54 – Freedom – 650
The Black Pearl now settled in for a long stretch of blue water sailing as she made her way across the Atlantic. They met no other ships, and only the occasional bout of messy weather broke the relative placidity of these weeks, yet no one was unhappy with this state of affairs. After nearly eighteen months prowling the Caribbean, during which they had taken no less than two-dozen prizes, the Pearls were ready for some "time out of time", as Jack called it.
The routine of shipboard life was not as strict as it would have been aboard a naval vessel, yet there was a set rhythm to the days. The ebon decks were holystoned, swabbed, and flogged dry first thing each morning in the cool light of dawn, after which breakfast was served. Then all hands were mustered to hear the daily report of the ship's progress and, occasionally, to determine and witness punishments. The latter was hardly a regular occurance on the Pearl, but Nell was thankful that Jack forbade her to attend "in consideration of the men's sensibilities". Several hours of "make and mend" followed, a time to clean, sew, paint, sharpen, or otherwise improve everything from sails to clothing to one's person to the Pearl herself. Nell used this time to tidy Jack's cabin on most days, and he vowed he could readily grow accustomed to having things put in their proper order, though there were one or two times later in the voyage when he loudly refuted this, having searched high and low for some item Nell had stowed rather too well.
Nell helped Cook every day with dinner, served up in the early afternoon. Then there was time for rest before small arms and gunnery practice began. Jack let Bootstrap Bill take the lead in showing Nell the basics of swordplay and the use of knives, but Jack himself was the best shot on the Pearl. Nell didn't much like the noise engendered by firearms and cannon, but Jack insisted she must be broke of this and at least learn the care and use of a pistol. Her stubborn determination not to disappoint him, and his faith that she was a game one, each had their effect, and she was soon able to hit a target with a tolerable degree of accuracy.
She helped Cook at supper, too, and then was free to enjoy the evening. She learned several new card games, and how to "roll the bones" at Hazard, and if she was not quite a "sharp" by the end of the voyage, at least she was no longer a "flat". She absorbed the melodies and words of a great many songs and shanties and, under Jack's watchful eye, participated in some of the rollicking dances the men got up. But perhaps she was happiest when she retired early, safe in the Great Cabin with Giselle, with no need of dissembling and Jack's whole library of books at hand.
She loved every tome, but she was naturally drawn most to those illustrated books of the East in which sexual congress was viewed in a frank and flattering light. Extensive study and subsequent experimentation showed that making love was a skill like any other, and that frequent practice was essential to good health and full satisfaction.
Accordingly, when Jack retired for the evening, Nell would watch him bolt the door, dutifully "swing the hammock", strip in the glow of the lamp, and come to her, and she would welcome him eagerly. Mother, and even Father would have been horrified. That she was playing with fire she knew full well. But it was a time out of time, a dream from which they would soon wake, and it seemed criminal to deny either of them these golden nights of discovery, impossible to ignore the heat, the joy, the love that flashed between them like lightning.
TBC
