Author's note: Hey guys! I'm gonna put the author note in the here this
time. I am really sorry, that I haven't updated for so long, but as Tabris
told you in the reviews, my internet was put down. Finally, I got it to
work again! sinks to her knees in grateful prayer
Hope you like the flow of the story. Please tell me if anything doesn't
agree with you. And I will see what I can do.
Notes to my reviewers will be in the next chapter as I want to post this
one as fast as possible! Still, I would like to say thank you to everyone
who reviewed the story, and everyone who read it, review or not.
A huge 'Thank You' to you!!!
10. Chapter: Hannah and Will
In contrast to her grandchild Hannah did not sleep in. As is seems to be a trait of old people, especially women, she'd been up and around since shortly after sunrise. She got a pitiable maid to help her get her dress on, at 6 o 'clock in the morning. After that, -it took them nearly half an hour, with the maid still being half asleep- she went on her daily walk to get her old bones going after the night. She'd never had the chance to explore the grounds of the estate properly, and she had every intention to do so now. Who knew if she would have the opportunity again? The old woman chuckled silently as she imagined how her daughter would have started arguing, had she heard her last thoughts. Cait totally did not like it, when she talked like that. The woman was very fond of her mother and couldn't bear the thought to loose her, as she did her father, sister and...yes,...Hannah sighed.
The thought of loosing someone you love is always a scary thing. Above all for somebody so young as she is....She shouldn't know how this feels like, not yet... She thought deplorably for her daughter. Hannah had often wondered if it wouldn't have been better for Cait, if she had send her here before, with her with her grandchild those years ago. Of course she would have missed her child; every mother would after all, but perhaps then there wouldn't have been so much pain in her daughter's heart. Things just wouldn't have happened.
Shaking her head slightly Hannah chased those thoughts away as quickly as they came. It wouldn't do to dwell on the past, she'd learned so a long time ago. As she walked through one of the many gardens around, admiring the rose bushes, leaves and blooms still damp, the dew of the night glittering in the rays of the young sun, her thoughts turned onto a much more pleasing and cheerful topic.
Her granddaughter. The dear child. She chuckled, of cause Elizabeth was hardly a child anymore, neither in body or mind. She had grown so much in the past years, Hannah could hardly believe it. And she'd missed so much of her life already. And I will miss even more when I sail back to England. She thought sadly. Mainly now she's caught herself such a fine man.
Hannah had been impressed the evening before, immediately liking Will. After the spat with Commodore Norrington, an impertinent and disagreeable man, at least from her point of view, when young William had arrived, Elizabeth had let down her defences completely, catching the old woman totally with surprise. Elizabeth wasn't known to do that, had always been somewhat guarded after her mother had died. But she did, sinking into Wills embrace like a drowning woman, letting go of the strength she had firmly tried to hold up through the argument. And he had known! Known Elizabeth needed him and he been there, assuring her, giving her strength, protecting her. No taking of advantages or anything, just giving comfort where it was needed.
She made a note to herself to get the whole story of their common adventure last year. Everyone could see the deep feelings those two shared. Or at least, people should see. Save some blind fools. She thought wryly, thinking back to the commotion in the hall when they'd left the ball.
She shook her head. Totally out of place, those prejudices and antiquated beliefs of social classes. She thought for a moment. How about I pay young William a visit? She grinned to herself. This could be fun.
After getting something small to eat for breakfast Elizabeth had went to find her father in his study, where he was most likely to be found at this time of the day, or any other time too, regarding that one of his favourite past times was literature and he had a great selection in his study. He wasn't often seen in the huge library downstairs, preferring to read in the peace of his study.
That he doesn't get weary of spending so much time in there will never cease to amaze me, really She shook her head.
After biding him a "Good morning", ignoring the arched up eyebrow and provoking glance at the clock on the wall, she inquired him how his morning had been. Satisfied with the answer, she went back to her room, planning to occupy herself until afternoon and her fence meeting with Will. A part of her wished to see and speak with either Cait or her grandmother, or both, but after last night she thought it was up to them to come to her, after they had decided what they thought in the end of her and Will.
