Pearl
Chapter 2
Disclaimer: Jack and Will aren't mine and if they were they wouldn't be running around some
fanfiction. They'd be tied up in my room. Pearl, however is mine. All mine! Ha ha. Take that
Disney!
The next morning Elizabeth descended the stairs of her father's house and entered the
parlor to find her cousin sewing quietly in the corner. "Good morning Elizabeth. You look...well
rested," she greeted, suggestion coloring her voice.
"Thank you," Elizabeth replied, fighting very hard not to blush and loosing the battle. "I
am."
"And where might your husband be? Did you exhaust him so thoroughly that he will lie
in bed well past noon?"
"I certainly hope not," she answered with a grin. "We have an appointment to see how our
house is coming along. I am told 'tis nearly finished. William shall be down shortly."
As if her words had summoned him Will appeared in the doorway. Grinning he sat next
to his wife, kissing first her cheek, then her neck, then-
"I believe the two of you have a room for that sort of thing," Bethany remarked from the
corner without looking up from her sewing.
"I apologize, Bethany. I didn't see you there. Did you sleep well?"
"Very well. Yourself?" she asked politely.
"When I slept," Will answered with a grin.
"William, you are nearly as horrible as my cousin!" Elizabeth cried, pink rising in her
cheeks.
"You seemed to be having a good time with the Commodore last night," Will remarked as
a change of subject.
Bethany shrugged. "He was kind enough."
"That's all you can say about him?" Elizabeth asked.
"I fear he isn't my sort," Bethany answered. "Far too strict and worried about rules."
"He is a Commadore after all," Elizabeth reminded.
"Exactly," Bethany answered. "I've just remembered, I intended to pick some flowers out
in the garden."
"Don't let us chase you away," Elizabeth said with concern as she set aside her sewing.
"You aren't," Bethany answered. "I just want to do it before I forget."
"Suit yourself. Come back when you're done," Elizabeth ordered. "I want you to see the
house with us."
"Don't worry. I'm not going anywhere without you," she replied as she left the room.
She had only been gone ten minutes when Elizabeth and Will heard a crash from the next
room. Elizabeth looked at her husband in apparent confusion before calling out, "Bethany?"
When that yielded no answer she tried, "Susan?" to summon her maid. After a few moments
without response she called, with worry creeping into her voice, "Martin?" to summon the
footman.
After several moments without answer she rose to move toward the foyer. Will caught her
quickly, forcing her behind him before continuing to the foyer. "I wish I had my sword," he
whispered to her.
"I'm sure it's nothing," Elizabeth said.
But she was proven wrong when they stepped into the foyer. Martin was sprawled on the
floor with a nasty bump on his head. Before Will could shove her back into the parlor to make
for the back door rough hands grabbed them. Blindfolds descended over their eyes as their hands
were bound.
Elizabeth cried out as she was bound but the men only laughed as they turned them
toward the rear exit. "Don't worry, Lassy. We won' hurt ya. That ain't our orders. We're just goin'
for a little ride."
"Enjoyable, really," another remarked with a laugh as she stumbled over the threshold.
She could hear a scuffling to her left and a voice cry, "Unhand me this moment!"
"Bethany?" Elizabeth called.
"I'm all right," her cousin's voice answered. "They haven't harmed me."
"Don't worry. We'll get out of this," Will promised as they were lifted into a cart, blankets
shoved over them.
"I can't say I care for the accommodations," Bethany called to them.
"I can't say I care at all," one of the men answered. "Silence now or we gag you as well."
Although a bit warm the ride was not all together uncomfortable. It ended at last. The
blankets were thrown back and the sounds and smells of the sea reached them. Strong arms
picked up and carried all three of them to a small row boat. "I might suggest ye hold still," one of
their captors remarked. "We just may not feel too bad about lettin' ye drown ifn ye dump yerself
or us."
"Why does that not surprise me?" Will asked as they were rowed steadily out to sea.
In seemingly no time the rowboat bumped against wood. Voices floated around them as
the boat and its contents were raised to the deck. The prisoners were marched out amid snickers
around them, down a set of stairs, and pressed them back roughly into wooden chairs.
"Well, you've arrived at last."
Will perked up at the sound of the familiar voice. "Jack?"
