Chapter: Riddles of Master Cuthburt and His Daughter
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Journeys all came to an end eventually, Gibbs told her as she gazed with a faintly sorrowful expression at the winking lights of Tortuga in the distance. Sophia knew that if they were close to docking at the raucous pirate town, they were not very far from Port Royal. The name Tortuga cast a foreboding shadow in the back of Sophia's mind for reasons no one but she knew. No one. Only she was allowed to know.
She was not as excited as she thought she would be to return to her hometown, return to her husband. She'd grown used to the gentle sway of the ship at night, the sunshine and salty spray in the day. She'd also become more used to the Black Pearl's captain then she would like to admit.
This is not to say the Sophia did not miss James. He was a wonderful man who did not deserve to be treated as she had been treating him. She'd left without notice, without any assurance that she was not lost forever. She was working very hard now in the night to quell the swelling of guilt in her gut.
Perhaps it was for the best that she was leaving this freedom. In several days she would leave the Black Pearl.
-
It dawned upon Sophia as she stared at the rough hillside that Tortuga was built upon that she would most likely never see Jack again after she was dropped off at Port Royal.
It was true that she and the captain had formed a sort of mutual truce (Perhaps friendship? She did not know.) in the past month or so of their return journey. He did not intrude upon her thoughts, her fears, her space, and she kept the same distance with him. Despite the frequent wandering of Jack's eyes to places they shouldn't be and Sophia's indignant responses, the two enjoyed relaxed conversations over the midday meal. Jack told her of his multitude of adventures, Sophia interjecting occasionally to add tidbits of information or an opinion on the locations he described.
Sophia realized that she would miss him.
-
"Would you be so kind as to remind me why we are stopping here?"
Jack sighed, casting Sophia the exasperated look of a mother confronting a disobedient child. Sophia raised a hand to her lips to hide her smile, dismayed that his expression had foiled her oh so disagreeable mood.
"Have I ever given you a reason not t' trust me, Sophie?" Jack urged with a knowing grin. He was well aware that Sophia despised her newly adopted nickname.
Her smile quickly dissipated and she crossed her arms over her chest, watching Jack as he wandered about inside his cabin from her stance at the doorway. "Yes."
Jack picked up a coin, a string of pearls, and a tiny, framed painting, all from the recent collection of swag, and slipped them inside his jacket. "Suppose you're righ', then," he resigned cheerfully, before continuing. "Tortuga's th' best town in th' Caribbean t' have your treasures an' such verified, savvy? I like t' have me swag proved o' its worth." He shot her a suggestive smirk, as he lowered the pitch of his voice into what she supposed he thought was a seductive tone. Sophia rolled her eyes.
After finally finding what he needed and preparing to exit his cabin and into the night air, Jack looked up to find Sophia eyeing him from the doorway. He brushed passed her when he walked out of the room, and was surprised to find her pick up her own pace to trail behind him silently as he strolled towards the ramp that led to the docks. With a sly abruptness, he whirled around on his heel too face her. Sophia nearly collided into his chest. "Wha' are you doin', Sophie?" He questioned, the usual twinkle still present within his eyes despite the somewhat demanding tone to his voice.
"I'm coming with you."
Jack fell silent for a brief time, peering into her face through the impending darkness. "You're sure, then?"
Sophia exhaled, clasping her hands in front of her. She wasn't going to let him see her trembling. She had not set foot upon land for nearly a month and a half. Sophia nodded, shoving the image of that lone African port from her mind.
"Do you have any idea what it's like to be afraid of something your entire life, Jack?"
"O' course I do, love! All th' rum dissapearin', me Pearl bein' stolen, Tortuga sinkin' into th' sea. . ." he trailed off distractedly, visibly shuddering at his thoughts.
Sophia narrowed her eyes. "No, I don't suppose you do."
She walked past him and down the gangplank, leaving Jack to stare after her incredulously.
-
If Sophia had thought Nassau Port had been bad, Tortuga was three times worse. Drunks littered the muddy streets, prostitutes hung idly at the entrances of taverns and brothels, and dirty pirates and merchants staggered tastelessly through the alleyways. Sophia was, at the least, very jumpy.
But for now, she had momentarily forgotten her uneasiness, and stood on the side of the road, doubled over from the cramps in her belly and laughing to the high heavens.
Jack tromped over, scowling. "'S not bloody funny," he grumbled, grasping her shoulder and jerking her upright to lead her in their direction of travel.
Sophia calmed herself, but still occasionally burst out in giggles and snorts. "But. . . but four, Jack! Four women! And right in a row like that! It has to be some sort of record." The image of Jack's face quickly turning from joyful exuberance to that of a pouting two year old flashed into her mind again and she promptly erupted into laughter again.
