A/N: In a hurry here, so moving on to the disclaimer: I don't own PotC. Disney does. I don't own any of the characters from it either. Disney does. I own all the rest of the characters so far.
Read and review, please!
Miss Sofie
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Chapter Nine – Nosy Nick
Everyone waited impatiently for the ambush to begin. The dark had not come yet, though the fog made it all rather dim. It was hot; so hot that Jack had a hard time keeping his head cool. Literally. And the moist air only made the breathing more difficult. Sometimes it felt like breathing fire, because the air that he inhaled was so hot. It made him think of rum – the drink that made his throat burn so pleasantly. But he could not drink now. No matter how used he was to alcohol he could not let the liquid slur his senses. Tomorrow, perhaps, but not now.
He didn't noticed Julia approaching him before she spoke, as his eyes were set on the horizon.
"Mr. Sparrow, where is my cutlass?" She asked and made Jack turn towards her promptly.
"Your cutlass?" He asked with a frown. What would she need that for? She had agreed to stay on the Pearl!
"Just in case Nosy Nick and his crew should get aboard your ship." She said and looked at her feet. Then she cast a quick glance at Jack before she turned her face away again.
"You're not thinking about disobeying me, are you?" Jack asked with a firm voice. He was not mad yet, but he wasn't too pleased with her question either.
"Ehm…no. Of course not." Julia said still looking away.
"Julia…?" Jack asked and looked at her so long that in the end she couldn't avoid his eyes anymore.
"Alright, then! I want to come! I want to be there for my siblings! Why can't I come?"
"I'm not taking any women with me!" Jack said sternly and hoped it would be reason enough. He should've known it wouldn't be, though.
"Why not? Don't tell me that you're afraid you'll loose me, because I know you'd be more than happy to get rid of me!"
"Yes, in fact I would be, Miss Kelly, but I don't need you to mess it all up over there on Nosy Nick's boat, which you would be very likely to do!"
"Wh…?" Was all Julia said. She was too shocked of his way of speaking to her that she could say no more.
"You'll be staying here with Ana Maria!" Jack ended the discussion. "And that's final!"
He silently swore to himself as he had a feeling she'd follow anyway. Obstinate females was the worst thing he knew, right after for weeping females, of course.
But Julia didn't intend to follow. The captain's remark had offended her so much that she had no intentions of ever speaking to him again. She thought so much of this that she didn't even notice the nightfall. Neither did she notice the Pearl speeding up. She just sat by the rail feeling very sulky.
"They've blown out the candle in the lookout mast!" Someone whispered, and immediately the lanterns on deck were blown out as well. People rarely spoke, and when they did, it was in a whisper.
"Ready the boats!" Jack whispered loudly, and two small boats were made ready to bring his crew to Nosy Nick's ship.
Julia looked to see the ship from the front end of the Pearl, but it took another couple of minutes until they were close enough for her to see it through the fog. Actually, she could only see the lights, but the ship looked somewhat smaller than the Pearl. As they came even closer the ship throne before them dark and ghostly, and it reminded Julia of the time she had seen the Black Pearl in Tortuga. Except Nosy Nick's ship was smaller.
"Ana Maria! The rudder!" Jack whispered and made the woman take over the command of the Pearl while he left for the boats with most of his men.
When they had
been lowered to the water Julia felt the ship turning beneath her.
"Why are we turning?" She whispered close to Ana Maria.
"Do you want to sail straight into Nosy Nick's ship?" The momentary captain asked in reply. "There's no need for him to notice us. If he thinks it's only the small boats he'll be more put out."
"Oh." Was all Julia said. Of course. Why hadn't she thought of that? She was glad she had asked Ana Maria – not Jack. He would've laughed at her. At least the female pirate only sounded a little annoyed. She said no further.
Jack was the first one to crawl aboard the enemy ship. Everything was going fine so far. No one had noticed them coming. As he ran silently over the deck followed by his crew, an ugly-looking fellow heard them and was about to shout in alarm. Jack, however, stuck his cutlass deep into his chest, and the only sound that came from the pirate was a rattle as he fell to the ground. Dead.
