An adventure to find the biggest pirate treasure in the world; a death defying race with the British; and a girl caught in the middle. Sara is journeying with her father, Jack, to find the treasure of Blackbeard, but so much stands in their way.
As legend says, Captain Edward Teach more commonly known as Blackbeard, had a lover, a known pirate by the name of Arabella Drummond. Legend also tells of a mysterious treasure that Drummond left on an island. This FanFiction of Pirates of the Caribbean is based on that legend. Much information came from the book Pirateology printed by Candlewick Press, a fictional book based very much on the truth of pirates.
Disclaimer: I came up with this story on my own. I used characters from Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean and information, characters, and locations from Pirateology written by Douglas A. Steer. I do not own any characters from the Pirates of the Caribbean series, nor do I own any rights to the book Pirateology. This story is the work of my own imagination, as is the creation of Sara Sparrow, a rather important character among others. Some locations are real and others are fictional. I own no rights to anything.
CHAPTER ONE—A WONDERFUL DAY FOR SAILING
Author's Note: A description of Sara Sparrow is not in this first chapter, and I'm afraid that I might leave things out if I try and disperse it throughout the story. Sara is Jack Sparrow's only child. She was born on March 5 and is 18 years old. Her mother is Crystal Anderson, oldest daughter of Lord and Lady Edwin and Annabelle Anderson. Sara lived with her mother and grandparents for the first seven years of her life before finally meeting her father and choosing a life with him. She writes to her mother constantly and the two are as close as fate will allow. She is very mature for her age and for a pirate. She loves to learn and knows almost everything that ever had to do with any pirate legend. A physical description is thus: Sara had black hair-same as Jack's and her mother's-that falls just past her shoulders. Her eyes are as green as palm tree leaves, and her smile can light up a room. She is about a head shorter than Jack himself. Normally she wears white shirtsleeves, brown or black breeches, her favorite worn brown boots, and a blue sash around her waist and, sometimes, a green vest, but only on certain occasions. She never leaves without at least her cutlass which was given to her by her mother and almost always a loaded pistol or knife tucked away in her boot.
It was in the middle of March. The weather in London was chilly, but the day was sunny and the bright colors and cheerful atmosphere seemed to make the day feel warmer than it actually was. The market place just outside the justice building was in full swing with traders setting up shop under tents and makeshift stalls trying to sell their treasures. Women were selling flowers and fruits from rickety old tables or baskets. Children were running amuck in and out of the adults, screaming, jumping, chasing, and falling down only to jump right back again and continue on their merry way. There were several persons that belonged to the higher social class on their way inside the justice building. They stuck up their noses and proceeded up the steps without so much as a glace at the ragamuffins that stopped and stared at the flowing skirts, starched collars and shirtsleeves and neatly presses coats and polished shoes. Something big was happening today. An execution trial, an execution trial for a girl accused of piracy. For most of the town the feelings toward the whole mess were, for the most part, split right down the middle. The members of the lower social classes, those less educated as well as those merely looking for a little excitement were hoping that girl would be strung up in front of everyone like a sideshow at a fair. The higher classes, however, were near completely opposite. They thought it disgraceful to hang a girl so young, for she was only fifteen. Besides how could a child that age be associated with piracy, they all thought. How did she get mixed up in such a mess? Surely she can be taught to change her ways if given the opportunity.
But that opportunity never came. That bright, sunny, April morning, the girl was brought before a grand jury who had just emerged from a room behind the judges' table were money bills had been passed from person to person behind closed doors, and a unanimous vote had been cast before the members had even arrived to the building. The courtroom was packed with people of all social groups. They were all seated and silent as the judges came out and were seated, but when the tiny girl was brought before the court, as a whole, they began to hiss and spit, swearing they would see her hang before the sun went down, cursing the woman that called herself the girl's mother, cursing pirates everywhere, and some were actually praising the crown for such wonderful judicial systems as theirs.
"ORDER!" cried the judge. "I shall have order!"
Silence immediately rang out.
"Prisoner, Eliza Maryann Worthington, convicted of crimes against the crown including, but not limited to, piracy, treason, murder, and theft. How do you plead?"
"I'm not guilty!" the girl cried. "I'm not! I haven't done any of those things! I'm innocent! I promise!"
