A/N Sorry, it's taken a while to post this chapter. Family problems and such. Anyway please read and review. I may not be able to update for a while, so please bear with me.
Chapter Twenty Eight
And then it seemed my weeks of bliss ended, storm clouds began to rest over me, following me wherever I went. And my happiness faded into nothing. I knew in the back of my mind it was God, punishing the abandonment of my child and husband, and the forsaking my marriage vows and His law. As each day past it became evident of the layer that threw Jack and I further apart. Some days passed when we barely spoke, and others when we argued violently. It seemed a never ending nightmare, in contrast to the dream like days which had passed previously.
At the time I blamed it all on Jack, he was the one who was pushing us apart, it was he who started the arguments (and usually finished them), he was the one who had snatched me from my family in the first place. Perhaps God's anger laid with him, and not me.
I laugh at my foolish thoughts, as now I can look back with the power of hindsight and see how very wrong I was. It was I who destroyed our relationship, my own happiness, and Jack's love for me. It was all me.
After one of our more violent arguments, he stalked off below deck, leaving me with Gibbs and a bottle of rum for company. I downed it quickly, and staggered across the deck.
"Maybe you should talk to 'im?" Gibbs had suggested.
I nodded, dredging the last drops, I clambered up, and walked off towards our cabin.
"Jack!" I said, pulling the door open, it seemed I had forgotten all my manners aboard his accursed ship. "Jack, we need to. . ." But I stopped, the cabin was empty. The bed unmade, I hadn't done such a menial task for a long time, besides back at the manor Bonny would have done that. It was not my job, an empty rum bottle rolled around on the floor as the ship rocked menacingly.
"Jack!" I screamed, foolishly. He obviously wasn't in the room, and his impertinence of not being there when I wanted to talk to him made me angry. I sighed and threw myself down on the bed.
Fate often seemed to shape my life, it was when I saw a bird flying around outside, that I pushed myself up and decided to go back on deck. I got to the door, and looked out, I was just about to leave the cabin when I heard voices. Happy voices.
The door to Annamaria's cabin opened and her and Jack stepped out, smiling and laughing together, in a secretly nauseating way. It took all my energy to walk back to the bed and throw myself down on top of it. What I didn't realise at the time was that it was all my fault.
"You were looking at her, Jack!" I said, angrily. We were sitting down in the bar, Jack had just brought two rums, and had been flirting outrageously with the floozy of a barmaid.
"No harm in lookin'." He replied, raising his eyebrows.
I scowled at him. "You're supposed to be with me!"
"I am with you. . .oh ta, luv." The barmaid brought the key to our room, and laid it in his hand. It seemed to linger there for far longer then necessary.
I stood up angrily, almost knocking the table over. "Stay away from him! He's mine!" I said, slapping her across the face.
She recoiled in surprise, and Jack jumped up grabbing my arm. "What the hell do you think you were doing?" He demanded.
That night he did not sleep in our room, he slept elsewhere. . .
I didn't go to bed that night, and Jack never came looking for me. Instead I stood on deck, drinking, and watching the rippling waves as they flew past without a care in the world. Lucky waves. My eyes watered uncontrollably, I couldn't help but regret ever leaving Roberto. I should have stayed with him and my dearest son, they loved me. I was not just a passing fancy to them, as I was to Jack. I regretted so much abandoning my comfy life, my loving Bobbie, and yes, even Roberto was in my thoughts. My parents would have been so disappointed in me, I had forsaken their memory and who I was. But that was not why I cried. I had believed Jack loved me, and he did not. He loved women, yes, he loved their warm company, their gentle caress. He loved them as a whole, and not one singley could ever occupy his thoughts. I felt the gun inside the folds of my dress, and it gave me comfort. I was not totally alone.
I fell asleep on the deck, my hand draped over the side.
"Dora! Dora!" I heard someone crudely shouting my name. The sound of wild footsteps filled the air, and I scrambled up to see an anxiously Gibbs holding my dress.
"What is it?" I groaned, being pushed as a group ran past.
"We are preparing to attack." He replied.
"Where's Jack?" I asked, looking round. I remembered the last little attack of Jack's. A ship that had been poorly equipped to defend itself, and had the misfortune to cross the path of the Pearl. Jack had destroyed it, and in my naive state of seventeen, I had called him a murderer.
"He's down below. . ."
". . .with Annamaria?" I said, softly.
Gibbs looked confused. "No, checking the cannons."
I almost laughed at my foolishness, as if Jack would be with a woman when his ship was in danger. Now that is something that he loves more then Annamaria, I thought coldly to myself. The ship jerked, as Goebels, at the wheel, flung it across the other ship's bow. It was still quite far away, and the crew scuttled around like rats. I felt myself pushed and pulled about. And then a hand fell on my shoulder.
