Will walked wearily up the dusty track to the house, tired after a long
day's work. As always when he returned to Port Royale, he was inundated
with orders for swords, daggers, anything that required the hand of a
master, for it was well known that Master Brown had lost his touch. Will
Turner was now the most sought after metal smith in four islands,
regardless of his pirate status.
He was somewhat surprised on entering the house to hear raised voices coming from the drawing room, and hurried to the door, wondering what on earth could have happened. Slipping into the candlelit room, he was confronted with the sight of a beaten and blood-stained Marin being bandaged by Elizabeth. Glancing to his right, he saw Jack and Elias glaring at the floor with identical expression that spelt revenge clearly and succinctly. And Gibbs was standing with the governor, though both were staring in horror at the extent of Marin's injuries.
'What the bloody hell happened?' Will demanded, shocked at the scene laid out before him.
Everyone jumped, not having noticed his entry into the room. Marin gave him a weak smile, pale beneath the dirt that marred her fair skin. The tattered dress was gone, at her insistence, replaced with the shirt and breeches she was most comfortable in. Will had to admit, she did look far better as a pirate than a lady, despite the numerous weapons on her person.
'Danielson's men came after Marin,' Gibbs told him, jumping in quickly before either Jack or Elias could go off on a rant again. 'Stabbed Norrington, and cut her up bad.'
Will frowned.
'Why?' he asked, kneeling to help his wife support the girl as Elizabeth searched for any other wounds.
For some reason, Marin and Elias both went quite still, exchanging a look that spoke volumes. Will understood implicitly that it was not something he was meant to know.
'Never mind,' he said. 'Do we need a doctor?'
Elizabeth glanced at the pirates.
'I would say yes, but there's too much risk of Marin being arrested if we call for someone,' she said softly, but he could see that she was worried for her friend. Even Will knew about the risk of infection, especially since the wounds had been inflicted with daggers and sabres.
Marin shifted suddenly, turning to look up into Elias' eyes, her expression intense.
'He has the fourth locket,' she said cryptically. 'Norrington.'
Elias knelt swiftly before her, uncaring for the moment how many people overheard them.
'Are ye sure, lass?' he asked her gently.
She nodded wearily.
'I saw it,' she told him, letting Will and Elizabeth push her back against the cushions. 'It's on the lower right ring.'
Jack's eyes widened as his mind made the incredible leap between the similarity of Elias and Marin's lockets, to the arrival of another worn by Norrington. Could the final one by what had sparked the altercation he had witnessed between Marin and Danielson the night they had rescued Will?
The others, confused by what they were hearing, jumped in fright suddenly as footsteps were heard in the hallway outside the room. Elias stood, moving to stand with Jack between the doorway and Marin, his sabre drawn. The door opened slowly and quietly, and a familiar voice called out to them from the darkness beyond.
'Cap'n Fitzpatrick?'
Elias relaxed, reaching into the hallway and dragging Dugan into the room with a grin for the little lad's caution. Dugan's eyes widened when he saw Marin, though much of that horror was replaced with amusement as she made a grotesque face at him.
'I put the word oot, cap'n,' he said, turning to face Elias once again. 'The marines are everywhere, but they willnae find any crew of the Dragon, or the Pearl.'
The last was said with a nod to Jack, who visibly relaxed somewhat. This relief, however, was short-lived as Dugan continued.
'But having said that, cap'n, there's a fella coming up the path,' he mentioned. 'Navy uniform, but he isnae armed.'
Looks were exchanged between the men standing around, and this time Will stood with them as they resumed their watchful guard between Marin and the door. Elizabeth unconsciously slid closer to the girl, slipping an arm about her shoulders. The governor opened his mouth to object to their readiness to fight a naval officer in his house, but Gibbs firmly pushed him back into his seat.
They heard the knock on the front door, and a thick Irish brogue demanding to know where the girl was, the one that was injured. Fingers flexed on sabre hilts, pistol butts, as the footsteps drew close. When the man finally did step into the room, it was to look down the barrels of two pistols and within range of three sabres.
Gibbs gave a bark of surprise.
'O'Reilly! What're ye doing up here, ya old goat?'
Never taking his eyes off the men before him, O'Reilly answered calmly,
'I could ask you the same question, Gibbs, but I don't see the need to. Commodore sent me up to check on the young lady who was injured this afternoon.'
If anything, the atmosphere in the room grew colder. Elias snarled at him.
'Who are ye, to be thinking yer doctoring better than ours?' he spat.
