Disclaimer: I do not have permission to write this. I don't really have time anymore, either, but neither fact is stopping me! Ha!
Author's Note (10/10/06): Guess what? In four years, exactly, it will be 10/10/10. How awesome is that? I meant to put that on my note this morning, but I forgot. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this. And…I know there's anachronisms abounding in this fic. I do some of them on purpose. Like the major ones in here that most of you probably won't catch. But no worries. Jamba Juice for everyone! Yay!
Chapter Ten: The Neighbors
"Will Papa ever come back from heaven?" William asked innocently as soon as Nancy left and closed the door. He had a terribly serious look on his small face as he got down from the chair he'd been sitting at near the table.
"No, he won't." Elizabeth looked over at her. "Just like Spot never came back."
"Oh." William looked down at the floor. Spot, their dog, had been his very special friend. "I miss him."
"I do too." Elizabeth put down the wet rag she was using to clean bread crumbs off the counter. "He'll never be completely gone, as long as you remember him."
"I'll remember the way he was teaching me to fight," William said excitedly. Up above, John started to cry, signifying he wanted attention. He was no doubt disoriented at being back in his own home when the last thing he remembered was the pretty horses hitched to Grandmother's carriage.
"That's a very good thing to remember about him." She smiled and started towards the stairs. The noise from above stopped, however, and William needed her more right now. "I'll have to teach you a few things about that also." She knelt next to him and gently kissed his forehead. "Papa was a very good man."
"That's what Grandfather said." William was clearly trying to be brave around Elizabeth. Patricia had warned him not to cry. "I miss him," he finally admitted as tears spilled from his light brown eyes. "Why did he have to die?"
"I don't know." Elizabeth enfolded him in her arms. "All we can do is move on, though. We can't get so caught up in tears or sorrow that we don't do anything at all. He wouldn't want us to be miserable."
William nodded, though he'd probably only understood a fraction of what she'd said. He tried to swallow his tears. "Now how will I be able to make swords? Papa said he was going to teach me when I was bigger an' he'll never see me bigger." Fresh tears washed down his face. This was probably what had been bothering him the most.
Elizabeth tenderly kissed the top of his head. "We'll manage," she promised.
"Of course ye will," the unmistakable voice of Captain Sparrow said as he stepped down the last stair. He was holding John, who was staring at the various trinkets in Jack's hair, absolutely fascinated. "I believe this young sailor wants t' eat in the near future." John reached out and touched the shiny silver trinket hanging from a heavily beaded braid.
Elizabeth gently kissed William again before standing up straight. "Well, then, I suppose I should start making dinner."
William stared at Jack as the pirate sat down in the chair, putting John on his knee and bouncing him. Surprisingly, Jack seemed to treat John as though he were a miniature person rather than some sort of porcelain doll. Most men were uncomfortable around small children. They seemed terribly fragile.
"Who are you?" William forgot his tears and runny nose as he stepped forward to examine the curiously-arrayed pirate.
"I'm Captain Jack Sparrow, son." He grinned. "An' who are you?"
"William Turner the third." The lad stopped near the armchair and peered intently at the captain. His eyes were bright with curiosity. "Are you really Cap'n Sparrow?" Jack was one of his idols. Who better to imitate at such an impressionable age than the pirate everyone talked about. Most of the bedtime stories Elizabeth told him involved Jack in one sticky situation or another.
"Aye." Jack grinned because he was pleased to see the touch of idolatry in the child's eyes. John started laughing as Jack bounced him up and down in an erratic rhythm. The adults had been treating the toddler as though he were another adult for the past few days and he had been terribly bored as a result.
"Did you take the queen of Nirgereria's crown?"
Jack glanced over at Elizabeth, clearly amused. As far as he knew, he'd never been to Nigeria.
She shrugged slightly, blushing at the smirk on his face. It was just something she'd told William once because he wanted a new story. She never did tell things exactly how they happened, even in the experiences she'd shared with the infamous captain. William was only four.
Satisfied, Jack looked back at his captivated young audience. "Aye, I did," he confirmed. The captain was terribly good at lying. "I'll 'ave t' tell you wha' really happened, though. Yer mum only knows so much."
"Really?" William's eyes widened to roughly the size of saucers.
"Aye."
"Can you watch the boys for a moment?" Elizabeth interrupted, staring in the empty cupboard. All she had was the bread she'd gotten from the baker and that didn't really make a good meal for four.
"Aye, I can." Jack's voice was reassuring as he stopped bouncing John and waved to William, inviting him up onto his lap as well.
Pleased, Elizabeth wiped her hands on a towel and went outside, full of more joy than she thought possible so soon after Will's funeral. Jack was good with children and that made her feel spectacular. Perhaps, ultimately, Will's death would become a great boon to her life.