"Get below!" Jack slurred.
I threw his hand off my shoulder in disgust. "I'll do what I like, I am not here to obey your orders!"
He looked extremely surprised. I suppose I normally compiled to his wishes. But his betrayal was still heavy in my mind, and I could hardly bare to look at him.
"Get below!" He yelled, angrily.
I shook my head, stubbornly.
"Fine, then die!" He said, stomping off.
I stared after him, biting my lip as the tears flowed down my dirty cheeks. He certainly wouldn't care if I died at the hands of our attackers. Wait, we were the one's attacking them. . .
And then it began. The Pearl struck first, emptying her cannons straight at the other ship. They tore into the wood like glass through paper. The noise was horrific as the ship groaned, and creaked. Then they retaliated.
I threw myself down on to the floor as the cannon balls ripped through the air. Some pierced through the sails, rendering them useless, others through the wood, and I could feel the ship lurch as water began to leak through the lower decks. Jack shouted orders as he snatched the wheel from Goebels, just ducking in time as another ball struck. However, the masts remained standing, and most of the damage was easily repairable. But then before we even had the chance they struck again. This time thousands upon thousands of tiny grape shot balls thundered over the deck like a rain of death. Men fell riddled with holes to the deck, and the blood covered the wood. The screams pierced out, but still Jack pressed them on. The cannons were reloaded, and shot in retaliation. But did little damage compared to the grape balls that had just swamped us.
Another rain of grape shot followed, there were less injuries this time, as the crew seemed to have learnt their lesson and taken cover. I cowered down on the deck, in fear.
But it seemed the bombardment was over and the real fighting was about to begin. Out came the guns. Now one really had to be careful, as I sneaked around on the deck it was almost too easy to be shot by a stray bullet. Jack roared out the orders, as his gun emerged, and he shot dead one of the enemy. But then he had to reload. And it is this reloading period that is the most dangerous. As one must bend their head down to attend to the gun, they would not see an attack from a yard away. The ropes and boarding hooks were pulled out, and the men started to swing across. Jack was one of the first to go, and members of the enemy crew swung across on to the Black Pearl.
The fighting was vicious, an immense clash of steel rung through the air, and with the occasional attack from the cannons, it was horror.
As more of our crew fell, and the attacks seemed harder pushed and more frequent, I thought it was time I took Jack's advice and disappeared below. I could wait in my cabin with my pistol if any dared attack me. But I would be harder put to defend myself on the deck where the distractions rained, the bullets roamed.
As I ran down the ladder to the lower deck I colliding straight into a figure coming the other way. We both fell in to a crumpled heap on the floor. I gasped and reached for my gun. But my opponent was quicker and had already worked their way from the ground.
"Dora!" I heard their voice gasp.
I stumbled up to face Annamaria. She smiled, sickly at me.
My hand ached, and I held it protectively.
"Aren't you fighting?" I demanded.
She shook her head. "I'm protecting the hold down here. Jack gave me strict instructions, if any one should come down that ladder, I am to kill them." She held out a shiny, silver cutlass.
"Oh, what an important job you have." I said, softly, avoiding looking at the weapon in her hand.
"He did say any one." She continued, ignoring me.
"Touch me Annamaria, and Jack will kill you." I warned her, panting. The fall had shocked me, and now I was faced with Jack's floozy and her sharp weapon.
We could hear the noise and the fighting going on above. The sound of cannons booming, guns firing, and the clink as sword met sword. But what was even more terrifying, the shouts of Jack's crew got quieter, and the wild yells of the enemy increased in volume.
A cannon ball collided into the side of the ship, knocking us both off out feet. Water began to pour in around us. She laughed as she clambered up.
"I don't think so, Dora. It may have escaped your notice but Jack doesn't go for the clingy type."
"I had noticed!" I replied, stepping away from her cutlass. "But I didn't think he went for the cheap hooker type either." I smiled.
She forced herself to hold back. "He loves me, we didn't half laugh about you Dora. You sad, sad, pathetic girl. To actually think he cared about you. . ."
He did care about me! He did. And I wasn't going to let her take that away from me. I couldn't hold back any more. I pulled the pistol from the folds of my dress, and pointed it at her.
She sniggered. "You don't have the guts to fire that!" She retorted.
I knew then, as my finger toyed on the trigger. It was me or her. And as Jack had once said: - "It was them or me, an' I chose them."
A/N Okay, the only problem I have with this chapter is that it may be too soon. But bear in mind Dora and Jack have been back together a good couple of months now, and Dora has already lost one man to a love affair (Bonny and Roberto). But if this seems really out of place (if Dora's jealously doesn't suit her, or Annamaria is out of character) please let me now. Thanks for reading.