WARNING: PHYSICAL AND VERBAL ABUSE
Okay, I just thought I would warn you guys about that and, sorry 'bout this, but this will be another depressing chapter. Sorry, it's just how it's turning out. I just saw the movie Identity a few minutes ago, so maybe that's the cause of my troubling mind, but I dunno. Please bear with me and leave your comments at the end. Thanks, guys!
Secrets of the Caribbean
Written By: Riley Barton
[Chapter Sixteen]
"Shut your mouth, woman! I didn' give ye permission t' talk back to me!"
Scarlett watched in fright as her drunken father smacked her mother across the cheek, sending the small woman reeling backwards. Julia Bane stifled a pained whimper as she stared up at her leering husband from her crumpled position at the base of the couch. "Marshall, please-"
"I said shut up!" Marshall aimed a savage kick at his wife's leg and the sound of bone being broken in two echoed in the room. The noise fell on deaf ears as the raving man spat savagely on her. "Get up, you ungrateful whore! Get up!"
Julia staggered to her feet, using the couch as support. She had only gotten halfway up when her broken leg gave out and she dropped to the germ-infested floorboards.
"How dare you defy me!"
Scarlett jammed her eyes closed as her father let lose another bout of his fury on her poor, defenseless mother. Her mother's cries reverberated in her ears and she reached up to cover her ears with her small hands. "No," she whispered, "no, please, Daddy, no." Tears ran down her cheeks. "No."
---
"Hey Scarlett, have you ever wanted to sail away from here? You know, run away?"
The young girl lying on the sandy beach frowned and looked at her best friend sitting beside her. His legs were drawn up to his chest and he was staring out to sea with a faraway look in his dark brown eyes. She had seen that look before, but never had he voiced this question. Using her elbows she pushed herself into a sitting position and brushed a strand of blonde hair behind her ear. She shrugged her small shoulders and followed his gaze out to sea. "Yeah, but where would we go? There is no other place."
The boy looked at her and smiled. "The entire world is out there with so many different places to explore! How can you say there is no where we can go?"
Scarlett looked at him with a serious expression on her face. "Why would you want to leave, Jack? You're mum and dad are great." Her eyes became downcast and she looked at the sand, absently grabbing a handful in her hand and letting it run through her fingers. "My mum's dead, and daddy just yells."
Jack rolled his eyes. "Yeah, but they make me do things I don't wanna. Who cares about dancing?" he said, his voice dripping with disgust. "That ain't gonna help me. Sailing, on the other hand…"
"At least your dad doesn't hit you."
The look in Jack's eyes faded to one of sympathy. He swung an arm around Scarlett's shoulders and gave her a sideways hug. "You know you can always come to my place if you need anything. And if you need help, I'm only a shout away."
"Thanks, Jack."
---
"Get your ass back in this house, girl!"
Scarlett stopped and turned around, glaring at her father standing in the open doorway. "No!" she yelled.
Her father's body grew rigged and he took a staggering step forward. He pointed a finger at her, shaking his head in fury. "You listen to your elder's wench. If I tell you to do something you do it. Now get inside!"
"I'm not listening to you anymore!" She turned her back on him and strode down the street with her heart pounding in her throat. Never had she defied him in such a manner before, and she had no idea how he would react. All she knew was that she couldn't stay there anymore. She had lived under that roof for the past fifteen years, and she wasn't going to put up with it any longer. "Jack." Her best friend's name came from her lips, and she felt a sense of security. He would help her; he always had. The two of them could run away, stowaway on a ship like Jack had always talked about. She had always found that wild plan of his absurd, but now it made logical sense.
Her father's raving voice could be heard up and down the empty street, but no one was listening. Every neighbor had locked their doors and closed their windows, choosing to forget about the drunken father of a neglected teenage girl. They had ignored that family for years, so why would they start to listen now?
---
"So many memories."
Those whispered words hung in the air, hovering over Scarlett's head as she sat on the cot that she had once slept in as a child. The moonlight had faded into the early morning sunlight, casting a warm glow about the dismal room. The cobwebs and grime were openly discovered now, but there was no repulsion in her body or mind at these sights. She had seen them before less than a year ago.
---
"Jack, she's missing!"
Captain Jack Sparrow looked up from the ruby he held in his hand to the distraught expression on young Elizabeth Swann's face. Her eyes were wide with anxiety and she was breathing heavily, as if she had been running for hours. "I know she's gone," he replied evenly, his voice lacking any emotion.
