Yet again, usual disclaimers apply throughout this tale. If you recognise it, it probably belongs to the Mouse – else it is mine!

Chapter 71 – Interlude

Edmund Groves cautiously came out onto deck looking for his daughter. He climbed up to the wheel, but was disappointed to find neither Catherine nor Jack were there. The helmsman pointed up to the crow's nest where, squinting, he could just make them out talking animatedly.

Patiently he found a place to sit, waiting for them to come down as he knew he would never be able to climb the rigging with his bad leg. The crew were polite to him, having been threatened by Jack 's promise of consequences if they were not, but nobody spoke. He looked around him, noting the sleek lines of the ship and the well maintained cannons. She was a fast ship, well run too, from what he could see, and would probably only take about fifteen days to reach the Caribbean. He stood up when, eventually, his daughter climbed down, but Catherine patently ignored him and headed in the other direction towards the galley. Jack, however, looked him full in the eye, then walked past him as he went to take the helm, nodding but not speaking. Suddenly, Edmund Groves felt very much alone.

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It was not until an hour later that Catherine emerged from the galley, bringing a bowl of steaming food up to Jack as he stood at the helm.

Edmund had been unwilling to follow her into the galley and had waited on deck for his daughter to reappear, quietly watching the coastline of Ireland pass by. He walked towards her. "Catherine, I…" Edmund began, but she side-stepped him, continuing up the stairs towards her husband.

"Eat this while it's hot this time, eh?" she smiled, handing the bowl to Jack and kissing him on the cheek before turning back to her father who waited at the base of the stairs to the quarterdeck. "Dinner's served below Papa. Crew have already started, so you'll have to hurry," she said as she headed back down the stairs.

"Catherine…" She paused, looking at him guardedly. "I…"

"It doesn't matter Papa, you were probably right anyway. Come, it will be getting cold," she sighed.

He followed her below decks where the crew were eating. He was envious of the camaraderie of the men, remembering his own time on board ship, and felt very much the outsider here - even the highwayman Paul Fearnan was laughing and joking with some of the crewmen. Catherine handed him his food before taking a space at the opposite end of the bench where she spoke quietly with a large black pirate.

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Later that evening, after sitting a while watching the stars, Edmund knocked hesitantly on the doors of the main cabin.

"Come in, Papa - most people barge in after knocking anyway," Catherine called.

He entered, surprised to find his daughter and Jack carefully unrolling the painting that she had brought from his home. "Now we see if all this is worth it," Jack smiled as the outlines of a map were revealed.

"What?" Edmund walked across to the table. "I don't understand?"

"The map, Papa. The Frog was McBride's ship and this…" She weighted down one corner with a bottle of rum. "And this is where he left his treasure!"

"You came all this way for that?" he gasped. He had thought the painting nice when he had found it on a tour of duty in the Caribbean many years before, when he had served in the Navy. He had liked it for it showed a pirate getting his dues, but he had never seen the back of the canvas, never realised what it truly was.

"There's an awful lot of that, mate," Jack drawled. "An awful lot!"

Edmund snorted in disgust. "Pirate!" he sneered.

Jack merely shrugged. "Never claimed I was anythin' else, mate." He rummaged in a chest for a sheet of paper and some ink before starting to copy the map. Despite himself, Edmund found himself drawn to the map Jack was making, admiring the skill and the fluidity of his drawing." "But I wasn't always a pirate," he grinned.

After several moments silence, Edmund spoke. "Where am I to sleep tonight, Catherine?"

She looked at Jack. He nodded, without looking up, giving automatic approval to whatever she decided. "You can have the bunk Papa - I know you wouldn't manage a hammock with your leg and the sick bay bunks are too high for you..."

"But you…" he protested.

"Jack and I can sleep in the sick bay." She turned to Jack, squeezing his shoulder in appreciation of his calm understanding and acceptance. "I'll go find us some blankets…"

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When Jack left later that night to take his turn at the helm, Edmund sought out Catherine as she sat by the stern windows in the main cabin, reading one of Jack's many books. "Will you tell me what happened since you left with the children? He says you had it rough…"

"His name is Jack, Papa - you can say Jack, can't you?" she said bitterly, standing to face him.

"Catherine!" he chided.

"His name is Jack, Papa - Captain Jack Sparrow. Surely you can at least be civil when you are on his ship, sleeping in his bunk…" Catherine argued.

He looked at her sadly, unsure why she still defended the man. "Catherine - he is a pirate!"

"And my husband, Papa! I love him - why can you not understand?" she pleaded.

"Will you tell me what happened?" He paused, forcing himself to stay calm and look into her angry eyes. "Please?" She sat down at the large table that dominated the master cabin, sighing as she reached across it for a bottle of rum that Jack had left. Uncorking it she took a heavy swig, grimacing at the taste. "Catherine!" he gasped in shock.

"If you want to hear anything then I suggest you ignore what I'm drinking and sit down, Papa. I'd rather not remember things that are too upsetting to think about when I'm cold sober. I've spent long enough trying to forget," she said sadly.

Edmund Groves sat, wondering if he wanted to hear what had happened that was so bad she needed to drink just to speak of it, not sure if he approved of his daughter drinking. Soon he realised why though, his heart going out to his daughter. "Catherine, I had no idea…" Despite the man being a pirate, he knew he owed him an apology.

"Excuse me, Papa…" Catherine reached for her blankets, picking them up and trailing them outside. "But I need t'… t' be with Jack a while now…" She shut the doors behind her, leaving him with his thoughts. Climbing drunkenly up to the wheel she put her blankets next to Jack, handing him the half-empty bottle of rum before she snuggled down wedged against the binnacle.

"Did th' two of yer talk?" She might have nodded if she had not been already asleep. Jack looked at the level of rum left in the bottle, knowing how much she hated it. "Guess you did," he shrugged.

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The next day Edmund sought out Jack, eventually finding him in the hold, inspecting a recent repair to assure himself that it was holding well. "I understand a little now," he said. "Thank you for saving her life." Jack nodded. "But I still won't accept she married you…"

"S'all right mate," Jack shrugged. "Ceremony's still on when we hit port!" A mischievous glint sparked in his eyes. "You will be givin' her away, then - won't ya?"

Edmund's horrified expression confirmed that he had not even thought about that. "I…" he stuttered.

"Well, it's only proper like, you bein' her father an' all…" Jack grinned, delighting in Edmund's response.

Realising he had been trapped, Edmund nodded, grinding his teeth at the satisfied smile on Jack's face. Damn pirate!