Chapter 5
Never in her life had Sparrow seen Gin come to life than when Captain Fitch had uttered the word Spanish.
"You can't! You bastards!" She was pulled beneath the deck, fighting her two sailors the whole way, getting her kicks in where she could, screaming in all her languages, mainly Spanish and English. Behind Gin, Dani, Roxy and then Pogo were led into the mysterious bowels of the ship. With a shove from the sailor behind her, Sparrow sighed and let herself be calmly led to the 'brigs'. She had grown far too familiar with this routine. Once led into a painstakingly accurate model of a ships 'prison' she was shoved into a cell with the four other women. Three looked up to her but Gin was curled in a corner whispering and mumbling.
"They're taking us to the Spanish..." She said out loud as soon as the sailors had left the girls. "They're taking us to the Spanish..." Gin looked up to Sparrow with glassy eyes. "Do you have any fucking idea what the Spanish did to pirates in the 1700s?!" Sparrow shrugged.
"Slapped them on the hand and sent them to bed without their dinner?" She turned away from the girl. She had cracked far sooner then Sparrow had expected, she had misjudged Gin by a great deal.
"Gin, it's not real. None of it is real. Once we reach some mainland, I'm sure they'll let us go." She could hear Roxy's soothing, relaxed voice, an octave higher than it should have been. "It's all just a game. They'll come down soon and apologize for what they've done. Especially with those tears in your eyes." There was a light laugh. Sparrow let out a huff and gave her best attempt to push a stray tangle from her eye. She studied the dungeon closely, the cage was primitive at best, easily escapable. If only she could get out of the damned ropes. They were giving her splinters in her wrist every time she moved.
"No, you don't understand. It is real. It's all real. It's all real." There was the sound of sobbing and the hushed voices of both Dani and Roxy.
"Pogo." Sparrow whispered to the pink haired figure standing near her. Lord knew she would hardly be able to talk to anyone else at that time without being called a heartless bitch. The girl stepped next to her.
"You rang?"
"What do you have on you?" Sparrow continued to study the cell, the lock, the bags in the corner, if only she could get to her bags.
"My Remmingtons, two .38PSs, one Glock, my Baby B, four switchblades and my throwing knives." Sparrow looked over and studied the woman beside her, the yellow cargos and the god-awful green and blue plaid coat.
"My god. Where do you keep it?" She asked in amazement, her crew was surprising her. Pogo gave her the fearsome smirk.
"My secret." Sparrow returned the smile, she had chosen Pogo just for that smirk...well, that and the fact that the girl was an excellent shot with a thriving interest in modern maritime piracy.
"Okay, well, I'm going to need you for just a second. There are two double edges in my wrist sheaths, I'm going to need you to cut my ropes, they're killing me." She turned her back to Pogo and allowed the girl to feel around with her fingers. She felt the steel slip against her skin and the new freedom in her wrists as the girl cut the ropes. She fidgeted around for a bit, feeling a first thread, a second, and after a good half an hour of positioning and repositioning themselves, Sparrow's hands were finally free. She moved her hands around a bit, then her shoulders before turning to Pogo and freeing her somewhat quickly from the ropes. With a flick of her wrists, both knives were in her grasp. She handed one to Pogo, hilt first and without another word, the girls moved to cut the other ropes.
Within the hour, everyone was free of her binds and sitting in their respectable corners of the cell. Well, except for Roxy who was still sitting with Gin, trying to convince her that it was a game.
"No, you didn't see it." Gin shook her head and starred at the floor.
"What was it?" Roxy asked in her most maternal tone.
"A rat."
"A rat?" Sparrow could hear the slight hint of exasperation in Roxy's voice.
"Yes."
"What's the big fucking deal? Ships get rats all the time. Why should this time be so different?" Pogo had grown somewhat tired of the ranting and Roxy's need to be maternal.
