Author's note: Sorry this one isn't as long- um…there's a lot of flashbacks to past chapters…only tidbits though- And I'm pretty sure I made it pretty clear, but if not, review and tell me.
Jack stood staring at his first mate for a minute or two before actually saying something. "How could you let that happen?" He said, pronouncing each word very clearly, but in an even tone.
"We're not quite sure ourselves. The lass was gone…she was sittin' by us…and then she was gone…And me and Gibbs went lookin' for 'er, and at the last minute, he saw the other ship takin' her down below…"
"And someone who looked like Ms. Gwen…"
They paused and then Gibbs said, "Ana even dove in, poor lass, thinkin' she could catch 'em."
Jack looked at both of them and nodded. His temper towards them going down. That girl had never followed directions very well anyway. This happened in Tortuga a couple months earlier. She wondered off the ship, wanting to 'look around' and see Jack, but luckily for her he was on his way back.
"Thanks mates, I know that you tried. But we've got to go after her…after both of them."
"Point Fortin?" Ana asked.
"Point Fortin."
We killed everyone…
They would have absolutely NO way of knowing, you're safe…
What the heck does Will know anyways? Gwyneth thought to herself. She sat alone in a dark cabin. At least they put her in a cabin instead of the brig. They had cleaned up the wounds they had caused, or at least tried to clean them up. She pushed them and was rude and stepped on their feet, which only caused her to be back handed, but they soon left. Why do they want me? I gave them the stupid map! Why don't they let me go! She whined.
Before she could go on further, she heard a child screaming and yelling. She pressed her ear up to the door, I know that voice… she thought. She started pounding on the door.
"Let me out!" she yelled. A few minutes later the door opened and she stepped back. A man who was tall, had a rough beard and had huge muscles everywhere. There was a short man behind him and he shoved a little girl at her.
She didn't even look down but glared at the men in front of her while wet tears soaked through her dress. "What did you do to her?"
"I made her be quiet," The short one said.
"That's no way to treat a little girl!"
The large man's hand lifted up, acting like he was going to hit her. She flinched, "That's a warnin' novia. Next time you might not be so lucky."
"Yea! Not so lucky!" the little one spouted out. The two left and she was finally alone with Brenda. She bent down and looked at her wet face. She was trying to grab on to Gwen, but she needed to look at her face. "Hold on baby, hold on."
There was a red mark on her cheek, but nothing serious. Gwyneth allowed her to come and wrap her arms around her neck, and Gwyneth picked up the small child and walked over to the cot in the corner in the room. She started to rock her, trying to calm her down.
Why was she in Port Royal? Because if Brenda was here, that would mean Jack was. Well there's my hope. He's no doubt found out about his daughter being kidnapped…he'll be on our tail. She found comfort in that, and that she could tell the little girl that. She needed to be strong during this time though. She needed to be strong for Brenda. They needed to focus their attention on her, not Brenda. She wouldn't allow anything but that.
"Beverly, I don't understand, why kidnap the little girl?" Joel had asked. He was deemed Captain. The man with the muscles was Jordan, he was first mate. The little short guy was Jonathan, who had no real title, and was mostly good for swabbing the deck.
"Because then Jack Sparrow will come after us."
"And we want that why?" Craig asked. He was one of the crew members that Beverly liked but didn't like. He was nice, sweet but obnoxious. She knew that he'd take pity on the little girl, and she made sure that only Jordan and Jonathan would take 'care' of them.
"Because then we can kill him and his crew when we're immortal. Savvy?" Joel and Craig looked at each other. Beverly stared at both of them, "That's not going to be a choice- it's an order."
"Aye." Joel said and they both left.
*****
When Jack finally did shove off, which was no longer than a half an hour later, he had acquired two new people. Will and Elizabeth. He had argued about her being on the ship, but she said that she hadn't seen her husband for three weeks and she wasn't about to let him go 'gallivanting around the Caribbean' without her here to protect him.
"Her protect him." He mumbled, finally allowing it, "Yea right." The only condition that she was allowed to stay under was that if she practiced with Will and Ana Maria with sword fighting everyday. She agreed.
