Jack Sparrow sauntered up to the large building before him in the drunken
sober manner in which he lived, day after day. He had just gotten back from
one of Norrington's "little projects" that had ended up taking him a couple
months to complete. How he loathed that man. Jack had long since made an
agreement with Commodore Norrington to do odd jobs for the Crown that were
somewhat illegal and Norrington would overlook any pirating, nothing too
serious, that Jack, and those who sailed under his colors, did. It was a
good deal, but Jack did miss those midnight raids on random towns.
As soon as he took one step on the Turner/Swann estate, Jack knew something was amiss. He continued, with caution, his walk up to the front door. He knocked once and the door instantly swung open. Clutching the doorknob inside the mansion, was Mrs. Turner, and she was a mess.
That was putting it mildly.
Her hair, which was usually neatly piled on top of her head, hung loose in a tangled mess of brown and gold. Her dress was fancy enough, but was wrinkled beyond all belief. Her face was without makeup and she had been obviously crying.
"What's wrong, luv?" Jack asked silently analyzing the situation.
"She's gone, Jack!" Elizabeth sobbed.
"Who's gone?"
"Katrina." Will Turner, Elizabeth's husband, answered as he grabbed his wife by the shoulders, trying to calm her down. "The royal navy has been searching for her for weeks with no luck. We've tried to contact you, but that obviously hasn't worked."
"When was she taken?" Jack asked, suddenly alarmed.
"Maybe it's best you come inside, old friend."
Jack knew that tone. It would be valuable news to know that Will and Elizabeth's only child was out on the open seas. If she wasn't already in the wrong hands, it could be a very powerful tool. You never know who could be listening.
Elizabeth walked ahead of the two men into the front room just right of the entry hall. She sat in a chair while Will and Jack sat on the sofa facing Elizabeth.
"It was about a week ago." Will started darkly, his eyes appearing to be hollow. "We were out by the docks helping repair ships," Will's face brightened for only a moment. Jack knew how much of Will's passion for his trade had passed down to Katrina. "A man asked if Katrina and my apprentice, Joe, could come aboard his ship and help him with his mast. I shouldn't have let them go, but I did and it wasn't until Joe, who was drenched from head to toe, told me the ship had gone."
Elizabeth looked down pretending to be interested in the carpet so that neither men saw her tears.
"We have no clue who that man is, who he works for, or what he wants." Will ended.
"Then I shouldn't be here." Jack said getting up, "When I come back, lil' Kitty will come back with me."
Elizabeth stood up and hugged her friend with all the might she possessed.
"You're gettin' too skinny, luv, but I do like what you've done with your hair." Jack murmured in her ear.
She pulled away with a small, sad smile on her face. She bid him farewell and a safe journey.
"I'm sorry about dropping this on you. You've only just arrived." Will apologized as he ushered Jack to the front door.
"No worries, mate. You know I would do anything to protect you and your family. I'll bring Kitty home. I'm just worried about 'Liz, back there."
"She's been like this ever since we found out. Barely eaten, hasn't been out of the house, she rarely leaves our room."
"I'll bring her back, Will." Jack said placing a hand on Will's shoulder, "You can count on that."
*~*~*
Katrina heard the sounds of battle on the decks above her. She struggled against the chains that bound her hands above her head and the ones that shackled her feet to the wall behind her. She strained to hear what was going on above her, but from what she could tell, the other side was winning.
The door to her prison suddenly burst open and the ship's captain, Lictor, burst in; blood splattered on his shirt with a bloody dagger in hand. He snarled and laughed as a mad man would and stepped towards her.
"Don' worry swee'hear'. Papa isn' goin' t' hurt you."
She thrashed harder against her chains trying to break free, only to have Lictor laugh harder at her.
"I'm goin' t' enjoy th's." he growled.
Suddenly, the sound of a gunshot made the captain fall, face first, to the ground, the knife still clutched in his hand. Katrina just barely caught a glimpse at the bullet hole in the back of his head.
The man holding the smoking gun walked around the reeking dead man and up to Katrina. The man, who only looked to be a couple years older, was a hand's length taller than her and had pitch black, shoulder length hair; his eyes as dark as sin. His skin was the color of tea mixed with cream although it had been clearly been darkened by the sun. His white cotton shirt and black pants and seen better days, but his knee high, leather boots and his red commander's coat seem new, with the exception of the fresh blood stains. He obviously hadn't expected to see her.
