CHAPTER 2
The colonial presence in Port Royal was unmistakable; there were naval officers at every corner as Bethany hurried along the streets home. She feigned indifference towards the occasional lewd comment aimed in her direction while silently thinking 'Great, great, great'. As her stately home came into view the first thing that struck her was that every window was alight with a candle, no doubt in aid of searching for her; Bethany bit down on her lip and braced herself for the imminent confrontation that awaited her beyond that great wooden door. She opened the door a fraction, slid through quietly and tiptoed towards the staircase, her hand rested on the banister when she heard the sound of someone clearing their throat in the parlour. A deep breath and then she turned around to address her Uncle with a tentative smile.
"Bethany Jane Redfern" he said gravely.
"Yes?"
"Would you be so kind as to recount your whereabouts this evening?" Bethany's aunt appeared behind him; her slight form smothered by his imposing presence in the room.
"I was walking"
He appraised her attire with a look of contempt "And the company you kept?"
He didn't mean. he couldn't possibly be suggesting that she was. Bethany's mouth dropped, she looked to her Aunt for some support; but there was none to be found. She turned to go upstairs to her room unwilling to respond to such a suggestion; it sickened her that he could think so lowly of her.
"Change out of those clothes" he said sharply to her receding figure.
"But it's."
"Change into some clothes that are respectable" he boomed so loud that her Aunt winced.
Bethany felt an irrepressible desire to snap back some retort but was suddenly being ushered upstairs by her Aunt, whose eyes pleaded with her not to do anything rash, so she didn't.
* * * * * * * * *
"Oh Bethany you foolish girl" Alice said from the other side of the screen as a maid helped Bethany with her corset.
There was a sharp intake of breath to be heard as the maid pulled on the ties.
"Sorry Miss" she said to Bethany but didn't ease the tension.
"I have to sleep in this?" Bethany gasped; this gave an entirely different meaning to the term 'cruel and unusual punishment'
"Why must you insist on doing such things?" Alice asked, "How's it coming?" she then inquired of the maid.
"Painfully!" Bethany snapped, she had forgotten how uncomfortable a corset could be; it was so rarely that she wore one these days. "I don't see what the problem is"
"It's your own fault; if you wore respectable attire you would be quite accustomed to wearing a corset"
"No not that. I don't see a problem with spending time at the docks" Although it was possible that Alice did have a point about the corset.
"So naïve"
Bethany frowned pulling lose her hair she was left in the silence of her room as the maid and Alice departed. There had to be more to life than this; living by other people's rules; there just had to be, otherwise what was the point?
* * * * * * * * *
In the shadows Jack eyed up the mansion on the hill and grinned
"Aye that'll do" he took a healthy swig from his bottle of rum and swaggered in the direction of a lesser manor.
Two naval officers were there to greet him.
"Good evening gentlemen" he marched right past them towards the door, both were clearly taken aback by his boldness and scuttled after him to block his path. Jack took a step backwards as if shocked to find them in his path. "Is there a problem?"
"Y... Yes sir, this is private property, you can't be here"
"Ah." He said followed by a moments pause "Well they're expecting me" he attempted to side step them but found his path quickly obscured; he frowned, then reaching out to straighten the officers jacket. "You caught me," he confessed removing his hat in a gesture of reverence.
The two officers looked to one another.
"I am in fact here to claim the bounty on one of the most fearsome pirate in the Caribbean, you may have heard of him."
"Nathaniel Parr? " one ventured.
"No it'll be Captain Soloman, am I right?" the other guessed.
"No" Jack grinned mysteriously with a pause intended to generate suspense "Captain. Jack. Sparrow" he nodded raising his eyebrows.
The night air was filled with laughter.
"Sparrow!" one shouted as he guffawed then shepherded an unhappy Jack Sparrow into the manor "You mean he isn't dead yet"
"Go collect your bounty then, if he is indeed worth anything!"
The door shut behind Jack so that only the muffled sound of laughter could be heard. He settled his hat back on his head "It's CAPTAIN Jack Sparrow" he muttered bounding up the stairs two at a time. He reached the top of the staircase, walked down the first hallway trailing one hand along the wall as he walked. He stopped at the first door where light shone out beneath the door and stepped inside.
* * * * * * * * *
Bethany slept fitfully feeling as if all her spirit had been drained from her. The candle on her bedside table flickered in the draft coming from her window. She turned to lie on her side and drifted to sleep
* * * * * * * * *
She couldn't breathe. She was drowning, engulfed in the cold darkness of the sea. Her eyes flew open, black spots dancing before her eyes her arms started to flay wildly against. her captor. She could now feel a hand clamped over her mouth and nose; another hand clasped tightly around her neck. Oh dear God; at that moment Bethany knew she was going to die.
