Accidents
Adelaide awoke to the bright sunlight in her eyes and she groaned.
"Why does it have to be so bright outside?" Adelaide complained as she covered her eyes.
She eventually tried to get up and when her feet met the floor, she immediately rocked and swayed.
What's happening? Adelaide thought as she quickly got out of her hammock.
And then it hit her. The ship was moving.
"Oh, you're up." Jack's familiar voice said as the door opened.
"What...what time is it?" Adelaide asked in confusion.
"It's about nine. We started out hours ago." Jack said with smile.
"You should have woken me up." Adelaide said. "I could have gotten up later."
"Well, it's your first day, so I'll give you a break. But tomorrow, I expect you up at six sharp." Jack said, trying to act all captainy, but his smile was joking.
"I'll be up bright and early." Adelaide said, giving him a mock salute and he chuckled.
"So, where do I start?" Adelaide asked and Jack looked at her strangely.
"What?" Jack asked.
"What do you want me to do first? Swab the deck? Repair the rigging?" Adelaide asked, unaware that this was definitely not what Jack had had in mind.
"Ummm....no." He said. "I have another job for you to do."
"I thought I was going to do work outside like the crew." Adelaide said.
"No, no, no. At least, not now. I've got a better job for you to do." Jack replied.
"What?" Adelaide asked after a few moments of silence.
"I want you to clean this room." Jack said, pointing to the rum bottles that rolled across the floor and the cobwebs in all four corners of the room and the dirty clothes with flies swarming around them. "I haven't done it in months."
"It's your mess." Adelaide said. "Why should I have to clean it up?"
"Well, seeing as I have captainy things to do and am far too busy to clean it, I need you to do it." Jack said, a grin on his lips. Adelaide knew she had no choice. He was the captain.
"Fine." Adelaide said in defeat.
"Good." Jack said. "I'll leave ye to it then." He said and he left the room.
Adelaide looked over the mess and sighed.
"Well, it's now or never." She said and she started right on it.
Although Adelaide had never had to do anything, even as much as pick up a piece of garbage in her life, it wasn't bad. Actually, Adelaide liked doing something for herself for a change. It was an adjustment she could definately get used to. She dusted all the cobwebs and picked up all the rum bottles. But when she looked at the laundry, her nose wrinkled up in disgust.
"Why does he never do his laundry?" She muttered as she picked up a dirty shirt. It had food and rum stains and it wreaked of sweat. Goodness knows how long he had had those clothes piled there.
"So how's it coming along?" Jack's voice asked, popping his head through the door and he came in.
"Wow, it looks cleaner than it has in months." Jack admired.
"Is that how long this laundry has been sitting here?" Adelaide asked.
"I was hoping you would have had that finished by now." Jack said.
"No. The cleaning I will do, but the laundry crosses the line." Adelaide said. "You do your own laundry."
"But I really don't have the time..."
"You certainly had the time to come in here and check up on me." Adelaide argued.
"Yes, but..."
"No buts. The laundry is all yours." Adelaide said.
Jack huffed as he saw that this argument was going to go nowhere unless he did his own laundry.
"Fine." Jack said. "But you're cooking tonight then."
"Cooking?" Adelaide asked and she became nervous. She had never made a meal in her life.
"Yes, you should be good at that." Jack said.
"Umm...yes, yes, of course." Adelaide said, trying her hardest to hid her nervously. Jack didn't seem to notice, much to Adelaide's relief.
"Well, you'd better hurry. The crew's starving." Jack said and he walked out the door.
Alright Adelaide. Calm down. How hard can cooking a meal be?
Thirty minutes later, her food was burning in the pot. Smoke was pouring out the pot and Adelaide was trying her best to put out the fire.
"Oh come on!" Adelaide said frustrated.
"What's going on?!" A familiar voice shouted through the smoke. Adelaide squinted her eyes to find none other than Robert there.
"The food, it's burning!" Adelaide yelled through her
"Here." said said, taking off his jacket and immediately put out the fire.
"Th...thank you." Adelaide said gratefully and Robert smiled.
"Anytime, but I think you just burnt our dinner." He said with a laugh.
"I..." Adelaide said before she was interrupted by an all-too-familiar voice, one she did not want to hear at the moment.
"Oi, what's happened in here?" Jack's voice shouted as the smoke cleared, his dark eyes fixed on Adelaide.
"I....I..." Adelaide stuttered.
"It was me, Captain." Robert said and Adelaide cast him a confused glance.
"What?" Jack asked in confusion.
