The Commodore's Daughter
Chapter Five
Someone had grabbed her shoulder and was shaking her none too gently, bouncing her brains around in her head. Anna came unwillingly awake. As she opened her eyes, her head bellowed emphatically in pain, and she clapped her hands to her throbbing skull, jostling the hands of whoever had shook her awake. Her eyes were adjusting badly, perhaps due to the enormous lump on her head, so she couldn't see the pirate's face.
She could hear him, though. "Young missy, what be your name?"
Anna was in no mood to be interrogated - she couldn't think clearly anyway through her headache. "I don't know," she said irritably. "I think I forgot when half my mind was knocked dead."
"None of that now, ye hear!" snapped the pirate. "The captain wants the name of every prisoner."
"Well, send the captain down and let him ask me." Anna hated the whiny sound of her voice in her ears, but she had been working hard to put together a defense for her father, had threatened a pirate, and had been knocked unconscious by a heavy sword hilt - she was pretty sure that she had some right to whine. "If you don't mind, I'm going back to sleep." She rolled over on her side, putting her back to the pirate, and closed her eyes. The darkness eased her headache, and she sighed in relief. She heard the pirate splutter indignantly and incoherently behind her, then sigh. His booted feet made loud contact with the floor as he walked out. Good, she thought. Maybe he will bring the captain.
Suddenly Anna sat bolt upright. What had happened to the Turners, and to Thomas? Her fears were less for Elizabeth - she had acted as though the captain knew her - but Will had been fighting on deck and could easily have been killed. And she had not the faintest idea how Thomas might have fared.
At least she had some leverage on the captain. He wanted her name, and she wanted to know about her brother. If she could talk him around, she might be able to find out. Anna settled back down, but every fiber of her was alert for the sound of the door opening.
***
Gibbs found Jack in the captain's cabin of the Pearl, thoughtfully picking through a pile of miscellaneous items heaped on top of the table. Standing in the doorway, Gibbs watched as Jack carefully pulled a large carved clock from the pile. The captain cocked his head, examining the clock, then got up and walked with his usual swaying step to a corner of the room. He held the clock up on the wall, scrutinized the position, and nodded his head, setting the clock down on the fireplace mantel.
Gibbs coughed. "Captain?"
Jack turned around. "How are the prisoners doing?"
"That's why I came here. One of 'em - that girl you knocked out, sir - she won't give me her name."
"She won't?" Jack raised an eyebrow. "Well, shall I see to that meself, then?" Without waiting for Gibbs' answer, which would have been in the affirmative, he made his way to the door. Stopping in the doorframe, he turned to Gibbs and said, "Tell Annamaria to set a course for St. Catherine's Bay on the Southeast Point. "About time we docked in a port."
"Aye-aye, sir," replied Gibbs. Jack stepped past his first mate into the corridor and started down to the hold, where the prisoners were being kept.
When he opened the door, Jack had barely five seconds before Elizabeth Turner got to her feet, stalked over to him, and slapped him soundly on the face. Jack felt his jaw carefully to assure himself that Elizabeth hadn't broken it. Then he straightened, tried on a smile, and said, "Nice to see you again, too."
"I'm sure," Elizabeth snapped. "Are you going to give us an explanation, Jack, or do we not merit one?"
"Explanation?" Jack thought about it for a minute. The smile came more easily to his face this time. "Well, love - I'm Captain Jack Sparrow, how's that?"
Elizabeth looked ready to bite his head off. Instead, she stood before him, seething, and then turned, stalked back to the bench she'd been sitting on when he came in, and sat firmly down.
Jack grinned. "Actually, I didn't come in here to see you. I came in here to deal with a certain prisoner who, I understand, has refused to give her name." He noticed that the young boy sitting next to Will stiffened at his words. Very little escaped Jack, although most people thought otherwise. "I'll be going along, then." He walked through the room and opened the door that led to the adjoining cabin, where he'd dumped the girl after knocking her out. He could see a girl-sized lump covered in a white sheet lying on the bed with her back to him.
He cleared his throat. The lump didn't move. Again he coughed, and she stayed absolutely still - too still to be sleeping. A faint smile touched the corners of his mouth. She was being very stubborn.
