Usual disclaimers... sob!

Chapter 14 - The Investment

Will's precipitous arrival nearly got his head shot off by one of those on watch until Jack shouted for them to hold fire. He frowned, from the look on Will's face something was seriously wrong, quickly ushering him into his cabin.

"You've got to come back..." Will gasped, panting and out of breath having ran all the way from Port Royal.

"What's happened?" Jack asked in concern.

"Bessie's been attacked..." He reached for one of Jack's bottles of rum, taking a swig and coughing. "Don't you ever have water?" he grimaced.

Jack cursed. If Bessie had been attacked it meant that another ship was in the area and that somebody else was after the map. "Gibbs!" he hollered. "I'm going back t' Port Royal! There's another ship in th' area an' I want t' know who it is by th' time I return!"

"But what about Tortuga?" Joshamee Gibbs sighed in disappointment, nodding to Will when he saw him.

"I've a little investment goin' in Port Royal," Jack explained, climbing down to one of the ships boats, "an' somebody is trying t' elbow in on it! Find that ship but don't let them see yer!"

"Aye Captain," Joshamee acknowledged, turning and shouting orders at the rest of the crew.

Will followed Jack, waiting whilst he rowed the small ships boat back to shore before speaking. "An investment?" he queried. "I don't think Elizabeth would like to hear you refer to Bessie as an investment!"

"Horace Masters' gold would be bigger than an investment," Jack grinned. "More like a retirement if yer get m' drift!" He beached the boat, leaving it for the crew to retrieve.

"And where does Bessie come into this?" Will demanded. "Or was she just a few minutes pleasure and that's all?" He looked at Jack in disbelief - sometimes his friend amazed him.

"She does good laundry," Jack shrugged, a smile twitching across his face as he remembered she had definitely been more than a few minutes of pleasure. Once the baby was born he was hoping for more such moments.

"Jack!" Will shouted. "Will you be serious! Bessie could be dead by now!"

Jack frowned. "What d' yer mean dead?" Jack grabbed Will's shoulder, whirling him round to face him. Will had said she had been attacked, but not that she had been hurt. "What d' yer mean?" he hissed. "Tell me what happened! M' child?" He stepped closer to Will sensing his reluctance to answer. "Tell me!" he shouted.

Will took a deep breath, not knowing what to say. He had hoped that Jack would see for himself without the need for any explanation, but he realised that he had to know. "Bessie fell down the stairs... she is losing the baby and could die herself!" Will he said quietly. "She claimed she tripped, but there's a shot embedded in the bottom step and her cheek is grazed..."

Jack went silent. "Lead on," he eventually said, walking quietly beside Will. He had only just heard he was going to be a father and now it seemed that was taken away from him. For that alone, somebody would pay and pay dearly. If Bessie died too... he did not know what to think about that. She was a sweet little thing, especially now that she was showing some backbone, and the thought of having a woman that nobody else had taken was exciting when compared with the jaded whores he was more used to dealing with. He would not admit it to anyone, but he had been thinking of setting her and the baby up somewhere safer, where he could visit more regularly and without fear of the authorities regardless of her not knowing about the map.

They walked in silence as dusk fell until Will heard heavy boots walking towards them as they neared the town. "The watch!" he hissed, but as he turned he realised Jack was no longer beside him. He walked on alone, nodding to the soldiers as they passed and headed towards Bessie's home trusting that Jack would find his own way.

Will knocked gently on the door, surprised to hear no sound from within. "Elizabeth?" He knocked again, a little louder. "Elizabeth?" He heard the bolt being drawn and the key turning gently in the lock.

"Sssshhh!" she cautioned. "I've just got Bessie to sleep..." She looked behind him. "Where's Jack?"

"He had to take a detour thanks to the watch! But he'll be here soon..." He paused, hearing a scratching at the back window. "I'll let him in," he smiled.

Jack climbed through the back window, glancing with relief across to where Bessie slept. "Th' babe?" he asked.

