The Choice of Katrina
Chapter Eight: Almost Dead
Sadness ahead, my children...sadness ahead....
The two of them raced back up to the top deck, hearing shouts and clinking swords. A cutlass was thrown by someone and landed right at George's feet. He picked it up and the two of them rounded the corner and saw that hundreds of soldiers were on board, looking for Katrina. Already captured, Will and Jack looked at Katrina and George and watched as they too were restrained and taken on board the Black Pearl.
"Perfect. What do we do now?" Will asked.
"You get hanged...I get married as a punishment." Katrina answered in monotone.
"What a perfect way to end a wedding." Jack said.
Commodore Graham approached them and he gently tapped his sword on the deck as a way of telling the officers to release Katrina. Tiara still neatly in place, she automatically straightened it, as one would bite their fingernails when they were nervous. Behind Graham stood a man Katrina had never seen before, yet Jack and Will seemed perfectly acquainted with.
"Commodore Norrington, I believe there will be a few hangings tonight, don't you?" Graham said. The man behind him stepped forward, looking down on Katrina and nodding. Suddenly Graham grabbed Katrina's arm, harshly. She winced with pain.
"Let's see...Sparrow, Turner, the kitchen boy...oh... and I mustn't forget the other eight crew members on the pirate ship who have failed to cooperate with us...and the woman and child..." Graham said.
"You can't kill Elizabeth and Christopher!" Katrina said. "They did nothing to withhold me from you!" The grip on Katrina's arm became tighter and more painful. The grasp was so tight she thought it might break her small, bony arm.
"Commodore Graham, you're hurting me," Katrina said quietly. Graham chuckled.
"Oh I am, Princess? How terribly foolish of me to treat you like any other human being when angry with you. Maybe I ought to show you how much I honor you by making you walk the plank with the tiara on!" he said.
"Commodore, what are you talking about?"
"I know about your petty attempt at being unfaithful to the Duke. He knows as well. He isn't very happy about it either." Graham said. He then grabbed Katrina's hair and dragged her to a small opening on the side of the ship where a small board was sticking out.
"The King and Queen won't have any of this!" Katrina said. With that, Graham smacked her in the face so hard she would have fallen into the water if the grip on her arm hadn't been so tight. Her tiara flew off of her head and into the water. Seeing this caused Jack to become even more angry then he was by seeing how hard the Commodore was holding his daughter's arm. He managed to escape from the officer who was restraining him and he flung himself on Commodore Graham. The rest of the army just stood and watched as Jack took out his sword and murdered Commodore Graham in front of them.
The whole ship was in a dead silence. Even Commodore Norrington was too astonished to do anything. Elizabeth and her son were standing beside Will and everyone was watching, and waiting to see what Jack Sparrow would do next. But he did nothing. He stood where he was, looking wearily at the face of his daughter. Katrina was pale and tear stained her face. The man lying dead on the deck of his own ship was a man she had grown up with, a man she thought she trusted, a man who wanted to kill her not more than thirty seconds before his death.
Katrina finally moved down from off of the plank and rushed to hug her father around the neck. Her tears grew into sounds, her father hesitating to hug her back. He dropped his sword with a big clank and wrapped his arms around her tiny waist. After a few moments, the army of officials came to their senses and were forced to peel Jack off of his daughter. Hysterical at what she knew was going to happen, she screamed and fought them, trying to save her father's life. It was no use, of course. Her cries only led to her own exhaustion and she fell to a pathetic heap on the deck. When someone gently helped her to her feet, she didn't bother to look back to see who it was.