Usual disclaimers – drat, drat and triple drat.
Chapter 57 - The Night
Bessie hardly knew how she got through the following day, her excitement at knowing Jack was nearby bubbling within her. She made herself work extra hard, fearful that she would give herself away and that Henry would not be rescued, but it appeared that nobody had noticed. She was grateful that Elizabeth had been unable to visit that day for she would have not been able to contain herself.
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Theodore again climbed the stairs, turning out the lights as he walked. He stopped, unsurprised to hear quiet sobs coming from Bessie's room. He could bear it no longer, knocking on the door. "Mistress Sparrow... Bessie - are you alright?"
"I am Captain, thank you," she sniffed. "Good night." She lay down, her head on the pillow that Jack had rested on the previous night, taking comfort from the faint lingering smell of rum but wishing Jack would be taking her as well the following night.
"Good night," Theodore answered before turning and walking slowly to his room. He sighed heavily as he undressed, wondering if Bessie would ever settle in Port Royal. For a moment he wished she would be staying, for she worked well with Annie and the two women got on nicely and he had grown quite fond of her in the time that she had been there. Indeed, if her husband had been anyone other than Jack Sparrow he would have begged her to stay, but he knew that it was not possible.
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The next morning he escorted Bessie to the fort, allowing her five minutes with the pirate Henry. He watched from a distance as they talked, their hissed whispers making him wish he was closer as he wondered what they were talking about.
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"Bessie!" Henry smiled, stretching as he hauled himself from the bench where he had been sleeping. He hugged her through the bars. "I swear you look prettier than the last time I saw you!" He frowned. "Although if I stay in here much longer the jailer will start looking nice!" She smiled, her eyes twinkling. "He's here... isn't he?" Henry said quietly. "I can see it in your face!"
She nodded, glad that only he could see her smile. "Jack said to sleep away from the wall and to remind you that the water was deep..."
Henry remembered the tale Jack would tell of the night Barbossa attacked Port Royal and how he had nearly been able to escape through the hole in the wall, realising what Jack intended. "I'll see you tonight then," he grinned, frowning as Bessie shook her head.
"Jack says I am too near my time to risk it," she sighed, her disappointment and distress clear on her face. "I must stay until after the child is born..."
He reached through the bars, squeezing her arm reassuringly. "He'll come back for you," he whispered. "And once I'm gone then they will have no hold on you..."
"True I suppose but..." she began.
"Time's up!" Theodore called from where he waited at the base of the stairs.
"I've got to go," Bessie apologised. "Keep safe tonight..."
Henry smiled. "I will," he assured her, "and I'll see you later - alright?"
"Eventually," she nodded, turning to Theodore and allowing him to lead her back up the stairs and across the yard. She hated the yard, knowing it was where her father was hanged, and always hurried across it. But at least Henry had been warned and would hopefully be free that night... and hopefully she would not be far behind him.
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Jack watched the sun setting before he ordered the anchor raised, the guns readied. Tonight he would strike back at those that had taken Bessie, rescuing Henry Holt so that they had no hold over his wife. If he was lucky one of the cannonballs might strike Captain Gillette... else he could always catch up with him later. His death was not a case of if but when, he had promised himself that.
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Henry waited until the guards had left for the night and the cells were in darkness before removing his shirt and tying it to the bars in the window of his cell. He made sure he tied it tightly for he did not want to flap and catch the eye of the marines that patrolled on top of the wall above. He knew that Jack would understand his signal. Scanning the harbour in the dim light he could not see the Black Pearl, so he crouched down as far as he possibly could from the wall and waited.
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Boom!
Bessie clambered as quickly as she was able from her bed, startled to find Theodore Groves dashing into her room, his pistol drawn. She squeaked in fear, her hands covering her stomach. "Where is he?" he demanded, scanning the room as the cannons sounded again. She could hear the fort return fire, praying that they missed the Black Pearl.
"Not here..." she pleaded, backing away from his raised pistol.