"Just like your mother. a disgrace to this family. can't let it happen again" were the mad ravings that filled the room.
Bethany lashed out with her nails feeling them sink into her captors flesh. He let out a howl; it was a he. The pressure around her neck grew. Her lungs burned as if they were being licked by the very flames of hell. The black spots were gone now because everything was dark. Hot tears coursed down her cheeks; why was she crying? Because she never got to really live? Because she never fell in love? And now she never would
"Just like your mother" the voice hissed
Because she never knew where she came from; who were her parents; how was she like her mother?
There was the reverberating sound of shattering glass, a resounding thud and then air. Glorious air filled her lungs. Her vision gradually returned. A face filled her vision; peering down at her curiously.
"You okay luv?" the blurred features moved in conjunction with the voice. "Yes. Thank you" Bethany managed to croak out bringing one hand to her bruised neck tentatively she looked down at her unconscious assailant; her Uncle!
The sound of Naval officers marching towards the manor reached Bethany's ears, she rubbed at her eyes and took a closer look at her saviour his features slowly coming into focus as she sat up in her bed; he was a pirate! Why would a pirate save her?
He turned continued to look at her, a half broken bottle in his hand "Bloody waste" he muttered discarding the broken shards of the bottle of rum.
A faint whistling could be heard from outside followed by a deafening bang and a plume of smoke from a nearby house; it was cannon fire. Bethany was pretty sure that it wasn't standard procedure to open fire on a house just because it contained a pirate, which meant it was probably his ship. There was another explosion closer this time, splinters of wood and dust filled the air and engulfed the room. Bethany looked up coughing violently and found herself on the floor; seemingly she had fallen. Then she felt a hand clamped around her wrist, he must have pulled her to the floor. He dragged Bethany to her feet
"Time to go" he said running out of the room. Bethany stood rooted to the stop; dumbfounded. A few moments later the pirate reappeared, he grabbed Bethany's hand dragging her after him "You too!"
* * * * * * * * *
A/N: Thanks to Lady Gwen of Avalon and Ravenclaw2 for their comments! Please everyone review I'll be eternally grateful and what-the-hey may even throw in some Jack Sparrow action figures for your trouble; the POTC answer to cookies!
The colonial presence in Port Royal was unmistakable; there were naval officers at every corner as Bethany hurried along the streets home. She feigned indifference towards the occasional lewd comment aimed in her direction while silently thinking 'Great, great, great'. As her stately home came into view the first thing that struck her was that every window was alight with a candle, no doubt in aid of searching for her; Bethany bit down on her lip and braced herself for the imminent confrontation that awaited her beyond that great wooden door. She opened the door a fraction, slid through quietly and tiptoed towards the staircase, her hand rested on the banister when she heard the sound of someone clearing their throat in the parlour. A deep breath and then she turned around to address her Uncle with a tentative smile.
"Bethany Jane Redfern" he said gravely.
"Yes?"
"Would you be so kind as to recount your whereabouts this evening?" Bethany's aunt appeared behind him; her slight form smothered by his imposing presence in the room.
"I was walking"
He appraised her attire with a look of contempt "And the company you kept?"
He didn't mean. he couldn't possibly be suggesting that she was. Bethany's mouth dropped, she looked to her Aunt for some support; but there was none to be found. She turned to go upstairs to her room unwilling to respond to such a suggestion; it sickened her that he could think so lowly of her.
"Change out of those clothes" he said sharply to her receding figure.
"But it's."
"Change into some clothes that are respectable" he boomed so loud that her Aunt winced.
Bethany felt an irrepressible desire to snap back some retort but was suddenly being ushered upstairs by her Aunt, whose eyes pleaded with her not to do anything rash, so she didn't.
* * * * * * * * *
"Oh Bethany you foolish girl" Alice said from the other side of the screen as a maid helped Bethany with her corset.
There was a sharp intake of breath to be heard as the maid pulled on the ties.
"Sorry Miss" she said to Bethany but didn't ease the tension.
"I have to sleep in this?" Bethany gasped; this gave an entirely different meaning to the term 'cruel and unusual punishment'
"Why must you insist on doing such things?" Alice asked, "How's it coming?" she then inquired of the maid.
"Painfully!" Bethany snapped, she had forgotten how uncomfortable a corset could be; it was so rarely that she wore one these days. "I don't see what the problem is"
"It's your own fault; if you wore respectable attire you would be quite accustomed to wearing a corset"
"No not that. I don't see a problem with spending time at the docks" Although it was possible that Alice did have a point about the corset.
