Disclaimers: I don't own POTC, nor James Norrington, unfortunately...
The night was rather clear, the streets near the docks were busy with local men drinking as usual their pint of beer while talking mostly about things they'd never done, places they'd never been, and laughing way too loudly. A merchant ship had laid anchor at Charleston port in the afternoon, members of the crew came back or went to one of the taverns as they pleased.
'I must board this ship' Lawrence said to herself, watching with resolution the ship anchored. 'Not as a stow-away if I can avoid it, but if that's the last solution, then I'll take my chances.' Approaching the boarding plank, she went to one of the crewmembers who was going down.
'Excuse me sir, I'm looking for the captain of your ship, would you happen to know where I may find him?'
'He's in the tavern so I 'eard, what would ya want 'im for?'
'I was wondering whether he had a place for me on board. If not, I won't trouble him and wait for another ship to come.'
The man eyed her narrowly, then considered her young age and decided that she wasn't a threat.
'All righ', I'll show ya to 'im then, follow me.'
They both stepped into the tavern reeking of vomit and sweat, though the customers didn't seem to mind.
The man lead her to the said captain of the merchant ship, who was laughing loudly at some jokes one of the sailors had said.
'Captain, this young whelp wants to speak with ya. He wants to come with us on th' sea.'
The captain was a red-haired man, with curly facials hairs that barely hid his red round cheeks. He had a huge beer-belly, and his fingers looked like sausages. But apart from that, he looked quite alright.
'So you want to come with us, boy? How old are you?' he said with a loud voice.
'Yes sir, if it's not too much trouble, sir. Name's Lawrence, I'll be sixteen in a month or so.' Better lie about my real age or even Lawrence, I certainly am not about to grow a beard, so sixteen sounds reasonable.
'Ah, that young, and already bitten!' the man laughed. 'I can't blame you for that, 'twas the same for me. Well, I'm not against the idea of you being on my ship if you'd be of help. What can you do young man?'
'Well… I'm a hard worker sir, I can help with whatever it is you want. I can read, and write, know some things about navigation, and… I can defend myself with a sword, sir.'
'Sounds like you're quite providential then, knowing all that at such young age!' He looked at his friend seated with him at the table. 'What do you think, should we take him?'
His friend nodded, too busy drinking his beer to properly answer.
'Then that's a deal young sir' the captain said, standing up to shake her hand in agreement. 'You're welcome to come on board of the Daisy of the sea. Marcus!' he said to the man who had brought her here, 'show her the crew's quarters,' Then back to Lawrence 'now, we'll be leaving tomorrow at first tide, so I guess you're quite lucky to have come now, boy. We'll be needing some luck on board.' On that, he sat down and continued his discussion with his friend at the table.
Lawrence followed Marcus to the Daisy of the sea. It was the first time she'd ever been on a ship, she was excited and couldn't help her smile. Marcus showed her the empty hammocks below the decks, let her choose where she would sleep, then left. Only two men remained there, the rest of the crew being either drinking or bedding some prostitutes. Lawrence noticed that one of the men missed a leg, and the other was sleeping feverishly. The first one waved at her kindly as a welcome.
She realized she'd be sleeping surrounded by men much older than herself, but so far, no one noticed that she wasn't a boy, so there was no reason she would be discovered know. She picked an unoccupied hammock, put down her bag under it, then fell asleep right away, the emotions of the day having drained her.
After what seemed a short time to her, she startled, wide awake, at the sound of snores. The hammocks were for most of them occupied by their owners, and a good deal of them were snoring very loudly. She sighed and fell asleep again, only to be woken a couple of hours later by Marcus, who was shaking her by her shoulder.
' 'ey, wake-up know, the captain's awaiting th' crew on the deck to leave now'
Lawrence, at first scared by this alien touch, relaxed, and followed him up. Indeed, all the men were preparing the ship to leave, now that the first tide of the morn was here.
Not knowing what to do, she just looked at them, leaning against the main mast, waited, and then the ship was off to sail.
The captain, seeing her, came to say hello and showed her to the quartermaster who would assign her tasks to do.
When she was done with sorting the loose ropes, and helping some men to carry a heavy to another part of the hold, she leaned over the ridge, and watched the land where she was once born becoming but a tiny spot on the horizon.
Her mind was racing, she couldn't believe that only yesterday she was a proper young lady arguing with her father. Now she was Lawrence, a member of the crew of the Daisy of the sea, aiming to…, 'Wait, I don't even know where I'm bound to!'
She approached an old man polishing a piece of wood.
'Excuse me sir, where are going precisely? I'm afraid I haven't asked anyone.'
