Author:
Tenucci
Translate: Rosette
Rating: R / NC 17
Summary: Elizabeth and her sons' journey far from home begins…
3.
Elizabeth coughed and stumbled towards Alexander's room. She heard banging and crackle from above when the roof began to turn into ashes as the fire burnt it. The heat was already intolerable and Elizabeth gasped as she fought her way through the smoke and fierce heat waves.
Little Ron cried helplessly inside of the blanket, but Elizabeth hadn't time to calm down the child. They must get out and quickly!
Elizabeth wrenched her older son's door open and shouted: "Alexander!"
She heard the answer: "Mom! What's happening!?"
Elizabeth stepped into the dark room. The fire hasn't reached Alexander's room yet. The woman slammed the door behind her and turned to look at her son.
Alexander had already got up from his bed and right now he was dressing on his clothes. He glanced at Elizabeth and was completely puzzled. The boy stared at his mother and her clothes with wide eyes.
"Why did you dress like dad?" Alexander asked and got his shirt on. At the same time, they heard crashing somewhere from afar, behind the noises of the fire. The noise sounded to come from the front door. Elizabeth felt cold fear to raise her skin into goosebumbs.
They are coming inside!
"There's no time for questions", Elizabeth said quickly and rushed to lock the door of Alexander's room. The doorknob felt hot, the corridor was apparently on fire. The woman breathed fearfully and commanded her son: "Put your trousers and shoes on, quickly!"
"But..." Alexander began as he stared his toys on the floor. The boy seemed to wonder should he abandon them.
"I said: no questions!" Elizabeth snarled as she woke the boy from his thoughts. "Do as I said. You will take your brother and you will run to the forest behind the house."
xxx
Alexander had dressed in few seconds and he held his brother in his arms. He looked at his mother with big eyes when the woman opened his bedroom window and peeked carefully outside.
Elizabeth didn't see anyone. All the soldiers were breaking the door at the front garden. The thick oak door wouldn't give up easily when Elizabeth had strengthened it with the kitchen table before she had gone to sleep.
The woman helped her son out of window and said: "Run to the forest and hide, Alex." Elizabeth felt tears streaming down her throat when she saw the little 6-year-old standing there on the night dewed grass, with shaking legs and eyes wide because of fear. "Run, hold tight of Ron and don't look back. I will come later. Stay in your hiding place until I will come. Do you understand?"
"Mom… I…" Alexander's lower lip started to tremble and the boy seemed very disoriented. Small hands tightened the hold around the brother.
"Don't look back, Alex." Elizabeth repeated determinedly as she looked at her son's eyes. "You are a brave boy, I trust in you. Now go!"
Alexander hesitated for a second and then started to run as he hiccupped because of fear. He saw the jungle against the dark blue night sky and felt that the night dew moistened his soft moccasins. Without caring about that, Alex ran towards the forest as he didn't look back. He didn't turn even when he heard his mother screaming behind him. He continued his journey with half-blind eyes because of crying, until he sneaked between the trees and bushes, hide from the too curious, too dangerous eyes.
xxx
The attack had completely surprised Elizabeth.
The door slammed open behind her and somebody grabbed of her throat with brutal hold. Elizabeth tried to rip the strong hands, covered with dirt and soot, out of her throat and at the same time, somebody knocked her down.
Elizabeth's cheek hit against hard wood of the floor as she fell down on her stomach and she felt the blood on her face. At that very moment, somebody kicked her onto her back with the boot.
Elizabeth groaned silently and looked up between tears of pain and she saw a familiar face. The man, who had attacked on her, was the same man who had threatened her family in the early morning.
"It's nice to meet you again, Mrs. Sparrow", the young man said with a sarcastic smile and bent down next to Elizabeth. The man stank of smoke as he had fought his way to inside of the house. "I must say that you looked much better in the morning than you look right now."
Elizabeth coughed and felt the blood trickling along her face. The woman turned slightly her head, so that the blood wouldn't flow to her ear. Her face and throat ached and she blinked her eyes to prevent herself losing her consciousness. But at the same time, she tried to think how she could survive from this and remembered the sword that still was safely in the sheath against her hip.
The soldier bent over her and whispered theatrically: "There's no hope for you!" The man laughed exaggeratedly viciously and then said: "First we kill sons of a bitch and then we kill the bitch." The man laughed and grabbed of Elizabeth's chin. The woman turned her head with furious look in her eyes. The man breathed onto Elizabeth's face and caressed her chin with his damp and dirty fingers as he said: "Now we can see what kind of whore that Sparrow had fallen in love with. It's a shame that we burnt your bedroom, because you're going to have a long night, little wife. But you can lay on the hay of the stable when we test you." The man laughed again, visibly pleased of his own ingeniousness and bent down to kiss Elizabeth.
But Elizabeth didn't have the littlest intention to let that disgusting, read coated man to press his dirty mouth on hers, nor let willingly King's soldiers use her as a pleasure and at the incautious moment when the man bent closer and closer, she grabbed the handle of her sword, pulled the weapon out of the sheath with one, sharp wrench and slashed with all her might towards the man as she shouted: "Here's some test for you, bastard!"
The man shrieked with amazed look on his face, stumbled few steps backwards and then fell lethargically on the floor.
Elizabeth jumped up immediately and stared at the dead. She had slashed half of the man's face and then hit onto his neck. It had happened so easily. Though she hadn't swordfighted or killed any enemy for years, still it had been so easy. And maybe Jack truly had been right when he had said that Elizabeth was a real pirate, because the woman couldn't feel any commiseration for that man, who had threatened her and her beloveds.
Jack had said that Elizabeth was a pirate, in whose chest beat a heart of a sensitive and loving woman.