"So naïve"
Bethany frowned pulling lose her hair she was left in the silence of her room as the maid and Alice departed. There had to be more to life than this; living by other people's rules; there just had to be, otherwise what was the point?
* * * * * * * * *
In the shadows Jack eyed up the mansion on the hill and grinned
"Aye that'll do" he took a healthy swig from his bottle of rum and swaggered in the direction of a lesser manor.
Two naval officers were there to greet him.
"Good evening gentlemen" he marched right past them towards the door, both were clearly taken aback by his boldness and scuttled after him to block his path. Jack took a step backwards as if shocked to find them in his path. "Is there a problem?"
"Y... Yes sir, this is private property, you can't be here"
"Ah." He said followed by a moments pause "Well they're expecting me" he attempted to side step them but found his path quickly obscured; he frowned, then reaching out to straighten the officers jacket. "You caught me," he confessed removing his hat in a gesture of reverence.
The two officers looked to one another.
"I am in fact here to claim the bounty on one of the most fearsome pirate in the Caribbean, you may have heard of him."
"Nathaniel Parr? " one ventured.
"No it'll be Captain Soloman, am I right?" the other guessed.
"No" Jack grinned mysteriously with a pause intended to generate suspense "Captain. Jack. Sparrow" he nodded raising his eyebrows.
The night air was filled with laughter.
"Sparrow!" one shouted as he guffawed then shepherded an unhappy Jack Sparrow into the manor "You mean he isn't dead yet"
"Go collect your bounty then, if he is indeed worth anything!"
The door shut behind Jack so that only the muffled sound of laughter could be heard. He settled his hat back on his head "It's CAPTAIN Jack Sparrow" he muttered bounding up the stairs two at a time. He reached the top of the staircase, walked down the first hallway trailing one hand along the wall as he walked. He stopped at the first door where light shone out beneath the door and stepped inside.
* * * * * * * * *
Bethany slept fitfully feeling as if all her spirit had been drained from her. The candle on her bedside table flickered in the draft coming from her window. She turned to lie on her side and drifted to sleep
* * * * * * * * *
She couldn't breathe. She was drowning, engulfed in the cold darkness of the sea. Her eyes flew open, black spots dancing before her eyes her arms started to flay wildly against. her captor. She could now feel a hand clamped over her mouth and nose; another hand clasped tightly around her neck. Oh dear God; at that moment Bethany knew she was going to die.
"Just like your mother. a disgrace to this family. can't let it happen again" were the mad ravings that filled the room.
Bethany lashed out with her nails feeling them sink into her captors flesh. He let out a howl; it was a he. The pressure around her neck grew. Her lungs burned as if they were being licked by the very flames of hell. The black spots were gone now because everything was dark. Hot tears coursed down her cheeks; why was she crying? Because she never got to really live? Because she never fell in love? And now she never would
"Just like your mother" the voice hissed
Because she never knew where she came from; who were her parents; how was she like her mother?
There was the reverberating sound of shattering glass, a resounding thud and then air. Glorious air filled her lungs. Her vision gradually returned. A face filled her vision; peering down at her curiously.
"You okay luv?" the blurred features moved in conjunction with the voice. "Yes. Thank you" Bethany managed to croak out bringing one hand to her bruised neck tentatively she looked down at her unconscious assailant; her Uncle!
The sound of Naval officers marching towards the manor reached Bethany's ears, she rubbed at her eyes and took a closer look at her saviour his features slowly coming into focus as she sat up in her bed; he was a pirate! Why would a pirate save her?
He turned continued to look at her, a half broken bottle in his hand "Bloody waste" he muttered discarding the broken shards of the bottle of rum.
A faint whistling could be heard from outside followed by a deafening bang and a plume of smoke from a nearby house; it was cannon fire. Bethany was pretty sure that it wasn't standard procedure to open fire on a house just because it contained a pirate, which meant it was probably his ship. There was another explosion closer this time, splinters of wood and dust filled the air and engulfed the room. Bethany looked up coughing violently and found herself on the floor; seemingly she had fallen. Then she felt a hand clamped around her wrist, he must have pulled her to the floor. He dragged Bethany to her feet
"Time to go" he said running out of the room. Bethany stood rooted to the stop; dumbfounded. A few moments later the pirate reappeared, he grabbed Bethany's hand dragging her after him "You too!"
* * * * * * * * *
A/N: Thanks to Lady Gwen of Avalon and Ravenclaw2 for their comments! Please everyone review I'll be eternally grateful and what-the-hey may even throw in some Jack Sparrow action figures for your trouble; the POTC answer to cookies!