Chapter Three
The house lay dark and presumably sleeping. It was considerably less than the governor's mansion, and considerably more than what one would expect from the home of a blacksmith's apprentice. But then, Will Turner was no longer a Blacksmith's apprentice.
Moreover, Will Turner had presumably given up his three hour a day sword practice all-the-better-to-kill-a-pirate-with obsession, or so at least Jack hoped, in so far as much as this particular pirate was concerned at least. This was how he found no qualms about making himself at home at the Turner's new home.
"We've an open invitation, remember?"
Anamaria sighed heavily. "No. I remember hearing, stop by t' say hello if you're in town. Not, feel welcome to break into my home in the middle of the night."
Life would have been easier if the door were simply unlocked, and amazingly enough Jack even tried and found it locked before happily trotting off to test a window instead. Having rained all night, the window was closed, but not locked. "Practically an invitation."
"We could knock."
Jack ignored her and pushed open the window. "We could alert the entire port that there's a pirate ship anchored just off the coast too, but we wont." Carefully he pulled himself up and inside. That's where his plan didn't follow so close to what he was wanting. Breaking glass and muttered curses quickly followed the sound of something hard hitting the floor.
As much as it could be said that Jack was the most fearsome pirate of the Caribbean Sea, not much could be said for his skill on land. Anamaria crawled in after him, with much more success, but then Jack had already been thoughtful enough to clear off the window ledge with his own entry.
Complete darkness filled the house was, and Ana could see nothing of whatever might be around her. This was a day to remember, to be sure. Following Jack on a fools errand was one thing, breaking into a friend's house was another. Just as she was about to ask, in the most snarky voice possible, now what, the distinct sound of metal whipping through the air beside her ear interrupted her thoughts.
Another piece of furniture hit the floor as a thud and grunt came from somewhere to her right.
"Stop this NOW! Does no one consider lookin' at what they're fightin' b'for attacking it anymore?" Ana stomped her foot down for emphasis and to get as much attention as possible in the darkness.
"Anamaria?" Will Turner asked.
"Will Turner?" Ana asked back, mocking Will's befuddled tone.
"Jack?" Will asked next.
"Bloody hell, just turn on a light already." Jack answered.
Seemingly appearing at his request, a lantern illuminated the room, showing it to be a well furnished sitting room. A table close to the window lay on its side with a vase broken on the floor beside it. Jack and Will were also on the floor to Ana's right, both looking somewhat sheepish at the mess. Elizabeth held the lantern high, and as she surveyed the room, a furtive smile curved her lip. "I assume there is a good explanation for all this."
"The vase you mean? 'Fraid not." Jack stood up slowly, all the while carefully assessing the room. Not that he intended on stealing from friends, but habits were hard to break, and getting the lay of ones surroundings was a good idea no matter where you might be.
"Are there not doors on pirate ships anymore? Or is it you simply forgot how to use one?" Elizabeth stepped up to stand beside her husband.
"Jack's idea." Anamaria explained before Jack could get a chance to. "Best way not to cause a disturbance apparently."
Elizabeth cast one last look to the vase and nodded. "Of course."
"You're both soaked to the bone." Will turned towards the kitchen briefly, and Elizabeth was reminded of a less confident version of the man she now stood beside. "I'll get a fire started in the stove, boil something. Elizabeth, care to help?"
His wife stared at him as though he'd gone daft, but followed none the less. "What was that all about?"
Will stuffed a few logs in the stove and went about making a fire, just like he said he would. "They aren't here to visit us, Elizabeth. Something's up, I can feel it."
"Which is exactly why we should ask them."
"Ask what exactly the two most infamous pirates of the Caribbean are doing on your doorstep on a dark and stormy night?" Jack drawled from the doorway.
The flames caught the dry wood and danced into life as Will closed the iron door and stood up. "Yes Jack. Why are you here?" His eyes travelled from Jack to Anamaria, and back to Jack again. "What's wrong? Is it the Pearl?"
With naught but a slight flick of his wrist, Jack dismissed Will's concern. "It's not the Pearl nor it's pirates who're in trouble lad, not yet at least." His eyes searched the kitchen carefully before coming to rest on a bottom cupboard. One cunning look cast at Elizabeth and Jack was down on the floor pulling pots out from under the counter.
"Jack?" Will frowned and stared at Elizabeth as Jack triumphantly reached deep into the cubbyhole and pulled out a dusty bottle of rum, holding it up like a trophy. "Elizabeth?"
Elizabeth looked at Jack. "How did you know?"
Jack searched out four glasses, and proceeded to pour. "Where else would it be, luv? Now, lets have a sit down and I'll explain everything needing to be explained."
…
"And so, here we are, my friend is dead, and others are going missing and also likely ending up dead. I don't know where the bodies are going, yet, but I intend to find out." He looked specifically at Elizabeth and tilted his head slightly to the side. "This is where you come in. You bring your bloody friend Norrington into the mix, so that he can play the hero and save the day, and I and my crew can sail happily into the sunset and live happily ever after. Savvy?"
She nodded. "And what if Commodore Norrington decides to hang you instead?"
"But he wont." Jack answered confidently. He was about to say something else when his eyes travelled south for just a second before looking back up at her face.
