Disclaimer: Captain Jack Sparrow, the Black Pearl and her crew, none of them are mine. Much as I might like for the captain to be mine, he's not, and I'll return him to those who do own him in much the same shape I borrowed him in.
Author's Note: Isabella Raven, the Nevermore, her crew, and the other members of the Raven family are mine. So is the song 'Captain of the Nevermore' that Isabella sings, and the verses of poetry that begin each chapter. Oh, and please send reviews to my e-mail: captainisabellaraven@yahoo.com. Thanks!
~~~ ~~~
Captain of the Nevermore
Sailing across the sea
A pirate's life meant for me
A ship, a crew, sailing strong
Across the sea
I'd take a ship, I'd take a crew
I'd take me chances, Johnny bold
A crew from Tortuga
To sail the Caribbe'
I'll take on anyone,
The British or Spanish fleet
I'll take on the Pearl herself
And Captain Jack Sparrow too
No pirate ship, no merchant ship,
No navy ship I fear
For I've the finest ship that sailed
The broad blue Caribbe'
Aboard the black ship Nevermore
That sailed on every sea
The finest crew that ever sailed
Under the boldest captain be
And the captain of the Nevermore
Be the one to sing this song
Isabella Raven be me name
Captain of the Nevermore
Sailing across the sea
A pirate's life meant for me
The Nevermore sailing strong
Across the blue Caribbe'
~~~
The voice was hearty and distinctly feminine, carrying easily across the water to where the Black Pearl floated in the fog. Captain Jack Sparrow frowned, tilting his head, listening to the lyrics of the song. Who the bloody hell is this woman? Me Pearl is the finest ship that sails the Caribbean!
He sensed someone coming up behind him, and heard the voice of Gibbs speak up. "What're ye staring at, Cap'n?"
"Nothing. Just listening." Jack listened as the woman paused, then launched into the song again. She'd been singing that same bloody song since he first heard the voice coming from the fog. Once this fog lifted, he was going to find that ship, and that woman, and make sure she got exactly what one of the lines said she'd do. You're going to take on the Pearl and her captain, and see you haven't got the finest ship in the Caribbean.
His thoughts were cut off by Gibb's cry of alarm, and he cursed as a black shape loomed out of the fog, heading straight for the Pearl. Spinning the wheel, he continued his muttered cursing as he tried to steer the Pearl out of his way. So focused was he on saving his ship that he didn't notice the singing had been replaced by a similar set of curses, and the woman's voice yelling orders to her crew.
The ships passed close enough to scrape hulls, and Jack winced at the grating noise, promising that if anything happened to his Pearl, he'd strangle the other captain.
"If ye're goin' ter strangle me, Captain Jack Sparrow, ye'd need a bit o' luck." There was amusement lacing the woman's voice, and Jack looked across to the other ship, where a woman stood behind the wheel, a sardonic, mocking grin playing on her lips. She had thick black hair that wrapped in heavy braids around her skull, and black eyes the danced with amusement in her pale face. She was dressed in a pair of clinging breeches, and a loose white shirt topped with a black leather vest, and a heavy black coat was thrown across the rail of the deck.
Before he could respond, the ship passed him, disappearing into the fog. Jack cursed fluently and creatively, his volume rising to be heard through the fog, and all he got in return was ghostly laughter.
"Try an' find me once thae fog lifts, Captain Jack Sparrow. If ye find me, ye have more than a bit o' luck." There was more of the echoing laughter before it vanished, like the ship itself, into the fog.
~~~
Isabella Raven whistled as she steered her ship around the promontory, and into the deep harbor of the tiny island she called her home base. She looked up at the cloudy, stormy night sky briefly before calling out to her men to secure the ship, and let down the anchor. Not that the Nevermore would be going anywhere. Not without her ghostly captain on board.
Her cheery whistle died as that thought crossed her mind, causing her first mate, a sharp-eyed Scot, to look up at her.
"Captain?"
"Nothing, Conner. Just a sterm." She fixed her attention on her ship, locking the wheel before leaping down to help her men with the boats. Not just a storm, and he knows it. She could feel exactly where she had anchored in the storm that had taken her ship down, and the entire crew with it. He knows what I paid to keep my crew alive, what I paid to get them home to Tortuga. What were you thinking, Isabella, when you made that bargain with the devil?
"Aye. It's a nasty one, at that." Conner launched the boat that would take her, and handed her the rope that she slid down with practiced ease. He followed soon, taking the oars, ignoring her protests as he took them across the choppy waters to the fine white sands of the tropical paradise.
Not that it matters. Only in the dark am I real. Only then do I hunger, only then do I thirst, only then do I feel. Only then am I alive again. Isabella snorted, drawing another worried glance from her first mate. Alive. If you can call that living. Hmm. Better than what I heard befell the Black Pearl and her crew, at least.
"You're thinkin' again, Captain. What be the trouble fer ye tonight?"
"I made a deal wit' thae devil ter save thae lives and souls of me crew, Conner. What else would be me trouble?" Isabella scowled as she stared back at the black-hulled ship that floated serenely on the water. The glittering diamonds in the eyes of the raven that was the figurehead mocked her, her ship reminding her what she'd done to those who should have mattered more to her than her crew.
"Ye did what ye had to do to save yer crew, Captain. Tain't a person who'd blame ye." Conner followed her as she stalked into the lush jungle towards a small tomb.
"Tell that ter me brother, Conner. Tell that ter me nephew who ne'er drew breath. Tell that ter me own daughter, who died dancin' at thae end of a hangman's rope as I watched, unable ter do a damned bloody thin' in thae noonday sun." Isabella's voice was harsh. "What price did I pay ter give a crew who fergot me after we reached Tertuga again, and fergot thae ghost ship that thae Nevermore is now?"
Conner remained silent, letting Isabella rage. The tomb held the body of a young woman, barely seventeen when she'd been hung for piracy. The body of Isabella's only daughter, her only child. One of her blood that had paid the price for the lives of the crew of the Nevermore fourty years ago. Fourty years that Conner had spent aboard the Nevermore, first as a cabin boy, then as crew, and for the last fifteen years as first mate. Soon he'd have to pass the responsibility of keeping the captain's secrets to another.
"Captain, remember what we were talkin' about the last time we were here?" Conner watched his captain with concern. He hoped she'd let him leave.
"I know, Conner. Yer woman wants ye home. As do yer son and yer daughter. I'll leave ye in Port Royal ter her tender care. I'll pick another boy up somewhere, ter take care o' me. Not that he'll be doin' much o' that. I'm perfectly capable o' keepin' meself safe, as damn well ye know it."
Conner nodded. "I'll leave ye here, than. When we be sailin' again?"
"With thae next moonless night, Conner. Than we sail ter Port Royal, and I go ter Tertuga after that." Isabella turned to walk further into the jungle, and Conner sighed, heading back to the beach, and the huts hidden in the jungle much closer to the water. No one wanted to sleep this deep in the jungle with the ghost stories, except the captain.
What comes of her bein' a ghost herself. She tain't afraid of a ghost story.
