Usual disclaimers... oh well!

Three chapters today, because it ends in a nice place between things...

I won't be able to update over the weekend as often do as I have a funeral to take my parents to which is over 150 miles away... so we are travelling down Sunday and returning afterwards on the Monday...

So make the most of these three... and thank you Mul! xxxxx

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Chapter 19 - The Windward Passage

Dusk came too quickly for Jack as he ordered the sails furled and the ship slowed. Joshamee came to stand beside him at the helm. "I've arranged everything," he said quietly. "You just fetch Miss Bessie and I'll see to the rest."

Jack nodded, walking slowly down the steps to his cabin. He entered to find Bessie sitting next to the stern windows, staring out of them.

"Is it time?" she asked sadly, her eyes already wet with tears.

"It is." He sighed heavily, wishing the ceremony could be more private for them both. He reached for his coat, wrapping it about her shoulders. "It will be cold out there with th' breeze," he sighed, offering her his hand and leading her from the cabin.

The deck was deathly silent, the crew assembled in a ring around the sides of the ship. Jack could see Ned Cotton and Paul Barker standing by the trestle, two small bodies wrapped in a sail cloth, together in death as they had been in life, concealed by a flag. He steered Bessie away from the burial party and up onto the quarterdeck, wanting to give her as much privacy as he could for her grief. Although the torches were lit, he was grateful that the darkness hid much of his own expression.

"Yer can do this," he encouraged, squeezing Bessie's shoulder as he nodded to Joshamee to begin. He could feel her shaking already and he held her tightly, offering what support he could.

Joshamee's gruff voice sounded in the darkness. "Usually when I am asked to speak a eulogy for the dead, it is for shipmates who have fought and died beside us, their lives curtailed by violence or disease. Yet today I am asked to speak the words for two pirates yet unborn, twin boys that would have been the first-born sons of our Captain." He paused momentarily, finding the words hard. "Because the Church would not acknowledge them it has fallen to us to honour them, to honour what they might have been had they not been untimely born. I say untimely born because of a callous attack on Miss Bessie by Hughes of the Winter's Dawn that caused their deaths." Angry muttering echoed round the deck at this news for few had known of it before.

"They would have been great pirates, their heritage demanded it from them and for their loss the guilty will pay," Joshamee continued. "But first we must bury them, however distressing that may be."

He nodded to Ned and Paul and they lifted the trestle, the small bodies concealed by the red flag of the Black Pearl. The use of this flag was not lost on the crew - no mercy for Hughes and his men when they caught them. The Black Pearl would slaughter them like the animals they were.

Slowly Joshamee spoke. "We therefore commit these bodies to the deep, to be turned into corruption, looking for the resurrection of the body when the Sea shall give up her dead and the life of the world to come, through our Lord Jesus Christ." He looked up briefly towards Jack and Bessie before continuing. "Who at his coming shall change our vile bodies, that they may be like his glorious body, according to the mighty working, whereby he is able to subdue all things to himself."

Joshamee paused, watching silently as the table upended, a soft swish and a splash the only signs of their departure.

Jack watched through silent, angry tears, holding Bessie tightly against him as she sobbed. Unable even to look, she buried her face into his chest, her tears soaking his shirt. "Hush Bessie," he whispered. "Hush. They are at peace now..."

He listened as Joshamee lead the whole crew in prayer, Bessie sobbing the words as she joined them. He too spoke the words, although his voice cracked several times.

"Our Father, which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy Name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, As we forgive them that trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation; But deliver us from evil. Amen."

Jack kissed Bessie's head. "It is over now," he said gently. "Let's return to th' cabin an' some privacy," he prompted, slowly disentangling from her grasp and finding her hand in the darkness.

Joshamee acknowledged Jack as he led Bessie to the cabin, knowing that Jack would not be leaving her that night. He waited until the doors had shut before ordering the sails unfurled and the crew to return to their business as he climbed up the stairs to the quarterdeck, turning the wheel round and slowly heading towards Port Royal.

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Jack sighed deeply, grateful that the ceremony was over. He reached for the nearest bottle of rum and took a heavy swig as Bessie hung his coat over the back of one of the chairs, tears still streaming down her face. "Come 'ere, Bessie" Jack said, wrapping his arms about her. "Yer did good," he smiled, "but I think we both need m' bunk..." He hugged her before starting to slip out of his clothes, again leaving his trousers on.

Bessie smiled weakly at his unspoken assurance and slipped out of her dress, pushing aside the heavy drapes to the side cabin. She climbed into the bunk, sliding across to make room for Jack to follow her. He clambered in slowly, holding her to him. "Thank you," she sniffed.

"Don't thank me Bessie," Jack replied. "I failed yer... I should have been there an' I wasn't."

"You cannot live in Port Royal," she protested. "It is too dangerous for you..."

"Yer could settle elsewhere..." Jack suggested, glad of the opening to put his idea to her. "There's numerous small fishing villages on Hispaniola, or even Tortuga... after we find th' gold"

"Tortuga!" Bessie gasped. "But that is full of pirates!" She looked at him in the darkness. "And I still don't know where the gold is - I would tell you if I knew, honest..."

"I know yer would," Jack smiled, stroking her hair as she settled her head on his chest. "An' yer know I'll protect yer, alright?"

He jumped as she gently kissed his chest. "Thank you Jack," she whispered. "Thank you."

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