Chapter Three – The New Mate

Jack's mouth was slack with disgust as he peered at the thing the young woman left in his possession. A look of horror of not knowing what to do was in his eyes. Around him, his crew, and the toddler before him, the darkening streets were alive with bloodthirsty buccaneers involved in boisterous brawls, and bar whores lured men into darker alleys for short pleasure at a great expense. In spite of all the mature matter transpiring around them, Jack had no fatherly instinct. He just went on gulping and peering at the child.

As he said before, the child wasn't ugly. All it needed was to be scrubbed of the dirt all over it's face and probably the rest of it's body. A few locks of dark hair curled around it's forehead, and it's chocolate eyes gazed at the group of men that gathered around the anxious sea captain.

A parrot perched on the shoulder of a grizzled sailor piped up, "Awwwk, shiver me timbers!"

Mr. Gibbs leaned forward and said to Jack, "Arrrrr, Mr. Cotton says she looks just like you, Jack!"

There was a murmuring chuckle from the other crewmembers. Jack looked disinclined.

"How can you possibly be sure of it's gender?"

"Looks like you'll have to make an inspection!" Mr. Gibbs roared with laughter.

Jack made a face of one who was gagging on distasteful food, and Mr. Gibbs put a hand on his shoulder. "Ah, Jack, this child obviously be a lass, so don't ye fret about it too much."

Jack wrenched himself from the old sailor's touch. "Don't fret, eh? Don't fret ye say?! Well ye don't have bloody toddler on your hands do ye?"

"Aye," Mr. Gibbs replied and went over to the child, "but raisin' a lass can't be as hard as ye think…"

Jack sighed impatiently. "Mr. Gibbs," he said in a low voice that struggled to rise into a yell, "I don't want to look after the lass. I don't want her haunting my very tracks. I don't want to have to set a bloody example for the little rodent."

Mr. Gibbs threw up his hands. "Aye, then just leave her on someone's doorstep and be done with it." With that, he stalked off muttering under his breath. The rest of the crew followed him silently. Jack knelt down and looked at the child before him. She began to look highly distressed, and whimpered softly. Part of Jack's heart went out to the poor wretch, and he touched just one of his fingers nervously on the child's dirt and tear stained cheek. Then, without apparent reason, she toddled off down the alley to a dark corner.

Ahh, just let her go, she shouldn't be my responsibility, Jack thought. But it tugged on his mind that perhaps he should be charitable and at least find somewhere for it to stay where he knew it would be safe. With that thought, he trotted after her.

Someone was lying on the grimy cobblestones of the ghastly alley, and the little girl seemed have some peace of mind to crawl up next to him. "There, there," the figure said soothingly to the baby. To Jack, it said, "what are you gonna call her?"

"I have to name her?" Jack said in distress.

"Aye, she be yers now. Ye'll have to have some sort of way of determining her from the rest of yer crew."

The figure stood up and gently picked the child up off the ground.

"Who are you?" Jack asked cautiously.

"I'll make that known if need be. First I must know who you are."

Said Jack, slightly flustered at the fact that this person did not know who he was, "I'm Captain Jack Sparrow, savvy?"

"Ah," the dark figure said with interest, "the infamous sea dog of the Black Pearl. Well in that case, I'm Sam. Bloody Sam some call me."

"So ye do know who I am," Jack said proudly. "Sorry I can't say I know ye."

The figure chuckled and moved forward into the soft glow of the street lamp. Jack's eyes widened. It was.. a she. "Bloody Sam, eh? Sam the Bloody… Bloodthirsty Sam… you're a lass."

The woman grinned. "And it's very bad luck not to have me on board."

Jack smiled sarcastically.

"I heard ye lost a mate."

"Aye, me second mate, Mr. Tailor. Good man, but not good enough apparently."

The woman looked at Jack thoughtfully. The street lamp cast dramatic shadows across her face, but the light was too weak for Jack to pick up on any features, so he couldn't tell if it was a fair face or not.

"Name me second mate, and give me a quarter share of the plunder."

"Ye're daft lady. I have me a crew."

"Ye have someone good enough to move up to second mate?"

Jack paused. "What else could I get out of it?" He looked at her from top to bottom, and cursed the darkness for her could not see if her figure was good.

Sam grinned. "I could look after that child for a while, until ye decide what to do with it. What says ye?"

Jack thought for a few moments, then said heartily, "Aye!"

Special Thanks:

Jack's Pirate Girl- thanks for your reviews! They were very much appreciated! Hope you enjoy the rest of the story! And yeah, I try to work hard on the detail, but also try not to have my story made just of detail but also of a strong storyline.