A loud noise woke him from his slumber. He groaned and rolled over, grasping for the blankets to cover his head.
The sound refused to go away. Rubbing his eyes he finally sat up in bed. The covers fell to his waist revealing a lean, tanned torso completely naked from that vantage point. A soft sigh from the opposite side of the room captured his attention.
"Rosa!" Jack grinned at the girl who was studiously ignoring him as she cleaned the room. "Rosa! Where is your mother?"
The girl turned and with a cheeky grin, lifted his head up imperiously. "Why?" She challenged him.
Jack let out a roar of laughter. "Girl, it is too early to test me!"
"Early?" Rosa laughed and pulled the shade from the window. "It is almost noon. You have slept the day half away, lazy man," She scolded him.
"Bah! Go get your mother. I need to speak with her."
"If you had not gone out last night when you first arrived and swallowed half the rum in town, you could have spoken to her then. But no," She was shaking her finger at him as she advanced on the bed. "You had to, did you not? So then you stumble in at the break of dawn, wake the entire household with your bellowing before you pass out. Papa had to haul your sorry ass in here."
"Sorry ass…" He started to get out of the bed when he realized he had nothing on at all. Not wishing to expose himself to this young charmer, he settled back and pointed towards the pile of his clothing sitting on the chair across the room. "Hand me my clothes, will you luv?"
"Ha!" Rosa realized the position she was in, complete control of this situation. "And what are you going to give me?" She asked archly.
He growled at her. "A spanking if you don't do as your told," He began to fume as he realized she was completely aware of the situation. "Now please hand me my clothes."
At that moment, a laugh erupted from the doorway. "So, Jack Sparrow. Awake at last?" The gorgeous Spanish woman standing in the doorway eyed the man in the bed with interest. "Your clothes, if that is what you call them, are clean."
Smiling at her, "Thank you, and yes I do refer to them as my clothes,"
She wrinkled her nose as his odor filled the room. "I don't suppose we could convince you to take a bath?"
Jack frowned. "A bath? You mean water? Soap? Smell like a silly flower bath?"
"No, a simple bath will suffice," She eyed him carefully, knowing his feelings on baths. "IF you want dinner that is."
"Are you bribing me?"
"That I am Jack Sparrow," She laughed as she realized he was not fighting the idea. "I shall have a feast prepared the instant you emerge, cleaned and dressed, to the dining room?"
"Dressed?" Jack began to tease her, his eyes twinkling. "You mean you would not prefer to have me appear thus," He swept his hand down his naked torso. "Might make quite a stir with the ladies."
"More like send them running!" She laughed at the thought. "But yes, dressed," Clapping her hands, she shouted to the waiting servants outside who lugged in a hipbath and buckets of steaming water. "When you are finished, you may join us in the salon," Signaling to her daughter. "Rosa, come along and get yourself ready as well."
The younger lady giggled as she merrily waved towards Jack. "Enjoy Captain Sparrow!"
"Right," Jack mumbled as he finally extricated himself from the bedcovers and padded softly towards the hipbath. Wrinkling his nose, "Ah, at least I won't smell like a flower."
One of the servants giggled at that comment and held out a bar of soap. "No flowers. Senor de Silva insisted on no flowers for you."
Jack settled into the bathtub gingerly. As the warm water enveloped his body, he actually found himself beginning to enjoy the bath, but of course he would never admit that to anyone. Scrubbing himself, he finally was satisfied that the majority of sea crust and salt was off. Rinsing, he rose out of the tub and grabbing a towel began to dry himself as tiny droplets of water began to pool around his feet.
As he dressed, he thought about his visit here to the de Silva's. A family who accepted him for what he'd become. He had known them years before when he first worked for Beckett. After being accused of being a pirate, he had elected to become one. His fingers lightly traced the brand on his arm, recalling the events that had led up to his downfall. Hernando had stood by him, but even that wasn't enough to prove his innocence. So he had followed the path that had been chosen for him and was now considered a pirate. A rather good one he had to admit to himself.
Finally ready, he headed towards the salon in search of food and the family. He was on a mission and hopefully they would help. As he entered the room, Hernando rose up to greet him. "Jack!" Moving across the room, he embraced his friend. "What brings you here? Other than the rum in town of course," A teasing twinkle in his eye, he moved over towards the sideboard and poured two generous glasses of rum. Handing one to Jack, he held the other aloft for a toast.
Jack accepted the glass and clicked his against Hernando's. "To old friends and old rum!"
Both men drank deeply. Jack closed his eyes enjoying the fine spirits. "Must say, better than what the town has to offer."
"If you would have waited my friend," Hernando began. "I would have taken you to my club. There you would have enjoyed the finest wines and foods our little village has to offer. But no, you must dash off the instant you arrive to avail yourself of the dubious pleasures found in the darker parts of the town."
Jack laughed heartily. "And you wish you had joined me, admit it!"
Nodding, Hernando refilled their glasses. "Ah, yes. I do recall some times we had when we were younger," He settled into a large armchair and gestured for Jack to do the same. "I see you regained your ship at last."
"It was quite the adventure, but I have finally recovered her from Barbossa," He quickly related the adventure that had led to his finally getting back the ship. As they spoke, a servant came in and lit a fire.
When he finished, the two sat in companionable silence for several minutes before Jack finally spoke again. "I need a bit of help as it were. I was wondering if your sister-in-law, Martha, would be interested in working for me."
A burst of laughter erupted from the doorway. "Jack Sparrow, you have never worked a day in your life! You would not even know the meaning of the word."
Both men turned to view the speaker. A short, matronly woman stood there. Her round face made her appear motherly, but Jack knew better. "Martha!" Leaping up, he embraced her, lifting her off the ground as he twirled her about.
"Put me down, you curmudgeon," The laughter in the woman's voice belied the statement.
Finally Jack set her down and looked at her. "I was sorry to hear of the death of your husband," He included Hernando in his statement. "And of course your brother. Did they ever discover the murderer?"
Martha's face sobered up at the mention of her loss. "No, and I doubt they ever will. He was smuggling you know, although we never did tell the authorities that at the time."
Jack was quiet for a moment before he finally spoke once more. "That, m'dear, is why I came in search of you. I was hoping you might help me and in return, I promise to help
you discover who did this foul deed."
"You, Jack Sparrow? Asking for help?" Martha's laughter rang out.
Renata chose that moment to interrupt, Rosa following in her wake. "This sounds interesting. Let us finish this discussion after dinner," She gestured towards the dining room. "As promised, a feast has been prepared," She swept towards the open doorway and entered. "Please, enjoy!"