A/n: Chapter 2, wherein old friends are reunited and trouble brews...in Tortuga, *what* a surprise.
Chapter 2
Captain Jack Sparrow sat in his favourite booth in the Hog and Oyster pub in Tortuga. It was his new favourite pub after his last favourite, whose name he couldn't even remember, burned down a few years back after an unfortunate bar fight.
All of that pubs patrons and girls had moved in to the Hog and Oyster, and Jack with them. And that was why he was there now.
He sat in his booth with a large mug of rum at his elbow, watching the rest of the pub with mild disinterest and slight drunkenness. Gibbs was passed out next to him, his head slumped on the table, snoring. The man could never quite take his rum as well as me, Jack mused.
The pub around him was buzzing with drunkenness. A small and foolish man was brawling with Thee-Toed Tom, a rather tall and burly pirate, well-known for his ruthlessness and strength. The young man didn't stand a chance and was soon being pummelled into the wall. No-one rose to help him. They were all smart enough to stay out of Three-Toed Tom's way. Bar fights were commonplace in a pirate port. What was uncommon was that this particular fight was isolated.
A short, but rather attractive, brunette in a light blue dress that was at least one size too small for her, especially on her top half, weaved around the various tables, sending flirtatious glances to men as she passed. She winked at Jack.
He eyed her as she walked past his booth, considering for a moment whether to go after her and leave Gibbs on his own. He could see another man, Toothless Paul, thinking along the same lines. Jack had come across Toothless Paul on only one previous occasion, during a card game where Jack had cheated Paul out of a considerable amount of gold. He wasn't too keen to confront him again. He knew that if wanted to go after the girl he would have to act fast.
About to get up, Jack was interrupted by an attempted polite cough. He turned to see a young girl with vivid red hair and a navy blue dress, that she was far too young for and could barely fill, standing in front of him with a determined look on her face.
Jack looked the girl and up and down. He looked at her confusedly. "Ah…don't you think I'm a bit old for you?" he said, hoping it would shoo her away.
It didn't.
"Can I help you?" he said, when she didn't move.
"Are you Jack Sparrow?" she asked, her voice not giving anything away.
"It's Captain Jack Sparrow, and yes. Who want's to know?"
"My name is Arabella Ruth Windford. I believe you knew my mother." she said in what seemed like a much rehearsed fashion.
"Windford? I don't think so." Jack replied.
"She's better known as Scarlet." the girl replied.
"Oh, Scarlet. Of course I know her. Haven't seen her in about ten years, though. Well, nice to meet you…ah…"
"Ruth."
"Yes, Ruth, nice to meet you, but it's rather late. Don't you think you ought to be going to home now? Wouldn't it be your bed-time? How old are you anyway?"
"Nine. Since last week."
"Last week? Well happy birthday for last week. Now off you go." he dismissed.
Ruth stayed where she was, crossing her arms stubbornly.
"Look, what do you want from me girl? I'm just a drunken pirate on vacation. Go home to your mother." Jack said irritably.
"I can't." Ruth replied.
"And why not?" He asked her, long past annoyed.
"Because she's dead."
"…Oh," Jack replied apologetically. "When…when did she die?"
"Last week, the day after my birthday."
"How?"
"She was trying to break up a brawl. Got hit with a bar stool and never woke up." Ruth replied sadly, a single tear rolling down her cheek.
"I'm sorry." he replied again, trying to imagine Scarlet gone. He'd been quite fond of her. There was a time when he never came to Tortuga without seeing her. And now she was gone.
After a while, "Well, what do you want from me?" he asked.
She looked up eagerly, blinking away her tears, "I want to come with you. I want to be a pirate."
"Why would you want that?"
"Mother used to tell me stories about you, about your adventures. I don't want to be a whore here in Tortuga; I want to be a pirate."
"Look, lass, I'd love to help, but I can't take you with me. The sea is a dangerous place, especially for little girls. Whoring can't be that bad, can it?" he tried to reason with her.
"There's already three men bidding for me when I turn thirteen." she replied solemnly.
"What would they be bidding…oh, right. Geez, that's rough." Jack flinched.
"Please take me with you." she pleaded.
"Don't you have other family? What about your father?"
"I live with a group of whores in the pub. I have no father."
Jack thought for a moment. The girl's story was certainly sad. An orphan, and at her age. Oh well, he decided, the sea is full of orphans.
"Fine, I'll take you with me. Meet me two days from now at the docks, just after sunrise." he told her.
Ruth's eyes lit up. "Really? Thank you so much! Don't worry, I'll be the best pirate ever!"
Delighted, she girl ran off upstairs, presumably to her room, pulling up her dress once to stop it falling down.
Jack sighed. What did he just do? Picking up his mug of rum, he took a long, long gulp.
