Chapter 12 - Foreseeing
After a few hours away from Port Royal Gibbs sighed contently. Everyone had a feeling of relief to be back at sea especially since many of them had decided to not risk going ashore. Jack sauntered back onto deck, after disappearing to see Louise almost as soon as they had weighed anchor. He had a smile on his face as he looked over the deck casually before nodding to Gibbs who in turn just shook his head not in reply to Jack but rather at the sight of him. When in his own little world Jack forgot things, like how to put his trousers on the right way round, but he was still beyond noticing as he waltzed up to helm and took over. Jack felt the same tingling sensation every time his hands felt the power of the pearl beneath them, a feeling of unmistakable immunity. As if the pearl guided him free of any problem, and while this didn't always prove true Jack relished in the sensation all the same.
"Gibbs", Jack called out to his first mate authoritatively.
Gibbs was still wondering whether or not to point out his wardrobe malfunction as he made his way over to Jack, "aye?".
"I want ye to check on our guest an'..."
Gibbs uncharacteristically cut in, "I've already given Stella the tour".
Jack smirked, "on first name terms already?". His eyes remained on the ocean but he could tell Gibbs' cheeks had momentarily flushed pink.
"She wouldn't tell me 'er last name, says nobody's called 'er it in years an' she don't want me starting now".
Jack laughed at Gibbs' defensiveness. Gibbs meanwhile sensed he was no longer needed and left Jack to entertain his own thoughts while he attended to the more important issue of why there was no one in the crows nest.
Louise once again stood buttoning up her shirt. Jack had gone to man the helm and while him leaving in a rush had not put her in the best mind she could at least entertain some understanding. Next to the pearl she was the other woman. It was something she had to accept if she was in cahoots captain Jack Sparrow. At least now there was defiantly something between them, she thought to herself, and as long as she was more than just a pirate wench to him she could come to terms with being bested by a ship. She could even understand it, were it the other way around and he was in her time then he would have to accept being second to her work too.
As she left her room, insignificant questions floating around in her head as ever, she allowed her feet to carry her on a familiar route, to the kitchen. When she arrived she found Stella rummaging through everything.
"Can I help you find your way out?", Louise asked as she purposefully strode in towards the sack of potatoes.
Stella stood up, ruffled for a moment, "just looking for somethin' to eat. What you doing 'ere?".
"I happen to be the cook so", she paused as she grabbed an orange and threw it to her, "bye".
Stella wandered to the doorway but stopped briefly to speak. "I suppose you 'ave ta work down 'ere right? Can't do any real jobs I'm guessing?".
She turned to leave as Louise called after her, "well it's better than being on my back for a living".
"Don't kid yourself. Why else would Sparrow 'ave you aboard? Cos I'll tell you what it's not the food".
She cackled as she left and the sound reverberated around the room doubling Louise's loathing of the woman. Suddenly Jack leaving so quickly hurt a little more. As she pealed and chopped the potatoes she found herself being rather harsh with her chopping motion, leaving dents in the wood beneath it. Sighing rather pathetically, she became even more annoyed that she had allowed Stella to get to her.
The evening went on as most of them do aboard the pearl, the majority of the crew by this point simply accepting that Louise always seemed to come back. This consensus was evident by the friendly greetings she got as she served dinner, a stark contrast to the wide eyed fear she'd received earlier that day. The two women sat on opposite sides of the room, neither wishing to see, hear or think about the other.
As the meal drove onwards everyone felt the tension in the air loosen. Stella happily sat regaling anyone who would care to listen with lewd gossip from the underbelly of Port Royal, including listing off all the Naval officials who were frequent visitors of what she called "women in ma line of work", which was accompanied with a wink . Louise hid a smile when she heard the name of a man she had danced with at the ball and she tried to remember what they had danced to but the evening seemed like such a long time ago her memory had let the information fall away.
Marty clicked his fingers in front of Louise's face, "hello?".
She shook her head to clear her thoughts her eyes falling to rest on the cards in her hand, her face remained emotionless as she evaluated her hand, inside she was doing a happy dance. "Don't worry I'm paying attention boys", she teased as she threw a few coins into the centre.
