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Chapter 13
It was as if he and the pirate had exchanged lives
The Commodore came round to the house during early evening. He was wearing a formal suit, and carried in his pocket the engagement ring that he had bought to propose to Elizabeth several months before. He was pleased that it was more impressive than William Turner's; the ring was made from platinum, with a four carat diamond sitting in the centre, flanked on either side by a two carat sapphire. Although he had not purchased it entirely on his own (his wealthy mother back in Hampshire had contributed a great deal towards the cost, delighted that her son would be marrying into such a good family), he was pleased on how the ring reflected on his standing. Knowing that Elizabeth would accept for definite this time, Commodore Norrington smirked smugly, thinking of the possibilities ahead. They could buy a house in England, and stay there while their children were out of school for the holidays. The children would stay at boarding school there, of course. With the dowry from Governor Swann, Norrington could invest in plantations in the Caribbean, as well as being able to travel to make investments around the world.
Arriving at the house, Norrington was let in by the butler, and met Elizabeth in the drawing room. He approved when he saw her- she was freshly dressed in a blue silk dress with a tight corset, and her hair was in tousled curls. She looked like she had made herself ready for him, and she was smiling pleasantly.
"My father tells me you have a question to ask me, Commodore Norrington?" she asked innocently, sitting down.
"Why yes, Miss Swann. I came to ask if-" Norrington bent to one knee to be at eye level with Elizabeth "- you would think about reconsidering my proposal, and becoming my wife?"
They were both play acting, Elizabeth realized, as she pretended to be surprised. "James, that is a lovely offer. I would be delighted to accept," she lied.
Norrington took the ring out of his pocket, and slipped it slowly onto her fourth finger. They both knew it fit, as Elizabeth had worn it previously, but smiled nonetheless when it sat there, sparkling. "I will always take good care of you, Elizabeth. As my wife, you will live in comfort and happiness for the rest of your life. If you want for anything, I will do my best do give it to you…" Elizabeth tuned out as James gave her his speech. She found him so boring, talking all the time, and began to wonder what Will and Jack were doing.
*****
Jack had entered an inn called "The Flying Swann", and looked around. Although cleaner and lighter than the ones in Tortuga, the smell of alcohol and men drinking gave Jack a sense of familiarity. The inn was smoky and filled with low tables, at which were seated half- drunk middle aged men having their afternoon pint (or six) of beer. A portly barman was irritably cleaning out glasses with a white cloth, which he tucked under the bar when he saw Jack.
"Can I help you?" he asked, annoyed at being disturbed.
"You most certainly can, sir," said Jack slowly, deliberately trying to antagonise the man, "I'll take a quart of yer best rum and the finest room you have fer the night."
The barman squinted suspiciously. "A quart?"
"A mug, then," shrugged Jack. "And the room?"
"Yes, I've one spare… that'll be one and sixpence, and tuppence for the rum." Jack looked inside his empty purse as his drink was served up, then glanced around the room. Three men sat in the far corner, playing cards for money and trinkets. He signalled to the barman to give him a minute, then carried his rum over to the gambling group.
"Count me in, gentlemen," he declared, taking his compass from his waist and flinging it onto the table. He pulled over a stool as one of the men dealt him four cards. Jack didn't know what they were playing, but he didn't ask. That was showing weakness. Instead of playing, he watched a few turns with interest, until he grasped the concept. He couldn't remember the name of the game, but was sure he had played before. Reading the expression of the man next to him, he placed one card face down on the table and watched his reaction. The man stared at him for a moment, before placing one of his own cards on the table, and turning it over. This threw Jack. Not sure what to do next, he continued to stare, until the other man took Jack's card from under his fingers and placed it with his own.
"Y'alright, mate?" asked another of the men, disconcerted at his fellow player's silence.
"Aye," came the short reply. Still playing by ear, Jack placed the card from his opponent in the centre of the table, making eye contact with each of the players. His move seemed to be approved of. Each of them placed another card on top, and the dealer dealt another four cards on top of that, and then another card to each of them. Again, Jack watched the other men's' moves, finally taking a card from the pile, as this seemed to be the right thing to do. A short while later, after a few more mirrored moves from Jack, everybody placed their cards face up on the table. A couple of moments, while everybody glanced at the other cards, and the other men frowned disgustedly.
"Lucky bastard," one said to Jack. "One more move and I'd have beaten you."
Jack realized, with a flash of satisfaction, that he'd won. Won at a game he didn't understand! Chuckling gleefully, he pulled the prizes towards him. There wasn't much; about seven shillings, a small knife, some kind of hat, a smoking pipe made from false tortouishell and, of course, his compass back. Jack snapped the latter back onto his belt, poured the coins into his purse, and swaggered up to the bar. He presented the barman with the money for the drink and the room, and ordered another rum, to which the barman obliged, happy that he'd been paid. Just then, a pretty girl dressed fairly casually in a loose, lilac dress rushed into the bar, in a state of distress. Sitting on a tall stool at the bar, she hit the wooden surface, emitting a yelp as she did so. Jack looked at her in surprise and interest.