"No, that's the thing. If this were a model of a merchant sloop, they'd have kept it in top shape. They wouldn't have allowed any rats on board. Something this close to the real thing is a rare commodity; they wouldn't have let it go to shit like they have on this one. They wouldn't have bound us either, or kicked Dani." Sparrow glanced up at Dani, whose skin developed an embarrassed blush.
"They kicked you, Dani?" The girl only looked down at the floor. "Daniella," the girl's head jerked up at the use of her full name. "Did they kick you?" The girl only nodded. Something ran over Sparrow's body, something that hadn't made an appearance in a long time. A fear of doubt and the unknown. There was a tense silence in the cell. Everyone in a rush of their own doubts, it seemed to pulse through the walls, seep through the tar and wood. There was no more of that lovely cedar scent, just the silence and the tar.
"I have this theory about the whole thing." Gin said after some time of watching everybody stare intently at the floor. She seemed to have regained some of her former composure. Everybody's head jerked up at her sudden voice. Even she expected less calm out of herself. She let out a nervous cough. "That the 1700s was a time of innovation, right? Movement and such." She waited for an affirmation from any of the girls but all of them, even Roxy, just gave her blank stares. "As is the 1900s. It's a time of constant movement, constant innovation, and constant social changes. The times are so similar when you get down to it. And what if, perhaps, the Bermuda triangle really did exist. I'm sure if you were able to look on a map, you'd be able to find that our ship was near all the other crashes. Maybe, it was just our bad luck. See?" Dani stood up from her place and leaned against the bars of her new prison, finally being able to see how really small it was.
"But why this time? The Roman Empire was similar to the 1900s too. Why not just transfer us back then? What motivation would be behind us?"
"Maybe there is no motivation, maybe it's all just a series of events. Depending on what you believe, fate or free will." Sparrow finally stood up, she wasn't going to allow a philosophical debate to go on while she was still planning the escape and take-over of the Sweet Rebecca.
"It doesn't matter. It wasn't our free will to be caught in the cage. We need to get out." She carefully stepped over three sets of legs on her way to the door where Dani leaned. The girl moved over as Sparrow got to her knees and finally got a closer look at the lock. "Alright, Dani, I'm going to need that stupid butterfly clip in your hair."
"It's not stupid. It's pretty." Dani remarked plainly as she undid the pin from her hair and handed it over to Sparrow.
"It's pink and glittery and made for a two year old. The other one too."
"Not if you're going to talk about it like that, no."
"No?" Sparrow straightened and looked straight into the mint colored eyes of the girl next to her.
"Say it's pretty." Sparrow rolled her eyes so hard she thought they might roll out of her head.
"Fine. It's pretty. Now give it to me." Dani pouted and handed her the other clip. "Great. Now, all we need is a little..." She trailed off as she felt for certain clicks, nudges. "Yes." With a protesting squeal the door opened. Before the poor door could even open all the way, Sparrow had made a beeline for her bag, Pogo and Dani doing the same. It was like Christmas for Sparrow as she pulled out a few extra clips and a muffler. She attached the latter to her Browning; with the clips she'd be able to kill the whole crew without so much as an explosion. She wasn't sure what had led her to her decision to take over the ship. She blamed the information that she had received just a few minutes ago. They had kicked Dani, and while Sparrow didn't particularly care for Dani, it still meant that the people they were dealing with were enemies to them. By the time she looked up from her weapon she saw that the girls were fondling their toys as well. Just then, her ears picked up on something, a slight rustling in the stairs above them. "Shit." She whispered under her breath. "Everybody, back in the cage." The girls rushed to the cell, they were once so happy to escape. Sparrow was the last, leaving one of the pins in the door. Hoping that would keep it open. There were two sets of steps. One slow and steady, the other a little bouncy. Sparrow cocked her gun behind her back, trying very hard to look unhappy.