The old man chuckled and gave her a pat on her forearm. 'We're heading to Nassau, boy. The captain's got some loads to deliver, then to Carlos Bay, where we're from.'
'Thank you sir' She wondered how long the journey would take to go there. Then, she felt a burning sensation in the pit of her stomach, a sensation that went up, making her head fuzzy and her legs wobble. Her instincts lead her to the ridge and she threw up into the sea.
'Yep, now everything seems definitely real now' she thought before throwing up again.
Apart from the sea-sickness that was plaguing her, the days on the Daisy of the sea went smoothly. The crew didn't mind her, she fell to sleep each night, aching from the manual jobs she wasn't used to do at all, but she eventually managed as she learned by experience how to work on a ship.
Then one day, a pirate ship attacked them. They fired their canons which left deep holes on the foredeck. Luckily for them, they got caught in a storm at the same time, routing the pirates. But a storm was still a storm, and damage ensued. Some men were washed overboard; the top sail of the main mast broke loose. The men were quite desperate. Lawrence helped as best she could. They quickly changed their course to Cape Canaveral, their situation being more than critic. But the distance to cover was still too long. They wouldn't make it alive if another attack or storm happened.
Two days later, a ship came into sight. They all feared it was another pirate ship, but it happened to be ship belonging to the Royal Navy. A wooden board was drawn between the two ships, and there came on board Navy officers, with their shining uniforms, and powdered wigs.
Lawrence couldn't help but be in awe watching such finesse. The man who seemed to be in charge of the talking presented himself.
'I am Captain Norrington of His Majesty's Royal Navy. May I speak to your captain, if you please?'
The captain of the Daisy of the sea clumsily saluted Captain Norrington and explained all that happened to them.
'Then we will be escorting you until you are safe ashore, rest assured, that no harm will come to you under our watch.'
'Thank you sir, we are very grateful.'
The officer named Norrington nodded and glanced at the remaining crew of the merchant ship. He startled and looked back again at something that had caught his attention. His brow furrowed, thinning even more his tight lips, then he spoke.
'Lieutenant Groves, would you please tell Mr Clark to bring some food to the crew of this ship while our men inspect the load of this ship? I hope you understand Mr, that before helping you any further, we need to inspect the load you carry. We wouldn't be helping illegal trade, you see.'
The men of the Daisy of the sea were brought food while some of Norrington's searched the damaged ship. Lawrence was too absorbed by what was happening around her that she didn't care for eating. As she looked at the magnificence that was the HMS Dauntless, a softly deep voice behind her back almost made her fall from the storage box she was seated on.
'If you don't mind me asking, young sir, may I know how you got into the possession of such a fine shirt and pair of boots?'
'I beg your pardon sir?' Lawrence faced Captain Norrington, surprised by such a question. 'Well they… they belong to me, sir. I…' Then she realized why he was asking that. All the midshipmen belonging to the Dauntless wore exactly the same, quite logically, has the belongings she took from her brother were his complete Navy uniform, his spare pair of boots that were also part of the uniform, and a spare shirt of the same fine fabric of the one she had put in the bag.
The sun being high up, she couldn't quite see the expression of the Captain, but she sensed he was starting to become suspicious, and gathered his patience to hear her answer.
'Yes? But how did you get them in the first place?' His eyes bore into hers with a look of contained anger and disgust.
Lawrence took a step back, looking at him quite outraged.
'Are you calling me a thief, sir? Those clothes were given to me by my superior when I first began my training in the Navy at the base of Charleston, sir. The rest of my uniform is in my bag in the crew's quarters, if you want to see it. I boarded this merchant ship because the ship I was assigned to got sunk by pirates not two months ago, leaving no survivors. The Elysium. I am sure you remember this tragedy, sir.' Lawrence snarled. Of course all she said were true facts. Her brother would still have been alive and at sea if not for that tragic incident. He wouldn't have had any reason to train their yet untamed horse and fell from it to his death.
Taken aback by the raw emotions he saw in the young woman's eyes, and not understanding them, adding to the outcome of his inquiries, James Norrington was left speechless, which did not happen very often at all. Of course he remembered the fate of the Elysium. He almost felt ashamed of his over-suspicion. Clearing his throat, the Captain's features softened.
'My apologies. I confess that I wasn't excepting such a truthful and tragic answer from a member of a merchant ship.'
Lawrence lowered her head in deference. 'It was only right of you to enquire such an anomaly, sir. You have a very astute eye.'
Before he could reply to the compliment, an officer from his ship called for him. He quickly saluted the young woman and went to see his Lieutenant.
The wooden board was soon drawn back, all the men on their respective ship, and both the HMS Dauntless and the Daisy of the sea sailed to Cape Canaveral.