Colvern, a averagely built man with long thick red hair, whom she had met 20 minutes previously laughed. His hair covered his face while he bent over the cards and the gravely sound seemed to only just have escaped, he too tossed money onto the table. "I don't think ye understand the game lass, ye can't let me know what ye 'ave", his Scottish accent made her wonder how he had come to be here aboard the pearl but with the number of different accents littered throughout the crew she wasn't sure many of them cared.
He leant back and his hair swept itself behind his ears just in time for him to catch Louise grinning at him, "and I'm not sure you understand how much money I'm going to take from you".
He chuckled a little quieter this time as Danny and Marty added their bet and Marty threw Colvern a look that screamed 'watch out for this one'. A few rounds later and Danny threw his cards onto the table admitting defeat.
"Come on just tell me your first name?", Louise asked as she drank another mouthful of rum.
His eyes darted to Marty briefly who was weighing up his options and then back to her as he whispered, "sorry lass but I canne do that. If I told ye, I'd have ta kill ye".
"I'm in", Marty said at last as he begrudgingly added more money to the pile.
Colvern slapped his hand on his knee, "well let's see what ye 'ave then".
Marty revealed his cards, three of a kind and a face card, Colvern smiled. He placed his own cards on the pile but rather than start unashamedly scooping up money he sat back confidently. Louise looked at his cards and she could feel his gaze looking for weakness, so she gave it to him. She forced a frown and shook her head feigning loss.
"You really are good. Four of a kind is hard to beat, It's just I have a feeling that..."
She paused for effect as she thoughtfully displayed her cards, a straight flush, "...I'm better".
He laughed again, it seemed nothing upset this man, "finally some competition, although I didn't expect it from ye lass". He shook Danny's shoulder roughly as if silently asking agreement. Louise pocketed her winnings and finished her drink.
"Nobody expects anything from me that's what makes it so easy to surprise them" she mused. Before leaving without explanation, she had meant to tell them goodnight but the moderate amount of alcohol in her system was already setting in.
She wandered through the belly of the ship eventually coming to the little room she called her own, creeping inside as if not wanting to disturb anything she looked at the unmade bed and smiled at it's comfortableness. She could have easily stayed downstairs and played cards for another hour or two but already she was bored with it, it seemed all she did was play cards while she waited for something to happen. 'No wonder pirates were always drunk', she thought ignoring her own alcohol indulgence as she sat down. Louise looked around before reaching for her things from Port Royal, a reminder of the time she spent as a proper lady of high society. Pulling out an unfinished read she opened it at the mark she had left and commenced soaking up the comic stylings of Shakespeare, one of her favorite playwrights and one of the only authors she cared to read since most of the other books she had come across hadn't interested her (she had studied Shakespeare at college and so at least understood most of it). Currently her eyes zipped across the pages of Twelfth Night which she loved because of it's fantastic insults and crossed wires plot.
All too quickly she felt herself grow more and more tired and she steadily slipped further down onto the bed. Keeping her eyes open only long enough to read the words "You must amend your drunkenness".
Almost moments later the door opened and Jack's head slid through the gap scoping the situation, when he saw she was asleep. He smiled at her peaceful form, her mouth gaping open lazily and her arms and legs sprawled in four different directions giving her the appearance of a puppet without strings. He noticed the open book on the floor that had apparently fallen off of the bed and considered picking it up but he didn't want to risk waking her despite the fact that he knew she was a intensively heavy sleeper. No doubt tonight would be the night she would wake up at the creaking of the floor and then she'd accuse him of attempting to accost her in her sleep. And Jack Sparrow did not accost women in their sleep. He accosted them while they were awake and could appreciate it. Jack had already told the rest of the crew they had one more stop before they went after the treasure, he had neglected to mention it to Louise because of whom he was going to see. He didn't think she'd appreciate knowing his plan to stop and see another woman, of coursed she wasn't just any woman but still Louise would probably ask too many questions. Not that the crew hadn't protested in the form of agitated mumblings to which he had replied with, "'ave I ever lead ye astray?". He was relieved when they had chosen not to answer.
Two days later and the pearl was anchored securely as far ashore as it could be. Jack had just chosen those who would be going inland with him when Louise found her way out onto the main deck.
"So where are you off to?" she asked with a mild interest, which he read as suspicion.
