crew of another ship and began her search again for the crew she had grown to know. When she found the ship, that had been spared for some reason not learned in the rumors, she found that half the crew, and the beloved captain, were gone. The stories were true┘Jack had been taken into the locker, and the crew went on a search for him. But Max, she had a different way to approach this mess┘go directly to the source. Davy Jones, and make a deal with him. But first, she needed to reload the ship that was now under her command with the needed supplies. To her dislike, the closest city was┘Port Royal┘ Eight Years Later ⌠Get out of that bed, Miss and into this dress!■ Rozia▓s voice still reached her even as Max put the pillow over her own head. ⌠It▓s your father▓s promotion ceremony! It▓ll only take a few minutes!■ Max sat straight up in her bed and glared at the woman, ⌠Have you never been to one of his ceremony▓s! If it is true that it is only a few minutes then I age a year in a day!■ The curtain▓s of her room were opened and the bay came into view, and the bright morning sun made Max cover her face again. ⌠They▓re all the same, I▓ll go there┘stand in the hot sun for hours, receive a few comment▓s about how proud I should be of my father, and that I should follow in his footsteps and help out with the Navy┘blah blah blah, and then we stand around some more and listen to the orchestra play!■ Max groaned as Rozia walked around the room and opened the other window. ⌠Come on, you▓ve got this new dress to wear and everything.■ Rozia pulled the blankets away from the thirteen year old girl and replaced them with clean sheets. Max slowly got out of the bed and looked out the window and out to the bay. She had the best view in the house, right here, looking out to the ocean, over the ramparts of the fort. The sun set on the horizon just in front of her window.
It was only an hour that it took for her to get into the dress┘with less of a fuss now knowing that she never won it, but it felt ages. She had her hair pinned up and curled so that only a few red curls lay on the neck of the blue dress. Max was also given a Chinese fan that folded up and tucked into the belt of her dress. ⌠Ten hut!■ a man yelled as the soldiers stopped in a line. ⌠Right about face!■ he shouted again and the soldiers, in one swift movement turned towards each other leaving a isle between them. ⌠Present arms!■ Their guns were held at an angle as the new Commodore walked between the two lines of men.
As James Norrington reached the other end of the isle formed by Navy Soldiers, the Governor presented him with a beautiful sword made for the occasion by the same William Turner that Max and Elizabeth watched over as they made their way to Port Royal eight years ago.
Max watched her father receive the sword and flipped it around to show it off. She knew that he would like it, and she had let William know that she liked it very much. As often as she could, Max would go down to the Blacksmith▓s Shop and look at all the swords, of course this wasn▓t very often. Max would try to go back after the ceremony to pass her father▓s complement▓s personally. Finally, Max thought as the ceremony ended and she was able to walk out of the beating sun and at least into the shaded area of the fort. As Max walked up the steps around the fort, she looked back to the courtyard where there, in the middle of the fort, were the gallows. It seemed rather unused and unnecessary, and rather rude, to Max. But worse than that, were the three skeleton▓s still hanging out in the bay with a sign, Pirates Ye Be Warned. Every time the wind picked up, the long deceased bodies would swing and the ropes they were hanging from creaked making the hairs on the back of her neck stand. Max looked around the place nodding as she, as known, received many compliments on her father▓s promotion. It was the second one in the eight years she had spent in Port Royal. Her eyes finally fell upon her father, he was standing outside on the ramparts with the Governor▓s daughter, Elizabeth. Just as he turned away, Elizabeth fell over the side of the ramparts and into the bay below. Max stepped forward quickly as her father struggled to remove his coat, but Gillette stopped him from going over as well. She sighed with relief knowing that what lay in the bay were many sharp rocks.
When she was satisfied that he wasn▓t going to jump over the side, Max turned and ran in the other direction out of the fort and towards the docks. Not being able to move very fast with the weight of the dress and the lack of oxygen she could take in from it, the men were right behind her. In the distance, on the docks, Elizabeth had already been taken out of the water by another man that had seen her fall. Max couldn▓t tell who he was but knew that he was accompanied by two navy officers. Just as she was about to step foot on the docks, Max felt a heavy hand touch her shoulder and stop her from going any farther. ⌠Stay here,■ the deep voice of her father told her as he ran ahead onto the docks. He was easy to find, one man in a blue coat surrounded by men in red coats. The other soldiers joined the four on the docks and quickly circled them wielding their swords. It only took Max a few seconds to figure out why, the man that had saved Elizabeth from drowning, was a pirate! A real pirate! The swords were put away on Elizabeth▓s orders, but then something that Max didn▓t expect to happen, did. The man grabbed Elizabeth and was able to get away from them.
