Hi! Sorry it took so long to put this chapter up but I don't have the
internet at home and have to do it at school between breaks and
stuff...please forgive me. I was so happy to actually get reviews! Thanx so
much to the ppl who did review. The answers and the credit you deserve for
reading it are at the end. I'm sorry if it's a little long but, I loved
writing it and just got so wrapped up in it that I couldn't stop, and I
swear it is going somewhere. This next chapter was sad for me to write
but...don't hate me please. Read and Review because I love hearing from you.
So, with out further ado: chapter two! -ashlyns
Chapter 2- Good-byes
Meredith spent the next week and a half walking around the house absently. There was simply no excitement. Occasionally, Meredith made her way down to the town and explored but she had seen everything there was to be seen. Nothing was left.
She often fell back, like usual, to remembering the days on the ocean many years ago, but all that made her feel empty and alone again. She loved to watch her children, often resorting to spying on them from a window in the shadows so they wouldn't notice.
Lily was over almost everyday and had even started talking to Meredith. She had a wonderful voice and Meredith wished she used it more often. Jack encouraged her to speak; leading to him talking a lot more then usual and resulting in Lily laughing when he mangled his words. She seemed to bring out some hidden quality in the young man. Meredith had also noticed Rosa spending a lot more time in the library, apparently searching high and low for more books hidden under floorboards and in the walls themselves. There were none, of course, but Meredith didn't tell her that. It was slightly refreshing to see her daughter take such an interest in treasure, even if it was a book.
One afternoon, while Robert was at the fort, Meredith sat down in the tearoom with a streaming mug and lounged back in a soft red chair, watching Jack and Lily at the table in the corner, pouring over a French text Rosa had dug up in the library. Lily was unfamiliar with the language and Jack had taken it apon himself to teach her.
"Bonjour." He said slowly and Lily copied him. "Good, luv, very good. Do you remember what that means?" Lily shook her head and Meredith noticed the way her eyes lingered on Jack's face when the young man looked back down at the text and ran his finger down the words, pointing out all the bonjours. "Okay, well it means 'hello', so, if you ever meet a French man, or woman, you can say 'Bonjour, come ah sa va?' which means 'hello, how are you?" He smiled brightly as she repeated it and giggled at the weird words rolling from her tongue.
Lily picked an apple from the bowl and held it up in her hand, the red skin bouncing a soft glow off it. "And this?"
"Le pomme." He said casually taking the apple and rubbing it on his sleeve. "Like the palm of your hand, that's how you can remember it, you hold an apple in the palm of your hand...see?" He handed it back and their fingers brushed together. Meredith giggled silently to herself as Lily blushed. Jack took no notice and continued holding up fruit.
"Banana, very simply put, anana." His grin widened. "Not very original, are they?"
"Non." She said in a French accent and Jack laughed. "That good?"
"Oui, that very good darling." Meredith shook her head and drained her teacup then stood and left the room. Outside on the stairs she found Rosa, a book in her hand like usual. She sat down beside her and looked over Rosa's shoulder to read the words on the page.
"Mary and I walked purposely towards the group of Spanish soldiers, their guns trained on us, out cutlass's held high. With a cry like the raging wind, Mary charged them and they fired but...their bullets did not hit her. God was with us this day as they streaked past her narrowly and we..." Rosa looked up into her mother's face.
"What's wrong?" She asked. It was then that Meredith found that she had tears in her eyes. She pushed them away and shook her head.
"Nothing, I'm just glade to see your brother has found something to entertain him for the moment." She indicated the tearoom and Rosa looked over at the pair, Jack holding up grapes, both laughing at some unheard joke. "Why don't you go over there. Lily seems really nice, you to should get to know each other."
"She likes Jack though." Rosa made a face. "Ewe." Meredith laughed and pushed her daughter slightly, making the younger woman stand.
"Please, join them. You know your brother, he's not very good with his French, you should help him." Rosa gave a resigned sigh and left her mother.
*
Jack strolled through the street, his mind on other things, mainly Lily. She had his heart and he was almost sure she was the one. It was her laugh, the way she talked and walked, her eyes...he smiled to himself and staggered to a halt as a man wobbled out of the bar, drunk and disoriented. Jack made a face as some of the man's rum spilled from the bottle in his hands and splashed on the ground. How could anyone drink that stuff? What did it solve?
Some boys off the side of the bar, in the ally, grabbed his attention and he watched as they played with a worn pigskin ball. They were poor, no doubt. He had never been able to play with boys his age except for the other rich kids. Their mothers though, weren't as lenient as his and hadn't raised them to be grateful for what they had. He had something they didn't, a mother who believed in choices, equity and, above all...freedom.
Not wanting them to notice him watching, Jack turned up another road, his mind on the beach where he could sit for hours and watch the ships and men loading them, be alone, clear his head. Lace Peterson, a lower class girl from the north area of town, waved to him from behind her mother as he passed. He and Lace had dated secretly for a few days two or three months' back. She was a cute girl to be sure but just didn't have what he was looking for.
The beach was almost empty, save for the occasional crewman. A lovely ship was out in the middle of the harbor. She came about once a month for supplies and he had seen her as far back as he could remember. He was sure her name was the Maryanne but one or two men had called her the Catherine. He had never really got close to the ship; she tended to stay out in the harbor with crew scuttling back and forth in rowboats.
He watched the dock as a cleanly dressed teenager stepped into the boat. If Jack wasn't mistaken, the kid looked almost like a woman but women didn't dress like that, especially if they came from this town. He decided it wasn't his business and lay down on the sand, arms folded beneath him to cushion his head. He didn't notice a small vessel making it's way into the harbor behind the Catherine. If he had, his sharp eyes probably would have caught sight of the tip of a black pirate's flag behind held down by one of the men and a British flag taking its place.
*
Meredith boarded the small rowboat with Roger and set off for the Catherine, eyes darting for possible spies. She didn't know why but this meeting was worrying her. There was something not right with the feeling in her stomach, as though this was a mistake coming here.
