Reviews: Q-Tip Queen: Love the name, luv. I wanted to be original. I think its Sherrinford, no 'g'. It would've, but not very original.
Kitty the Drunken Butterfly: Thanks. Isn't it, though?
Celwriter: It's spelled Will with two 'l''s. No. It would, but very wrong. I agree with both of those statements.
Lykosdracos: Yay! Yep, it's very funny. Yeah. He does indeed. Why? Yes, no POTC fic is complete without a visit to Tortuga, aye? That's not original. A lot of people have them. I can't tell you that, you'll have to find out yourself. Nope. Alice likes someone of a much higher standing than a pirate, and Ella loves the Prince. She is nice! She doesn't want to lose the approval of her mother and sister, so she's only nice to Ella in private. Maybe, maybe not. It's a mystery, chick! Yeppers. Thank you. They meet, but Ella doesn't know who Jack really is. Yeah, strumpets. Jack needs lessons on how to charm respectable women. Nope. Jack must dance.
Muhaha. (See, I can be evil, too! ) Maybe at the end. No, it is not. Especially the third day of it.
Chapter Five: Snackatoba and Smopolis
Finally, the day came when Jack, Will, and Elizabeth had to leave for Snackatoba, along with Governor Swann and Commodore Norrington. Jack was dressed in his new clothes and didn't speak to the governor or the commodore during the whole trip. Elizabeth promised that they'd meet him at the ball the next week.
Once in Smopolis, a messenger of King Baldwin greeted the arrivals of the king's special guests.
"Carriages will take you to the castle, and further instructions will be read when you arrive there," he said.
Governor Swann, Commodore Norrington, the Crown Princess of Pacifica Major, and the Duke of Schmmelpinnek were in one carriage. Jack, Will, and Elizabeth were in another carriage with a woman who kept staring at Will named Mademoiselle Mortensen. The other people in the other five carriages don't matter, except that they were all either rich, royalty, or both.
Once in the castle, they were directed to their rooms. All thirty five of King Baldwin's guests had their own well furnished and lavishly decorated room.
After unpacking his meager possessions, Jack decided to shop for more clothes. Jack went to Will and Elizabeth's room and told Will that.
"Great. I'd love to come with you, but Elizabeth wants me to meet the prince and king this afternoon," said Will.
"That's all right, mate. I think I can manage all by me onesie," replied Jack.
"Ella, Anastasia, Alice and I are going shopping, and I want you to accompany us to carry our packages," said Mrs. Parkinson that same afternoon.
"All right, Stepmother, I will," replied Ella.
She hadn't been shopping with her family in years, so it was kind of a treat for Ella, even if she had to carry their packages.
"Come along, Cinderella," said Alice and Anastasia.
"I'm glad you're coming. Now maybe the trip will be a little more bearable," whispered Alice to Ella.
Ella gave Alice a slight nod to show she agreed.
Back at King Baldwin's castle, Jack got a horse to take him to the center of Smopolis where the tailors and milliner's shops were located.
"Here you are, Mr. Sin Claire," said the head groom, "this is Oswald. He's a fine horse, sir. He's descended from Ladybird, the king's first mare."
"Thank you very much, Mr. Bruce," said Jack in his best English and least amount of drunken slurring, getting onto Oswald.
"You're welcome, sir," replied the groom.
Jack rode Oswald from the castle to the center of town, and tied him to the first hitching post he came to in the town square.
"Hey, you," called a voice behind Jack.
Jack turned and saw a short, portly middle aged man standing by Oswald.
"It's three shillings to tie y our horse to a hitching post, and I need to have your name," the man added.
Jack walked as straightly and as proudly as he could, with hardly any effeminacy in his stride to the man.
"There's three shillings and it's Viggo Sin Claire," said Jack, placing the shillings in the man's hand.
Jack's first stop was Taylor's Buttons, a tailor/milliner shop rolled into one. He nearly collided with two young women walking out of the shop, carrying three boxes each. The oldest one had ginger colored hair in a bun with a robin's egg colored feather in it. The youngest had blond hair in a half bun.
"Watch where you're going," said the oldest.
She brushed past Jack out of the shop.
"I'm sorry about her, sir," muttered the youngest, giving a small courtesy to Jack before hurrying out of the shop.