As she followed with her eyes, the pirate swung up from the docks and towards the town. But as Max ran around the trees and tried to see where he went, he was gone. The moment it took for her to move to see again, was all it took for the pirate to drop from the rope and back onto the ground.
Max sighed, disappointed, and decided to just go on to talk to Will about the sword. She only walked a few steps before she heard her father call her name, ⌠Maxine!■ Max looked back but couldn▓t see him, smiling, she ran down the street towards Mr. J Brown▓s Blacksmith Shop. The distant sound of her name being called could still be heard but then it was replaced by much nearer shouts, the men looking for the pirate. As she reached the shop, she heard swords▓ clashing together. Will must be practicing again, she thought as she pressed on the doors. But the door didn▓t open, so she tried the one next to it. Not one of then moved more than a few inches, they were locked. Max peered through the crack between the doors. But couldn▓t see anyone in there. ⌠Will┘■ she pushed the door again, her voice not being heard by any. Just then, someone came up behind her, she turned thinking that it was John Brown, the owner of the shop. The red coat in front of her told her otherwise, she looked up with a sweet smile. It was one of the many navy men that she did not know the name of, she only knew a few high ranking ones, or the officers positioned at the docks.
⌠Did you know that your father is looking for you, Miss?■ he asked her.
⌠I did know that,■ she nodded, ⌠I just wanted to send my compliments to Mr. Turner, but I cannot get into the shop.■ ⌠And did you also know that there is a pirate running around somewhere and that you could be in danger?■ he more told her than asked, ⌠And that is the reason why your father is now searching the town?■ Max thought of what he said, did he mean that he was searching the town for the pirate┘or for her? Her thoughts were interrupted as another sound of metal on metal came from the door behind her. ⌠Who is in there?■ he asked looking at the door walking past her. ⌠I don▓t know┘I just told you that I can▓t get in there!■ she turned and looked at the door as well. The man pushed on it, but being locked, it only moved in a few inches. ⌠Get to your house and stay there,■ he told her before running off and gathering a few more men to help open the door.
Just as Max walked around the corner, she walked into someone and fell back. ⌠There you are!■ a very recognizable voice exclaimed. Max grabbed the hand that was being held out to her. ⌠I have been looking all over for you! Where have you been?■ her father asked his voice becoming a little more harsh. ⌠I just wanted to talk to Will,■ she told him. ⌠He made your sword┘I helped pick it out┘■ she told him slowly. ⌠I can▓t get into the shop┘and I think they are going to try and get inside it┘there▓s a sword fight, dad!■ Norrington looked at the side of the shop just as the soldiers began to ram the door. He quickly returned his gaze to his daughter, ⌠I want you to run home and stay there┘understand?■ Max looked at him, ⌠But┘■ she began but was interrupted.
