Unfortunately, as time went on, Rose discovered that she was justified in her fear regarding the increasingly negative opinions of her by Barbossa. Even more upsetting was the revelation that Barbossa's disdain seemed to spread like wildfire through the rest of the crew. She quickly discovered that all the crew members were not as keen on Rose's presence as the man she had first encountered onboard the Pearl was. In fact, it seemed as though only Jack, Ben, and that man were on her side, and even Ben seemed more distant to her than ever, constantly running errands for the other men and giving Rose only an apologetic expression, as though he had no time for her. Rose knew this was not the case however, as she oftentimes could hear the Ben amongst a group of rowdy sailors on deck at night, gambling and drinking. Her invitation to him remained open, but he never seemed to wish to accept it.
Additionally, the men of the crew began accounting any mishap that happened onboard as a curse that had occurred only because there was a woman aboard. A rope on the mainsail broke one afternoon, recoiling and snapping straight into the right eye of one unfortunate fellow, causing him to lose the blasted thing. A day later, Rose saw the nervous man emerge from below deck being guided by Barbossa, a wooden eye filling his empty eye socket. Barbossa shot her a condemning glance, causing her to retreat back into Jack's quarters. She began to wonder if she really did carry a curse when the Pearl hit a large storm one evening.
Jack had told her to stay indoors, but Rose was tired of feeling like a nonentity. Perhaps if she could help the men onboard, she could prove herself worthy, and disprove the notion that she was a curse. However, Rose did not anticipate the chaos on deck. Large waves rocked the boat dramatically, and the rain was sending sailors slipping from one end of the deck to the other. Rose, in her desperation to prove herself, had temporarily forgotten her night blindness and was as a result unprepared for the large wave that hit the port side, carrying Rose with it and sending her toppling into the furious waves below.
Now, only two people had seen Rose fall; Barbossa thought that he was the only one to see her topple, grinning a yellow toothed grin and turning his back on the scene. But he was mistaken, for Ben also saw her fall and raised the alarm. Ropes were cast to save the the girl by Jack's orders as they scoured the wild waters below. But little did they know that Rose had already in that time braved the tossing waves, using her ears to find where the Pearl was floating, and had swam for her life. She was currently clinging to the rope ladder on the side of the ship. She slowly climbed up to the top, throwing herself over on to the deck, where Jack rushed to her aid and dragged her back to safety. Despite the fact that the girl had saved herself, the men only took the mishap as one more strike against her.
The next morning, after having been lectured by Jack for her foolishness for the entire night, Rose went out on deck to find Ben, simply in hopes of talking like they used to. If he wasn't going to approach her, she was going to approach him. Since he joined the crew, he was so busy that they barely ever saw each other. Well, they did see each other this time, although the means by which they did were less than positive.
Rose saw him conversing with a group of four other pirates, all easily over fifteen years his senior. As she approached, a short balding man cried out, "Ah look, gents. The Princess has emerged."
Rose's jaw hardened. "Kindly stop," she warned.
"Oh ho!" the man hooted. "She retaliates! Why don't ye go get yer brother to fight yer fights? He's done it fer ya this far!"
"I am perfectly capable of handling myself!"
Another man with a high-pitched voice piped up. "Aye! Perfectly capable of throwing herself off the ship, she is!" The five men began to laugh at this, including Ben. Rose was surprised that he wouldn't help defend her honor.
"Why don't ye get back to Tortuga where ya belong, landlubber?" another cried out.
Angrily, she spat, "I have just as much pirate blood in me as any of you!" Looking directly at Ben, she pointedly stated, "Some even more so!"
Ben's eyes shone with fury at Rose's direct shot at him, and plainly said, "Pirate indeed! Do you know what her idea of a fearsome pirate name is? Rose...Hexfury."
As the men roared in laughter at the ridiculous name, Rose's eyes gleamed in rage at Ben, but he was unrepentant. She had lost yet another ally in her fight to stay aboard the Pearl.
She turned away, ashamed and face red, fleeing their cruelty and rushing up the stairs toward the helm. Only one other man stood up on that platform, and he was busy steering the ship. Certainly he posed no threat her. She picked a part of the railing on the starboard side, looking out at the horizon where the sun was setting.
"Miss Sparrow?" the quiet voice belonging to the man steering the wheel said.
"It's Teague!" she snapped without hesitation. She instantly regretted her impatience. This man had no way of knowing that 'Sparrow' wasn't her name. "My apologies, sir," she said with genuine regret, turning to him. "Oh!" she exclaimed when she saw him. The man at the wheel was none other than the kind man she had first encountered onboard the Pearl.
