A/N: Ahhh...I've got a two week break for the Easter Holidays, so I've got
loads of time to cook up ideas for this fic!
Mecano_girl: You think my story's excellent? Wow, thank you! ^_^ It's nice to see that there are people still reading this after all. And about the food, it may have been drugged, may have not. Maybe Lorraine was just feeling ill. You'll just have to wait and see ;-)
And now, onto Chapter 7! Read and review, pretty please?
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"Ye feeling any better?"
Lorraine rubbed her eyes and then squirmed as a wave of pain washed over her body. Her head was throbbing agonisingly and her stomach was stinging so much it felt like she had been stabbed with a knife or something.
"What happened?" she asked groggily as she sat up in the bed. The captain bit his lip and though for a moment before telling her.
"Well, you were fine one moment, and then you started coughin' and spluttering, and then ye just collapsed. Fainted. Blacked out. Just like that." He clicked his fingers as he said the last word and then shrugged; indicating that he didn't know why she had suddenly fell ill yet again.
"I don't like being here. I want to go home."
"S'alright, love. It ain't that bad."
But it is. Lorraine thought sadly. He didn't know what it was like. "I want to go home."
"We'll be reachin' Tortuga within the next day or two, which is near Orchila. We're stoppin' there to get supplies anyway."
"So you'll take me home?" she asked eagerly. The captain's eyes flickered and he turned around to leave his cabin.
"We'll see."
*****
It had been a whole week since he had said that. She had seen no land yet. And to make things even worse, her seasickness seemed to have returned, just when she thought she was getting used to the sea! It was far worse than before, and she felt ill every morning. Her stomach was in such a pain that she wished she could just will the agony away.
Clutching her hand to her stomach, she stormed off to the dining room where she knew Sparrow would be this afternoon. As she approached the strong, wooden door she heard conversation from within the room.
"Cap'n, we're all in it together, it'd only be fair if you shared the whereabouts." It was Barbossa's voice. Even though she could not see Sparrow, she could almost sense that he felt uncomfortable.
"But is there any point?" "O' course there's a poin', cap'n! All that treasure could be ours! Imagine it; you'll 'ave th' Black Pearl, all the treasure on tha' island – the world at your feet. The most fear'd cap'n in all the seas...But only if you share the bearings of the island!"
"Hmm...Captain Jack Sparrow – the most feared pirate in the world. Has a nice ring to it..."
"Aye, it does, sir. It could all be yours, ours. You'll be as infamous as th' founder o' the treasure 'imself..."
Jack inhaled deeply and then breathed out. "Alright then. I've got the map 'ere," Lorraine heard some parchment being laid out. "There it is." He muttered a name, but she couldn't hear well through the door.
One of them stood up and she could hear something being tied away as footsteps approached the other side of the door. It opened and Lorraine took a step back as Barbossa pushed past her, grinning as he glanced down at her. She edged away and stepped into the room as she saw the captain look rather ruffled and a bit like a cat on hot bricks. Why was he so uneasy? It was so unlike him.
Lorraine remembered what she originally made her way here for and forgot about her worry for the captain; it wasn't her concern anyway.
"Captain Sparrow, how much longer is it going to be?"
"What?"
"Why aren't we near any land? It's been seven godforsaken days since you told me we'd be reaching Tortuga! Why aren't we there yet?" she shouted at him, fed-up to the core with all this waiting around, she wanted to be back on land, back home!
"In case you haven't looked outside recently, Miss Tyne," he spoke her name fervently, "there's a load of bloody fog surroundin' us, and there's nothin' I can do to change that. And to tell the truth, you're not a fat lot of use either."
"Well excuse me, but I didn't decide to come aboard a pirate ship!" she snapped sharply, turning around and storming out of the room. Okay, so maybe fog was a valid reason for their delay, but still, it shouldn't take this long to clear.
Lorraine went up on deck and wandered around frustrated and basically just worn out. God, she wanted to get off this ship! Yes, it was a nice, interesting experience for the first few days, but now she was really beginning to realise how much she was beginning to hate it. It was the same routine every day: get up, wander around the ship, perhaps talk to Bootstrap or Sparrow, wander around a bit more, maybe get something to eat, get bored, go to sleep, begin a new eventless day. There was nothing for her to do here, and she was getting rather peeved to say the least.
*****
The next morning, Lorraine woke with a jump as the ship sailed over a particularly large wave. A wretched feeling stemmed from her lower stomach and she once again felt the urge to retch.
