This starts when Willy, Elizabeth's son, is fifteen, so it's somewhere around thirteen years after Symbols of Love. HUGE, HUGE CHAPTER. This story may be more like a novel than a small fantfiction, so there'll be a lot of long chapters.
William Torrance stared across the table at his sister, Carina. She was shifting her food around with her fork, not really eating anything. Will was worried about her. He would not speak of it here though; because it appeared she didn't want Mum and Pop to know anything was wrong. She was fourteen, having just turned that, and he would turn sixteen in five months. They were best friends. He supposed she must be moping over Billy Riggings. He had seen the way she tried to get his attention. Billy was sixteen, and preferred girls who were older than he was, which Will thought to be a very odd thing. However, despite Billy's lack of attention, Will often worried about his sister being near the village boys. She was blooming, growing. Her figure had filled out to a rather surprising degree in the last year, and she was tall, willowy, and beautiful. She looked like their mother. Black hair, chocolate brown eyes. He worried that she was going to be taken advantage of someday.
Pop was reading a letter that had come in on a merchant ship. The merchants worked on the bare edge of legality, and were friends with many pirates, so the letter was probably from Uncle Jack. Though Captain Jack Sparrow was a legend, Will never thought of his mother's cousin as anything but Uncle Jack. Jack Sparrow was said to be immortal. He had, according to all the old tales, been brought back from death, and most said he had not aged a day since. His wife, Elizabeth, was said to have become immortal herself some years ago, or at least had stopped aging, and still looked as young as she had at twenty. Because of this, nobody seemed to know how old they actually were; just that Jack was considerably older than Elizabeth was. Eternal youth was said to have been granted to them by Calypso. Will had always felt a strange connection with Aunt Elizabeth. Maybe it was because she had once been a Governor's daughter, trapped on land, and had risen above that and become a pirate. Will had a craving for the sea and the freedom it represented, but he never told anyone about it except Carina. Aunt Elizabeth made him think it was possible to break free.
Mum was distracted by Troy and Tony, the twins, who were ten years old and fighting like mongrel dogs, and Will noticed that Carina was taking advantage of their parents' distraction and feeding her food to the dog, Rumrunner. Every time Will thought of how the dog got that name, he laughed. Uncle Jack had so named the puppy because it had stolen his bottle of rum right out of his hand and taken off down the beach. The puppy had been christened with seawater and swearwords. Will frowned worriedly at Carina as she put her empty plate on the table and asked to be excused. Pop murmured an accent without looking up. Carina took her plate to the kitchen, washed it, and then went outside. Will finished eating quickly, and then got permission to leave as well. He grinned at Louise as he went by, and the five year old giggled cheerfully. Will washed his dish and followed Carina, but not before being tripped by twelve year old Brent, their father's namesake.
It was a big family, and sometimes Will wished for more privacy. Will and Brent shared a room, as did Troy and Tony, Carina and Louise. The littlest one, three year old Nan, still slept in their parents room. Will usually got along well with Brent, but there were times when Will felt like begging his father to add on another room so he could have his own. Brent had a tendency to keep Will up at all odd hours of the night, talking about whatever girl he happened to be in love with that particular week. Will wasn't big on girls, he had liked one or two, but Brent was ridiculous. Pop said he had been just like that at that age, once again reminding Will that he seemed to have inherited nothing from either parent. Will sometimes felt like a misfit. He sometimes seemed to have more in common with Aunt Elizabeth than he did with his own mother. It was not that he didn't love his parents; it was just that he wasn't like them. Carina looked like their mother, but had her own personality. Brent looked and acted like their father. Troy and Tony looked like their mother but acted like their father. Louise had their mother's deep brown eyes and their father's blond hair, a rather odd mix. Nan looked liked Mum's mother apparently. Will however, had dark brown hair and light chocolate eyes. He didn't look like either Mum or Pop or their parents. He didn't act like any of them either, though Carina often seemed to have the same thoughts and feelings as he did.
He found her where he had expected to find her. There was the ruin of an old storehouse sitting up on a cliff about a five minute walk from the house. Pop had built a sturdy fence here to keep the little ones from wandering off to their death. There was a corner of the storehouse still standing, and a flight of steps. Will and Carina both found this the perfect place to think. They could stare off over the ocean to the horizon from here. It was a good place to look for ships coming in and for watching storms brewing. Carina sat on the steps, a sad look on her face. He sat beside her, staring out to sea wordlessly. If she wanted to talk, she would talk. He offered her support and understanding just by being there. After a few minutes of silence, Carina sighed loudly. He understood Carina almost as well as he understood himself. A sigh was a signal that he could speak.