Jack rubbed his reddening jaw morosely. "Would you shut up, woman? You're attractin' attention," he warned. Sophia quieted instantly, the previous tension in her limbs seeming to once again regain its full force. She didn't want to be noticed.
But the men in this port were very occupied with other matters, Sophia noted with a relieved sigh as a man and a woman looking as if their limbs, torsos, and not to mention mouths had melded together crossed their path. No one paid her much attention.
Jack swung open the door of an old inn that displayed the name "The Silver Rider" in cracked gold paint above the entrance. Sophia followed him in, the gloom within the ramshackle building nearly suffocating her upon her entering.
"'Oo's tha'? 'Oo's come t' bother us in th' night?" The voice was as dry as sandpaper, rasping through the darkness. Sophia shivered, instinctively stepping closer to Jack.
-
As it turned out, the voice that had disturbed Sophia so belonged to the man Jack was looking for. He was old, that much Sophia could tell, and seemed to have shrunk within his skin into the stooped figure he was now. He wore tiny spectacles that perched precariously on the bent ridge of his nose, and they trembled in their place as he and Jack greeted each other like old friends. Sophia hung in the shadows.
The old man was now examining the trinkets Jack had brought along with him, head bent towards the table at which he sat, a magnifying glass held a hairs breadth away from the items he was studying. Jack sat across from him, his booted foot tapping, unnoticed except to Sophia, against the leg of his chair. Sophia allowed her back to rest against the crumbling wall mutely. She preferred to be overlooked by this particular friend of Jack's.
Silence reigned for the better part of ten minutes.
"Chamberlin, ye say?" At last the old man spoke, his voice phlegmy and sounding as if he had not used it in weeks.
"Aye," came Jack's easy reply.
The man hesitated several moments, his eyes boring into those of Jack. "I used t' know a few o' tha' family. If I'd o' known they's was this theivin' I might o' not stuck 'round in their company for long."
Jack grew very still, and Sophia sucked in her breath and held it.
"It's not real, then? Counterfeit an' th' like?" Jack asked, running a hand over his face.
"Not worth more 'n a bale o' hay."
"Bloody 'ell." Jack stood quickly, his eyes flashing to Sophia's in a mere instant. It seemed that it was only then that the old man noticed the silent woman in the corner of his inn. Sophia found herself frozen as his rheumy eyes examined her face much as he had examined the fake swag.
"'Oo's th' pretty lass, Cap'n Sparrow?" he questioned distractedly, as if his mind was elsewhere, within the old caverns of his long-spanning memory.
Jack stepped over to Sophia, grabbing her elbow and drawing her from the darkness of her shadows. She looked scared, he noticed. Strange reason to be scared, this old man, for that was what he was, an old man, full of fantastical ideas, most more illogical than not. He issued her a faint pat on the arm. "This 'ere be Sophia. She's accompanied me on me last sail. Braved Calcutta an' all!" Jack declared with a lopsided grin, successfully masking the disappointment his recent discovery about his treasure had slapped so rudely upon him.
Sophia remained silent. The man was looking at her very oddly, as if he was trying to unmask some massive mystery.
"You're a Cuthburt, are ye not?"
At this, Sophia was sufficiently disturbed. She noticed Jack's eyes narrow in her peripheral vision, before he swung his head around to gaze intently at the side of her face. Sophia nodded slowly. "Yes, that is my maiden name." Her voice sounded surprisingly calm.
The old man stared unnervingly at her a while longer, his eyes large and magnified by his glasses. Sophia fidgeted. "Well. . . I knew yer father, lassie. Good man." Suddenly, the man broke the contact with his eyes, leaving Sophia thoroughly shaken. He turned away, leaning heavily upon a walking stick that Sophia had not noticed until now, muttering. "Too many secrets. . . much. . . shouldn't be. . ."
Jack felt Sophia shudder at his side. Abruptly, he turned to stride towards the doorway, leaving Sophia to follow behind him. They were done here, and he needed a drink. Badly.
Sophia trailed at Jack's heels, moving in a daze. Just as she approached the door, the old man's rattley voice reached her ears. She froze.
"Ye do well t' protect those secrets, Miss Cuthburt. Many a man. . ." With that, he averted his eyes to Jack's now still form beside Sophia. ". . .would do much t' get their 'ands on them. Do as yer father did. . . let no one see, let no one know."
Jack watched as Sophia stiffened, tension running through the petite width of her shoulders. She had not turned around, but instead stared blankly at the ground in front of her. Quite suddenly, Sophia sprung into movement, brushing past him as she stalked awkwardly out the door.
Jack turned to question the old man, but he had already retreated into the shadows.
-
Sophia could hear Jack walking mutely behind her, could hear his heavy, albeit uneven due to his characteristic swagger, footsteps in the dirt, but her mind was lost on other matters.