She quickly pushed it from her mind. She would brave anything to see Joshua. The weeks had drug by slowly and she almost couldn't stand the small wait to the Catherine. Joshua was on the deck waiting for her, a wide smile on his face.
Meredith climbed up the rope as usual and was quickly swept off to the captain's quarters. After locking the door, this time with the excuse of an injury he had apparently sustained and needing a woman's touch, they began to kiss again.
"I missed you." Joshua said between breaks when he was supposed to be taking a breath. She held onto his face with her hands so he could not pull away. "I missed you...so much I...could hardly...stand...it." Meredith smiled.
"Shut up already..." She said back, "You talk to much." He laughed and they began moving towards the bed but, before they had reached it, a cry from the deck rang out and a few minutes later, Paully Black was at the door, pounding on the wood frantically. Joshua straightened his shirt and moved to the door, allowing the distraught crewman to enter. His black hair was all over the place, his usually bright face flushed.
"Its Peg-Leg Fritz, sir. His ship's docking with ours." Joshua swore and then tore around the room, trying desperately to find his gun and cutlass. After retrieving them he turned to Meredith.
"I need you to go back to port." He said. Meredith had no idea what was going on. She grabbed Joshua's hand as he turned to leave and he looked around at her with his deep eyes. "Fritz wants the map." He said simply. Meredith suddenly understood. The only map she knew of worth any value was the one for the cursed treasure of Cortez.
"When did this happen?" Meredith asked. Joshua opened his mouth to respond when Paully appeared at the door again and reported that the gangplank had been dropped and Peg-Leg Fritz was boarding.
"Meredith, stay behind, here, in the cabin. Okay?" He ignored Paully and ran a warm hand down her cheek. "I don't want you to get hurt." Meredith shook her head and opened her mouth to reply but Joshua interrupted her. "Damn it woman! Listen to me for once and stay where I tell you to." With that he kissed her briefly and left.
Meredith stood where she was, in the middle of the room, eyes on the doorway listening to the hushed babble from the deck until, finally, she could bear it no more and made her way to the door. Outside there was a crowd and she slipped into it, coming to rest slightly behind Roger.
Joshua and a man with slick blond hair stood in the middle of a ring of crewmembers from both ships. Meredith could see ropes and such connecting both the Catherine and Peg-Leg Fritz's ship, some men still onboard theirs, watching, or else scurrying over to join the ring of onlookers.
"Captain Fritz." Joshua said stiffly with a polite tilt of his head. Peg-Leg Fritz shifted from one foot to the other but didn't say anything. Meredith looked him up and down critically. The man seemed to have acquired a disease or something since the last time she'd seen him and the rotten teeth in his mouth gave her a sick feeling in her stomach making her run her tongue over her own. "What do you want?"
Peg-Leg Fritz stood there for a moment and then shook his head. "You know what I want Joshua." He said firmly. "I am wanting the map to the treasure of the Isla de Muerta." Joshua chuckled and Meredith noticed a slight bit of color rise in Fritz's face, he was clearly angry with Joshua's out burst.
"What makes you think I have the map for the treasure of Cortez himself, hmm?" Joshua laughed again. "And, if you believe that, do you then believe that there is a curse?" He shook his head and turned his back on Fritz. "Child, that's what you remind me of." He looked briefly over his shoulder at the one legged man. "A child."
"I want the map Delore!" Fritz yelled. He pulled out a gun and waved it at Joshua's back. Instantly, Joshua's crew pulled out their own knives and pistols but they were out numbered by Fritz's crew at least two to one. Joshua stopped and turned to face Fritz again.
"I don't know where you get your stories Fritz, I have no map and, even if I did, how would you ever find it if you killed me?" Joshua closed his eyes, a smile on his lips. "We have no more quarrel. Go back to that piece of lizard gut you call a ship and get out of my sight." Joshua watched as Fritz put his gun back in the sash on his waist and turned to leave the ship.
"Come men, we've wasted our time." Meredith thought this was too easy. Fritz was now on the gangplank and Joshua, who had spotted Meredith, began walking over to her through the crowd. A movement over his shoulder caught her eye and she looked up to see Fritz was whipping around, a dagger in his hand, aiming for Joshua.
With a scream, Meredith grabbed the man she loved and felt the cool metal slid into her back as she spun Joshua around, away from Fritz. As the crews around them sprang into action, cutlass's glinting in the sun, guns going off around them, Joshua and Meredith stood, arm in arm, holding tight to one another.
She was going to die. She could feel it. An intense grief swept over her just as a new one took its place. Pride. She was going to die because she did something she had always wanted to do. She died free; away from her husband and in the arms of the man she loved.
Joshua lowered her down to the deck and Meredith didn't protest. "Why?" He asked, tears welling in his eyes, as he suddenly fully understood what she had done. Meredith managed a smile.
"I'd die for you." Suddenly, the blade of a cutlass flashed down and hit the deck inches from Meredith's face. Her and Joshua both looked up to see Fritz standing there, triumph on his face and a look of madness in his eyes.
"Let's dance Delore." He snarled. Joshua took one last look at Meredith and then called over to Roger.
"Look after her, take her to land and wait for me, please." He instructed. Meredith was pulled, against her will, away from her love and lowered into a rowboat. The last glimpse she had of her lover, he was in combat with her murderer.
*
Jack had been drifting in and out on the beach, his mind on what it would be like to be able to fly, like a bird. Enthralled in his fantasy, Jack was awakened abruptly by a loud gunshot from out in the harbor. Sitting up, he squinted against the glare of the sun on the water to watch the two ships in the middle of the harbour, docked together. There seemed to be a disturbance on the deck of the ship he had watched earlier, the Maryanne or something like that.
As he wondered weather he should get any closer, more gunshots erupted and he could clearly see the sun hitting cutlass blades. Jumping to his feet, Jack ran the length of the beach to the wooden docks where many of the workers had stopped loading and were watching the scene unfolding on the water.
"Do you think its pirates?" One man asked as Jack came to a halt beside him. The man's companion shook his head.