Elizabeth shook her head sadly. Will's eyes widened in understanding, but Jack frowned – not wanting to believe what he realised she meant. A child born so early could not survive. "Could you leave us alone a moment Will," she said quietly. He frowned, but left the room, sitting patiently on the stairs. She shut the door before turning to Jack. "I think you'd better sit down," she warned, handing him a bottle of rum she had found in the larder - from the teeth marks around the cork she had known it was his. Elizabeth took a deep breath. "Bessie lost the babies earlier this after..."

"Babies?" Jack gasped, looking up at her in shock.

"Babies," Elizabeth confirmed sadly. "The reason she was so big was because she was carrying twin boys."

Jack to a hefty swig of the rum. "Twins!" he said, his voice a whisper.

"I wrapped them in a towel and placed them in the bath. The last thing Bessie needed was to look at them..." She placed her hand on his shoulder, not knowing how to comfort the quickly concealed flicker of pain she saw in his eyes.

He nodded sadly. "I want t' see them," he slurred, walking slowly to the small bathroom and shutting the door firmly behind him.

Elizabeth waited, giving him the privacy he clearly desired, checking on Bessie who still slept. The births had exhausted her and the knowledge that the babies would not survive had broken her heart. Finally Jack opened the door, unable to look Elizabeth in the eyes. "Oh Jack, I'm sorry..." Elizabeth realised that he had been crying, but now his face was stony, his eyes dark and threatening violence. He shook himself, shuddering as he remembered it was her he faced.

He took a deep breath. "Yer'd best get home," he said quietly, releasing her from his arms. "Billy will be needin' his mother an' Will has t' work t'morrow. I'll stay with Bessie..."

"I'll come back in the morning," Elizabeth offered, opening the door as she looked back at him. "Remember we are here Jack..." He nodded and she shut the door carefully behind her, waiting to hear the bolt shoot home.

Jack listened to Will and Elizabeth depart, leaving him alone with Bessie. He placed a chair next to the bed, watching her as she slept. He realised that the Church would not sanction burial of the children, for they had not only been born untimely but to an unmarried mother who had refused to name the father. He wondered if Bessie would agree to their burial at sea - they were sons of a pirate, grandsons of a pirate... the sea was in their blood. But that would mean revealing her presence to his crew - something he was loath to do... and that was assuming if she would even set foot on a pirate ship.

He smiled, seeing her wake. "How yer feelin'?" he asked, startled to see her burst into tears. "Hey... it's alright!" He crouched down next to the bed, brushing the hair from her face. "Sssshhh!"

To his surprise she reached up, her hand tracing a line from his left eye to his chin. "He had a scar..." she sniffed.

"Like that?" Jack asked. She nodded, sniffing. "Hughes!" he hissed. "He'll pay Bessie... I'll make him pay!" He stood up, slipping off his waistcoat and shirt but keeping on his trousers. He slid into the bed beside her, making sure that his pistol was within easy reach on the chair. If Archibald Hughes came back he would find a warm welcome. He wrapped his arms around her, holding her to him. "Sssshhh! I'll protect yer! I promise!" he whispered, surprised that she had trusted him enough to tell him the truth, but that she had refused to tell Elizabeth. Probably she had not wanted to frighten her, for from the way she shook in his arms as she cried, Bessie herself was very frightened. But questions could wait until the morning - for now he would settle to getting her back to sleep.

Bessie fell asleep slowly, surprised to find Jack's arms comforting. The way he held her reminded her of the way her mother would cuddle her asleep when she had been a little child. She had also not missed the fact that he had kept his trousers on, a reassurance that he meant nothing further. She sighed as he stroked her hair, making hushing noises as he held her. Her tears trickled across his chest, but he made no complaint. He had said he would protect her... a pirate protecting her from other pirates. A part of her mind laughed at the irony of it, but at the moment all she wanted was to feel safe, to be safe, and it that meant making a pact with the Devil then so be it. She looked up at him, smiling tearfully, surprised to see tears in his eyes too... a Devil that cried.

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