Elizabeth stood sternly in the infamous pirate port. She tugged nervously on the sleaves of her tunic, an outfit similar to what she remembered wearing the last time she had tried to sneak onto a pirate ship. Her maid has insisted on arranging her passage to Tortuga, bargaining with a merchant ship to drop them off on the beach just a short walk from the rowdy port. From there she had made her way into town, arriving during the day when it was safer…well, safer at least than it was a night. Not that Tortuga was ever "safe".
"Mother, where are we going?" asked an impatient youth at her side.
Elizabeth put her hand on her son's head. "We're got to find an old friend." she said.
Patches wined next to him.
She knelt down to look Billy in the eyes. "Son, we're going to go into some scary places here. I won't lie to you. It's not safe for someone like you to be here, but there's no where I can leave you. It's safer if you stick with me. But that means you're going to have to be brave, and do everything I tell you, ok? That's very important. Do you understand?"
Billy nodded.
"Good. Now stay close, and don't make eye-contact with anyone." she instructed finally before leading him into the nearest building.
The Hog and Oyster was full of sleeping pirates. Unsurprising since most of them were there due to passing out during the night. Only a few teetered on consciousness, sipping their rum in shaky silence. The whole place stank of piss, sweat, alcohol, and a few other scents Elizabeth preferred not to name. Billy and Patches followed her obediently as she walked up to the bar.
The barkeeper, who was perpetually washing mugs with a dirty cloth, grunted in acknowledgement.
"Have you seen Jack Sparrow around her recently?" Elizabeth inquired.
The barkeeper narrowed his eyes. "Who wants to know?"
Elizabeth sighed and dropped a few coins on the bar.
"I might'a seen 'im." he replied
Elizabeth glared and dropped some more coins on the bar.
"He was 'ere last night. Dunno where 'ere is now." The barkeeper replied, scooping up his bribe.
"Who wants to know 'bout that goo' for nuthin rat?" asked a drunken voice.
Elizabeth turned to see a burly, hung-over pirate, who she knew as Three-Toed Tom (after a minor run-in with him a while back while acting as Pirate King) stand up groggily and stumble over to her.
"'cos there's somethin I want you ta give 'im." he replied, clumsily pulling his arm back ready to punch.
Elizabeth quickly kneed the man in the stomach, and he went down wincing.
"'ey you," called another.
Great, Elizabeth thought, I guess a brawl here is unavoidable.
Billy watched in horror as three more men got up to aid their comrade. His mother stood there bravely, ready to face them. Patches growled at the pirates.
Elizabeth remembered her son. "Billy, get away. I'll come and get you later," she called, just as she punched a man in the face.
Billy didn't need any further persuading, and fled for the stairs, with Patches running at his heels. He thought he heard the footsteps of people following him, so once he reached the top of the stairs, Billy quickly tried all the doors until he found one unlocked and leapt inside, closing it quickly behind him.
He was breathing heavily after running so suddenly. He sank down to floor with his back against the door, Patches licking his cheek for reassurance.
"Who are you?" asked a bossy voice.
Billy looked up to realise he was in someone's room. A girl of about his age stood in front of him, arms crossed, looking down at him sternly from her white night-gown.
"Sorry," he apologised for barging in. "I didn't mean to – "
"Look, I don't care what you meant, just get out of my room!" she told him firmly, her cheeks as red as her hair in anger.
There were loud bangs against the door. "Hey kid, come out here, ya brat!" shouted a voice.
Billy leapt from the door to the other side of the room.
"Is he looking for you?" asked the girl.
Without waiting for an answer, the young red-head opened the door and glared sternly at the burly pirate. "Get lost." she said
"I know he's in here, I saw 'im." the pirate said.
"I said get lost, you filthy bastard," replied the girl, with far more authority than one would expect from such a young person.
The pirate narrowed his eyes. "Maybe I'll just take you instead," he said, lunging at her.
Ruth realised her mistake and tried to run, but it was too late.
"I'm gonna have a lot of fun with you." the pirate said menacingly, trying to pull her away by the arm. Ruth screamed in protest.
"Let her go!" demanded Billy, standing bravely with his sling-shot at the ready.
"What you gonna do, runt? Shoot me?" challenged the pirate.
At that moment, Patches leapt at the man and sank his teeth firmly into his leg, while Billy successfully shot the pebble at his forehead.
Caught off guard by the sudden attack, the filthy man let go of Ruth, and Billy took her arm and he lead her and Patches out of the room and into the hallway.
"Where do we go now?" he asked her
"Follow me," she said, leading him around the corner. They came to another door, behind which they found stairs leading downwards.
"These lead to the cellar. Let's go," she said, before proceeding to descend quickly as more pirate voices were heard approaching behind them.
Down in the cellar, it was dark and smelt strongly of rum and mead.
"We'll be safe in here. And if they find us, there's a door which leads outside over there," Ruth explained.
