Entry 1
I believe I have met the most infuriating man alive in the Caribbean Islands. He is full of himself and acts like a dolt that has been conked on the head a bit too many times. He acts like too much of a village idiot to be the Captain Jack Sparrow that everyone in the Caribbean's know and/or fear. He has everyone working for the East India Trade Company all in the palm of his grimy hands, and I've heard he's escaped from their clutches many times while wreaking as much havoc on them as possible. I'm frankly jealous. He's been marked by them, of course. I could see the P that had been burned on his arm so long ago.
However, I think he's a joke of a pirate. Rather pompous, he talks gibberish that confuse not only me but my crew as well; elegant gibberish though. He stands taller than Michael, who is quite tall enough. But of course it could be those heeled shoes Jack Sparrow wears. Just like his own character, he wears a flamboyant style of pirate's clothes only worn by Caribbean pirates; even me.
Jack Sparrow seems to love bragging about some of his bigger escapades to my very impressed crew. Ozz if definitely fascinated whenever Jack talks about his womanizing escapades. Hearing the both of them talk of their little bedroom adventures makes me want to hurl my stomach into the sea. Men.
My crew and I found Jack on the shores of Hispaniola near the river that ran inland, leading to Tia Dalma's home. If his story is to be believed, which even I can believe is true, Jack's crew accidentally left him and are currently sailing to Tortuga, the pirate island.
I don't really pity this swaggering bloke that we have "picked" up. He seemed rather content actually when we saw him waving at us from the beach where we found him, and he even made a few jokes about him being left behind ("I believe my ship was out of rum, and in my men's haste to get more, they left me behind!").
I do have to admit, despite his large ego and unbearable ways, Jack is really rather dashing. Whenever he looked at me-
Later . . .
That damned scoundrel! He nearly gave me a heart attack when he snuck up behind me and whispered, "And why are you up so late at this hour, Emelia love?"
Emelia. My real name. It infuriates me that he won't call me my nickname "Em". Any who, I had turned around, wanting to demand how he had managed to sneak inside when my doors were locked when I noticed that my reclining couch was moved closer to my desk and the hatch that ked into the crew's sleeping quarters two stories below deck was wide open. Enraged even further, I reared my fist back and punched Jack Sparrow square in the jaw and then threw him head-first out of my quarters before he got his bearings.
Last thing I heard before slamming my doors shut on him was him muttering, "I suppose I deserved that."
I can't wait until we return him to his crew.
Em smiled softly down at her old journal. She remembered that incident like it was just yesterday. Reading her old entries did her a good deal, mind and heart.
Entry 2
I can't believe it! Jack's crew wasn't at Tortuga. Two full days since we found him were full of fights from both me and Jack. 'Course, I was the one actually starting the fights, but he always seemed to goad me into starting them. I have a sneaking suspicion that he seems to enjoy making me mad; I can see it in his eyes. There's always a twinkle in them whenever we're squaring off.
Some of them men in my crew say that I shouldn't fight with Jack so much because, and I quote, "Wi' could learn a lot from 'is experiences, cap'n."
Poppy-cock, I say! I can make my own experiences without having to learn from that numbskull.
Anyways, to the matter at hand, we did not find Jack's crew in Tortuga. Jack was quite pissed, to say in the least, kicking at the sand and swearing at the top of his lungs while Michael and I watched from a few feet away. With one last curse that he'd have their heads and feed them to the sharks, Jack unhooked a small box from his belt and flipped the lid open.
Michael leaned over to me. "It's his magical compass," he whispered.
I've heard about Jack's compass. It didn't point to North like all regular compasses, but pointed out the location of whatever the holder most desired.
I looked at Jack, and it appeared to me that he was having some trouble with his compass. Jack had his free hand pointed out in front of him and he was twirling it around in circles as he stared intently into his compass.
"Is everything alright?" I called to him.
Jack's hand suddenly stopped twirling around and was pointed straight at me. Jack looked up from his compass and when he saw that he was pointing at me, surprise crept in his face. His dark eyes zoomed back and forth between me and the compass before he jumped and his hand started spinning around again, this time even faster than before.
I heard Michael suppress a laugh and was puzzled for a moment.
The compass points to the location of the holder's biggest desire.
The realization hit me so hard that I nearly felt myself fall over in shock. For a moment there, Jack Sparrow had desired me! I don't know whether to be very repulsed or a little bit flattered.
"I've found my crew!" Jack suddenly exclaimed, bringing back our attention to him. Jack's hand was now pointing to the left of us, west ward.
"Well Santiago it is!" I exclaimed, knowing the location of where he pointed to. I turned to Michael. "Tell the crew to ship out!" I ordered him. Michael nodded, face straight, and left me and Jack wordlessly.
I saw envious look that had crossed Jack's face at my authority and avoiding his eyes, we set out back to The Raven side by side. Jack still held out his open compass and I couldn't help taking a peak at it. That needle was spinning around like mad.
"Is it broken? By God, you better not be leading me and my crew to their deaths, Jack Sparrow!" I exclaimed with great alarm.
Jack turned his head towards me and quirked an eyebrow. "Okay, first of all love, it's Captain Jack Sparrow," he informed her. Then he grinned. "And second, I believe I was told by every one of your crew mates that you were an adventurous sort of lass. If they are to be believed, then panic is most unbecoming of someone of your nature," he told me.
I stopped in my tracks, put my hands on my hips, and faced him. "Someone of your nature? What are you implying, Jack Sparrow!" I yelled at him.
Jack also stopped and turned to me. He leaned down slightly so that our faces were mere inches away. "I am implying a good many things, Emelia," he said slyly and grinned once more so that I saw some of the gold teeth he had.
