Disclaimer: Love a pirate! It does a body good! XP
A/N: VeganHippie and Agey, your comments made me go 'eee!' very loudly and i got the warm fuzzies. I feel so loved n-n. Nerwen and Tinuviel, i hope you enjoy reading this again. :)
Squirrel limps back to the tavern, ducking through fights crowds slower than she usually does. She is seen by many, attacked by a few, but when they see the burns on Squirrel's exposed arm, they back away, fighting instead amongst themselves. Squirrel sees this, and wonders.
Reaching the tavern, she sees Dawn outside waiting for her. Squirrel hides behind a pile of crates and watches. Dawn scans the crowds of brawlers and whores, looking for someone. Her face is puffy and red from crying, and she has a black eye. Squirrel cringes further down behind the crates, as low as her burns allow. No doubt Dawn boasted to her father that she taught Squirrel a lesson, but when Squirrel didn't return to the tavern, Dawn got a beating for making Squirrel run.
"Sh-sh-she'll k-kill me n-now." Squirrel slumps against the crates, despairing. "She'll w-w-want p-p-payb-b-back."
"Miss Grey?" It's Sharky. He crouches down next to her, hiding out of Dawn's sight. "I may have found your trip off Tortuga. And if I were you, I'd take it now. Aurora's on the warpath, and your uncle's not in the best of moods either."
Squirrel's eyes light up, and she looks at Sharky with adoration in her eyes. Sharky looks away again.
"Y-y-you ha-have n-n-no id-idea how m-much th-this m-m-means to m-me, Shar-Sharky. Th-th-th-thankyou so-so much!"
Sharky smiles, placing a hand on Squirrel's good shoulder. "No need to thank me." Squirrel squeezes the man's hand, and he finally meets her gaze. Sharky clears his throat, embarrassed but pleased at the look on her face. "The ship's moored at the docks. I hope you don't mind it being a pirate ship."
"I-I-I d-d-don't." Squirrel smiles again. Sharky looks up over the crates, and signals for Squirrel to follow him. She does, but only for a moment.
"M-m-my ef-ef-effects!" She nearly shrieks. "I c-c-can't l-leave wi-without th-them!"
Squirrel turns and darts into the tavern while Dawn's back is still turned, uncaring about Sharky's cry of horror and disbelief, uncaring about the fights in the bar that threaten to reveal her.
She dashes up the ladder to the roof, wounds forgotten. Freedom, this close! Squirrel can scarcely believe it. It seems too good to be true. She hurries to her room, scoops her notes into her cloak, and then ties it across her back like a sack. She grabs her other items as well: a bagful of candles, a box of matches and a silver coin on a piece of string. She flips this coin in her fingers twice, then shoves it in her belt-pouch that contains her snacks. She feels like singing. I'm finally leaving Tortuga! She thinks to herself as she climbs out of her room. I'm finally getting out of this hell of an island!
She dashes across the railings, keeping out of Dawn's sight, and meets up with a very anxious Sharky, who hurries her to the docks.
"Most crews wouldn't dare take a woman on board." Sharky explains as he and Squirrel run. "But this crew already has a woman aboard, and the captain said that he wanted another on board, just to invite more trouble and bad luck." Sharky makes a face. "But then, Captain Jack Sparrow makes his own luck, doesn't he."
Squirrel nearly falls over. She struggles to keep the redness from her face. "H-he d-d-d-does, a-a-actually." Sharky risks a sideways glance, and Squirrel shoves a piece of paper in his face to distract him from her expression.
"I c-can n-n-never pre-predict h-his plays." Squirrel explains. Sharky raises an eyebrow, about to question her further, but the pair has arrived.
Squirrel is ushered aboard a ship by an anxious Sharky and a welcoming crew. One of them is a dark-skinned woman. Squirrel smiles at her, and the woman smiles back.
"Welcome aboard the Black Pearl." The woman waves from the helm. "Our captain should be along shortly." She comes over and offers Squirrel her hand. "Anamaria."
Squirrel shakes Anamaria's hand. "Squirrel." She smiles, feeling like she would just about burst with joy. The last thing Squirrel remembers is Anamaria's smiling face, and the rest of the crew gathering around her, smiling and welcoming her.