"Gus!" He called. A portly man with a worn tweed cap wobbled over and was instructed to get the soldiers. Nodding, he hurried away towards the fort without even a word. Pirates, that would be exciting. Jack had seen a few pirates in his day, most of them being hung. Shame really, he'd love to talk to one. Or be one, said a sly little voice in his head. Oh, come on Jack, it would be fun eh? If fun was getting shot, oh yeah! Entertaining.
A rowboat was being lowered over the side of the ship into the water. Jack watched it curiously. Why, in the middle of a battle, would they do that? Noticing the rowboat was heading to the dock three down from his, Jack turned and made his way towards its drop point. He'd assist in anyway he could.
As the rowboat got closer, Jack noticed a man sitting inside. His face was almost completely covered in a graying beard and he had long sweaty locks of gray hair in his eyes, which he swiped away as he got closer.
"Oy! Kid!" He called out to Jack when he noticed the fifteen-year-old on the dock. "Can ya give me a hand 'ere? I got a woman's been hurt badly." Jack nodded and perched precariously on the edge of the wood planks as the rowboat came to the edge. He handed the man a rope and his eyes fell on the women.
She had a tiered worn hat on her head and he could see a red bandana under that. Her white shirt hung open slightly in the front and blew in the wind. Her face, which was partly in shadow, reminded him of his mother. Jack started. This was no ordinary stranger look alike, it was his mother.
"Mother!" Jack yelled. He grabbed her under the armpits, the man taking her legs, and together they hauled her out of the rowboat, the gunshots and sounds of battle from the ships still ringing in his ears. Carefully as he could, Jack removed the knife and wrapped the bandana from her head around the wound as the stranger held her upright. When they were done, Jack sat on the dock with his legs folded beneath him and the man lay his mother on top of them, her head resting upright on his stomach.
Jack could hardly imagine someone being so pale yet so beautiful at the same time. He looked up at the stranger who had tears in his eyes. The man looked up at him and said, "I'm sorry lad. Truly." Jack nodded and looked up as a shadow moved over them. The group of men from the other dock had arrived and they stood a ways back, watching the scene. They weren't men of the town, Jack had never seen them before and, with his connections in the highest ranks, he knew of practically every person in the town. He breathed out a sigh of relief and looked over his mother in her almost pirate like cloths. His father would be ashamed forever if he knew how she was dressed when she had died.
"What happened?" He asked the man next to him, the one who had brought her back to the dock. "Who are you? What's going on?" The man placed a hand on Meredith's forehead and closed his eyes for a moment before speaking.
"My name is Roger, I be a friend of yer mother's boy." He suddenly looked up at the crowd forming around them. Waving his arms wildly, he snapped, "Don't you have any respect fer a dyin' woman an' her son? Move! Now!" The men made grumbling noises and moved off leaving Jack, Roger and Meredith alone at the end of the dock. "Now, kid. Do ye know what yer mother is?" Jack's heart skipped a beat and Roger looked at him sadly. "Ah, son. She be a..."
"Don't say a word you daft fool, I'll be the one telling him." Meredith said loudly. Jack and Roger jumped and looked down at her in surprise. Her eyes rested on her son as she lifted a hand and ran it gently down his face. "Oh, look at you, don't you be sad for me alright?" Jack suddenly noticed the tears running down his face as his mother wiped them away. "I've lived my life, do ye understand love? And a good long life it's been."
She looked around and then pulled him down lower so she could talk quieter. "I would have wished to tell you when you were older but, I guess now is as good a time as any." She chuckled and a bit of blood ran from the corner of her mouth. Jack made a move to clean it up but she stopped him with a shake of her head.
"No, leave it. This is too important. Jack, you and your sister, you are not Robert's children, all right. You are the son of Joshua 'Mad Hawk' Delore, fearsome pirate and the love of my life." Jack saw out of the corner of his eye, Roger look up at Jack surprised. Meredith looked up at the older man and nodded. "He looks like him, yes?" Roger nodded and Meredith locked eyes again with her son.
"Joshua comes every month for supplies. Roger will make sure he keeps this up, even when I'm gone." Jack shook his head and placed a finger on his mother's lips.
"No, your not..." But she stopped him.
"Yes, honey, I am." She heaved a deep sigh and closed her eyes. "I'm a pirate Jack, that was my life. The sea, the salt air, the freedom a ship brings...my life wasn't here, it was the sea." She opened her eyes again. "Don't get me wrong though, some of the best years of my life were here, on land, with you and Rosa." She allowed a wide smile to stretch across her mouth. "I see it in you too Jack. You have that same fire, the same passion, the same need to be free, to explore and go somewhere." She made a gesture to the town with her hand. "This is the life you've grown up in, the one your used to but..." She gave him a meaningful look. "Is it really what you want?"
Jack's eyes traveled to the sea. No, he had never liked the life he had lived, the rules, and the responsibility. He'd often pictured more then this but was she asking him to join piracy? "Rosa has always loved this life," Meredith continued. "It's hers. I want you to do something someday Jack, and you never will with everybody holding you down." She grasped his hand and placed it over her heart and held it there. He could feel the beating, fast and strong and realized, she wasn't going to die. She couldn't, there was no way.
"Jack, there is a map, it the cedar chest, in the master bedroom. You know the one under the window?" Jack nodded. "Well, inside, under all my collections and you and Rosa's baby things, there is a secret panel. Pull that up, you'll find half a map." Jack's eyes widened.
"Half a map?" He asked. "A map to treasure?" Meredith smiled and nodded.
"Yes," She was becoming quieter and Jack realized her heart was slowing down. "Jack, keep it safe, keep it with you until the opportune moment. I want you to get on the ship, the Catherine, and I want you to watch Joshua, watch what he does Jack. Study and learn...follow your heart." Her eyes closed, her hand slipped away from his and she was silent. Roger sat down on the dock and did a silent prayer but Jack knew she wasn't dead. Her heart was still beating.
"Mother?" He called softly, shaking her. That was not it, she couldn't leave him like that! "Mother?"
"Jack," Meredith's voice said silently. "Watch Rosa, don't leave...until she's...ready for you to...until she's a fine ...decent woman...until she can live without you...please."