"Silence! You have been caught in your life of crime and you shall be punished for it! Jury, have you reached a decision?"
The juryman rose. "We have your honor. We find the prisoner guilty of all charges."
"Guilty!" boomed the judge. "I sentence you to hang by the neck until dead, and may the Lord have mercy on your soul." With a bang of a gavel, her fate was sealed.
Poor little Eliza was dragged from the courthouse in chains out to a wagon waiting to carry her through the streets to the gallows that now stood for her. During the twenty minute ride, she was forced to endure rotten food being thrown, shouts, threats, curses, and spitting. Eliza was as brave as she could be. For the first have of the journey, she held her head high, but after she was hit in the face with a rotten tomato, her face fell and she began to cry, to sob violently for the remainder of the trip. When the wagon stopped, Eliza was yanked out of the vehicles and pushed and pulled up the steps to the waiting noose. She was not offered a hood. The crowd was pushing in now getting as close as they dared to the platform.
All this time, courageous Eliza faced the crowd.
All this time, another girl, the same age, was standing in the back watching her best friend being hanged.
Sara Sparrow, a girl of the same background, a branded pirate, a wanted theft, and a traitor to the crown, was watching from under the hat that shielded her face, the only thought running through her head being, that should be me up there. Eliza was Sara's dearest and most best friend. They had spent most of their short lives together sailing around with their fathers, seeing sights that most Englishmen could not even imagine in their wildest dreams, learning how to sail and ship and captain a crew. Sara now watched in horror as her crimes and sentence was read and she watched the executioner move into position.
But just as the lever was pulled; just as the floor dropped, Eliza and Sara met eyes. For one split second, the Eliza smiled at her friend. For one split second, the end of one life, and the beginning of another, the two best friends stared at each other with a sense of peace and calmness that came with forgiveness.
And the last words out of little Eliza Maryann Worthington was, "Hoist the Colors!"
And the floor fell.
Sara woke up screaming. This was not the first time that week she had had that dream. The events the kept recurring in her mind happened three years ago, but they still haunted nearly the entire crew to this day. Sara sat up and glanced around the dimly lit cabin that she shared with her father. A sunrise on the sea was the most beautiful thing in the entire world, in Sara's opinion. She new that she wasn't going to get any more sleep so might as well enjoy the few moments of solitude before the crew woke up.
She quickly and sloppily tucked in her shirtsleeves and fished her boots out from under her bed. Sara ran her fingers through her hair and grabbed her hat on the peg. The pink and orange light was washing over the Pearl as Sara slowly walked to the bow listen to the ship creak and groan as it tilted back and forth in the water. She smiled. This was the only home she had ever known, the only true home. It was peaceful this morning, a perfect day for sailing. Just enough of a breeze to keep the ship moving at a comfortable pace. When she got to the bow she swung her head over the railing and grabbed the rigging for balance.
"Up enjoying the view?"
"I thought I would enjoy some quiet before everyone wakes up, but I see how well that worked out." Sara looked over her shoulder and smirked.
It was none other the Captain Hector Barbossa. He was either the captain or the first mate. He and Jack had never worked out the whole captain issue.
"Sorry for the disturbance, but it appears that great minds think alike." Barbossa strolled toward her and rested a hand on the rail next to her.
"I had that dream again," Sara whispered. "She would have been eighteen today. Can you believe that?"
"Aye, 'tis hard to believe that three years have come and gone since that day, and not one has gone by when I've not thought about her."
"She was my dearest friend in the whole world."
"Aye, you two were as thick as thieves; weren't far from each other any given minute. Best friends I think I ever saw."
"I live with guilt everyday of my life. That should have been me on those gallows that morning. Not her. It was my mistake. I was the one that got caught; I was the one that was thrown in jail. I'm the one that should be dead right now."
"Eliza knew what she was doin'. She knew as well as the rest of us that you were innocent. It was her idea to sacrifice herself for you. You were the only thing in her life that was whole. She wanted to do it."
Sara wiped a tear from her eye. "I loved her so much."
"Aye," Barbossa nodded, "and she loved you too. That's why she did what she did. We can't let her die in vein, Sara. She deserves better than that."
Sara nodded furiously. "Yes, she does. I promise that I won't live her death be in vein."
"That's the spirit."
By now the sun was fully over the horizon and well on its way into the sky. The sunshine sparkled on the water and sea gulls began to appear soaring over head.