"Good evening ladies." Said a cheerfully chubby sailor who had to be at least 50. In his arms he had something wrapped in canvas and behind him another skinnier sailor bounced with two large bottles of something. Sparrow idly hoped it was vodka. "Are ye enjoying yer stay on our Sweet Becky?" He looked up with a smug smile and for a moment Sparrow wanted to shoot him right there. "Ah well, you never got to see'er from 'er best angle." He trailed off, stepping around the room, straightening a knick- knack, and taking his sweet time to give them whatever it was that he carried in his arms.
"Pardon me, mister..."
"David Baker." He looked pleased to get a sweet smile from Pogo. She was pretty after all and there was no knowing how long the men had been at sea.
"Pardon me, mister Baker. But might you be willing to answer a question for me?" The man took a step closer and gave her a genuine smile.
"For a pretty girl like you? Of course." Sparrow glanced over at the skinny lad who gave the girls nervous looks. Sparrow followed his eye from Pogo to Dani to Roxy then down to the lock. His eyes widened and he opened his mouth but Pogo beat him to the punch.
"Could you tell me if this is a game?" The man Baker threw her a confused look but shrugged it off.
"Dav--"
"I'm sorry," he shook his head sadly. "But this is no game. Captain Tyler plans to--"
"David--"
"Samuel, shut yer gob. I'm talkin' 'ere." Sparrow exchanged glances with the boy.
"Yeah Samuel. Shut yer gob." She gave him a wink as Baker tried his charms on Pogo.
"Truly, I feel sorry for you girls. I'm sure y'all weren't really a bad bunch but once the good Captain sets his mind to something, he won't let it go. I'm sorry."
"Me too..." Pogo ran a hand along the bar that separated her face from Baker's and savored the emotions that passed over his face, confusion, realization, and then the wide-eyed terror. Pogo squeezed the trigger and released the bullet into his chest, he let out a sigh before toppling to the ground. Sparrow took her cue and kicked the door open in a most dramatic way. The boy Samuel stood, still as a deer in the headlights, the sadistic smile playing on her lips.
"Good day to you. Samuel? It is Samuel, right?"
"Mr. Crowe." The anger flashed in his eyes but his once fidgety body went completely still. Sparrow knew that he could have made an attempt on her life had he not three guns pointed at him.
"Well, Mr. Crowe, I suppose you're wondering what we're doing."
"I dunnae haveta wonder. Yer pirates." Sparrow furrowed her eyebrows.
"Oh come now, Mr. Crowe. As the late Mr. Baker once said, 'Y'all weren't really a bad bunch.' We really aren't that bad. However, we will do whatever we can to get where we need to be." The realization came over Samuel in a wave.
"Yer plannin' ta steal the ship."
"That's right, Sammy. Now, you can either help us or we can kill you."
"I'd rather die than help a pirate--" With the whoosh of muffled recoil, a bullet was set between Samuel Crowe's brows.
"Hey! He was rather cute." Dani commented with a mock remorse. Sparrow rolled her eyes.
"He's yours if you want him. Don't think he'll be much fun in bed though."
"You're sick."
......
An hour later, the girls were once again, shoved into the small cell. Stripped of the lot of their weapons.
"Thirty-six." Sparrow mused out loud as she reclined back onto the cell floor. "Not bad. A few more and we might have gained control." She turned to the two sailors that had been assigned to keep watch on them and gave them a contented smile. "Would you have helped us, boys?" One glanced down to the floor and blushed and Sparrow's smile widened as his friend pushed him over to a corner of the room.
"Don't talk to them, they're pirates." Sparrow gave a little laugh and turned her attention to the other cell where Dani was set on complaining.
"Now, why does she get a cell to herself when we're all stuck together?" Dani turned to Sparrow and Sparrow could see the mischief in her eyes.
"Because I'm special." Dani stuck her tongue out and Sparrow returned the favor before turning back to the ceiling and letting herself grow familiar with the patterns of the tarred wood. If Gin was right, and if they were being sent to the Spanish, if something had really happened. She sure had a lot to sort out.