Just as calm as before, O'Reilly looked him up and down before answering.
'I am ship's surgeon to the H.M.S. Dauntless,' he said softly, 'and you, my friend, are a pirate, if I'm not very much mistaken.'
He shifted slightly, turning to look straight into Elias' eyes.
'I give you my word, Elias Fitzpatrick, as one Irishman to another, that no harm will come to the girl from the King's Navy.'
Elias held his gaze for a long time, weighing up this unruffled, apparently sober Irishman who had so correctly read him in so short a time. With a curt nod, he put up his weapons, signalling Jack and Will to do that same.
'I'll be holding ye to yer word then, ship's surgeon,' he said, stepping aside to let O'Reilly kneel before Marin.
'Now then, Miss Delaney,' O'Reilly said softly, peeling away the bandages Elizabeth had so recently put on. 'I hear you've been in the wars.'
Marin laughed faintly.
'Hardly a war, Mr O'Reilly,' she told him. 'Four against two is more of a scuffle.'
The ghost of a smile swept across O'Reilly's face.
'From the looks of those bodies you left behind, you did more than your share of the fighting,' he murmured. 'Only one man had a sword wound.'
Marin's eyes widened as he glanced up, and he chuckled to see her so stuck for words.
'Ah,' he said suddenly, reaching into his bag. 'Yours, I believe.'
He dropped her dirk in her hand with a grin. At that point, Elias realised what it was O'Reilly had said.
'Ye mean that no account coward of a commodore didn't even take on his share of the fight?' he demanded, fixing his young shipmate with an angry glare.
'He couldn't, Elias,' she told him quickly. 'They stabbed him almost as soon as the fighting started. I had to finish them off.'
'And you were injured whilst under his escort,' the governor added. 'No gentleman should ever allow such a thing to happen to a lady.'
As O'Reilly made use of the brandy that stood on the table beside her to clean the gash on her arm, Marin gave the governor a long look.
'I'm hardly what you would call a lady, now am I, governor?' she asked acidly, subsiding under a stern glance from Elizabeth.
O'Reilly grinned to himself at the little scene, inwardly amused at the collection of characters gathered together in protection of their friend.
'How is the commodore?' Marin asked him suddenly.
Elias snorted, throwing up his hands in exasperation.
'Why should ye want to know?' he asked her incredulously.
Marin glared up at him from where she sat on the sofa, kept back from rising only by O'Reilly's restraining hand on her knee.
'He was injured trying to protect me, Elias,' she snapped heatedly. 'Even if you don't care about him, I do. He's become a friend to me over the past few days, and I won't stand by and listen to you belittle him at every opportunity!'
Elias, taken aback by her outburst, opened his mouth to snap back at her, but stopped himself. As he gazed down at her, he realised something had changed. She wasn't a little girl anymore, and he had no right to treat as such. She could choose her own path now.
'My apologies,' he muttered, and turned away.
Jack had seen the look of horror that had crossed Marin's face following her outburst, and the stricken pain-filled gaze she levelled at her captain's back. He thumped down into the chair beside her.
'So,' he asked the surgeon, 'how is the dear commodore?'
'Not bad, considering,' O'Reilly told him, watching from the corner of his eye as Jack reached across and squeezed Marin's hand gently. 'He's a stubborn mule, almost insisted that I come up and find you before tending to him. With any luck, Gillette should keep him still a while longer.'
Marin tore her gaze from Jack's to look at him quizzically.
'What do you mean, with any luck?' she asked.
O'Reilly chuckled.
'Well, it's only a flesh wound, thank God, but knowing him, he'll be up and about as soon as physically possible,' he told them. 'I had a devil of a time getting him to lie still while I stitched him up. He's worrying himself sick about you, young lady.'
For some reason, Marin found her gaze drawn to Jack's, and saw something akin to jealousy in the pirate's eyes as they spoke of Norrington. Did he really think she would choose the stuffy upper class Englishman over him? Her fingers tightened on his, and his eyes softened, both of them unwilling to break the look.
Dugan nudged Elias in the kidneys, encouraging his captain to turn around and see the love that was so obvious between the two. Elias grinned suddenly, sensing the ease with which the gesture had come to Jack, and realised that perhaps the irascible pirate had made his choice. He nodded to himself, turning away before either of them noticed his scrutiny. Perhaps it was just as well he had noticed his Marin growing up.
*~*~*
Be proud of me! Three chapters - THREE - in one day! Is that good or what? And I need a vote or tally or something here . . . should Marin end up with Norrington? Or Jack? Please consider carefully, as it will effect which direction my plot will go in.