"Do you want to talk about it?"
She was silent for a moment, but then she spoke quietly.
"Clover Nona said that her baby is Billy's."
Will raised his eyebrows, shocked. He had known Billy had a lot of girlfriends, but he had never thought it had gone onto improper ground. The fact that seventeen year old Clover Nona was scandalously pregnant had been attributed to some sailor passing through. He was unsure about what to say now. Carina had only a vague idea of how a child was created, and Will had no intention of spoiling her innocence, but it seemed important that she be made to understand that she must not go near Billy any more than was polite.
"Why does that make you sad?"
He was hoping that it was because Billy had disappointed her, not because she was jealous of Clover.
"I thought Billy was good."
Her childish answer relieved Will immensely.
"You shouldn't be too upset at him, people do bad things, and he's probably sorry; but don't go near him without having someone with you anymore, alright?"
Carina nodded, a big tear rolling down her cheek.
"Why are you crying, Cary? You didn't do anything wrong, you just liked a boy who you thought was nice."
"I feel like a fool."
Ah yes, pride. No wonder she was crying. She felt stupid for liking a young man who had turned out to be unworthy. He grinned. Wounded pride was a dangerous thing. He was glad she had not taken off to the village to confront Billy herself.
"You couldn't know, Cary. Besides, Clover has been known to say some outrageously untrue things in the past. It's possible Billy is innocent, but you need to stay away from him just in case. Don't feel stupid. Nobody will think you're a fool. You're not the only good girl who really liked Billy."
"But I'm usually so much smarter than all those others!"
Will grinned. The usual, spunky, cocky Carina was back. Carina was not as snobbish as she sometimes sounded, it was a sort of running joke; she pretended she thought she was superior. It was probably true though, Will thought affectionately. She was a very intelligent girl, though Will generally didn't let her know he thought that.
"Well, everybody has a silly moment here and there, eh? Even the great Carina Torrance!"
She smiled. She had a smile that was presently going to start knocking young men down.
"Carina, I know it's forbidden to compliment your sister by the unwritten sibling's rulebook, but you are a very pretty young woman."
He saw that his words were the final thing needed to boost her back to full confidence. They should have been twins. Their minds and hearts so often seemed to be connected.
"So, Carina, I have a friend who I trust who's been looking at you a lot lately. I'll introduce you if you promise not to hurt his feelings."
"Is he good looking?"
"How should I know? I'm not a girl! He's certainly not my idea of good looking! But his looks are consistent with what you always tell me is good, so you'll probably like him."
"What's his name?"
"Drew Gilt. You've probably seen him before, even been introduced, but you were always looking over the poor chap's shoulder at Billy."
"The name is familiar. Do introduce us. So, do you have any girl in particular that you like?"
"Not at the moment. Are you going to introduce me to someone?"
"Yep. Her name is Cherry McLay. She's real pretty. Blond hair, green eyes, etc. Nice too. You'll like her."
"Carina, you know I like dark-haired, dark-eyed girls."
"Yes, but it's time you tried something different."
"Well, I suppose you can introduce us."
Will smiled at his dance partner cheerfully. Cherry was indeed a pleasant young woman, about a month younger than he was, and they had been attending various functions together for about a week. They had agreed on a friendly relationship, however, which was not quite what Carina had had in mind. She and Drew had been immediately interested in each other in a rather more than friendly way, and she wanted Will to have her good luck. Will found himself surprising uninterested in girls for a fifteen year old, however. He was happy without being romantically attached. He glanced over Cherry's shoulder at Carina, who was held in Drew's arms rather tighter than necessary for dancing. Cherry laughed melodically, and Will glanced down at her.
"What?"
She giggled, looking at Carina and Drew with a smile.
"If she wasn't your sister, I'd say you were jealous!"
He laughed too, but he couldn't help looking a little worried.
"It's just that I introduced them, and if he does something improper, I'll feel guilty, and rightly so. I trusted him with her, and if I misplaced my trust, anything that happens is my fault."
"He's not going to do anything improper. All the boys hold their girls closer than they need to. That's why there's always old people sitting in the corners at these dances, they break couples up if they get too close."
