here's chapter 8!
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Ladyship Chapter 8
Ronni's POV
I run over to
Anamaria and Gibbs.
"What's happening?" Elizabeth yells.
"The Black Pearl! She's gaining on us!"
"This is the
fastest ship in the Caribbean!" I exclaim, frantically looking
around to find Cordie.
"You can tell them that after they've
caught us."
"We're shallower on the draft, right?"
Elizabeth asks, a wild look in her eye.
"Aye?"
"Well,
can't we lose them amongst those shoals?"
I whip around and
look at the shoals and then back at Anamaria with a grin on my face,
and I'm sure it's not a pleasant grin but more of a wild one.
"We don't have to outrun them long, just long
enough!"
"Lighten the ship! Stem to stern!"
"Anything
we can afford to lose, see that it's lost!"
I run back down
onto the deck and frantically look around.
"Cordie! Cordie,
where are you?!"
She comes running up to me and wraps herself
around me.
"Where were you, Veronica? There's so much mayhem
going on that I don't know left from right!"
"It's going
to be ok, Cordie. You just have to do whatever I say, and it will be
alright. Do you understand me?"
She nods with very big eyes and
I grab her wrist and drag her along with me.
Elizabeth runs up to
me, wild eyed.
"We are going to fight."
"We can't
outrun them?" Cordie asks, panicked.
"Running doesn't
always work, Cordie." I say.
"But I've never handled a gun!
Nor a sword!"
"Don't worry about it, Cordie. You can help
me."
"How?"
"Staying very close to me when I'm
shooting and hiding when I'm not."
Damn. We failed.
Even after clubhauling' the ship. As fun as it was, my stomach is
still unsettled and Cordie said that if she had a choice, she would
never get on a ship again. Well, at least ones where the helm listens
to Elizabeth. Pintel is walking in front of us, telling us to not
even think about requesting parley. Cordie is hanging onto me for
dear life with very big eyes. I can see Jack. Thank God he's
alright. I would have killed Will if Jack had been hurt. Cordie keeps
looking at Jack with concern written on her face. Both of us are
standing next to Elizabeth before she escapes her captors.
"Elizabeth, no!" I shout, trying to keep her from getting
away.
"You've got to stop! Stop it!" she screams, smacking
Barbossa.
"Welcome back, Miss. You took advantage of our
hospitality last time. Now it holds fair that you return the favor."
He smiles as he shoves her toward his crew. I scream and run over,
punching anyone who touches her. They grab me by my short hair and
hold a cutlass to my throat. I can hear Cordie squeak, but glares
from Barbossa's crew keep her quiet. When I don't struggle and
when Mr. William Turner jumps up, they remove the cutlass from my
throat. They are all so distracted by him, I remove myself from their
grasp and Cordie slinks over to me.
"I thought they were going
to kill you!" she whispers.
"Nah. They were just roughing me
up a bit," I say, rubbing my neck, "as you can see, I'm fine.
And so is dear William, which is nice."
"You don't sound
too happy about it." She states, glaring at him.
"Whatever
gave you that idea?"
"Name your terms, Mr. Turner."
"Elizabeth
goes free!"
"Yes, we know that one. Anything else?"
He
frantically looks around and finishes, "The crew is not to be
harmed. And those women," he points at us, "are to go free as
well!"
"Agreed."
I can hear poor Jack groan. Will has
ruined his plans yet again.
After they forced Elizabeth out of her dress and off the plank, they shove Cordie onto it. Will looks at us with sad eyes and continues to fight against the gag in his mouth. She is visibly shaking and slowly edges further and further out. She looks at me and I shrug and give her a sad smile. Her eyes grow big and I nod. She has to jump. She will be alright, she knows how to swim. She finally reaches the end and after some yelling from Barbossa's crew, she leaps off. I can hear her surfacing and sputtering up sea water. That just leaves me. I'm shoved onto the plank and I stroll to the end it. I hate heights, but I can't let them know that. They already won with Elizabeth, Cordie, and Will and possibly Jack. I won't let them win against me. I turn around, mock salute to Barbossa and turn back around. I plug my nose and jump in, trying to ignore the feeling in my stomach as I fall 15 feet or more.
We all end up on an
island and are out of breath when we get there. Jack unties his
effects and looks at his ship sail away.
"That's the second
time I've had to watch that man sail away with my ship."
I
rest my hand on his shoulder and give is a squeeze. He looks at me
and starts walking off. With nothing better to do, I follow him with
Cordie in tow. Elizabeth starts stomping after him, determined to get
off this island.
"But you were marooned on this island before,
weren't you? So we can escape the same way you did then!"
"To
what point and purpose, young missy? The Black Pearl is gone, and
unless you have a rudder and a lot of sails in that
bodice…unlikely…Young Mr. Turner will be dead long before you can
reach him."
It's not very often that I see Jack as annoyed and
upset as this, so I keep my smart comments to myself. Cordie keeps
quiet and just watches with interest.
"But you're Captain
Jack Sparrow! You vanished under the eyes of seven agents of the East
India Trading Company. You sacked Nassau Port without even firing a
shot! Are you the pirate I've read about or not?"
Cordie's
eyes are big by now. She didn't realize that Jack was legendary. I
just continued to look on. I knew the stories. I knew how they ended.