Be well, guys! *gestures pointedly at the review button* Well, you get the idea . . .
He was somewhat surprised on entering the house to hear raised voices coming from the drawing room, and hurried to the door, wondering what on earth could have happened. Slipping into the candlelit room, he was confronted with the sight of a beaten and blood-stained Marin being bandaged by Elizabeth. Glancing to his right, he saw Jack and Elias glaring at the floor with identical expression that spelt revenge clearly and succinctly. And Gibbs was standing with the governor, though both were staring in horror at the extent of Marin's injuries.
'What the bloody hell happened?' Will demanded, shocked at the scene laid out before him.
Everyone jumped, not having noticed his entry into the room. Marin gave him a weak smile, pale beneath the dirt that marred her fair skin. The tattered dress was gone, at her insistence, replaced with the shirt and breeches she was most comfortable in. Will had to admit, she did look far better as a pirate than a lady, despite the numerous weapons on her person.
'Danielson's men came after Marin,' Gibbs told him, jumping in quickly before either Jack or Elias could go off on a rant again. 'Stabbed Norrington, and cut her up bad.'
Will frowned.
'Why?' he asked, kneeling to help his wife support the girl as Elizabeth searched for any other wounds.
For some reason, Marin and Elias both went quite still, exchanging a look that spoke volumes. Will understood implicitly that it was not something he was meant to know.
'Never mind,' he said. 'Do we need a doctor?'
Elizabeth glanced at the pirates.
'I would say yes, but there's too much risk of Marin being arrested if we call for someone,' she said softly, but he could see that she was worried for her friend. Even Will knew about the risk of infection, especially since the wounds had been inflicted with daggers and sabres.
Marin shifted suddenly, turning to look up into Elias' eyes, her expression intense.
'He has the fourth locket,' she said cryptically. 'Norrington.'
Elias knelt swiftly before her, uncaring for the moment how many people overheard them.
'Are ye sure, lass?' he asked her gently.
She nodded wearily.
'I saw it,' she told him, letting Will and Elizabeth push her back against the cushions. 'It's on the lower right ring.'
Jack's eyes widened as his mind made the incredible leap between the similarity of Elias and Marin's lockets, to the arrival of another worn by Norrington. Could the final one by what had sparked the altercation he had witnessed between Marin and Danielson the night they had rescued Will?
The others, confused by what they were hearing, jumped in fright suddenly as footsteps were heard in the hallway outside the room. Elias stood, moving to stand with Jack between the doorway and Marin, his sabre drawn. The door opened slowly and quietly, and a familiar voice called out to them from the darkness beyond.
'Cap'n Fitzpatrick?'
Elias relaxed, reaching into the hallway and dragging Dugan into the room with a grin for the little lad's caution. Dugan's eyes widened when he saw Marin, though much of that horror was replaced with amusement as she made a grotesque face at him.
'I put the word oot, cap'n,' he said, turning to face Elias once again. 'The marines are everywhere, but they willnae find any crew of the Dragon, or the Pearl.'
The last was said with a nod to Jack, who visibly relaxed somewhat. This relief, however, was short-lived as Dugan continued.
'But having said that, cap'n, there's a fella coming up the path,' he mentioned. 'Navy uniform, but he isnae armed.'
Looks were exchanged between the men standing around, and this time Will stood with them as they resumed their watchful guard between Marin and the door. Elizabeth unconsciously slid closer to the girl, slipping an arm about her shoulders. The governor opened his mouth to object to their readiness to fight a naval officer in his house, but Gibbs firmly pushed him back into his seat.
They heard the knock on the front door, and a thick Irish brogue demanding to know where the girl was, the one that was injured. Fingers flexed on sabre hilts, pistol butts, as the footsteps drew close. When the man finally did step into the room, it was to look down the barrels of two pistols and within range of three sabres.
Gibbs gave a bark of surprise.
'O'Reilly! What're ye doing up here, ya old goat?'
Never taking his eyes off the men before him, O'Reilly answered calmly,
'I could ask you the same question, Gibbs, but I don't see the need to. Commodore sent me up to check on the young lady who was injured this afternoon.'
If anything, the atmosphere in the room grew colder. Elias snarled at him.
'Who are ye, to be thinking yer doctoring better than ours?' he spat.
Just as calm as before, O'Reilly looked him up and down before answering.
'I am ship's surgeon to the H.M.S. Dauntless,' he said softly, 'and you, my friend, are a pirate, if I'm not very much mistaken.'