So, after wandering her chambers in search of something that had to be done, Elizabeth settled for sitting on the windowsill and reading some poetry her father had recommended.
She hadn't been sitting long, the reading matter not really fascinating her, when a knock on the door broke her forced concentration. Happy for the brake, she laid the book to the side and called "Come in."
It turned out to be Cait, who softly opened the door and entered.
"Good morning, Elizabeth. I hope I am not interrupting something." She glanced at the book.
Her niece laughed sheepishly. "Not at all,...it was boring anyway." She looked at her aunt unsurely. "What can I do for you?"
"Um, Elizabeth,....I wanted to apologize for my behaviour yesterday. I guess I was a bit furious and it was out of place. Even though I do not agree with you on this...on William," she hesitated. "I should not have expressed it this way. I am sorry."
Elizabeth nearly sighed. It wasn't what she had hoped for, but better that nothing. It would take time to convince her, it seemed. "Don't worry. I understand you, to a certain degree. Though it upsets me, you dislike Will this much there is nothing I can do." 'For now' she silently added, smiling at her aunt, who smiled back.
"Thank you." She seemed to say more, but hesitated, looking at the floor. You'd never think she's in her early thirties now.
"Is there anything else I can help you with?" Elizabeth tried to help her out.
Caitlyn looked up again. "Yes, actually there is." She reached into a small pocket, hidden in her pleats, and pulled out a delicate looking gold chain with a small locket, carefully cradling it in her palm. Elizabeth watched her curiously and Cait looked back at her sadly.
"Mother gave it to me, as a present. It has always been very dear to me, but yesterday the chain broke." She showed the loose ends to her niece. "You wouldn't know a gold smithy, or someone else who could repair this, would you?"
Elizabeth thought for a few seconds. There was no place like a gold smithy in Port Royal. Of course there was a jeweller in town, it was a nice little shop with beautiful jewellery, but they didn't do repair works, so they couldn't go there.
There was only...
"I guess I know somebody to fix it. I can lead you, if you want to try it." She drawled, still not sure if this was a wise thing to do. But if anything, it gave her a good excuse to go into the town.
Cait nodded happily. "I would be very grateful."
"As you wish." The younger woman answered and rose from her seat.
It was already shortly before midday when Hannah reached the smithy. Though she'd only planned to come here, her walk through the town had somewhat gotten out of hand. There were so many small shops and stores and she just couldn't walk by most of them. She could hear her son in law grumbling in her mind. Women!! But what was a woman to do?
Anyway, as she finally found her destination it was hours after she had left the manor, having had to ask for directions, getting caught up in conversations and the like. She liked the inhabitants of Port Royal; they were friendly and polite people, working hard and honest. Well, most of them were like that anyway. You can find black sheep where ever you go, searching for them or not. Some of thee talks today gave the old woman the impression, that those people were different from those in England, though she couldn't pinpoint why. They couldn't have lived here that long, Port Royal not being that old as a colony. Still the methods of working, the local ...she guessed you could say morals somehow seemed different. Hannah did not know why she thought that.
It gave her a few difficulties to open the heavy wooden door leading into the smithy, her shoulder pushing against it.
Inside it was dark, gloomy. It looked deserted.
But the fire in the stone stove was burning, so that had to mean someone was there. Or at least that was what Hannah guessed, not having been in a smithy before.
Hesitantly she walked further into the dimly lit room, trying to make out any shapes. "Good day." She called into the room, but nobody answered. She was just about to give up and leave, when she heard a noise; something that sounded like a grunt. She glanced in the direction the sound came from and noticed a shape slumped on a chair.
As she got closer to it, she could make out a man, sitting, or more like sprawled lying over the chair. He didn't look awake. Hannah made still one step closer to see if she could wake him, supposing he was the owner of the shop, but immediately recoiled at the smelly cloud of alcohol around him. He was totally drunk.
Hannah grimaced. Just what I need. Where is Will? Jonathan told me that he is always in the smithy over the day, working...