⌠No┘that▓s final, get yourself back up to the house and stay there this time!■ he told her giving her a small push in that direction. Max turned back and glared at him before walking up towards her house. As soon as she heard her father▓s footsteps fade, she turned back and looked around the shop. There was another door around the back! When she stepped forward to say so, she was just told with a wave of the hand to keep going in that direction. Max huffed and walked away, but as soon as she was out of sight, she turned and went around to the back of the shop. When she reached the other side and looked through the crack in the door, she only saw the pirate and Will standing┘a gun pointed at Will. She was just about to open the door to try and help when Mr. Brown hit the pirate over the head with an empty bottle and seconds later the Navy members were in circles around the three of them. James looked at the door, and Max turned away from it and ran in the direction of her house. If she was caught still out here she wouldn▓t ever be able to come out alone! Half way back to her house she looked back in time to see that the pirate was being carried away to the cells. Breathing deeply, she decided it best to walk the rest of the way up the hill. Max was sitting in her room, reading a book that she had found, one of the few on pirates and ships, when she heard a small thud and the answer of an explosion. She dropped the book and ran to the window. It was late but the flashes of light down in the bay lit up the firing ship floating in the center. Torches were lit on the ramparts showing figures of people running along them to the cannons to return the fire. Cannonballs hit the ramparts shattering it in places and men fell to the ground. Max turned and ran for the door but was soon stopped by the maid, Rozia. As Max tried to run out the door, an arm caught her right around the waist so that she could get no more than a few feet down the hall. ⌠Let me go!■ she screamed kicking out trying to get loose. ⌠We can▓t just sit here while the town is blown to pieces!■ Max stopped fighting the hold and looked at her hard. ⌠My father is out there and could be in trouble┘we have to help them!■ The maid looked at her with sorrowful eyes for a few moments but didn▓t let her go. ⌠You must stay here like your father told you┘he▓ll be fine, Miss.■ But Max would hear none of it, she was able to get herself out of Rozia▓s arms and run down the hallway in the other direction. As she stepped out the door and looked around, explosions everywhere were going off. Her father was with the Governor last she saw of him, somewhere on the east port. That is where she would start her search, she ran off in that direction, and ducked a few splinters of wood.
⌠Sight the muzzle flashes!■ she heard over the loud mixture of noises. She looked down the side of the fort and finally caught sight of a blue coat and ran towards him. ⌠Max!■ he yelled, his eyes bigger than usual as he looked at her. ⌠What are you doing here? You are supposed to be up in your room!■ To Max he didn▓t sound angry, but she knew he was worried and would be later. ⌠I had to see if you were alright┘I▓m sorry!■ she told him. ⌠Come back with me┘we can take the people there┘the cannons don▓t reach it!■ Max begged him meaning that the house was safer than right here. As to prove her statement, an explosion went off right beside them and everyone ducked. Max screamed and her father covered her by pulling her closer to him and ducking. As the earth stopped falling around them, he stood up again and let her go. ⌠Governor, barricade yourself in my office.■ The cannon behind them went off and made Max duck again. ⌠That▓s an order! Take her with you!■ he added pushing Max towards him. ⌠Lead him to the house┘■ he told Max.
Max shook her head but the look that her father gave her made her step back towards the house. Governor Swann pulled on her arm and made her walk away from the ramparts and her father. James gave her a look that he meant for it to say, ▒It▓ll be alright┘I▓ll be there later.▓ Max had no choice but to go with him back to her house. As they walked, she kept looking back to the crumbling wall that she knew her father was still standing on. With every blast of the cannon, her heart skipped a beat, her breathing stopped when she saw that the cannonball had made contact with the wall. Rozia was standing by the door when they arrived and quickly ushered them inside the house. It seemed like ages that they sat there, Max having no way to get out of the house again. The door was locked and the two adults sat in the sitting room drinking tea like nothing was wrong. Max wandered why her father had wanted the Governor to barricade himself in his office and not just in the house. Curiosity won over and she slowly opened the door to his office. She had never been into this room, she had only just passed it catching a glimpse. Something shimmered on the desk and she picked it up. It was a small locket just sitting there, she remembered it faintly as something that she had thrown when he had told her that he was leaving on a voyage again. Although she couldn▓t remember where she had gotten it, she kept it safe, like it was very special to her. The distant thuds slowed and the screams became lower and lower. Max couldn▓t stand it, she walked up stairs back to her room and looked out the window. The bay was black, that meant that the ship had stopped attacking them┘but was it gone? As she looked down she saw someone walking towards the building she was in. Quickly, Max ran down the stairs and into the room to join the other two, ⌠Someone is coming┘their at the door.■ she told them quietly looking at the closed door. The handle moved as the person tried to get into the house, but the door didn▓t open. From the other side a man▓s voice came, ⌠It▓s me┘it▓s alright┘open the door.■ Without thinking, Max ran to the door and unlocked it. She opened the door rather quickly and saw her father on the other side. ⌠Max┘where is the Governor?■ he asked walking in the house quickly and shutting the door behind him. James put an arm around her shoulder and looked in the direction she pointed. ⌠Governor Swann┘Elizabeth has been taken by the pirates!■ Max looked up to him quickly to see if he was in fact telling the truth. There was no mistaking it, he was indeed.
