Full summary:
Meet Pearl Murrow. A cynical widowed writer who seems to have lost her creative spark. Enter Jack Sparrow, who chanced upon her home while hiding from the navy. Jack is just the person Pearl needs to help her find her edge again. And so, after being bribed and basically blackmailed, Jack begrudgingly allows Pearl to come aboard his ship with her two servants to observe the lives of actual pirates, to put realism into her newest novel about a piratical romance. But piracy is something one just can't observe only. Soon, Pearl is completely wading in it, yet drama ensues as she tries to publish her work, only to be stopped by Jack, who does not want Pearl to leave. (Sorry, Im horrid at summaries) Romance/Humor/Drama
-oo0oo-
Chapter one: Pearl
What he needed was a place to hide, Jack thought to himself. Just for a short time, so he could get back to his ship, and once again escape from the dear men in arms. Again.
He fell ungracefully onto a terrace of a large mansion he was climbing the draining pipes to. After checking the window panes, he put a steady hand on the knob, relieved to find the room unlocked.
It was an odd room. Completely empty save for a small desk littered with bits of parchment, an upended bottle of ink, and another with a raven black quill sticking out from inside. A black Spanish style shall(silk, if Jack had to take a guess) was thrown rather hastily across the winged chair that was pushed out from the desk. Other then this, the room was bare.
Jack walked to the oak writing table, and picked up a piece of parchment that had beautiful handwriting, and started to read it.
"The sea spray hit Bianca's face as she wished desperately that she was any other place then that of a pirate ship. The sun blazed down on the sailors, their bronze muscles glittering, and rippling as they worked."
"Rubbish." Jack scoffed, and threw the paper back down on the desk.
"And you could do better, can you?" A rather amused voice spoke up. He froze.
Standing in the doorway with a military bayonet in her arms was a woman. She could have been pretty, maybe if her features were on someone else's face. Her skin was pale, stretched over a oval face, with dark brown eyes, and high eyebrows. Her lips, though soft and plump looking, seemed too prominent.
She was dressed in a black gown, the style exactly like that of the shall on the chair. Her waist was supple, and she wasn't that tall, but it just didn't meld together well.
"Well, being as I am a pirate," Jack flashed a grin, gold teeth catching the light and sparkling wickedly like his attitude. "Most pirate's muslces don't…er what was it…" He glanced back at the parchment "glitter and ripple in the sun as they work. Have you ever seen a pirate?"
"As I said, you could do better? Wait." She shot him a glare. "What the hell are you doing in my house?" Her voice was an odd mixture of Spanish and English, which pretty much explained the style of clothing she wore, the blue black hair, and brown eyes.
"Why, I am standing here. And a moment ago, I was reading some rubbish about pirates. Lady, life on a pirate ship ain't as dandy as all that." Jack decided the best method was to attack an obvious sore spot.
"Well, you try writing about pirates when you've never even been near one." She snapped, and her grip on the bayonet loosened slightly without her realizing it. "I'm supposed to come up with a whole novel about some girl being taken captive on a pirate ship, and I don't even know if the bow is the front or back of the ship."
Jack grimaced. Ignorance when it came to sailing, and pirate life, always irritated him. Yes, he put on a show of being rather dim witted. When one looked at Jack Sparrow, one usually thought of a fox, lithe and cunning, though prone to stupidity at some times(for example, that horrid affair he got himself into when he rescued Elizabeth).
"Lady," he drawled, putting most of his weight on one foot, and putting his hands on his hips in a swagger. "How stupid can you really be."
"I wouldn't be talking about stupidity, when you are the one at the wrong end of a gun." She snapped, and raised the aim from where it would hit his feet, to his just below his mid section. That knocked him down a peg.
"Yes, well…" Jack stalled trying to catch her off of the fact that she had a gun pointed at him. "Are you a writer then?" The skepticism in his voice was enough to miff her again.
"Of course I'm a writer." The woman scoffed.
"So, you have work published? Or just in the ladies' magazines?"
"I have a number of books published under my penname. You know very well that women are discouraged to be writers."
"I see," Jack raised an eyebrow, showing that he clearly doubted her. "Well, I wish you good luck on this horrid misplacement of a pirates life." And with a daring move, he turned to leave from the way he came.
He never made it.
