Jack breathed a sigh of relief when he saw the lagoon ahead of them. His feet were sore from walking and his back aching from carrying a hamper full of food, that the inn-keeper's wife had prepared for them. 'Thank gawd fer that, I swear t'food is multplyin' in here.'
'I told you to let me carry it a while, Jack.' Maddy hitched up her skirts and ran towards the clear blue water of the lagoon, splashing and kicking as she waded in.
'Huh? Wait fer me…,' Jack dumped the hamper down on the soft white sand and ran in after his wife, scooping her up in his arms as he reached her. 'I reckon I've died an' gone ter heaven luv, tis paradise here.'
'It is Jack, made better for knowing I have you all to myself for once, with no one else around.'
'Apart from bloody insects.' Jack tried to swat at a fly buzzing around, whilst holding onto Maddy, swaying, then overbalancing and tipping them both into the warm waters of the lagoon.
Maddy emerged first, coughing and spluttering, then she grabbed Jack's collar and hauled him up. 'You bloody eejit, Jack Sparrow,' Maddy laughed, dunking his head back under the water, then wading through it as fast as she could before Jack surfaced again.
'Yer tryin' ter kill me an' get yer hands on me loot, ain't ya?' Jack tried to run through the water after Maddy, who had made it to the waters edge, but fell face first back in, then emerged once more to see Maddy sitting on the sand clutching her sides, tears of laughter rolling down her cheeks. Jack strode through the water, then plopped down besides Maddy, a grin splitting his face, as he pulled her down on the sand and kissed her hungrily.
'Come on Jack, let's get out of these clothes, or they'll never dry,' Maddy smiled, knowing her husband would approve wholeheartedly of this.
'Best idea you've had all day Madalene.' Jack leapt to his feet once more and started to peel off his wet clothes, watching Maddy with a lascivious grin on his face, as she followed suit, laying her dress, slip and knickers on a grassy glade to dry off in the sun, then skipping back to the lagoon, sighing as the warm water soothed her body.
'Come on Jack, it's wonderful.' Maddy beckoned to her husband, reaching out for him as he waded back towards her. 'Hmmm, this is the life, are you sure you want to go back to sea?' Maddy laughed as Jack looked aghast at her, before he realised she was teasing.
'This is lovely fer a while luv, but I'd soon go mad with boredom. Oi! No sarcastic comments from you, wifey.'
'As if Jack, as if…'
They swam for a while, until Jack's rumbling stomach suggested it might be an idea to have food, then afterwards they lay on a blanket, soaking up the sun, making love and talking.
'Y'know, it won't be long before you can braid your beard again Jack.' Maddy stroked his chin, teasing the growing hair underneath.
'Aye luv, I've missed it. Wish you'd let me put t'dreads back in though,' Jack pulled a face, then took Maddy's hand and sucked on a couple of fingers.
'No, you're most certainly not putting the dreads back in. I love running my fingers through your hair without getting them tangled in those bloody things.' To emphasise her point, Maddy played around with a thick strand of Jack's hair, before threading her fingers through it and pulling his face to her. 'See,' she murmured. 'This is much nicer…'
'Mmmmm,' agreed Jack, before finding his mouth taken over by his wife's.
**********
Maddy looked with some regret at The Pearl anchored in the small bay, sad that her all too brief time alone with Jack was over.
'Ready luv?' Jack bounded down the stairs of the inn, eager to get back on board. 'Madalene?'
'Yes, I'm ready.' Try as she might, Maddy couldn't keep the disappointment from her voice.
'Hey, there'll be other times. We'll do this a lot more, I promise, savvy?' Jack cupped his wife's face in his hand and kissed her tenderly. 'Savvy?'
'Aye Captain Sparrow, savvy.' Maddy wandered down to the jetty to wait for the boat that was rowing towards them from The Pearl, while Jack paid the inn-keeper handsomely for their board and lodgings.
'Maddy, Maddy, hello!' Freddie called from the boat. 'Did you have a good time?'
'Yes thank you Freddie,' Maddy grabbed the mooring rope and anchored the boat to the jetty. 'Is everything all right on board?'
'Aye Mads, everything's fine.' Tom smiled at Maddy, noting the sad look in her eyes, and patted her back in sympathy.
Maddy watched as the two men made their way to the inn, to carry the trunk, then she looked out to the ship, her home. For the first time, Maddy had felt a need to be settled in one place, on land. Seeing Elizabeth so happy with her new life had made Maddy slightly disenchanted with life at sea and feeling that she wanted to put roots down. 'Ah well,' she thought, 'Nothing I can do about it.' Maddy managed to put on a breezy smile as Jack came jigging down the lane, swinging her around when he reached her.