⌠Will┘that▓s it┘the pirates!■ Max told him when he found out. ⌠They have to know where they took her!■ She looked to him, but he seemed just as down as before. ⌠I have already thought of that┘■ he told her, half heartedly. ⌠Commodore Norrington thinks that it won▓t work, seeing as they left Jack Sparrow to his cell┘■ Max looked over to the cells, it had a huge hole in the wall where it had been smashed that night during the attack, but one pirate remained there. Jack Sparrow. ⌠That doesn▓t mean he hasn▓t got an idea where they went!■ she gave him a small smile.
⌠You could be right┘but what do we do?■ Will asked her looking around the town, it had taken a great beating but had been cleaned rather quickly. ⌠I can keep the Commodore busy and away from the cells if you want to go talk to him?■ she told the young man. ⌠But I seriously doubt that he will need much more to do┘he was planning to marry Elizabeth┘but she never had the chance to answer him.■ Max shrugged as if it didn▓t bother her too much.
⌠Would you please?■ he asked meaning to keep Norrington away from the cells while he talked to the pirate. ⌠It would be much appreciated, Max.■ ⌠Of course I would!■ she told him with a nod. ⌠But you have to give me the plans on what you are going to do┘I▓ll be down by the docks later, the Interceptor is being prepared to set sail later on.■ ⌠Thank you,■ he nodded and walked off towards the cells and Max towards her father in the other direction. Max looked at the map that he was leaning over and studying. There were many marks on it where they cold have headed towards. ⌠Where you headed, Commodore?■ she asked looking under his arm at him.
⌠We▓re planning to take the Interceptor and search these islands first.■ he ran a hand over the map to show her the general direction they were going. ⌠By we┘you mean me as well┘don▓t you?■ she asked hopefully, still looking at him. Max didn▓t want to be left behind again as her father went away, plus┘she loved to sail on the seas.
James Norrington looked at her, ⌠No┘I want you to stay here.■ he told her. ⌠You can watch after the Governor in my stead┘■ Max looked at him hard.
⌠Why can▓t I go with you?■ Max remained looking at him as he walked around the table to her. ⌠I▓ve been sailing with you before┘and pirates attacked here just last night! I don▓t see what the big deal is!■ ⌠I said no, you▓re staying here with the marines to protect you!■ ⌠I don▓t need protection! I want to go with you!■ ⌠Maxine Norrington!■ he raised his voice slightly. ⌠Do as I say and stay here!■ Max glared at him before turning on her heel and stamping off. As he called her name to come back she ran, she ran all the way down to the docks. She sat on a few crates that were by the docks and watched the officers pack the boxes onto the ship in front of her. The sea was calm and there was a slight breeze that was going out to the Caribbean from the bay they were in. Norrington came down from the building where he had been studying the map a while ago and looked over the ships. Max ducked out of his sight not wanting to let him see her there┘she wasn▓t in the mood to talk to him and if he saw her he would probably tell her to go back to the fort. A voice came from a small boat out in the bay, from where she was at, Max couldn▓t tell who it was, or what they were saying. As the boat came closer, she guessed by the coat and the muffled voice, that it was Gillette. The Commodore joined the rest of the men on the ship and Max was able to run aboard the ship before it set sail out to the Dauntless that now contained William and Jack. Max hid herself down in the cabins so that she wouldn▓t be seen. If she wasn▓t wearing this dress as she wanted, then she might have been able to hide above the deck and see what was going on. The Interceptor stopped sailing and she heard a few shouts from the deck. Max opened the door a crack and looked out at the deck. It had been abandoned by the Navy and taken up by Turner and Sparrow! As the ship began to move again and the Dauntless fell behind, Max came out of the room she was in and made her presents known.
As William caught sight of her, he stopped what he was doing. The pirate known as Jack hadn▓t yet seen her. ⌠Jack┘■ Will spoke. ⌠This is Max.■ he nodded to her.
Max looked at the pirate and stepped forward. ⌠I▓m going to help you get away from here and to find Elizabeth.■ she told him.
The pirate looked at her for a while, not sure what to say or do. ⌠Welcome to the crew then, Miss.■ he decided to say. Max smiled pleased with herself for finally getting away from Port Royal. But still something sat at the back of her mind, what would her father think, she was now a pirate.