"The Adventures to Come"
Chapter 12
As it turns out, the adults were getting their wish. Rosemary was doubting everything. She wasn't sure about her semi-relationship with Jack. And she was sure that going ashore, to a completely unknown island, was an awful idea.
Rosemary was sure all of these thoughts were coming from being exhausted. She'd taken to staying up with Jack all night and doing her chores during the day. So she hadn't had a really coherent thought in days.
Jack was absolutely gung-ho about going ashore. He had come all this way and wanted to see everything, despite it not being the correct island. Maybe there would be better treasure. Maybe whoever lived there would make him their king. There were just too many possibilities that he just couldn't pass up.
And he was trying to push his enthusiasm on his sister, who was leaning towards Rosemary's frame of mind.
"No, once we get there, you'll see. No Cyclops, no witch turning men into pigs, nothing. I'm sure it's just the beautiful island that it appears to be."
"How do you know?" the girls asked.
"Well, I don't know for sure. But I've been over and over this and it must be true. This is our reward for such a miserable trip."
He still wasn't convincing them. So because of the curse, unknown to the kids, their doubt from the girls, their ship appeared to move, but they were really frozen in time.
They continued doing their chores as usual and struggling to eat as little as possible. Whether or not the island was a good idea, at least it seemed to have vegetation growing upon it. And that seemed to have changed the girls' minds.
So the following day, they actually sailed a few leagues towards the island.
But of course, better judgment crept its way back into their minds and the ship halted its movement.
A week later and the children were still the same distance from the island. They were finally realizing something was wrong.
"I think something is wrong," Jack said.
"You think?" Rosemary asked sarcastically.
"Sometimes, but it hurts," he said.
"We should have been to the island and back by now," Marie told them.
"I know."
"But we seemed to have been sailing. It's not like we put the anchor down and were just sitting here. We have been sailing," Rosemary said.
"So what should we do?" Jack asked to no one in particular.
"I'm hungry," Marie said.
"We don't have any food left. So…should we try to catch a fish?" Rosemary asked.
"The fish out here are too deep to catch," Jack answered.
"What about killing a bird? We've got some of those," she said, motioning up.
"It's just a seagull. Not enough meat. I think we should swim to shore," Jack said.
"It's too far away. We'll never make it," Marie said.
"Well, what do we agree upon?" Jack said.
"We need to get food," Rosemary answered.
"And where is there food?"
"The island," Marie answered her brother.
"So, what do we need to do?" Jack asked again.
"Go ashore," the girls answered together.
The ship instantly started moving again, at a faster rate than it had ever moved. They were going to get to landmass and they were going to get some food.
At the same time on The Adventurer, Jack managed to catch the wind and they were moving at a fairly steady pace.
Jack was standing, unmoving, at the wheel.
He wanted his daughter back.
Jack had spent the last couple of night really trying to decide how he felt about this situation. He was, on one hand, very pleased that his daughter had picked up the pirate trait. But he was very, very angry that a girl, of a mere sixteen, ran off with two of her friends to find treasure. She had never sailed before and hardly ever done a real chore.
He settled on being angry. Jack angrily whipped the wheel around for good measure and then put it back in place.
The sleeping crew was heard grumbling below deck, having been knocked out of their hammocks.
But the angriest of them all being awoken was Elizabeth. The sudden jerk of the ship rolled her right out of her bed and onto the wooden floor.
She let out a shriek of exasperation and slammed open the door.
Will followed quickly, trying to pull his britches on and run out the door.
Dani had been in the galley when Jack pulled his little stunt maneuver and fell over the wooden bench. She was now sporting two very large and nasty bruises on her forehead and knee because of her husband's stupidity.
When she heard Elizabeth shriek, she knew she was in for a good show, so despite her pain, she jogged up the steps to the main deck.
Dani got there just in time to hear Lizzie cursing Jack to the ends of the Earth.
"Been there, love. I don't care to do it again," Jack answered her.
Elizabeth screamed in anger once more and stomped back to her cabin.
Will looked at Dani and immediately rushed to her.
"Are you all right?" he asked her.
"Yes, I'm fine. Only a flesh wound or so," Dani smiled.
Jack turned in concern for his wife.
"What happened?" Jack asked.
"I was knocked over the bench in the galley when you jerked the wheel," Dani explained.
"Your forehead is bleeding a little, I'll help you get it cleaned up," Will said.
"All right. Are you coming to bed, Jack?" she asked her husband.
"When Gibbs gets up in an hour or so, yes," he answered her, while watching Will and Dani interact.
"I'll be waiting," she smiled.
She walked away with Will to clean up the cut.
Jack was even angrier than he had been about his daughter. William Turner was trying to steal his wife!
So when Gibbs walked on deck, Jack was drunker than drunk. He wanted to forget, however temporarily, that he had all these problems. And that was a bigger problem than all the rest. He couldn't forget that he had these problems.
"Jack, go to bed," Gibbs told him while he helped the inebriated man to his feet.
"I'm afraid what I'm going to find when I get there," Jack slurred.
"What? You'll find your wife, Jack," Gibbs told him.
"Is Will in his own cabin?" Jack asked.
"I'd assume so."
"No, go check. I'm not going in until you make sure my wife is alone," jack said.
"What's this all about?"
"Just check!"
Obviously, yelling outside the cabin woke Dani. She had been asleep for about twenty minutes when it had started. Will had cleaned up the cut and parted ways.
So now she was creeping up next to the door listening to the conversation between Jack and Mr. Gibbs.
Dani, half-dressed, wrenched open the door and Jack jumped a mile in the air.
"I am alone. And if you don't tell me what's going on, it'll stay that way," Dani said.
Gibbs dumped Jack on the floor and walked out to leave Dani and him alone.
Jack opened his mouth to speak, but instead belched loudly and passed out at his wife's feet.
This trip was getting worse by the minute.
A/N: Please, please review.
