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Janie was gaining some strength as she sat upon the ground in Jack's arms... William had found Jack's sword and Janie's smaller cutlass and was looking up at the sky as the ominous clouds were gathering... they all knew that they needed to be getting on their way, as there was still a slaver alive out in these woods, and even with broken hands he could be dangerous and a threat to them. William was concerned about Elizabeth and the children, although he had learned to have complete faith in the abilities of his wife to take care of herself, especially since he knew that she was an experienced rider.

Jack was caressing Janie's cheek as she was taking deeper breaths to test her ribs... she winced a little, then finally stated, "I don't think that any are broken... I believe that I might have just been clobbered well enough to knock the wind out of me...oooh, faith an' begorrah, I do believe that I will be bruised badly by morning."

She moved to get her feet under her, when Jack said, "No, no... not so fast... gradually... remember, I've had a lot o' practice at this, love... people love t' knock the bejesus outta me all o' th' time... William used an oar on me one time... "

He got to his knees, and made her lean back against him for a few moments longer before he finally got up... he stood in his usual swaying fashion, and in a matter of moments, Janie was also upon her own feet. She closed her eyes, took a large breath, put a hand to her badly bruised ribs and declared, "I'm fit to ride...", but not before the captain carefully picked another leaf out of her hair.

William had the horse by her reins, and said, "Our little mare is the only horse that we have, it seems... mine has also run off, so all three of us will have to ride together." He patted the black mare's side and said, "It's a good thing that this fine girl has a good strong back, although... " he glanced at Jack, and smiled, "... Jack is so scrawny that she will barely notice him riding in the back."

Jack rolled his eyes, his lower lip protruding in a pout at William's constant joking about his thin frame,"... for the last time, whelp, I know that I am not the most broad an' brawny o' blokes, but I hold me own... I didn't need brawn t' fight Davy Jones on th' highest yardarm o' th' Dutchman, now, did I?" He drew himself up to his full height - which was still shorter than William and barely taller than Janie - and stated, "It takes stamina an' strength... an' I have those by th' boatfull..."

William ignored him, much to Jack's chagrin, and said to Janie, as the moonlight began to fail, "Do you think that you can ride in between Jack and I, Janie? You can lean against my back if you need to, and Jack will hold on to my belt from behind you and keep you from falling..."

"I will be fine, young William, just help me onto the horse! There is no Irish man or woman that ever failed to properly sit a horse, I'll be bound..."

Jack stared at her for a moment... he was Irish, yet his ride into the fray upon this evening had been by necessity... but then, so was finding a way back to the camp, even if he was to sit back upon a bouncing horse's arse... except for having his arms around his lovely Janie, he was not looking forward to this, he grimaced, and wondered while he was keeping his Janie from falling off, what would keep him from falling off...

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The trio spurred the mare into the night, and Jack was trying to hang on to William's belt, holding Janie securely. William had Jack's compass in his hand, as Jack apologetically handed it over... much to Janie's delight, the needle only pointed at her, and Jack shrugged as William rolled his eyes... "Sorry, William... I can't help it. I almost lost my lassie back there... can ye blame me? Ah, if I thought that rum was wot I desired th' most... let me try that, perhaps I can fool th' bloody thing..."

But they all knew better, as Jack rested his chin upon Janie's shoulder, and she looked at him out of the corner of her eye. She smiled. He looked rather like a dreadlocked jack o' lantern, with his big round eyes glowing in the half light.

"We traveled at a walk for over two hours... if we picked up the pace, we could make better time and get back to the camp... " and without any more warning than that, William nudged the horse into a trot... and Jack began to bounce terribly! Janie began to laugh, as Jack resisted yelling in her ear at his cousin... and he started to grunt in pain in rhythm to the horse's gait.

The wind was beginning to blow through the forest, and the moon and stars were no longer visible. Janie was watching all around them, as she and Elizabeth had done during the hunt for Allan and Betsy, and William kept studying the compass and urging the horse to trot faster... poor Jack merely hung on with his legs as best as he could, his hands hooked firmly into William's belt, and feeling as if his spine would pop through the top of his skull with each trot.

They went on this way for over an hour, as the wind blew into their faces... a strangely warm wind, steady and true, no matter which adjustment they made to their course... finally pulling the mare to a halt - much to Jack's sore relief - William studied the compass, and then at the obstacle ahead of them.

Turning to his companions, he said, "I don't remember this mountainside, Jack. The compass is pointing straight ahead, but it's impassable... " ...there was a sheer wall of moss covered stone in front of them...

"Th' camp must be on th' other side... " the captain was also staring at the compass, and then at the steep hillside in front of them, frowning.

"We did come around this way," Janie said, glad that they had stopped for a moment... her ribs were hurting terribly... " But I don't remember which way to go..."

It was then that Jack's head suddenly snapped up... his eyes closed, and he took a sharp breath. William turned his face into the wind, also... his own eyes searching, and his ears not quite attuned to a sound... Jack was completely enthralled, turning his head from one side to the other, his mouth open slightly, and one hand letting go of William's belt and being held straight up and with his fingers moving slightly, as if they, too, were trying to hear...