He knew. That blasted old man knew. How many others had her father told? How long had her safety been an illusion?
She strode along, internalizing in her debate, only for her trance-like state to be broken as Jack's hand pressed quickly onto her shoulder, spinning her around to meet his gaze.
"Wha' was tha' about, Sophia?" He asked quietly, his eyes searching her face for some sign, a hint of her thoughts.
But she remained stone, unaffected. "I cannot say, Captain."
-
The next morning as the Black Pearl was sailing out of the harbor Tortuga resided in, Jack spotted the Dauntless prowling about the coast, moving slowly, leisurely, waiting. He remained silent for several moments, carefully calculating the result of his discovery.
Obviously, Norrington knew that Sophia was missing. For two months she had been away from home, lost. Perhaps the commodore merely guessed that Jack had returned to repeat the kidnapping he had done so many years ago. Perhaps Will told him.
Jack pushed the thought from his mind. If Will was anything like his father, he would rather die than betray his friends.
Jack shot a glance towards the door of Sophia's cabin. She had not emerged since the night before. If he could avoid confrontation with the Dauntless she wouldn't have to know about the sighting.
"Hard t' port, ye slimy sods! We're takin' th' long way 'round th' island!" Jack shouted, grinning faintly as the Dauntless disappeared over the horizon.
-
On the night before the Pearl was to dock in its secluded little cove outside Port Royal, Jack called Sophia into his cabin. She came, quiet and reserved, her hands folded in front of her as she stood at the doorway, eyes downcast. This was to be goodbye.
Jack motioned towards a chair, and Sophia sat, back straight. The captain had his silver-decked fingers wrapped around the neck of his seemingly ever-present bottle of rum, and he took several swigs before speaking.
"This has been. . . interestin', Sophie."
"Yes."
Jack frowned at her simple response, squinting in her direction as he sat across from her, clunking his rum bottle loudly on the table. "So you'll jus' be goin' back t' your normal life, then? Hoity-toity high class?"
"Yes. My husband will be worried," she replied.
They sat in silence, and Jack studied her, soaking in this woman who had tumbled into his life and sent him into a whirlwind, fully aware that this would probably be the last time they spoke. The crew would be saying their goodbyes tomorrow. There was no time.
Her face was carefully wiped of all expression, pale and glowing in the dim light of his cabin. Her hair, tucked at the nape of her neck in its customary bun, had come loose a bit; pieces were falling around her face.
Jack cleared his throat and Sophia started, having come accustomed to the silence in the room. She glanced up, finding him staring with those unnerving black eyes at her, lips quirked into a faint smile, the light in the room casting shadows across the angles of his face. Sophia blushed like a bloody schoolgirl.
Jack didn't seem to notice. "Give ol' Jack a kiss before you leave, love?" He asked hopefully, his smile transforming instantly into the smirk that Sophia was more accustomed to.
Sophia rolled her eyes, but nevertheless stood next to the captain, and, rising to her tiptoes, gave him a chaste peck on the lips in the manner of old friends. She smiled at him after she returned to her normal height and patted his arm cheerfully.
"Goodbye, Jack."
-
On the way back to her cabin, Sophia walked by the dining hall, glancing through the door as she heard good-natured laughter reverberating off the walls within. A group of men, including Thandor, Andrew, Caliso, and Gibbs had pulled a group of roughly hewn chairs in a circle around a table and currently sported a hand of cards. Hearing Sophia's footsteps, they looked up and Thandor spoke, offering her a friendly smile.
"Would ye like t' play a hand o' cards, Sophia?"
-
"This, gentlemen, is what you would call winning." Sophia grinned, slapping her cards on the table and leaning back in her chair, smiling smugly. The men leaned over to inspect her hand.
"By Jesus. She's won!"
"Bloody hell!"
"I don' believe it."
Sophia reached her arm across the table to assemble her newly won collection of trinkets and coins amidst the various statements of disbelief and outrage, smiling all the while. Jack, who'd heard the commotion from his cabin and come to join the game, stared, smoky-eyed, at her over his cards. Sophia met his gaze steadily, challengingly.
"Is there something you'd like to say, Captain Sparrow? Congratulations, perhaps?" She wondered aloud, casting a sly look around the table.
Jack set his cards on the table, stretching a cat-like stretch before addressing his fellow pirates, his voice rusty from lack of sleep. "Well, lads, wha' d'you think?" He paused for effect, a devious grin forming upon his lips. "I think our Sophia 'ere's been. . . cheatin'."
Agreeable grunts sounded across the table, and Sophia's mouth dropped open in shock. "I did no such thing!" she stated indignantly, arms crossing over her chest.
