Thank you for the reviews and encouragement! They boost up my spirits so much you guys can't even imagine. To answer a couple of questions, though: 1) The only other people who know Carver is Jack and Scarlett's son is Frederick, Will and Elizabeth, and Anamaria and Gibbs, maybe some others too, I've got to figure it all out though; and 2) the reason I still say Elizabeth Swann is because she and Will aren't married yet. Doesn't mean that they won't though. smile
Secrets of the CaribbeanWritten By: Riley Barton
[Chapter Thirty-Two]
"Anamaria says we should be arriving in Venetia within the next three days."
Scarlett looked up from her book at Fredrick's words and found him standing in the open doorway. She nodded, returning her gaze to the book. She marked her place and set the book aside. She smiled and motioned for him to join her. He closed the door behind him and sat down on a chair near the bed. "Anamaria says, hm?" Scarlett raised an eyebrow and leaned back against the headboard. "Not Will or Jack?"
"She heard from Jack that we were," he replied.
Scarlett's smiled broadened. He didn't know what she was trying to get at. "I see. So, you've been spending most of your time with the crew? Everything isn't as bad as you first thought, is it?"
Fredrick hesitated. "The sanitation could be better," he said honestly, "and the food isn't all that wonderful…"
Scarlett chuckled and waved a dismissive hand in the air. "Spoken like a true physician. Forget I even asked." She began twirling a strand of hair around her finger. It had been over a week since they had left Morgane, and most of her time had been spent above with the crew. The entire time she couldn't help but notice how Fredrick had spent less and less time with her and more time with Will and Anamaria. It didn't bother her at all; it was just an observation she had made. Now, looking at Fredrick from the corner of her eye, she noticed how his once soft hands were becoming calloused and his arms and face were darker than before.
"Do you ever wish you had never left Marcail?" she asked.
Fredrick thought for a moment. "Sometimes I miss my work, but then they're always injuries to take care of here." He shrugged. "I guess it really doesn't matter. I didn't have any family in Marcail or many friends. Suppose that's why I followed after you," he admitted. "After Bernie died you were the only friend I had left, so when Captain Sparrow came around to take you back with him, I didn't know what I'd do." He ran his fingers through his sandy hair. "Following after you seemed only natural at the time."
"And do you regret it now?" Scarlett inquired.
Fredrick hesitated, images flashing through his mind. "Only sometimes, but then I look around at all of my new friends and realize how much happier I am."
"On a pirate ship? Don't imagine you ever thought you would be saying that."
Fredrick smiled. "No, I don't believe I would have."
Later that night Scarlett found herself wandering the deck once again. As the Black Pearl moved steadily closer to Venetia, her nerves and mind became more tormented. Images of Carver and Ansgar continued to run through her mind, playing with her heart until she wanted to toss herself into the ocean to numb it. On top of it all, though, there was one thing that really kept her up all night: the small secret she had been keeping from Jack and her friends. She didn't know what they would say if they knew. In the back of her mind she knew they would swallow the truth and deal with it, but would they stop trusting her for not telling them sooner?
Scarlett ran her thumbnail along the outline of her lower lip. She was making this out to be more than it really was. It wasn't as if they needed to know, did they? Everyone had their secrets, why couldn't she keep hers? They'll find out later, a voice whispered. She sighed, relenting to the simple truth. Yes, they would find out eventually. Ansgar would tell them, and they would be furious with her for not letting them know. Would them knowing really make that much of a difference, though? It wouldn't, surely.
The unfurled sails waved and writhed in the wind, snapping as they were stretched taut. The ship creaked ominously, and the wind howled, resembling that of a restless spirit. That thought paused Scarlett's footsteps and she looked around. Maybe restless spirits did still walk on the Black Pearl's deck. Hadn't Will told her that when Barbossa had run her they had been half-dead at the time? Could one of them still be there? She shivered and pushed the preposterous ideas away. Honestly, going on about restless spirits and all… she was going to turn into a nut by the time they reached Venetia.
Scarlett turned to head below when she noticed someone standing at the bulwark a ways away. She frowned. Will and Fredrick had turned in some time ago, Jack was at the helm, and only one other man from the crew was above deck in the crow's nest. She walked closer to see who it was and blinked in surprise at finding Anamaria. "I wasn't expecting to see you up," Scarlett said, joining her female companion at the railing.
Anamaria shrugged and glanced up at the dark sky above. "C'uldn't sleep," Anamaria replied. "Too much on me mind."