"Jack, my clothes don't fall out of the sky you know!" Ana Maria complained.
"The way I see it is you owe me, and you will do whatever I want you to do, savvy? And anyways, after this trip, you can go buy yer self a whole bloody store if you need to. We'll have the treasure."
"Ah…so another perk to goin' to get yer daughter…" Ana said smiling. Jack nodded and then left to his cabin. He needed to have a drink. Badly.
But not long after he had shut his door, gotten a bottle of rum out of his cabinet and then sat in his desk chair with his feet crossed, on top of his desk- did Elizabeth barge in.
"Jack Sparrow!"
But he cut her off, he was not in the best mood now, and he didn't need Elizabeth in here yelling at him, "No Mrs. Turner- Don't say it. I don't want to hear yer 'hole bloody philosophy on how rum is bad, and I don't want to hear how you think I'm drinkin' me self into a hole because I know exactly what I'm doin' and I know exactly why. It's because my ex lover took me daughter and one of the FEW women that I care for at this moment- so don't come in here and 'Jack Sparrow' me because honestly- I don't want to hear it!"
"But Jack-"
"No! I didn't want to hear it then and I really don't want to hear it now. I want to enjoy my rum the best I can at the moment without bein' interrupted by a woman tellin' me what to do!"
Jack noted the look Elizabeth was getting on her face. The look of determination, but Jack was more stubborn.
"But you don't-"
"No, no, no! You don't understand me, Mrs. Turner- I don't want company and I don't want to be interrupted. I don't want you talkin' to me about my wrong ways and I don't want to care at this point in time. You have already argued yer way on to this ship for god knows WHAT reason- because the people in yer town, including the new Governor don't look highly on their town's people of such high status goin' on the most known pirate ship in the Caribbean! I didn't want to bring you along and by my good graces, which I have few left, you have made it on this ship with yer husband, and so I would appreciate if that's the last favor you would ask of me or the last thing you said to me TODAY. I'm in a blasted bad mood and I'm goin' to be in a bad mood- so please leave before I say anything else that I will regret later." His request struck Elizabeth. She had been hurt from his words, but hearing that he already regretted what he had said made her feel better.
She nodded and left. She just wanted to talk to him. She had realized that she had a reputation for being pushy and overbearing. She always knew she was, but not to this much extent. She sighed and went to her cabin to change; she and Will had a sword lesson.
Sleep came to Gwyneth later that night. Brenda fell asleep fast after they had brought in bread and water. Animals. She thought to herself. She had calmed down after an hour of crying and had fell asleep in Gwyneth's arms. She found no comfort in hearing that her father was going to come after her. Gwyneth thought it was probably because she thought she was going to get in trouble.
Brenda wasn't the only one frightened by the fact that Jack was coming. Gwyneth wasn't ever planning on seeing Jack ever again. Was she really that scared of seeing him again? What if I can't leave this time? She thought, sighing. But for whatever reason they had taken both her and Brenda, it wasn't going to turn out well. One of them was going to be hurt…seriously.
Not like she didn't consider a dagger going into her abdomen a serious injury, but this time someone might not make it out alive. If only I could find a way to know what they're going to do to me. Or to Brenda. Why they kidnapped us after they got the map… she thought to herself as she stroked Brenda's dark hair.
She looked out her porthole, the moon was up but the ship was still going through the water. They aren't stopping for anything. Would Jack follow them this long? All day and all night?
I'm her only family.
She's the reason I keep going… Gwyneth thought back to Jack's words as sleep threatened to take her away from her thoughts of rescue. She tightened her grip on Brenda, determined to not let anything happen to her.
Is Brenda okay?
Thank you…for what you did…defendin' her an' all.
There was no other choice…I couldn't let him hurt her…
I'm not important…Captain…thanks for rescuing me…
Those were the last thought Gwyneth had while awake. She had a dream that night about the captain, but not the thing she would've expected.
She was on the Pearl but she was in her cabin with Ana Maria. Ana was taping up her hand, it had blood all over it, and she had put a cloth over it.
"What'd you do?" she asked.
"I have my orders…order are to rescue you and Brenda and I did. Too bad you…ah, nevermind."