"I...was helping Adelaide and while she was going to get something, I wasn't watching the pot and that's when the fire started." Robert lied and Jack looked at him in suspicion.
"Adelaide, is that what happened?" Jack asked, his eyes boring into her.
"Y...yes." Adelaide said, after a moment of hesitation. "I was going to get some carrots for the stew I was making and I left Robert here to watch it. When I came back, the room was filled with smoke and the fire was almost to the point of destroying the galley."
Jack then looked to Robert and gave him an angry glare.
"You just got yourself a new job boy." Jack said. "You get to swab the deck by yourself for the rest of the month."
"Jack..." Adelaide said.
"He could have just set the Pearl on fire, Adelaide. He could have cost us our lives, so don't go defending him." Jack snapped and turned back to Robert once more.
"I want you to clean this place spotless by the time I get back. I don't want to see a speck of dirt anywhere." And Jack stomped off.
"I...Robert, I'm so sorry." Adelaide said.
"It's alright." Robert said reassuringly. "It could have been a lot worse you know."
"But it was all my fault in the first place. Why did you take the blame?" Adelaide asked.
"Because..." Robert said.
"Because why?" Adelaide asked, confused.
"Just because." Robert said with a smirk and he turned to the kitchen.
"I suppose it's about time I start cleaning this place up." Robert said with a sigh, getting of subject which really unnerved Adelaide, but she let it go. It wasn't really worth fighting over.
"And I'll help you." Adelaide said. "It's the least I could do."
"Well...it would be nice..." Robert said.
"I'll go fetch some rags." Adelaide said and she ran off to another part of the ship, Robert watching her all the way.
Andrew looked over the railing of the Rescuer. The name suited her, since she was rescue the future Queen of England. She was a fine ship, the finest the Royal Navy had to offer. Her timbers were finely crafted and her sails were neatly trimmed. She was a beauty, Andrew gave her that. They had already started off about an hour or so ago and they were making great time. The Rescuer was a fast ship, no doubt the fastest in the entire world.
The Navy sailors were scurrying across the deck, tending to its every need. One sailor accidentally bumped into him, and he looked at him in fear as he realized who he was.
"I'm...I'm so sorry, P-p-prince Andrew. I...I didn't see you." The man, short, chubby man with a short, brown beard said, his bright blue eyes looking at him fearfully.
"No, it's alright. It was my fault....what is your name, sailor?" Andrew asked.
"Jacobee Lee, sire." The man said, his head bowed to him.
"It's alright Jacobee." Andrew said with a soft, gentle smile. Before he could say another word, the man Jacobee hurried off, tending to his other duties.
Andrew continued wandering around the ship, pretending to admire the ship with intense curiousity, but inside he was filled with worry. What if his sister really was on a ship right now? And if so, what was she doing? Was she a stowaway? Was she undercover as a sailor? His mind then moved to even deepr, darker thoughts. What if she was on a ship full of dirty sailors? What if they found out she was woman? And worse, what if they found out who she really was? Andrew shuddered at the possibilities. He couldn't bare to think of his sister in such danger.
Lord Cutler Beckett looked over the deck of the Rescuer from the helm, his gaze set on the young prince, Andrew. Of course, it had never been Beckett's plan to bring the prince along. It was all King Phillip's idea. He knew his son had a close relationship with his sister, and had insisted the boy come along. Of course, Beckett had had no choice but to except.
"Orders, sir?" Mercer asked,his voice cold and flat. Mercer had arrived sooner that expected. Fortunately, a little bird had said that Prince Nathaniel had been traveling only about twenty miles from the town of London only a day before Beckett had set off on his journey. It was like everything had been put into place. The deed had been done. The word had gotten out just before they had left that a band of theives had attacked Nathaniel's carriage, a dagger slashing right across his throat. A poor bloke had been wandering about nearby and the man, to his unfortunate circumstance, had been carrying a dagger covered in blood from hunting. The man had immediately been put to death. This worked well for Becket for two reasons: one, because it was a good cover up and there was no possible way he could be blamed and two, because he desperately needed needed Mercer here with him for his own personal interests on this trip.
"Watch the boy. Make sure he doesn't get into any trouble." Beckett said. "I don't want a word to get out of my plans."
"Mum's the word." Mercer said.
"Good." Beckett said, a smile creeping across his face.
Mercer then left to his duties, leaving Beckett to stand alone at the helm.
Beckett's really quite a malicious character, isn't he? Thank you for reading and please review! :P ;P
