"Isabel" James called, banging on my door. My heart spun over with a mixture of fear and guilt. I snapped my book shut and stuffed it in my bag. If he caught my reading when I was meant to be out of the house ten minuets ago he'd go ballistic… not that that would have made any real change. He was always going ballistic these days. The door opened and James walked in, bag slung over one shoulder. I stood up and picked up my own bag. James's eyes were cold and hard they way they always were when he was angry, "What have you been doing? We are going to be late! I've a good mind to leave you behind!"
"No, James! You wouldn't!" I cried out, my eyes filling up with tears. For a brief moment the look on his face made me panic. "Would you?"
His face softened just a little. "Of course not!" he smiled, his eyes twinkled as the stoniness faded away, "You're my sister."
I gave him a hug and ran to fetch my coat. With my bag and coat I was now ready to leave. My toes started tingling with excitement and soon the feeling spread to the rest of my body. It welled up inside me as I thought about the journey ahead and all the exciting adventures I was sure to have in Port Royal. Adventures just like the one I had been reading about. But even books can not prepare you for what is out there in the real world and even I would never have guessed just how exciting my adventures were going to be...
I took one last look at my bedroom and felt an odd twinge in the pit of my stomach. I closed the door on my pain. It was all in the past and the future was set to be brighter. I charged down the marble staircase after my brother. I slipped my hand into his and together James and I walked out of the house. We didn't turn to look at the house we were leaving behind. We had spent far too long looking back at the past and how things used to be that I had almost forgotten that there was a different direction than back. Looking forwards now, into our future was what we planned to do and it felt good. Like nothing could hurt us again. There were no tears as we climbed into the waiting carriage. Not even from me. I had cried myself out these past two years and today James and I vowed was to be a happy day. This was why I was full of hope. I bounced around on my seat next to James and chattered to him about the journey to come. We travelled for about an hour when James, who had been silently listening to my consistent chatter but probably not taking it in, turned to me.
"Isabel, look out of the window, we should be near the sea now." He said. I leaped up. My first glimpse of the sea! I gazed out of the window at the vast expanse of blue that lay behind a tall London house. It glittered like a jewel and seemed to reflect the sky above. It was then I knew I loved the sea.
"When I grow up I want to be a sailor just like you." I sighed happily as I nested back down in my seat, felling contented for once at the thought of my future. James chuckled and the sound made me frown. Why was he laughing at me?
"Now, Izzy, you know you can't. Woman can't be sailors." He said. I scowled at him. Yet another thing to add to the infinite list of Things Women Can't Do. It seemed to me that we couldn't do anything fun.
A thought crossed my mind. A dangerous one that could get me in trouble if I said it a loud, but my anger at being laughed at let it slip. "You get woman pirates!"
As I had expected this did not go down well. James glared at me. He gave a shout so loud that I jumped out of my seat and the driver of the carriage got such a fright that the carriage stopped suddenly, screeching to a halt.
"On no account are you to become one of them Isabel! Do not dare toeven think about it!" Have I not told you a thousand times the dangers of piracy? It is my job to see that every last one of the vile, desolate creatures is killed and my own little sister contemplating becoming one!"
"James! I… I did not mean I wanted to be a pirate! I was just saying that you get female p…p…pirates!" I sobbed. I had never seen James so angry. His face had flushed a deep red and his eyes burned with a livid anger. It scared me, but the thought of pirates scared me more. Back then I never wanted to be one, but I thought it would be exciting to see a one from a safe distance. Like a caged animal. James was right they were vile, and I didn't know what 'desolate' meant, but I was sure it wasn't good. I sniffed, "I'm sorry James. I didn't mean-"
"I know," James said relaxing a little, "you would never dream of being a pirate, would you?"
I shook my head. The carriage slowed to a gentler stop. James stepped out and I followed. He still looked angry, so I slipped my hand into his. He smiled down at me He was wearing his uniform and under his hat there was the brown wig that all Lieutenants wear. I thought it was stupid he had to wear a wig, considering he is not bald, but according to him it is 'all part of the uniform'. He complained about it a lot, but I thought that he secretly liked it because it made him feel important. People often said that we looked alike even though James was eight years older that I. I was glad they said it, despite all my pretences I did love him an awful lot.
The salty sea air tasted strange on my lips. I licked them and smiled at the tangy feeling on my tongue. Gulls crowed above my head, shouting to each other mid-swoop. The waves slapped against the hulls of the ships moored in the harbour in a rhythm that seemed to match my heartbeat. I liked this place.
"Which one is yours?" I asked, squinting up at the huge ships and their tall masts that towered high above me, reaching up towards the sky.
"None of them are mine, Izzy, I am not a Captain. I am a Lieutenant." James corrected me. I sighed.
"Fine, which is the ship the one we are taking?"
