Chapter 9

Balancing on the unstable roof Jane was so busy stargazing she missed the sound of the front door opening. She did not, however, miss the way in which the porch shook with the force it was closed.

She also did not miss the immature way in which he took off his hat and waved it in the air, sticking his tongue out. I mean sure that was something she would do in a heartbeat, but he was a grown-up, aren't they supposed to be mature?.

Keeping her eyes on his back, Jane grabbed her necklace still safely hidden under her shirt. Watching the man walking away, she was convinced next time they met it will be on the sea and this time he would remember her, for the right reasons.

Smiling at the thought Jane pulled the dagger out and inspected her new toy, time to clean this up.

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. ~ Flashback to earlier that day ~.

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Stupid, Stupid, Stupid. Jane was the one who was stupid not Jacks Hat. What on earth made Jane say that?. Continuing to stomp out the room Jane decided to hit the pub.

Which is how a couple of hours later she found herself sitting at the bar, the smell of rum and blood lingering in the air providing comfort only a pirate could understand. Nursing her now warm drink Jane's attention had been taken up by the group behind her, from her seat Jane could see their reflection clearly in the broken glass propped up against the wall in front of her.

The group had all gathered their chairs together squishing around the small table. Jack sitting at the head of the table, well at least as much as he could considering they sat at a round table. Conversing with each other in hushed tones, so they wouldn't be overheard. Luckily lip reading through the shattered glass was earlier then it looked.

"When are we meeting again?" the one with the wooden eye asked again,

"Tomorrow just after noon you nimrod" the bold guy hit him over the head. Jane was sure those two wouldn't be allowed into the meeting meaning they would be left to guard the ship. They might as well write 'free to any taker' one the side.

Elizabeth the only girl of the group lent forward blocking Janes view, shifting around in her seat she soon found the guy that held most of her attention before. It was still strange seeing him, he didn't look that much older than he did when she had last seen him. Well considering he went to Davey John's locker and returned, ageing was probably the least of his worries.

The sound of cracking glass beside her told Jane, investigation time was over she had found out as much as I was going to, the sound of angry grunts confirmed this. Bar fights were the best times to creep out and in without being noticed, after all, who's going to be paying attention to the person leaving when they are getting attacked?.

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~ Homeward bound ~

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It seemed she wasn't the only one who used the fight as a good excuse for an escape.

Watching the back of Jack wonder down the forest path, Jane decided to follow. It was strange that he would choose this path over the others, where was Jack heading?. The only place this path lead to was halfway down the shipwreck cove footpath. Out of all the paths, this one was by far the longest, it very easily doubled the time it took to reach the cove, providing the person didn't get lost. Slowing her pace Jane let Jack get ahead of her,

The path was so rarely used it was overgrown in certain spots, to the point Jane knew she was the only person to ever use it. Which meant she could easily allow Jack to leave her sights, any broken branches or footprints diverting from the path would 100% be his. Following the path as it twists and turns around the wood almost doubling back on its self-several times, Jane continued on keeping her eyes for any sign of movement until she finally reached the end of the path. Standing at the T junction where the wood met the cliff edge. Left would take him back where he came from, but the right would take him up the remaining journey to shipwreck cove. Turning Jane followed the path with her eyes, where it carried on in a straight line up the hill running parallel to the cliff edge, she was almost at the very spot they first fought.

The sound of metal being drawn grabbed Jane's attention just in time as a sword came flying towards her from behind. In one smooth movement she managed to dodge it, sliding under the enemy's sword then spinning in a circle, Jane pulled her sword out and her hat down closer to her eyes. Inspecting where the attack had come from, behind the last tree on the very cover of the path, mentally hitting herself for letting her guard down so low Jane made a mental note to remember this trick.

The sounds of crashing waves at the bottom of the cliff were nearly drowned out by the crashing of swords. It was nearly impossible to see a clear winner, both parties moved with almost the exact same techniques, both knowing how and where the other was going to strike and how to defend against it. But Jane didn't let her guard drop "Why are you watching us?" Another bashing of swords together. Realising he would get no reply Jack pushed with another question "Why are you following us?" They continued to fight with skill almost on par, "First you try to steal my hat, now you're following my crew, what are you a deranged fan?" Jack comments.

"Bugger off" Jane finally replies, going for another slash with her sword, Jack easily deflects it.

It was at this point Jack decided he was bored of playing and decided to step up his attacks. Now the issue with a sword (or much more a gun) is how you're never sure exactly how the person holding it will react, especially when they are trained by the same person, as you start to fall into the trap of expecting their next move based on what you would do. It was one of these moments which caught Jane unaware, she had unknowingly fallen into the trap of thinking she knew Jacks next moves, which she didn't. With one last clan Jacks, sword wrapped around hers, in an almost impossible move. Now with the swords stuck together, the fight was much more about physical strength, an area in which Jack would definitely win. Jack was at the advantage.

Leaning into the swords using his height Jack suddenly spotted the sword. "Now what are you doing with this?" Jane chanced a look up to see him inspecting her sword. Suddenly she realised he must know its Teague's. The old man had given it to her, well he will one day give to her, and she's just taking her inheritance early that's all….. Jane stepped up her game, focusing her attention on dislodging the sword.