"Poor guy. He probably didn't even like Nosy Nick!" Jack said indifferently to Gibbs, who was right behind him. The latter laughed and made the rest of the pirates on deck turn around and see them.
"Now look what ye've done!" Jack complained with joy in his voice. Finally! A little fighting was coming his way!
The pirates shouted and stormed towards Jack, but the latter was prepared. He swung his cutlass once, twice, three times and hit four men. One of them fell to the ground, but he was not dead. The wound Jack had given him in the side was sure to kill him, and to end his pains quicker Jack thrust his cutlass through him one last time.
"Sorry, mate!" He mumbled and went on.
"Jack!" Someone shouted and made Jack turn around faster than a swirling cannonball. It was just in time, as the pirate behind him had already lifted his sword and was ready to strike.
"What do you think you're doing?" Jack asked with a frown and heaved his own sword. The enemy pirate's blade hit Jack's with a terrible sound of metal upon metal. Jack was the fastest of the two and before the other pirate had reached to swing his sword again, Jack's cutlass had pierced right through him.
"That'll teach you to cross blades with Captain Jack Sparrow!" He said and withdrew his now bloody blade. The enemy did, of course, not reply.
His men were fighting bravely, and the fight was unequal. Nosy Nick hadn't been able to gather many men, who were willing to follow him, it seemed.
The captain himself, though, there had been no sign of yet, and neither had there of the kids.
Jack ran unhindered below deck to find the captain's cabin. He knew the bloody pirate well enough to know that he'd always hide cowardly when there was a fight. And in this case he'd probably be hiding behind the kids as well!
"Stop right there!" The familiar voice of the nosy pirate met Jack in the doorway of what had to be his lousy captain's cabin.
Nosy Nick was, just as Jack had foreseen, holding the kids up in front of him.
"As you please!" Jack said with an artificial smile and stopped. He took a quick look around the cabin after making sure the kids were unharmed. So far they looked well, though rather pale and frightened, and so did the small piece of cloth on the chest next to Jack. A piece of cloth which Jack was sure contained something he wanted badly. Something he felt belonged to him already.
"Not quite as cocky as the last time we met, are ye, Sparrow?!" Nosy Nick spat and made the kids tremble with fear.
"But you are certainly better dressed!" Jack replied mockingly.
"STEP BACK!" Nosy Nick yelled and took a firmer grip of the girl. "Or I'll kill the girl!" He drew a gun and pointed it at her head.
Tears ran down the little girl's cheeks, and the boy looked to be on the verge of tears.
"Now that is a language I understand." Jack mumbled and took a few steps backwards. "What do you want from me?"
"I want you to back off. I want you to go away. I want to humiliate you and never see you again!" Nosy Nick spat as he made the kids follow Jack, still with a gun to Harriet's head.
"That can be arranged." Jack said and kept walking backwards until his feet hit the lowest step of the staircase.
"And I want you to suffer! I want you to grieve over your kids. Such sweet little kids! What would their pirate scum of a father think if they were fed to the sharks?!"
"Ah, but you're forgetting something, Nick." Jack said trying to sound as confident as he could. "The kids are not mine. Why would I care?"
"Not yours…?" Nosy Nick said and was clearly puzzled for a while. "Well, then I suppose you don't care at all if I kill them, so I think that's just what I'm gonna do! Get up!" He yelled and pointed the gun at Jack to make him climb the stairs.
"By all means, do as you please!" Jack said trying to sound indifferent while climbing up. He wasn't, of course. He was about as afraid as he had ever been before, but he did his best not to let it show. He did not want Nosy Nick to know that he cared about the kids. That would be disastrous.
