A/N I do not own any of the original Disney characters in this story… nor do I own Anne. Listen, lately I haven't been getting as many reviews… If you're reading this, please review, because I really need the extra encouragement… I have about fifteen stories written and only about five are completed, because I sometimes get tired of writing a story and abandon it halfway through. So, if this is going to continue, I need to know I'm loved
I probably won't abandon it though… I like this story.
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When Anne woke up the next morning, she knew that they were being followed. She didn't know who was following them, but she could smell another ship on the wind.
The wind was growing stronger. A storm was brewing, the air was thick and heavy and hung droopily everywhere, and the clouds were beginning to darken in the horizon. Anne was minorly concerned… recent storms hadn't exactly been easy, tiny little storms. She turned to the Captain, trying to keep cool so nobody would be alarmed.
"There is a storm coming, captain. I normally I wouldn't recommend riding the winds, because although he ship can probably handle it, you may not want to risk our safety. We should be at Tortuga by sunrise tomorrow if we sail through the night, though, and the winds are currently going in exactly the right direction. How lucky can we get? I say we take them." She decided not to mention the ship she could feel close… it would only put caution into their every move, and she was desperate to reach Tortuga before Jack figured out she was gone… if she had enough time to get there, she would never see him again.
She had confidence that this would work. Oh, it would. And if it didn't? Well, then she'd have to deal with it.
But for the moment, whether it worked or not depended on the captain. She held her breath. He hesitated, and she felt that if he didn't answer soon, she would begin to turn blue.
"Are you sure we can't get there before the storm?" He asked her, and she was forced to let out her breath to answer.
"I'm positive we can't. The winds are fast at the moment, and while that will carry us far, it will carry the winds farther."
The captain sighed. "Can you handle this ship in the storm?"
"Aye, I can, as long as there are no distractions." She said coolly, hoping that she could convince him. In all truth, she wasn't sure if she could, but she needed to get to Tortuga.
"Then…" Anne held her breath again, and found herself furious when the captain hesitated once again. "Then I suppose we shall ride the winds until we find a suitable cove in which to stay."
Anne cursed, and then clapped a hand over her mouth. It was imperative that the captain continue to trust her. "I told you I can handle it!"
The captain's dark eyes flashed. "And you would be willing to bet that little girl's life on your ability to handle my ship?" Anne hesitated. "That's what I thought. We shall be stopping soon, no matter what argument you choose to present. I will not let all the people on this ship's lives depend on you!"
Anne drew a quick breath to argue and then realized that it wouldn't do any good; not when she herself didn't believe her argument. Drawing her nerve again, she let her anger seep away before continuing the conversation.
"Then I suppose I should let you know that there is a ship following us. It is rather far away at the moment, but within an hour, it shall be visible on that horizon" She said, pointing in one direction. "I can smell it, feel it, and believe me, it is coming."
The captain met her eyes sharply. "What ship is it? Pirates?"
Anne shrugged. "I honestly can't say. But there is a terrible dead stench in the air, doesn't that tell you something?"
The captain sniffed thoughtfully, and his expression turned to disgust.
"You are right, of course. And now I understand what a terrible mistake I have made." He called two of his men forward and Anne took no notice.
"So what are you going to do about it?" She demanded.
"Have you thrown in the brig." The captain said, and the two men stepped forward and grabbed her. Her expression turned to shock and disbelief.
"I should have believed the young cabin boy when he said that you were a pirate… bad news, I should say. You've led us right into a trap, woman. You'll be hung on our return to Port Royal."
Anne gasped and struggled to get away from the two men, who were pulling her away.
"No!" She shouted. "I swear, I don't know anything about it! Wait, what about Marissa? You can't do this!"
"I…" The man said, stepping forward. "Am the Captain and I can do anything I want. The little girl is a shame… we will give her to the brothels in Tortuga, I suppose, as she will be fed and kept safe there."
Anne growled at him, and with a sudden burst of energy, sprang away from the men holding her to jump on the captain, and she started to beat the crap out of him right there, but he would've been seriously harmed if more men hadn't come down to tear her away and down to the brig.
Mari was up in the rigging with Jacob when she heard the news… that Anne was in the brig. Mari climbed down to talk to the captain as soon as possible. He was waiting for her with a frown on his face and a concerned little glare in his eyes.
"What do you know of her plans for arriving at Tortuga?" He asked the little girl carefully. Mari thought before answering… she needed Anne to be free, otherwise she was alone.
"She… was going to teach me how to be a pirate so we could sail together on a pirate ship." Mari said, thinking as quickly as she could. It didn't occur to her not to mention that Anne was a pirate.
The captain sighed gently. "I'm terribly sorry, but I'm afraid that I can't let her go. I am sure that she was going to attempt to rob my ship. Piracy is a crime, after all."
Mari used the best weapon she had… tears. And quivering lips, and puppy dog eyes, and shaking shoulders. The captain was softened, but there was nothing in the world that would release Anne. He had no trust in her now.
Turning away form Mari, he gave the order to his crew to find the nearest cove and leave the ship there, she there would be out of harms way from the winds.
He intended to ignore the growing fear that there would be an ambush waiting for them.
Jack was closer to the storm than Anne was, but he had decided to ride it. He needed the wind; the sooner he got there, the better. He wasn't even sure where to start looking, but he figured Tortuga was the best place.
Unfortunately, if she got her hands on a ship before he could stop her, he might never find her again. There was a whole ocean out there, and it wasn't exactly easy to track any ship. That was the issue when she left him without the Pearl, and now it was the issue when she left him without Mari.
Jack could see a ship ahead of him, far, far off in the horizon. But it wasn't a merchant ship. It was flying a jolly roger. Calico's flag.
A pirate flag.
Anne could be on that ship. But Jack didn't think so… she wouldn't emerge Mari in all that so soon, would she?
So… what was that ship doing?
He looked closer into his spyglass, but he couldn't make out the fuzzy, microscopic letters on the ship's side.
He gave the orders to open every sail, catch all the wind they could before the storm, when the winds would be wild.
Within two hours, he could see the letters on the ship.
The Revenge.
Where had he heard that name before? It sounded familiar, somehow, but he couldn't put his finger down in it…
A/N Whoever guesses the significance of the ship, THE REVENGE, gets lots of cookies, lots of rum, and lots of chainsaws, and ten minutes on an island with Captain Jack Sparrow. Come on, people, I know you can do it… I've hinted at this so many times, people! This is easy to win!