He's a Pirate
Chapter 2- The Letter
Jack peered through his closed eyes at the redness of the morning sunlight. His head was killing him, and he longed to sleep through the day. He squinted through half-opened eyelids and peered at the room where he lay. He didn't recognize anything in the room. He sat up, and his head swam. There was a constant ache behind his eyes, and he felt more tired than he'd ever been in his life. He groaned and slowly stood up.
In a corner of the room stood a table with a washbasin on top of it. Jack stumbled over to it and splashed cold water on his face. He looked in the mirror that hung on the wall. His unshaven face was ragged, and he had a large purple bruise covering one eye. He gently poked the bruise. Where had that come from? Then Jack noticed that he wasn't wearing his hat. He looked around frantically for the hat. He bent over and began to search the drawers of the table.
He was so intent on finding his hat, that he didn't see the door open, and a young serving girl came in. she closed the door behind her, and the sound make Jack jump.
"Good morning, Mr. Sparrow," the girl said cheerfully, setting a tray of food down on the table beside the washbasin. Why did she call Jack Mr. Sparrow? That was the kind of thing that Jack would have expected from a lady, but not from a serving girl. Normally, the serving girls would flirt with Jack, even though all of them knew he was a scoundrel and not to be trusted.
"I trust you slept well?" She went over to the window and opened the shutters. Bright sunlight streamed through the window and made Jack's eyes water. His head ached even more now than before.
Then the girl turned around to face Jack. She had short, cropped, strawberry blond hair, and green eyes. Her face was shaped somewhat roundly. She was thin, but not so thin as all the women out there who were always wearing those extremely tight corsets. She had a slender neck, and high cheekbones. She was really very pretty, but Jack could see that she was also very young. She couldn't have been more than seventeen years old.
"Where's my hat?" Jack demanded weakly. He put a hand to his head.
The girl pointed. "It's over there, on the bed. It must have fallen off your head when you got up." She went over to the washbasin while Jack retrieved his three-tiered pirate hat. He dusted it off and set it on his head reverently. The girl looked like she was trying to stifle a giggle.
She picked up a pitcher of what Jack hoped was ale and poured a brownish-yellow liquid into a mug. It smelled good, anyway, so it must have been alcoholic. (Jack didn't think that a beverage could smell good if it wasn't even slightly alcoholic.)
"Drink this," the girl said, handing him the mug. "It will help alleviate the headache."
Jack cautiously took the mug and sniffed it. "What's in it?" He asked suspiciously.
"Oh, a little of this, a little of that," the girl replied evasively. "It's a secret family recipe. It's supposed to cure hangovers." She smiled knowingly. "And from what I heard of what happened last night, you probably have a hangover."
"Does that mean that it has ale in it?" Jack asked, taking a tiny, tiny sip of the liquid. It was warm and sweet, and trickled down his throat. Jack could taste some spices, but he couldn't put his finger on what they were.
"Of course not," the girl said. "It wouldn't work if it had ale in it. It's supposed to clean out all the alcohol in your body."
"What are you trying to do, sober me up?" Jack demanded, taking another sip of the hangover remedy.
"That's the idea," the girl replied calmly.
Jack muttered something that was incomprehensible, and took another sip of the remedy. It was hot, and it burned his tongue. He stuck his tongue out of his mouth for a moment to cool it.
"I'm Karie, by the way," the girl said, holding out her hand. "Pleased to meet you, Mr. Sparrow."
"Captain," Jack corrected, taking her hand and giving it a quick pump. "It's Captain Sparrow."
"Right," Karie said, smiling slightly. "Captain." When Karie smiled, Jack could see all her teeth, and he noticed that they were all there, and only slightly yellowed. Normally, a person might have most of their teeth at her age, but not all. And the person's teeth would be either bright yellow, or brown. Hers were only slightly tinted yellow. That was another thing that was odd about her. First she called Jack Mr. Sparrow, then Jack sees that she has well-kept teeth. Very strange, Jack thought, sipping the tonic. Already he was beginning to feel better.
"Oh!" Karie suddenly exclaimed. "I nearly forgot." She reached into the pocket of her apron and pulled out a letter. She handed it to Jack. "For you," she said.
"Thanks, mate," Jack said, and took the letter. He was glad that he had been taught how to read. A short while after he had escaped from Port Royal, Jack had returned because he wanted to thank Will Turner for saving his life. Of course, he never would have done that if Anna-Maria hadn't threatened to cut out his tongue and make a parrot do all the talking for him, like Mr. Cotton. Anyway, Elizabeth had taught him to read well enough so that he would be able to decipher what was necessary.
Jack set the mug of tonic down beside the washbasin and opened the letter. He tore the envelope, but he didn't care. He pulled out of the ruined envelope a single sheet of paper, and threw the envelope on the ground. The paper had a thin, spidery scrawl covering both sides of the sheet, and a seal was pressed onto the paper in with red wax. It was on the bottom, left-hand corner of the second side of the paper.
Jack looked at the beginning of the letter. Dear Mr. Sparrow, it said. "Captain, Captain Sparrow," Jack muttered to himself. Jack then read the rest of the letter.
Dear Mr. Sparrow,
I have been trying for some time to reach you, but have been unsuccessful. Therefore, I sent this letter along with my niece with the instructions that she is to wait in Tortuga until you show up, and then deliver the letter to you.
Once you have read this letter, I know that you will want to prepare to leave immediately. My niece shall accompany you and lead you to where I live, seeing as how it would be nearly impossible for you to find my home on your own.
The reason I am writing this letter is because I have an artifact that I think you might want to have a look at. The reason I am offering it to you instead of someone else is because the alternative is rather frightening. The artifact that I speak of is quite old, and very valuable, if you know what it's for. Please, hurry. I do not want to have to have another encounter with the alternative person. If you do not show up in one month's time, then I will declare the artifact, and my life along with it, forfeit. I know that if I do not declare my life forfeit as well, I will die anyway by the hand of someone who I'm sure that you do not wish to meet again.
I beg of you to make with great haste and hurry to my home. My niece will inform you of all that you need to know for the journey. One more thing, do not let anyone, no matter how much you may trust them, don't let anyone know what you are after. Once you have read this, I ask that you burn the paper. Please hurry. My life and the lives of others are in your hands.
Sincerely,
Barnabas
Rigby
Jack sat down on the cot with the letter in his hands. He thought for a moment of what the artifact might be. The only thing he could come up with would be that it would be the one thing he had been wanting since he was a young boy. Jack's mind reeled at the possibilities the artifact might open up for him. Power was about to be handed to him on a silver platter. This would be a trip worth making.
"Who's the niece?" Jack asked himself.
"I am," Karie replied, folding her arms across her chest.
A/N: Please review and tell me what you think! I hope you like it!