The blindfolds were pulled from their eyes to reveal a grinning Jack Sparrow leaning
against a wooden table. Most oddly of all, a grinning Bethany sat next to him on the table. She
wasn't bound or blindfolded. Her bare feet waived idly as she regarded the couple before her with
a great deal of obvious amusement.
"You kidnaped us?" Will asked incredulously as the members of the crew behind him cut
his and Elizabeth's bonds.
"Actually, that was the whelp," Jack answered with a motion toward the girl. "With a
little help from the crew, 'course."
Bethany reached out to smack him upside the head, leaving him staring at her in
confusion. "I told you not to call me whelp," she told him.
"Why did she kidnap us?" Will asked.
"I told her to," Jack answered simply.
"Because...?" Will queried.
"Well, I couldn't hardly just walk up to you and invite you. And besides, that wouldn't be
much fun would it? This is an adventure, after all."
"Bethany?" Elizabeth asked.
"Actually, it's Pearl," she replied with a grin. Standing, she curtsied deeply. "Pearl Siren
Sparrow, at your service."
"Pearl?" Elizabeth repeated doubtfully.
"Yep. The bad news if, you don't have a cousin. Or at least not that we know of. The good
news is you aren't actually related to me." She looked down sourly at the skirts. "I'm going to go
change. This whole 'Lady of Breeding' thing just isn't me."
"You managed it for that year in Paris," Jack pointed out.
"Actually, I spent most of that dressed as a man."
"Why would you do that?" Will asked.
"Because I was there to get an education and study the sword. They don't let women do
either," she replied as if the answer were obvious. "I'll be back."
All three of them watched her exit with a flash of skirt. "So that's your...sister?" Will
asked.
Jack shook his head. "My dear daughter."
"Daughter?" Elizabeth repeated.
"Well, we think," he admitted. "Her mother's a Woman o' Tortuga-a prostitute, if you
will. Hard to be sure who her father is but I've taken her on. She is my spitting image. Out of
skirts and when she stops actin' all proper anyway." He shook his head then, his hands waving
wildly. "That's not why I brought you here."
"Yes Jack, why did you bring us here?" Elizabeth demanded.
"Come on up on deck. The fresh salt air would do you some good. We can talk up there."
The couple obediently followed the Captain up into the warm sunshine. The sea rushed
around them, the ship slicing through the water as the wind made the canvas over their head
snap. They must have hauled up anchor and set off as soon as they were onboard to be out of
sight of the shore already, Will mused.
Elizabeth pushed the hair already escaping her elaborate up do in the stiff wind. "I didn't
even have a chance to grab my things!" she cried in sudden anger.
"Pearl will lend you anything you need," Jack assured her as he led them to the edge of
the ship. Several members of the crew called hello to the newest passengers as they went.
Leaning on the rail Jack gazed contentedly at the stretch of blue that went all the way to the
horizon.
"Where are we going?" Will asked, moving to stand beside his friend.
"A little island called Lover's Cove. You see, I had Pearl pick you up partially to give you
my congratulations in person. The other reason was to give you your present. Or at least part of
it. Elizabeth seems partial to the first part of it already," he added with a pointed look at the
smokey pearls around her neck.
She reached up to toy with the string, remembering the words from the woman she
believed to be her cousin when they were given to her. She silently kicked herself for not
knowing then and there. Who but Jack would send her a string of black pearls?
"And what's at Lover's Cove?" Will asked.
"Ah, straight to the point. It's an abandoned island. No one around for miles. There's a
little cabin on it. Not much but we keep it well stocked. It keeps the rain off and the bugs out.
Perfect place for two newlyweds to get to know each other better, savvy?"
"So you're going to maroon us on an island and call it a wedding present?" Elizabeth
asked.
"Nay, we won't maroon you. We'll pull out into the harbor, drop anchor, and leave you
with pistols in case of danger. No worries, though. There's little enough on the island, and none
of it dangerous."
Will opened his mouth to say something else but before he got the chance someone
rushed by him and up the rigging next to him. By the time he had registered what was going on
and looked up the person in question was sitting atop the mesh of ropes, legs wound securely
through and arms spread wide with eyes closed as the wind whipped around them.
"Feel better?" Jack called up to them.
