Yet again, usual disclaimers apply throughout this tale. If you recognise it, it probably belongs to the Mouse – else it is mine!

Chapter 6 – The Storm

They were only a day or so out of Tortuga when the wind shifted, veering sharply to blow from a southerly direction and for once Jack was worried. The crew often joked about his weather-sense, but now it was screaming at him… screaming to run! He glanced at the sky southward and spun the wheel sharply, changing their easterly direction northwards to run before the wind. Joshamee Gibbs noticed the change, as did all the crew – especially those that fell. "Captain?" Joshamee frowned.

Jack pointed southwards. "Storm. Big one. Time to run." He glanced southwards again. "Gibbs! I want every sail we have as well as th' sweeps…"

"Captain..." Joshamee queried in disbelief, for the sky was still clear although darkening with dusk.

"Now, Gibbs or you'll be meeting Ole Hobb sooner than you'd like!" Jack shouted angrily. It was not the time to question orders. He handed the helm to Oran. "Keep us heading north, Booth!" he ordered, dashing to his cabin.

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Catherine had been standing quietly in the side cabin beside the bunk when Jack made the abrupt change of course. It was late and James was nearly thrown from the bunk by the force of the turn. He had fallen asleep as she told him a story and she had just put him in the bunk rather than carry him down to a hammock below. "What the..." She banged her head on the bulkhead as she stumbled, luckily just catching James before he could fall and laying him back gently on the bunk. She turned as Jack entered the cabin searching for his heavy coat. "Captain, can I presume we've changed course?" she asked, wincing.

"Change of plans, luv." He pointed southwards, out of the stern windows. "Big storm coming an' we'll not reach a safe harbour – so we run!" He was relieved when she simply nodded - grateful that she was not a woman for hysterics. Jack noticed that she had banged her head, a cut bleeding above her eye. He dabbed at it quickly with his sleeve. "Stay here and whatever yer do, don't leave this cabin," he warned, glancing across to the sleeping child. "Best tie him in, it will be rough."

"How?" she asked, never having seen ties on a bunk before.

Jack showed her and soon James was safely prevented from falling again. "Take care, Kitty," he cautioned. "It's gonna be a bad one!"

"Thank you, Captain," she smiled as he turned to leave. "Take care yourself."

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A few hours later Jack's fears were proved right. The storm had hit them from the south, the strong winds forcing the Black Pearl to flee northwards into the open ocean. No safe harbour could be reached in time, not with the wind so against them. He hoped it was not a hurricane for although the season should have been over, you could never trust the weather and he was not taking chances. Jack kept as much sail as he dared whilst those below put their backs to the sweeps. Soon, however, the sea became so rough that Jack ordered the sails furled lest they lose them to the wind and the sweeps to be stowed for fear of the lower decks flooding. The last hatch was fastened, tightly battened down and everyone sat quietly, praying for the storm to lessen before the ship sank. The edge of the rain caught them and daylight turned to night. The Black Pearl was tossed about as if she were a toy. Joshamee Gibbs and some of the crew valiantly went aloft to furl the last remaining sails before staggering below, the waves knocking several of them off their feet as they struggled across the deck. Jack could do nothing but let the storm take them were it would as he struggled to keep the Black Pearl upright and on a straight course, scudding before the wind. False night turned to true night and still the storm raged.

It was not until the early hours of the morning when the storm began to lessen a little that Oran finally relieved Jack at the wheel, for Jack would not trust anyone with the helm of his precious lady in such foul weather. At times like this he sorely missed Anamaria, but she had gained her own ship several months ago and was now one of the few female pirate captains in the Caribbean. If scuttlebutt and rumours were true she had also found herself a lover. Jack hoped that he was a good man for he was fond of her and did not want her hurt.

Jack staggered to his cabin, exhausted, soaked to the skin, shivering, and nearly blue with cold. Shaking violently, he made several attempts to shut the cabin doors quietly, with little success.

Catherine rose from where she lay wedged against the bulkhead as she saw Jack blundering around the cabin, stumbling with fatigue. "Here..." She handed him the blanket she had been wrapped in, still warm from her body. "You'll catch your death if you don't get those wet things off…" Living with her grandparents as a child had taught her how to handle cold, wet sailors – it was an occupational hazard for the fishermen of the Solent.

"Can't..." Jack mumbled thickly. He scowled, swearing, frustrated and fumbling at the simple task of unbuckling his sword belt, unable to make his frozen fingers obey him.

She sighed, and proceeded to remove his soaking clothes, weaving alarmingly as the ship still bucked and rolled with the storm. Jack tried to grin as she fell against him, but he was desperately trying to keep his own balance and too numb to react other than shivering.

"You could help me you know," she said quietly, pulling his shirt over his head before struggling with the waist fastenings of his breeches. Briefly Jack considered making a lewd comment as he stood there naked, but merely grinned at her with eyes half-lidded, desperate with the need for sleep.