Janie stared at them both, not knowing what was happening... she tried to turn herself upon the horse's blanketed back to look at Jack in concern, but a pain shooting through her side made her gasp a little and turn her attention in front of her to William, whose eyes were now also closed... the warm wind was blowing constantly in their faces, still, and William's long curly hair was blowing back over his shoulders, intermingling with the tails of his blue bandanna...

Just as suddenly, the two cousins opened their eyes and smiled at each other... William nodded to Jack, as the captain grinned and said, "Turn our little black ship three points starboard, First Mate Turner! Take her through the 'channel' in th' the thicket of oak trees, then turn her hard t' port..."

With a quick wink, William said, "Aye, Captain!" and spurred the black mare forward, as Jack leaned forward against Janie, and laid his dark cheek against hers. She turned her head slightly and said, "What was that, Jack?"

He took in a deep breath, and said, "Not now, love... we are bein' guided home by a loving Irish wind... she's bringin' us back t' safety..." and resting his cheek against hers, he fell into silence with his eyes closed, not even feeling the bouncing horse beneath him...

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It was now almost midnight, and Elizabeth was worriedly drinking another steaming hot cup of tea in front of Padraig's and Molly's caravan... it was amazingly comfortable by the roaring campfire, and she gratefully had Molly's bright purple shawl wrapped around her. Padraig had now returned with the rest of the search party, and they were also growing concerned, as two of their horses had been found without riders, and brought back to camp... Elizabeth tried not to think that the horses had been ridden by Will and Janie... she tried to converse with the others to occupy her worried mind, when a low whistle came from the darkness... utter silence fell over the camp, and Padraig bellowed, "Who goes there?"

Elizabeth nearly jumped out of her boots as a familiar, slurred, husky voice bellowed back, "Ahoy, mates, it's Captain Jack Sparrow an' wot's left o' his search party, savvy?"

A mighty cheer erupted as the little black mare proudly trotted into the camp, her head tossing and her mane and tail blowing in the night air, now turned chilled with the mist off of the cove beyond the trees... Elizabeth's face burst into a smile, and she ran to her husband's arms as he slid easily off of the horse. "WILL!" She recieved a kiss, as he said, "We knew you could do it, my love! The children?"

"We are all safe!" Elizabeth kissed Will, again, as she turned her face to Janie and Jack... her face clouded and she cried out, "Janie! You're hurt!" Janie was laying back against Jack, her face somewhat pale, but her face smiling... "I'm alright, darlin'... almost got killed back there, but I'm told that your young man did in me erstwhile killer with a well thrown sword!"

William was now carefully helping Janie down from the horse, as Jack's face was a study of concern... the cheering was still ringing in their ears, as Elizabeth placed Molly's shawl around Janie's shoulders and guided her slowly toward Molly, who was shaking her head and shooing both women into hers and Padraig's caravan. "To hell with tea! Hot toddies for everyone... ye need warmin' up!"

William was looking up at Jack, who was still imperiously sitting upon the rear end of the little black mare as if he was unsure of what to do, and the horse was expectantly standing still as if she were waiting for the captain to slide off... which he did... literally. As he swung a skinny leg over and pointed his toes down to slowly and gingerly to attempt to find land again, his rubbery knees finally failed him, and he would have fallen down flat, if William had not quickly put his arm around Jack to keep him from ending up as a rattled, beaded heap upon the ground...

"Ooooh, William," Jack groaned, as he grinned with gritted teeth and false confidence at the Kerrigan clan, who were slapping both of them on the back... "Ooooh, give me a gale an' me Pearl any day! I don't have land legs, an' I sure as hell don't have horsey legs!"

William grunted in pain, and admitted so that only Jack could hear, "... I'm not doing so well, myself... ow... let's try to look heroic, here, Jack..."

And as they shook hands and laughed all around with the celebrating gypsies, William and Jack kept each other upon their feet until they could climb clumsily into the caravan, laughing at their wobbly walk all of the way... they would stay for a while to talk and make sure that everyone was alright, then go back to the welcoming stone walls and warm hearth of the inn, for a well deserved rest... it seemed that they could fight for an inordinate amount of time and with a seemingly endless amount of strength upon wildy rocking ships, but riding horses was not a strong area for either of them... Jack was secretly glad that he did not get thrown...

They only paused for a moment, as they stared out into the deep, dark forest... the wind was tossing the tops of the trees above them, but it was a benevolent wind... a loving wind that had found a way, somehow, on this one night, to guide them back to safety...

Jack swallowed hard, and smiled a little... he felt better, knowing that William had heard her beautiful gypsy voice, and her Irish harp... Jack had only heard her a handful of times and was never certain if it was some of his fleeting madness... and William's eyes grew soft, as he knew that he was very privileged upon this night... looking at each other, the two cousins said nothing... they both needed a drink, as they knew that they might never hear from her, again...

To be continued... more of Janie's storytelling to follow! Pirate Cat

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