Never in her life had Sparrow seen Gin come to life than when Captain Fitch had uttered the word Spanish.
"You can't! You bastards!" She was pulled beneath the deck, fighting her two sailors the whole way, getting her kicks in where she could, screaming in all her languages, mainly Spanish and English. Behind Gin, Dani, Roxy and then Pogo were led into the mysterious bowels of the ship. With a shove from the sailor behind her, Sparrow sighed and let herself be calmly led to the 'brigs'. She had grown far too familiar with this routine. Once led into a painstakingly accurate model of a ships 'prison' she was shoved into a cell with the four other women. Three looked up to her but Gin was curled in a corner whispering and mumbling.
"They're taking us to the Spanish..." She said out loud as soon as the sailors had left the girls. "They're taking us to the Spanish..." Gin looked up to Sparrow with glassy eyes. "Do you have any fucking idea what the Spanish did to pirates in the 1700s?!" Sparrow shrugged.
"Slapped them on the hand and sent them to bed without their dinner?" She turned away from the girl. She had cracked far sooner then Sparrow had expected, she had misjudged Gin by a great deal.
"Gin, it's not real. None of it is real. Once we reach some mainland, I'm sure they'll let us go." She could hear Roxy's soothing, relaxed voice, an octave higher than it should have been. "It's all just a game. They'll come down soon and apologize for what they've done. Especially with those tears in your eyes." There was a light laugh. Sparrow let out a huff and gave her best attempt to push a stray tangle from her eye. She studied the dungeon closely, the cage was primitive at best, easily escapable. If only she could get out of the damned ropes. They were giving her splinters in her wrist every time she moved.
"No, you don't understand. It is real. It's all real. It's all real." There was the sound of sobbing and the hushed voices of both Dani and Roxy.
"Pogo." Sparrow whispered to the pink haired figure standing near her. Lord knew she would hardly be able to talk to anyone else at that time without being called a heartless bitch. The girl stepped next to her.
"You rang?"
"What do you have on you?" Sparrow continued to study the cell, the lock, the bags in the corner, if only she could get to her bags.
"My Remmingtons, two .38PSs, one Glock, my Baby B, four switchblades and my throwing knives." Sparrow looked over and studied the woman beside her, the yellow cargos and the god-awful green and blue plaid coat.
"My god. Where do you keep it?" She asked in amazement, her crew was surprising her. Pogo gave her the fearsome smirk.
"My secret." Sparrow returned the smile, she had chosen Pogo just for that smirk...well, that and the fact that the girl was an excellent shot with a thriving interest in modern maritime piracy.
"Okay, well, I'm going to need you for just a second. There are two double edges in my wrist sheaths, I'm going to need you to cut my ropes, they're killing me." She turned her back to Pogo and allowed the girl to feel around with her fingers. She felt the steel slip against her skin and the new freedom in her wrists as the girl cut the ropes. She fidgeted around for a bit, feeling a first thread, a second, and after a good half an hour of positioning and repositioning themselves, Sparrow's hands were finally free. She moved her hands around a bit, then her shoulders before turning to Pogo and freeing her somewhat quickly from the ropes. With a flick of her wrists, both knives were in her grasp. She handed one to Pogo, hilt first and without another word, the girls moved to cut the other ropes.
Within the hour, everyone was free of her binds and sitting in their respectable corners of the cell. Well, except for Roxy who was still sitting with Gin, trying to convince her that it was a game.
"No, you didn't see it." Gin shook her head and starred at the floor.
"What was it?" Roxy asked in her most maternal tone.
"A rat."
"A rat?" Sparrow could hear the slight hint of exasperation in Roxy's voice.
"Yes."
"What's the big fucking deal? Ships get rats all the time. Why should this time be so different?" Pogo had grown somewhat tired of the ranting and Roxy's need to be maternal.