Billy sighed. He'd never done anything like this before. His mother wasn't kidding when she said it wouldn't be safe.
"Thanks for helping me," Ruth said quietly.
Billy was startled. "Oh, that's ok." he shrugged.
Patches went up to the girl and began to sniff her clothes.
"I'm Ruth," she said, petting Patches on the back as he inspected her feet.
"Billy. And this is Patches."
"What are you doing here, anyway? I ain't seen any other kids here in ages, not since Barty and his Ma left a few months ago."
"I'm here with my mother. We're trying to find an old friend of hers."
"Why?" Ruth asked.
"…I'm not too sure. She didn't say." Billy frowned. There were a lot of things his mother hadn't told him about this trip. "What about you?"
"I live here." she said shortly.
"With your parents?"
"No. I'm here alone."
"Why?"
"My Ma died."
"….Oh. I'm sorry." Billy said awkwardly.
The conversation died after that.
I hope mother is ok, Billy thought, wondering how the battle upstairs was faring.
Elizabeth stood amongst the wreckage. Unconscious bodies were scattered around the dilapidated establishment. "I'm sorry for the damage," she apologised to the barkeeper, robbing one of her victims of his coin purse and throwing it onto the bar as payment.
"Did you see where the boy and his dog went?" she asked.
The barkeeper shrugged and took the money.
Hoping he had had the sense to go outside, she left the bar in search of her young Billy.
It was still early in the morning, and all Elizabeth could see outside were the occasional drunken idiots passed out in the alleys, and other pirates and crewmembers getting ready to set sail. Without any alternative, she began to ask around.
Jack was beginning to regret all he had drunk that night. Attempting to sail off with a bad head-ache was never fun. At least Gibbs was in worse as state than him.
He watched as his first mate slouched over a barrel as the rest of the crew loaded their belongings onto the Black Pearl.
Jack had long ago managed to spread all kinds of believable rumours about his ship; such as that it was haunted by Barbossa, who would rattle chains, cause all the provisions to spoil, and never allow the crew to sleep. This was to prevent anyone from stealing his pride and joy while in port. Luckily, pirates were a deeply superstitious bunch, and usually wouldn't even let a woman on board, unless there was the promise of riches.
Jack fiddled with his compass, frustrated with its continual spinning, hoping that by opening and closing it, it would somehow make a decision as to what he wanted. But it was in vain.
"Hey, have you seen a – Jack, is that you?" asked an interrupting voice.
Jack looked down at the lad in front of him. There was something strangely familiar about him. "Have we met?"
Elizabeth took off her hat, "Jack, it's me."
"Elizabeth? What are you doing here? And why are you wearing those clothes again? I told you, they're incredibly unflattering."
"I'm looking for my son. You haven't seen him by any chance, have you?" she asked.
"Son? You have a son? Does young William know about his? I doubt he'd be too happy to learn you're off enjoying yourself in his absence." Jack said impudently
"It's Will's son. And his name is Billy." she replied irritably. She had almost forgotten how annoying Jack could be.
"No, I haven't seen a young boy around here. How old is this lad then?"
"About ten years. Why?"
"Are you sure it's Will's kid?" he replied slyly.
"Look Jack, I don't have time to play these games with you. I've got an undead husband who I only get to see every ten years, my only son is missing and could be god-knows where, and I'm stuck in this god-awful town talking to the worst pirate ever to sail the seven seas!"
"Hey, firstly, that's Captain Jack, secondly, I am not the worst pirate. I'm captain of the Pearl. I'd say that calls for at least the top five."
"Can you just help me find him?"
"Who, Will?"
"No, Billy."
Jack thought it over. "What's in it for me?"
"How about I order you as your King to help me?" she replied curtly.
"Don't make me laugh, love, you haven't stepped foot on the seas in years. Few more months and there'll be no one left who recognises your authority."
Elizabeth couldn't believe her ears, "What? That's ridiculous!"
"Hey, I didn't make the rules." Jack shrugged
Elizabeth groaned. "Can you please just help me find Billy? We can discuss all this later."
Jack was unsure.
"Please Jack, he's all I have to remind me of Will." she pleaded.
Jack sighed. He never could resist a maiden in distress.
"Fine, we'll go find his kid of yours. It's better than watching this lot all day," he gestured to his crew. "Gibbs, you're in charge until I get back."
"Aye – *hick* – Aye, capt'n,"
Huzzah, I updated. Why did it take so long? Well, I can't really offer any excuse other than laziness, since I'm been out of school for 3 weeks now…oh well, that's all irrelevant, cos I actually updated this thing :D and all thanks to a helpful reminder from you awesome reviewers.
You guys rock! XD
So, yeah, I hope you like my story so far, and be sure to R&R.
Thanks in advance, and see ya'll next chapter :p