Wrapping him in her warm blanket, Catherine paused for a moment, inhaling sharply as her eyes caught his scars, two round shots scars on the right side of his chest, a jagged scar along the inside of his left arm.

"It's an interestin' life, luv," he smiled, still shaking.

"Where do you keep your clothes?" she asked, searching in the other side cabin that he pointed to and eventually finding some reasonably clean breeches.

Half-leaning against her, Jack managed to dress himself before collapsing onto the deck, his teeth chattering. "Rum?" He pointed to a cabinet where he kept his precious supply of rum, relieved when she uncorked a bottle and handed it to him. "Ta!" He drowned several mouthfuls before managing to stutter "Cold!" He lay down where he was on the floor and curled up under the blanket, shivering.

Catherine swallowed, biting her lip as she tried to make a decision about the most practical sleeping arrangements. She did not like the thought of him sleeping on the floor, and was willing to share the bunk with him, but James was still tied there fast asleep and there was not room for three. The hammock had not been rigged up for the night, Jack was too tired to do it anyway, assuming he could even get up off the floor and she did not have the slightest idea of how to tie the knots so they would not slip.

Although she could sleep in the bunk with James, she knew Jack was truly cold and that his actions tonight had probably saved all their lives. She decided that warming up the captain came before her comfort and the quickest way to warm him up was to share her body heat. She pulled an extra blanket from the bunk and spread it over the shivering pirate. He looked at her beseechingly.

"Dare I trust you, Captain?" she asked, smiling uncertainly.

"Yer've still got m' pistol, Kitty," Jack grinned as she hesitantly crept beneath the blanket, wrapping her arms around him, "an' I've not played yer false now, have I?" He held her to him, thinking it was worth nearly freezing to death if this was the care he would get. He lay there, savouring her warmth, surprised to realise after a short while that she had fallen asleep. He shut his eyes and joined her.

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It was there that Ned Cotton found them, huddled under a blanket on the floor, wedged into a corner so they would not roll much in their sleep. Joshamee Gibbs peeked over his shoulder, unsurprised to find his captain with his arms wrapped around the woman. "He'd find himself a woman on a desert island, he would!" he sighed. "Leave them, storm's abating now anyway. Let's assess the damage and start repairs..."

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Jack woke with a start, surprised to find two bodies snuggled against him instead of the one he had been expecting. James had woken whilst they slept, undone the ties and joined them on the deck floor. Catherine's head rested on his chest, her breath tickling. He stroked some hairs away from her face, smiling. It was a nice way to wake up, even if rather uncomfortable. He blinked, noticing the sunlight streaming through the stern windows. They had survived; the storm had only clipped them. He realised that if they had not fled northwards the Black Pearl would have been nearer the centre of the storm and would probably have broken up or sunk.

James woke and wriggled from the blankets. "Has the storm gone, Captain?" he asked, his eyes still wide with fear.

"Aye lad, it's gone," Jack smiled. "Now we have t' go on deck and see to th' damage." Reluctantly he roused Catherine. "Kitty, wake up, luv. Although this is extremely comfortable, I have t' go on deck..." She yawned, sleepily disentangling herself from the blanket, startled to find herself in his arms.

"You were ice cold last night, Captain... don't read into this what isn't there..." she defended.

"What isn't there, luv? Are you sure, Mistress Kitty?" His kohl-rimmed eyes danced mischievously inches from hers, his mouth teasing. "I am a pirate after all, Missy!"

"Don't call me..." Catherine bit her lip, forgetting her fear in her anger.

"Sure, luv," he drawled as he crawled from the blankets. "It's not every day a pretty young thing undresses me..."

Ignoring him she turned to James. "Go and find Ned and see how that parrot is, James." She waited until the boy left. "Captain, I have been widowed two years last August so I sincerely doubt I qualify as a pretty young thing and believe me, not even your nakedness could shock me!"

"What if shockin' wasn't quite what I had in mind?" Bare-chested he walked towards her, encircling her waist with his arms, burrowing his face in her hair.

She paled, trembling, but stood her ground. "I still have your pistol, Captain... should I use it yet?"

He paused. "Ah Kitty, I'm beginning to think it would be worth it," he teased.

"Captain?" Joshamee Gibbs stood in the doorway to the cabin.

Jack winced at his quartermaster's wonderful timing, but ignored him. "An' I think yer are a very pretty young thing," he continued, grinning as he leaned down to kiss Catherine on the top of her head. "Thanks fer last night, luv..." Turning sharply on his heels he hauled his shirt on and strode out of the cabin. "What's th' damage then, Gibbs? From th' lack of water can I assume we're still afloat?"

Catherine stood there, speechless. Jack paused as he left the cabin, looking backwards over his shoulder. He winked, smiling as she blushed. Humming to himself he followed Joshamee, wondering exactly how he could get what he wanted without breaking his word, realising that he wanted her more than he would care to admit.

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