I do not own Pirates of the Caribbean, Disney does. I only own Sarah Miles.
James nodded and dug around in his pocket, finding three shillings and handed them to the captain as they boarded the ship.
Just minutes later, James led Sarah over to the port side of the ship and slowly released his hold on her as she leaned her weight on the railing. She smiled at him and nodded, and he released his hold on her completely. James himself leaned on the railing as well, relaxing his body.
Together they watched as life on the deck became lively, as crew members prepared the ship to make way, every now and then getting a glance from the crew at their newly acquired passengers.
About fifteen minutes later, the Gentle Mare had made-way and was cutting smoothly through the water. The ship was well named, for the ship sailed like a mare walking quietly through the woods with her foal.
Once he saw everything was ship shape, the captain passed the wheel to his first mate and walked over to where James and Sarah were still standing, except now they had turned to face the ocean.
"S'cuse me."
James and Sarah turned and faced him.
"We've started our journey. If things go smoothly, we should be arriving in the next port in four days. Everything seems to be in order so I'm going to show you to your room. If you would follow me please."
James and Sarah looked at each other when the captain turned his back. Room? One room? They hadn't thought of that. But, to keep suspicion from rising from the crew and the captain, James put his arm around Sarah's shoulders and took her hand in his free one, and they followed. Sarah was still having to lean on James you see.
They followed the captain below deck until they reached a room. The captain opened the door and motioned inside.
"Here you are. Just make yourselves comfortable, we won't be stopping for a few days." With that he walked away.
James and Sarah entered the room, James closing the door behind them. It was a small room, nothing fancy. There was a single bed pushed against the wall, a chair in the corner, and a window on the far wall with light blue cloth curtains.
They stood and looked at each other for a moment.
"You take the bed, I'll sleep on the floor." James said as he helped her sit down on the bed.
"Well at least take one of the blankets and a pillow." There were at least three old blankets on the bed.
"Ok. I'll agree with you on that."
Sarah briefly stood up and took one of the two pillows off the bed and handed it to him, and then pulled off one of the blankets and handed it to him also. She then took off her cloak and laid it across the top of the chair that was in the corner. Noticing the curtains on the window were still open, she closed them and eased herself down on the bed once again.
James laid the blanket down on the floor a few feet from the bed, so if Sarah was in pain and needed help quickly, he would be able to get to her soon. He then put the pillow at the head of the blanket and began to take off his coat, glancing at Sarah.
She caught his gaze and chuckled.
"Nothing to be worried about. Go on, take off your vest as well. If we're going to be in here, we might as well be comfortable."
His face reddened and he removed his vest and tossed it across the chair with his coat and Sarah's cloak. Sarah removed her shoes and let down her hair, placing her ribbon on top of her shoes.
James still glanced at her with a red face as he removed his boots. Sarah let out another soft chuckle as she watched James try to un-tie the knot in his cravat, failing and getting more annoyed by the second.
"Come here James." She said with a smile.
He walked to her and she stood up, placing a hand on his chest to steady herself. Once her balance was gained, she removed her hand from his chest and un-tied the knot in his cravat with no trouble at all.
"There. That wasn't so difficult." She left the un-tied cravat loosely around his neck. "Why are you so nervous?"
He shook his head.
"I don't know." He said softly as he let out a sigh.
Sarah could see all the emotions in his eyes. Worry, fear, embarrassment, and a few other un-readable emotions. With a soft sigh, she wrapped her arms around his waist and rested the side of her head on his chest. James, surprised, wrapped his arms around her and held her close, wanting nothing more than to protect her.
"Your exhausted James. You've been stressing yourself too much. I think you would feel much better if you got a few hours of sleep."
She lifted her head and looked into his eyes.
"Alright?"
"Alright."
"Goodnight, James." She hugged him once more, and then let go and sat back down on the bed.
"Goodnight Sarah." He turned away and laid down on his blanket on the floor. Sarah blew out the candle, and the room was dark, with the exception of a sliver of moonlight shining through the small crack at the top of the curtains.
Just as James was about to nod off, he heard movement from Sarah's bed, then footsteps, then the rustling of blankets. Moments later he felt a blanket being draped over his legs and then pulled up to his shoulders.
"Did you think I was going to let you sleep without hardly any cover?" He heard Sarah whisper softly into his ear.
"But now you don't have much cover for warmth."
"Yes but I have a mattress and a blanket. And I can use my cloak and your coat if I start to shiver. So, I'm fine. Go on to sleep now, I don't want to hear another word about it. Goodnight." He felt her run her fingers through his hair in one brief motion, and then heard her get up.
Before she got back in bed, she grabbed James' coat from the chair in the corner. Once she was in bed with the blanket up to her chest, she draped the coat across the top of her body and pulled it up to her chin.
"Sarah." She heard James say. "Thankyou."
"It was no trouble."
Slowly, the rocking of the ship lulled them on to dream land.
Again, sorry for such a short chapter! But don't worry, I have big plans for the chapters to come! Please review!