"Well, aren't you a surprise?" His voice seemed to be almost musical. There was nothing fearsome about him at all.
She met his gaze still aware of where his gun was. He chuckled to himself as he continued to walk up to her.
"Is the ship sinking?" She asked, summoning up the last bit of her strength.
"Not yet." He stated matter-of-factly.
"Am I to go with it?"
"We'll see."
Before Katrina could blink, the man leaned in and pounded his lips against hers. He quickly pulled away from her and gave her a devilish wink.
"Just incase we don't make it out alive."
She glared daggers at him, which made his smile bigger.
He leaned in a kissed her again.
"Better safe than sorry."
He put his gun away and unsheathed his sward. He cut her chains lose in two swift blows and grabbed her arm, pulling her with him. She nearly fell no having any support, but he kept her steady.
"Time to go." He grunted.
He pulled her up to the main deck where the bright light of the sun blinded her. Her vision adjusted and she almost wished it hadn't . Dead men were on the wooden deck wasting away in their own pools of blood. The man, still holding onto her, hacked down the few remaining pirates who tried to grab at them. The battle was as good as over.
They reached the side of the ship and the man helped her step up on the ship's railing.
"Hold onto me real tight, luv." He instructed and Katrina reluctantly obeyed without protest.
He grabbed onto a rope and swung them both over to his own ship. Katrina noted that other men, pirates, were doing the same as well, only instead of another person they carried items over with them. As soon as her feet touched ground she let go and backed away from her "savior".
"Looks like we made it. All we have to do now is wait for the rest of my crew to...."
Katrina interrupted him by slapping her hand across his face.
"That was for kissing me!" She slapped him again, "Twice!"
The man rubbed the spot where her hand made contact with his face, and without skipping a beat he said, "You're brave, girl, I'll give you that much. But now that we are on my ship and under my rules, you'd be best to keep your flapping mouth under control and keep your 'pretty little hands' to yourself."
"I could say the same for you."
The men who had taken interest in their little argument let out roar of laughter. They knew how their captain got with women.
"Now hear this...." Before the man got the chance to finish his sentence, a woman stepped in.
She had waist long black hair and deep brown eyes. She held a strong resemblance to the man who was yelling at Katrina and the woman was wearing brown trousers and a loose white shirt.
"I've heard enough!" She snapped at the man, "You leave her alone. Can't you see the state that this poor girl is in? You leave her to me and I don't want to hear a single peep out of you!" The woman turned to Katrina and, in a nice tone, said "Come with me, lass."
Giving one last glare at the man, Katrina cautiously fallowed the woman. The woman led her into a rather large room for a ship and sat Katrina down on a very simple, but very soft bed.
"Here." The woman said handing her a bowl of water and a rag. The woman took another rag herself and they both got to work on trying to wash away the dirt and blood stains on Katrina's skin.
The woman was the first to start a conversation.
"I'm Elle. That man back there was my brother. We call him Captain."
"Doesn't he have a name?"
"He does, but that's for me to know and you to find out. What's your name, lass?"
"Sarah." Katrina lied.
"Pretty name. How'd you come to be on that ship?"
"I was helping repair ships on the docks with my father and a man asked me to help him with his ship and the others jumped me and locked me up in the lower levels of the ship."
"How awful."
They sat in silence for a moment and Elle gave Katrina a hairbrush.
"What do you plan to do you plan to do with me?" Katrina asked. The woman was a complete stranger, but she seemed nice enough.
"Where do you live, luv?"
"Port Royal."
"Then we're going to Port Royal."
"You're taking me home?"
"Why wouldn't we? I'll go tell Captain. Here's one of my old dresses you can change into while I'm gone. I'll bring a pallet in here for you to sleep on." Seeing the astonished look on Katrina's face, Elle added, "Don't worry, Sarah. The worst of it is over. You're safe with us."
*~*~*
Katrina woke up in the middle of the night and tried to hurry, as noiselessly as possible, out of the room and onto the main deck. She ran to railing and all the events of the day came up as she heaved it out into the ocean.
"I was wondering when you'd loose it. You're a tough one."
"Captain" handed her his handkerchief and she whipped her mouth clean with it.
"I suppose you don't want this back, then?" she asked half joking, half serious.
The man laughed and looked her over.