"We're pirates, love, savvy? No use 'n lyin' t' us." With that, Jack darted over to her side of the table and promptly threw the flailing Sophia over his shoulder, stalking out of the dining hall and over to the railing of the ship. The men trailed behind him, laughing and poking fun at the struggling woman in Jack's grasp.
"Ja-ack! Stop!" Sophia whined between chortles of laughter, kicking her legs uselessly. Jack grinned as he shifted her from his shoulder to hold her precariously over the edge of the ship, not noticing when Sophia froze, her breathing hitched in her throat.
"Me mates an' I think you need a little dip in th' sea t' cure you o' your deceitful ways, Sophie." Jack said playfully, waggling her unsteadily as he held her from the depths of the ocean.
Sophia forgot to breath. She shut her eyes tight, trying to forget the harsh pain that the sea brought, trying not to panic. She wouldn't drown; she wouldn't let herself succumb to that death. She didn't struggle, fearing that it would cause Jack to loose his grip, but instead gazed determinedly into Jack's eyes and willed him to see the fear in her own. "Jack, don't!" She hadn't meant to sound that hysterical, but her voice was strangled and high-pitched. Jack squinted at her from beneath his brow, surprised at her sudden change of moods.
"Please. . . Oh god, don't drop me!" Sophia pleaded, despairing as she felt the prick of tears at the corner of her eyes. She could feel the sting of apprehension on her abdomen as her body forecast the result of Jack's actions, the expectation of pain.
Jack gazed at her for a minute longer, noting the fear in her eyes. It was not often that one saw raw terror in the eyes of this woman, and it unnerved him that this was one of those times. It should have been a harmless threat. The crew had grown silent behind him. Mutely, Jack brought Sophia's small form back onto the safety of the deck of the ship.
Sophia was surprised to find that her legs could not support her weight and let out a small humph as her behind collided sharply with the deck. And so she sat, face pale with the tears that streamed unhindered down her cheeks. Her hands were trembling. She tried to erase the image of the sea below her with nothing but air to keep her from its painful surface.
Jack balked along with the rest of the crew, his eyes widening as Sophia's usual confident personality faltered dangerously. This new woman was foreign, a crying shell of the Sophia they knew so well.
"Go t' your cabins," Jack ordered firmly, a sharp edge to his voice. The crew dispersed reluctantly, casting concerned looks in Sophia's direction as they went. Jack knelt down to her level, lifting her chin. Her eyes were empty.
Sophia was lost within a white haze. Shock, her mind groggily informed her, it was shock. She could feel Jack's fingers against the underside of her jaw, could see his face swimming before her eyes.
"Sophia?" Jack questioned softly, gazing steadily into the steel of her irises, searching for something, anything that would tell him she was all right. Seeing nothing, he cursed. "Damn. Bloody 'ell."
Once again, the captain lifted her in his arms and into his cabin with a sigh, lowering her carefully into a seated position on his bed. She didn't move.
Jack stood with his fists balled at his hips, mouth set in a firm line as he swayed gently along with the movement of his ship. He watched the silent woman, his voice penetrating the silence only after a good five minutes of thought.
Only now did Jack remember, with striking clarity, the day that Sophia fell overboard. She had shown so much pain, so much fear, but it was as if she expected it, accepted it in all its intensity. As if she knew.
"I think it'd be best if you tell me wha's happenin' t' you, Sophia." He finally spoke.
Sophia looked at him with surprising lucidity for her state, her expression regaining some of the personality Jack knew so well. The soft angles of her face hardened, as if in defense. "I can't." Her voice was so soft.
Jack threw up his hands, pacing about the room as he spoke. "Why th' bloody 'ell not? We've been through this before, love. I should think 's about time you'd have grown tired of it," he bellowed, his hands moving in exaggerated gestures that were amplified by his exasperation.
Sophia remained silent throughout Jack's raving, her hands folded in her lap. It was time. She was strong enough now, after three years of marriage and two months on a pirate ship, to reveal what her family held so dear, reveal what had caused her father to warn her every day that her safety was in peril. Sophia spoke patiently.
"I said that I can't tell you, Jack. I can't tell you because. . . because I must show you."
-
A/N: Here comes the big cliffy that you all knew had to come around some time! I feel so evil.
I'm so sorry this took so long. I hadn't realized that I was going to be gone most of this weekend. AND the time that I wasn't gone I was working. And schoolwork. Fun fun.
I really was not satisfied with the last chapter AT ALL, mostly because I just thought it sucked. Jack was really out of character. I need to watch the movie again to soak him in. (weird. . .) Anyway, I hope I redeemed myself with this addition!
Reviews are always welcomed, and if you would like replies you can e-mail me at moonmartian88@hotmail.com. And don't ask about the e-mail address. I'm very strange.