"I promise mother, I promise." And she was gone. Jack looked back up to the ocean and saw the Catherine sitting on the water, rowboats coming to shore, the ship that had been docked to it was sailing away.
Roger put a hand on Jack's shoulder and squeezed it sympathetically. Jack wouldn't look at the man, he wanted more answers. "Who killed her?" He asked through clenched teeth. Roger pulled his hand away and fiddled with his buttons.
"A man by the name of Peg-Leg Fritz, that's his ship there. The Red- Revenge." He pointed to the retreating vessel and Jack's dark eyes watched it go, hatred building inside of him. Peg-Leg Fritz, that man would be his. A rowboat hit the shore and a tall man stepped out, his dark brown hair covered in blood from a gash on his forehead, green eyes full of concern and high cheekbone face flushed as he looked down at Meredith's body. He kneeled down next to Jack and stroked her face.
"She's dead?" His voice quivered. Jack and Roger nodded in unison and the man carefully lifted Meredith's body from Jack's lap and cradled her in his arms. Jack wondered who the man was before Roger said, "We should get you back to the ship, cap'n. Someone went to get the guards, they should be here any moment."
Captain? This was Captain Joshua 'Mad Hawk' Delore, his father. Jack's mind wheeled despite his grief and he watched Delore holding his mother with such love. The man never looked at Jack, which Jack found a relief. Roger placed a hand on his lower arm and motioned that Jack should say something to Joshua but Jack shook his head. He didn't think he could bear it and the captain probably wouldn't be able to either.
The soldiers were running down the beach now from the fort, the short man that had been sent was to be seen waddling along behind him. Captain Delore's eyes followed them as they made their way up the beach towards the dock but he made no move to leave, even when Roger grabbed the back of his shirt and tried to pull him to the boats.
"Not without her." Delore snapped and Roger let go of his shirt in surprise. Then, he leaned down and whispered into the captain's ear, just loud enough for Jack to hear as well. "She wouldn't want you ta be caught an' it would'n do well to her memory neither if you were to hang. You have revenge to seek and 'sides, don' you think her son and daughter need the chance to say goodbye as well." Tears streamed down Joshua's face and he nodded, lowering Meredith gently onto the dock. He didn't even notice Jack as he bent down, kissed her on the lips and then moved to the rowboat. When the soldiers had finally reached the spot where Jack sat with his mother, the boat was already halfway to the Catherine, and his eyes were fixed on the man his mother had loved.
Robert now stood behind Jack, blocking the sun and setting a shadow over his mother. With one swift motion, Robert grabbed Jack's shirt and pulled him to his feet, spinning him to face the angry man. "What happened?" He yelled making spit fly from his mouth and run down Jack's cheek. "What happened here?" Jack's eyes stayed fixed on his father, his mind whirling. He wanted to have his mother die with honor in the town, not known, as a pirate. For that would not only disgrace her name but Rosa's as well, and he was sworn to protect her.
"I came down to the docks, I came to meet with some merchant sailors, see if I could bid passage." Jack lied. Lying seemed to come easy to him now that his mother was dead and this foul man, who had treated him poorly for his whole life, had a murderous look in his eye. "When I came, I was attacked by pirates. The men of the Maryanne," He indicated Joshua's ship, which was still in the harbor, "Tried to help. Mother dressed herself like a man and came to my rescue...she was killed in the process." Jack knew this was a feeble lie and Robert didn't believe it but, for the sake of his reputation as commodore and his family's good name, Robert Johnson was not about to protest it. He let go of Jack's shirt roughly and glared at his men.
"You heard my son! Pirates, here in the port! Find them!" The men took off and Robert looked back at Jack. "What really happened boy?" He asked again. Jack shook his head and Robert cuffed him as hard as he could across the face, backhanded. Jack wheeled to the deck and lay face first, waiting to see if his father would do anything else. There were no more blows and Jack turned his head cautiously to find Robert pick up Meredith and turn away back to the town with out another word.
***********
That's it for chapter two, sobs, and please don't hate me! I love Meredith, really I do. But, now we can get into hunky Jack...drool...drool...drool...and his father who, in my mind, is hot!
To my reviewers: and p.s. thank you so much, you brightened my day. You wouldn't believe how happy I was and how surprised, I thought no one would review but you did so...
Mythical Assassin: Thank you so much, you're really flattering and I hoped I wrote it all right, I was sweating the whole time. P.S. your welcome, it's not a Mary-sue (Maybe later though) (kidding)
Whitewolf XIII: Don't call me Scarfer, I mean it, you know I hate that name but, because you're my friend and you'll probably be reading this when your sitting with me in computer class, just know, I won't hurt you until after school. Yeah, you better run!!!!! Keep reviewing though even though you can read it at anytime and...how's the English essay going? Mine sux! I'll review your story soon again, and this time I promise it won't be stupid. P.s you pretty much know the plot so don't give it away!!!!!
DragonHunter200: Thank you!!! Thank you!!! I can't wait for you to not be able to wait for the next one! Does that make sense?
Alteng: I love the long review, really cool. P.S. I haven't actually ever read a romance novel but maybe someday, my sister's into all that so I can borrow one of her thousand. I'm actually into adventure, mystery, sci-fi, fantasy...that sort of thing but, I like a good romance...oh, there are a lot of guys in my life I'd like to ask me out...any ways, snapping out of it...no, no romances but I'm flattered you think so...thank you for caring about her, I do to, she's an awesome person. The people she hates in the tea shop are modeled after the girls in my class, (Don't tell them that) so, I kinda fashioned her after my self except...I'm not married, don't have children and have never loved a pirate...well...and I'm not awesome...maybe a little (not to sound to up on myself) I'd love to hear your ideas, see how close you are, thank you for your compliments. The day I read them I had an English test on Macbeth that I hadn't really studied for and a French test that after noon that I hadn't studied for either so thank you one hundred million times over!!!! Pleeeeeaaaasssseee keep reading and reviewing.