She walked to the Harris household, not particularly in the mood to deal with Nancy Shelby again. It was a lovely little house with a carefully manicured lawn and large shrubbery near the front door. Elizabeth walked to the white oak door and slowly knocked.
Lucy Harris opened the door, clearly stunned to see Elizabeth standing there looking so terribly normal. "May I help you?"
"Yes." Elizabeth looked vaguely uncomfortable. She hated to ask for help. "Do you have any spare flour, sugar or anything else that I could purchase from you?"
Lucy put a hand to her ear. "Come again?" The short woman was very hard of hearing. It was something that often made her husband, Martin, rather upset.
Elizabeth glanced down. "Do you have any spare provisions?" she asked again, louder.
"Oh." Lucy thought for a moment. A spark came to her brilliant blue eyes. "I do." She smiled brightly. "I was planning on sending Preserved over with them today, actually."
"You're far too kind." She pulled out the small sack of money Jack had given her and started to hand Lucy several shillings, but Lucy shook her head. If Elizabeth had realized how willing her neighbors were to help, she might have asked for it sooner. A tear came to her eyes. These people hardly knew her and yet they were willing to offer more than she'd expected.
"Just a moment, Missus Turner." Lucy stepped into her house and loudly yelled, "Preserved! Come down here!"
Her brother-in-law tromped down the stairs noisily. He was a large man that was unfortunately already balding, though he was only in his mid twenties. "Yes?" he asked, not noticing Elizabeth standing on their porch.
"Take Missus Turner home with the food I prepared for her." She smiled as foul air exuded from the gaps in her teeth. Lucy already had grand designs to join Preserved and Elizabeth together.
"Yes, Lucy." Preserved didn't exactly seem thrilled. He hardly thought himself attractive enough to deserve more than a friendly glance from Elizabeth. He stepped outside the house, past Elizabeth. Then he went to the barn and pulled out a small wagon filled with flour, smoked meat, apples, and various other foodstuffs that would probably feed her small family for a month.
Tears spilled down her face as she looked back at Lucy. "This is a godsend."
"Don't mention it." Lucy smiled again as a fly buzzed around her face. "If you need anything else, don't hesitate to visit."
"Thank you." She brushed a tear away and curtsied. "I don't know how to repay you."
"You don't need to worry about it." She smiled. "Good day, Missus Turner."
"Good day, Missus Harris." Elizabeth smiled weakly as Lucy shut the door to tend to one of her squabbling children. The folk around Port Royal often rallied together when tragedy struck.
Preserved looked at Elizabeth anxiously, clearly building up the courage to say something to the woman. "Come along, Missus Turner." He escorted her back to her home. "Would you like me to help you bring these in?"
Elizabeth paled. "Oh, no." The thought of the greasy-faced man finding Jack made her physically ill. "I keep most of my foodstuffs in the smokehouse. It's easier to get to. I'd hate to wake John up." She hoped that Preserved couldn't hear the unmistakable sound of John and William laughing as Jack relayed whatever story it was he was telling them. She wished she could be in there with them.
"Very well." Preserved pulled the small cart to the miniscule smokehouse in the backyard opposite the outhouse. Will clearly wasn't a carpenter. He'd tried to fix the roof several times, but Elizabeth still found her flour was wet more often than not. It was a ramshackle little thing that hardly seemed to belong with the quaint brick house.
Preserved pulled the barrel of apples out first, stacking it near the wall. He then proceeded to empty the entire cart, which had more than enough for Elizabeth to survive on for a while. Sweaty after finishing, Preserved bowed without saying anything as Elizabeth vocally thanked him. He pulled the wagon away and Elizabeth entered her house through the back door after grabbing a few ingredients to start the meal quickly in order to keep John from getting cranky.
Daisy: Girls, on the whole, are far too noisy. All the time. And high pitched. And annoying. Our complex is noisy. The walls are like paper, but they're brick. Thank you for the review. I wish I was Elizabeth too. But I'm not. I have to be content staring at posters. You should tell them to shut up. Yep. I like to tell people to shut up. They're all freshmen. Blech. Good luck with chemistry. Thanks for the review.
howlongmustiwait: Thank you for the soup an' cookies. They were muchly appreciated. And enjoyed. Oooh...he's totally hott. Sorry. I'm watching Red Eye. Anyway, thank you for the lovely review. I agree. I like seeing this side of Jack too. It'd be swell if we saw something similar in movie 3... Ah...that is a good idea, that is. We'll see how it pans out, though. Yep, he's hott. Er...sorry again. Hope you enjoy this chapter!