I own nothing but Emily and the ideas in my head. Please do not sue me.

Passing Ships

Chapter One: The Elizabeth

Twenty-eight was too old to be called a girl. But, Emily looked like a little girl as she stood on the deck of the Elizabeth with her boat cloak pulled tight against the chilly night. She stared through the mist, twirling a dark curl around her finger and willing herself to see something besides the dark, rolling ocean. He had to be out there somewhere. She'd been all over the Caribbean; searching charted and uncharted islands; everywhere that the hurricane could have possibly thrown him. It had been five months since she'd talked her father into giving her the Elizabeth, and that had occurred only with the promise that she'd be back in two. So much for promises.

Higgins approached the figure stationed at what the crew had forlornly nicknamed "the widow's walk" in the bow of the ship.

"Miss Swann, don't ya think ya ought to be takin' yourself below deck at this time of night?" He had a slight Irish brogue to go along with his short stature. "The weather gage is a changin' and not for the better. It'll be blowin' something terrible before we know it."

"Thank you, Mr. Higgins, but I'm quite content staying here for the time being." She shrugged her square shoulders and shivered a little. "I can't shake this feeling that we're so close; that he's here."

"There tisn't a port around these waters that we haven't searched yet, Miss. Or an island by that means." He saw the hurt on her smooth face and decided to switch tactics. "Anyways, don cha be thinkin' it's 'bout time for ya to be headin' back to Port Royal? From what I know of the Gov'nor, he doesn't take too well to missin' daughters."

It was the first smile he saw in a long time and it faded so fast he wondered if it had even been there in the first place.

She turned back towards the sea and said, "True, Mr. Higgins, but if we can't find the Commodore then we won't be heading back to Port Royal at all. We'll give it just a few more sunsets and if it truly is a lost cause then I'd like us to go to the colonies." When he said nothing, she continued, "I have a widowed aunt in Philadelphia, my mother's older sister, who's asked me for a visit." Her voice trailed off into a whisper, "I really don't have another choice."

He knew what she was implying. A man he might be, but even a simpleton couldn't miss the growth of her figure over the past few months. His wife had born him five children, two of which he'd actually been home for, and he knew how the final months of swelling contorted the figure. She'd done her best to hide it, he gave her that, but there was a point where even boat cloaks would do her no good.

"If that's what you be wantin', Miss, then the crew of the Elizabeth will be takin' you there at your leave." He made to go, but paused and said, "But, Miss Emily, with all due respect, and no meanin' to offend ya, I think if it were me daughter goin' off to a foreign land in your condition, well I…" His voice trailed off with concern and lost words.

With a sharp turn, her grey eyes flashed in the moonlight, and then she was calm. "So, you know my predicament, Mr. Higgins?"

"Aye, yes, Miss. Beggin' your pardon, but it's been a little difficult to overlook."

The corners of her mouth turned up in spite of herself. "Please believe me, Mr. Higgins, I don't enjoy deceiving my father in such a way." She sighed and went on, "I just do not believe that the Governor would understand. And, after all, he does have my sister," she said with a slight lift to her voice." I would not want to impose on her newly wedded happiness." She thought of Will and Elizabeth. They would have been married for about a month by now. She could see her elegant sister standing next to the handsome Mr. Turner, becoming man and wife, making her father so proud. No, it wasn't an option to return without James, without a ring on her finger too.

Mr. Higgins nodded and walked back to talk with the coxswain. The moonlight that had been blinking through the inky clouds had disappeared and the deck of the Elizabeth was bathed in an eerie, orange-ish light cast from a lamp hanging from the mast of the foresail. From her months of standing in that spot, she'd noticed the changing shadows that the small lamp had introduced onto the deck. They'd become like old friends, or old enemies. Even on nights like this, where the moon had mysteriously disappeared, she could count on them. But was that a new shadow? A large, looming, moving shadow? And a thump. A thump. Like the striking of a heavy piece of wood against another heavy piece of wood. It sent a chill up her spine and a hand to her stomach, and as she gripped the railing with her other hand, she turned around, hoping against hope that it was somehow Mr. Higgins. But standing before her, in all his horrific might, was a monster that she'd only known by the stories she'd heard.

"So," he said, "This be the lass that's going to retrieve my heart." And with that, Davey Jones chuckled.

Reviews and suggestions are requested. I would appreciate an editor if anyone is willing to volunteer at this early state.