Oh, he truly infuriates me, but at that moment, when his lips were so close to mine, I had an urge to kiss him.
What is wrong with me? Curse that Jack Sparrow.
"'Ello Cap'n! We're all glad yer staying with us for longer, eh?"
Em threw her head back and laughed with the rest of her crew. "Of course I'd stay! You'd think I'd leave you bilge-sucking dogs run amuck the whole Caribbean Islands without me?" she exclaimed. Em's words were greeted with more raucous laughter from all within earshot as she emerged from her Captain's Quarters the next day after Ozz pronounced her alive. Em felt immense gratitude for her faithful crew mates and gave them all one of her rare true smiles.
"How are we on location, Michael?" Em inquired once she walked up the stair and onto the poop deck where she saw Michael, Ozz, and Tim at the wheel.
Michael smiled, inclining his head that told Em he was grateful she was up and about. "We are just one more day away from Tia's. We past Tortuga this morning," he informed her.
Em nodded, pleased, and then turned to Ozz. "How are we on the rum supply?" she demanded. She was just itching for a bottle right now. As if he had read her mind, Tim suddenly was holding out to her a half-full bottle of rum, while the other hand held onto the steering wheel. Em's eyes widened in surprise as she took the bottle in her hands. Her eyes met those of Tim's for a fraction of a second before he turned away to yell out orders to the crew. There were dark circles under Tim's eyes which suggested that sleeping down in the cargo hold had not been restful.
Well, we can't have that. "Michael, take the wheel," Em said suddenly. "Tim, come with me to my quarters." Without a word from the both of them, although she did get some strange looks from both Ozz and Michael, Michael and Tim switched places and Em was soon leading Tim into her quarters.
"Close the doors," Em told Tim and walked towards her desk. She set the bottle down on her desk. She looked up and saw Tim was not looking at her, but what she knew was at her journal lying wide open upon the center of her desk. With her hand, she reached over and closed her journal softly. Tim instantly trained his eyes on her, and Em saw the calculating look before it disappeared to be replaced with a look of confusion.
"You shall be sleeping back with the rest of the crew," Em told him.
Tim's eyes widened and he took a step back as if he had been hit. "Why, cap'n?" he asked. His heart was thumping hard in his chest. Was she finally having a change of heart?
Em looked at him gravely. "I wouldn't want my skipper to be dead from lack of sleep, now would I?" she told him and walked up to him until she was three feet apart. She raised a hand and cupped Tim's smooth chin. There was a small cleft starting to form. She noted how pale he was and how clammy his skin felt. "Not dead, indeed," she murmured to herself. Her eyes widened when one of Tim's hands grabbed hold onto the one holding his chin while his other hand made for her other. Tim held her hands tight as she struggled to escape from his clutches.
Tim leaned down, quickly closing the space between them. Em turned her head away and felt his warm breath upon her neck. "You love me. Admit it," Tim whispered huskily. Em tried pushing him off of her, but in reply, Tim backed her up until she felt her desk edge hitting her buttocks. "No! I do not love you, you blaggard! I never will!" she yelled. "Let go of me you knave! I can have you marooned on some deserted island full of cannibals without a moment's hesitation if you do not let me go this instant!" she swore.
And then Tim let her go, almost regretfully. Em rubbed her wrists and glared hatefully at him.
Tim looked down at her, his expression full of torture. "Why? Am I so vile to you that you would still love a pirate that had left you for nothing?" he asked her softly.
Em pushed him away, sending him once again sprawling onto the Persian rug. "You don't know anything, boy!" she spat venomously. "You were not there, not in my shoes to see Jack go! Leave me now! That's right, get out now!" Em pointed a dainty hand towards her doors.
Tim scrambled to his feet and quickly walked towards the doors. Just inside the doorframe, he turned back to Em with a sad and almost angry look. "You will one day come to accept that I love you," he vowed to her.
Em gave him an icy look. "I have accepted that you love me. It's me who has not accepted that Jack has given up on me. He WILL come back to me!" she exclaimed fervently.
Tim sent her a dark look before slamming the door shut.
Em closed her eyes for a moment and took in deep breaths. Slowly she regained her calm. Walking around her desk, she took up the bottle half full of rum and took a big swig out of it. Wiping her mouth with the back of her hand, Em threw the now empty bottle through the open window next to her chair and sat down heavily at her desk. She ran her hands slowly over the worn leather cover of her journal before she opened up the page she last left off and began to read.
Michael, like the rest of the crew, had heard Em and Tim's shouting match in the Captain's Quarters and proceeded to pointedly avoid Tim's eyes as he stormed back to the poop deck. There, he started walking back and forth behind Michael, muttering darkly to himself while Ozz watched with interest next to him.
Ozz leaned over to Michael and whispered, "You'd think he'd 'ave accepted by now that our bonny cap'n doesn't want 'im."
Michael smiled sadly. "It's always the same story, mate. They always lust for what they cannot have."
"You'd think that after all I have gone through for her, even almost dying, that she would accept me!" Tim suddenly yelled out to the sky.
"Here, take the wheel," Michael told Ozz and turned around to face Tim. "Tim, you've got to understand that you weren't there when Jack was with us, however short a time that was," Michael tried to explain.
Tim rounded on him like a caged lion wanting to be free again. "Don't you tell me that rubbish again!" Tim yelled. "I wasn't there! Big deal! That was two years ago when that all happened and she should accept that ol' Captain Jack Sparrow isn't coming back for her!"
"Aye, Cap'n Em can be a wee daft in the 'ead sometimes, but the lass does 'ave her 'eart in the right place," Ozz told him over his shoulder.
Michael nodded in agreement. "None of us know exactly why Jack left, but it must have been a good enough reason to keep Em hoping and loving him."
