William Turner had just sunk deep into the straw mattress of his bed, his exhausted muscles groaning with relief, when a loud banging sounded below stairs.
"Surely you jest," he muttered, throwing himself to his back and staring up at the cracked plaster ceiling. The one thing that had been deprived him the last few nights was an uninterrupted sleep, but it seemed even that was to be deprived him.
Will Turner was a man who enjoyed his solitude, seeming as he was the apprentice to a blacksmith that was on his back drunk more often than not, Will had come to value and find comfort in silence, often times preferring the heat from the fire and clang of metal to the din and press of the social swarm. Yet, his last few days had seen him besieged by an insolent pirate, set upon by pillaging brutes, wracked with worry over the disappearance of Elizabeth Swann and now interrupted by an unknown intruder.
The banging ceased. Will soaked in the blissful silence, afraid to breathe. Perhaps it had just been a town drunk or other miscreant of the night stumbling back from a night of revelry at one of the local gin shops.
He rolled to his side and beat his pillow, determined to steal at least a fitful nap before his work began at sunrise.
The banging resumed-sharp with persistence.
Throwing back the covers, Will jumped out of the bed. He jerked on a lawn shift, yanking it over his head. Snatching up a candlestick, he went stomping down the stairs.
As he flung open the door, the last person he expected to find standing on his lowly stoop in the dead of night was Miss Katyanna Swann in a dark gown and coat.
He stared.
She opened her mouth.
He closed the door.
There was a brief pause where he cursed himself for his rudeness before he threw open the door again and only to find Katyanna's hand poised level with his nose, presumably to knock again.
She had changed out of her torn gown and now looked less ravished and more reserved in a dark indigo skirt and emerald green spencer. She'd shed her cloak from earlier in favor of a short jacket that hugged her slender waist and a felt top hat that cast her face in shadow and hid her scarlet fall of ringlets.
To say that William Turner was surprised would most assuredly be an understatement.
If she was nonplussed at being confronted with six feet of groggy male wearing nothing but trousers and a lawn shirt she hid it well.
"Miss Swann…What are you? I mean how did you?
"Good, evening Mr. Turner, may I come in?"
He searched the empty street behind her. A public hack was just disappearing around the corner.
"Good, evening, err or should I say good morning? Are you alone? Where is your father? Your uncle? Shouldn't they be out with you? Speaking of which how are you out at such an hour? Why are you out at such an hour?"
Will was struggling to wrap his still groggy mind around the fact that it was well past four in the morning and Miss Katyanna Swann was standing alone on his doorstep.
She sighed, "Mr. Turner, please?"
Feeling utterly confused, Will stepped out of the doorway. "Yes, you may as well come in before someone sees you."
She wasted no time in accepting his invitation, although she did flick a nervous gaze over her shoulder before entering.
Before he could latch the door, she was already making her way through the narrow entry.
"Do make yourself at home while I dress," he called after.
A few minutes later, Will returned to the main living area to discover that she'd stirred the dying flames in the hearth to life and settled herself in a chair before the large work station as if she belonged there. If nothing else, she was resourceful.
Will sank into the chair opposite, studying. Although countless observers would doubtlessly classify her oval-shaped face and large eyes as demurely angelic, it was quite a different sentiment that stared back at him from their azure depths. The spark of devilment and determination in her eyes interested and slightly worried him and just as he had feared, that resolve was directed solely at him. Tugging off her gloves and stuffing them into her reticule, she said, "I'm sure that you must be wondering why I would disturb you at such as ungoldly hour."
"I must confess Miss Swann, but I'm quite curious."
She leaned forward, her expression alarmingly earnest. "This is a bit awkward, and Mr. Turner I'm not quite sure how to phrase this. But, you see I was wondering if I might persuade you to assist me."
For a long moment, Will couldn't speak at all and simply stared. "Come again".
Undaunted by his reaction, Katyanna pressed on, "My father and uncle along with Commodore Norrington are hatching some sort of rescue attempt I'm sure, but they, in all their high and mighty wisdom, are forgetting about the one person that has any knowledge of where those dastardly pirates may have taken Caro and Elizabeth. Even if that person is a good for nothing dastardly pirate himself."
Will looked at her a long moment. "Miss Swann you must forgive my bewilderment, but what exactly are you asking of me?"
"Mr Turner, I'm asking for your help in the locating and recapturing of my sister and Elizabeth," she took a deep breath, "myself."
"Miss Swann, please forgive me, I have the highest respect for you and your family, but…"
"But what?"
"May I speak plainly?"
"Please."
"This is madness. You are a…well…a"
"A what Mr. Turner, I've been called a few things tonight, I'd love to hear what you have to add to the litany."
"Well, Miss Swann, A woman."
"Yes, Mr. Turner," she replied sweeping her arms wide for dramatic effect, "that would be quite obvious".
"No, please forgive me, you mistake my meaning it's just that, well, as a woman, there are certain limitations that…one, err, in your position may encounter and..." he finished lamely.
Unable to take his awkwardness any longer Katyanna cut in to save him the trouble. She gazed up at him, desperation breaking through her resolution. "Mr. Turner, since we are speaking plainly, can you deny that you love my cousin?"
When Will averted his eyes she continued, "I thought as much, Mr. Turner…Will…you see the Caribbean is a vast place and though I know the British Navy is the power in these waters they simply cannot search the entire sea. God only knows what Lizzy and Caro must be going through at the hands of those brutes."
At the mention of Elizabeth in possible danger Will's eyes took on a new fire and he was around the desk before he even realized he'd moved, standing before her.
"Forgive me, but have you come here to persuade me to actually accompany you?"
At his question Katyanna lifted her head and to look directly at him.
He studied her face through weary eyes. "Your Uncle is the wealthiest man on the island, he along with Commodore Norrington have vast resources at their disposal. Why on earth would you think that we could find your sister and cousin any faster?"
She swallowed nervously, her tongue darting out to moisten her lips. "Because I know someone who knows where they will be."