"Where is Jack?"
"Oh, don't be going and talkin' to him now, lass."
"Why not?"
"Don't you remember my advice to ye when you first got on board? I told you not to fall in love with him! And what do you go out and do?"
"I'm not in love with him."
"Prove it."
Gwyneth paused. "I can reassure you that I'm not. Nathan just-"
"Yes, yes, we all know about dear Nathan, but nonetheless, you have fallen in love. But remember this young missy, when a guy sweeps you off yer feet he's in the perfect position to drop you on yer butt."
Gwyneth woke up, suddenly, the words echoing in her ears. She looked around; she was still in the cabin and Brenda lying next to her, sleeping soundly. She sighed and rubbed her forehead with her free hand. What a strange dream…
Will stood on the deck of the Pearl and looked out into the night sky. The sea was calm and the ship made no sound except for the hull crashing against the calm waves. A crew member that Will recognized but didn't know was steering the ship and had been for at least an hour.
He lay on the deck, back down, looking at the stars. That was possibly his favorite thing to do when he was a child. He hadn't done it in some time and was glad that the opportunity finally arose.
He had been thinking of what Elizabeth had told him about what Jack said to her. Elizabeth could be pushy some times, but it was from the heart. She was trying to look out for Jack, a man that it had taken a long time to trust and a long time to be able to call him a friend. She cared about his well being, surely he knew that.
But from what Elizabeth had said, Jack wasn't acting himself. He hadn't been out of his cabin since he went in. Will could understand that he was in a foul disposition because of Brenda being taken, but something else was on top of that. Something more than his daughter. Something more to add to his stress.
A light went on in Will's head, Gwyneth! He smacked himself, why hadn't he thought of that before? And the fact that Beverly was on that ship probably didn't help…I wonder why she was there. Jack didn't tell me much- but he doesn't know a whole lot either.
That must be horrible, finding out the woman you once lived with- even loved married a man who threatened the life of one of your friends…and then he intended on killing Gwyneth. Maybe he's worried that Beverly is going to hurt Brenda…or Gwyneth or both.
Not much good worryin' will do for you
Jack's philosophy to life- well one of them. I guess he's not really the worrying type. You can't really afford to worry when you're a pirate Captain- you have to be strong and fearless. Will sighed, I wonder if Jack was ever a normal MAN. Not just a pirate or a Captain, but just a man. I wonder if he's still under the pirate Captain image…
The next morning Jack surfaced from his cabin to find the ship quiet except the one man who was steering. "Will, what are you doin' up there?" He said in an exasperated tone.
"Steering. What does it look like?"
"Yes, but why? You haven't ever steered a ship."
"It's not that hard."
"Say that when it's stormy." Jack said, looking out into the ocean. Will studied his face and noticed how old he looked at this moment. He seemed to have developed wrinkles over night and the bags under his eyes that were usually hidden under his kohl, now seemed to have weights attached to them. Will figured it had been a hard night.
"I think we're catching up…" Will said. Jack turned to him and then looked toward the front of the ship. He ran to the bow. "That's her alright." Jack shouted to Will. He walked back to him, "But we're a long ways off. They're closer to the island. They'll be there before nightfall."
"And us?"
Jack looked at him, "And us…we need to speed up."
"How?"
Jack sighed, thinking, "We'll lose some stuff- and then we'll bring out the oars. Then by the time they get to the island we should be about ten, twenty minutes behind them…hopefully."
Will paused before asked, "What do you think is going to happen?"
Jack shrugged, "In that much time? Anything could."
Author Thanks:
Dizzie*Lizzie: YAY! A new reviewer…or did I already say 'yay' for you? I can't remember, but I'm glad you like my story and it's fine that you didn't review right away- I'm just glad you finally did!
ThePinkPanther: Well yea…she took Gwen and Brenda…and as to if their okay…or going to be okay- well just keep reading!
Luckysusan99: Sorry it took me so long! I'm glad you liked my chapter!
Dawnie-7: Brenda is cute isn't she? Well she's going to be a pest to the Spanish pirates sooner or later- but she's still adorable.