In return, Jack started to step forward his sword getting closer to Janes hilt. Preparing to surrender Jane's brain was moving on to her next step. Letting go of the sword she knew it was a lost cause she stepped back. Much to her surprise as she let go of her sword so did Jack. The force they had put into the swords transmitting into movement as the swords flew momentarily in the air before starting a fast decline. Running to the edge Jane watched as the two shining objects floated to the sea. 'Shit, Teague's going to kill me' Jane watched her chance of survival disappearing into the murky water.

"What was that for?!" She almost screamed turning to find Jack had followed her to the edge. Pulling her hat down over her eyes Jane took a step back. Fully aware that Jack was currently trying to study her.

"It's not like that belonged to you" Jane could feel his shrug of the shoulders

"Yes, it did! I was given it!"

"Ahh" Jack commented, "And I suppose the person that gave you that sword, taught you to fight with it, and why would the person that taught you to teach you?" Jack was stepping closer to Jane once more.

"JACK!, There you are! Where have you been?!" the voice behind grabbing their attention, they turned to spot Jacks crew approaching from up the coastal path. Using the distraction to her advantage Jane pulled her hat down once more, then started to walk down the path towards the village they just came from, not even breathing until she had passed the crew.

"I can't believe you ditched us in the middle of a fight?" someone shouted as the replies and remaining questions towards Jack faded into the background.

'Fine he wants to throw my sword into the sea, I'll sink his ship'. Jane mumbled as she walked back down the path, once on this path it was easy to get to the pier without being noticed and even easier to get onto the boat.

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~ All abroad the ship she goes ~

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So this is the famous 'black pearl' she had heard so much about. Skipping down the pier she was amazed to find not a single person standing guard, well that sucked she was hoping to practice some distraction techniques.

Pouncing on deck it was a rather large disappointment to find the ship was nothing special. The only special thing had to be the colour of the sails, which could easily be changed. Wondering around the deck she debated what to check out first. The Captain's cabin might be the best bet. The door cracked as she pulled it open, one final glance across the deck showed no one saw her.

Throwing her hat on the desk she wandered around the room, instantly drawn to the pile of swords in one corner. They were all thrown hap hazily in a pile, looking at each one individually, she found a small dagger near the bottom, the blade wasn't very sharp at all, the handle a plain brown, inch of black dirt covering it. So that's one Dagger now she just had to find a sword to match it, to help replace that one Jack stupidly lost. Following the rules of stealing, she found a matching plan ordinary bog-standard sword, tying both around her waist she moved on.

See one of the main rules Teague had taught her about stealing was to never take the best or shiniest object. At the same time don't take the worse, well you could take the worse objection if you are an idiot. No, you take something, a person won't notice is gone, If they somehow did notice it was missing, well by that time you've cleaned it up good as new, it no longer looks like the one that's missing. It was simple but genius at the same time.

Flicking mindlessly through the paperwork on the desk Jane couldn't help but be drawn to a drawer full of straws, the location was strange smack bang in the middle and next to a locked drawer. Clearly, anyone snooping would find the locked drawer and focus their attention on that. But before she could find what was inside the sound of people on deck grabbed her attention. Grabbing her hat on the way, she slid out the cabin letting the door closed silently behind her.

"Are you sure no unes here?"

"No, now 'ury up and find the money by the time they realise it's gone we would have spent it" the bold guy chuckled as the pair wandered down the stairs; the very stairs Jane had jumped behind to find cover. Silently waiting in the shadows Jane watched the men cross the deck and pass straight by her heading for the captain's cabin.

Taking her chance she snuck across the deck making a dive for the ramp. Only just catching herself in time to see the large pirate ship that had anchored next door, it belongs to one of the Asian warlords she knew that much. Jane watched as the men disembarking from the ship eyed up the black pearl. Time to fly she thought. Spinning on her heels she kept low until she made it to the other side of the ship, just standing up long enough to propel herself over the side and straight into the water.

Grabbing her hat as it threatened to float away Jane started swimming around the ships and towards a quitter less used section of the pier. Once again thanking the lord that she knew how to swim.

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~ A longer wet walk later ~

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Finally dragging her wet butt back home the pirates meeting was still in full swing. Meaning she was able to sneak up the stairs only being noticed by the dog, who accepted fuss in exchange for his silence before wondering off. Once at the top Jane crept into her room making sure no-one was following she closed the door. Her eyes going to her bed, the pull telling her to just jump on it and fall asleep, silenced by the other idea, the idea that another lesson in pirate politics was happening just down the hallway. Quickly switching to dry clothes Jane carefully creped down the hallway, sitting on the floor looking through her spy hole as she'd named in years ago. Sitting here she could see the whole room, watching as the pirates sat around a table shouting, screaming, arguing in every method possible. It was from this spot she had learnt most of the pirate's rules, which was surprisingly harder then it seemed. From her vantage spot the only person who would notice her, sat in his chair strumming his guitar. A small smile slipped in her direction as if a private joke to between the two. Flicking her attention back across the room, Jane began watching the politics taking place right now it was surprising that only two people had died so far.

A couple of hours later after arguing over several matters in the way pirates do, they settled and started to leave. Shifting to glance at the only man who wasn't going to leave, lazily sat in his chair playing his instrument, except this time was different. Not only was he not in his chair, but he was also stood next to his son, both deep in conversation, their poker faces in full swing. It was only at that moment Jane realised exactly how much they looked alike. Mentally kicking herself for not seeing it earlier. She needed some air. So to the roof, she would go.

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Authors note:

My muse is much like Jack sobriety. It is fast and fleeting, coming only once in a blue moon~

Also as always Beta'd by me and free Grammarly (so any issues please let me know)