Elizabeth stared at him in mild surprise and annoyance. "You know? Then why haven't you sent out a search party for her? She couldn't have gone very far."
"She's a grown woman, lass, not a child." His eyes went back to the ruby and, turning it ever so slightly, the light from a nearby lantern caught on the gem. "She doesn't need me to look out for her anymore."
"But you're her friend! Friend's always look out for one another." Elizabeth walked further into the room, stopped before Jack's desk, and placed her hands on her hips. "If I had gone missing would you just leave me to my own devices?"
Jack restrained a sigh. "You, Miss Swann, are a different case entirely. If it were you that had gone missing then I can assure you that a search party would 'ave already been unleashed. In Scarlett's case, no search party is needed." He removed his feet from their propped up position on his cluttered desk and stood to his feet in an ungainly manner. He tucked the gem into a coat pocket and walked around his desk so he was facing Elizabeth without a barrier between them. "Trust me on this one, love. She doesn't need me anymore."
"This ship is not leaving without Scarlett," Elizabeth said firmly, her lips drawn into a thin line.
"I'm afraid it will be whether the stubborn lass is onboard or not."
"So you'll be sailing alone then?" Elizabeth asked. Her eyebrows rose daringly.
"No," Jack replied slowly as if he were talking to a small child. "Me and my crew will be sailing away, and if you so choose, Miss Swann, you may remain to search for your dear friend."
"Fine then," Elizabeth replied defiantly. "If you're going to be such a stubborn jackass, Will and I can search for her on our own."
Jack eyebrows rose in amusement. "Did I just hear lady Elizabeth Swann curse like a pirate or do my ears deceive me?"
"You heard correctly, Mr. Sparrow, and I do not believe there is anything wrong with your ears. There is a problem, however, with your black heart. Good day, sir."
Jack stood there with a quirky smile on his lips as Elizabeth strode across the cabin floor to the door. He shook his head and held up a hand. "Wait up a second there, lass," he called after her.
Elizabeth paused and turned around, folding her arms across her chest. "Well?"
Jack leisurely sauntered over to her with an air of dignity. "There is absolutely no possible way you and the young Mr. Turner will be able to find Scarlett in this rather large port. You would need someone who knows where to find her to do that."
"And does this mean you are offering your services, Captain?"
A wry look came into Jack's dark brown eyes and he sighed dramatically. "I guess I am, milady, though don't think for a moment that it was your pathetic persuasion skills that convinced me to do so. I am merely doing this out of the goodness of me black heart. Got it?"
Elizabeth smiled. "Whatever you say, Jack. Just let me find Will and we can head out."
"I'll be somewhere about." Jack waved a hand in the air dismissively, spinning around and walking back to his desk. "Come find me when yer ready." He slumped into his desk chair again and removed the ruby from his pocket once more. He tossed it into the air, caught it, and tossed it again. "Why do ye do this to yerself, love," he whispered to the empty cabin. "All it does is bring back the heartache." He caught the gem and placed it into its traditional hiding place underneath the false bottom of the top right drawer.
Will and Elizabeth found him ten minutes later waiting at the foot of the gangway with his hat perched on his head. He stood with his legs evenly spread and his arms folded across his chest, his eyes gazing off into the distance. He heard his two friends before he saw them, and he looked in their direction. "Ready t' go?" he asked.
"Are you certain you know where to find her?" Elizabeth asked doubtfully, glancing around the wharf. The sun had risen in the distance and the many sailors and merchants were opening shop and setting their sails.
"I've known Scarlett since she was seven," Jack replied in a matter-of-fact tone. "Trust me. I know where she'll be." The last sentence came out sounding more sarcastic than he had planned, and Will caught it. He looked at his friend with a questioning look, but he didn't question his friend's tone aloud.
While Jack led the way down various streets and narrow alleyways, Elizabeth couldn't help noticing that Jack was leading them further and further away from what could have been considered the 'nice' part of town. Whereas the streets they had left behind were well kept and clear of any mud and slime, the streets they were passing now where filthy, all the way down to the drowned and lanky cats that crept out of alley's into the gutters. Not accustomed to this kind of scenery, Elizabeth cringed at various points during their journey. Will reached out to take her hand, giving her a reassuring squeeze. The two of them seemed to be the only ones out of the trio disturbed by their surroundings. Jack strode through the slick mud and germ-infested streets as if they were the sparkling streets of an important city. The wild shouts of mud-caked children didn't affect him either. Elizabeth and Will's reaction was quite different.