Contemplating if waking the drunken, sleeping man in front of her was a good idea, Hannah did not hear the door open and somebody entering the room.
It was Will.
To say he was surprised to find Elizabeth's grandmother in the smithy, eyeing the old Brown disgustedly, would have been an understatement. What's she doing here...? Then a thought hit him, hard. Elizabeth!!! Had something happened to her?
He coughed to get her attention. She jumped and turned around. "Mr. Turner, good day to you." She greeted him with a small smile, still being somewhat startled by his sudden appearance.
With his thoughts on his love, Will decided to skip the formal things. He wanted, no he HAD to know if 'Liz was alright. "'Liz!!! Excuse me, but...what are you doing here? Has something happened? Is...Elizabeth alright?" he asked, the concern and worry written all over his face, accompanied from fear.
When Hannah realized he thought she had come to him because something had happened to Elizabeth she rushed to set it right. "No! Of course not. I am sorry, I didn't imagine me being here would give you such a fright. Elizabeth is well; she was still sleeping when I left the house this morning."
"Oh." Will let out a sigh of relief. Thank god. When he got his composure back he smiled at the old woman. "So, after you scared me half to death, what can I help you with?" He grinned jovially at her, showing her he had gotten over the shock.
"Actually, "she mused. "I came to see how you were doing. I think we should get to know each other a bit."
"Huh?" All he did was raise his eyebrow at her, a gesture he seemed to be quite fond of as she had noticed.
"Well,"she moved to explain. "As you may have noticed, my granddaughter is very much in love with you. In fact, I'd go as far as saying she is totally besotted with you." Will had the grace to blush, grinning all the while. "Also, I have seen that you love her very much." She gave him a look, showing she meant every word. He simply nodded, realizing this wasn't the time to start with long declarations of love.
"And though I don't exactly know how the whole relationship started, regarding that I still don't understand fully or have heard all of the facts through occurrence with the pirates, you being a supposedly pirate, while still working here, and Commodore Norrington insisting on being engaged with my granddaughter...I think she made a good choice." Seeing his confusion, Hannah added. "Concerning you, I mean. I know, and I have seen for myself, that you can make her happy."
Will looked to the side for a moment, his gaze settling on the simmering fire in the stove. After a while he spoke again. "That's really all I want. Of course I am over the moon, that she has chosen me as the one who makes her happy, but...I would step aside, if there was another she wants, who I know would care for her, as much I do. To make her happy, that's all that matters." He looked back to see if the woman had understood what he'd wanted to say.
She obviously did, as she smiled at him in a motherly way. "You don't have to persuade me. I've seen for myself. You're good for her; she won't let you go, if she's wise."
He sighed. "I wish your daughter would see it this way."
She gave him a sad smile. "I know you and Elizabeth don't understand why she got so angry yesterday. She wants to protect her niece from getting hurt." She hesitated, contemplating if she should tell the young man in front of her about the demons in Cait's past. "She's been hurt, Will. And she doesn't wish that for Elizabeth. She dislikes men, if you will so. She only acts civil to them, because she has to."
"I am sorry to hear someone has hurt her. But she can't generalize men now, can she? And she seemed rather eager to marry 'Liz off to the Commodore."
Hannah remembered the evening before. "Yes. I guess, she thinks Elizabeth would be better off with him, because he's an officer in the navy. He has to watch his honour and reputation, and my granddaughter is the daughter of the governor. Norrington couldn't hurt or mistreat her without risking his honour and the wrath of the governor."
"Every man would risk the wrath of the governor!" Will exclaimed, not seeing where Hannah wanted to go with this.
"But Norrington would risk his career. A blacksmith like you wouldn't. You could leave Port Royal and go elsewhere. The chance of Norrington doing this is quite slim. I know it doesn't make much sense to you, but I think this is how she sees it." Hannah explained patiently. Will groaned.
"What can I do to make her realize I won't leave Elizabeth? That I love her more than anything?" He looked helplessly into the flames.
"Be patient." Was all she could offer.