On deck Jack's crew had almost killed all the enemy pirates. A few were still begging for mercy, but they were so badly hurt that they definitely would've died anyway, and so one look from Jack made his men relieve them from further pain. He was not a cold-blooded murderer, but he cared more for the kids than for his enemies, and so he had no trouble killing them. Had they surrendered, he would've spared them, of course, but they hadn't, and so they had to suffer the pitiful fate of so many before them.
"Jack Sparrow!" Nosy Nick's voice brought him back from the momentary sad thoughts of his. He obviously still wasn't aware of the fact that he was alone now. Or almost alone. A couple of brave pirates still fought for him, but it was only a matter of time now. "I'll give you back the girl, if only you'll come and get her yourself!" He laughed and revealed the few teeth he had left. Decayed, of course.
"I can do that." Jack said and put a hand to his waist. Nosy Nick did not know that Jack always carried a gun in his waistband now. He hadn't done ten years ago, back when he had been his captain.
"Goodbye, little girl!" The evil pirate laughed and pretended that he wanted to push her towards Jack. Instead he gripped her around the waist, lifted her up, and threw her overboard.
"Captain Sparrooow!" She screamed right before leaving Nosy Nick's hands, and Jack, who was moved by her finally speaking in his presence and by the fact that she had screamed his name, pulled out his gun and aimed at Nosy Nick…
Julia heard the shouts and the noises of the fighting on the other ship very clearly through the fog. They had sailed closer again so that they would be ready to take Jack and his men aboard again as soon as they left Nosy Nick's ship.
As Julia heard her sister's screaming and the splash in the water, she ran to the rail. She couldn't see anything at first, then she heard the sound of a gun being let off. She stiffened, but then she saw something in the water. It was her sister struggling to stay over the surface, but as the little girl had never learned how to swim, she had no chance of doing so.
Without taking the time to think it through Julia jumped head first into the water. She, too, had never learned to swim, but she'd just have to learn, then.
"Julia!" She heard her sister's voice between all the water she swallowed. But Julia was unable to hold Harriet up, as she herself was dragged down by her big skirts. She fought to get up, but she just sank deeper and deeper into the ocean. At last everything was black around her, and she wondered if she was dead or alive. Then she remembered nothing more.
"Am I dead?" Julia asked and heard someone laugh. Another one said "She's waking up!"
She opened her eyes and looked right into Matthew's. He was smiling at her fondly, and in spite of her wet clothes she felt the warmth spread through her body. She looked behind him and saw Jack looking down at her too.
"Are you alright?" A thin voice asked beside her. She looked at Daniel, who had a smile on his face though he also looked a bit scared.
"Where am I?" She asked taking a look around.
"On the Pearl, of course!" Jack's self-satisfied voice answered. "Where else would you be?"
"Where's Harriet?"
"She's…" Matthew began but Julia noticed him looking away.
"Where is she?!" She demanded trying to get up. "Is she…? Oh no, don't tell me she's…"
"She's not dead! She's in your cabin, Miss Kelly." Jack said and made Julia breathe easy again. "But I'm afraid she's unconscious. Your maid is with her."
"I want to see her." Julia said and got up with a little help from Matthew. She noticed her clothes and hair were still wet, but not as much as if they had just gotten her out of the water. But it was still dark around them.
"How long has it been since…?"
"About half an hour, I'd say." Matthew said and supported her to the cabin that she and Mary had been given.
The little girl lay silent, her face sickly pale and a little swollen.
"Oh
dear!" Julia exclaimed
at the sight. "She looks…dead!"
"She's not!" Mary assured her and handed Matthew a blanket. "She's just
sleeping."
"Has she been awake yet?" Matthew asked putting the blanket around his older sister.
"No." Mary said and looked away with tears in her eyes. Then she looked back at Julia. "But I'm glad to see you back on your feet, Miss Kelly!"
"Mary, please call me Julia." The latter said tiredly. "You're my friend in this. Not my servant."
"Okay, Julia." Mary said with a vague smile. "Why don't you lie down for a while. I'll get you some tea, if you'd like."
"I'll do that." Matthew said and left the girls alone.