Will looked around and discovered that there were indeed older people sitting and chatting in the corners, every once in a while glancing at the couples. He had seen them before but had assumed they just came to watch the fun and pretend they were young again. That did indeed seem to be what they were mostly doing, but he noted one old man get up, walk over to a couple who were pressed against each other ridiculously hard, and stuck his cane between them. They backed up a little bit, blushing at being singled out, and the man went and sat back down. Will chuckled.
"I hope Drew saw that."
Cherry laughed again.
"I don't think it's necessary. Drew is my next door neighbor, you know. He's a good fellow, he'll protect Carina's honor with the same care he would expect from you if you were courting his sister. Carina is a smart girl too; she'll speak her mind if she feels he's overstepping his boundaries. So stop worrying and have fun, William Torrance!"
Will tried to stop worrying, and after a few moments he forgot about Drew and Carina and just enjoyed himself. By the end of the evening, he was beginning to wonder if maybe he and Cherry could be more than friends. She seemed to be thinking the same thing, because he caught her looking at him, and she blushed when he caught her. He smiled, and she smiled shyly back. He walked her home after the dance. At some point, their hands joined, fingers intertwining. He never quite knew who initiated the contact; it was just a mutual motion. At the door of her house, she turned to him, and without a word, brushed her soft lips over his cheek. She smiled, blushing in the dim light, and then fled into the house. Will touched the place where her lips had been softly, then began his trudge home.
When he reached the house, he saw Carina and Drew talking quietly in the shadows of the porch. Carina kissed his cheek, much as Cherry had Will's. Drew, however, tried to kiss Carina's lips. She turned her face away.
"No Drew, not yet. I don't know you well enough. A first kiss is special, not to be given lightly."
Will watched carefully, forcing himself to remain calm when he wanted to be angry at even the attempted kiss. To his relief, Drew stood up to Will's expectations.
"Sorry, Carina. I didn't mean to offend. You're just so beautiful."
"It's all right Drew, I'm not angry. Just let me make first steps, okay?"
Will saw Drew nod in the dark, then the couple parted and Drew went down the road whistling cheerfully. He didn't see Will, who was hidden in the darkness.
Will stepped up onto the porch.
"So, do you like him a lot?"
Carina didn't jump. They had an uncanny ability to sense each other's presence.
"I don't know. I like him well enough. But…"
"it just doesn't seem quite right?"
She nodded.
"Why is it that you can so often read my mind?"
"Because I usually have the same feelings as you. I felt the same way with Cherry tonight. I like her, she's beautiful, I'll probably even keep seeing her; but something feels out of place."
Carina nodded again.
"That's exactly how I felt! Stop reading my mind!"
She tackled him playfully, knocking him to soft ground at the bottom of the porch. They rolled over and over, tickling each other and stuffing grass and dirt in each other's faces. When they stood up, laughing, their good clothes were in horrible disarray. Carina summed this up smartly.
"Mum's going to kill us!"
He nodded, still laughing, but aware of something troubling touching the back of his mind. They entered the house and endured their mother's scolding good naturedly. They knew she was laughing inside, it was reflected in her eyes. However, Will thought he saw worry there too. He didn't understand why. Maybe seeing Drew walk Carina home had reminded her that they were growing up. Such reminders always made Mum look pensive.
He said goodnight to Carina and Mum, kissing their cheeks as usual, then went to bed. Something continued to trouble him, but he could not put words to it.
The next morning at breakfast, Pop announced the contents of the letter from Uncle Jack.
"The Sparrow's are coming to visit. The whole flock of them."
A cheer went up around the table. Will grinned. Pop's voice had reflected a mixture of pleasure at the idea of seeing his friends again and horror at the thought of having the five Sparrow children added to his seven for any amount of time. It had become apparent that the Brittiana bloodline, from which came Jack's mother and Mum's father, had a tendency towards producing twins. Mum and Pop had Troy and Tony, and Jack and Elizabeth had two sets: Nicole and Nicholas, Timothy and Sara-Lee. The older set was thirteen now, and the younger set was ten, meaning that they were an explosive combination when playing with Troy and Tony. The other child was a nine-year-old girl named Clara. Whenever the Sparrows came to visit, chaos ensued. They also brought with them Carl and Anamaria, who had two children. In some places, the black children and their parents would have been rejected, but here they were welcomed. Port Nanton was a very pleasant place no matter who you were. So, with all the children added up, the arrival of the Black Pearl meant there would be fifteen kids sleeping in the house, plus six adults. Though it was possible Carl and Anamaria would take theirs back to the ship at night. No wonder Pop looked a little pale. Will was excited, as a plan formed in his mind: a plan for freedom.