She was shorter that him, but still pretty tall. In the moonlight, her layered, brownish gold hair seemed to be a bit darker than it had seemed before. It also was brushed and pulled back into a sloppy ponytail. He recognized the dress that she was wearing, but the loose, light brown dress looked better on her than it did on Elle. He wondered what had happened to the red dress she had been wearing before.
Hazel eyes met brown as Katrina tilted her head, waiting for a reply.
"The handkerchief?" she asked in an almost too patent tone.
"Consider it a gift."
She made a face and neatly folded it on the rail.
"I've seen battles before, but not for a long time."
"It's not pretty work, but it had to be done. Elle told me what happened."
Katrina broke away from his gaze and looked out into the ocean.
"I shouldn't have gone on board without my father. It was very stupid of me."
"It could have happened to any one." Sensing that the conversation was over, he asked, "So you're from Port Royal?"
"Yes. Elle said that you'd take me back."
"Ay, she did. Where in Port Royal? You said your father was a handyman."
"Yes, and I am a maid." She lied. "Captain" seemed alright, but her father taught her to be careful.
"A maid? For who? The Norringtons?"
"Oh heavens no!"
They both laughed at that.
"How do you know the Norringtons?" Katrina asked, intrigued.
"Business." He said shortly, " But if not the Norringtons, who do you work for?"
"The Turners."
Something in the captain's expression changed.
"The Turners?"
"Yes."
Before he could ask anything else someone yelled, "Oy, Capt'n! Look starboard. There's a crown ship!"
"Captain" and Katrina both rushed over to the other side of the ship to look.
"Why would they be way out here?" the captain asked to himself. He ordered the men who were awake for night duty to raise the flag.
Katrina watched as the familiar looking flag rose up to the sky.
"You sail under Jack Sparrow's colors?" She asked, surprised.
"Sharp as a steel blade, you are."
Katrina glared at him. He tried again.
"Ay, we do. We're raising the flag so they don't shoot us down."
They both stood silently for a while, looking at the ship.
"You really should go back to bed. You need to regain your strength and if you can help build a ship, than you could certainly help run it. We could you if you're as handy as you claim to be."
Katrina nodded and headed back to Elle's room at a slow pace. There was something odd about the captain; Elle too, now that she thought of it. She couldn't quite put her finger on it. She slipped into her pallet trying not to think about it. She was going home, and that was all that mattered.
A/N: Wow, this was a pretty long chapter, for me anyway. This is my first "Pirates" fic, and I hope you enjoyed the first chapter. I'll try to update soon. Thanks for reading.
As soon as he took one step on the Turner/Swann estate, Jack knew something was amiss. He continued, with caution, his walk up to the front door. He knocked once and the door instantly swung open. Clutching the doorknob inside the mansion, was Mrs. Turner, and she was a mess.
That was putting it mildly.
Her hair, which was usually neatly piled on top of her head, hung loose in a tangled mess of brown and gold. Her dress was fancy enough, but was wrinkled beyond all belief. Her face was without makeup and she had been obviously crying.
"What's wrong, luv?" Jack asked silently analyzing the situation.
"She's gone, Jack!" Elizabeth sobbed.
"Who's gone?"
"Katrina." Will Turner, Elizabeth's husband, answered as he grabbed his wife by the shoulders, trying to calm her down. "The royal navy has been searching for her for weeks with no luck. We've tried to contact you, but that obviously hasn't worked."
"When was she taken?" Jack asked, suddenly alarmed.
"Maybe it's best you come inside, old friend."
Jack knew that tone. It would be valuable news to know that Will and Elizabeth's only child was out on the open seas. If she wasn't already in the wrong hands, it could be a very powerful tool. You never know who could be listening.
Elizabeth walked ahead of the two men into the front room just right of the entry hall. She sat in a chair while Will and Jack sat on the sofa facing Elizabeth.
"It was about a week ago." Will started darkly, his eyes appearing to be hollow. "We were out by the docks helping repair ships," Will's face brightened for only a moment. Jack knew how much of Will's passion for his trade had passed down to Katrina. "A man asked if Katrina and my apprentice, Joe, could come aboard his ship and help him with his mast. I shouldn't have let them go, but I did and it wasn't until Joe, who was drenched from head to toe, told me the ship had gone."
Elizabeth looked down pretending to be interested in the carpet so that neither men saw her tears.
"We have no clue who that man is, who he works for, or what he wants." Will ended.
"Then I shouldn't be here." Jack said getting up, "When I come back, lil' Kitty will come back with me."