Julia took off her wet clothes and put on some shirt or another that Ana Maria had brought them yesterday. Then she dug under the blankets and asked Mary who had rescued her.
"The Captain did." Mary said to Julia's big surprise. She had though he wanted to get rid of her. Then why had he saved her? "When Julia had been thrown overboard he jumped after her. But that was after he had shot Nosy Nick. That guy, Duncan, I think, was watching from the lookout mast, and as he saw her in the water he jumped. It was quite a few metres, I'd say, but there you were, two people trying to save Harriet, only you did not succeed so well. Duncan got a hold of her and held her above the surface until she was taken up into one of the small boats. Jack, who had jumped into the water right after the two of you, dived and brought you back up with him, though your skirts almost dragged him down too, I think. He was spluttering and swearing when he reached the surface again, but I don't think he wanted to get rid of you. I daresay he didn't only save you for Harriet and Daniel's sake!"
"What do you mean?" Julia asked puzzled.
"Oh, nothing." Mary said and stroke Harriet's hair.
"But it was nice of him to do so, I reckon." Julia said lost in her thoughts. "I'll have to remember to thank him tomorrow."
"Yes, but try to get some rest now. I'll wake you if Harriet wakes up."
"And if she gets worse?"
"I'll wake you up as well and call for Matthew."
"Thanks." Julia replied. It didn't take her many minutes to drift off to sleep.
"Captain Sparrow!" Julia said as she got up on deck the next morning. He was standing by the rudder, and Ana Maria was nowhere to be seen. In fact, Julia thought, there were much less of the pirates than usually. Had Jack really lost so many men to Nosy Nick? And this because of her sister and brother? He really deserved to be thanked!
"Ah, good morning, Miss Kelly!" Jack replied cheerfully. "How's your sister?"
"I'm afraid she's still unconscious." Julia replied, but she felt a little uplifted by the happiness of the pirate's voice.
"I'm sorry to hear that." Jack said sounding sincere. "I would like to hear her speak again!"
"I owe you a thank you." Julia continued. "I cannot tell you how grateful I am for all your help, and I'm sorry if I've been annoying once in a while. I was just worried."
"Apology accepted!" Jack said and felt good. It was so nice to hear the girl finally come to her senses. It had taken her long to find out that he was not the enemy.
"You seem in quite a good mood today, Captain?" Julia enquired making sure she remembered his title.
"It's a fine day today, Miss Kelly. Haven't you noticed?"
But Jack was thinking of more than just the weather. He had not only gotten the kids safely away from his enemy. He had also gotten the small – but very valuable – gem that had been meant for a piece of jewellery to the English princess. It was worth enough to feed him and his crew for the rest of their lives, and they could live extraordinarily well. He could even have all the rum in the world and all the women he wanted. Gold would be no problem now.
To his big surprise Julia did not scorn him when he finally told her. He did, of course, leave out the part with the rum and the women!
"You know, Jack, I'm not sure it's so bad after all." She said and made him frown with surprise. "I mean, at least you won't have to plunder vessels and kill more people now. In a way I think it's good that you've got the gem. The princess has no need for it. She'll get another one, and many lives will be spared."
Jack looked at her wonderingly for a while. Had she just used his first name? And was she saying that stealing the gem was alright? Nothing would ever surprise him anymore!
"You seem to think that I always go around killing people." Jack said instead of telling her of his surprise. "I don't. I'm a decent man!"
"I'm beginning to understand that." Julia muttered and looked away. "Thank you for saving my siblings!"
She turned to leave, but then something caught her attention. Jack saw it too. It was Nosy Nick's ship. Afloat and following.
"He's following us! Jack, Nosy Nick is right behind us!" She exclaimed with wide eyes.
"Julia, love, I'm not stupid!" Jack said with an amused smile. "I've got two ships now! The making of my very own fleet!"
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A/N: Hope you liked it. It's about as much action as I'm gonna write. The story's not finished yet, though.