"So, you've been doing well for yourselves here, have you?" Once more, his eyes roved to her bodice, before looking back up to meet Elizabeth's confused expression.
At his sly wink, her eyes narrowed suspiciously as she asked, "What?"
"You. You, my dear, have filled out." He raised his hands to imitate a woman's form. "Blossomed in fact. Married life really agrees with you."
Elizabeth's jaw dropped, and Will choked on his drink. Jack, looking confused at the chain of reactions at the table opened his mouth to speak, but before he could, Anamaria delivered a swift kick to his shin hard enough to make him yelp.
Anamaria glared at him with the promise of further violence should he proceed to continue his comments on Elizabeth's physical appearance.
"What?" From her look, he inferred what he said was obviously not being taken in the appreciative spirit it was meant to be. Even Will, now fully recovered, looked ready to throttle him. And so, Jack poured himself the last few drops of rum. "Ye wouldn't have any more rum around now would ye?"
Elizabeth's complexion paled, she clamped a hand over her mouth, and jumped out of her chair racing from the room. Ana ran after her a moment later, pausing only long enough to give Jack yet another frosty look.
"Was it something I said?" Jack asked innocently. If it weren't for the twinkle in his eye, he might have even been forgiven.
Will stared at Jack for a minute before muttering something about going to the smithy. "Coming with me?"
Jack shrugged. What choices were there? Stay at the house with two hysterical and unfathomable women, or hang out in a smelly blacksmith shop. Decisions, decisions. The sound of retching in the other room reaffirmed the choice, and Jack gladly followed Will out of the house.
Though it was the same shop, it looked decidedly different than it had the last time Jack graced it's interior. The shop used to hold a stale air, signifying that its best days had already come and gone. Now, the air felt charged with something new and great gathering strength on the horizon, a magnificent storm on the verge of breaking. A sense of pride swept over Jack; pride for his friend and all he accomplished since they last met.
"Jack," Will contemplated his friend uneasily before resolving to go ahead and somehow speak his mind. "There's something wrong with Elizabeth."
The seriousness of Will's voice caught Jack's attention, and his mood sobered. "What about her? Is she ill?"
"No. I don't know, she's been throwing up, but she refuses to see a doctor. She won't talk to me about it, and she's been acting different lately. Strange, irritable."
"S' called being married, lad. It's what happens t' women, something about the vows makes the head go funny. No way around it. Women are difficult enough to deal with, without having the wedding thing driving them mad on top of it."
"Jack." Will's voice held a hint of warning not to discuss the topic further.
Jack sat down and picked up a work in progress to study the blade as he considered what to say next.
…
Anamaria stood at Elizabeth's side and held the girls hair back while she emptied the contents of her stomach into a chamber pot. "How far along are you?"
Elizabeth stood up shakily and placed a hand on her belly. "You can tell?"
"Hard to miss." She smiled kindly. "Congratulations."
"No one else knows yet, not even Will. I don't know how to tell him, because I'm not even sure how I feel." For all the confidence in Elizabeth's mannerisms, she now simply looked tired and scared. "I don't know what's happening to me. I cry one second, and then I'm laughing the next. I can't tell if I'm hot or cold, I'm eating more than I've ever eaten in my life and still I feel hungry. It's like my body doesn't belong to me anymore."
Anamaria reached out and took Elizabeth's hand lightly in her own. "It will pass. Is there anyone you can speak to?"
Elizabeth rolled her eyes. "Like who? Any respectable friends I did have are frightened to be seen in my presence. Apparently being kidnapped by pirates has irrevocably tarnished my reputation."
"And what about the not so respectable friends?"
The meaning behind the question was not lost on Elizabeth, and she bit her tongue at her lack of tact. "I didn't mean..."
"Yes you did. It's understandable that you're frightened, I was terrified too when…"
"You have a child?"
"Had. I lost her in her second year."
For a minute Elizabeth didn't know what to say, she'd never considered that Anamaria might have at one time been a mother. "I'm sorry."
"There is nothing to be sorry about. She was a gift, as you're child will be."
"What was it like?"
Though it still rained outside Anamaria opened the window to let in some fresh air. These memories she didn't often reflect on, and thinking on them now brought back both the pain and joy. "Like being taken over by demons, but wonderful all at the same time. Or at least that was how it felt for me at the time."
She closed her eyes and remembered back all those years ago when she'd been young and all the mysteries of life lay ahead of her like so many jewels waiting to be discovered. She placed one hand on her belly remembering the feel of a new life moving inside her.
"There is nothing else like it, Elizabeth." Anamaria confessed. The deeply charged emotion in the air made them both miss the slight rustle of bushes outside the window, and the man crouched there. "Having a baby is the best thing that's ever happened to me."
A cold draft caught the back of her neck, and Anamaria slowly paced across the room and away from the window. Unwittingly she also moved out of range of the man lurking outside to catch any more of their conversation. But in that brief moment, Sloan believed he heard enough. The pirate wench was pregnant. Good news indeed, he wondered how much money his contact would reward him with for the fresh corpse of a pregnant woman.
Authors note: I am always thanking Julie(jackfan2) for all her help, and I've got to do it again with this chapter especially. Writing has been moving slowly for me lately, and talking to her is what keeps me from giving up. Some days that would be oh so easy to do. Thanks to every one who's been reading. Love ya all.