Elizabeth stood up and hugged her friend with all the might she possessed.
"You're gettin' too skinny, luv, but I do like what you've done with your hair." Jack murmured in her ear.
She pulled away with a small, sad smile on her face. She bid him farewell and a safe journey.
"I'm sorry about dropping this on you. You've only just arrived." Will apologized as he ushered Jack to the front door.
"No worries, mate. You know I would do anything to protect you and your family. I'll bring Kitty home. I'm just worried about 'Liz, back there."
"She's been like this ever since we found out. Barely eaten, hasn't been out of the house, she rarely leaves our room."
"I'll bring her back, Will." Jack said placing a hand on Will's shoulder, "You can count on that."
*~*~*
Katrina heard the sounds of battle on the decks above her. She struggled against the chains that bound her hands above her head and the ones that shackled her feet to the wall behind her. She strained to hear what was going on above her, but from what she could tell, the other side was winning.
The door to her prison suddenly burst open and the ship's captain, Lictor, burst in; blood splattered on his shirt with a bloody dagger in hand. He snarled and laughed as a mad man would and stepped towards her.
"Don' worry swee'hear'. Papa isn' goin' t' hurt you."
She thrashed harder against her chains trying to break free, only to have Lictor laugh harder at her.
"I'm goin' t' enjoy th's." he growled.
Suddenly, the sound of a gunshot made the captain fall, face first, to the ground, the knife still clutched in his hand. Katrina just barely caught a glimpse at the bullet hole in the back of his head.
The man holding the smoking gun walked around the reeking dead man and up to Katrina. The man, who only looked to be a couple years older, was a hand's length taller than her and had pitch black, shoulder length hair; his eyes as dark as sin. His skin was the color of tea mixed with cream although it had been clearly been darkened by the sun. His white cotton shirt and black pants and seen better days, but his knee high, leather boots and his red commander's coat seem new, with the exception of the fresh blood stains. He obviously hadn't expected to see her.
"Well, aren't you a surprise?" His voice seemed to be almost musical. There was nothing fearsome about him at all.
She met his gaze still aware of where his gun was. He chuckled to himself as he continued to walk up to her.
"Is the ship sinking?" She asked, summoning up the last bit of her strength.
"Not yet." He stated matter-of-factly.
"Am I to go with it?"
"We'll see."
Before Katrina could blink, the man leaned in and pounded his lips against hers. He quickly pulled away from her and gave her a devilish wink.
"Just incase we don't make it out alive."
She glared daggers at him, which made his smile bigger.
He leaned in a kissed her again.
"Better safe than sorry."
He put his gun away and unsheathed his sward. He cut her chains lose in two swift blows and grabbed her arm, pulling her with him. She nearly fell no having any support, but he kept her steady.
"Time to go." He grunted.
He pulled her up to the main deck where the bright light of the sun blinded her. Her vision adjusted and she almost wished it hadn't . Dead men were on the wooden deck wasting away in their own pools of blood. The man, still holding onto her, hacked down the few remaining pirates who tried to grab at them. The battle was as good as over.
They reached the side of the ship and the man helped her step up on the ship's railing.
"Hold onto me real tight, luv." He instructed and Katrina reluctantly obeyed without protest.
He grabbed onto a rope and swung them both over to his own ship. Katrina noted that other men, pirates, were doing the same as well, only instead of another person they carried items over with them. As soon as her feet touched ground she let go and backed away from her "savior".
"Looks like we made it. All we have to do now is wait for the rest of my crew to...."
Katrina interrupted him by slapping her hand across his face.
"That was for kissing me!" She slapped him again, "Twice!"
The man rubbed the spot where her hand made contact with his face, and without skipping a beat he said, "You're brave, girl, I'll give you that much. But now that we are on my ship and under my rules, you'd be best to keep your flapping mouth under control and keep your 'pretty little hands' to yourself."
"I could say the same for you."
The men who had taken interest in their little argument let out roar of laughter. They knew how their captain got with women.
"Now hear this...." Before the man got the chance to finish his sentence, a woman stepped in.
She had waist long black hair and deep brown eyes. She held a strong resemblance to the man who was yelling at Katrina and the woman was wearing brown trousers and a loose white shirt.
"I've heard enough!" She snapped at the man, "You leave her alone. Can't you see the state that this poor girl is in? You leave her to me and I don't want to hear a single peep out of you!" The woman turned to Katrina and, in a nice tone, said "Come with me, lass."