'C'mon luv, in ya get.' Jack helped his wife into the boat, then climbed in himself,
keeping it steady as Tom and Freddie loaded the trunk in, then got in themselves and Jack sat back as his crewmen took up the oars and rowed back to The Black Pearl.
**********
Maddy stood on the deck, watching as the village got smaller the further they sailed, then went below to change into her work clothes, finding Jack already in the cabin, pouring over a map spread on the table.
'So?' Maddy left the question unasked, knowing Jack's superstition about her asking it.
'So, we'll go an' say ta-ta to t'Turners, then I was thinkin' o'Tortuga, goin' round t'outside of t'Bahamas to avoid Nassau. How's that sound luv?'
'Tortuga…., we haven't been back since Joshamee was killed.' Maddy swallowed a lump in her throat as she thought of the former first mate of The Pearl. 'All right, if that's where the Captain wants to go, that's where we shall go.' Maddy went to a chest and pulled out her clothes, changing quickly, not noticing Jack watching her carefully.
'Ya all right luv?' Jack cocked his head to one side, a quizzical look on his face.
'Yes,' Maddy sighed, 'I'll be all right once we get going. Well, I'd best go and help Tom, see you later love.' Maddy kissed Jack lightly on the cheek and disappeared out of the door, leaving her husband looking pensive.
**********
'Bloody hell Jack, if I'd got a wife as gorgeous as Maddy, I'd have spent more than a few days away with her,' Bill chided, shaking his head incredulously
'Ah, y'reckon that's what's up wi'her then? Trouble is though Bill, I need ter be at sea.' Jack downed his rum and signalled for the serving wench to fetch another.
'Yes, but you're used to life at sea, this is the longest Maddy's ever spent at sea in her life, she must miss being on land.' Bill finished off his ale, then picked the full mug up as it was placed on the table by the barmaid.
'I'll have ter take her ashore more often then, just ter keep her happy. I'm not havin' one o'them marriages where t'wife stays on land, an' I don't think Maddy wants that either.'
The two men broke off their conversation as Will joined them with yet more booze to their delight, and the three men spent the rest of the evening getting slowly drunk and reminiscing on old times.
**********
'What are we going to do with them, Maddy?' Elizabeth looked at the trio, sprawled over an assortment of furniture in her sitting room, all of them snoring with varying degrees of loudness.
'I'd suggest throwing water over them, but it would be a shame to spoil good furniture. I know…, are the children awake yet?' Maddy glanced conspiratorially at the younger woman, a wicked grin spreading across her face, matched by one on Elizabeth's own.
'Why, I do believe they are.' Both women raced out of the room and up the stairs to the nursery, where the children were playing quietly. 'Jack, Caroline, how would you like to have a little fun?'
'Yes, yes!!' the children cried, laughing happily as Maddy and Elizabeth led them down stairs to the sitting room.
'Right,' Elizabeth bent down to their level,' Daddy, Granddad and Uncle Jack are all in there, pretending to be asleep and you have to go and make as much noise as you can to wake them up. Go on.' Elizabeth ushered her children into the room and stood there laughing with Maddy as the noise level grew louder and louder, until it was joined by the gruff growls of the waking men.
'Bloody 'ell woman, what're ya tryin' ter do to us?' Jack stood, his hands over his ears, trying to block the noise out and trying to keep his head from moving too much, an action mimicked by his drinking partners.
'All right children, off you go,' Elizabeth smiled, patting each child on the head as they bounded past her and back up the stairs. 'What can you do when children want to play…' Elizabeth shrugged, winking at Maddy, as the two women made their way to the kitchen for elevenses.
**********
'Me bloody head still hurts, Madalene Sparrow,' Jack scowled at his wife, who was halfway up the rigging.
'I didn't pour the drink down your throat Jack Sparrow, so there's no use in blaming me.' Maddy tugged at a knot, which was refusing to budge, getting more exasperated with it, until it finally came loose.
'Ya didn't need ter sent t'children in ter wake us.'
'A bloody hurricane wouldn't have woken you three, and you're the one who wanted to be off early. Well it's now the middle of the afternoon watch, so much for early.' Maddy made her way back down the rigging, landing in front of Jack, who was pouting like a petulant child. 'Oh for goodness sake, go below and sleep it off, I'll run the bloody ship.'
'Don't curse me ship.' Jack wagged a finger in Maddy's face, then stomped off below, keen to catch up on some sleep, leaving Maddy fuming behind him.
**********
Maddy eased her aching back, feeling pleased with herself for the way her first command had gone, and for the fact that they had made good time around the island of Grand Bahama and the open ocean now stretched before them. 'Tortuga here we come,' she muttered aloud, jumping as two arms snaked around her waist from behind.