She swung her legs around the side of the bed, yanked open the door, sprinted down the corridor and up the stairs, and then ran for the side of the ship. Lorraine bent over and emptied her stomach of the already small amount of contents it consisted of. How she hated waking up this way! Overcome with flares of heat on her forehead and neck, sweat covering her palms, her stomach muscles contracting painfully even when there was nothing left to get rid of.
Lorraine breathed in the cool, morning air; allowing the gentle wind to delicately sweep against her sweating skin. She closed her eyes and inhaled through her nose before looking down to the calm, inviting water below. It looked wonderfully refreshing and she thought about how much she'd love to just swim about for a while to cool down, but she'd probably get tired quickly and most likely drown in the ocean's depths. Lorraine sighed; she hoped Sparrow felt guilty for keeping her on his ship in this state.
With that thought, she instantly lifted her head up and peered around – the fog had cleared. She couldn't help but let a smile creep onto her sickly pale face before running to the front end of the ship. Her heart was beating and her breathing quickened as she ran, and she almost felt like crying out with delight when she saw a speck of land in the distance.
Lorraine turned around to see the captain at the wheel, a smile on his tanned face. She grinned back and then turned to stare at the ever-growing smudge that the Black Pearl was heading towards.
"That be Tortuga up ahead. One o' the most inviting, wonderful and beautiful islands in the Caribbean." He described the island admiringly, "You won't find no other island like it, one of a kind, it is. A land of milk and honey, a paradise for wanderers and travellers, a heaven for –"
"Yes, Captain Sparrow, I think I've heard enough now!" Lorraine interrupted him laughing as he went into a speech about the island he so adored. The captain stopped and shot a cocky grin at her as he rested one stretched arm on the wheel, the other hovering horizontally at his waist, bent at the elbow, his little finger slightly more raised than the others on his hand.
"Told ye I'd get you to some land soon enough." He notified her smugly, lifting his head slightly as he looked at Lorraine down his nose. She responded by rolling her eyes and sighing mockingly, as if she didn't believe he could get the ship anywhere at all.
*****
The ship was churning and groaning as its base scraped the shallow sea bed. Lorraine was giddy with joy – she hadn't seen land for an entire fortnight, which was the longest she had ever been away from home. Ah, the thought of home...Orchila was only about three days sailing from here. Soon she'd be back in her house, with her mother and father, she'd see her cousin Thomas again as well as her beloved best friend Rebecca. She missed her so much; her friendly banter and her constant chatter was homely and always put Lorraine at ease when she was feeling unhappy or less than cheerful.
"Lower the gangplank! Drop the anchor! Prepare to dock!" orders were bellowed out as the ship slowed to a halt near the shore and the crewmembers scurried about the ship as it came into the port.
Lorraine stood at the side of the ship, watching three men create a simple bridge from the ship to the pier using a long, wooden plank. She looked at it unsurely; would she have to walk along that? It couldn't be more than a foot-and-a-half across, and the twenty foot drop was none too comforting either, with frothy waves bubbling on the surface of the water.
"Ye not scared of heights, are ye?" Sparrow mocked at Lorraine, a heavy arm resting on her shoulders.
"Of course not." She responded defiantly, everything but the hint of fear in her eyes showing confidence.
"Hurry up then, we 'aven't got all day, you know!" he smirked, giving her a light push in the direction of the plank. She stumbled forward, keeping her eyes on the basic bridge in front of her; Lorraine glanced back at the captain, and the look in his eyes made her want to prove him wrong. She took a deep breath and then stepped forward, her legs trembling slightly as the rackety plank rocked beneath her feet.
"Oh god..." she breathed, stretching her arms out to stay balanced. She tip- toed across it, her eyes squinting at the wooden pathway the entire time; keeping her eyes tightly shut was her first option, but then she would obviously not be able to see where she was going, which could result into her falling, rather embarrassingly, into the water below in front of an entire crew of pirates, including Captain Jack Sparrow who she didn't exactly want to make herself a fool in full view of.
Thankfully, her feet soon found solid ground, and she sat down as quickly as she could upon the pier. It made her seethe with envy to see the captain carelessly stroll down the plank, reaching the pier in a few, mere moments.
"Easy, innit? Nothing to make a fuss about after all, eh?" he said innocently, but Lorraine could clearly see that he was relishing with her inability to cross the plank swiftly. She glared at him and he grabbed her by the hands and pulled her to her feet. It was such an odd feeling being on ground that didn't move. Lorraine could still feel the motion in her body, and found her body swaying as if she was still on the ship.
Sparrow steadied her by holding onto her shoulders, suppressing the urge to flick an arrogant remark at her. He then grabbed her hand and pulled her down along the pier and into the bustling town of Tortuga.