"No, that's the thing. If this were a model of a merchant sloop, they'd have kept it in top shape. They wouldn't have allowed any rats on board. Something this close to the real thing is a rare commodity; they wouldn't have let it go to shit like they have on this one. They wouldn't have bound us either, or kicked Dani." Sparrow glanced up at Dani, whose skin developed an embarrassed blush.
"They kicked you, Dani?" The girl only looked down at the floor. "Daniella," the girl's head jerked up at the use of her full name. "Did they kick you?" The girl only nodded. Something ran over Sparrow's body, something that hadn't made an appearance in a long time. A fear of doubt and the unknown. There was a tense silence in the cell. Everyone in a rush of their own doubts, it seemed to pulse through the walls, seep through the tar and wood. There was no more of that lovely cedar scent, just the silence and the tar.
"I have this theory about the whole thing." Gin said after some time of watching everybody stare intently at the floor. She seemed to have regained some of her former composure. Everybody's head jerked up at her sudden voice. Even she expected less calm out of herself. She let out a nervous cough. "That the 1700s was a time of innovation, right? Movement and such." She waited for an affirmation from any of the girls but all of them, even Roxy, just gave her blank stares. "As is the 1900s. It's a time of constant movement, constant innovation, and constant social changes. The times are so similar when you get down to it. And what if, perhaps, the Bermuda triangle really did exist. I'm sure if you were able to look on a map, you'd be able to find that our ship was near all the other crashes. Maybe, it was just our bad luck. See?" Dani stood up from her place and leaned against the bars of her new prison, finally being able to see how really small it was.
"But why this time? The Roman Empire was similar to the 1900s too. Why not just transfer us back then? What motivation would be behind us?"
"Maybe there is no motivation, maybe it's all just a series of events. Depending on what you believe, fate or free will." Sparrow finally stood up, she wasn't going to allow a philosophical debate to go on while she was still planning the escape and take-over of the Sweet Rebecca.
"It doesn't matter. It wasn't our free will to be caught in the cage. We need to get out." She carefully stepped over three sets of legs on her way to the door where Dani leaned. The girl moved over as Sparrow got to her knees and finally got a closer look at the lock. "Alright, Dani, I'm going to need that stupid butterfly clip in your hair."
"It's not stupid. It's pretty." Dani remarked plainly as she undid the pin from her hair and handed it over to Sparrow.
"It's pink and glittery and made for a two year old. The other one too."
"Not if you're going to talk about it like that, no."
"No?" Sparrow straightened and looked straight into the mint colored eyes of the girl next to her.
"Say it's pretty." Sparrow rolled her eyes so hard she thought they might roll out of her head.
"Fine. It's pretty. Now give it to me." Dani pouted and handed her the other clip. "Great. Now, all we need is a little..." She trailed off as she felt for certain clicks, nudges. "Yes." With a protesting squeal the door opened. Before the poor door could even open all the way, Sparrow had made a beeline for her bag, Pogo and Dani doing the same. It was like Christmas for Sparrow as she pulled out a few extra clips and a muffler. She attached the latter to her Browning; with the clips she'd be able to kill the whole crew without so much as an explosion. She wasn't sure what had led her to her decision to take over the ship. She blamed the information that she had received just a few minutes ago. They had kicked Dani, and while Sparrow didn't particularly care for Dani, it still meant that the people they were dealing with were enemies to them. By the time she looked up from her weapon she saw that the girls were fondling their toys as well. Just then, her ears picked up on something, a slight rustling in the stairs above them. "Shit." She whispered under her breath. "Everybody, back in the cage." The girls rushed to the cell, they were once so happy to escape. Sparrow was the last, leaving one of the pins in the door. Hoping that would keep it open. There were two sets of steps. One slow and steady, the other a little bouncy. Sparrow cocked her gun behind her back, trying very hard to look unhappy.