Realising she was alone he lowered it, grabbing her arm. "With me!" he ordered, his grasp giving her no choice but to follow him down the stairs. "You knew!" he accused, not slowing his pace as he led her through the kitchen and into the back hallway. For a moment she thought he was going to lead her from the house, but he turned sharply, opening one of the doors to the store rooms. "In!" he urged, shutting the door sharply behind her. If Jack Sparrow was in town then he would be coming for his wife - and the store rooms were the closest thing he had to a cell in the house. He turned the key, pocketing it and setting his back to the wall waited for Jack Sparrow to appear.
"Please!" Bessie cried. "Let me out... don't leave me here! Not in the dark!"
Belatedly Theodore remembered her fear of the dark, but to search for a candle now would mean leaving her unattended for a moment - and that he was afraid to do so. "You are not alone," he assured her through the door. "I am just outside of the door... now be quiet!"
The cannons sounded again, both Black Pearl and the fort firing unceasingly.
"Please..." she begged, but her plea went unanswered and soon he could hear her sobbing.
A banging on the front door made him jump. "Captain Groves!" a voice shouted. "The Commodore sent us to see if you were alright!"
"Come to the back door!" he ordered. "I cannot leave Mistress Sparrow unattended." He waited whilst they came to the rear of his house and he opened the door to them. "I want this house surrounded," he ordered. "There is no need for you inside."
The Sergeant looked at him, standing there in just his trousers and a pistol in his hand. "Yes Captain," he acknowledged, and turned to deploy his men. "I will be outside of your front door if you need me."
Theodore nodded, shutting and locking the back door as the man departed. Sighing he reached into his trouser pocket for the key, unlocking the store room.
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Bessie looked up as the door opened, shaking, her face tear-stained in the dim light. Theodore sighed. "My apologies," he said quietly. "I did not think of your fear in my haste..." He offered her his hand to rise, but she pointedly ignored it, struggling to her feet unaided. "I do, however, want to know how you knew of the attack..." He indicated for her to return to her bedroom, sitting on a chair whilst she sat awkwardly on the bed.
"How can I possibly have known?" she asked, still shaking as she reached for a tumbler of water on her bedside.
"You were too calm," he replied, wondering how she had managed to contact her husband, despite all he had done to prevent it. "Was it the Turners?" he pressed.
"How? They have been watched ever since I arrived... there is no way either they or I could have warned Jack." She smiled. "Perhaps you will just have to admit that he outsmarted you after all!"
Theodore looked at her, frowning. "I know you knew!" he puzzled.
"How could I?" Bessie protested.
He stared at her for a few moments, her denial throwing him. She was right he conceded to himself - she could not have, nor could the Turners. They both jumped at a loud knock on the front door. "Stay here," he cautioned as he left the room.
Bessie could hear him padding in his bare feet down the stairs, a heavy clunk indicating that he was opening the door. She could hear two voices, talking, getting closer. A knock sounded on the door. "Mistress Sparrow... Bessie - the Commodore would speak with you. Are you decent?"
"One moment..." Bessie struggled from the bed, reaching into the large wardrobe for her dressing gown. Sitting back down she ensured she was as modestly covered as possible. "Come in then," she sighed.
James Norrington entered first, blinking in surprise at her. He had not seen her since that day in his office and he was amazed at how much more pronounced her pregnancy was. Even the demure dressing gown could not conceal the bulge. "Mistress Sparrow," he nodded, standing next to the fireplace. "How did you do it?"
"Commodore," she smiled, for a moment confused. "I do not understand."
"I am referring to the escape of the pirate Holt from the fort this evening." Bessie was unable to prevent the grin spreading across her face. "I can see that the news was not unexpected - how did you warn Sparrow?"
"I did not," she answered honestly.
"I know you did somehow," the Commodore pressed. "Although now that I cannot rely on your word to remain here, I will have to see that you are given no chance to leave." He smiled regretfully. "From now on you will be guarded by at all times. When you sleep, one marine will stand outside of your door and the other outside of the window... when you are in the house you will be watched as well!"
"That is not necessary!" Bessie protested angrily.
"Oh I think it is," he replied. "I really do!" He nodded to Captain Groves. "I will see you in the morning," he said.
"Commodore," Theodore acknowledged.
"I'll see myself out," James Norrington sighed, glancing back to Bessie, still wondering how Jack Sparrow had known of the trap and why he had not taken his wife.