He laid on the charm, "just goin' ashore luv, erm..." he paused for a moment, "wanna come?"
"What's the plan?"
"Supplies", he answered quickly.
Louise eyed up the island, it looked uninhabited for the most part and their supplies weren't low. She also knew he was lying from the speed in which he answered but luckily for him she had only woken up an hour ago and still had a slight post sleep buzz about her, "no thanks I've got bigger fish to fry". She had meant it in the literal sense. After rallying a number of the crew to do some fishing she had decided to cook the sort of meal she would have cooked at home and that many fish took a while to skin, de-bone and garnish with lemon and pepper. She winked at him and left as quickly as she had arrived. For a moment Jack stood there half gaping at his luck, half musing the wink.
Returning to reality he joined the small group waiting for him in the boat. Nodding them off they began to make their way closer to the island eventually following a river into the heart of the area. Within a few minutes on this restricted path the light became blocked by overhead tress and small homes littered the riverbanks. The dark area had most of them rowing in silence, for fear of provoking some unseen force to attack should they make a sound. Gibbs was one of the only ones to tempt fate, "so Jack mind tellin' me why we're visiting Tia?".
"That would be telling mate", Jack replied keeping his eyes on the small light glowing in the distance that was growing bigger with every minute.
"Jack?", Gibbs pushed for more information.
Jack sighed, "Tia knows things. Things that the rest of us don't. I'm just tryin' to get me hands on some of it, make sure of some things".
Gibbs got the hint, Jack would not be going into more detail than that. The silence once again took over, much like the current which was now directing them more than anything else.
As they reached her home Jack jumped up a little too eagerly rocking the boat excessively. Stepping over the threshold he looked back once giving a small nod to the rest of them to stay put. He had been here many times before but it still surprised him to feel the change in atmosphere as he strutted in, the cold and darkness of the outside seemed to melt away instantly replaced by a warmth that was more from the candles than the other disturbing items adorning her walls.
Tia glided down the creaky stairs with ease. "So Jack what do you need ta know?", she sat down at the unstable looking table and eyed him suspiciously until he joined her.
"Well luv I need to know about this little venture I'm embarking on", he got to the point since she had not bothered with a simple 'hello'.
She wasn't phased by this but rather she just smiled at him, "Jack Sparra' worried about something?... or someone?"
He fidgeted nervously, "nothing more than me ship and crew luv".
"Ah but a certain cook is important ta keep safe, am I right?", had Jack been a weaker man he would have given in to the urge to drop his jaw. Even in his past experience with Tia her accuracy she still amazed him.
Tia suddenly laughed loudly, "Ah Jack I 'ave ta admit, I mighta 'elped".
"With what?", it was his turn to be suspicious.
"Wit' your precious cook bein' back from 'er world". Jack opened his mouth thoughtfully and then closed it again. He was about to repeat this when she continued, "I just did the workin' Jack, you made it 'appen. She wouldn't be 'ere if ya didn't love each otha".
"Tia. Darling. I'm captain Jack Sparrow, I don't...", she interrupted with a raised hand.
"Spare me Jack, she wouldn't be 'ere otha wise. The moment one of ya falls from grace she goes 'ome".
He got up, almost banging his head on a jar hanging from the ceiling, "sorry, I, er..." He stumbled over his words worse than the items around him and it was not easy to fluster captain Jack Sparrow.
"If ya going now Jack ya should also know that great danger awaits on ya little 'venture'".
He pressed his hands together and did a rushed bow "Tia", but he was obviously still fazed as he tripped out of the doorway. Gibbs only saw Jack recover from his fall at the last second before rushing to the boat offering no explanation other than, "we're leaving mates".
--Authors Notes--
Hello!!! Oh boy is it good to be back. My laptop has been out of commission for about a month and a half now and it eventually cost around £200 to fix :( But on the upside it's now fixed and I have a new chapter for you all :) And I grabbed myself a version of iLife 08, don't know if any of you are Mac users but I recommend it. (The new word processor even told me wench is a sexist word and discouraged me from using it... awww bless). I was pleased to see that people were still reading and commenting and the like while I was away and that's awesome and I thank you all greatly, it was very nice to come back to. Hope you like the chapter, I've come back with a surge of ideas, energy and focus so hopefully some good chapters coming your way.