'Y'know, tis the first sign a'madness, talkin' to yerself?' Jack dropped a kiss on Maddy's shoulder, then on her lips as she moved her head towards him. 'We friends again luv?'
'Aye, friends again,' Maddy turned in Jack's arms to face him. 'And you should know all about madness and talking to yourself,' she teased, mirroring his smile.
'I promise we'll spend more time ashore, just t'two of us, savvy?' Jack kissed his wife again, then released her. 'Go on, go below an' have a rest, I'll get Tom ter fix up some grub for us.'
'All right Jack, I must admit, I feel bushed.' Maddy left Jack and went to their cabin, sitting gratefully in Jack's big, comfortable chair, feeling her eyes droop until she was fast asleep.
**********
'Oh to be in t'Caribbean, now that summer's here.' Jack stretched languidly in the hot June sun, naked, apart from a pair of cut-off breeches that came half-way down his thighs. He'd enjoyed the leisurely sail from Freetown, having to go the long way round and adding a few more days to their journey, but he was really looking forward to getting back to the place he regarded as his land home, Tortuga.
Maddy, in contrast was dressed in a thin, long sleeved cotton dress that came to her ankles, and a wide brimmed hat, shielding her face from the sun. She made her way over to Jack, sitting on the deck and squatted down besides him. 'How long are we staying?'
'Dunno luv, until we get bored, or trouble catches up wi'us, whichever comes first.' Jack patted his lap, then put an arm around Maddy as she sat on him, slinging her arm around his shoulders.
'My money's on the latter,' she laughed, glad to be feeling more settled in herself. 'We should see Tortuga before long.'
'Cap'n!'
Both Jack and Maddy shot up at the urgent shout, looking around wildly, until they spotted a huge wave, heading straight for them.
'Brace yourselves, all hands brace!' Jack yelled, grabbing a rope and tying it around Maddy's waist as quickly as he could just as the wave hit The Black Pearl, tossing her violently in the water.
Maddy gasped as the force of the wave took her breath away, then choked as sea water filled her mouth and found its way to her lungs. She felt herself flying through the air, then was yanked back brutally as the rope came to its end, and she landed on the deck with a painful thud. Maddy looked frantically around trying to spot Jack, as her fingers worked desperately at the knot, finally loosening it enough to slip out of the rope.
'Jack! Jack!' Maddy ran around the deck, stepping over injured crewmen as she went, calling for her husband, and clinging on as the ship continued to rock with the aftershocks of the tidal wave. Maddy's blood ran cold as she spotted a figure lying face down in the water. 'Jack….?' She whispered fearfully, then climbed over and down the side of The Pearl until she reached the water level, and plunged in, praying that it was not too late. She swam as best she could towards the stricken figure, reaching him more by the large waves carrying her there, than any effort on her part.
'Jack!' Maddy called as she reached him, turning him over on to his back, seeing the blood seeping from a cut on his head. Maddy cupped Jack's chin with her hand and tried to swim for the ship, which was now some hundred feet away from them, and almost cried with relief when she saw a boat being lowered to pick up those swept overboard.
Tom reached out and hauled Jack aboard, then Maddy, who immediately started pumping at Jack's chest, a sob escaping her lips as Jack spewed water from his mouth, coughing and spluttering, his hands flailing around him.
'Shhh, it's all right now love, you're safe.' Maddy looked into Jack's wild eyes, stroking his sodden hair to soothe him.
'Madalene,' he croaked, managing a weak smile. 'Teach me ter open me bloody mouth….'
Maddy kissed Jack's forehead, then turned her attention to helping the others who were swept overboard onto the boat, sending up a prayer of thanks as they were all retrieved alive. The crew on board The Pearl hauled the boat up and the survivors climbed gratefully back onto the ship, nearly keeling over from being clapped on the back by their crewmates, grateful to see them alive and well.
'Mr. Cotton, can you see to Jack's head please?' Maddy ignored the protestations coming from Jack, and led him firmly by the hand to their cabin, where Ned Cotton tended to his captain's wound.
'What the bloody 'ell caused that, Madalene?' Jack tried to shake his head, causing Cotton to frown in exasperation at him.
'Oh my God! The earthquake! Jack, we have to go to Port Royal immediately.' Maddy wrung her hands in anguish.
'Aye luv, we'll go now. All right Cotton I'll live, now go an' see ter th' others.' Jack stood gingerly and made his way from the cabin to the deck, Maddy following closely behind. 'Moyles, change o'plan, we're headin' fer Port Royal. Madalene reckons that wave was caused by t'earthquake.'
'Bleedin' hell Cap'n, right sir.' Tim Moyles dug out his compass and changed the ship's bearing, making directly for Port Royal, all thought of drinking and whores in Tortuga forgotten.