Mecano_girl: You think my story's excellent? Wow, thank you! ^_^ It's nice to see that there are people still reading this after all. And about the food, it may have been drugged, may have not. Maybe Lorraine was just feeling ill. You'll just have to wait and see ;-)
And now, onto Chapter 7! Read and review, pretty please?
-------------------------
"Ye feeling any better?"
Lorraine rubbed her eyes and then squirmed as a wave of pain washed over her body. Her head was throbbing agonisingly and her stomach was stinging so much it felt like she had been stabbed with a knife or something.
"What happened?" she asked groggily as she sat up in the bed. The captain bit his lip and though for a moment before telling her.
"Well, you were fine one moment, and then you started coughin' and spluttering, and then ye just collapsed. Fainted. Blacked out. Just like that." He clicked his fingers as he said the last word and then shrugged; indicating that he didn't know why she had suddenly fell ill yet again.
"I don't like being here. I want to go home."
"S'alright, love. It ain't that bad."
But it is. Lorraine thought sadly. He didn't know what it was like. "I want to go home."
"We'll be reachin' Tortuga within the next day or two, which is near Orchila. We're stoppin' there to get supplies anyway."
"So you'll take me home?" she asked eagerly. The captain's eyes flickered and he turned around to leave his cabin.
"We'll see."
*****
It had been a whole week since he had said that. She had seen no land yet. And to make things even worse, her seasickness seemed to have returned, just when she thought she was getting used to the sea! It was far worse than before, and she felt ill every morning. Her stomach was in such a pain that she wished she could just will the agony away.
Clutching her hand to her stomach, she stormed off to the dining room where she knew Sparrow would be this afternoon. As she approached the strong, wooden door she heard conversation from within the room.
"Cap'n, we're all in it together, it'd only be fair if you shared the whereabouts." It was Barbossa's voice. Even though she could not see Sparrow, she could almost sense that he felt uncomfortable.
"But is there any point?" "O' course there's a poin', cap'n! All that treasure could be ours! Imagine it; you'll 'ave th' Black Pearl, all the treasure on tha' island – the world at your feet. The most fear'd cap'n in all the seas...But only if you share the bearings of the island!"
"Hmm...Captain Jack Sparrow – the most feared pirate in the world. Has a nice ring to it..."
"Aye, it does, sir. It could all be yours, ours. You'll be as infamous as th' founder o' the treasure 'imself..."
Jack inhaled deeply and then breathed out. "Alright then. I've got the map 'ere," Lorraine heard some parchment being laid out. "There it is." He muttered a name, but she couldn't hear well through the door.
One of them stood up and she could hear something being tied away as footsteps approached the other side of the door. It opened and Lorraine took a step back as Barbossa pushed past her, grinning as he glanced down at her. She edged away and stepped into the room as she saw the captain look rather ruffled and a bit like a cat on hot bricks. Why was he so uneasy? It was so unlike him.
Lorraine remembered what she originally made her way here for and forgot about her worry for the captain; it wasn't her concern anyway.
"Captain Sparrow, how much longer is it going to be?"
"What?"
"Why aren't we near any land? It's been seven godforsaken days since you told me we'd be reaching Tortuga! Why aren't we there yet?" she shouted at him, fed-up to the core with all this waiting around, she wanted to be back on land, back home!
"In case you haven't looked outside recently, Miss Tyne," he spoke her name fervently, "there's a load of bloody fog surroundin' us, and there's nothin' I can do to change that. And to tell the truth, you're not a fat lot of use either."
"Well excuse me, but I didn't decide to come aboard a pirate ship!" she snapped sharply, turning around and storming out of the room. Okay, so maybe fog was a valid reason for their delay, but still, it shouldn't take this long to clear.
Lorraine went up on deck and wandered around frustrated and basically just worn out. God, she wanted to get off this ship! Yes, it was a nice, interesting experience for the first few days, but now she was really beginning to realise how much she was beginning to hate it. It was the same routine every day: get up, wander around the ship, perhaps talk to Bootstrap or Sparrow, wander around a bit more, maybe get something to eat, get bored, go to sleep, begin a new eventless day. There was nothing for her to do here, and she was getting rather peeved to say the least.
*****
The next morning, Lorraine woke with a jump as the ship sailed over a particularly large wave. A wretched feeling stemmed from her lower stomach and she once again felt the urge to retch.