"Why are you always so rude?" Alice asked Anastasia, after they left Taylor's Buttons.
"Me, rude? Never," said Anastasia in mock shock.
"What about that gentleman we just met at Taylor's Buttons?" asked Alice.
"Well, he was in our way, Alice," said Anastasia.
"Hello, girls. Find what you looking for?" asked Mrs. Parkinson.
"Yes, mother," they said.
"Good. Give your boxes to Ella," commanded Mrs. Parkinson.
"Here you got, Cinderella," said Anastasia.
"Here," said Alice.
"Come along, girls," said Mrs. Parkinson.
Jack continued to look around in the shops for clothes and accessories. I could almost get used to buying stuff, thought Jack, looking in the shop windows. It's a lot easier than filching sometimes.
Ella now had so many boxes; it was hard to see where she was going, so she just trailed behind her stepmother and stepsisters.
They were on their way to Morgan's Dry Goods to buy extra ribbons and lace, when Ella crashed into something solid.
Jack was on his way to Pearce's Milliner shop, across the street from Morgan's Dry Goods, when he quite literally, ran into something soft.
Standing up, Ella noticed that she had run into a well dressed, if not odd looking gentleman.
"I'm awfully sorry, sir, I wasn't watching where I was going," she said, bending down to pick up her packages.
After Jack stood up, he heard a young woman say, "I'm awfully sorry, sir, I wasn't watching where I was going."
Jack looked and saw a rather dirty young woman, with her soot streaked blond hair falling out of her bun, and dirty, tattered clothes. She also had sparkling blue-green eyes.
"No, it was my fault. I wasn't watching, either," replied Jack, helping the woman pick up their packages. He put a hat that looked like a bucket with lace and ribbons on it in its box.
"Here's your… erm…hat," he said, handing the box to her.
"Thank you, but it's not mine. It belongs to my stepsister, Anastasia. All of these things are for my two stepsisters and stepmother for the ball," said the woman, taking the hat box from him.
"None of these are yours?" the man asked Ella, looking in amazement at all the packages and boxes she was carryings.
"Yes, none of these are mine. I never get new things. I always get Anastasia's old cast-offs, which are in this condition when I receive them," replied Ella, gesturing to her clothes.
"I see. Well, that is very interesting, Miss…" trailed off the man.
"Ella, sir. Ella Parkinson," said Ella.
"Viggo Sin Claire," said the man, flashing a gold and silver smile.
"Are you here for the ball next week, Mr. Sin Claire?" asked Ella.
"Yes. I wasn't invited by the king, but by a close friend of mine and his wife," said Jack.
"Ella! Stop bothering that gentleman, and carry our packages, you lazy child," yelled a woman who was about the same age as Jack.
Behind her were the two young women he almost ran into at Taylor's Buttons.
"Yes, stepmother," called Ella, "I hope you have a nice visit in Smopolis, Mr. Sin Claire, good day."
"Good day, Miss Parkinson," called Mr. Sin Claire.
"Who was you talking to, Cinderella?" demanded Alice.
"Mr. Viggo Sin Claire. I ran into him by accident, and was helping him pick up our dropped packages," answered Ella.
"Ella, you just as clumsy as you are lazy, girl. It's not polite to run into well dressed gentlemen like that," scolded Mrs. Parkinson.
Jack watched Ella trailing behind her stepmother and stepsisters, until they had disappeared from sight. After they vanished, Jack went to put his packages in the bag he took with him and untethered Oswald and rode back to the castle.
When Jack returned, Will and Elizabeth were waiting for him.
"Looks like you bought a lot," commented Will, looking at the armload o packages he was carrying.
"Aye. I found a lot of things," said Jack.
"Have you made any friends?" asked Elizabeth.
"I met a charming young lady by the name of Ella Parkinson, as it so happens," replied Jack.
"Is that so?" asked Will.
"Yes. I ran into her, quite literally, I'm afraid, in the center of town," said Jack.
"Tell me, Mr. Sin Claire, what is this "charming young lady" like?" inquired Elizabeth, curiously.
"Well, she's about your age, blond hair, blue-green eyes, dirty, tattered clothes which were also dirty. Her stepmother and stepsisters were dressed really fine, though they had Ella carry their packages, which was about three times the amount I have," said Jack thoughtfully.