He shifted slightly, turning to look straight into Elias' eyes.
'I give you my word, Elias Fitzpatrick, as one Irishman to another, that no harm will come to the girl from the King's Navy.'
Elias held his gaze for a long time, weighing up this unruffled, apparently sober Irishman who had so correctly read him in so short a time. With a curt nod, he put up his weapons, signalling Jack and Will to do that same.
'I'll be holding ye to yer word then, ship's surgeon,' he said, stepping aside to let O'Reilly kneel before Marin.
'Now then, Miss Delaney,' O'Reilly said softly, peeling away the bandages Elizabeth had so recently put on. 'I hear you've been in the wars.'
Marin laughed faintly.
'Hardly a war, Mr O'Reilly,' she told him. 'Four against two is more of a scuffle.'
The ghost of a smile swept across O'Reilly's face.
'From the looks of those bodies you left behind, you did more than your share of the fighting,' he murmured. 'Only one man had a sword wound.'
Marin's eyes widened as he glanced up, and he chuckled to see her so stuck for words.
'Ah,' he said suddenly, reaching into his bag. 'Yours, I believe.'
He dropped her dirk in her hand with a grin. At that point, Elias realised what it was O'Reilly had said.
'Ye mean that no account coward of a commodore didn't even take on his share of the fight?' he demanded, fixing his young shipmate with an angry glare.
'He couldn't, Elias,' she told him quickly. 'They stabbed him almost as soon as the fighting started. I had to finish them off.'
'And you were injured whilst under his escort,' the governor added. 'No gentleman should ever allow such a thing to happen to a lady.'
As O'Reilly made use of the brandy that stood on the table beside her to clean the gash on her arm, Marin gave the governor a long look.
'I'm hardly what you would call a lady, now am I, governor?' she asked acidly, subsiding under a stern glance from Elizabeth.
O'Reilly grinned to himself at the little scene, inwardly amused at the collection of characters gathered together in protection of their friend.
'How is the commodore?' Marin asked him suddenly.
Elias snorted, throwing up his hands in exasperation.
'Why should ye want to know?' he asked her incredulously.
Marin glared up at him from where she sat on the sofa, kept back from rising only by O'Reilly's restraining hand on her knee.
'He was injured trying to protect me, Elias,' she snapped heatedly. 'Even if you don't care about him, I do. He's become a friend to me over the past few days, and I won't stand by and listen to you belittle him at every opportunity!'
Elias, taken aback by her outburst, opened his mouth to snap back at her, but stopped himself. As he gazed down at her, he realised something had changed. She wasn't a little girl anymore, and he had no right to treat as such. She could choose her own path now.
'My apologies,' he muttered, and turned away.
Jack had seen the look of horror that had crossed Marin's face following her outburst, and the stricken pain-filled gaze she levelled at her captain's back. He thumped down into the chair beside her.
'So,' he asked the surgeon, 'how is the dear commodore?'
'Not bad, considering,' O'Reilly told him, watching from the corner of his eye as Jack reached across and squeezed Marin's hand gently. 'He's a stubborn mule, almost insisted that I come up and find you before tending to him. With any luck, Gillette should keep him still a while longer.'
Marin tore her gaze from Jack's to look at him quizzically.
'What do you mean, with any luck?' she asked.
O'Reilly chuckled.
'Well, it's only a flesh wound, thank God, but knowing him, he'll be up and about as soon as physically possible,' he told them. 'I had a devil of a time getting him to lie still while I stitched him up. He's worrying himself sick about you, young lady.'
For some reason, Marin found her gaze drawn to Jack's, and saw something akin to jealousy in the pirate's eyes as they spoke of Norrington. Did he really think she would choose the stuffy upper class Englishman over him? Her fingers tightened on his, and his eyes softened, both of them unwilling to break the look.
Dugan nudged Elias in the kidneys, encouraging his captain to turn around and see the love that was so obvious between the two. Elias grinned suddenly, sensing the ease with which the gesture had come to Jack, and realised that perhaps the irascible pirate had made his choice. He nodded to himself, turning away before either of them noticed his scrutiny. Perhaps it was just as well he had noticed his Marin growing up.
*~*~*
Be proud of me! Three chapters - THREE - in one day! Is that good or what? And I need a vote or tally or something here . . . should Marin end up with Norrington? Or Jack? Please consider carefully, as it will effect which direction my plot will go in.
Be well, guys! *gestures pointedly at the review button* Well, you get the idea . . .