Holliday1081: I thought I'd like Jack to have good blood lines in both the 'appropriate' society (with Richard) and the 'pirating' society with Josh and Meredith, it was fun no matter what. Thank you thank you thank you, you really don't know how much your compliments and stuff mean to me! Thank you.
P.S. to all my reveiwers: You are all great!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
So, with out further ado: chapter two! -ashlyns
Chapter 2- Good-byes
Meredith spent the next week and a half walking around the house absently. There was simply no excitement. Occasionally, Meredith made her way down to the town and explored but she had seen everything there was to be seen. Nothing was left.
She often fell back, like usual, to remembering the days on the ocean many years ago, but all that made her feel empty and alone again. She loved to watch her children, often resorting to spying on them from a window in the shadows so they wouldn't notice.
Lily was over almost everyday and had even started talking to Meredith. She had a wonderful voice and Meredith wished she used it more often. Jack encouraged her to speak; leading to him talking a lot more then usual and resulting in Lily laughing when he mangled his words. She seemed to bring out some hidden quality in the young man. Meredith had also noticed Rosa spending a lot more time in the library, apparently searching high and low for more books hidden under floorboards and in the walls themselves. There were none, of course, but Meredith didn't tell her that. It was slightly refreshing to see her daughter take such an interest in treasure, even if it was a book.
One afternoon, while Robert was at the fort, Meredith sat down in the tearoom with a streaming mug and lounged back in a soft red chair, watching Jack and Lily at the table in the corner, pouring over a French text Rosa had dug up in the library. Lily was unfamiliar with the language and Jack had taken it apon himself to teach her.
"Bonjour." He said slowly and Lily copied him. "Good, luv, very good. Do you remember what that means?" Lily shook her head and Meredith noticed the way her eyes lingered on Jack's face when the young man looked back down at the text and ran his finger down the words, pointing out all the bonjours. "Okay, well it means 'hello', so, if you ever meet a French man, or woman, you can say 'Bonjour, come ah sa va?' which means 'hello, how are you?" He smiled brightly as she repeated it and giggled at the weird words rolling from her tongue.
Lily picked an apple from the bowl and held it up in her hand, the red skin bouncing a soft glow off it. "And this?"
"Le pomme." He said casually taking the apple and rubbing it on his sleeve. "Like the palm of your hand, that's how you can remember it, you hold an apple in the palm of your hand...see?" He handed it back and their fingers brushed together. Meredith giggled silently to herself as Lily blushed. Jack took no notice and continued holding up fruit.
"Banana, very simply put, anana." His grin widened. "Not very original, are they?"
"Non." She said in a French accent and Jack laughed. "That good?"
"Oui, that very good darling." Meredith shook her head and drained her teacup then stood and left the room. Outside on the stairs she found Rosa, a book in her hand like usual. She sat down beside her and looked over Rosa's shoulder to read the words on the page.
"Mary and I walked purposely towards the group of Spanish soldiers, their guns trained on us, out cutlass's held high. With a cry like the raging wind, Mary charged them and they fired but...their bullets did not hit her. God was with us this day as they streaked past her narrowly and we..." Rosa looked up into her mother's face.
"What's wrong?" She asked. It was then that Meredith found that she had tears in her eyes. She pushed them away and shook her head.
"Nothing, I'm just glade to see your brother has found something to entertain him for the moment." She indicated the tearoom and Rosa looked over at the pair, Jack holding up grapes, both laughing at some unheard joke. "Why don't you go over there. Lily seems really nice, you to should get to know each other."
"She likes Jack though." Rosa made a face. "Ewe." Meredith laughed and pushed her daughter slightly, making the younger woman stand.
"Please, join them. You know your brother, he's not very good with his French, you should help him." Rosa gave a resigned sigh and left her mother.
*
Jack strolled through the street, his mind on other things, mainly Lily. She had his heart and he was almost sure she was the one. It was her laugh, the way she talked and walked, her eyes...he smiled to himself and staggered to a halt as a man wobbled out of the bar, drunk and disoriented. Jack made a face as some of the man's rum spilled from the bottle in his hands and splashed on the ground. How could anyone drink that stuff? What did it solve?
Some boys off the side of the bar, in the ally, grabbed his attention and he watched as they played with a worn pigskin ball. They were poor, no doubt. He had never been able to play with boys his age except for the other rich kids. Their mothers though, weren't as lenient as his and hadn't raised them to be grateful for what they had. He had something they didn't, a mother who believed in choices, equity and, above all...freedom.
Not wanting them to notice him watching, Jack turned up another road, his mind on the beach where he could sit for hours and watch the ships and men loading them, be alone, clear his head. Lace Peterson, a lower class girl from the north area of town, waved to him from behind her mother as he passed. He and Lace had dated secretly for a few days two or three months' back. She was a cute girl to be sure but just didn't have what he was looking for.
The beach was almost empty, save for the occasional crewman. A lovely ship was out in the middle of the harbor. She came about once a month for supplies and he had seen her as far back as he could remember. He was sure her name was the Maryanne but one or two men had called her the Catherine. He had never really got close to the ship; she tended to stay out in the harbor with crew scuttling back and forth in rowboats.
He watched the dock as a cleanly dressed teenager stepped into the boat. If Jack wasn't mistaken, the kid looked almost like a woman but women didn't dress like that, especially if they came from this town. He decided it wasn't his business and lay down on the sand, arms folded beneath him to cushion his head. He didn't notice a small vessel making it's way into the harbor behind the Catherine. If he had, his sharp eyes probably would have caught sight of the tip of a black pirate's flag behind held down by one of the men and a British flag taking its place.
*
Meredith boarded the small rowboat with Roger and set off for the Catherine, eyes darting for possible spies. She didn't know why but this meeting was worrying her. There was something not right with the feeling in her stomach, as though this was a mistake coming here.
She quickly pushed it from her mind. She would brave anything to see Joshua. The weeks had drug by slowly and she almost couldn't stand the small wait to the Catherine. Joshua was on the deck waiting for her, a wide smile on his face.
Meredith climbed up the rope as usual and was quickly swept off to the captain's quarters. After locking the door, this time with the excuse of an injury he had apparently sustained and needing a woman's touch, they began to kiss again.
