Usual disclaimers... drat!

Chapter 54 - Elizabeth

Theodore Groves looked in disbelief at the woman standing in his lobby. "Where is she?" Elizabeth demanded. "And don't worry yourself about her warning us or us warning others... I just want to see Bessie!"

"Mistress Turner... I hardly think that is a good idea," Theodore evaded, wondering frantically how to get out of the situation.

"Where is she Captain? Or do I go to my father and ensure he knows how Bessie was abducted by the King's Navy?" she argued.

"Please... things are not as clear cut as you believe!" Theodore tried to explain. "Yes, Bessie is here, but only for her own protection!"

"And who would harm Bessie?" Elizabeth frowned. "From what I understand she is heavily..." She looked up on hearing footsteps approach from the corridor that led to the kitchen.

"Elizabeth..." Bessie's voice gasped, bursting into tears and running - as best she could - towards her.

Elizabeth quickly gauged her to be at least seven months pregnant, realising that she must have conceived shortly after being rescued. Wrapping her arms around the sobbing woman, she shot a warning glance at Theodore. "He knows that we know what you know," she comforted, turning back to the Captain. "And since there is now no need to avoid talking about Jack and the trap, perhaps Bessie and I can sit somewhere in private and catch up on the last seven months?"

Theodore sighed heavily, realising that there was little point trying to keep the two women apart. "You may sit in the garden," he suggested. "But Bessie must not leave this house."

"May we at least have privacy?" Elizabeth pressed.

He nodded. "This way..." He led them through to the garden, indicating the small arbour. "I will stand on the porch," he apologised, "but you will not be overheard."

"Thank you Captain." Elizabeth led Bessie down the steps to the garden, the gravel crunching under their feet as they walked to the small arbour. Even this early in the day it was hot, and the shade it offered was welcome. She sat Bessie down, looking closely at ring on her left hand. "So it is true," she smiled. "Will would not believe it! I thought you hated him?"

"I did," Bessie sniffed. "But I got used to his presence... and now I miss him," she admitted. "You won't let them catch him... will you?"

"Bessie," Elizabeth comforted. "Jack is too clever for them - he'll suspect it as a trap even if we cannot warn him. And there are ways of warning him that even the Navy cannot suspect." She winked. "But I think you need to tell me what has been happening - and exactly who it is they are holding in the cells..."

Bessie looked at her worriedly. "It is Henry. Jack left him ashore to see that I had some protection... but he didn't stand a chance against Gillette. They said if I try to warn Jack that they will hang him..."

"So Jack will just have to rescue him before rescuing you... and the baby." Bessie held her hands across her stomach at the mention of her child.

"I don't think I will be going anywhere for a few months," Bessie admitted quietly. "Jack was not due to return for another month - and then he will have to find me. I doubt I'll be running anywhere that late..." She sighed. "At least the Captain was kind enough to give me a job..."

"You are working?" Elizabeth gasped.

"I had to support myself somehow," she explained. "It was that or starve!"

Elizabeth remembered the money that Jack had left for Bessie with them for safe-keeping. "Jack left some money for you with us," she reminded her. "You don't have to be here..."

"But the Captain said it would be safer. I think he was concerned about Captain Gillette..." Bessie worried, hugging her stomach protectively.

"Perhaps it will be safer," Elizabeth reasoned, for she knew Captain Gillette well enough to know she did not like him - at least Captain Groves was a decent man. "But why don't you tell me what has happened since I last saw you?" she asked.

Quietly, ensuring that the pacing Captain could not overhear her, Bessie told Elizabeth what had happened to her, telling her more than she had confessed to the Commodore, but still not everything - some things were still private between her and Jack. Elizabeth laughed as Bessie recounted their wedding, and Jacks mangling of the language.

"I never realised you were Dutch," she admitted.

"Half-Dutch I suppose," Bessie smiled, "although I was born on Saba."

"Well, perhaps we should go and rescue Will from Billy and see about buying what you will need whilst staying here. I'll take you to my seamstress as well..." she offered.

"I don't know," Bessie frowned. "I'm not allowed out without an escort..."

"Well then, we'll just have to borrow the good Captain over there," Elizabeth declared. "He looks like he could carry a good few packages, don't you reckon?" Bessie started to giggle and Elizabeth helped her up from the seat. "Captain Groves," she called out. "Bessie needs to get some women's things from town. Would you be a gentleman and escort us?"

"I..." he stuttered, realising that her politely phrased request left him unable to refuse. "Of course," he conceded. "Let me just fetch my coat and it will be my pleasure."

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"Bessie!" Will embraced her warmly, conscious of the bulk of her stomach. "You look glowing!" He examined her ring, laughing. "I never thought he would do it!" He briefly frowned. "Should I congratulate you?"

"Will!" Elizabeth chided, realising he was teasing. "Just let us take Billy and some money and you can head to the smithy!"

Will gratefully handed his son back to her. At just over a year and a half old he was a bundle of mischief, a heavy bundle at that, and he gurgled and commented on all he saw. He waved merrily to his father as he disappeared around the corner, leaving the two women and the Captain to lock up. Although they got some strange, and occasionally hostile glances, none of the shops refused to serve Bessie. Theodore Groves soon found himself carrying a number of parcels with everything ranging from washing accessories to a hair brush and ribbons. Bessie's once shoulder-length hair was now long, reaching below her shoulder blades and Elizabeth insisted she buy some pins to hold it up.

"Just the seamstress and we'll be done," Elizabeth smiled, turning down a side street and stopping suddenly. Bessie stopped too, a frightened squeak escaping her lips as she tried to take a step backwards, but Theodore Groves was directly behind her.

"Mistress Turner. Sparrow." Captain Gillette cast a sneering glance at Bessie before turning to Theodore. "I would have thought that the Commodore wanted her kept from the Turners?"

Elizabeth could see that Bessie was frightened, but Robert Gillette had never held any fear for her. She stepped forward, standing before him and staring angrily at his face. "I already knew about your little plot," she hissed, "so there is little point me not seeing Bessie. Although I suggest you discover the fate of Hughes before you try upsetting Bessie further - Jack will not be happy when he catches up with you!"

"Hughes is dead," he scoffed. "So what!"

"I was not referring to the fact that he is dead," she smiled darkly, "but how he met his maker... Good day Captain!" With a swish of her skirts she turned, taking Bessie by the arm and heading back to the main street. "I suggest we take another route Captain Groves... there is a foul odour that way - I think something just died."

A smile twitched across Theodore's face, delighting in the flush of rage across Robert Gillette's face. Growing up in fashionable society had taught Elizabeth how to handle such arrogance with a poise and skill that he wished he had. Once they were out of earshot he moved closer to her. "And how exactly did he die?" he asked Elizabeth, his curiosity getting the better of him.

"He sewed him in a sail cloth," she whispered, allowing her voice to carry to him and Bessie, but little further. "Sewed him up and threw him overboard... while still alive..." His shock was clear in his eyes - it was not a death that any sailor would want. "I trust you will look after Bessie well?" she added, smiling sweetly as if her previous comments had been merely about the weather.

He coughed. "On my life, or so it seems," he winced.

"Ah, here we are!" Elizabeth announced. Theodore was grateful for the change in conversation, holding the door open for the two women to enter.

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