Somewhere out on the sea
"Faster you lazy sods! We are in a hurry!" The crew hurried over the deck, everyone trying to move out of the captain's way. Captain Jack Sparrow stood by the bow rail, his eyes sweeping over the blue water that stretched as far as the eye could see. He was really restless, had been for days, as the 'Black Pearl' made its way towards Port Royal.
I really hope you keep your guards up, Will.
10. Chapter: Hannah and Will
In contrast to her grandchild Hannah did not sleep in. As is seems to be a trait of old people, especially women, she'd been up and around since shortly after sunrise. She got a pitiable maid to help her get her dress on, at 6 o 'clock in the morning. After that, -it took them nearly half an hour, with the maid still being half asleep- she went on her daily walk to get her old bones going after the night. She'd never had the chance to explore the grounds of the estate properly, and she had every intention to do so now. Who knew if she would have the opportunity again? The old woman chuckled silently as she imagined how her daughter would have started arguing, had she heard her last thoughts. Cait totally did not like it, when she talked like that. The woman was very fond of her mother and couldn't bear the thought to loose her, as she did her father, sister and...yes,...Hannah sighed.
The thought of loosing someone you love is always a scary thing. Above all for somebody so young as she is....She shouldn't know how this feels like, not yet... She thought deplorably for her daughter. Hannah had often wondered if it wouldn't have been better for Cait, if she had send her here before, with her with her grandchild those years ago. Of course she would have missed her child; every mother would after all, but perhaps then there wouldn't have been so much pain in her daughter's heart. Things just wouldn't have happened.
Shaking her head slightly Hannah chased those thoughts away as quickly as they came. It wouldn't do to dwell on the past, she'd learned so a long time ago. As she walked through one of the many gardens around, admiring the rose bushes, leaves and blooms still damp, the dew of the night glittering in the rays of the young sun, her thoughts turned onto a much more pleasing and cheerful topic.
Her granddaughter. The dear child. She chuckled, of cause Elizabeth was hardly a child anymore, neither in body or mind. She had grown so much in the past years, Hannah could hardly believe it. And she'd missed so much of her life already. And I will miss even more when I sail back to England. She thought sadly. Mainly now she's caught herself such a fine man.
Hannah had been impressed the evening before, immediately liking Will. After the spat with Commodore Norrington, an impertinent and disagreeable man, at least from her point of view, when young William had arrived, Elizabeth had let down her defences completely, catching the old woman totally with surprise. Elizabeth wasn't known to do that, had always been somewhat guarded after her mother had died. But she did, sinking into Wills embrace like a drowning woman, letting go of the strength she had firmly tried to hold up through the argument. And he had known! Known Elizabeth needed him and he been there, assuring her, giving her strength, protecting her. No taking of advantages or anything, just giving comfort where it was needed.
She made a note to herself to get the whole story of their common adventure last year. Everyone could see the deep feelings those two shared. Or at least, people should see. Save some blind fools. She thought wryly, thinking back to the commotion in the hall when they'd left the ball.
She shook her head. Totally out of place, those prejudices and antiquated beliefs of social classes. She thought for a moment. How about I pay young William a visit? She grinned to herself. This could be fun.
After getting something small to eat for breakfast Elizabeth had went to find her father in his study, where he was most likely to be found at this time of the day, or any other time too, regarding that one of his favourite past times was literature and he had a great selection in his study. He wasn't often seen in the huge library downstairs, preferring to read in the peace of his study.
That he doesn't get weary of spending so much time in there will never cease to amaze me, really She shook her head.
After biding him a "Good morning", ignoring the arched up eyebrow and provoking glance at the clock on the wall, she inquired him how his morning had been. Satisfied with the answer, she went back to her room, planning to occupy herself until afternoon and her fence meeting with Will. A part of her wished to see and speak with either Cait or her grandmother, or both, but after last night she thought it was up to them to come to her, after they had decided what they thought in the end of her and Will.
So, after wandering her chambers in search of something that had to be done, Elizabeth settled for sitting on the windowsill and reading some poetry her father had recommended.
She hadn't been sitting long, the reading matter not really fascinating her, when a knock on the door broke her forced concentration. Happy for the brake, she laid the book to the side and called "Come in."