"I missed you." Joshua said between breaks when he was supposed to be taking a breath. She held onto his face with her hands so he could not pull away. "I missed you...so much I...could hardly...stand...it." Meredith smiled.
"Shut up already..." She said back, "You talk to much." He laughed and they began moving towards the bed but, before they had reached it, a cry from the deck rang out and a few minutes later, Paully Black was at the door, pounding on the wood frantically. Joshua straightened his shirt and moved to the door, allowing the distraught crewman to enter. His black hair was all over the place, his usually bright face flushed.
"Its Peg-Leg Fritz, sir. His ship's docking with ours." Joshua swore and then tore around the room, trying desperately to find his gun and cutlass. After retrieving them he turned to Meredith.
"I need you to go back to port." He said. Meredith had no idea what was going on. She grabbed Joshua's hand as he turned to leave and he looked around at her with his deep eyes. "Fritz wants the map." He said simply. Meredith suddenly understood. The only map she knew of worth any value was the one for the cursed treasure of Cortez.
"When did this happen?" Meredith asked. Joshua opened his mouth to respond when Paully appeared at the door again and reported that the gangplank had been dropped and Peg-Leg Fritz was boarding.
"Meredith, stay behind, here, in the cabin. Okay?" He ignored Paully and ran a warm hand down her cheek. "I don't want you to get hurt." Meredith shook her head and opened her mouth to reply but Joshua interrupted her. "Damn it woman! Listen to me for once and stay where I tell you to." With that he kissed her briefly and left.
Meredith stood where she was, in the middle of the room, eyes on the doorway listening to the hushed babble from the deck until, finally, she could bear it no more and made her way to the door. Outside there was a crowd and she slipped into it, coming to rest slightly behind Roger.
Joshua and a man with slick blond hair stood in the middle of a ring of crewmembers from both ships. Meredith could see ropes and such connecting both the Catherine and Peg-Leg Fritz's ship, some men still onboard theirs, watching, or else scurrying over to join the ring of onlookers.
"Captain Fritz." Joshua said stiffly with a polite tilt of his head. Peg-Leg Fritz shifted from one foot to the other but didn't say anything. Meredith looked him up and down critically. The man seemed to have acquired a disease or something since the last time she'd seen him and the rotten teeth in his mouth gave her a sick feeling in her stomach making her run her tongue over her own. "What do you want?"
Peg-Leg Fritz stood there for a moment and then shook his head. "You know what I want Joshua." He said firmly. "I am wanting the map to the treasure of the Isla de Muerta." Joshua chuckled and Meredith noticed a slight bit of color rise in Fritz's face, he was clearly angry with Joshua's out burst.
"What makes you think I have the map for the treasure of Cortez himself, hmm?" Joshua laughed again. "And, if you believe that, do you then believe that there is a curse?" He shook his head and turned his back on Fritz. "Child, that's what you remind me of." He looked briefly over his shoulder at the one legged man. "A child."
"I want the map Delore!" Fritz yelled. He pulled out a gun and waved it at Joshua's back. Instantly, Joshua's crew pulled out their own knives and pistols but they were out numbered by Fritz's crew at least two to one. Joshua stopped and turned to face Fritz again.
"I don't know where you get your stories Fritz, I have no map and, even if I did, how would you ever find it if you killed me?" Joshua closed his eyes, a smile on his lips. "We have no more quarrel. Go back to that piece of lizard gut you call a ship and get out of my sight." Joshua watched as Fritz put his gun back in the sash on his waist and turned to leave the ship.
"Come men, we've wasted our time." Meredith thought this was too easy. Fritz was now on the gangplank and Joshua, who had spotted Meredith, began walking over to her through the crowd. A movement over his shoulder caught her eye and she looked up to see Fritz was whipping around, a dagger in his hand, aiming for Joshua.
With a scream, Meredith grabbed the man she loved and felt the cool metal slid into her back as she spun Joshua around, away from Fritz. As the crews around them sprang into action, cutlass's glinting in the sun, guns going off around them, Joshua and Meredith stood, arm in arm, holding tight to one another.
She was going to die. She could feel it. An intense grief swept over her just as a new one took its place. Pride. She was going to die because she did something she had always wanted to do. She died free; away from her husband and in the arms of the man she loved.
Joshua lowered her down to the deck and Meredith didn't protest. "Why?" He asked, tears welling in his eyes, as he suddenly fully understood what she had done. Meredith managed a smile.
"I'd die for you." Suddenly, the blade of a cutlass flashed down and hit the deck inches from Meredith's face. Her and Joshua both looked up to see Fritz standing there, triumph on his face and a look of madness in his eyes.
"Let's dance Delore." He snarled. Joshua took one last look at Meredith and then called over to Roger.
"Look after her, take her to land and wait for me, please." He instructed. Meredith was pulled, against her will, away from her love and lowered into a rowboat. The last glimpse she had of her lover, he was in combat with her murderer.
*
Jack had been drifting in and out on the beach, his mind on what it would be like to be able to fly, like a bird. Enthralled in his fantasy, Jack was awakened abruptly by a loud gunshot from out in the harbor. Sitting up, he squinted against the glare of the sun on the water to watch the two ships in the middle of the harbour, docked together. There seemed to be a disturbance on the deck of the ship he had watched earlier, the Maryanne or something like that.
As he wondered weather he should get any closer, more gunshots erupted and he could clearly see the sun hitting cutlass blades. Jumping to his feet, Jack ran the length of the beach to the wooden docks where many of the workers had stopped loading and were watching the scene unfolding on the water.
"Do you think its pirates?" One man asked as Jack came to a halt beside him. The man's companion shook his head.
"Gus!" He called. A portly man with a worn tweed cap wobbled over and was instructed to get the soldiers. Nodding, he hurried away towards the fort without even a word. Pirates, that would be exciting. Jack had seen a few pirates in his day, most of them being hung. Shame really, he'd love to talk to one. Or be one, said a sly little voice in his head. Oh, come on Jack, it would be fun eh? If fun was getting shot, oh yeah! Entertaining.
