Chapter 10: Battle on the Interceptor
Hector stood on the main deck with his arms around Melinda as they both stared at the ship that got closer.
"Haul on the main brace!" he ordered the crew. "Make ready the guns! And run out the sweeps!"
The crew scrambled around the deck to follow these orders and Melinda watched with growing anxiety. The monkey jumped out of nowhere and perched on Melinda's shoulder. She stroked the fur on his head and he snuggled against her.
"Hector, what do we do now?" she asked, holding onto him. "After the curse is broken?" Her eyes gazed into his hopefully as she gripped his hands tightly.
"We'll talk that through once we get there," he answered, overlooking the crew to make sure they did their jobs.
"How about children?" she asked again, resting her hand on his arm. "We have been trying for a while."
Hector felt a trill in his body at the mention of that. Sure, they had talked about having kids and such but he had never thought about it truly. It kind of scared him at the thought of being a father because he had never had to take care of kids.
"We'll have children," he answered briefly before looking to the crew.
Now, the Interceptor gave a sharp turn and alerted the crew, the captain, and his wife. The Interceptor crew must have been doing something stupid or bold to start a fight.
"They're clubhauling!" shouted Hector to the crew. "Hard ta port! Rack the starboard ores!"
Melinda knew what that meant. There would be a battle that was about to take place and she didn't know whether to fight or hide in the cabin. She didn't like fighting because it involved innocents dying.
"What do I do?" she asked over the shouting of the crew.
"I want ye to go into the cabin," answered Hector, taking both her hands in his. "We'll talk later."
Melinda wanted to argue but the look on his face told her to stay quiet so she nodded and went in the directions of the cabin. As the ships met, battle cries were shouted and glares were exchanged.
"Now!" someone shouted.
"FIRE!" shouted Hector, drawing Melinda's attention and stopping her strides to their cabin.
As the ship began rocking from the cannon fires, Melinda scurried back to her husband and held onto him tightly. She buried her face into his chest and closed her eyes so she wouldn't have to see the smoke engulfing the Interceptor. He gave her a tight embrace until the cannon fires ended and then he began shouting out orders.
"Raise yer colours, ya bloomin' cockroaches! Hands, grapnels at the ready! Prepare to board!" Those orders were loud and clear and the crew rushed around to obey these orders.
Melinda felt fire well up in her chest as she pulled out her gun and sword in intent to fight aboard the Interceptor but her husband's hands gripped her shoulders tightly.
"Where are ye goin', Melinda?" he asked, holding onto her tightly.
"Where does it look like I'm going, I'm going to fight." Her tone was belligerent and loud as if she were the captain of the ship.
"Yer not going anywhere," he said into her ear. "I want ye to be safe. Stay here with me. I wanna protect ye from danger like a good husband should."
"But I want to help," she argued. "I want to fight too."
"Yer not going," he proclaimed, "and that's final."
Before Melinda could speak, one blast from the Black Pearl made the mast of the Interceptor fall onto the deck. Melinda let out a little squeak and grabbed onto her husband, burying her face into his chest to feel safe.
"Blast all ta carcasses, men!" Hector ordered, holding onto his wife. "Forward clear ta the power magazine. And the rest of you, bring me that medallion!"
Something seemed to gall to Jack the monkey because he hopped off Melinda's shoulder and onto the fallen mast of the Interceptor.
"Jack!" she called over to him. "Come here, baby! Come to Mama!"
The monkey continued its path to the Interceptor and Melinda went to follow him but Hector caught her in a hug from behind and had his arms over her chest to prevent her from going anywhere. She tried to fight his grasp but he held her firmly against him.
"Leave him be, Lindy-Love," he whispered softly so only she could hear. "He'll get what he wants."
The two watched as the monkey scurried back across the mast and in his hands was the medallion and following him was Jack Sparrow on all fours. Melinda nearly laughed at the sight because the monkey was being chased by his namesake.
"Look," she whispered to Hector, pointing to the sight.
Husband and wife met their monkey on the mast and he crawled up Melinda's arm and onto her shoulder. Hector took the medallion from the monkey and held it with a smile on his face.
"Why, thank you, Jack," said Melinda to the monkey in a cooing tone.
"You're welcome, love," said Jack Sparrow, who was seated on the mast.
"Not you," said Hector archly. "We named the monkey Jack."
At that, the monkey smirked at Sparrow and jumped up on Hector's shoulder. Sparrow smiled a bit and squinted up to the monkey.
A/N: I hope you all enjoyed this short yet sweet chapter! Next will be with Will Turner and negotiations of Elizabeth! R&R!