Chapter 21
"Look, Ana." Jack whispered, "It's the Pearl."
"They aren't going to pull up into Port are they?" she asked worriedly.
"No. They'll stop at the designated barrier. The Navy won't come out to get them unless they cross the border." It was all Jack could look at, the Black Pearl was his ship, his pass to freedom. Onboard he was their Captain, in charge of looking out for all of his crew, but in his heart he knew the Pearl was watching out for him.
"Do you really believe that, Captain?" Anamaria asked wrly. They both knew the Navy would jump at the opportunity to capture the Pearl and her crew. She rolled her eyes at his look of excitement.
That long ago day when he first boarded her he knew there was something different about her than other ships. She had spirit and it would take a strong man to guide her through the ocean. Once that man was found she would do anything for him and trust him through thick and thin. Jack Sparrow was that man and the Pearl and he had an accord.
Anamaria heard a slight rustle at the door and she wasn't all too surprised to see Norrington standing there. She motioned for him to meet her in the hallway, Jack was too enamored of the Pearl to notice her leave. Anamaria wasn't offended, it was his way, he often stopped in the middle of a sentence or seemed to go daft when he saw the black sails of his ship.
"You've decided then?" she asked not wanting to go through all the small talk.
"I have. I'll be coming with you on the Pearl, this decision doesn't offend you, does it?" he inquired hesitantly. "Has Jack consulted you on the matter?" Norrington was always the gentleman putting other before himself. Anamaria put the man at ease.
"Not at all, James. It was your decision to make, after all. We'll be happy to have you onboard." She used his name on purpose, he was another member of the crew now and although it would take awhile for him to get used to the differences between Navy Captain and pirate, he would pull through admirably.
"I just have one question to ask about Jack and that's all I'll ever say on the matter." He looked down for a moment trying to decide how to delicately ask.
"You want to know if Jack's sane, do you not?"
"Yes, how did you know?"
"I've been asked this by many people, some of them would have been crew members had it not been for my answer. I won't fabricate or lollygag around for you but the truth is, yes Jack is daft but not in the way you might imagine him to be." She paused to gather her thoughts.
"Jack Sparrow and the Pearl have a bond that no one will ever be able to break. When he makes a decision regarding his ship he is absolutely sure that the outcome will be in our favor or he'll consult us on what we want to do. That's the kind of Captain he is, mostly he'll let us do what we do best and say naught regarding how the Pearl is run, but when it comes to battle we do as he says."
"I figured as much." James agreed, he had seen that already from when Jack sailed the Interceptor.
"As to the way he walks and sometimes speaks. . . while the rest of your crew were fumbling around on deck didn't you notice that Jack stands as straight as you would on land? He's so attuned to the way the ocean moves, he is as unsteady on land as you are sometimes onboard. People often mistake that for drunkenness but what you're seeing is the imitation of how the currents and waves roll. That man was born and bred for sea life and it's evident in his every motion. He, like the rest of us, has been through many things in his life and he is able to cloak a lot of it with different characters, if you will. It's a security to us for others to mistake him as a pirate whose invested in too much rum rather than the bloody brilliant man he is."
"I see." James now had no further questions, all had been answered by Anamaria who was every bit as enamored of the sea as Jack was. While she could curb her walk, he noticed that her speech, also, changed with the depth of her emotions. Onboard she made sure to talk like a sailor, coarse language and a cockney accent, but when alone with Will, Elizabeth, he, or Jack he saw that she could speak as properly as any of them.
"'ello, Norrington." Jack had a spring to his step and an excitement to his eyes. "Ready to set sail?"
"Yes, everything is in order. You'll be wanting to say goodbye to William and Elizabeth, won't you?" there was almost a reprimand in his voice, that greatly amused Jack who had never been reprimanded by one of his own crew save for Anamaria. James would be a fine addition to their crew, while he was grateful now Jack was sure that they would butt heads often in the future. He looked forward to it, after all, on deck there wasn't much to do if there wasn't a storm or ship to take over.