Chapter 24 – Daffodil's Delight
Jacob laughed at the sight of his brother trying to fend off the small, elderly grey cat. "Daffodil!" Jack cursed.
"Daffodil?" The cat's name set him into further spasms of laughter.
"Best damned pirate mouser I ever had!" Jack defended, rubbing the animal behind her ears. "And at least this means that either Bessie or the children or somebody is here," he reasoned. "She'd go nowhere without the cat!" He picked Daffodil up, wondering briefly what had happened to her tail. "Where are they, girl," he asked, smiling as the cat purred with pleasure at his ministrations. "Can you take me to them?"
Jacob looked at his brother in surprise. The great feared pirate captain talking to a cat. He glanced skywards, groaning as it started to rain harder. Already he was beginning to realise what rain could be like in these climes and he was loath to get another soaking. Hopefully it was just a sudden shower. Jack made room for his brother in the shadowy alcove where he had been standing, grateful that it afforded some protection as the rain started to come down even heavier, turning the dirt road to a muddy river.
"Daffodil!" a woman's voice cried from nearby. "Daffodil… come here girl!"
Jack looked at his brother in panic. He had not wanted Bessie to see him like this, at night, fearful that the rain would clear and the moon would reveal him for cursed. He also had wanted to know her situation before he intruded, worried that she might have remarried or taken a lover to comfort her. Although overjoyed to know she was alive, he needed to know more before he could approach her. He handed Daffodil to Jacob. "Give th' cat to Bessie," he hissed, shrinking back into the shadows.
"Jack?" Jacob puzzled, not understanding his brother's reluctance to emerge to meet his wife, struggling to hold the wriggling cat who wanted to return to Jack.
"Just do it!" he whispered, watching with his heart in his mouth as she approached.
"Daffodil!" she called again, jumping as Jacob stepped towards her from the shadows.
"Are you looking for a cat, Mistress?" he asked, holding the wriggling Daffodil up.
"Daffodil!" she cried, walking towards him. "Thank you…" She frowned, staring at him for a moment. "Excuse me Sir, but do I know you? You look familiar…"
"I am new to these parts," he evaded, wondering for a panicked moment if she would recognise his resemblance to Jack. "Ow!" He dropped Daffodil as the cat scratched him, scurrying back towards the alcove in her determination to be with Jack.
"Daffodil!" Bessie cried, trying to hurry after the cat.
Jack's eyes widened as he realised she was heading straight for him and that he had nowhere to hide. Already the cat twined herself around his ankles, purring, demanding to be picked up. He watched as Bessie reached the shadows, belatedly realising that a man stood there.
"Excuse me, Sir," she apologised. "My cat seems to have taken a shine to you…" She bent down awkwardly to pick up the cat, catching his eye as he held out his hand to help her as she struggled to rise. "Thank y… J…"
It took all of Jack's reflexes to catch her as her eyes rolled back in her head and she slumped against him in a dead faint.
"Jack?" Jacob frowned, blinking through the rain.
"She bloody fainted!" he cursed, easing her down gently to the ground, trying to keep her dry in the alcove He rested his hand momentarily on her stomach, realising that she could not have long to go and judging, by the size of her, that she was likely carrying twins again. He wondered if they were common in her family, for he knew of none in his other than his own children.
"What are we goin' to do?" Jacob worried, glancing about for fear that somebody would think they were abducting her.
"We are goin' to have to wait," Jack sighed, brushing the hair from her face and kissing her gently. "Bessie… Bessie… wake up will yer?" He stroked her cheek, relieved to see her eyes slowly flicker open. Her hand reached up to his face.
"It is you?" she gasped, her face pale. "How…"
"What of you an' the children?" he pressed, determined to find out as quickly as he could if they were safe. "I heard of the Jolly Maid sinking…"
"We are fine… all of us," she assured him. "But you… how… Henry saw you die!" She started to cry, wrapping her arms about him.
"Howabouts we head home an' I'll tell yer all about it?" he tempted. "Don't want yer out in this weather in yer condition…"
"I… I…" she stuttered.
"I know," he smiled, helping her to her feet and standing before her, his hands on her stomach. "It is kind of obvious…"
"It looks to be clearing," Jacob cautioned. He knew, like the rest of the crew that Jack was somehow cursed, but was not sure that he wanted to see his brother turn skeletal. Joshamee had described it to him, and that had been enough.
"We'd best move sharpish," Jack agreed, glancing skywards. He reached down, scooping a still purring Daffodil up and settling the elderly cat beneath his coat.
"What's the matter?" Bessie asked, catching the worry in his tone.
"Jack…" Jacob cautioned. The rain had eased as quickly as it had started and already the sky was clearing. The one time he wanted the rain to continue was the one time it was not going to.