"We must be close to land," Barbossa commented.
"Yeah, but what land? I don't even know where we are." Sara scanned the horizon looking for any sign of an island or anything. Instead, she saw something else, something that could possibly be far more dangerous.
Sara kicked her legs over the railing and grabbed the spy glass on the bow of the ship. She found the spot again. "Uh-oh, we've got company."
"Colors?" he asked.
"British Armada, definitely; it's a massive ship." Sara explained. "Just what we needed first thing in the morning."
Barbossa sighed. "Should we raise the alarm?"
Sara put the spy glass back on the stand. "It's my turn to ring the bell." She ran up the stairs to the helm and grabbed the rope tied to the iron bell the hung above the wheel. She yanked hard and the bell rang out. "On deck, all hands! Look alive, now!" She rang the bell louder.
The ship came to life instantly. Barbossa strolled around the decks yelling at the crew to get up and get to their battle stations. Crew members were scattering back and forth pulling on boots and vests and hats and socks. They were scrambling up the stairs and to the guns and up the rigging to the sails. It seemed like madness, and it probably was, but within minutes the Black Pearl had her sails open and was heading toward the enemy ship on the horizon.
"Mr. Gibbs!" Sara called.
"Aye, Sara?"
"Take roll, please. We can't afford to have any lazy ones in bed today. We'll need all the men we can get. Who knows what they want."
"Probably the same thing they want every time." Barbossa looked around trying to find Jack, but he wasn't there. "I don't suppose ye could be wakin' your father up now, could ye?"
"Jack? Is he not…?" Sara huffed. "I'll be right back." She trudged down that stairs and into the captain's cabin.
Within minutes, Jack Sparrow was fully dressed and alert. He stumbled out the door and up the stairs to the helm where he joined Cotton and Barbossa.
"So nice of you to join us," Barbossa greeted him sarcastically.
"Better late than never, I always say, but what's with this early rising business? I'll have you know that I do not rise with the sun nor have I ever, so I demand to know why—"
"We've got some company this morning, Jack, and I thought it best if we were all awake and looking our best. Let's try to make a good impression on them this time, shall we? Please?"
As the great ship grew near, Sara could make out the shape and size more distinctly looking through the spy glass again. A ship three stories high lined with cannons all around, masts that were just as tall with full white sails that resembled clouds, and a crew of navy and red wearing sailors.
"It is most definitely the Endeavor," Sara answered. "And I know exactly whose ship that is."
The ship in question belonged to the right hand man of the King of England, the most notorious, ruthless pirate hunter. He had nearly unlimited resources and money. The entire royal armada was at his disposal as well as soldiers. He knew what he wanted and how to get it, and if he did not have information on a certain subject, his clerk surely did.
"Cutler Beckett," Barbossa spat.
"Aye," Sara answered. "Damn navy ruining our perfect sailing day," she mumbled.
"Orders, Cap'n." Gibbs asked.
"Just wait and let them get closer. We'll see what they want and decide if we should run from there."
So they waited. It was not a long wait, but all the while, Sara's hand never once drifted away from her sword hanging from her belt. They watched the Endeavor come closer and closer until finally both ships called for anchor at the same time, and soon they were facing each other. Just as predicted, Beckett stood in the middle of the deck with that smirk on his face. To his right and behind him stood his notorious looking clerk, Mr. Mercer.
"Good morning!" Beckett called the Pearl.
"The same to you," Sara answered before Jack could. "A wonderful day for sailing, isn't it?"
"Oh, yes, yes, quite; such a wonderful day."
"Is there something we could be helping you with?" Jack asked taking a step in front of Sara.
Becket chuckled. "Why don't you come aboard and we'll have a little chat." Becket whispered something to Mercer and then snapped his fingers.
At once every crew member on board the Endeavor began running towards something. Several of them came to the side of the ship with boards that stretched over to the Pearl while others ran for guns and pointed them at Sara and Jack and everyone on deck of the pirate ship. Sara's grip tightened on her sword as Navy men and soldiers and commanders scurried across the boards onto the pirate ship, rounding everyone towards the bow of the deck and circling Jack, Sara, and Barbossa.
"Excuse me, my lord, but do you think it possible that I can have a few moments to collect myself? I only just fell out of bed, and I look terrible!" Sara asked.
