Chapter Eight
A Pirate Story
Last night seemed consume me. It was under my skin, and I swear it would never get out from under me. I began to analyze every bit of last night to the point where I wasn't sure if I could anymore.
Will was looking for me. He was either intrigued by me and masked it with his concern for me running away, or he really was making sure that I wasn't running away.
The only time we really talked was when we were alone. Either that meant that he was interested in me... or he was trying to make sure I wasn't going to run away. (The only time that we were alone was when he was walking me back to the bakery at night.)
I wondered if, when Will put his hands on my shoulders last night, that he meant it in a friendly way. Was he trying to make his statement more meaningful, or was it something more than friendship?
Why did this boy have to be so hard to read?!
I hated myself for analyzing last night. I didn't know why I was doing it. I was not the kind to analyze anything between a crush and me. I didn't know how on earth William Turner had gotten under my skin.
I knew that this was a crush. It was infatuation. My mind had been consumed by him.
The worst part was, I had no idea why.
Polar opposites were not supposed me be attracted like the magnets nature intended them to be. We were supposed to be with our own kind. I was supposed to be with an adventurous boy, one who wasn't afraid to do anything. Will was supposed to be with a respectable girl was from the time period.
When Will came in the next afternoon, my heart sped at just the sight of him, elated to see him. At the same time, I wanted him out. Just seeing him would bring me back to last night, and I would over analyze, yet again.
As I was rolling out some dough, I looked up at him. His brown eyes caught my blue ones. Somehow, I couldn't let go of his gaze, even though I wanted to horribly.
"Good afternoon, Miss Werden," Will said.
I nodded once. "Good afternoon, Will." I put the rolling pin aside. "The usual?"
"Yes," he replied.
I cut him two slices of bread from a freshly baked loaf, put them on a plate, and set it at our usual table.
We sat and began to talk, all as if last night and my ridiculous escapade never happened.
I spent that evening cleaning the bakery. Mrs. Ashford had gone to get supplies for the week, and assigned me to clean the bakery while she did so.
I was almost done cleaning the counter when there was a knock on the door to bakery. I looked up, and through the windowed part of the door, I could see that it was Will. He startled me. I had grown used to the silence and being able to hear my own thoughts.
The glow of the setting sun on the horizon, mixed with the dying fire behind me, cast a relaxed glow over the bakery. In his black and white waistcoat, he looked almost like a prisoner that escaped from jail. I smiled – he looked too peaceful to ever be a prisoner.
"I'd like to buy a loaf of bread," Will said. "If you don't have any left, I'll come back tomorrow."
I looked behind me to see that we had one loaf left wrapped in a white cloth. I grabbed it and handed it to him.
"Three shillings," I said.
He handed me the coins. "Thank you," he said.
I nodded and put the coins next to me, wondering whether or not to give them to Mrs. Ashford. It was just three shillings, would she really miss them that much?
Will headed for the door. I didn't want him to leave. I hated being in the bakery by myself.
"Will," I said.
He turned around.
"Can you stay and talk?"
He looked shy suddenly, if not a bit guilty.
"Miss Werden, what if someone saw a gentleman and a lady in a shop alone?" he asked.
"A shop with windows and no curtains is hardly the place for a tryst," I joked.
He didn't seem to think it was a joke.
"Come on, Will," I said. "I'm just really bored here! Stay with me and talk."
"About what?" he asked.
"Something, anything!"
He wasn't leaving, thank God. I had his attention, at least.
"Talk to me about the pirate attack," I said.
He seemed flustered at those very words.
"I already told you about it," Will said.
"No, you didn't. You just told me that the town was attacked six months ago and that it was ruined."
He sighed, sitting down at one of the chairs.
"That's all," he said.
"No," I said, "it isn't. You briefly mentioned it before, and now you're dismissing it. I don't care what it is you're hiding from me, I just want to know what it is!"
Will was thinking. I took that as a good sign; he was thinking of how, exactly, to tell me.
"I was in love with a lady," Will began. "Her name was Elizabeth Swann. She was beautiful. I had known her since we were children. She was on a voyage from England to Port Royal with her father, the then-newly appointed Governor. I was on a shipwreck. She found me in the water and managed to get some of the crew off the ship to rescue me.
"Eight years later, she was kidnapped by pirates. She had a cursed medallion that she took from me on the ship, the day we first met. It had a skull on it; she assumed that I was a pirate. She hid it from the crew surrounding me. Even then, she was saving me in ways I didn't know.
"She was kidnapped because of that medallion – because of me. I had to save her."
I had a feeling that Will hadn't gone after Elizabeth just because of a medallion. Will looked so nostalgic and serious, though, that I didn't dare interrupt him.
"I set free a pirate in the jail that knew where the pirates were taking her. I'm sure you've heard of him. Jack Sparrow?"
I shook my head. I could practically hear his thoughts: You aren't from around here.
"We commandeered a ship, The Dauntless, to save her. We went to Tortuga to try and find a crew for The Dauntless. On the voyage there, though, Jack told me that my father had been a pirate, and not a merchant sailor like I thought he was. I became furious with Jack for saying that. I was against piracy. Jack said that piracy was in my blood, and I knew that I had taken his help – a pirate's help. I eventually came to terms with that --"
"Will," I interrupted. "As profound as that is, you were telling a story about the pirate attack and Elizabeth."
