Chapter Two: What The Black Pearl is, freedom

Sarah opens her eyes, sunlight is pouring through the window even though the curtains are drawn. There's loud snoring coming from someone beside her, it's Jack. He's rolled over so far he was almost falling off the bed, she watches him for a few moments listening to his dull snores, until he does fall off the bed. She tries to surpress a giggle, but she can't, and she laughs loudly as he jumps up, shaking his head, he sees her laughing.

"Thin' tha's funny do ye?" he asks loudly, but not particularly angrilly. She's laughing so hard she feel there's no point in saying no, so she nods.

"Well, tha's no way to trea' a Captain," Jack roars. "If ye were one o' me male pirates I'd throw ye overboar'." She abruptly stops laughing.

"Why don't you?" she ask.

"'Cos I'm gonna need ye," he smiles and says with a wink. She sits up.

"Captain, you took me from that hovel just so you had a personal whore on your ship?" she asks outraged. Only just now she realises that the ship is slowly rocking backwards and forewards. They're at sea!

"No, love," says Jack, running his hands down her arms. "I didn't mean tha'. I guess ye've noticed we're no' in Tortuga anymore. Ye're on the ship so ye're part o' the crew, we don' carry passengers, so ye've got t' work for ye keep, and not as a whore no. See, I used t' have this lass, Anamaria on me crew, well, she was only here 'cos I stole and sunk her boa' and she wanted another one, which I gave 'er and she left, 's a long story. Bu' when we weren' docked she used to do all the cookin', see?" She did see. Again, she doesn't really have an option. It was either cook for the crew, get thrown overboard or go back to the Tortuga brothel. And anyway, she could cook quite well, it wouldn't be that bad.

"I do see, Jack," she says.

"And wha' do ye say?" he asked.

"I say yes."

"Great. Well, ye know this cabin were only for las' night, bu' I know there's an empty cabin, so ye can have tha'. I don' know if we've got any more suitable clothes, so ye might have t' stay in tha' until we reach the nex' port. Come on, I'll lead the way," says Jack as he opens the door of the cabin for her.

"This is Gibbs' cabin, he's me firs' mate," says Jack. The door has a small piece of dirty paper nailed to it saying, 'First mate Gibbs' scrawled onto it. She had noticed Jacks cabin had an engraved panel saying 'Captain's Cabin' in gold, she smiles. Jack knows what she's smiling at.

"I don' exactly know where the name tags are from, as none o' my lot can read or write, bu' some o' me younger crew though' if I had a plaque they shoul' all have one, and I didn' like t' not encourage it, a happy crew works better tha' a unhappy one, and I'm tryin' to avoid mutiny, ye know?" Jack raps smartly on Gibbs' door, and she hears a grunt from inside. The door opens and a very disgruntled, grey-haired man stands behind it. "This is Gibbs," Jack says very quickly and begins to move on, without letting Gibbs say a word.

"Captain," Gibbs starts.

"Yes, bad luck, I know," says Jack, moving Sarah on, leaving Gibbs standing at the door.

"Jack, you really don't have to wake your crew up just to meet me," she says. Jack winks at her.

"I know, love, I weren' gonna. But Gibbs has got the worst timing, so I though' I'd win' him up a bi'," replies Jack.

"Jack, you make me think that you're a mean Captain who will do anything to get his way," she says, almost flirtatiously.

"And maybe I do, love," he says, deffinately flirting back, he takes her hand and stops outside a door labelled, 'Gessed Cworters,' she almost laughs at this.

"What is it, love?" Jack asks.

"Have you got a pencil or something?" she asks. Amazingly, Jack pulls out a stubby piece of lead from somewhere on him and hands it over. She takes the piece of paper off of the nail and turn it over, writing 'Guest Quarters,' on the back, and sliding it back over the nail. "That look better?" she asks.

"Nope, but then I can' read, love," says Jack, opening the door.

"I thought you didn't carry passengers?" she asks, remembering what Jack had said.

"No, we don'. This is the cabin we use for our, um, upper-class prisoners, tha's why the windows boarde' up, and only a bed, but, it is the biggest spare cabin we've go', love, and ye can make it more homely as ye wish," says Jack. Sarah gives him a hug.

"Thanks Jack, now, show me the kitchen, galley," she corrects herself. Jack takes her hand and leads her out of her cabin and down some stairs below deck. 'Is he flirting with me?' she thought, 'He must be, why else would he take my hand? It's not like he's going to lose me.' "Jack, why do you take my hand?" she asks. Jack thinks about this for a moment, and the clear answer was just because he wanted to.

"Because a ship's no' the safes' place," he replies at last. "'Specially fo' someone wearin' a dress like yours," he winks, leading her down more stairs. "You haven' le' go though' have ye?" Now it's Sarah's turn to blush a little.

"Well," she begins, she can see that Jack knows she doesn't know what to say. "A ship's not the safest place to be. Not for someone in a dress like mine." This was deffinately said flirtatiously.

"Well, if I coul' take the dress off ye, I woul', love, bu' I can' as ye've go' nothin' else t' wear," says Jack, making it sound terrible that he couldn't take the dress off her. They reach the galley, and it's a quaint little kitchen, there's a few pots and pans hanging about, a table and a small stove, cupboards, and plants hanging about from the ceiling, tied up in bunches. "O' course, it's still go' Anamaria's organisation, but, the crew don' really mind wha' they eat, as long as it's edible."

"It's great Jack," she says, looking round, and opening a few drawers.

"Right, love, I imagine everyone's up now, an' if they're no', they shoul' be, so I'll go get us sailin'," says Jack.

"Jack?" she asks, turning to look at him, his beads swaying as he turned around too.

"Yes, love?"

"Where are we sailing?" she asks, realising she'd never asked this question before.

"When ye wan' t' go somewhere in Tortuga, ye walk there, don' ye? Bu' if ye don' wanna go anywhere, ye stay in yer house, righ'? The Black Pearl is our home, so when we' got nowhere exactly to go, we jus' sail, love. It's wha' The Black Pearl is, freedom."