۞

The following morning dawned cold and dreary... Jack was slightly fevered, and Janie had not left his side all night. The gray light came through the small window, as she had finally opened the curtain ever so slightly so that if he should regain consciousness he would see that he was not shackled, confined or imprisoned, anywhere... he was still free...Janie knew that this was of the utmost importance, without being told, since his mind would be hazy upon awakening...

She studied his dark face, as she bathed his cheeks and temples with a cool cloth... he was now nearly eighteen years old, and he was just now growing a decent beard and mustache.. he certainly looked like a sailor... she smiled ever so slightly, as she never had told him how much she enjoyed the tickling sensation of his mustache when they kissed...

He would never be rid of the angry red scar upon his jaw from the scurvy that had plagued him as a slave boy... and it was flared up in a nasty fashion, now. She smoothed his uncommonly thick, dark hair back from his face... it was getting so long that he was now wearing his mother's bright red bandanna to tame it. Her beautiful gypsy boy...

Janie pulled the blankets around his thin frame, as she sat upon the edge of the bed... his colour was a bit better, and even with a round in his chest, he was breathing evenly and seemed to be in less pain than the night before... she was mildly surprised when his eyes began to try to open...

Placing her cool hands upon his face, she leaned forward and whispered, "Jack? Jackie?"

"... Janie...?"

"Yes, darlin', it's me..."

Jack's eyes cracked open a little, and he was able to focus upon the freckled, lovely face of Janie O'Madden, so close to his that he almost felt like he could kiss her, if he'd had the strength. He tried to move his head a little upon the soft pillow, but she was holding his face in her hands, and smiling.

"... damn near got yourself killed stealing potatoes, ye scamp..." Janie softly leaned down, and placed her cheek against Jack's fevered one...

He inhaled as deeply of her auburn curls as his burning chest would allow... she smelled of cinnamon and cloves, fresh bread and fresh air... he exhaled... her curls moved about in his breath... if he had not known it was his Janie, he would have sworn she was a lovely Irish angel...

"It was worth being nearly killed stealing potatoes, if potatoes brought me to you..."

Janie giggled a little, as she said, "... well, Bill brought you to me, but we'll say it was potatoes..."

She was careful not to mention Teague... he was already gone, after making sure that Jack was warm and comfortable in Janie's loving care, and that he was in no danger. He had business to take care of, and would be back to talk to Janie and check up on his boy... but Jack would not know... Teague was keeping his distance... giving Jackie his freedom.

Janie stroked Jack's cheek, again, and he sighed with pleasure, moving his cheek slightly into her hand... she slowly raised his head and gave him a small sip of water from a cup that was upon the table next to the bed... gently, she smoothed a droplet of water from his lips, as those lips smiled ever so slightly...

She carefully climbed on top of the blankets, and laid down next to him, taking up the damp towel in her hand and bathing his face and neck with it... as her love closed his eyes to sleep, she moved her body up next to his, and pulled his head next to her shoulder. Laying a cheek upon his thick dark hair, she sang softly to him in Gaelic... he smiled again...

Weakly, he moved his hand out from under the blankets, and felt for her hand... they laid there for the rest of the morning, their bodies close, their fingers lovingly intertwined... even in his hazy, semi-conscious state, he was aware of his Janie in the mental twilight, and he knew that he would always associate the aromas of fresh bread and cinnamon with her...

۞

Jack recovered rather quickly from his wounds... within a week, he was up and about, with some help, and with Janie's loving care, he had fought off the infection that might have been fatal. He began to develop what might have been pneumonia, but with some good, hot, healthy food and rest, he very proudly resisted that, as well... a feat, in his own mind, since his captivity as a slave had forever weakened his Resistance to illness of all kinds... from the strange gleam in Jack's eyes, at times, Janie knew that the illness would not be confined to his body, alone... he was just like his mother in that way, she worried...

Knowing that Jack was in very capable and willing hands and would need some time to heal, Bill took out to England to see his Mary and their four year old son... Bill was always proud to come back with stories of little Will and that he was the spitting image of himself, except for Mary's soft, beautiful brown eyes... stories that always made Jack laugh at the wee one's antics, and a bit wistful that he had lost his own childhood so quickly... he had met the boy, himself, once, when the child was three, and was quite taken with the little Turner whelp's shyness... he knew that young Will would warm up to him, and Jack even had played 'sailor' with the child, teaching him to shout, "Avast!"...

As Janie helped Jack into the kitchen one afternoon to sit at the table while she prepared to knead the next morning's bread, she idly said, "Jack, I have been thinking... I might sell this house and move out into the county... I would like to open an inn, rather than a boardinghouse..."

Jack seemed not a bit surprised, as she settled him into a chair... "Out at th' cove?"

Janie stared at him... "How did you know?" She was quite frankly surprised that he was not surprised...

He grinned that wonderful lopsided grin of his that always melted her heart into a puddle... leaning forward, as he scratched the itchy healing wounds in his chest, he chuckled and said, "... ye said when we were little wee ones that ye wanted t' live in th' old house near th' waterfall, love... ye could hear it from Mama's cottage... an' we used t' hide in th' cave behind th' fall... is that property included in your father's tax sale, I wonder?" he said, slyly... "... an' who would put their name upon the sale, lass?"