-oo0oo-
"Foolish arse!" Pearl snarled, as the man crumpled to the ground, the blow to his head knocking him clean out. He would be fine when he woke, but he would have a horrid headache.
Well, so what? He needed to be rebuffed for mocking her writing. Yes…she admitted that it wasn't her best of work, but still! Who the hell steals into her house, reads her writing, and starts to criticize it? This man must be crazy.
"Walter!" Pearl called out, and within a minute a rather tall man with thin hair came into the room. "Please get our…guest to Theo's old room. And tell Betty Ann to make one of her tonics that help headaches." The man named Walter did not seem fazed in the slightest to the unusual order, and as Pearl entered her late husband's room with the tonic mixed with rum and water in her hand, Walter was just taking off the man's hat and unbuckling his weapon's belt, as they both got in the way.
"Is that all Ms. Pearl?" He asked, turning in the doorway on his way out.
"Yes Walter, thank you." She sat down and waited.
-oo0oo-
"The rum!" Jack bolted straight up, his eyes wide and his hand outstretched. It took him more then a few seconds to recall where he was; mostly because of the sharp pain that seemed to be splitting his head in two. He was in a different room, a bedroom in fact. The furnishings were all dark cherry wood, and the walls a very royal blue shade, with thick cherry wood chair-rail, baseboard, and crown molding. On the floor was a thick velvet blue carpet to match the walls. There was a desk, two chest of drawers, and one large wardrobe. The bed he was in was a large four poster with the blue hangings pulled back.
The woman who had so meanly accosted him was sitting in an armchair(blue) besides the bed, a book in her pale long fingered hands. When she saw him bolt up, she set her reading down, and leaned forward, a small smile on her lips.
"What the hell did you do to me, woman?" Jack gasped, feeling the large goose egg on his head.
"Here," she said, handing him a hewn cup that had been sitting on the nightstand besides the bed. He sniffed it. "Its not poison," she added. "Just a blend of herbs that help with a headache, mixed with water laced with rum."
Without another word Jack emptied the contents of the cup in one swift swallow, and handed back the cup.
"I have a bargain that I should like to put before you," The woman steepled her hands and rested her chin on them.
"You must be crazy," Jack made to dash, but he noticed his hat and weapons belt were gone. There was also a man standing at the door, holding the accursed bayonet. There was only one window, and it was sealed tight, not even big enough to climb through. He was trapped.
"Just hear me out." She shrugged. "I am widowed. I never loved my husband, but he left me with an indecent amount of money, which is what steered me towards writing. But, I'm bored, and as you so pointed out in my study, I lack the knowledge to make this pirate novel realistic. I will help you escape port"-- she raised her hand to stop him from speaking "I know, because I had a large number of naval officers banging on my door shortly after you arrived, as they had seen you turn down this street and where checking every house on it.
"I will help you escape unscathed if you permit me to come aboard your ship for a few months to observe the realism of piracy that I lack. I will pay you for the trouble and for the protection. And, if my novel is successful, I will also give you a share of the profits. My two servants will also join me. Oh yes," She said, as she remembered the most crucial part in her argument. "The naval officers I mentioned, they are posted at every exit in the house. Only I know the way to a safe escape."
Jack was still massaging his head, but now his mind had set to working. He needed to escape, as the woman well knew. Perhaps he could allow her and her two servants onto the ship, just until they were safe, and then the next port they reached he would simply deposit them on shore. He would also be sure to be paid in advance. Him and his crew needed money. Yes, he had the whole island full of it, but he needed the money now so he could get to the island.
"I suppose I have no choice." He muttered, sounding defeated.
"I will pay you one third of the total due when we are aboard your ship. The rest of the money will come after I am satisfied with what I have." Jack nodded. He could always raid her money when she wasn't looking. He was a pirate. "And if I am approached at all in an unsuitable way, I will make sure that whoever approached me will be singing at a higher octave." He chuckled.
"It's a deal then," Jack said, taking his hand from his head, and extending it to shake her own. "Now, there is just one last thing I need to know."
"Hmm?" The woman stood up, brushing her black satin skirt free of any dust that might have accumulated while she was sitting.
"What is your name?"
"Oh, my name is Pearl. Pearl Murrow. I already know yours." With that, Pearl left the room, but the man in the doorway remained, and Jack was left to laugh at such a twist of fate.