"Uncle!" she cried, impatiently. The barman hurried over from the other side of the bar.
"What is it, Stephanie? What's wrong?" he asked, concerned.
"That- good for nothing- Norrington has finished with me!" she exclaimed between heaving breaths. Jack curiously moved closer to hear the details. "He's getting married! He's marrying somebody else! Can you believe it?!" she cried to her sympathetic uncle, who offered her a glass of wine. Wrinkling her nose in distaste, she declined. "You know I don't drink." Instead, the barman fetched her a cup of water, which she swilled around, apparently deep in thought, as her uncle moved away to serve a customer.
"I know 'ow you feel, love," Jack offered, leaning closer to her. He couldn't help it; it was second nature for him even though he already had Elizabeth.
Stephanie looked at him, startled. "What?"
"I 'ad a girl, years ago. Broke me 'eart, she did. I loved 'er more than life itself, we were childhood sweethearts. Never apart, not even for a day, didn't think we could live without each other. She was my whole wo'ld, Daphne was. Always there for me, always knew how to make me 'appy." He gave a regretful shrug, and took a sip of rum.
Stephanie turned towards Jack, enthralled. "What happened?"
Jack fixed his brown eyes on her blue ones. "The mornin' we were due to be married, she came up to me while I was re'earsin' me vows in the church…" he paused for suspense "… she told me she was in love with me brother John, and they were runnin' off ter Singapore."
Her eyes widened in shock and sympathy. "Singapore?!"
He nodded. "Aye, Singapore. Never saw 'em again. She even took the ring I bought 'er, I'd laboured years to keep 'er happy and comfortable, and she threw it all away."
Stephanie was captivated by Jack's sad tale, and took a good look at him. His skin was lightly browned by the sun, and he had large dark eyes and prominent cheekbones. His eyes were heavily lined with kohl for accentuation, and his thin moustache led down to a beard, into which were braided beads. His hair was tangled and dark, and decorated with different types of beads, a large, silver ornament and some kind of bone.
"What happened then?" she asked, wanting to hear more.
Jack tipped the rest of his drink into his mouth, grimacing as he swallowed. "I was a mess fer months. What's worse was, me family were happy for me brother, John. Even me own mam, she started tellin' all the neighbours she was delighted they were together, delighted that her oldest son was so 'appy. An' when I told 'er to stop talking about it, she called me a disloyal brother an' disowned me. Me dad too. So there I was, all alone, no Daphne, no mam, no family, no friends…" Jack knew his story was becoming even more ludicrous, but he could see Stephanie believed every word. Indicating her with his glass, he said "'Ow about you, then? Who's this madman that's gone off wi' somebody else?"
She blushed and smiled at the compliment. "Oh, it's nowhere near as bad as what happened to you. It's just this man I was courting: powerful, rich and he was going to propose soon. That's what everybody said, anyway. I suppose they were right, because he did propose. Just not to me. Instead, he chose the girl he's been engaged to before, Elizabeth Swann. I don't know why he did it, but he did. Without even having the decency to tell me first."
Jack stiffened at the mention of Elizabeth. "Elizabeth Swann- from the mansion up there? The Governor's daughter?"
"Yes. And, to add insult to injury, an old friend of mine. I can't believe she'd betray me like that."
"Betray you? You mean she said yes?!"
"Of course. Why, do you know her?" Stephanie was puzzled by the man's reaction. She had assumed he was a merchant or sailor of some kind, they frequented the few bars in Port Royal, but it was unusual for them to know the residents.
"I know of her. But let's not talk abou' the people who hurt us anymore. I fink what you really need is to forget this Norrington, love."
"And I think you need to forget about Daphne and John," Stephanie replied.
"Who? Oh yes, Daphne." He smiled, but inwardly cursed himself for slipping. Something must be wrong with him.
"So do you have anybody special at the moment, Mr- urm…?"
"Oh. Sparrow. Jack Sparrow. Captain Jack Sparrow. And you are?"
"Stephanie Twyman. Captain, eh? I suppose you're a merchant?"
"Aye." Although Jack usually liked to tease women's fantasies by admitting he was a pirate, he was uncomfortably aware that Stephanie's uncle was watching them from the other end of the bar. "I'm in sugar. Just delivered a load off 'ere, met the Governor and 'is daughter a few hours ago. Just dropped me hat by her feet, looked up and-" Jack's story telling was this time having the opposite effect on Stephanie, and she looked back to her drink, bored. "Woulda been here sooner, if it weren't for the pirate attack on the way."