Elizabeth's thoughts were interrupted when she heard other soldiers' voices from the inside of the house and she heard the fire, which ate the house piece by piece. Shouting, crackling, slamming and laughter. The noises were horrible and Elizabeth pushed quickly her sword back to its sheath. She wiped the blood out of her face. Then she wrenched the bags from the floor to her hands and climbed out of the window to the night, which the flames were illuminating.
xxx
Elizabeth had fetched their only horse from the stable. It was a dark brown mare and Elizabeth had fed and saddled it ready in the evening. Now it stepped forward with calm pace, mistress on her back.
Elizabeth stopped the horse and it neighed as it moved her massive head up and down. Elizabeth patted the muscular neck and talked tender words to calm down the animal, which was scared of the fire.
The jungle was quiet, except noises of animals' movement. Birds didn't sing, they slept in trees and in their nests. The fragrance of the brugmansias floated in the dim night and for a moment, Elizabeth took a deep breath and raised her gaze to the top of the palm trees and she saw the stars of the night sky. Bright, tiny spots twinkled, disappeared and came in sight when the mild wind swayed leaves of the jungle. Young woman sent a quiet pray to all Gods, so that they would protect her children and herself. And Jack.
As Elizabeth had sighed deeply, she called half-aloud: "Alex, it's me… Come out."
First nothing happened and then she heard a rustle in near bushes. Soon a small boy came out with tremulous steps. Elizabeth sighed relieved and wiped again the blood off her face as she tried not to scare her son.
Alexander was covered with leaves and bark and Ron slept in his brother's arms. Elizabeth smiled gently to her children and at the same time wondered how Ron could be so calm. But the boy had always been like that. Very easy child, who doesn't cry all the time. Unlike Alexander, who had been quite demanding since he was a baby.
For once, Alexander was quiet and did as her mother told. The incident of the night had affected on the child and he seemed very tired and thoughtful. Elizabeth was worried, but still she knew in her mind that Alexander was tough enough and open-minded child, so that all of this wouldn't leave marks on the boy.
The woman helped boys on the horse and then they rode through the jungle as they glanced nervously behind them. Apparently no one had noticed which way they had left from the house.
xxx
As they had ridden a moment through the jungle and moist grass, Elizabeth stopped the horse in front of a lonely house. It was still very early, the sun hadn't risen yet and the withdrawing darkness of the night surrounded them. Alexander held Ron firmly against his small chest and glanced suspiciously at the small cottage with white walls.
Elizabeth dropped down off the horse and grabbed of the bridles to tie the animal to the tree, what grew in the garden. She told Alexander to wait at the garden with Ron and stay on the back of the horse, just in case. At last, Alexander tried to protest, but he was willing to stay with his brother in the shadow of the old cypress.
Elizabeth glanced at her children once more and thought distantly that Ron must get food soon. The small boy couldn't be hours without food. But first, Elizabeth had to take care of other things.
xxx
She went to the cottage's door and knocked few times. For a moment it was completely silent. She didn't hear even a sound from the house. Only wind in the cypress tree and on the hill behind the house broke the silence.
Soon she heard walking behind the door and then an old man opened the door carefully and glanced furtively the comer under his gray eyebrows. The man was definitely almost seventy years old and he had cataract in another eye.
"Good morning, master", Elizabeth greeted friendly and curtseying slightly because of an old habit. "I am very sorry that I'm disturbing you so early, but is Anna at home?"
"Yes", the man answered slowly and rubbed his white beard with his hand, which was covered with varicose veins. "She is still sleeping." The man looked surprised and clearly wondered what that woman did outside at this time and even in the men's clothes, bruises on her face.
"Could you wake her up?" Elizabeth asked patiently and didn't let the man's staring to bother her. "I am her employer and I have an urgent task to her." The man stared at her suspiciously, so Elizabeth added quickly: "And of course I will pay to her."
xxx
After a moment, Elizabeth's maid appeared to the door, wearing worn-out nightdress, messy brown hair around her thin face. Anna was 17 years old, shy girl, but very proficient in her work. Elizabeth knew that the girl loved her children… and that she was trustworthy.
"Good morning, Anna", Elizabeth greeted. "I'm sorry that I woke you."
"Never mind, madam. Good morning, madam", Anna answered without gasping for air and then glanced past Elizabeth to the children who waited on the horse, then Elizabeth's reddened, wounded cheek. "Did… Did something happen?"
"We are in danger!" Elizabeth shouted and grabbed of the girl's hand. "They chased us out of our house, Anna! They tried to arrest us…"
Elizabeth felt cold as she thought what would have happened if she hadn't been alert and awake.
Anna was horrified and sputtered: "Oh, that's terrible! Thank God, you are alright…" The girl grabbed with her both hands of her mistress hand and asked: "What are you going to do now, madam?"
Elizabeth sighed and felt that all incidents of the night gave shivers to her. She suddenly realized how close of the death, and God knows what else, she and her little children had went and she felt panic to crawl in her mind. Determinedly she defied it and said to Anna: "We must leave Jamaica, they find us if we stay here."
For a moment, the women stared at each other and both felt undefined nostalgia squeezing their chest and raising a lump in their throats.
"I'm going to ask a huge favor from you… I don't know what else I could do…" Elizabeth looked desperately at the young girl.
Anna rushed to say: "I will do anything what you want… You have been so good to me. Because of you, I can live in my home with my father, now when we have enough money to pay the rent. You gave a job to me when nobody else didn't accept me, because they thought that my father is mad. You saved us and I will do the same if I can…"
Elizabeth smiled with tears in her eyes and told about her plan.