Ch. 2

It was a soft, almost windless evening. Ana Maria leaned against one of the Pearl's masts, watching the dark line of dry land grow steadily larger and larger before her. They would soon reach the harbor, and she was fairly confident that they would make it there in one piece.

She jumped a bit as she heard a noise above her. Glancing up, she saw it was a large pelican that had decided to accompany the ship. They were close enough to shore now that quite a few birds were beginning to use the ship as their perch. She chuckled as the pelican let out a squawk and fluffed out its feathers. She then began to make her way to the bridge to find Jack. They would soon be preparing to make anchor.

She found the Captain on the bridge of the ship. He jumped a bit when he saw her, eyes darting about, and then gave her a quick smile, flashing multi-colored teeth. He looked very, very nervous. Ana Maria stared at him. She decided not to ask if anything was troubling him. She knew he would deny it. She simply asked him if he was ready to sail into the harbor. He muttered something indistinguishable in response, and then waved her off. She glared at him for a moment, and then she jumped off the bridge. Looking back once, she saw him raise his hands near his chest, as if preparing to protect himself from some attacker.

Walking towards the cabins, she hurried down the stairs that led below deck. There she found the majority of the crew working to keep the ship afloat. Straining her eyes in the murky darkness, she found Mr. Gibbs, and pulled him aside.

"What is it, Missy?" He asked, wiping off his wet hands on his shirt. "Are we getting close to the Port?"

"Yes" She began tentatively, "but our Captain is behaving a bit strangely.."

Mr. Gibbs stared at her. "and....?" he asked. The Captain acting a bit oddly was generally not a cause of concern. He acted that way most of the time.

"and what??" cried Ana. "He's acting as if some beast from Hell is going to pounce up and eat him!"

Mr. Gibbs laughed. "He's nervous, is he? I thought he'd be over that by now..." He reached over and groped for some flint, and quickly lit a lantern. By the soft light he could see the questioning in Ana's eyes.

"Tell me, missy, are the birds already making roost on the sails? Are we close enough to shore?"

"Well, yes" She answered him, a bit angrily "But what does that-"

"Did you not know, Miss Ana, that he is terrified of pelicans?"

She stared at him. "Jack? Afraid of..pelicans?"

Gibbs laughed louder. "Aye! He's absolutely mortified of them. He was eating some fish once, and a particular brassy one tried to grab it right out of his mouth. One of the most amusin' things I've ever seen, truth be told, but I think Jack took it a bit to heart."

He chortled to himself a bit longer, and then stopped himself to speak seriously to Ana Maria. "Ya best not be tellin' him I spoke of this. I don't believe he'd want his crew knowin' about it."

"Yes...I understand" murmured Ana. She smiled, a bit wickedly in Mr. Gibbs opinion, and started towards the stairs, yelling for the rest of the crew to come and prepare the ship to anchor.

~~~~~~~

Up on deck, Jack was falling to pieces. "Bloody creatures.." he muttered to himself, eyeing the birds perched around the ship. He shuddered involuntarily as one swooped down near his head. Then, hearing a noise directly behind him, he snapped, and letting out a yell, he leaped around and hurled himself at his attacker. It was Ana again. He stopped in mid- attack, staring at his first-mate, considering his ridiculous stance. Regaining his composure, he drew himself to his full height, and straightened his coat a bit. He opened his mouth to say something, and although he was usually quite quick with his tongue, he found himself lacking of words.

"I...hmm. Well...yes. ah...GET TO WORK, YOU LAZY DOG! THIS SHIP WON'T SAIL ITSELF!" He shouted in his most commanding captain's voice. Ana Maria didn't move.

He raised his eyebrows at her. "Well?"

"Of course, Captain" she said submissively. "I simply came to bring you your dinner." He narrowed his eyes at her. Ana was never this agreeable. He opened his mouth, but was never able to speak. His eyes grew wide as Ana pulled the bucket of fish from behind her back. They grew wider as she proceeded to dump them all over the ship's deck. Both the Captain and his first-mate stood in silence. The overwhelming smell of fish wafted around them. The feathered passengers on the ship soon realized it was dinner time. A large, squawking flock descended on the meal.

Ana wasn't sure if Jack would react by fighting or fleeing. It turned out to be neither. A large pelican had perched itself on Jack's head. He blinked, stumbled a bit, and then fainted to the deck with a thump, followed by a squawk and a ruffling of feathers as the pelican settled itself on his back.

Ana smiled. This was what she had been hoping for. Shooing the pelican away, she dragged Jack to his quarters (something she had often done after he had a bit too much rum), and then returned to the bridge to steer the ship into Port Royal. It was early evening, and had Jack been conscious for their arrival, it would have been a prime time for him to head to shore for a night on the town. Had this been Tortuga, she wouldn't have minded. But this was Port Royal, and knowing that trouble would inevitably find Jack Sparrow, Ana preferred to have him unconscious for their arrival. The quieter and less intrusive they were, the better. They could head to shore in the morning, when liquor and loose women would be a bit more difficult to come by, and they could concentrate on repairs for the ship.

The Black Pearl once again glided into Port Royal, this time under hands of Ana Maria. The night was calm. There would be no unexpected slaughter tonight. The Pearl dropped anchor, and settled quietly into the dark waters.