Giving one last glare at the man, Katrina cautiously fallowed the woman. The woman led her into a rather large room for a ship and sat Katrina down on a very simple, but very soft bed.
"Here." The woman said handing her a bowl of water and a rag. The woman took another rag herself and they both got to work on trying to wash away the dirt and blood stains on Katrina's skin.
The woman was the first to start a conversation.
"I'm Elle. That man back there was my brother. We call him Captain."
"Doesn't he have a name?"
"He does, but that's for me to know and you to find out. What's your name, lass?"
"Sarah." Katrina lied.
"Pretty name. How'd you come to be on that ship?"
"I was helping repair ships on the docks with my father and a man asked me to help him with his ship and the others jumped me and locked me up in the lower levels of the ship."
"How awful."
They sat in silence for a moment and Elle gave Katrina a hairbrush.
"What do you plan to do you plan to do with me?" Katrina asked. The woman was a complete stranger, but she seemed nice enough.
"Where do you live, luv?"
"Port Royal."
"Then we're going to Port Royal."
"You're taking me home?"
"Why wouldn't we? I'll go tell Captain. Here's one of my old dresses you can change into while I'm gone. I'll bring a pallet in here for you to sleep on." Seeing the astonished look on Katrina's face, Elle added, "Don't worry, Sarah. The worst of it is over. You're safe with us."
*~*~*
Katrina woke up in the middle of the night and tried to hurry, as noiselessly as possible, out of the room and onto the main deck. She ran to railing and all the events of the day came up as she heaved it out into the ocean.
"I was wondering when you'd loose it. You're a tough one."
"Captain" handed her his handkerchief and she whipped her mouth clean with it.
"I suppose you don't want this back, then?" she asked half joking, half serious.
The man laughed and looked her over.
She was shorter that him, but still pretty tall. In the moonlight, her layered, brownish gold hair seemed to be a bit darker than it had seemed before. It also was brushed and pulled back into a sloppy ponytail. He recognized the dress that she was wearing, but the loose, light brown dress looked better on her than it did on Elle. He wondered what had happened to the red dress she had been wearing before.
Hazel eyes met brown as Katrina tilted her head, waiting for a reply.
"The handkerchief?" she asked in an almost too patent tone.
"Consider it a gift."
She made a face and neatly folded it on the rail.
"I've seen battles before, but not for a long time."
"It's not pretty work, but it had to be done. Elle told me what happened."
Katrina broke away from his gaze and looked out into the ocean.
"I shouldn't have gone on board without my father. It was very stupid of me."
"It could have happened to any one." Sensing that the conversation was over, he asked, "So you're from Port Royal?"
"Yes. Elle said that you'd take me back."
"Ay, she did. Where in Port Royal? You said your father was a handyman."
"Yes, and I am a maid." She lied. "Captain" seemed alright, but her father taught her to be careful.
"A maid? For who? The Norringtons?"
"Oh heavens no!"
They both laughed at that.
"How do you know the Norringtons?" Katrina asked, intrigued.
"Business." He said shortly, " But if not the Norringtons, who do you work for?"
"The Turners."
Something in the captain's expression changed.
"The Turners?"
"Yes."
Before he could ask anything else someone yelled, "Oy, Capt'n! Look starboard. There's a crown ship!"
"Captain" and Katrina both rushed over to the other side of the ship to look.
"Why would they be way out here?" the captain asked to himself. He ordered the men who were awake for night duty to raise the flag.
Katrina watched as the familiar looking flag rose up to the sky.
"You sail under Jack Sparrow's colors?" She asked, surprised.
"Sharp as a steel blade, you are."
Katrina glared at him. He tried again.
"Ay, we do. We're raising the flag so they don't shoot us down."
They both stood silently for a while, looking at the ship.
"You really should go back to bed. You need to regain your strength and if you can help build a ship, than you could certainly help run it. We could you if you're as handy as you claim to be."
Katrina nodded and headed back to Elle's room at a slow pace. There was something odd about the captain; Elle too, now that she thought of it. She couldn't quite put her finger on it. She slipped into her pallet trying not to think about it. She was going home, and that was all that mattered.
A/N: Wow, this was a pretty long chapter, for me anyway. This is my first "Pirates" fic, and I hope you enjoyed the first chapter. I'll try to update soon. Thanks for reading.