Time to break her of the habit. Stubborn people did not fare well on pirate ships. Better she learn that from him - he didn't often hold with the habit of breaking a recalcitrant prisoner's neck, unlike some pirates he had known. Jack was about to speak when the sheet shifted, and a brown head rose from the pillow. "Are you the captain?" asked the girl, rubbing the top of her head and blinking to see him in the room's semi-darkness.
"Aye," Jack said, "I am. And who are you?"
Jack saw her open her mouth to answer, caught unawares by the casual question. She caught the name in her throat, though, and said, "First I'd like some questions answered."
"Last time I checked, I was the captain of this ship, not you, savvy?" Jack said, his voice low and dangerous.
Anna flushed in anger. "And the last time I checked, you were a pirate and I was a girl of good breeding!" she snapped. "You tell me whose questions should be answered first!"
Grinning, Jack answered easily, "The pirate's, when the girl is on his ship and at his mercy. Of course, should the pirate be on the girl's father's territory, the pirate should answer the girl's questions. But if he had his wits, the pirate would be long gone before the girl could get around to asking the questions. So in either case, it's the pirate who gets the answers, love. Best tell me what I wanted to know."
He could see the girl's neck stiffen. She tightened her jaw, and her answer came from between clenched teeth. "Anna Norrington."
"Norrington?" Jack's eyebrows shot up. "Would you, then, be a relative to the esteemed Commodore Norrington of Port Royal? Old acquaintance of mine."
"I don't recall him ever mentioning being on speaking terms with a pirate," Anna replied coldly.
"Years before you were born, love," Jack assured her. "Well, I may be a pirate, but fair's fair. What were your questions?"
Surprised, Anna stared at him. "You're going to answer them?"
"To the best of my ability." His smile was infectious, and Anna felt herself smile slightly in return. "Ask away, Anna Norrington."
She took a deep breath. "First - what's your name?"
He bowed extravagantly. "Captain Jack Sparrow, at your service, but at my own first."
Anna's eyes widened. "Jack Sparrow?"
Jack sighed. How many times was he going to have to correct people on this one point? Was it so hard to remember? "Captain Jack Sparrow," he informed her.
"Sorry. But -" Anna shook her head to clear it. She had heard the name before, from both sailors' tales and in connection with Will and Elizabeth's marriage. Norrington had spoken the name - once, and never again. Anna had concluded that her father had had come off the worst in his dealings with the pirate captain. And here he was in front of her. "I'm sorry," she repeated. "My second question - my brother, Thomas. Where is he? Is he still here?"
"Ah. If you mean the boy next door with that quite impressive thatch of hair -" Jack was cut short by Anna's exclamation of relief.
"He's here?" She leaped out of the bed, and paid for it instantly as her head screamed, protesting her sudden movements. "Ow -" She stumbled, and Jack caught her. Anna went stiff in surprise. Jack apparently noticed nothing out of the ordinary as he scooped her up and plopped her back - gently - on the bed. He did not know that Norrington and Will were the only males to ever have carried her before - well, carried her when she was conscious, she amended. Anna wasn't quite sure how she felt about Jack holding her. It was a very pleasant feeling - but not an entirely comfortable one, either. She decided to say nothing about it, and instead confined her spoken thoughts to the pain in her head. "I'm sorry -"
"Stop apologizing and ask questions," Jack suggested. "Apologies get you very little, and questions considerably more."
"Right." Anna coughed once, then asked to be sure, "Thomas is in the other room?" At Jack's nod, she added, "What about the Turners, and Governor Swann?"
"With your brother." Jack rubbed his cheek for some reason, looking aggrieved but in no way remorseful. "Perfectly fit, I can assure you - especially Elizabeth." He winced.
Anna smiled suddenly. I understand now, she thought. "She slapped you, didn't she?"
"Aye." Jack shook his head in bewilderment. Anna decided not to point out that he had captured the ship she'd been sailing on and caused her considerable fright for her family. She had an idea that he wouldn't understand what she was driving at. "Are those all your questions, then?"
"Yes. No. Can I - is there something I could have to eat?" she asked tentatively. Pirates, she knew, had different policies regarding captives, and she hoped that Jack at least fed his prisoners. "And the Turners and my brother would probably appreciate some food too," she added on an impulse, proud that she'd had the presence of mind to try to get them taken care of.
"Well.there probably is something." Jack nodded, making the beads in his hair click softly against each other. He dipped his head in farewell and left Anna alone again in the darkness.
