Chapter 6
Emma's stomach was growling. She hadn't eaten since yesterday's lunch because of fear that the cook would try to kill her. I wonder if my luck was always this bad, she thought. A midget had come earlier to give her some breakfast, but she just let in sit on the floor.
Jack sure had a strange taste in crewmembers. Not only was there a woman and a midget in the crew, but there was a man with a peg leg, she was pretty sure she had even seen a man with two peg legs, there was a man who had his tongue cut out and walked around with a parrot on his shoulder, a man who had a fake eye (which he claimed he saw out of better then his real eye), and a man with six fingers on his hands. She was sure there were some other strange people she had seen when first aboard the ship as well, but those were the ones that stuck out in her mind.
She thought back to when she had first had lunch with the captain of the Black Pearl. The food was delicious and obviously not poisoned, so she had been able to enjoy it. After seeing what the rest of the crew ate on a normal basis, she realized that she was lucky for so good a meal. Thinking about the food, she licked her lips. What she would give for some more of that chicken...
Nevado seemed a bit restless, seeing as for the past couple days he had been forced to stay in one little cabin. He needed some exercise and fresh air, and so did Emma. He was lying on the bed next to Emma, while she was stroking his belly.
She started to think about her dream again, most likely because there was nothing else to think about. For some reason she recalled the dream vividly, it had seemed so real. Not what happened of course, but the sand and the heat had felt real and she had woken up in a sweat.
In the dream she had been so happy and content. It was like she was herself, but at the same time looking over the scene as a spectator. She remembered how she had felt when he kissed her. It was like she was floating on air and there was not a care in the world. He had tasted like a strange mix of saltwater and rum.
Emma had to laugh. The dream was ridiculous. It was so far from reality that even if it actually happened she would be pinching herself to wake up. The scene was like one from a cheesy romance novel that a woman bored with her own life would read to pass the time.
So now her feelings toward the dream had moved from confusion to amusement. It was the funniest thing to her at the time, so when a whack came from the door she was too busy rolling on her side laughing to notice.
The person must have heard the laughter coming from the other side of the door because in less than ten seconds they opened the door and entered her cabin. Without saying a word, they just stood there and watched her.
Emma was lying there laughing for a good five minutes before she looked up and saw Jack leaning against the wall watching her. She stopped laughing and wondered how long he had been there watching her without her even noticing. She must have looked like an idiot. She regained her poise and sat up, smoothing out her dress.
"Something funny, lass?" he asked, curious about what could have possibly made her laugh so hard like that. It must have been pretty amusing because he had never seen someone laugh so hard in his life.
She could not tell him about her dream; he would probably take it the wrong way and then think something crazy such as she likes him or something. She had to think up something quick to tell him so it wouldn't seem like she had to think of an answer.
"Chickens." she said abruptly with a serious look on her face.
"Chickens?" he asked with one eyebrow raised. Now she was just confusing him. What did chickens have to do with anything?
"I had a dream about chickens last night. They were flocking after me making noises." she explained and was chuckling inside. This was definitely the most ridiculous thing anyone has ever said in this history of the world. Well, maybe not that extreme, but at least it was the most ridiculous thing she has said, that she remembered anyways. "I was running and then I turned into an alley and there was a large chicken, taller than you, and it looked down at me like it was going to kill me or something."
Ok, he knew this girl was strange, but now he thought she was even weirder then he gave her credit for. He started laughing. Of all the people he had met in his time, she was in the top ten of the most unique. He moved from the wall and fixed his hat.
"So that was why I was laughing, it was a really messed up dream." she said. "What did you come in here for?"
"Aye," he replied, remembering that he had a purpose for coming. "We will be approaching Tortuga shortly. I thought maybe ye-" then he looked down at the dog "and the mutt here would want some fresh air."
She nodded. "That would be great."
His eyes looked around the room and noticed a bowl of gruel lying on the floor. "I see ye haven't touched yer breakfast."
She didn't say anything, but her stomach growled for her. It wasn't loud enough for him to hear it, or at least she thought it wasn't because he didn't say anything about it. She stood up and was prepared to follow him out of the room. She needed to stretch her legs a bit after being cooped up in that little room.
"Milady." Jack said mocking the English and holding out his arm gesturing for her to leave before him.
Emma walked out with Nevado following her and then Jack closed the door. He then regained the lead and she followed him up the steps to the deck. When they were on deck Jack kept walking, but Emma stopped and was looking around.