It turned out to be Cait, who softly opened the door and entered.
"Good morning, Elizabeth. I hope I am not interrupting something." She glanced at the book.
Her niece laughed sheepishly. "Not at all,...it was boring anyway." She looked at her aunt unsurely. "What can I do for you?"
"Um, Elizabeth,....I wanted to apologize for my behaviour yesterday. I guess I was a bit furious and it was out of place. Even though I do not agree with you on this...on William," she hesitated. "I should not have expressed it this way. I am sorry."
Elizabeth nearly sighed. It wasn't what she had hoped for, but better that nothing. It would take time to convince her, it seemed. "Don't worry. I understand you, to a certain degree. Though it upsets me, you dislike Will this much there is nothing I can do." 'For now' she silently added, smiling at her aunt, who smiled back.
"Thank you." She seemed to say more, but hesitated, looking at the floor. You'd never think she's in her early thirties now.
"Is there anything else I can help you with?" Elizabeth tried to help her out.
Caitlyn looked up again. "Yes, actually there is." She reached into a small pocket, hidden in her pleats, and pulled out a delicate looking gold chain with a small locket, carefully cradling it in her palm. Elizabeth watched her curiously and Cait looked back at her sadly.
"Mother gave it to me, as a present. It has always been very dear to me, but yesterday the chain broke." She showed the loose ends to her niece. "You wouldn't know a gold smithy, or someone else who could repair this, would you?"
Elizabeth thought for a few seconds. There was no place like a gold smithy in Port Royal. Of course there was a jeweller in town, it was a nice little shop with beautiful jewellery, but they didn't do repair works, so they couldn't go there.
There was only...
"I guess I know somebody to fix it. I can lead you, if you want to try it." She drawled, still not sure if this was a wise thing to do. But if anything, it gave her a good excuse to go into the town.
Cait nodded happily. "I would be very grateful."
"As you wish." The younger woman answered and rose from her seat.
It was already shortly before midday when Hannah reached the smithy. Though she'd only planned to come here, her walk through the town had somewhat gotten out of hand. There were so many small shops and stores and she just couldn't walk by most of them. She could hear her son in law grumbling in her mind. Women!! But what was a woman to do?
Anyway, as she finally found her destination it was hours after she had left the manor, having had to ask for directions, getting caught up in conversations and the like. She liked the inhabitants of Port Royal; they were friendly and polite people, working hard and honest. Well, most of them were like that anyway. You can find black sheep where ever you go, searching for them or not. Some of thee talks today gave the old woman the impression, that those people were different from those in England, though she couldn't pinpoint why. They couldn't have lived here that long, Port Royal not being that old as a colony. Still the methods of working, the local ...she guessed you could say morals somehow seemed different. Hannah did not know why she thought that.
It gave her a few difficulties to open the heavy wooden door leading into the smithy, her shoulder pushing against it.
Inside it was dark, gloomy. It looked deserted.
But the fire in the stone stove was burning, so that had to mean someone was there. Or at least that was what Hannah guessed, not having been in a smithy before.
Hesitantly she walked further into the dimly lit room, trying to make out any shapes. "Good day." She called into the room, but nobody answered. She was just about to give up and leave, when she heard a noise; something that sounded like a grunt. She glanced in the direction the sound came from and noticed a shape slumped on a chair.
As she got closer to it, she could make out a man, sitting, or more like sprawled lying over the chair. He didn't look awake. Hannah made still one step closer to see if she could wake him, supposing he was the owner of the shop, but immediately recoiled at the smelly cloud of alcohol around him. He was totally drunk.
Hannah grimaced. Just what I need. Where is Will? Jonathan told me that he is always in the smithy over the day, working...
Contemplating if waking the drunken, sleeping man in front of her was a good idea, Hannah did not hear the door open and somebody entering the room.
It was Will.
To say he was surprised to find Elizabeth's grandmother in the smithy, eyeing the old Brown disgustedly, would have been an understatement. What's she doing here...? Then a thought hit him, hard. Elizabeth!!! Had something happened to her?