Chapter Five
Someone had grabbed her shoulder and was shaking her none too gently, bouncing her brains around in her head. Anna came unwillingly awake. As she opened her eyes, her head bellowed emphatically in pain, and she clapped her hands to her throbbing skull, jostling the hands of whoever had shook her awake. Her eyes were adjusting badly, perhaps due to the enormous lump on her head, so she couldn't see the pirate's face.
She could hear him, though. "Young missy, what be your name?"
Anna was in no mood to be interrogated - she couldn't think clearly anyway through her headache. "I don't know," she said irritably. "I think I forgot when half my mind was knocked dead."
"None of that now, ye hear!" snapped the pirate. "The captain wants the name of every prisoner."
"Well, send the captain down and let him ask me." Anna hated the whiny sound of her voice in her ears, but she had been working hard to put together a defense for her father, had threatened a pirate, and had been knocked unconscious by a heavy sword hilt - she was pretty sure that she had some right to whine. "If you don't mind, I'm going back to sleep." She rolled over on her side, putting her back to the pirate, and closed her eyes. The darkness eased her headache, and she sighed in relief. She heard the pirate splutter indignantly and incoherently behind her, then sigh. His booted feet made loud contact with the floor as he walked out. Good, she thought. Maybe he will bring the captain.
Suddenly Anna sat bolt upright. What had happened to the Turners, and to Thomas? Her fears were less for Elizabeth - she had acted as though the captain knew her - but Will had been fighting on deck and could easily have been killed. And she had not the faintest idea how Thomas might have fared.
At least she had some leverage on the captain. He wanted her name, and she wanted to know about her brother. If she could talk him around, she might be able to find out. Anna settled back down, but every fiber of her was alert for the sound of the door opening.
***
Gibbs found Jack in the captain's cabin of the Pearl, thoughtfully picking through a pile of miscellaneous items heaped on top of the table. Standing in the doorway, Gibbs watched as Jack carefully pulled a large carved clock from the pile. The captain cocked his head, examining the clock, then got up and walked with his usual swaying step to a corner of the room. He held the clock up on the wall, scrutinized the position, and nodded his head, setting the clock down on the fireplace mantel.
Gibbs coughed. "Captain?"
Jack turned around. "How are the prisoners doing?"
"That's why I came here. One of 'em - that girl you knocked out, sir - she won't give me her name."
"She won't?" Jack raised an eyebrow. "Well, shall I see to that meself, then?" Without waiting for Gibbs' answer, which would have been in the affirmative, he made his way to the door. Stopping in the doorframe, he turned to Gibbs and said, "Tell Annamaria to set a course for St. Catherine's Bay on the Southeast Point. "About time we docked in a port."
"Aye-aye, sir," replied Gibbs. Jack stepped past his first mate into the corridor and started down to the hold, where the prisoners were being kept.
When he opened the door, Jack had barely five seconds before Elizabeth Turner got to her feet, stalked over to him, and slapped him soundly on the face. Jack felt his jaw carefully to assure himself that Elizabeth hadn't broken it. Then he straightened, tried on a smile, and said, "Nice to see you again, too."
"I'm sure," Elizabeth snapped. "Are you going to give us an explanation, Jack, or do we not merit one?"
"Explanation?" Jack thought about it for a minute. The smile came more easily to his face this time. "Well, love - I'm Captain Jack Sparrow, how's that?"
Elizabeth looked ready to bite his head off. Instead, she stood before him, seething, and then turned, stalked back to the bench she'd been sitting on when he came in, and sat firmly down.
Jack grinned. "Actually, I didn't come in here to see you. I came in here to deal with a certain prisoner who, I understand, has refused to give her name." He noticed that the young boy sitting next to Will stiffened at his words. Very little escaped Jack, although most people thought otherwise. "I'll be going along, then." He walked through the room and opened the door that led to the adjoining cabin, where he'd dumped the girl after knocking her out. He could see a girl-sized lump covered in a white sheet lying on the bed with her back to him.
He cleared his throat. The lump didn't move. Again he coughed, and she stayed absolutely still - too still to be sleeping. A faint smile touched the corners of his mouth. She was being very stubborn.