The endings aren't as happy as the books say. His scars are more
legend than his fables.
"How did you escape last time?"
He
looks ashamed and is fighting with himself to tell the truth. He
finally spits out, "Last time, I was here a grand total of three
days, alright? Last time, the rumrunners used this island as a cache.
Came by and I was able to barter passage off. From the looks of
things, they've long been out of business. Probably have your
bloody friend Norrington to thank for that."
He steps out of the
cellar and hands me a rum bottle. I nod my thanks and he offers one
to Cordie. She slowly takes it from him.
"So, that's it then?
That's the secret grand adventure of the infamous Jack Sparrow. You
spent three days lying on a beach drinking rum?!"
"Welcome to
the Caribbean, love." He shoves a bottle into her hands and walks
away. I look at her and I can see a plan forming in her mind. I know
exactly what she's going to do. She grins down at her bottle and
then back up at us. She follows him down to the water's edge and
plops down next to him and pretends to take a big swig of her rum. I
roll my eyes and begin building a fire.
Cordie's POV
Ronni
starts picking up large pieces of driftwood. She must be building a
fire. I look over to my right and see Jack and Elizabeth sitting on
the beach drinking rum. Elizabeth looks so satisfied with her
situation that I have to force myself to not scream out in annoyance.
I have only been able to enjoy the company of my cousin for a few
uninterrupted minutes and already her presence is raking on my
nerves. I liked her better when she was a hostage, and far away from
me.
I immediately shake my head in an attempt to rid myself of
these thoughts and make my way over to where my sister is working.
"The SAND!" I shout painfully as I feel fire shoot through my
feet all the way up my legs and into the rest of my body. It was
white hot and as quickly as I was onshore, I was back in the ocean
with the water up to my knees cooling off my aching feet.
"Cordie
its sand, meaning it'll be hot. It takes some time getting used
to," Ronni grins at me suppressing a laugh. "Where are your
boots anyway?" at that moment I realize I don't have shoes. I
turn around to face the ocean and realize that they must have slipped
off while I was swimming. That's the last time I buy clothes with
Jack. The damn boots didn't fit. I turn back to face my sister
with my hands on my hips.
"Well, I'm sorry that I don't
have calloused feet! Unlike some people, I don't run around
shoeless."
"Come out of the water Cordie," Ronni laughs
dropping an armful of wood onto her growing pile. "I could use
your help," she says, "Since some people are too damn lazy to
lift a finger." My sister adds under her breath but purposely loud
enough for everyone to hear. Elizabeth looks at her with worried
eyes but quickly returns to her rum. I relish her fear of my sister
with a smile; I join Ronni in gathering the wood, ignoring the fire
beneath my feet.
"Look at her! I cannot believe what
she is doing!" I cannot stop myself from saying this as I sit next
to my sister on the now cool beach. I watch as my cousin dances
around the bonfire with Jack. I look over to see Ronni nodding at my
comment as she whittles another piece of wood into something that
appears to have tentacles. "What are you making?" I ask only
half interested as I continue to watch Elizabeth sing and shout like
one of the drunken wenches we encountered on Tortuga.
"Nothing
in particular," I can hear the lie lacing through her words but
pretend not to notice.
"It's nice, you're good at that.
Where did you learn?"
"Father taught me," she whispers,
slicing off another thin strip of wood. It curls and lands atop the
other pieces. My heart sinks as I think of father.
"I miss
him."
"So do I," Ronni puts down her half finished creation
and plays with the end of her knife before placing it beside her. An
awkward silence rests between us as we watch Jack and Elizabeth make
fools of themselves. "I'll teach you to swordfight
Cordie."
"Really?" I think back to earlier, how scared I was
on the ship. It would come in handy to learn. "Thank you,"
Ronni shrugs her shoulders. She follows my gaze and, out of the
corner of my eye, I can see her smile.
"What are you thinking
about?"
"Nothing," I blush badly and in the light of the
fire I know she can see me. "Just how stupid Elizabeth is."
"Oh I'm sure…would you care for some rum?" she asks
holding up an old, weathered bottle. I have never tasted it before
and, out of curiosity take it from her and drink some. The liquid
races down my throat and hit my stomach like a rock. It stings
leaving an awful taste in my mouth.
"It's disgusting," I
choke. She laughs as I take another swig.
"Don't get sick,"
she reminds me in her rare motherly tone as I finish off the bottle.
Slowly, the rum is beginning to take effect. The fire is glowing
brighter and my body is feeling lighter. I crawl over to another
bottle that is nearest us and drink it down. "Cordie, why don't
you go dance?" Ronni mumbles. I look at her and see her grinning.
"No!" I shake my head until I become dizzy and take another
drink of rum. "Well, maybe. Only if you do it!"
"I don't
dance Cordie, you know that."
"If you don't, I won't!"
Ronni rolls her eyes and picks herself up from the sand. I clap my
hands together in joy and spring to my feet. Everything is spinning,
and I have to hold onto her shoulder so I don't topple over.
"How
are you already drunk? My God, you weren't lying when you said you
never had alcohol."
"I am not drunk," I am almost
certain my words come out in slurs by the look Ronni gives me as we
make our way over to Elizabeth and Jack. Upon seeing them, I finish
my second bottle of rum and throw it onto the sand.
Author's Note:
reviews would be appreciated
-The Brunette Half