"... I have an uncle who was estranged from my father..." Janie sat down in a chair next to Jack, and put her chin in her hand, blowing a curl out of her eyes and frowning slightly at him... she poured a glass of rum for him, as he had acquired quite a taste for it, and shook her head... Jack nodded and grinned wider, his two silver teeth shining impudently. He knew her much too well...and she suspected that he knew that she was not telling the entire truth, but he did not question...

Jack leaned forward and puckered up... "... an estranged uncle..." he mocked, as Janie also leaned forward and gave him a chaste little peck... he chuckled and said, "... an inn for me t' stay at whilst I'm in Ireland, love, directly off o' th' sea! Wif me own lassie as th' innkeeper..."

Pouting at him, Janie said, "I'm not your lassie...you're a scamp and a scalawag, and I don't know why I take care of ye like I do..."

Growing serious, Jack looked at her with those dark, lovely, chocolate coloured eyes, and said, softly, "... it's because we care about each other, Janie...someday I shall go to th' fishing village o' Claddagh, an' buy ye one o' Master Joyce's rings, for friendship, loyalty and love... don't think that I won't, if that's wot it takes to tell ye how much I care about ye... " those extraordinary eyes searched her own, as if they were looking into her very heart... which was beating quite quickly! A legendary ring from Claddagh... everyone in Connemara and County Galway knew how much one loved and was loved, when a ring from Claddagh was given...

Janie gently put her hand to his cheek, and said, "... you could never afford one of Master Joyce's rings... and you're right... I am your lassie... and always will be..."

۞

Janie had gone to the kitchen to answer a knock at the door, when William leaned forward and said, "So who is Master Joyce, mate?" Elizabeth watched Janie go, then also leaned forward as William had... "... and what is the meaning of the ring that you spoke of? Did you ever get one for Janie?"

Jack swiveled his head around to see if Janie was listening, and then turned around, wincing as he shifted himself upon his nest of pillows underneath him. Raising his hands for emphasis, the captain's eyes grew wide and he smiled as he quickly told the story...

"Well, mates, th' original Richard Joyce was an apprentice goldsmith from Galway, back in th' 1600s. He decided t' ply 'is trade an' become a master goldsmith outside o' Eire, so he hopped a ship t' th' West Indies." Jack's hands were waving in random circles, occasionally punctuating his story with a raised finger. His eyes sparkled, as he was enjoying imparting some of the local legend to his young cousins.

"As luck would have it... or maybe not luck, as it were... the ship was raided by Algerian corsairs, which, o' course, is just a fancy word for pirates... now, these pirates were a particularly nasty bunch, as they were not above sellin' others into slavery as long as it profited them..." Jack paused, a frown darkening his face... "I don't wish t' sully th' name o' good pirates everywhere, so we'll keep callin' 'em corsairs, savvy?"

Glancing back over his shoulder at Janie, who was still talking to someone at the door, Jack continued, as the Turners listened eagerly. "...Master Joyce was taken back to Algiers, an' because he was a goldsmith apprentice, he was purchased... oh, I hate sayin' that..." Jack paused in frustration, "... he was purchased by a kind Moorish master goldsmith. As it turns out, Master Joyce was trained under th' tutelage o' this Moorish bloke, an' Richard Joyce earned his mastership... or wot ever it's called... "

"... after a number o' years," Jack continued, " ... King William the bloody Third parlayed freedom for all o' his subjects who were under th' dark shackles o' slavery in foreign countries, an' because 'e had grown so fond o' Richard Joyce, the Moorish fellow offered 'is daughter an 'a handsome dowry if he would stay..." the captain turned and stared out into the kitchen and muttered, "Who the hell is at th' door?"

Elizabeth interrupted him, impatiently, "Jack! What happened to Master Joyce?"

"Oh!" Jack turned around and winced, again, as William chuckled at him. "...Well..." Jack's hands became active, again. "... Master Joyce came back to County Galway, an' opened a shop, which his grandson owns, now... I wonder if it would also be called a 'smiffy', like wot you worked at, William, since he was a goldsmith?" William shrugged.

"Alright, then, Master Joyce opened 'is shop, an' as it turns out..." Jack's eyes softened, and his hands stopped waving about for a moment... "... as it turns out, Master Joyce had a good reason t' return t' Ireland... ye see, he had a sweetheart that had stayed behind... an' she stayed true t' him..." the captain's husky voice became very quiet, as the story began to sink in with him...

"... his sweetheart stayed true to him here in Ireland... an' he designed a special ring for her... "

Just then, Jack cut off his story, and the Turners were disappointed, as Janie returned from the kitchen... looking at all of them, Janie smiled and said, "That was Alexander Kerrigan! If it stops raining, they are going hunting, as we have been invited to the gypsy camp for a feast in our honour!"

Everyone broke into huge grins, and Jack leaned back, and said, "I'll tell ye th' rest o' th' story later, mates..."

Janie did not sit down...she was thinking, as she put another chunk of peat upon the fire, and went into the bedroom off of the great room... returning with a parcel and an envelope sealed with sealing wax, she waited until the fire flamed up and warmed the room, and she said, "... now... back to the story of the Ó Madáin Inn... and Jack... you will find out just what the real story is..."

Jack's smile faded, as Janie slowly handed him the envelope... it had his name on it, in Captain Teague's straightforward handwriting... Jack's eyes met Janie's, and Janie's eyes fell to her folded hands in her lap...

To be continued...