He did not answer at first and we continued walking along the docks. The James stopped, "This one."
I looked up at the huge, grand ship and marvelled at how tall it was and how much it dwarfed me. The gangplank was lowered and at the top of it stood a golden haired girl in a light blue dress.
"Elizabeth!" I shouted letting go of James's hand and running up the gangplank towards her. She smiled at me, my excitement mirrored in her light brown eyes. I was slightly taller than her, but we were the same age.
"Hello Isabel." She greeted. I grinned. Elizabeth was one of my closest friends I'd known her for years. She and I lived next door to one another and our parents had been friends. Her mother was dead, but her father looked after her now. He was about to become Governor of Port Royal, Jamaica. Both James and Mr Swann had decided that starting a new life in the Caribbean would be best for us all. Our families had always been close, but the absence of Mrs Swann and mine and James's parents had brought us closer still. We never spoke of the deaths, having all come to an unspoken agreement not to mention them. I didn't know whether not talking about them was healthy or not. I knew that I probably should, but the truth was I didn't want to. It was too hard.
"Ahh, Isabel! James!" Mr Swann called. "Good to see you!"
"Good day Mr Swann!" I smiled politely. He put a hand on my head and ruffled my hair which was annoying, but I was in far too good a mood to let it bother me, and far too scared of making Mr Swann cross. I'd seen him cross at Elizabeth before and it was very scary. He had a tendency to spit as well. He left us to speak to James and I turned back to Elizabeth.
"Are you excited?" Elizabeth asked.
"Very!" I grinned. "Are you?"
"I can't wait! This is going to be so exciting!"
"I know! Do you think-" I began but was interrupted.
"Isabel, come and get your bag! I am not your slave!" shouted James
"Sorry," I said meekly and ran to get my bag from him. He smiled and ruffled my hair. I was still in a good mood, but I was not too scared to shout at James. "Don't do that!" I moaned. "I am not your dog!"
"Sorry!" he grinned.
"Speaking of dogs," I glanced sideways at him, "can we get one?"
"No."
"Oh… please!"
"No!" James smiled and ruffled my hair again.
"Don't do that!" I grumbled, punching him playfully on the arm. He laughed.
"You punch like a girl!"
"I am a girl!" I huffed. We went to unpack our things. The ship began to move and James had to go to work. Elizabeth and I watched England slowly shrink. What had once seemed like the biggest place in the whole world was nothing but a tiny, green speck on the horizon. I loved being at sea and I stayed on deck for as long as possible. I wanted to help, but of course it was not my place, so I watched everyone very carefully to see how it was done. It was only after dinner that things began to get exciting. Fog swirled around the ship hiding everything from us. It suddenly became very cold, but Elizabeth and I were back on deck, determined not to miss a thing. I glanced around. There didn't seem to be many people about.
"Do you think we will see any pirates?" I asked in hushed tones.
"I hope not!" Elizabeth shuddered.
"It would be exiting." I said. "Just to see one"
Elizabeth nodded and chewed on her lip, "Maybe we'll see a hanging in Port Royal."
Somehow, this didn't excite me as much as I thought it might have and by her tones I guessed she felt the same lack of enthusiasm. We both looked out to sea. "Do you remember that pirate song?" she asked.
"Yes!" I said and we both began to sing softly and slowly. Then, as we grew more confident we got louder and I felt something like excitement swell inside me. "We pillage, we plunder, we rifle, we loot, drink up me hearties yo ho! Yo ho, yo ho a pirate's life for me! Yo ho, yo ho, a pirate's life-"
Suddenly we broke off as a hand grabbed us. My heart jumped into the back of my throat and we whipped round. "Quite!" Mr Gibbs, the old sailor who stood behind us snarled, "Cursed pirates sail these waters! You don't want to bring them down on us now do you?"
My heart was still hammering in my chest. So loudly I was sure that those cursed pirates would hear it and try to stop it beating. "That will do, Mr Gibbs!" James's voice snapped.
"But they were singin' about pirates," Protested Gibbs, "bad luck to sing about pirates with us mired in this unnatural fog… you mark my words."
"Consider them marked." James said. "Now, be on your way."
"Aye," Gibbs left muttering to himself. He seemed to mutter to himself an awful lot.
"Explain yourself Isabel!" James snarled.
"Well-" I broke off.
"It was not just her!" said Elizabeth, leaping to my defence. That was why I liked her, she was always so loyal. "We both think it would be exiting to meet a pirate!"
"Well think again, Miss Swann. Vile, desolate creatures, the lot of them. I intend to see that every man who sails under a pirate flag gets what he deserves" James looked at us "a short drop and a sudden stop." He looked smugly out to sea. I couldn't decide whether it was because of what he had just said was supposed to be funny or because he knew we wouldn't understand. We looked to Mr Gibbs for help. He mimed being hung. We gasped. My neck felt heavy and tight at the thought of a noose.