"Is it much further, luv?" he worried, hugging the shadows as the moon emerged from behind the rain clouds.
"Just across the street," she smiled, slipping her hand into his. "Come on… the children won't believe it either…" Jack stopped dead, realising that to get where she was indicating would mean crossing a wide swathe lit by a sudden beam of moonlight. "Jack?"
"Um… I have a slight problem, Bessie," he evaded.
She looked at him, not understanding. "Jack? What is the matter?"
Jack realised he could not avoid telling her. He put Daffodil down and took her hands in his, pulling her deeper into the shadows. "Bessie, do you remember the tales I would tell th' children? About Barbossa an' th' cursed coins an' all that?" He smiled as she nodded. "Th' reason I'm standin' here before yer is that I'm not dead…"
"I can see that!" she interrupted.
"But I'm not exactly alive either…" She frowned at him, clearly lost by is words. "Th' only reason I'm alive… or half-alive is that I took one of th' cursed coins. I thought it would be funny t' scare Jack an' t' show th' rest of th' children one of th' coins."
"B… but…" she stuttered.
"If I cross that moonlight then I'll be revealed t' yer as I truly am… half-dead..." he explained.
"That is better to me than fully dead," she smiled, stepping back into the light. She looked down at him, shocked to his hands turn skeletal in hers. "I would see the truth Jack… please…"
Jack glanced side to side ensuring that there was nobody else about before slowly walking into the moonlight. Bessie trembled, but held his gaze as more and more of him turned skeletal.
"Bloody hell!" Jacob cursed, never having seen the transformation before and thinking he never wanted to again either.
Bessie swallowed audibly, but put her hand to his face, leaning up to kiss what remained of his lips. "You are my husband," she insisted. "And that is all that matters to me…"
Jack smiled at her, knowing that his appearance frightened her but that, somehow, it did not matter. They were together again and, eventually, they would figure a way out of this mess.
"I'd best get out of th' light," he cautioned, hurrying across to the other side of the street, again hugging the shadows, his normal form returning as Bessie reached to open the door. Jacob hurried across the street, both of the men pausing as a man's voice called out from within the cottage.
"Bessie? Did you find the cat?" Mark asked.
"And more," she said, entwining her fingers with Jack's as she walked through the door.
"Papa!" Pearl cried, bursting into tears and throwing herself at her father. The other children woke on hearing the noise and soon Jack could hardly be seen as most of the children hugged him. Daffodil, skirting his feet, risking life and limb with her own greeting.
Eventually Jack managed to come up for air, only to be kissed again by Bessie. He frowned, spotting Mark Taunton standing awkwardly on the far side of the room. "Who are yer?" he demanded.
"Mark is just a friend," Bessie assured him. "He stays here when his ship is in Hamilton… helps me pay the rent…"
Jack looked at her in surprise, for the first time taking in the scant comfort in the cottage. He could see she was tired too, dark bags beneath her eyes revealed too many nights without sleep, too much worry. "I left yer money…" he puzzled.
"I had barely an hour or so to flee Tortuga," she explained. "And most of what I was able to take was lost when the Jolly Maid went down…"
"How have yer…" he began, slowly understanding the hovel she was living in.
"With hard work," Mark interrupted. "Hard work, long hours and a little help from those of us from the Jolly Maid that have become friends…"
"Is that all?" Jack scowled, glancing towards Bessie who was trying to herd the children back to their beds, ensuring his voice did not carry.
"Of course that is bloody all," Mark retorted. "How could I compete with th' infamous Jack Sparrow, especially when you refuse to remain dead!"
For a moment the two men glared at each other, each refusing to give ground until they heard Bessie return to the main room having finally gotten the last child, predictably Jack, to bed. "Well I see the two of you have become acquainted," she said wryly, having guessed their conversation. "But you have yet to introduce me to your companion, Jack…"
Jack turned to Jacob. "Bessie, this is m' brother Jacob," he explained. "M' real brother. I went t' London t' find yer with th' men, and then back-tracked t' here when I heard about th' Jolly Maid…"
"Your brother?" she gasped, realising why the man had seemed familiar to her.
"D' yer think yer can find yer way back in th' dark to the ship?" he asked Jacob. "Th' crew will want t' know that Bessie an' th' children are safe an' I'm not leavin' her…" He smiled at her, reaching out and pulling her gently towards him. "I'm never leavin' her!"
"I think I can," Jacob replied. "Although I'll have to wave to get somebody to row me back…"
"They'll be keepin' watch," Jack assured him. "Tell Gibbs we'll be out at first light…"
Jacob nodded before turning to Bessie. "It's been a pleasure t' meet you at last," he smiled, before slipping out of the door. Although Jack had been close-lipped about his wife and children, the crew had been more forthcoming and he knew they would be nearly as relieved as Jack to find all of the family safe and sound, including the cat.