All of the pirates were doing their own jobs without complaint. Someone was up in the crow's nest, while other people were washing the deck and people were pulling different ropes. She did not know how a ship worked, but she knew by looking at all of them working that without teamwork they would not have been able to get far.
And this team seemed to work well together. Her eyes moved and she saw the pirate she recognized as Gibbs talking to Jack and saw that AnaMaria was al the helm. She made it look like steering a ship was the easiest thing to do.
She could see the land up ahead, it wouldn't be much longer now. She looked back at Jack and saw that he was standing by the railing looking out at the land too. He turned and saw her looking at him. Then he motioned for her to join him.
She walked over and stood next to him. She saw that he was eating an apple and then he offered her one. She took it and contemplated on whether or not it was safe to eat it or not. Well, Jack was eating his and he seemed fine, so she bit into it hungrily.
She finished the apple in less then five minutes and looked up to see that he was done his too. They threw the core overboard and she saw that Jack was grinning. He must really love that town to be so happy to return to it.
"Thank you." she said in regard to the apple he had given her.
"No worries, darling." he replied, being call back from his daydreaming. "I knew ye'd be hungry."
He is more perceptive then he let's on, she reflected. He acts like he doesn't notice anything and then he goes and surprises you, like those people who sit there and don't say anything, but you know they are soaking in every word that is spoken around them.
"Captain Sparrow," Emma said, trying to start a converstion because she hadn't spoken to anyone in a while besides herself and Nevado. "may I ask why you love Tortuga so much?"
"Aye," he said, wondering why she was asking him this. Didn't she remember the short speech he had given her about the place? "I have made many good memories there. Rum, women, what more could a pirate such as meself ask fer?"
"Oh, ok." she responded. It wasn't exactly the answer she was looking for, but it was close. She supposed the busy pirate town had become sort of a part of him.
There wasn't much conversation following that, the two just stood there watching the land become closer and closer, until the ship was ready to stop.
"Let go the anchor!" Jack ordered, still looking out at the town.
Emma looked out at the town. It was afternoon and the hot sun was at it's peak. She watched as people walked about, ships constantly coming and going. It looked like a regular town, except the people looked poorer. It was sure interesting to her, but it didn't really look like what Jack said it did.
Jack must have seen the look on Emma's face, because then she heard him say, "It's different at night."
Emma's attention was turned to something else by that point. She turned around and was watching the crew let down the anchor. They started singing a song as they let the anchor down.
Way, hay up she rises,
Way, hay, up she rises,
Way, hay, up she rises,
Earlye in the morning!
What will we do with the drunken sailor?
What will we do with the drunken sailor?
What will we do with the drunken sailor?
Earlye in the morning?
Put him in the long-boat, till he gets sober.
Keep him there an' make him bale her.
Trice him up in a runnin' bowline.
Tie him to the taffrail when she's yardarm under.
Put him in the scuppers with a hawse-pipe on him.
Take him, an' shake him, an' try an' wake him.
Pretty soon the ship was anchored and Jack turned to Emma. "Time to go under."
She knew what that meant. He was keeping to what he told her the previous day; he was going to lock her up. She was outnumbered, so she followed him below deck to his cabin.
He opened the door for her to enter. "This is fer yer own saftey." he said as he shut and locked the door behind her. "Someone'll bring ye dinner later."
She sat down. At least she was in his nice big cabin, hers was about one fourth of the size of his, mabye even smaller. She looked down at Nevado, he was curling up on the floor. At least the dog seemed content.
Then she looked around the room and her eyes landed on the big wooden chest by the wall. She wondered what was in it and why it needed to be locked up. It could be valuables he gained from one of their victims. Maybe he had more clothes in there, but she doubted it. He seemed to wear the same outfit daily, not that she was paying attention to what he was wearing, or was she?
No, of course not, she thought. Then her eyes moved over to the bookself by the other wall. Maybe there would be something interesting to read. She got up to go investigate.
She skimmed over several books before she decided on one called Odyssey. She settled down on Jack's large bed to read the book in order to pass some time. She opened it to the first page and began to read...
Meanwhile, two boats full of crewmembers from the Black Pearl were heading ashore. Jack was on the second one. He had left four men onboard to keep watch before he jumped into the second boat. He was excited to see his lovely Tortuga again and find out if there was news of anything that might interest him.
When they stopped and got off the wooden boat, Jack's only concern was to make way to his favorite tavern. He set off, several other men headed in the same direction as he was, and walked until he turned into a building. The sign outside read "The Faithful Bride".