She perked up with interest. "Pirates?!"
"Aye. Pirates. Came at us from behind. Tried to raid us of all our cargo, but I 'ad me trusty sword at 'and, that captain never saw me comin'. Now they're somewhere down Davy Jones' Locker."
"Davy who?" she was confused, but impressed with this strong Captain's courage.
"The sea, love," he explained kindly.
"Goodness," she breathed, "that sounds exciting, you must be very brave!" He inclined his head modestly. "So anyway, are you courting anybody at the moment..?"
Jack had to think for a moment. Was he? There was a woman he was in love with, who was running away with him and having his baby, so he supposed they were courting. But then again, Elizabeth was still in love with Will and, apparently engaged to Norrington now. "Not at the minute, love." Well, even if they were, Elizabeth wanted to keep it a secret, and he respected that.
*****
Will was woken by the sound of the clock from the church tower, as it chimed one, two, three, four, five, six, seven. Seven o' clock already? He looked around him and saw an unfamiliar room. He was lying in a low, hard bed with a bedraggled blanket covering half of his legs, the faint light from an oil lamp in the corner of the room spilling onto his lower body. Where am I? He thought, trying to remember the past few hours. He remembered drinking in the smithy... wandering around for a while... he thought he'd gone into an unfamiliar tavern, because he couldn't place the image he had in his head. Feeling a cold flash of fear, he hoped to God he hadn't done anything with any women. Scanning the room quickly, and noting the absence of members of the opposite sex, he pushed the blanket off his legs and sat up. Taking a moment for his throbbing head to clear, he stood slowly, trying to stop the swaying, dizzying feeling. He took a look around him. The room was bare save for the small bed and the tiny table which held the lamp, and the walls were bare, whitewashed plaster. The floorboards were rough, uneven and stained with damp, and creaked when he put his weight on them. Trying to tread carefully, he gradually made his way across the room to the door, which he opened quietly, and looked out. Still not recognizing where he was, he walked out into a short hall which led to a spiral staircase. Will climbed down the stairs, ducking to avoid banging his already painful head on the low ceiling, and arrived at the bottom, in what he assumed was one of the less respectable taverns on the island. He had never been here before; looking around, he saw many drunken individuals staggering around, with a couple of girls standing in the corner. Spotting him, one of them bounded over, skirts flouncing.
"Are you feeling better?" she asked with a worried expression. "You just fainted up there and I wasn't sure what to do, so I just put the blanket on you. I assumed you'd had too much to drink, I didn't know what else to do!" Her voice was anxious, almost maternal.
"I'm- I'm fine… who are you?" He wasn't sure what to make of her.
"Elsie, don't you remember? I told you about an hour ago, before you blacked out. I suppose you must have been just drunk then!"
Will squinted at her. She couldn't have been more than sixteen years old. "Why was I up there?"
"I was going to satisfy your every need. That's what I do. Or your money back. But if you fell asleep, that's not my fault and I can't refund you!" she added, hastily.
"Please don't tell me you're a-"
"A what?"
Where are your parents? Thought Will, incredulously as he looked at the young girl's blank expression. "Fine. Keep the money. I don't care who you are, but just don't tell anybody I was in here. Understand?"
"I understand. Goodbye Mr Sparrow."
Will swore under his breath as he walked to the door. He was telling people he was Jack now? What was he doing? It was as if he and the pirate had exchanged lives- now Will had the bars, the copious amounts of alcohol and prostitutes, and Jack had Elizabeth and the potential of something Will had always wanted for himself: a family. Will wondered when exactly the change had occurred between them… he realized it must have been when he gave up Elizabeth. Was this what his life would be without her? He couldn't bare to think about it. Trying to organize his thoughts, he insisted out loud:
"This isn't me!"
Rebecca Smith, a passer-by heading back to her husband, glanced nervously at Will clutching his head and hurried a little faster down the darkening street. Will watched her go. Wondering what to do, Will headed back to the smithy, thrusting his hands into the pocket of his waistcoat. Again, he pondered his options, trying to find an easier solution to the problem. Elizabeth was having Jack's baby… but he couldn't bring up a child that was a reminder of the intimacy the two had shared. Could he? The idea of losing Elizabeth horrified him, and look what had happened when he had tried to numb the pain. He had been living without her for just over twenty four hours, and for each one of them, he had wished he was dead. Finally arriving at the smithy, he entered, letting the damp heat wash over him. As he sat down on a nearby chair, something caught his eye. On the corner of the work surface to the left, lay the camellias he had bought for Elizabeth the day he found out. They had completely wilted from the heat, and their pink flush had turned to soggy brown, but they were still there. For the first time, Will began to consider taking Elizabeth back.
*****
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