A rowboat was being lowered over the side of the ship into the water. Jack watched it curiously. Why, in the middle of a battle, would they do that? Noticing the rowboat was heading to the dock three down from his, Jack turned and made his way towards its drop point. He'd assist in anyway he could.
As the rowboat got closer, Jack noticed a man sitting inside. His face was almost completely covered in a graying beard and he had long sweaty locks of gray hair in his eyes, which he swiped away as he got closer.
"Oy! Kid!" He called out to Jack when he noticed the fifteen-year-old on the dock. "Can ya give me a hand 'ere? I got a woman's been hurt badly." Jack nodded and perched precariously on the edge of the wood planks as the rowboat came to the edge. He handed the man a rope and his eyes fell on the women.
She had a tiered worn hat on her head and he could see a red bandana under that. Her white shirt hung open slightly in the front and blew in the wind. Her face, which was partly in shadow, reminded him of his mother. Jack started. This was no ordinary stranger look alike, it was his mother.
"Mother!" Jack yelled. He grabbed her under the armpits, the man taking her legs, and together they hauled her out of the rowboat, the gunshots and sounds of battle from the ships still ringing in his ears. Carefully as he could, Jack removed the knife and wrapped the bandana from her head around the wound as the stranger held her upright. When they were done, Jack sat on the dock with his legs folded beneath him and the man lay his mother on top of them, her head resting upright on his stomach.
Jack could hardly imagine someone being so pale yet so beautiful at the same time. He looked up at the stranger who had tears in his eyes. The man looked up at him and said, "I'm sorry lad. Truly." Jack nodded and looked up as a shadow moved over them. The group of men from the other dock had arrived and they stood a ways back, watching the scene. They weren't men of the town, Jack had never seen them before and, with his connections in the highest ranks, he knew of practically every person in the town. He breathed out a sigh of relief and looked over his mother in her almost pirate like cloths. His father would be ashamed forever if he knew how she was dressed when she had died.
"What happened?" He asked the man next to him, the one who had brought her back to the dock. "Who are you? What's going on?" The man placed a hand on Meredith's forehead and closed his eyes for a moment before speaking.
"My name is Roger, I be a friend of yer mother's boy." He suddenly looked up at the crowd forming around them. Waving his arms wildly, he snapped, "Don't you have any respect fer a dyin' woman an' her son? Move! Now!" The men made grumbling noises and moved off leaving Jack, Roger and Meredith alone at the end of the dock. "Now, kid. Do ye know what yer mother is?" Jack's heart skipped a beat and Roger looked at him sadly. "Ah, son. She be a..."
"Don't say a word you daft fool, I'll be the one telling him." Meredith said loudly. Jack and Roger jumped and looked down at her in surprise. Her eyes rested on her son as she lifted a hand and ran it gently down his face. "Oh, look at you, don't you be sad for me alright?" Jack suddenly noticed the tears running down his face as his mother wiped them away. "I've lived my life, do ye understand love? And a good long life it's been."
She looked around and then pulled him down lower so she could talk quieter. "I would have wished to tell you when you were older but, I guess now is as good a time as any." She chuckled and a bit of blood ran from the corner of her mouth. Jack made a move to clean it up but she stopped him with a shake of her head.
"No, leave it. This is too important. Jack, you and your sister, you are not Robert's children, all right. You are the son of Joshua 'Mad Hawk' Delore, fearsome pirate and the love of my life." Jack saw out of the corner of his eye, Roger look up at Jack surprised. Meredith looked up at the older man and nodded. "He looks like him, yes?" Roger nodded and Meredith locked eyes again with her son.
"Joshua comes every month for supplies. Roger will make sure he keeps this up, even when I'm gone." Jack shook his head and placed a finger on his mother's lips.
"No, your not..." But she stopped him.
"Yes, honey, I am." She heaved a deep sigh and closed her eyes. "I'm a pirate Jack, that was my life. The sea, the salt air, the freedom a ship brings...my life wasn't here, it was the sea." She opened her eyes again. "Don't get me wrong though, some of the best years of my life were here, on land, with you and Rosa." She allowed a wide smile to stretch across her mouth. "I see it in you too Jack. You have that same fire, the same passion, the same need to be free, to explore and go somewhere." She made a gesture to the town with her hand. "This is the life you've grown up in, the one your used to but..." She gave him a meaningful look. "Is it really what you want?"
Jack's eyes traveled to the sea. No, he had never liked the life he had lived, the rules, and the responsibility. He'd often pictured more then this but was she asking him to join piracy? "Rosa has always loved this life," Meredith continued. "It's hers. I want you to do something someday Jack, and you never will with everybody holding you down." She grasped his hand and placed it over her heart and held it there. He could feel the beating, fast and strong and realized, she wasn't going to die. She couldn't, there was no way.
"Jack, there is a map, it the cedar chest, in the master bedroom. You know the one under the window?" Jack nodded. "Well, inside, under all my collections and you and Rosa's baby things, there is a secret panel. Pull that up, you'll find half a map." Jack's eyes widened.
"Half a map?" He asked. "A map to treasure?" Meredith smiled and nodded.
"Yes," She was becoming quieter and Jack realized her heart was slowing down. "Jack, keep it safe, keep it with you until the opportune moment. I want you to get on the ship, the Catherine, and I want you to watch Joshua, watch what he does Jack. Study and learn...follow your heart." Her eyes closed, her hand slipped away from his and she was silent. Roger sat down on the dock and did a silent prayer but Jack knew she wasn't dead. Her heart was still beating.
"Mother?" He called softly, shaking her. That was not it, she couldn't leave him like that! "Mother?"
"Jack," Meredith's voice said silently. "Watch Rosa, don't leave...until she's...ready for you to...until she's a fine ...decent woman...until she can live without you...please."
"I promise mother, I promise." And she was gone. Jack looked back up to the ocean and saw the Catherine sitting on the water, rowboats coming to shore, the ship that had been docked to it was sailing away.