"Very well, Miss Sparrow, five minutes, that's all."
Sara beamed. "Thank you." She turned to find a soldier standing in her way. He held his gun loosely and was looking at her confused. "Excuse me?" She arched and eyebrow. He took a fumbling step to the side and let her pass.
Inside the cabin, Sara threw her hat on the bed and yanked open her wardrobe. He pulled out a pair of black dress breeches and a new clean pair of shirt sleeves and her pair a pair of socks off the shelves the filled the left side. Hanging next to them where her waistcoats and coats that she wore on only special occasions. She pulled the red one off a hanger and laid it out neatly on the bed.
Sara changed breeches quickly and pulled on the socks before tying the breeches at the knee. Then she tied her belt around her waist to which her sword was attached. She ripped the shirtsleeves off and pulled the others on and tucked them into the breeches, smoothing them out and adjusting the sleeves just right. She unbuttoned the waistcoat and slid it over her shoulders before button all the little silver buttons from the bottom to the top.
"A new record," Sara mumbled to herself as she reached for the ivory handled hair brush that her mother had sent her for her birthday. She sat down at her vanity that held the only non cracked mirror on the ship. "I think I shall leave it down," she told herself and began to brush out the tangles. Soon it fell over her shoulders in a glossy, soft waterfall. "Wonderful!" she smiled at her reflection. She stood up, grabbed her hat and placed it on her head and fished out a pair of black leather gloves out of her wardrobe before walking out back onto the deck.
"My, my, Miss Sparrow, you clean up rather nice." Beckett was not on board the Pearl.
"Thank you. Now correct me, if I'm wrong, but weren't we meeting on your ship?"
"Indeed we are. If you'll please follow me." Beckett turned and walked down the steps back to the boards that connected the two ships. Barbossa followed after them. Jack took a step, but Sara stopped him.
"What? Anything wrong?"
Sara shook her head. She pulled the left lapel of her waistcoat out, reached down, and pulled out a long barreled pistol with a red-brown mahogany handle decorated with vines with roses running down them.
"How come I've never known that was there before?" Jack asked, pouting yet taking the gun from her.
"See why I do my own laundry? I've got a knife in my green one. Now come on or they'll think we're planning a takeover."
Jack looked at his daughter curiously. "Aren't we though?"
Sara giggled. "Not this time, Jackie. Oh, and don't lose that gun; it's my favorite, and please, for my sake and everyone else's, don't do anything stupid!"
Jack pouted. "It's as if you don't trust me." He patted her cheek and walked on her.
Sara sighed and followed. Just before she walked across the board to the English ship she turned to Mr. Gibbs, who still had a gun pointed at him, and a line of red coated soldiers standing in front of him. "Mr. Gibbs," she said.
"Aye, Sara?"
Sara looked at the soldiers then back to Mr. Gibbs and said, "Keep an eye on things."
Gibbs rolled his eyes. "Truly a child of Jack's."
"Now that everyone's here, let's go have a talk." Another snap.
Almost the same exact second that Sara's feet touched the deck soldiers grabbed first Sara's wrists then locking her arms behind her back. She kicked our in front of her, and when she landed she landed on the soldier's toes. He let out a yell and let go of Sara's arms. She bolted towards her father who was in a similar situation as was Barbossa. She reached out for Jack trying to loosen the soldier's grip, but just as she grabbed his wrist and pulled another pair of hands grabbed her own. She was yanked back from her father, and her arms were bound behind her back again only this time with what seemed to be twice as much force.
"Jack!" she cried, but she was punished with a sharp twist that pulled on arms making her grimace.
"Let's not hurt her too much, Mr. Mercer. We need her for our little expedition."
"Yes, sir." Mercer loosened his grip slightly.
"Now that that little escapade is finished, shall we get down to business?" Beckett motioned to his office door. Sara, Jack, and Barbossa were led towards it and taken into a room with a large desk and a table displaying a world map with tiny figurines of ships and soldiers lined out.
"I want guards stationed outside the door and couple of them standing next to the window. Don't want any swimmers now, do I? You can let them go; take your posts."
The three of them were released. Sara rubbed her wrists and watched Jack and Barbossa wander, but mostly, she kept her eye on Beckett and Mercer, waiting to see if they were going to do anything tricky.