"Oh," said Elizabeth, and looked thoughtfully at Jack for a while.
"What?" he asked, wondering what she was staring at.
"Miss Parkinson, how do you feel about her?" asked Elizabeth, slowly.
"She seems like a nice, intelligent woman. She's beautiful, despite all the soot, horrible family. She has a great smile, perfect teeth. Despite the fact that we ran into each other, she seems quite graceful. She's kind of like a burst of sunshine on a cloudy day," replied Jack, thinking about it for a moment or two.
Jack may have fallen in love with Ella, but Ella didn't have that same feeling towards "Mr. Sin Claire". But, she did have friendly affection and couldn't wait to see him again, although she hoped, not by knocking him on the ground again.
Alice went out to the back garden, where Ella was pulling up weeds.
"Tell me about Mr. Sin Claire," said Alice, squatting on the ground.
"Well, his Christian name is Viggo, he's around your mother's age, he has dark hair, and eyes, beads and silver trinkets in his hair, black kohl rimmed eyes, and tanned skin. He was dressed in very nice and fashionable clothes, of course."
"Oh. That sounds like the gentleman Anastasia and I almost ran into at Taylor's Buttons," commented Alice.
"Well, he's a very nice gentleman, and I would very much like to see him again soon, not that I have any emotional attraction to him or anything," replied Ella.
"I'm sorry for the packages I made you carry, Ella. I didn't even want any of those things, but I had to get as much as Anastasia and mother wouldn't let me carry any of it, except for one box," said Alice.
"I forgive you as always, Alice," said Ella, "don't worry."
As Jack was putting away the things he had bought that day, he kept thinking about Ella Parkinson. What a nice lass she is, he thought, putting his shirts away in the clothes press.
That night, Will, Elizabeth, and Jack dined with Clarice Mortensen, Lady Arabella Edwards, and Monsieur Pierre de Baptist,
Elizabeth was really starting to dislike Mademoiselle Mortensen, as she kept playing footsie with Will across the table. Will was uncomfortable with that, but didn't want to cause trouble, so he kept quiet and gave Elizabeth looks that said 'help.' Elizabeth also didn't want problems, so she ignored him. Jack was too busy thinking about Ella to pay much attention to Will and his lady problem. Lady Edwards and Monsieur de Baptist were too busy kissing to notice anyone else.
The next day, Elizabeth decided to visit the shops in Smopolis, so she took Buttercup, Oswald's mother to the center of town.
Ella went to Ollivander's Word, a book shop for Alice. On the way there, she saw a young woman about her age, with brown-red hair in an elegant bun with a curly tendril hanging down, and a gown that Anastasia would kill to own. She wore a simple white hat tied to the back of her head with white lace on it and was carrying a basket full of buttons, ribbons, and lace.
"Ella Parkinson?" she inquired.
"Yes?" asked Ella in surprise.
"I'm a friend of Mr. Sin Claire. He told me you met briefly yesterday. When I saw you by, I thought, 'that looks like Viggo's description of Miss Parkinson,' and I just had to see if I was right, and if I was, to properly introduce myself," prattled the woman.
"Yes, I am Ella Parkinson, but I am quite sure Mr. Sin Claire wouldn't speak that highly of me. After all, I am nothing more than a simple serving girl," answered Ella.
"My name is Mrs. Elizabeth Turner, and I can tell there is more to you, Miss Parkinson, than that. And, if favorably impressed, Mr. Sin Claire would even more highly than that of an empty bottle," said the woman.
Ella wasn't sure if Mrs. Turner meant that about the bottle or not.
"Well, thank you for this pleasant conversation, Mrs. Turner, but I really must be on my way. I'm running an important errand for my stepsister," replied Ella, continuing on her way to the book shop. "Good day, Madam."
Meanwhile, at the castle, Will was hiding from Clarice Mortensen, while Jack was asking for directions as to where Ella lived.
"1422 Mochrie Lane," answered a servant, finally, "big old house in the countryside."
"Thank you," said Jack, making his way toward the stables.
A/N: Well, that's chapter five! Wow, fifteen pages, I can't believe it! Chapter six will come soon! Review!