"Pardon me, James, but I am concerned about the effect this conversation is having on my daughter." Mr Swann said, appearing on deck. He was speaking a little formally now that we were aboard the ship and James was on-duty.
"Actually, I find it all fascinating," Elizabeth assured him.
"Yes, that is what concerns me," said her father. He fell into conversation with James. Elizabeth and I moved closer to the rail
"Look!" Elizabeth gasped, pointing into the dark waters. A parasol floated slowly past we frowned at it.
"I wonder where it came from," I said, but Elizabeth was no longer listening, se had spotted something more interesting in the water.
"Look! Look! There is boy! There is a boy in the water!" she shrieked. James and Mr Swann heard her and James, being his usual bossy self began shouting at everyone to get the body out of the water. The boy was floating on a thick plank of wood. The crew managed to haul him out of the water.
"He's still breathing." James announced as he put the boy down on the deck.
"Elizabeth! Isabel!" Mr Swann called. "He will be in your charge."
We nodded and made our way over to the unconscious body. We knelt down beside him. Elizabeth slowly reached out a hand and brushed the boy's hair from his face. Suddenly he gasped back to life and sat up grabbing her arm and staring at us with wild eyes. I jumped back. "It's alright." Elizabeth told him as we recovered from the fright we had got when he sat up so quickly. "My name is Elizabeth Swann and this is my friend, Isabel Norrington."
"William Turner," the boy panted heavily.
"We are watching over you Will." Elizabeth said as William sank down into unconsciousness again.
"Look," I whispered pointing at a chain the boy wore around his neck and on the chain hung a pirate medallion.
"He is a pirate!" Elizabeth whispered. I reached out and gently pulled the chain off his neck. She gasped, "What are you doing? That is not yours!"
"I know, but if my brother finds out then William Turner will face a short drop and a sudden stop." I said grimly. It was not a nice sentence to say, but I was sort of proud I'd turned what James had said to illustrate what I meant. I ran my thumb over the medallion, feeling the bumps in the pattern and the detailing of the skull, its empty eyes, nose and mouth.
"Has he said anything?" James's voice made me jump. We turned to face him. Elizabeth pushed my hands behind my back and I kept the medallion hidden there.
"His name is William Turner. That is all we have found out."
"Very good," said James and he looked as if he was about to say something more, but our attention was drawn to a sudden commotion among the crew. They were all crowded around the starboard side. We ran to join them. There in the water was the burning wreck of a ship.
"Mary mother of God!" breathed Gibbs.
"I know that ship!" James said. "It has the most guns of any ship in the Navy!"
"Aye," muttered Gibbs sarcastically, "and a lot of good it did them too. Everyone's thinkin' to I'm just sayin' it. `Twas pirates!"
At the mention of the creatures everyone grew silent and stared as we slowly sailed past the blackened, burning ruin of a ship. It annoyed me how James always referred to them as "creatures" and as if they were not humans, but monsters. I suppose as my twelve-year-old self watched the ship burn with growing fascination and horror that I did, at that moment think of prates as monsters. How could one human being do that to another? I suppose they really weren't human. My shivers and trembling hands had very little to do with the cold. I turned around and faced the opposite direction, secretly hoping to see the ship that had caused the wreckage. The fog was thicker than ever before, and sailing away from us was a ship. She flew no colours, unless you count black as a colour. The entire ship was inky black, blacker even than the night sky. The sky was grey in comparison. The sails were ragged and torn, with huge holes in them. I wondered how on earth it could sail properly. Elizabeth was the only one who had notice my distraction and I heard her inhale sharply. I lifted the medallion and looked from it to the ship and back again.
"Did we do that?" whispered Elizabeth, voicing what I was thinking.
"How could we?" I hissed back. I couldn't bear it if that were true, but Gibbs's words echoed in my head. Had we brought cursed pirates down on us… or on someone else?
"The song," She replied even though I knew the answer. We watched the black ship move further away and soon it had melted into the darkness. The fog wrapped around it like a guard and hid it from view. Soon enough it disappeared with it. We were the only ones that noticed. In the eight years that followed we told no-one. Not even Will. Maybe we should have, it was after all his medallion, but we were scared if he knew the truth he would suddenly and dramatically turn into a vicious monster. We could come to no agreement about who was to keep the medallion, so we shared it and were always careful to keep it well hidden. Time passed and we never spoke of the ship with inky black sails, but we never forgot it. It was our secret, something we shared, but never talked about. I did wonder if over the years my imagination had changed what I saw to fit with the rumours. Stories about a ship with black sails. But stories like that couldn't really but true… could they? I thought that would be the first and last time I saw it, but I was wrong. Very wrong.