Scarlett nodded. "I understand exactly how you feel. Mind keeps running in circles to the point it's driving you insane. Smelling the salt of the ocean and feeling the wind on my face always seems to calm me down somehow, though. Must be the same for you, eh?" Anamaria looked at Scarlett and hesitated, as if contemplating telling her something. Scarlett noticed and raised an inquiring eyebrow. "You can tell me anything, you know, and I won't repeat a word of it to anyone."
Anamaria sighed, a sardonic twist on her lips. "Do ye ever feel low, like ye're only th' dirt on someone's feet?"
Scarlett blinked in surprise at the question. Where was this coming from? "Yes, I have in the past while I was living under my father's roof. He used to make me feel insignificant, as if I didn't deserve anything he had given me. He even called me a neighbour's swine once that had wandered over to steal the food from his table."
Anamaria nodded, as if in complete understanding. "We aren' very dif'rent, ye and I. Two pirates livin' off th' land, torn apart by our pasts. Funny, ain't it?"
Scarlett still couldn't seem to figure out where Anamaria was going with this. She was probably just trying to get some thoughts out of her mind. "Not so funny, really. Most pirates come from the same background: poverty, lack of family love and encouragement." She paused. Jack was an exception to that. He had been surrounded by enough love and riches anyone could have dreamt of.
Anamaria nodded, and a silence fell between them. Scarlett watched her friend discreetly, waiting to see if she would say anything more.
"Better get t' bed," Anamaria said abruptly, stepping back from the bulwark. "See ye tomorr'a, Scarlett."
Scarlett nodded. As Anamaria's footsteps faded, she turned around and leaned back against the railing with her elbows resting on it, watching the dark figure disappear below deck. She sighed and looked over her shoulder out to sea. Apparently she wasn't the only one with tormented thoughts.
They would be in Venetia by late afternoon tomorrow, and Scarlett couldn't get the rest she seriously needed. She had been tossing and turning for over an hour, her mind once again restless. Her mind was riddled with guilt, all because of that one, small secret she kept close to her chest. She doubted it would be that large of a difference if she didn't tell them, but not telling them… she doubted her conscience would allow it. She rolled onto her left side and stared at the wall. Would Jack even care? It didn't effect the purpose of what they were about to do.
It has everything to do with what we're about to do, she reminded herself reluctantly.
Sighing, she tossed an arm over her eyes and tried to clear her mind of all thoughts. It worked, for a short while, until the Black Pearl dipped down over a wave, nearly tossing Scarlett out of bed. She grasped the thin mattress and clung to it, not particularly favouring the thought of slamming onto the rough wooden floor. And, just as if the wave had tipped over a bucket, all of her worries and doubts tumbled back into her mind and she found herself tossing and turning again.
After another twenty minutes of this, she growled in frustration, tossed the covers off of her, and climbed out of bed. With her mind set, she didn't think of much else except talking to Jack. She had enough of a mind to grab a thin robe she had owned from previous years aboard the Black Pearl before walking out of her berth and to the ladder leading above deck. Her bare feet hurt by the time she reached the main deck from the ladder rungs, and then nearly froze at the ice-cold water that had washed aboard. The robe did nothing for warmth, only speeding up her pace to the captain's quarters. She didn't even bother to knock.
Jack lay on his back in bed with the cover pulled up around his waist and an arm thrown across his forehead. His breathing was rhythmic and his face held a smirk of pleasure. Frowning, she strode over to the bed and yanked off the covers; she was in no mood to be patient. "Jack, wake up!"
Captain Jack Sparrow awoke with a start, sitting bolt upright in bed. He looked around crazily until he saw her standing there with his covers in her hands. He also remembered, much to his discomfort, he wasn't wearing anything. He lunged for the covers, grabbing them back from her grasp. She rolled her eyes and walked over to his desk chair.
"Stop trying to be modest, Jack," she said sardonically, turning and dropping into the chair. "It isn't as if I haven't seen any of it before."
Jack glared at her angrily while covering himself. "What the bloody 'ell do ye think you're doin', woman!" he exclaimed. "You don't 'ave any authority to be bargin' in while I'm tryin' t' get me beauty sleep."
