Dear New and Old fanfiction readers,

This is the rewrite of my old fanfiction, Pirates of the Caribbean: Jack's Secret. While I'll ask you to disregard the old story which will be taken down within the next week, it will follow similar lines but with more originality and creativity. It's taken me a few years to get back into it but right now I'm rather keen so lets see where this takes us. Shall we? Enjoy.

Chapter 1: An old tale reaches the present

"Catherine!" shouted a woman in her late forties; she stood at the bottom of the stairs while she wiped her hands on her white apron. It was early evening and the young teenager was procrastinating in her bedroom she assumed, trying to fix the corset she had done up tightly only half an hour earlier.

"I said I don't want to go!" replied the girl, anger laced in her usually sweet voice. There was a rustle of clothing followed by the slamming of her door.

"If you don't come down here right now and present yourself accordingly I will lock you in your bedroom and you shall miss Norrington becoming Commodore, you will also not be allowed to see William for two weeks…." She hollered, counting in her head… 5…4…3…2…1…

The door flew open and a young woman about the age of fifteen appeared wearing a light cream and white dress, her hair was put in tight bun with tendrils framing her face. Delicate makeup was applied to her skin, her eyes smoky black and her lips a deep crimson red.

"That's blackmail…" she seethed, huffing and adjusting her skirts. The older woman, Helen, merely smiled and tapped the young girl on the nose. "But you are down here now and Mister Montario will be along any minute. It took your father quite some convincing to even allow him to look at you; Allan is a genuine young man who is interested in you." Helen said as she reached up to re-twirl a tendril and pin it into place again, Catherine gave her a look that clearly said she was unimpressed.

"I'm too young to even be considered a wife, I only see Allan around town chasing after a lot prettier women than myself. Why on earth would he have an interest in me?" she said, pushing past Helen and making her way towards the kitchen table. With a sigh, she sat and tried to calm her heart. In fact, Allan had been asking around about her and she only knew that because he had approached William. William was her big brother, her protector when she wasn't at home with her mother being taught how to be a lady.

"Because, you are just different. Quite a few men have asked to court you, men a lot older than yourself that only have one thing on their mind." Breeding, thought Catherine. Helen came and stood behind her; placing a metal chain around her neck. The young girl raised her hand to touch the locket; its cool surface against her skin seemed to calm her a little. It was the pendant that she had always admired as a very young girl, a silver oval with intricate engravings with a branch and sparrow bird flying towards it.

"Samuel gave this to me when we were engaged, perhaps it will bring you luck." There was another reason behind it the young girl knew but decided not to press it.

"..I-" Catherine started but there was a knock on the door, her eyes darted to Helen's. Clear panic shone in her eyes, Helen felt her heart tug a little as her mind drifted to the requests her real father made when she was just a small girl. The promises they had made to him were being broken, Catherine was not meant to date anyone until she was eighteen but times had changed and the circumstances were different. She was starting to become like her father, her calling to the sea was getting stronger and Helen was grasping at straws to keep her on shore.

"You will be fine dear, he will take care of you." She mused, smiling and doing a last minute tidy up of Catherine, the teenager glared but it faltered at the look the older woman was giving her. It was honesty, comfort and warmth. She gave her mother a hug and looked towards the parlour where Allan was making small chat with her father.

Settling her inner struggle, Catherine held her head high and remembered the lessons her mother had instilled into her life. Her shoes were making a small clicking noise as she walked across the parquetry. Helen ducked in front of her so she could present Catherine, a small smile on her face.

Faking shyness, Catherine did a small curtsy and a quiet hello. She knew perfectly well that Allan's green eyes were studying her carefully, she peeked a glance at him and when she caught his eye gave him a soft smile. Helen saw right through her charade and knew she'd cop an earful later but she could play with him all she wanted. Allan came and stood beside her, he was a solid six foot three where as she was roughly five foot six, she was glad she was wearing heels as it gave her a little extra height.

"You look beautiful, shall we go Miss O'Rylis?" he asked as he offered his arm, with a smile she met his eyes with hers and placed her hand on his arm. Samuel came over to her and she kissed him on the cheek, his eyes shone with pride as he looked at her.

"Take care of her…" he said to Allan, his eyes promising more than his words.

"Yes sir, I'd protect her with my life…" he swore, with that Catherine followed Allan out of the house and into a carriage where he took her to his family's manor just out of town.

As they rode in the carriage, they spoke of similar interests such as books and literature. He made a few jokes but Catherine was aware of his tricks, get the girl to relax and slowly make sly gestures. Allan moved closer to her, his arm over the back of her seat. She assumed that he thought his cologne was intoxicating, well it was. It was disgusting; it reeked and made her wish the window was open.

Giggling, she would wait till the time was right and make her escape. They came upon the house, servants came out to open the carriage and welcome their master home. Catherine took his offered hand as she got out of the carriage, the horses were shuffling uneasily and their ears were pointed towards the Bay.

Lifting her skirt in one hand, she took Allan's hand and was led into the house where she was greeted by his family. His mother was assessing her, she did a curtsy to the older woman and to Allan's father whose emerald green eyes seemed to peer straight into her soul.

"Thank you for inviting me into your home, it's rather beautiful." She gushed, her cheeks flushing a faint pink. She had girly Catherine down pat but boyish Catherine was screaming profanities about wearing a dress, her heart was pounding and her lungs were aching from the lack of air. Only a few hours and she would be at home, in her bed reading a good book or possibly scrubbing herself clean of the stench that is Allan Montario.

The evening passed well, Catherine laughed and got along well with Allan's sisters and his father. His mother was harder to please and Catherine brought out the big guns, fashion in London and France which was always seemed to win over older women. Thankfully she had some knowledge, Elizabeth never shut up about it.

Now she was on her way home, Allan escorting her like he promised. The carriage ride was quiet which was to be expected, they had exhausted all options of talking throughout the night and right now Catherine just wanted to escape. She had sunken into her own mind, only smiling and nodding or giggling at something Allan said to make small talk. As they arrived, they climbed out of the carriage and said their goodbyes he tried to give her a kiss on the lips. Turning her head at the last minute, she giggled and gave a cheeky excuse before lifting her skirts and going inside.

Helen was standing there with an eager expression, clearly wanting to know the gossip of her night. With a blank look of annoyance, she darted up the stairs and made a bargain. "If you get me out of this corset and into something more comfortable I will tell you what happened."

Later that night, Catherine lay in her bed but something was upsetting her stomach. Rolling back the covers, she went to her window and opened it to let in the cool sea breeze. A song came to her lips, her long dark hair swayed in the breeze as the lights of Port Royal began to flicker out while the town prepared for the next day of work. She hadn't seen William in a few days and wondered if that was upsetting her stomach. They had a very close friendship, having grown up together as Helen and Samuel had adopted him when he came to Port Royal. Elizabeth, being the Governor's daughter was all different kinds of evil or that was just how Catherine viewed her.

With a sigh, she sat on her window seat and let the cool air soothe her heart. She did not want to marry Allan, she did not want to settle down and have babies like everyone was telling her to. Catherine O'Rylis wanted to explore the seven seas, sail to the ends of the earth and back but no, here she was stuck in Port Royal with nothing to do while the world passed by.