Chapter 8
Disclaimer: Not mine.
Author's Note: Love to all and Merry Christmas! Oh, fair warning, this chapter is a little racy. I had some champagne when I wrote this, and I think it shows. Yes, I am 21. 22, in fact. But good writing comes from experience. Besides, we are talking about a pirate, a Tortuga whore, and their daughter all sitting in a room together. It was only a matter of time before it happened. My thought is, if you're too young, naive, inexperienced, or any combination of the three you won't really understand what they're saying. No harm, no foul, right?
She slept the rest of the way to the country home as clouds moved in from the north. The first drops began to fall as they entered the gate of the sprawling country mansion. The servants began racing around as soon as they stopped before the heavy wooden front door, attempting to get everything inside before it began raining in earnest. A boy came, taking Norrington's horse, and he moved to help the Turners out of the carriage. He was just reaching for Pearl when a man in suit coat walked up to Will and asked, "Commodore?"
"That would be me," Norrington called over his shoulder, turning toward the man with the still slumbering Pearl in his arms as Elizabeth giggled.
"Apologies, Sir," the man answered, hurrying over to him with a bow. Norrington bowed back as well as he could with Pearl still in his arms. "I am Master Nethers."
"Ah, a pleasure to meet you at last," Norrington said, remembering the name from the papers he'd received.
"And you, Sir. Um, is the young Miss quite all right?"
"What? Oh, Pearl, yes. She's fine. Just exhausted from the journey." Jack took her from his arms. "That is the young lady we're rehabilitating."
"Of course," the man answered, sounding anything but certain. "My wife, Merideth, will show her to her room," he added, mostioning a portly woman who had been eagerly greeting Midge under the cover of the porch.
"Hell's bells, if he ain't the very picture of hims mother," the woman remarked, studying him.
"The girl?" Nethers reminded her.
"'Course. This way," she said, eyes remaining on Norrington as long as they could as she led Jack and Diamond into the house.
"Would you like to come inside, Sir?" Nethers asked as the rain began to firm.
"Of course," Norrington agreed, following the man up the steps and into the white marble foyer, Elizabeth and Will in tow.
"If I may ask, Sir, how long do you plan to stay?"
Norrington shrugged, eyes on the room around him. "Long as it takes for Pearl to get well."
"Very good. And our guests will include?"
"Oh, I'm sorry. Um, Pearl of course, but she won't be too much trouble. She can barely move now. Jack is her father. He was the one that took her upstairs. The women is Dia--er--Di," he corrected quickly. Pearl might pass for a noble woman's name, but Diamond would never do. He wasn't sure how closely they were going to hold their guests' true identity secret, but it wouldn't do to advertise. "She's the girl's mother. And these are the Turners. Will and his wife, Elizabeth."
"Pleasure," the man told them. "So four rooms?"
Norrington began to nod, thinking how beautiful the house really was and wondering why he hadn't visited before, then stopped. "Um, no. Five rooms. Jack and Di are not, um, together you could say."
The man looked a bit confused, but nodded as Jack reappeared from upstairs with Diamond behind him. "Pearl's settled," he announced. "Still sound asleep. Will be until noon tomorrow, I should think."
"We should enjoy the relative peace until then," Elizabeth remarked.
Will snorted. "I shouldn't think Jack will allow that."
This earned a grin from Jack. "Actually, I'm so tired I might well just eat and get some rest. I never realized how exhausting this traveling over land really was. I mean, I could get five times as far on the Black Pearl and not break a sweat."
"Well, it appears you're in the right profession. What do you say, Master Nethers? Might we find a good meal and soft bed?"
"Indeed, my Lord," he answered.
They all slept exceedingly well that night. The next day started off peacefully enough until Pearl awoke. Elizabeth wanted her to stay in bed to recover from the trip, and Pearl wanted to explore the house, or at least go down to the library. Elizabeth refused. Jack pleaded her case, Diamond cut him off, and Will opted to stay well out of it.