Time to break her of the habit. Stubborn people did not fare well on pirate ships. Better she learn that from him - he didn't often hold with the habit of breaking a recalcitrant prisoner's neck, unlike some pirates he had known. Jack was about to speak when the sheet shifted, and a brown head rose from the pillow. "Are you the captain?" asked the girl, rubbing the top of her head and blinking to see him in the room's semi-darkness.
"Aye," Jack said, "I am. And who are you?"
Jack saw her open her mouth to answer, caught unawares by the casual question. She caught the name in her throat, though, and said, "First I'd like some questions answered."
"Last time I checked, I was the captain of this ship, not you, savvy?" Jack said, his voice low and dangerous.
Anna flushed in anger. "And the last time I checked, you were a pirate and I was a girl of good breeding!" she snapped. "You tell me whose questions should be answered first!"
Grinning, Jack answered easily, "The pirate's, when the girl is on his ship and at his mercy. Of course, should the pirate be on the girl's father's territory, the pirate should answer the girl's questions. But if he had his wits, the pirate would be long gone before the girl could get around to asking the questions. So in either case, it's the pirate who gets the answers, love. Best tell me what I wanted to know."
He could see the girl's neck stiffen. She tightened her jaw, and her answer came from between clenched teeth. "Anna Norrington."
"Norrington?" Jack's eyebrows shot up. "Would you, then, be a relative to the esteemed Commodore Norrington of Port Royal? Old acquaintance of mine."
"I don't recall him ever mentioning being on speaking terms with a pirate," Anna replied coldly.
"Years before you were born, love," Jack assured her. "Well, I may be a pirate, but fair's fair. What were your questions?"
Surprised, Anna stared at him. "You're going to answer them?"
"To the best of my ability." His smile was infectious, and Anna felt herself smile slightly in return. "Ask away, Anna Norrington."
She took a deep breath. "First - what's your name?"
He bowed extravagantly. "Captain Jack Sparrow, at your service, but at my own first."
Anna's eyes widened. "Jack Sparrow?"
Jack sighed. How many times was he going to have to correct people on this one point? Was it so hard to remember? "Captain Jack Sparrow," he informed her.
"Sorry. But -" Anna shook her head to clear it. She had heard the name before, from both sailors' tales and in connection with Will and Elizabeth's marriage. Norrington had spoken the name - once, and never again. Anna had concluded that her father had had come off the worst in his dealings with the pirate captain. And here he was in front of her. "I'm sorry," she repeated. "My second question - my brother, Thomas. Where is he? Is he still here?"
"Ah. If you mean the boy next door with that quite impressive thatch of hair -" Jack was cut short by Anna's exclamation of relief.
"He's here?" She leaped out of the bed, and paid for it instantly as her head screamed, protesting her sudden movements. "Ow -" She stumbled, and Jack caught her. Anna went stiff in surprise. Jack apparently noticed nothing out of the ordinary as he scooped her up and plopped her back - gently - on the bed. He did not know that Norrington and Will were the only males to ever have carried her before - well, carried her when she was conscious, she amended. Anna wasn't quite sure how she felt about Jack holding her. It was a very pleasant feeling - but not an entirely comfortable one, either. She decided to say nothing about it, and instead confined her spoken thoughts to the pain in her head. "I'm sorry -"
"Stop apologizing and ask questions," Jack suggested. "Apologies get you very little, and questions considerably more."
"Right." Anna coughed once, then asked to be sure, "Thomas is in the other room?" At Jack's nod, she added, "What about the Turners, and Governor Swann?"
"With your brother." Jack rubbed his cheek for some reason, looking aggrieved but in no way remorseful. "Perfectly fit, I can assure you - especially Elizabeth." He winced.
Anna smiled suddenly. I understand now, she thought. "She slapped you, didn't she?"
"Aye." Jack shook his head in bewilderment. Anna decided not to point out that he had captured the ship she'd been sailing on and caused her considerable fright for her family. She had an idea that he wouldn't understand what she was driving at. "Are those all your questions, then?"
"Yes. No. Can I - is there something I could have to eat?" she asked tentatively. Pirates, she knew, had different policies regarding captives, and she hoped that Jack at least fed his prisoners. "And the Turners and my brother would probably appreciate some food too," she added on an impulse, proud that she'd had the presence of mind to try to get them taken care of.
"Well.there probably is something." Jack nodded, making the beads in his hair click softly against each other. He dipped his head in farewell and left Anna alone again in the darkness.