"Sara, dear, how well do you know your legends?"
"Depends on which ones you ask about. I know a fair few."
"Have you ever heard of a one Edward Teach?"
"Blackbeard, you mean, with a heart blacker than the hair on his face? Yes, I know of him. They say he entwines lit fuses into his beard to seem more terrifying."
"The very same; very good. Do you know what the name of his ship is?"
"The Queen Anne's Revenge. I've seen her before. She's the biggest, blackest, most terrifying thing I've ever seen. She gave me nightmares for years."
A pity, he's still around, I take it?"
"I don't know what happened to him. Some say he's dead, others say he's given up piracy. Forgive me, but is this relevant? Is there something you want or are you just here to catch up on your pirate legends?"
"My, aren't you a fiery one? Yes, this is relevant. You see, there is one particular legend that interests me. I too now that Blackbeard was born Edward Teach and turned pirate and raided pillaged and plundered every port from England to America and back again. But there is something about that tale that not everyone sees a very important person. I believe her name was Belle."
Sara gasped. "You mean Arabella Drummond. Blackbeard's thought love. They were in love for years, pirate or not. I mean, after all, they were both pirates. What does she have to do with anything?"
"I'm sure you know as well as I do what all pirates do with their treasure don't you? They either spend it or bury it. Well, Blackbeard apparently had so much treasure that he could not or did not spend it all. In any case there is a treasure buried somewhere." Beckett stood from behind his desk and began to walk about the room. Sara moved so that her back was to a wall and she could see every move that he made.
"Yes, but I still don't see how we or Arabella Drummond have to do with his buried treasure, and why his?"
"Blackbeard is the most notorious pirate in the world! So notorious that Spain and Britain have in the past both send out ships to work together to hunt him down and kill him. Think about all the ships he's sunk, all the people he's killed, all of the gold he's taken from his victims. The treasure must be enormous."
Sara arched an eye brow at him. Why could Cutler Beckett go on a treasure hunt for a pirate that had been dead for nigh a year? "So I take it you want to find this treasure?"
"Of course; Blackbeard's treasure could fund the entire Royal Empire sufficiently, and it's buried on British soil. It's the property of the Crown."
"How do you know it's buried on British soil?"
"Because, my delightful child, Britain owns the world."
Sara smirked. "That's wonderful, but if this treasure is as big as you say it is then you'd best believe that every other pirate in the world is out looking for it. It won't be easy to find, and who's to say it's still there anyway? I mean maybe someone's found it already and this is all one giant goose chase."
"We've thought about that a great deal," Beckett told her, spinning the globe around, "and that's probably true, but there is one person who might know something about all this."
Sara narrowed her eyes. "I know where you're going with this. If you think we're going to help you find Arabella Drummond, you're insane! We don't even know where she went. She could be dead for all any of us know. What makes you think we—I—would know anything about her?"
"Even for a pirate, Sara, you've got a well rounded education in what you would consider important."
"Well, I'm sorry that I can't help you, but I don't know anything about Arabella Drummond or Blackbeard or his treasure or where it might be."
Beckett stood behind the globe while it began to slow down. Jack and Barbossa had moved to a corner by the door. Sara had nearly forgotten they were here at all in the heated argument. She tightened her grip on her sword and gave Jack a glance that told him to be cautious. She kept her stance against the wall.
"Very well, you may return to your ship."
Sara stared at Beckett curiously. There was no resistance. There was no battle, no guns pointed between people's eyes, no fuss whatsoever. That put Sara on edge even more. Cutler Beckett was letting them go. As uneasy as it made Sara feel, it made her even more nervous being on the same ship with a man that wanted her head on a silver platter.
"Jackie, come on. Let's get back to the Pearl." Sara grabbed Jack by the arm and followed Barbossa out the door.
"Do you really think she's as dumb to that as she claims?" Mercer asked. He walked over to the window in time to see Sara jump back onto the Black Pearl.
"Of course I don't. Sara Sparrow is known around the globe for her intellect. She knows exactly where Drummond is and I'm sure she's even got some idea as to where the treasure is buried. Have the crew follow them at a safe distance. She'll take us where we need to go, and Mercer?"
"Yes, sir?"
"You remember that darling pearl necklace we found, don't you? Find it for me won't you? That little trinket might be more useful than we thought."
"Aye sir."