Jack slowed to a stop before a tiny, rundown house set in the midst of the slummiest street in the entire area. The front door was cracked open, the paint was peeling off, and the wooden shudders had fallen from their hinges to the unkempt grass and bushes below. Elizabeth and Will came up alongside Jack and stared at the house in confusion.
"Scarlett is here?" Elizabeth asked, her eyebrows drawn into a thin line.
Jack nodded slowly, his eyes moving back and forth as he surveyed the decaying house in front of him. "This is it." He walked to the front door and nudged it open with the toe of his boot. The door creaked open and Jack peered inside. His eyes looked to the floor where he could see recent boot-prints in the layers of dust that covered the floorboards. He had been right; Scarlett had come here, though whether she was still there remained uncertain. He walked fully into the living area of the house, giving Elizabeth and Will room to enter. Will came first, followed by Elizabeth who halted in the doorway. Jack looked at the two of them with a grim smile. "Welcome to Scarlett's old home," he said.
The two friends gaped at him. "You can't be serious?" Will said, letting his eyes roam over the grungy walls and layers of grime. "She lived here?"
"How could she have?" Elizabeth murmured, walking around the room in utter dismay. "How could anyone have lived in this?" She stopped short as she noticed the various bloodstains on the walls and on the torn couch cushions. The beer stains and glass chips stuck in the walls were also noticed by the keen eyes of Elizabeth Swann. "Oh my."
Jack walked past her, looking at her over his shoulder. "Not everybody is as well-off as you are, Elizabeth."
Will placed a hand on her shoulders, his own eyes not wanting to believe what he was seeing. How could anyone, Scarlett most of all, have been forced to live in such a dreadful place?
Jack pushed open a door at the back of the house and stepped inside. He was following the footsteps Scarlett had left behind, and they had led him in here. He wasn't surprised to find that the room was empty. A cot was set against the back wall with a dusty doll resting on the thin blankets. The dust lying on the blankets had been disturbed, and the smooth, clear lines that crossed the doll's face signified that Scarlett had, indeed, been in this room a short time ago.
"Was this Scarlett's room?" Elizabeth asked from the doorway. Jack turned around in the small space and looked at the young woman with tears forming in her eyes. The fiery spirit of Elizabeth seemed to have disappeared from her, and in its place was sympathy for the rotten childhood her friend had had.
Jack nodded, glancing around. "It was. Her father's bedroom is behind the galley," he said, using the nautical term for kitchen.
"What about her mother?" Elizabeth asked, not really wanting to know the answer.
"Her mother died when she was no more than eight."
Will raised an eyebrow. "How do you mean by 'died'?"
The playful gleam that was normally present in Jack's eyes was gone. "Murdered, if you want to be specific." Elizabeth gasped, and Jack looked in her direction. "Her father had a tendency to beat his wife and daughter. He went too far one night and killed Scarlett's mother."
Elizabeth swayed where she stood and Will stepped forward to hold her. "I think it's best we leave. It's obvious Scarlett isn't here."
Jack nodded, and the three friends left the dilapidated house by means of the back door that had been blown off its hinges years ago. They stepped cautiously over the broken wooden door lying on the ground into the dark alley at the house's back.
"Where to now?" Will asked, glancing about. "Do you know where else Scarlett could have gone?"
Jack didn't say anything for a few minutes. He just stood there looking around. His eyes searched the area in an almost frantic state. Come on, Scarlett, he thought, where did you go?
"Lookin' for a pretty lass wit' long blonde 'air?"
Elizabeth jumped at the throaty, old sounding voice coming from their right. They all turned around to find a woman with gray hair and cold black eyes bent over her weak walking stick, staring at them; she looked to be of Spanish heritage. The hand holding the walking stick shook and Will was afraid the woman would crumble then and there.
"Yes, did you happen to see where she went?" Will asked, well aware of Elizabeth's tight grip on his arm.
The woman nodded slowly. "Aye, I did. Went over yonder t'ward the mansion on th' hill. Friend o' yers, is she?"
"Mansion on the hill?" Will echoed.
Again, the woman nodded. "Aye, the mansion on th' hill. Dun worry. T'is easy t' find. Just go up this street and take a left on an ol' road. It'll take ye thar."
"Thank you," Will said. He looked at Jack and stopped short; his friend's face had gone slightly pale. "Jack, are you all right?"
Jack blinked, forcing a cocky smile. "Sure, mate. Why wouldn't I be?" He turned around and walked up the street, leaving Will and Elizabeth in his wake.