Roger put a hand on Jack's shoulder and squeezed it sympathetically. Jack wouldn't look at the man, he wanted more answers. "Who killed her?" He asked through clenched teeth. Roger pulled his hand away and fiddled with his buttons.
"A man by the name of Peg-Leg Fritz, that's his ship there. The Red- Revenge." He pointed to the retreating vessel and Jack's dark eyes watched it go, hatred building inside of him. Peg-Leg Fritz, that man would be his. A rowboat hit the shore and a tall man stepped out, his dark brown hair covered in blood from a gash on his forehead, green eyes full of concern and high cheekbone face flushed as he looked down at Meredith's body. He kneeled down next to Jack and stroked her face.
"She's dead?" His voice quivered. Jack and Roger nodded in unison and the man carefully lifted Meredith's body from Jack's lap and cradled her in his arms. Jack wondered who the man was before Roger said, "We should get you back to the ship, cap'n. Someone went to get the guards, they should be here any moment."
Captain? This was Captain Joshua 'Mad Hawk' Delore, his father. Jack's mind wheeled despite his grief and he watched Delore holding his mother with such love. The man never looked at Jack, which Jack found a relief. Roger placed a hand on his lower arm and motioned that Jack should say something to Joshua but Jack shook his head. He didn't think he could bear it and the captain probably wouldn't be able to either.
The soldiers were running down the beach now from the fort, the short man that had been sent was to be seen waddling along behind him. Captain Delore's eyes followed them as they made their way up the beach towards the dock but he made no move to leave, even when Roger grabbed the back of his shirt and tried to pull him to the boats.
"Not without her." Delore snapped and Roger let go of his shirt in surprise. Then, he leaned down and whispered into the captain's ear, just loud enough for Jack to hear as well. "She wouldn't want you ta be caught an' it would'n do well to her memory neither if you were to hang. You have revenge to seek and 'sides, don' you think her son and daughter need the chance to say goodbye as well." Tears streamed down Joshua's face and he nodded, lowering Meredith gently onto the dock. He didn't even notice Jack as he bent down, kissed her on the lips and then moved to the rowboat. When the soldiers had finally reached the spot where Jack sat with his mother, the boat was already halfway to the Catherine, and his eyes were fixed on the man his mother had loved.
Robert now stood behind Jack, blocking the sun and setting a shadow over his mother. With one swift motion, Robert grabbed Jack's shirt and pulled him to his feet, spinning him to face the angry man. "What happened?" He yelled making spit fly from his mouth and run down Jack's cheek. "What happened here?" Jack's eyes stayed fixed on his father, his mind whirling. He wanted to have his mother die with honor in the town, not known, as a pirate. For that would not only disgrace her name but Rosa's as well, and he was sworn to protect her.
"I came down to the docks, I came to meet with some merchant sailors, see if I could bid passage." Jack lied. Lying seemed to come easy to him now that his mother was dead and this foul man, who had treated him poorly for his whole life, had a murderous look in his eye. "When I came, I was attacked by pirates. The men of the Maryanne," He indicated Joshua's ship, which was still in the harbor, "Tried to help. Mother dressed herself like a man and came to my rescue...she was killed in the process." Jack knew this was a feeble lie and Robert didn't believe it but, for the sake of his reputation as commodore and his family's good name, Robert Johnson was not about to protest it. He let go of Jack's shirt roughly and glared at his men.
"You heard my son! Pirates, here in the port! Find them!" The men took off and Robert looked back at Jack. "What really happened boy?" He asked again. Jack shook his head and Robert cuffed him as hard as he could across the face, backhanded. Jack wheeled to the deck and lay face first, waiting to see if his father would do anything else. There were no more blows and Jack turned his head cautiously to find Robert pick up Meredith and turn away back to the town with out another word.
***********
That's it for chapter two, sobs, and please don't hate me! I love Meredith, really I do. But, now we can get into hunky Jack...drool...drool...drool...and his father who, in my mind, is hot!
To my reviewers: and p.s. thank you so much, you brightened my day. You wouldn't believe how happy I was and how surprised, I thought no one would review but you did so...
Mythical Assassin: Thank you so much, you're really flattering and I hoped I wrote it all right, I was sweating the whole time. P.S. your welcome, it's not a Mary-sue (Maybe later though) (kidding)
Whitewolf XIII: Don't call me Scarfer, I mean it, you know I hate that name but, because you're my friend and you'll probably be reading this when your sitting with me in computer class, just know, I won't hurt you until after school. Yeah, you better run!!!!! Keep reviewing though even though you can read it at anytime and...how's the English essay going? Mine sux! I'll review your story soon again, and this time I promise it won't be stupid. P.s you pretty much know the plot so don't give it away!!!!!
DragonHunter200: Thank you!!! Thank you!!! I can't wait for you to not be able to wait for the next one! Does that make sense?
Alteng: I love the long review, really cool. P.S. I haven't actually ever read a romance novel but maybe someday, my sister's into all that so I can borrow one of her thousand. I'm actually into adventure, mystery, sci-fi, fantasy...that sort of thing but, I like a good romance...oh, there are a lot of guys in my life I'd like to ask me out...any ways, snapping out of it...no, no romances but I'm flattered you think so...thank you for caring about her, I do to, she's an awesome person. The people she hates in the tea shop are modeled after the girls in my class, (Don't tell them that) so, I kinda fashioned her after my self except...I'm not married, don't have children and have never loved a pirate...well...and I'm not awesome...maybe a little (not to sound to up on myself) I'd love to hear your ideas, see how close you are, thank you for your compliments. The day I read them I had an English test on Macbeth that I hadn't really studied for and a French test that after noon that I hadn't studied for either so thank you one hundred million times over!!!! Pleeeeeaaaasssseee keep reading and reviewing.
Holliday1081: I thought I'd like Jack to have good blood lines in both the 'appropriate' society (with Richard) and the 'pirating' society with Josh and Meredith, it was fun no matter what. Thank you thank you thank you, you really don't know how much your compliments and stuff mean to me! Thank you.
P.S. to all my reveiwers: You are all great!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!