He sat himself down at the bar and ordered a mug of rum. He turned his head as strumpets walked by and then took a large swig of the rum that was placed in front of him. His first mate, Gibbs, seated himself next to him and told the bartender he wanted whiskey.
Gibbs downed about half of his whiskey within the first two minutes of getting it, and setting the cup down he said "Good to be back in ol' Tortuga. It's the same as I remember."
"Aye, that it is." Jack simply replied, drinking more of his rum and asking for a refill. For some reason he couldn't stop himself from thinking about the woman who was locked in his cabin. Why was he worried about her?
He knew that she wouldn't try anything stupid, she wasn't that type of person. Besides, she was scared of him and she wouldn't dare defy him, would she? No, he thought shaking off his unease, she was too docile.
As more of his crewmembers entered the tavern, him and Gibbs ended up moving to a table to join them. Pretty soon Jack found himself with most of his crew laughing, drinking, and with several strumpets that he had picked up over a period of half an hour.
While he was trying to enjoy himself, Emma was tired of reading and it was getting dark out. She lit a candle and sat there waiting for her dinner. Then she started to think...
She wanted to go ashore. She was tired of being locked up in cabin's and treated like she was some sort of leper. More importantly, she was bored and just wanted to do something.
She closed her book and set it down on the table. Soon she had an idea. Within the next thirty minutes she heard someone unlocking the door. She picked up a heavy book that she had taken out of the bookshelf and stood next to the door entrance.
As the person opened the door and entered the room, she lifted up the book and hit them on the head with it. Her plan had worked, the man fell down with a thud and the bowl of food he was holding fell down as well. "Sorry." she said, and hopped over his unconscious body.
She placed the bowl on the table and dragged the man into the hall, closing the door behind her. She wanted it to look like she was still in the cabin, and hopefully the person would not remember what happened to them. They hadn't seen it coming anyway, and even if they did remember then oh well. He had no right to keep her locked up like a prisoner; she was a guest on that ship as far as she was concerned.
She moved quickly and quietly, and headed up the stairs looking around for more people. She heard two pirates talking on deck, but they didn't seem to notice as she snuck over to the side of the ship and made her way into a boat.
It was not until she rowed herself ashore when she realized that her little plan was going to get her in even more trouble. Somehow she had changed from the scared person to a daring one, probably because Jack was not there to yell at her.
She entered the town and looked around. It seemed busier at night. There were prostitutes walking about, she heard several gunshots, and all in all she found it interesting. Jack- I mean Captain Sparrow- had been right, she thought, it is different at night.
Emma found herself walking mindlessly through a street, observing everything. She got the strange feeling that someone was following her, so she started to walk faster. She turned the next corner, hoping to loose them. Then she realized that it was a dead end.
A man she had never seen before started walking towards her. He was most likely a pirate, she figured, because of the way he was dressed. He staggered and she could tell that he had been drinking. He kept coming closer to her.
She did not know what to do. She didn't have any weapons, and even if she did she would probably be to scared to think of using them. So she kept backing up until she found herself cornered by three walls surrounding her. Her heart started pounding more rapidly and she found herself breathing heavily.
The man was soon close enough that she could smell the alcohol on his breathe. She knew exactly what he wanted and she wouldn't give up that easily. She found herself doing the only thing she could think of, kicking him and running. The man tried to chase after her.
"Why are you running?" he slurred.
She wasn't listening, and even if she was she would not have been able to understand what he said. She wasn't even watching where she was going as she ran, all she knew was that she had to get away from that drunkard.
Her only thought was to keep running. So that was exactly what she did, until she ran into something and it wouldn't let her run anymore. Whatever it was, or whoever it was, she did not care. She was about to turn, figuring that see ran into a stranger, but then the thing she ran into put it's hands on her shoulders.
She looked up to see who it was and was surprised, so she just stood there still. For some reason she had never been so happy to see the person whose fault it was that she was there in the first place.
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A/N: Dundundun....
TriGemini- Thanks. Yeah, I like that line too.
Janna Hawkins- We shall see.... Bwa-ha-ha!!
LoLoMo- Yeah I do and then you have to look for more stories because the ones you read don't update. Thanks, I try to update as often as possible.
Savi- Yupp, things can only get worse before they get better.
Lauren- Yeah, lol, any dream with Jack in it is worth dreaming. I got the song here: They have a bunch of songs, so enjoy!