Scarlett snorted, trying to restrain a smile. She was enjoying this too much. "I could comment on that, but I won't," she said, smiling sweetly. "But honestly, Jack, I need to talk to you about something. I don't think it's going to make much of a difference, but I feel as if you need to know anyway. If you think the rest of the crew need to know then by all means, we can have a little meeting of sorts and fill them in, though I would really rather keep it amongst the two of us and Will. No one else really needs to know."
Jack blinked stupidly and waved his hands in the air. "Slow down, love. All I got outta that was ye needed to tell me somethin' and didn't want others t' know."
Scarlett licked her lips. "That was basically the point anyway," she muttered, suddenly retreating into herself.
Jack waited for her to continue, and the silence dragged on. Growing impatient, he said, "Look, as much as I'm enjoying this 'not-hating-Jack' moment, I would prefer if ye would just spill yer bucket and tell me so I can go back to me beauty sleep. Even men need their beauty sleep." He paused. "Maybe beauty ain't the right word…"
"My uncle's name was Garrett Bane," Scarlett said abruptly, interrupting Jack's train of thought.
Jack looked at her and raised an eyebrow. "I'm sorry for yer loss, then, seein' as ye used the past tense, and I'm assumin' he's dead. Deepest regrets, honestly, but if that's all, I would really like t' get back t' sleep." He smiled. "And, while you're in a good mood, would you care to join me? It is kinda chilly out there and I wouldn't want ye catchin' a cold an' all."
"Jack, I'm trying to tell you, so please, quit with the smart remarks for just a moment, will you?" Scarlett asked tiredly. She sighed. "My father's youngest brother's name was Garrett. Does that mean anything to you?"
Jack could see she was trying to tell him something, but he couldn't figure it out. The name meant something to him, but he couldn't place his finger on what it was exactly. He waved his hand in a circular motion. "And…?"
"He changed his family name." Her words were dragging now. "When he went beyond being just a merchant to a smuggler, he changed his family name from Bane to Ansgar."
Jack's eyes widened in shock. "But…you mean he's your…oh, shit."
Scarlett leaned forward and rested her elbows on her knees. "Yes, Garret Ansgar is my uncle. Don't you remember me telling you about my father's brother who always brought me small trinkets and other gifts whenever he stopped by to visit? That was him before he became a smuggler. He got in this huge fight with my parents and left in a rage when I was around five. He never visited again, but I know it was after that that he began his double-life as not only the wealthy aristocrat but as the smuggler, too. He changed his last name so people wouldn't connect the two. Garrett isn't a fairly popular name, but no one seems to have noticed for some reason, nonetheless." She shrugged. "I suppose it's because the two lives are so completely opposite no one would ever think that Garret Bane and Garrett Ansgar were one and the same."
Jack stared at her. "A bit much t' take in, don't you think? Why tell me now?"
"Because we're going to be facing him in a matter of one or two days and I knew the truth would leak out eventually. I just didn't want you learning it from the wrong source."
"Aha." Jack ran his tongue along his teeth, letting this new found information sink in. "This certainly puts a whole new swing on things, don't it?" he muttered. He sighed and kicked off the covers. "Well, guess we better start puttin' a plan together, aye?" His modesty from before forgotten, he strode across the room and grabbed some clothes from a drawer. While pulling on his breeches, he asked, "When you were younger, did ye ever go to his berth in Venetia?"
Scarlett leaned back and turned the chair around so she was looking at him. "No, though he did talk about it a lot." Her eyes brightened and she leaned forward abruptly. "I can vaguely remember him telling my father about a hidden entrance that had been used years before while there had been some attacks going on in the vicinity from the natives. Its entrance was supposed to be somewhere near the far left side of the house."
Jack grinned and walked over to the desk, leaving his white shirt unbuttoned. He grabbed a quill and blank piece of parchment and placed them before her. "Make a sketch of the place as best ye can, love. This may be our way of getting Carver and all of us out in one piece."
Scarlett raised an eyebrow, slowly picking up the quill. "He knows we're coming, so what if he suspects that I've told you about the hidden entrance and that you may use it? He might have some of his crew watching it."
Jack dropped back onto his bed and smiled, "All we need is a diversion, and this Captain knows every best diversion in th' book."
Author's Note: I am getting bad at this. Not updating regularly, short chapters….I'm so sorry! The story is nearing an end though, sadly, and more action is on the way! Pease bare with me. And, if you don't mind, would you be so kind as to review? You know how much I adore them. Oh, and thank-you to the new reviewers. Sorry for making you wait! Now if only I could get my Internet service to work…