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Chapter Six
Mind's Eye
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"I need a sign and a good woman," muttered Daniel gruffly into the wind. He didn't glance back, but he knew that Serenity would just be standing there, her graceful figure and her wind-tossed hair framed against red clouds. Daniel remembered all too well the time when woman's sweet tears flowed as rain for him- a time long past. It was not a time to dwell on the past when the present is facing you like a solid wall of water.
A memory flashed into his mind- a recent memory, of the night when he had been drunk…last night. He'd kissed Serenity; he saw her shocked face in his mind's eye. He almost laughed at himself. He didn't really regret kissing her; he'd been waiting to do it since he had gotten to this blasted town.
The thing even worse than his present situation was the luck that had gotten him into this fix. Of all the sailors on his ship, he had to be the one to be captured. Well, not the only one. His companion, Leon, had been shot on the plank. Daniel had survived. He had a life in him that Leon had lacked. In the legendary tradition of marooning a pirate, he had been given a pistol with a single shot in it and thrown over the railing. Well, actually, he had jumped. The one piece of good luck that had come upon him in that night at sea was the piece of driftwood that he had found to cling to, and then the small fishing boat, bearing only two people, that had passed him that morning. He had climbed on board and bashed their heads in with the butt of his pistol, saving his one shot for the one he had to take his vengeance on.
Port Royale was the first town that he had come upon, and at first it seemed like the port for the Caribbean unit of the British Navy was only that. But then Daniel had spent a few days in the town and decided that his ship could wait.
He had a much more personal mission to complete first.
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Serenity waited on the dock until it became apparent that the hurricane was finally, actually upon them. She then hurried home in the tearing winds to find her family, the servants, and all the guests of the inn crowded into their small but comfortable parlor, including Daniel, who was standing in the farthest corner, immersed in shadows, his face periodically lit by the fiery end of his cigar. Serenity sat so that she wasn't facing him in the opposite corner of the room, next to a young mother and her sweet little boy. He was cowering in his mother's skirts, hiding his face from the boarded windows, which where being beaten with rain and the branches of the dogwood driven by the deadly wind. Serenity guessed that the few remaining scarlet flowers from her beloved tree had been stripped away, and were probably now floating down the road in a stream of water to the sea. She sat thinking about her blossoms floating across the ocean to some faraway place, like Egypt or entirely around the world to India. It seemed terribly romantic to Serenity; the most romantic thing that had ever happened to her was when she had once bid a lover goodbye on the beach at sunset, and he had walked down the beach until he was out of sight. She had cried for hours into her pillow that night because-
Daniel was watching her. She could see the candlelight flickering in his eyes. Quickly she looked away, shifting uncomfortably on the soft couch. The air had grown stale fast, with so many people seeking comfort in togetherness in such a small room. Serenity stood and walked through the hallway into the kitchen, where a sliver of un-boarded window cast an eerie light into the room. She pressed her nose up against the glass and looked out onto the ghost world that was Port Royale.
The stars were blurred by the strange light brought by the hurricane, blurred together into the dark sky, still tinted a violent red. She closed her eyes against the otherworldly light for a moment to catch her breath. A slow, erotic tune played on panpipes came from the parlor. One of the guests had gotten out his instrument in a misled attempt to calm everyone down.
The ghostly melody wound its way around Serenity as she looked out the window, her fingernails digging into the pane. She sensed someone behind her, immediately suspecting that it was Daniel- who else would it be? Serenity whirled around, her eyes expecting to find Daniel's imposing frame towering over her. But instead, it was only the little boy- Kieran was his name. Serenity pasted a comforting smile on her face and knelt down to him. He was clutching a ratted teddy bear to his chest.
"Hello, Kieran,'' she whispered.
The boy stared at her for a moment. "Look," he said.
Without warning, there was a crashing sound behind her- the branches the other dogwood had cracked through the two inches of exposed window, showering glass all over Serenity and Kieran, who was screaming bloody murder. Not stopping to brush her dress off, she whirled back to face the boy. Even in the dim light she could see that he was covered in blood as the winds ripped through their kitchen. The panpipes faltered and stopped as the draft and the scream reached the parlor. Daniel was first to appear in the doorway, Kieran's mother second.
"Kieran!" she said.
"He got hit by the glass," said Serenity over his screams of terror.
"Is anyone here a doctor?" Kieran's mother asked, her voice cracking as she hurried over to her son, her fingers dancing just over his skin. The guests looked around, expecting a doctor to materialize in their parlor.
"We have to get him to a doctor," Serenity said.
"Not in this weather," someone protested.
Serenity looked around the other people in the inn. "This boy needs a doctor." She saw on their faces that they weren't going to help her. She paused to look at each face in turn to make sure she hadn't missed something, and then her resolve hardened. She scooped the boy up in her arms. "Then I'll bring him to the doctor," she said. The boy was whimpering terribly as she hurried out of the kitchen and into the foyer. Daniel blocked her path.
"You're not strong enough to brave the storm alone," he said.
"This boy needs help, Daniel! Get out of my way, or help me," Serenity said, the boy crying into her ears, the most awful sound she had ever heard. The mother was crying too, burying her face in someone's shoulder. Not waiting for an answer, Serenity opened the door to face a river of water in the street. It came to just above her ankle, and as she hurried into the street the hems of her skirts floated on the surface.
"Serenity!" she heard her mother calling her name, but the boy's terrified screams and the name being shouted from the door were drowned out by the terrific wind.
Doctor Hinton's house. Kieran. Kieran needs help. Kieran needs the doctor.
She was only able to make out the outlines of the houses, but she knew that Doctor Hinton's house was the third one down from the blacksmith's workshop, almost exactly across from the governor's house. She waded through the streets, counting houses, facing the wind. Only five more houses. Only three. Her skirts were soaking wet about halfway up, and rain trickled over the bare skin on her collarbone, freezing cold rain. Serenity tried not to think of how stupid she was being as she pushed farther into the storm.
They were in front of the blacksmith's shop now. The wind seemed to have picked up even more since she had first come out here, and strips of wood had started to come free from houses and branches were beginning to be ripped off trees. Oh, it was a mistake to come out here, Serenity! Don't you think before you do anything?! Only two more houses left before Doctor Hinton's house. Only tw-
A searing pain ripped through Serenity's head as a small but thick piece of airborne wood flew past her. Oh! She thought, stumbling into the water. No no no not now, I won't faint now, not with Kieran here depending on me… not Kieran… She fell to her knees into the water, Kieran's cries still lost. She could barely see as the water flooded into her eyes and she didn't have a hand to wipe it away. Her head pounded horribly and she was sure she was bleeding from some kind of horrific wound, and she was growing faint…
A figure suddenly appeared through the rain, coming towards them at a run, a pair of strong arms scooped her and Kieran up together. Serenity was still fighting to stay conscious as she looked up at the face of the man that had picked them up. Her head fell back to rest on a soft shoulder, which wasn't soaking wet yet as if he had just come out of the dryness, and before she passed out her eyes opened once.
It was enough to see Will Turner's sweet face looking down at her.
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I hope this chapter doesn't condemn her to Sue-ism forever! Oh well, I like this chapter, screw you Sue.
Review please!