Tiring of the yelling quickly Norrington explored the house, the continuing rain keeping him inside. The small mansion was sprawling and comfortable, and Norrington found himself planning to visit it far more often. He even considered bringing Maggie for their honeymoon, although he decided against making any final decisions in fear of Pearl's ghost finding a permanent home in the halls.
He found Will in an open foyer, practicing with a sword. He considered joining him, but decided he didn't feel like being beaten senseless by Will Turner.
He returned to the library to find Jack spread out on the couch with a book in hand. Even dressed in simple cloths lounging barefoot he looked halfway decent, almost as if he were a proper Lord. Norrington shuttered at the thought.
Diamond sat below him, attempting to catch some of the light cast by the candelabra since the murky light coming in the window was sadly useless. There was something about the situation that caught his eye. Jack was uncharacteristically mellow, and there was a mussed look to Diamond's hair and dress. Deciding that he didn't want to think about that sort of thing and the presence of Elizabeth in the corner, studying the titles, made the scene innocent enough.
"Is the war over?" he asked Jack, leaning in to read over his shoulder.
"Temporary truce," Jack answered, turning a page. "Pearl sent Elizabeth after a book."
"Maybe I'll stop in before the screaming starts," he remarked, rubbing his eyes. Reading over Jack's shoulder in meager light certainly did nothing for him.
He was just entering the foyer when a loud racket on the stairs brought him, along with two or three servants, into the room at a run. He found Pearl pooled on the first landing, sitting up gingerly and rubbing at the back of her head. Norrington sprang up the stairs three at a time until he was crouching beside her. She had a nasty bump on her head, judging from the wincing way she moved her left arm there was probably another on her elbow, and her right ankle had an odd turn to it. "Pearl, tell me you didn't try to get down the stairs alone," Norrington ordered.
"All right. I didn't try to get down the stairs alone."
"Good. Who helped you?"
She shrugged. "Me, myself, and I."
"Pearl! You lied to me!"
"You told me to!" she answered. Suddenly her eyes focused behind him and she softly said, "Uh-oh."
"Pearl Sparrow!"
"Hiya Lizzie. Fancy meeting you here," Pearl greeted with a grin.
"Don't Lizzie me! You promised to stay put!" Elizabeth lectured.
Pearl shrugged. "I lied. I'm a pirate."
"Pearl!" Diamond cried. "That is no excuse. You have got to learn to take things slowly."
Jack pushed past the girls to kneel on Pearl's other side. "Never this one," he remarked with a mocking grin. "It's not in her nature."
"Perhaps she should learn," Diamond suggested.
"Well, this will be a lesson," Jack remarked. "Let me see," he ordered, bending her head forward so he could examine the growing bump with gentle fingers. "I think you'll survive. What else have you wounded yourself?"
She sighed as she shifted. "I think I bruised my elbow and there's something wrong with my leg."
He shook his head as he moved to examine her ankle. Blushing lightly Norrington looked away. "Edward?" He turned to find Pearl grinning at him, obviously fighting laughter. "You've seen a good deal more than my ankle before this."
"That does not make it appropriate now," he replied.
"Isn't he just too sweet?" she asked her father.
"Oh, aye. You'd best be careful or I'll steal him away," Jack answered.
"You'll excuse me if I'm not overly concern-ow! Careful!" she cried suddenly.
"Luv, I wasn't anywhere near your ankle," he answered. Carefully he pushed the skirt further up, and groaned. Just below her knee her leg most have come in contact with the stairs. A bright red patch stood out on her leg, already earning a greenish hue. "That's going to hurt," he remarked. "Might slow up your getting back up on your feet."
"Ah, but you forget one thing, luv," Pearl announced, throwing her arms wide. "I'm Pearl Sparrow, savvy?"
Jack rolled his eyes. "It doesn't sound that sad when I do it."
"Yes it does!" Pearl, Norrington, Will, and Elizabeth all answered at once.
"Now that hurts. It really does," Jack informed them, pressing a hand to his chest. "Well, luv, I dare say you're going to live. Might hurt a bit, but that's nothing you've ever feared before so I'm hardly concerned for you now." He lifted her carefully into his arms. "Might as well go down now, I suppose, since you're half there now."