"No need to apologize, Miss," the man said. "I saw what happened down there. It's enough to make anyone a bit irksome."
"Aye," she said, all of a sudden feeling very immature for letting such a small insult humiliate her so. "It was all in good fun, I'm sure."
"Didn't sound like it," he replied. "You seemed very upset. I can talk to them if you like."
"Oh no," Rose said. "There's no need. I don't mean to cause trouble."
"It's no trouble at all. They have to listen to me. I'm the Second Mate."
"You are?"
He extended a hand out to her. "William Turner is the name, but everyone calls me Bootstrap Bill. Bootstrap for short."
Rose took his hand and shook it. "Pleased to meet you, Bootstrap."
"My offer still stands," he said. "I could still talk with those men."
"That's alright, sir. Thank you." She turned away to bother him no more, but was stopped when a thought occurred to her. Ben was now fully on the side of his crew, and Jack only had made excuses for his men's prejudice towards her to avoid conflict. Perhaps she could get advice from this man, who seemed to have no malice toward her.
"Bootstrap?" she asked. "May I ask you something?"
"Of course, Miss."
"I'm not being a bother?"
"Not at all. What is on your mind?"
"You know the crew," she said. "I trust you to tell me how bad it is."
"I don't follow, miss."
"How much do they hate me?" she asked.
Bootstrap nodded in understanding. "Not hate. I think they fear you."
"But why?" she asked. "They have nothing to fear! I pose no threat!"
"No," replied Bootstrap. "I think that fear has been spread, and I have my own reasons for thinking that."
"Is it because I'm a woman?"
"Partly. But I wouldn't let that worry consume you."
Rose stepped closer to him, staring ahead at the sea the vessel had yet to travel. "This isn't what I expected," she murmured. "I knew that certain dangers laid ahead, but I expected to be of some use. Jack keeps me like some pet, the men find me a hindrance..." She shook her head. "I know I'm supposed to feel grateful, but I..." Her voice trailed off. There was nothing more to say. There is nothing more terrifying to the human spirit than when one's dreams fall short of one's expectations.
Bootstrap kindly replied, "Jack's doing the best he can, I'm sure. He wishes your well-being above anything else. I know a bit about this—I have a son your age. Perhaps slightly younger. There's a reason why he's with his mother and not with me."
"But there must be something I can do! I need purpose! The men see it, I see it..."
"You want purpose?" Bootstrap said, suddenly realizing a solution.
"Of course!"
"Be Jack's advisor."
Rose was confused. "But isn't that what you and Barbossa are for?"
"And he doesn't pay either of us any mind," he said. "Tell me, Rose. Where are we heading?"
She pondered this, but came up short. "Barbossa ordered to head East, last I heard."
"And still, I steer the ship East. Jack has little to no plan for us and the men grow restless. Jack values your opinion. Encourage him to send us off in some direction for some reason, hopefully with some sort of riches involved. It will keep the men happy and give you a sense of purpose."
"I can do that!" Rose said, her heart racing with excitement. "I can be a liaison between Jack and the crew!"
"Precisely! You'll do it then?"
"Right away!" she cried. She opened her mouth to thank Bootstrap, but was cut off by—
"Rose!" Jack cried below, calling to get her attention.
"Oh!" Rose said, waving to him. She turned back to Bootstrap to bid him farewell, but he only waved her off, as if to say, Go ahead! He needs you.
She rushed down the stairs, only to be met by the balding man Rose had encountered poking fun at her earlier, cackling wildly. "Oh no Cap'n! Her name's Rose Hexfury now, haven't ye heard?"
As he departed, Jack cocked his head to the side. "Hexfury?"
Rose clenched her jaw and closed her eyes. "Ben's idea of a joke," she said plainly.
Jack could see that his sister was upset, leading her to the port railing and leaning up against it with her. "Master McHenry has become a little too eager to please the other men, has he not?"
Rose sighed, "Yes," she said. "And I'm afraid I've lost him forever because of it."
Jack paused a moment, then said again, "Hexfury. You know, it's not half bad."
Rose snorted, "Oh come now."
"No I mean it! 'Rose Hexfury...' It's intimidating. I can rest easy knowing that no man will harm me sister, for they would dare not battle with the dreaded Rose Hexfury!"
She smiled, though her eyes were still troubled.
"Chin up, lass. I know it's hard amongst these knaves, but yer with me! And as long as you are, you're untouchable."
If only that promise were true, but not even Jack had a way of knowing just how much danger awaited the both of them.