Just as the old lady had said, the 'mansion on the hill' was easy to find. The three made their way up the winding road, the smell of the ocean growing stronger the longer they walked. Will and Elizabeth walked steadily behind Jack, who was walking with a purpose in his step. He seemed to know his way up the road fairly well, and even led them on a small detour that got them to the house faster than it would have originally been had they used the road the entire time.
The mansion was a beautiful sight and it was a definite competition for the Swann estate in Port Royal. The mansion had three or four floors to it with vines winding up the front and sides of the house. A circular driveway was at its front with a small garden in the driveways center. Tall bush hedges wound around the sides and the back of the mansion. The house was set on a grassy hillock that went out over the ocean, and a wooden staircase led down to a small dock set into the face of the cliff.
Jack stared at the mansion with no emotion on his face. He took a deep breath and wound his way around the driveway to the front of the mansion. He walked up the long marble steps and stopped before the large double doors.
Elizabeth and Will stood behind him, looking at each other uncertainly. They held their breaths as Jack knocked on the door by means of the brass knocker. Elizabeth couldn't help thinking that the person who answered the door would just shut the door in their faces when they saw Jack. He was definitely a fish out of water in this environment. But Elizabeth was in for a shock.
One of the two doors swung open and a prim maid looked out. Her eyes widened at the sight of Jack, but instead of screaming and slamming the door, she grinned and spun around calling into the interior of the mansion, "Marge, Heidi, look who's back!"
Jack groaned and reached up to rub the bridge of his nose. He didn't dare look at Elizabeth and Will. He knew that they're faces would be one of utter shock.
Two older women came running to the front door and nearly fainted in surprise at the sight of the pirate captain standing on their doorstep. "Master Jack!" one of them exclaimed. "Why, the missus wasn't expecting you!"
"Just tell me where my mother is," Jack said in a very disgruntled tone, evidently annoyed at the current circumstances.
"Yes, of course," another said, pushing the other women aside to let the three friends enter. "The missus and the others are in the back courtyard. Should I show you the way?"
Jack brushed past the three bustling women and motioned for Will and Elizabeth to follow him. "No need, Marge, I remember th' way."
Elizabeth couldn't believe this was happening. Never in her wildest dreams would she have imagined that the infamous pirate Captain Jack Sparrow would have had such a rich upbringing. "Jack-"
"You already know the answer to your question, Elizabeth," Jack said, pausing before a doorway that led into the back courtyard. He looked at the two over his shoulder. "So why waste your breath?"
"I was just going to ask how they remembered you," she replied slowly. "I mean, you must have left this place many years ago, so how is it they recognize you?"
Jack hesitated, a look of uncertainty crossing his face. "I really can't answer that, love, 'cause I really don't know." He swung his head back around and pushed the door open. They stepped back out into the sunlight, leaving the fancy tapestries and marble floors behind them. They now stood on a wide veranda with the glistening ocean in the distance. Five wide steps went down to the grass below, and further out sat a relaxing, plush recliner.
An older woman with silvery white hair sat on the recliner with a joyous smile and a merry laughter ringing from her lips as she watched the antics of a young child running about the lawn before her. Jack, Elizabeth, and Will stopped short as they watched the small boy jump and roll on the grass, his black locks bouncing about his shoulders. The boy stopped, a wide grin on his face, and called out to a woman standing off to the side. "Mama, watch this!" The boy then proceeded to do a handstand for a brief few seconds before toppling to the grass.
The woman he had called to laughed with merriment and walked over to him. She helped the small boy to his feet and ruffled his long hair. "I'm impressed," she said. "You certainly didn't learn that from Grandmother."
The older woman sitting on the recliner shook her head. "Afraid not, Scarlett. That rowdy son of yours is as wild and daring as his father."
Jack started, not daring to believe what he was seeing. Elizabeth just shook her head and whispered, "Oh my God. Jack, is that-?"
At that exact moment the young boy looked at them, giving them a clear view of the young boy's appearance. He had curly black hair that rested upon his shoulders, a slim but sturdy build for a boy of around eleven, and piercing dark brown eyes that mirrored the eyes of Captain Jack Sparrow.
A/N: MWAHAHAHA!!! I've done it! I have been working on this chapter feverishly and now my head is going for a spin. My biggest secret has been let loose!! And you guys should be happy because this is a much longer chapter. You guys have got to review on this. If no one comments on this I will downright refuse to right another chapter until then. I spent too much time writing this for only two reviews. grin So go on, leave a review for me, and I'll right another chapter in return. wink