"No, Jack!" Elizabeth cried. "If you give into her she'll do that same thing again just to get her own way."
"Lizzie, I'm not a puppy, and I'm not a petulant five-year-old," Pearl told her. "And if I did end up back upstairs I would do the same thing regardless."
"No, darling," Diamond broke in. "You mustn't, dear. Please, no more tumbles down stairs. You might have broken your neck."
Pearl chuckled up at her mother. "The good Lord above, or whoever it is that's in charge of this sort of thing, has decided he doesn't want me once. It doesn't seem he, she, or it would be changing its mind this quickly."
"You shouldn't tempt fate," Norrington remarked.
Pearl laughed at that. "I'm a pirate. I make a living tempting fate. At least when I'm not too busy tempting handsome Commodores."
"Where do you find handsome ones?" Jack asked as he carried her into the library and settled her onto the couch.
Everyone else settled around the room to return to their books as she fell asleep nearly immediately. Jack just shrugged when Elizabeth began to complain about the irony of her being so anxious to get downstairs only to fall asleep. "Falling down stairs must be tiring work," he remarked.
She woke in time for dinner, which the servants brought in for them. They ate, scattered around the room. "What does a man have to do to get some rum around here?" Jack asked as he eyed with wine with distaste. "Do you know how long it's been since I've had any rum?"
"Too long," Pearl answered as she stared longingly over her pile of carefully mashed potatoes at the greasy pieces of chicken the rest had.
"Too long!" Jack cried.
"I don't keep rum on hand," Norrington put in.
"Why not?" Jack asked.
"Because it is a vile drink that turns even the most respectable men into complete scoundrels," Elizabeth said.
"Really?" Pearl asked. "How much do you suppose I would have to bribe the kitchen servants with to get them to slip some into Edward's wine?"
"I can hear you!" Norrington informed her.
She shrugged. "How much would I have to pay you to sip at it?"
"You grew up in Tortuga, darling. I shouldn't have to tell you that the women never pay the men," Diamond remarked.
Pearl shrugged. "They do if they see something they really want. Besides, we aren't in Tortuga."
"Why is it that you're sitting in a beautiful, elegant country mansion and all you people can think about is Tortuga?" Will asked.
"Hey, I didn't say anything about Tortuga. I just want rum," Jack defended himself. "Although I am feeling just a mite lonely." His eyes strayed toward Diamond.
"I can feel you looking at me," Diamond told him without looking up. "And the answer is no."
"Why not?" Jack asked, inching closer. "I promise you'd have a good time."
"I don't doubt that, but I'm throughly enjoying not having to work right now and I'd like to keep it that way."
"It's a sad state of affairs when you think o' that as work, Luv," Jack remarked. "Mayhaps you should let me try to change that." Jack leaned forward to kiss at her shoulder.
Pearl groaned as Norrington, Will, and Elizabeth all turned varying shades of red. "Leave off," Pearl ordered. "I'd like to keep what little, tasteless food I ate down."
"Sad or not it's the way it is," Diamond informed Jack, pushing him away.
Jack sat back and folded his arms, a pout settling over his face. "Trapped away from my own ship, away from the sea, no rum, no company. This is a bloody nightmare."
"But you do have your lovely daughter," Pearl pointed out, sounding mildly insulted.
"Aye luv, I do have that," he agreed readily. "And it's worth it, to be sure. Just lamenting the fact that I'm out of my element." His eyes wandered over to Elizabeth. "Unless--"
"Jack, you are a scoundrel," she announced as Will bristled.
"Just sayin', is all. I'd hate to think o' you in agony over...missed opportunities."
"Believe me, agony is the last word I would used to describe what I feel over not sleeping with you," Elizabeth informed him.
"Wait, what happened?" Diamond asked, chuckling under her breath. "This is a story I've not heard."
"Well, I don't know what you expected," Pearl put in. "You're abandoned on an island all by your lonesome and you cuddle up to a man you KNOW is a pirate, and a scoundrel, and start sighing. 'Oh, Jack, it must be TERRIBLE for you to trapped on this island.' Tell me you weren't asking for it."