"Right," Will said. "As I said, we went to Tortuga to get a crew. We found Elizabeth and the pirates who kidnapped about to kill her at Isla de Muerta."
If my four years of Spanish stuck with me at all, I knew that it meant Dead Island.
"Barbossa, the captain of the pirate crew, cut her hand and put the blood on the medallion. Apparently, it was a blood curse. They were immortal. They needed my blood to reverse the curse. Her blood didn't reverse the curse, and I helped Elizabeth escape from the cave. We went back on the ship and tried to get Elizabeth back home. After a fight at sea, Barbossa took our crew hostage. To keep my crew safe, I sacrificed myself, saying that I had the blood they needed. It ties in with my father again – he was the blood that started the curse, my father was killed at the hand of Captain Barbossa. They needed my father's blood to reverse it – my blood, the blood of a pirate."
I was enthralled with the story. This didn't seem like something that could actually happen, it all seemed part of a book or movie.
"As Barbossa was about to kill me at Isla de Muerta, Jack came into the cave, saying that the Navy was waiting for Barbossa outside. I don't know how Jack did it, but he somehow distracted Barbossa from killing me. They began to sword fight. Elizabeth was in the cave, too, fighting off the pirates anyway she could. I helped her. When I had a moment, I went to the chest to cut my hand and put my blood one of the medallions, reversing the curse. Jack shot Barbossa. Hedied."
I was still enthralled with the story. I knew my blue eyes were wide. I looked down, then back at Will, in order to soften them.
"What happened to Elizabeth?" I asked.
"She and I said our goodbyes at Isla de Muerta. Jack was caught that night and nearly hung. I couldn't let it happen, though. He saved my life, it was my turn to save his. I interrupted the hanging and let him go free. Elizabeth's father, Governor Swann, was furious with me. Were it not for Elizabeth, I would have been hung before Jack."
"Why?" I asked. "You didn't do anything, though."
"Piracy," Will pointed out. "Her father let me free... again. I thought that perhaps Elizabeth and I would have a future together. I loved her more than ever, and she knew I risked my life to save hers."
There was a painful silence. I knew the story wouldn't be the fairy tale ending he had envisioned it.
"Elizabeth chose Jack," was what broke the silence.
"Jack?" I repeated. "From your story, they hardly knew each other."
"They spent one day on an island together. Barbossa stranded me before he took me to Isla de Muerta."
Oh, God, I thought.
One day was enough to make a decision like that. It took me five minutes for me to make a decision like that with Adam.
I felt horrible for Will. Elizabeth had tricked him, and he was left broken-hearted. He looked pained just to tell the latter part of the story.
"I'm so sorry, Will," I said.
He shook his head. "It's fine, Miss Werden. It's not your fault."
I drew my lips into a thin line. I felt nothing but pity for him.
"I can see why you didn't want to tell me, then," I said.
"Yes," he said. "I have no idea where she is now. Probably on the Black Pearl with Jack."
I guessed that the Black Pearl was Jack's ship.
"I feel your pain," I said. "I know how hard it is to get over someone you loved. You move forward, though, and, believe me, it's a great day when you finally can look at someone else with butterflies in your stomach."
He smiled to himself, almost as if he had a private joke with that. I couldn't help but wonder if he was thinking about me.
I realized how silly that sounded: me wondering if he had a crush on me. No, we were opposites. He still seemed fixated on Elizabeth, anyway.
"You're the first person I've ever told that to," Will said.
I felt honored. when I heard him say that. He trusted me more than I thought.
"Lord Cutler Beckett is in Port Royal," Will said. "He's determined to rid these seas of pirates. He wouldn't stop with land, and I've been let go twice before with Governor Swann. Who's to say he won't make sure I never have a second chance?"
I knew I had to keep his secret. I couldn't tell anyone. Will's life was suddenly in my hands.
"I won't say anything," I promised. "I swear I'll keep your secret, Will. You can trust me."
Silence overcame us again. My heart thudded in my chest, and I was nearly overcome with emotion. What if Will was found out somehow? Would this Beckett sentence him to death? He sounded like he would do nothing to rid the seas – and lands – of pirates.
I was suddenly terrified for Will's life. What if Governor Swann's pardons were one day erased by Beckett, only to be replaced by death?
I couldn't think about it. The thought of Will being arrested and hanged made my blood turn cold and my stomach drop.
The silence was interrupted by the back door opening and closing. I looked at Will, startled. Why had Mrs. Ashford come through the back door? Will stood quickly.
"Thank you for the bread, Miss Werden," Will said. "I trust that I'll be seeing you tomorrow afternoon."
"Yes," I said.
I locked eyes with him. "Thank you," I mouthed. "I'll keep your secret."
He forced a smile, still looking nervous. I knew my expression wasn't far from his.
Will went out the door just as Mrs. Ashford entered the room. To try and wipe the expression off my face, I began cleaning the counter again.
"Christine," Mrs. Ashford said. "You look as if you've seen a ghost. What's the matter?"
I swallowed, my heart still pounding in my chest. My hands were shaking as I scrubbed the counters.
"Absolutely nothing, Mrs. Ashford," I said.
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