Chapter two: Aboard the Pearl
She might has well been staying in a one room shanty for a two year old, Pearl thought to herself. She set down her bag on the bottom bunk, slid her trunk under it, and turned, almost knocking her elbow against the opposite wall. The cabin she was assigned to share with Betty Ann wouldn't suite one person, much less two. The bottom bunk served also as a desk, and Pearl grimaced at the thought of sleeping on the hard wood, with only her own quilts she brought along, and the thin ship issue blanket to pad the bed.
"Ms. Pearl, are you certain you want to go through with this?" Betty Ann voiced, standing in the doorway, as she couldn't squeeze in with her hands filled with her own items.
"If I am to continue my career as a writer, I must." Pearl said firmly, masking her own feelings. "What will happen if I can no longer write? We could live off Theo's pension only so long, and soon you would be out of a job, and I would be desolate. This is what I must do."
"Very well, ma'am." Betty Ann sighed, and Pearl left the cabin so her maid could get her things situated with less hassle. Pearl had a matter to take up with the captain.
-oo0oo-
"If I must have such small accommodations for my servant and myself, then I insist that I am allowed to write in here." Pearl said calmly, standing with her arms crossed over her bosom, in the middle of the captain's cabin. He was living in luxury aboard the ship, she soon realized. The cabin almost the size of her own room back in Port Maria. Instead of a bunk, there was a large bed, mounted to the wall.
"Well you see, this isn't a hotel." Jack snapped, irritated by this whole ordeal. He hated to admit that this woman was smart. He would have probably been bound for the gallows now if she hadn't helped him, yet the crew did not see this. Most of them kept silent, the thought of two women on board(other then Anamaria) making them hold their tongue. However, most of the lower crew did not like this.
"We don't want some bloody women comin' aboard to watch us!" Juan had cried, when Jack breeched the whole plan. "'Ow do we know she ain't workin' for the military?"
"You'll just have to trust me," Jack said calmly, though he didn't trust her himself. Then to assure no mutiny or ill wishes, Jack promised the crew steady pay the time the guests were on board. This, changed their mind.
"You mean to say that every two weeks we all get paid? Like a job?" Joshamee Gibbs stipulated, clearly confused.
"Not like a job, a job. Now, get to work! We need to sail with the tide, before the navy finds us."
Now, Jack was wondering if he was actually going crazy. He should have known that he could have found a way out. But, he grew even more sour when he tried every possible plan in his head, and each ended up with him getting shot or hung.
"I can easily go back to shore and alert the navy!" Pearl swung around and marched out of the cabin, not really intending to leave the ship, but making a good show of pretending.
There was one tiny flaw though.
They had already started to sail, and the shore line was now diminishing.
"Now that your just standing there, please, pay attention." Jack walked over to where she stood, staring dumbly at the sea flying past. "This is my ship. A pirate ship. And I am the captain. You abide by my orders, or you will have a wonderful view from the brig in which to describe in your story. And never, ever, barge into my cabin again, unless by some force of Neptune, I allow you in.
"Welcome to the Black Pearl."
-oo0oo-
Pearl could feel the resentment coursing through her two servants. Betty Ann maintained a steely resolve, and Walter was stiff lipped when addressed. None of the crew on the pirate ship even paid them a shilling of attention, and so this presented a problem to Pearl.
She needed to ask questions, poke about and be nosy. But they would have none of it. She hadn't even seen the captain since he basically told her that she was now a captive. Funny, how it worked. Pearl now saw how stupid she had been. Back in the manor, they were on her terms; now, they were on the captain's. And fear started to cloud her veneer of calmness. What if they didn't make it out alive? What if there was a mutiny, and the three "guests" were caught in the middle? Pearl's mind buzzed with 'what if?'s. The biggest one was the thought of being improperly approached; now that the captain was not on her side, and would not reproach his crew.
-oo0oo-
She was on the ship for two dreadful weeks before she finally caught a glimpse of real piracy at its most raw form.
The morning had dawned red, the sea reflecting the sky's sour mood, twisting and churning in a way that made her feel sick for the first time. Tired of being confined to the tiny cabin, she dressed in a lightweight gown of dark grey(she had been mourning for three years, and now she was able to wear dark subdued colors other then black); a cotton skirt and light silk bodice, and made her way up to the deck.
It was in a frenzy. There was a ship, coming off of the horizon, in view enough to know that it was a Spanish merchant vessel barely armed. Men where scurrying about climbing the masts to furl the sails, and loading the cannons for a fight. The captain was at the helm, barking orders to men closest to him, looking grave yet confident in his crew and ship.
"I want you and your servants to stay in the brig." Jack said, as Pearl climbed the steps up to the helm, a question on her lips.
"Why the brig?" She asked, feeling more then a little scared. She had heard many stories about pirate raids, each one more gruesome then the last. She swallowed. Well, she had wanted to see piracy at is were, and here it was.
"Because, it is the safest spot during a raid. Honestly, who would want to go attack the brig?" Jack said rather amusedly, despite the look of irritation in his eyes.
"Well, what if we were attack by a rival pirate, who one of their crew members had been taken hostage and was now sitting in your brig?" Pearl countered.
"You really are a writer," Jack shook his head. "Now round up your servants and go down to the brig, now!" Pearl hightailed it out of there at the sound of harsh authority in his voice.
"Betty Ann! Walter! Come on!" She ran down to her cabin, first grabbing up Betty Ann, and then Walter. As she shepherded them into the brig, Walter let out a rather large huff.
"Honestly Ms. Pearl! We put up with coming aboard, and then basically being taken hostage. Now we are voluntarily going into the jail?"
"Oh hush. If not for me we know both of you would be out of a job. The pirates are about to raid, and they said this was the safest spot in which to hide." Pearl looked around, biting her lip. "Though it isn't very comfortable, at least we will be safe…ish."
"Ish!" And before they could stop her, Betty Ann cleanly fainted.
"Well, at least we will be saved one bit of hysterics." Walter sighed, and helped Pearl situate the maid so she would not be so uncomfortable when she woke.
-oo0oo-
It was a scary thing when the cannons started. Though Pearl took the fright and turned it into words, never being able to write as fast as she had now. Expecting to be inspired at any moment, Pearl had taken her writing tools along with her, as well as her small portable desk, and sat on the dusty floor of the brig, writing furiously. Walter was keeping quite, but every time a cannon sounded, he would squeeze his eyes shut, and take in a deep breath.
Soon, the cannons stilled, as Pearl knew that they did not want to entirely blow the ship out of the water, for the whole raiding purpose. If there were goods in the hold, then they would be ruined by too much cannon fire.
After what she thought was a reasonable time of silence, Pearl stood up and stretched her cramped legs. Walter had dozed off, betraying his weariness, and Betty Ann was still comatose on the small wooden bench. She carefully walked up the steps, expecting to see the crew maybe cleaning up, or doling out the loot.
She did not expect to see however, most of the crew tied together, and the captain bound and gagged, standing on a wooden plank, with a sword resting wonderfully on his lower back.
She couldn't help it.
She screamed.
(I know you lot must have expected something like that. But do not worry, its all part of the plot(even though it has been done way too many times for comfort))