He coughed to get her attention. She jumped and turned around. "Mr. Turner, good day to you." She greeted him with a small smile, still being somewhat startled by his sudden appearance.
With his thoughts on his love, Will decided to skip the formal things. He wanted, no he HAD to know if 'Liz was alright. "'Liz!!! Excuse me, but...what are you doing here? Has something happened? Is...Elizabeth alright?" he asked, the concern and worry written all over his face, accompanied from fear.
When Hannah realized he thought she had come to him because something had happened to Elizabeth she rushed to set it right. "No! Of course not. I am sorry, I didn't imagine me being here would give you such a fright. Elizabeth is well; she was still sleeping when I left the house this morning."
"Oh." Will let out a sigh of relief. Thank god. When he got his composure back he smiled at the old woman. "So, after you scared me half to death, what can I help you with?" He grinned jovially at her, showing her he had gotten over the shock.
"Actually, "she mused. "I came to see how you were doing. I think we should get to know each other a bit."
"Huh?" All he did was raise his eyebrow at her, a gesture he seemed to be quite fond of as she had noticed.
"Well,"she moved to explain. "As you may have noticed, my granddaughter is very much in love with you. In fact, I'd go as far as saying she is totally besotted with you." Will had the grace to blush, grinning all the while. "Also, I have seen that you love her very much." She gave him a look, showing she meant every word. He simply nodded, realizing this wasn't the time to start with long declarations of love.
"And though I don't exactly know how the whole relationship started, regarding that I still don't understand fully or have heard all of the facts through occurrence with the pirates, you being a supposedly pirate, while still working here, and Commodore Norrington insisting on being engaged with my granddaughter...I think she made a good choice." Seeing his confusion, Hannah added. "Concerning you, I mean. I know, and I have seen for myself, that you can make her happy."
Will looked to the side for a moment, his gaze settling on the simmering fire in the stove. After a while he spoke again. "That's really all I want. Of course I am over the moon, that she has chosen me as the one who makes her happy, but...I would step aside, if there was another she wants, who I know would care for her, as much I do. To make her happy, that's all that matters." He looked back to see if the woman had understood what he'd wanted to say.
She obviously did, as she smiled at him in a motherly way. "You don't have to persuade me. I've seen for myself. You're good for her; she won't let you go, if she's wise."
He sighed. "I wish your daughter would see it this way."
She gave him a sad smile. "I know you and Elizabeth don't understand why she got so angry yesterday. She wants to protect her niece from getting hurt." She hesitated, contemplating if she should tell the young man in front of her about the demons in Cait's past. "She's been hurt, Will. And she doesn't wish that for Elizabeth. She dislikes men, if you will so. She only acts civil to them, because she has to."
"I am sorry to hear someone has hurt her. But she can't generalize men now, can she? And she seemed rather eager to marry 'Liz off to the Commodore."
Hannah remembered the evening before. "Yes. I guess, she thinks Elizabeth would be better off with him, because he's an officer in the navy. He has to watch his honour and reputation, and my granddaughter is the daughter of the governor. Norrington couldn't hurt or mistreat her without risking his honour and the wrath of the governor."
"Every man would risk the wrath of the governor!" Will exclaimed, not seeing where Hannah wanted to go with this.
"But Norrington would risk his career. A blacksmith like you wouldn't. You could leave Port Royal and go elsewhere. The chance of Norrington doing this is quite slim. I know it doesn't make much sense to you, but I think this is how she sees it." Hannah explained patiently. Will groaned.
"What can I do to make her realize I won't leave Elizabeth? That I love her more than anything?" He looked helplessly into the flames.
"Be patient." Was all she could offer.
Somewhere out on the sea
"Faster you lazy sods! We are in a hurry!" The crew hurried over the deck, everyone trying to move out of the captain's way. Captain Jack Sparrow stood by the bow rail, his eyes sweeping over the blue water that stretched as far as the eye could see. He was really restless, had been for days, as the 'Black Pearl' made its way towards Port Royal.
I really hope you keep your guards up, Will.