"Good evening ladies." Said a cheerfully chubby sailor who had to be at least 50. In his arms he had something wrapped in canvas and behind him another skinnier sailor bounced with two large bottles of something. Sparrow idly hoped it was vodka. "Are ye enjoying yer stay on our Sweet Becky?" He looked up with a smug smile and for a moment Sparrow wanted to shoot him right there. "Ah well, you never got to see'er from 'er best angle." He trailed off, stepping around the room, straightening a knick- knack, and taking his sweet time to give them whatever it was that he carried in his arms.
"Pardon me, mister..."
"David Baker." He looked pleased to get a sweet smile from Pogo. She was pretty after all and there was no knowing how long the men had been at sea.
"Pardon me, mister Baker. But might you be willing to answer a question for me?" The man took a step closer and gave her a genuine smile.
"For a pretty girl like you? Of course." Sparrow glanced over at the skinny lad who gave the girls nervous looks. Sparrow followed his eye from Pogo to Dani to Roxy then down to the lock. His eyes widened and he opened his mouth but Pogo beat him to the punch.
"Could you tell me if this is a game?" The man Baker threw her a confused look but shrugged it off.
"Dav--"
"I'm sorry," he shook his head sadly. "But this is no game. Captain Tyler plans to--"
"David--"
"Samuel, shut yer gob. I'm talkin' 'ere." Sparrow exchanged glances with the boy.
"Yeah Samuel. Shut yer gob." She gave him a wink as Baker tried his charms on Pogo.
"Truly, I feel sorry for you girls. I'm sure y'all weren't really a bad bunch but once the good Captain sets his mind to something, he won't let it go. I'm sorry."
"Me too..." Pogo ran a hand along the bar that separated her face from Baker's and savored the emotions that passed over his face, confusion, realization, and then the wide-eyed terror. Pogo squeezed the trigger and released the bullet into his chest, he let out a sigh before toppling to the ground. Sparrow took her cue and kicked the door open in a most dramatic way. The boy Samuel stood, still as a deer in the headlights, the sadistic smile playing on her lips.
"Good day to you. Samuel? It is Samuel, right?"
"Mr. Crowe." The anger flashed in his eyes but his once fidgety body went completely still. Sparrow knew that he could have made an attempt on her life had he not three guns pointed at him.
"Well, Mr. Crowe, I suppose you're wondering what we're doing."
"I dunnae haveta wonder. Yer pirates." Sparrow furrowed her eyebrows.
"Oh come now, Mr. Crowe. As the late Mr. Baker once said, 'Y'all weren't really a bad bunch.' We really aren't that bad. However, we will do whatever we can to get where we need to be." The realization came over Samuel in a wave.
"Yer plannin' ta steal the ship."
"That's right, Sammy. Now, you can either help us or we can kill you."
"I'd rather die than help a pirate--" With the whoosh of muffled recoil, a bullet was set between Samuel Crowe's brows.
"Hey! He was rather cute." Dani commented with a mock remorse. Sparrow rolled her eyes.
"He's yours if you want him. Don't think he'll be much fun in bed though."
"You're sick."
......
An hour later, the girls were once again, shoved into the small cell. Stripped of the lot of their weapons.
"Thirty-six." Sparrow mused out loud as she reclined back onto the cell floor. "Not bad. A few more and we might have gained control." She turned to the two sailors that had been assigned to keep watch on them and gave them a contented smile. "Would you have helped us, boys?" One glanced down to the floor and blushed and Sparrow's smile widened as his friend pushed him over to a corner of the room.
"Don't talk to them, they're pirates." Sparrow gave a little laugh and turned her attention to the other cell where Dani was set on complaining.
"Now, why does she get a cell to herself when we're all stuck together?" Dani turned to Sparrow and Sparrow could see the mischief in her eyes.
"Because I'm special." Dani stuck her tongue out and Sparrow returned the favor before turning back to the ceiling and letting herself grow familiar with the patterns of the tarred wood. If Gin was right, and if they were being sent to the Spanish, if something had really happened. She sure had a lot to sort out.