She swung her legs around the side of the bed, yanked open the door, sprinted down the corridor and up the stairs, and then ran for the side of the ship. Lorraine bent over and emptied her stomach of the already small amount of contents it consisted of. How she hated waking up this way! Overcome with flares of heat on her forehead and neck, sweat covering her palms, her stomach muscles contracting painfully even when there was nothing left to get rid of.
Lorraine breathed in the cool, morning air; allowing the gentle wind to delicately sweep against her sweating skin. She closed her eyes and inhaled through her nose before looking down to the calm, inviting water below. It looked wonderfully refreshing and she thought about how much she'd love to just swim about for a while to cool down, but she'd probably get tired quickly and most likely drown in the ocean's depths. Lorraine sighed; she hoped Sparrow felt guilty for keeping her on his ship in this state.
With that thought, she instantly lifted her head up and peered around – the fog had cleared. She couldn't help but let a smile creep onto her sickly pale face before running to the front end of the ship. Her heart was beating and her breathing quickened as she ran, and she almost felt like crying out with delight when she saw a speck of land in the distance.
Lorraine turned around to see the captain at the wheel, a smile on his tanned face. She grinned back and then turned to stare at the ever-growing smudge that the Black Pearl was heading towards.
"That be Tortuga up ahead. One o' the most inviting, wonderful and beautiful islands in the Caribbean." He described the island admiringly, "You won't find no other island like it, one of a kind, it is. A land of milk and honey, a paradise for wanderers and travellers, a heaven for –"
"Yes, Captain Sparrow, I think I've heard enough now!" Lorraine interrupted him laughing as he went into a speech about the island he so adored. The captain stopped and shot a cocky grin at her as he rested one stretched arm on the wheel, the other hovering horizontally at his waist, bent at the elbow, his little finger slightly more raised than the others on his hand.
"Told ye I'd get you to some land soon enough." He notified her smugly, lifting his head slightly as he looked at Lorraine down his nose. She responded by rolling her eyes and sighing mockingly, as if she didn't believe he could get the ship anywhere at all.
*****
The ship was churning and groaning as its base scraped the shallow sea bed. Lorraine was giddy with joy – she hadn't seen land for an entire fortnight, which was the longest she had ever been away from home. Ah, the thought of home...Orchila was only about three days sailing from here. Soon she'd be back in her house, with her mother and father, she'd see her cousin Thomas again as well as her beloved best friend Rebecca. She missed her so much; her friendly banter and her constant chatter was homely and always put Lorraine at ease when she was feeling unhappy or less than cheerful.
"Lower the gangplank! Drop the anchor! Prepare to dock!" orders were bellowed out as the ship slowed to a halt near the shore and the crewmembers scurried about the ship as it came into the port.
Lorraine stood at the side of the ship, watching three men create a simple bridge from the ship to the pier using a long, wooden plank. She looked at it unsurely; would she have to walk along that? It couldn't be more than a foot-and-a-half across, and the twenty foot drop was none too comforting either, with frothy waves bubbling on the surface of the water.
"Ye not scared of heights, are ye?" Sparrow mocked at Lorraine, a heavy arm resting on her shoulders.
"Of course not." She responded defiantly, everything but the hint of fear in her eyes showing confidence.
"Hurry up then, we 'aven't got all day, you know!" he smirked, giving her a light push in the direction of the plank. She stumbled forward, keeping her eyes on the basic bridge in front of her; Lorraine glanced back at the captain, and the look in his eyes made her want to prove him wrong. She took a deep breath and then stepped forward, her legs trembling slightly as the rackety plank rocked beneath her feet.
"Oh god..." she breathed, stretching her arms out to stay balanced. She tip- toed across it, her eyes squinting at the wooden pathway the entire time; keeping her eyes tightly shut was her first option, but then she would obviously not be able to see where she was going, which could result into her falling, rather embarrassingly, into the water below in front of an entire crew of pirates, including Captain Jack Sparrow who she didn't exactly want to make herself a fool in full view of.
Thankfully, her feet soon found solid ground, and she sat down as quickly as she could upon the pier. It made her seethe with envy to see the captain carelessly stroll down the plank, reaching the pier in a few, mere moments.
"Easy, innit? Nothing to make a fuss about after all, eh?" he said innocently, but Lorraine could clearly see that he was relishing with her inability to cross the plank swiftly. She glared at him and he grabbed her by the hands and pulled her to her feet. It was such an odd feeling being on ground that didn't move. Lorraine could still feel the motion in her body, and found her body swaying as if she was still on the ship.
Sparrow steadied her by holding onto her shoulders, suppressing the urge to flick an arrogant remark at her. He then grabbed her hand and pulled her down along the pier and into the bustling town of Tortuga.