"My point exactly," Jack proclaimed.
"Wait. I thought he was chasing you around," Will put in.
Jack, Diamond, and Pearl all met eyes and burst out laughing. "I'm sure he was," Diamond put in. "Elizabeth simply wasn't helping matters any. At any rate, I'm sure she didn't know what she was doing. Sweet innocent girl like that."
"Personally, I don't know why you didn't go for it," Pearl put in. "I mean, you're on this bloody island, you're probably going to die, Will would probably be dead if you did get away. Why not have fun while you can?"
"Well, knowing the way things turned out it's a good thing I didn't," she shot back.
Pearl and Diamond shrugged and said, "Depends," in unison.
"How would that have been a good thing?" Will demanded.
Pearl and Diamond met eyes, both obviously debating on what to say. In the end Pearl shrugged and Diamond nodded. "Well, in Elizabeth's case, I'll tell you, Jack's very good. Would have been a very nice time. Stopping smirking, you bloody pirate," Diamond added to Jack, who was indeed smirking as he studied his nails.
"In Will's case," Pearl went on as her mother reached over to smack her father over the head, "Jack might have taught Elizabeth a trick or two that would thrill you to no end."
"Although if Will's anything like his father he knows a few tricks of his own," Diamond added with a chuckle.
"Wait. You...and my father?" Will asked, nose wrinkling.
"Before he met your mother, laddie," Diamond put in. "But aye."
"Okay, I must put a stop to this," Norrington finally said. "This has gone far beyond inappropriate."
"Edward, you're sitting here with a Tortuga whore, a pirate, and their daughter. This is dinnertime conversation for us," Pearl informed him. "Or is this a desperate attempt to keep me from bringing up what a lucky woman Maggie's going to be?"
"Oh, I haven't heard this story either. Do share, darling," Diamond put in. "I must admit my imagination has been running rather wild."
Norrington, now bright scarlet, made an outraged noise. "Mayhaps we should have Elizabeth leave. It might break her heart to hear what she's given up in a husband," Pearl suggested.
"Oh, after a setup like that I don't think I can wait long enough for her to leave," Diamond said eagerly.
"Let's just say if bigger is better, Edward's got no worries about being low man on the totem pole, so to speak. And a mighty well shaped totem pole it is."
"It ain't the size of the ship love, it's how well you sail it," Jack said quickly.
"Spoken like a true man," Diamond muttered. "No reason to get defensive, Darling. You may not be the crown jewel of the king's navy, but that ain't exactly a rowboat you're toting around."
Elizabeth cried out, clapping her hands over her ears. Pearl, Diamond, and Jack laughed. "Think we're upsetting the gentry," Diamond remarked.
"Isn't that the point?" Pearl asked. "So anyway, I was going to say that Edward's rather experienced with his rigging, shall we say. You wouldn't believe the ports that man can hit."
"I'm not hearing this," Norrington muttered. "I'm just not. This is a nightmare. It has to be."
"You should be complimented, lad," Diamond put in, eying him thoughtfully. "Pearl isn't free with praise, and she's been around the oceans a time or two."
"Besides, I believe in using my gifts," Pearl put in. "After growing up in Tortuga I have quite the gift for making anything dirty. I have a very talented tongue, so to speak."
"I'm going to go help the servants clean up," Norrington said quickly, fleeing from the room.
"Me too," Will called, right behind.
"What? You can't leave me here alone. Will!" Elizabeth cried, chasing after him.
The three remaining members laughed. "That was fun," Pearl remarked.
"Is that true, though, or are you just trying to drive the Commodore up a wall?" Diamond asked.
"Oh, it's true. Every word."
Author's Note: There you are. I had fun writing this chapter too. At least, the last part. I hope you all have a merry Christmas, or whatever holiday you celebrate. Consider this your present, from you to me. Just out of curiosity, for fun, if you want to, I'd like to hear what your favorite line has been in the course of my stories. Some of you have reminded me as you go along, which is always nice. So, until we meet again, happy holidays!