"I always feel better on open water," they called back down. It was then that Will realized
he was looking at Pearl. Gone were the fine skirts and proper manors. Instead she wore a long,
dark jacket not unlike the one her father wore. It was longer than most, almost giving the
impression of skirts with four high slits to allow movement. Still, shockingly enough for a
woman, her baggy breaches were readily available for view, as were her high black boots. The
shirt beneath the jacket was white with the look of good, sturdy making and care. Even the long
flowing dark locks were gone; short, unevenly-chopped bright red hair peaking from beneath the
large-brimmed hat that fell low over her face. Indeed, her hair was no longer than what many of
the men on the ship wore, including Will, and shorter than most. It was swept back in a barely-
visible catch at the base of her neck.
"It does my heart good to see you out of those skirts," he told her. "It always worries me a
bit to see you all prim and proper."
"You needn't fear," she told him. "I don't like it any better than you. Considerably less, I
would imagine." She fell back suddenly, knees holding her firmly in place as she captured her hat
before it could fall and called down, "There's a storm coming in from the east. Should catch us a
little before sunrise."
Jack and Will both turned their eyes to the east, searching for a sign of clouds in the
pristine blue sky. "Bad?" Jack asked.
"Nay," she answered with a lopsided grin. "Just a little one, I imagine."
"Then stop showin' off and come down," Jack called. "It's time we ate."
Swinging a bit she managed to capture a nearby rope in her right hand. Swinging out she
let her legs slip down before tightening her grip on the rope and sliding one-handed to the
deck. Will wondered at her lack of care where rope burn was concerned until he saw the scrap of
rawhide tied around the middle two fingers of her hand and her wrist, protecting the palm. Jack
wore the same thing, as he had as long as Will could remember. He also noticed the heavy
callouses that proclaimed her working for a living. He wondered why he hadn't noticed this
earlier before he realized he had never seen 'Bethany' without gloves.
"How do you know it's going to storm?" Will asked.
"'It is given to some to see more than the eyes have leave to understand,'" she said
merrily.
"Just nod and pretend that made sense to you," Jack suggested as they entered the
Captain's quarters to find the ornate table laden with food.
"If the legends are to be believed I'm descended from an ancient Aztec spirit called a
Wind Talker," Pearl said, settling back into a chair and propping her heavy boots up on the table.
"Feet down," Jack ordered. "Mind your manners. People might think you were raised in a-"
"Brothel?" Pearl suggested helpfully. "Or perhaps a pirate ship?"
"I was going to say barn," Jack replied.
"I've been minding me manners for weeks," Pearl answered, kicking at the hand he was
waving at her as she caught hold of a large, greasy chunk of fowl and began chewing on it. "If
you really want to hear the story I'd best tell it from the beginning. Legend has it that the Wind
Talkers were Aztec sprites of sorts. Somewhere between Gods and mortals while not really being
of either. They would commune with the Gods, imparting to them which beings deserve
prosperity and fortune, and which ruin in their crops. When Cortez landed and began killing off
their people the Wind Talkers fled. They couldn't stand watching their followers slaughtered.
They forgot, however, that without tribute from their people their powers, along with their very
being, would fade to nothing. In essence, they would die. That was what was happening to my
great-great-great-great-great-grandmother, if the ledged's to be believed, when she landed on
Tortuga. A tavern owner found her near death on a beach. He fell instantly in love with her. He
took her back to the tavern, nursed her to health. His love saved her, and she found that she loved
him as well."
"That's terribly sweet," Elizabeth remarked.
"Yes, I suppose it is," Pearl said, wrinkling her nose to suggest she couldn't really have
cared less. "At any rate, they married and had two children: a son and a daughter. The son became
a pirate, the daughter a Woman of Tortuga."
"A prostitute," Elizabeth put in.
Pearl shrugged. "A rose by any other name still needs gold to eat, and will do what she
must to get it. Anyway, ever since then the woman of my family have been birthin' pirates and
prostitutes. And both have a unique ability to read the winds and see foul weather commin'."
The door opened suddenly. Gibbs stood there, taking in the scene before entering and
giving Elizabeth a slight bow. "Sorry to interrupt, Captain, but we got a ship few leagues off the
port."
Author's Note: So there you have it. Pearl Sparrow in all her glory. Now who could be on the
approaching ship? Reviews make writing go faster and, more importantly, make me incredibly,
unbelievably happy. Yes, you have that power at your fingertips. Be a dear and exercise it.