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Chapter Three: Mum and Dad

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"Hey, that's not fair!" I scowled. Roland laughed and smirked. "I'll get you, Captain Roland! No pirate is going to leave Astrid Sparrow in the dust!"

I ran after him, and he took off.

"Don't you mean Captain Astrid Sparrow?" he laughed.

"Aye. Captain Astrid Sparrow," I laughed in reply.

I chased him and poked him in the back with my fake sword. He fell to the ground in a rather funny yet dramatic "death."

"All right. All right. You got me," he said, getting up on his feet. "Ready for another game?"

"Sure."

"Roland! Astrid! Come on in now!" Will called from inside the house. Both Roland and I grunted at our short game. He had just started lessons in school, and he didn't come home 'til late afternoon, giving us little playtime.

"All right!" I yelled back.

The door leading into the gardens was opened, and we walked into the house. I had been staying with the Turners for a couple months now, and my father hadn't written to me at all.

Will was waiting by the door as we entered and told Roland to go clean himself up. Roland left me after a quick farewell and walked up the stairs to his room. As soon as he was gone, Will gave me a mock frown.

"Now, why are you dressed in your pirate clothes, Miss?" he said. "That is no way for a young lady to dress."

"Why do I have to wear those dresses? They're itchy. Why can't I wear this?"

"Because you will be educated soon."

"Huh?"

"You are going to have a governess."

"Why can't I go to school with Roland?"

"There are no schools for girls like you, sadly."

"Oh. When do I begin?"

"Tomorrow. Now, come on, let's go help Lisa in the kitchen." Will picked me up and carried me to the kitchen. He set me down on the edge of a counter so that my legs dangled about.

"Mister Turner, that girl should be dressed like a lady, not some dirty old sailor!" Lisa, the cook, exclaimed.

"Oh, Lisa," Will laughed. "Let her dress how she wants to for today. Tomorrow she'll be trapped in a dress all day."

"I'm getting a governess," I said proudly. I grinned and Lisa took a damp cloth and wiped the dirt from my face.

"Of course you are. You are in dire need of one."

She turned her back on me to tend to her cooking and I made a face at her. She gave me plenty of orders each day, and it bothered me, but she was good company nonetheless. I looked at Will to see if he saw me make the face, and he did. I didn't feel bad though. He returned my grin.

"Where's Elizabeth, Will?" I asked.

"She's out in town today."

"Doing what?"

"Getting your governess."

"Really?"

"Really."

"Is my governess going to be nice?"

"I haven't met her, so I don't know."

"Will she come here, or do I have to go to her?"

"She'll come here."

"What will she teach me?" Will looked at me and I smiled at my never-ending amount of questions.

"There are times to ask questions, and times not too." He picked me up off the counter and held me. "And there are times to be a pirate and times to be a lady, and you now have to act like a lady. Come on, go upstairs and clean yourself up." I moaned at the order and slipped out of his arms and onto the ground.

"All right, I'll go. Just one more question."

"Yes, Astrid?"

"Will I still be able to play when I get my governess?"

"Of course you will. Now, go on."

I walked up the stairs and did as I was told. Having a governess somewhat excited me, but little did I know that it wouldn't be as great as I dreamt it up to be.

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It was late at night, and I lay wide-awake in my bed staring out the window. The moon shed its light upon me, and the room was dark in some places and bathed in a silvery blue hue in others. I stared at the round moon with blank eyes. For some reason, I couldn't sleep. I regretted doing so because then I would be in a bad mood the next day, and my governess was coming. I was determined to make a good impression.

Then I realized why I looked at the moon. It reminded me of my father. I missed him still, and I remembered the last time I woke up from a bad dream and found him standing outside on the deck looking at a full moon. I remembered standing right beside him. Neither of us said anything, and he understood why I was out there and picked me up. I looked at the moon with him, until I closed my eyes and fell asleep in his secure arms.

That security and care were broken now. He left me, and I didn't even know if he would come back one day. I always hoped that he would because Elizabeth told me that he loved me. He wasn't like Will, but maybe that's what made him special. Will was a good person and he listened to me when I said something. He never tried to shoo me away, nonetheless leave me behind.

Here, I actually had Elizabeth, a kind of motherly type of person. While as with Jack, I only had Ana Maria who was just as much a pirate as Jack; but I had grown to love the crew of the Black Pearl just as much as I loved the people in the Turner home, and I didn't know what would happen if I lost both of them.

"I miss you, Daddy," I whispered into the night. "I love you, and I want you to come home." I really didn't know what I was saying for I felt suddenly sleepy. I should have known that home to Jack was not with me.

It was with his ship.

My mind blanked out, and I took it that I was asleep. Before long, I was dreaming. I dreamt that I was alone on the Black Pearl. The ship was empty, barren, deserted. I could feel a chilling wind whip me in the face and all of a sudden, the moon above me turned dark. I was trapped in darkness, and my vision was very dim. I felt the ship beneath me shake and tilt, and I felt myself rolling around and running into things. I was screaming, screaming out someone's name, but I didn't know whose.

Suddenly, the ship swerved sharply, and I realized that I was dangling over a raging ocean. I looked down and sharks, blood, and dead people were swirling around in the hideous sea ready to capture me if I fell. I screamed harder, and I felt my hands slowly sliding off the pole I was holding on to. It was then when my muffled cries became clear.

"Daddy!" I screamed. "Daddy! Help me!" I heard a reply in the distance amidst the howling of the ocean.

"Astrid! Astrid! I'm coming! Hold on!" it said. I knew it was Jack's voice, but it seemed so far away. I yelled back.

"Daddy! Hurry! Don't let me die! Please!" Again his voice came and it was louder this time. At last, I felt his hand grab my own just as I was about to slip off, but then he let go of me.

"Daddy!" I screamed at the top of my lungs. "Don't leave me! Please! Don't leave me!"

But it was too late. I fell into Hell's ocean, and at last, I woke up from my dream screaming: "Don't leave me! You said you wouldn't leave me! Why would you leave me if you love me!"

Anger and confusion fueled my actions and I kicked and screamed and wept in my bed. I didn't stop screaming out for my father. In the distance I heard the deep thuds of footsteps and Will and Elizabeth barged into my room.

"Astrid!" Elizabeth said, rushing to my bed.

"He left me! He broke his promise! He doesn't love me anymore!" I wailed. She held me close and my cries were muffled in her arms. Will wrapped his arms around both of us, and they cooed soothing words to me as I continued to cry.

"It's all right, Astrid. It's all right," Elizabeth said softly. "I'm here. Will is here. There's no need to be afraid."

I felt so much comfort in her words, and what I wanted them to be to me was undeniable. I wanted them to take care of me forever. They loved me. They would never leave me. They cared, and they listened. They didn't ignore me. They loved me, and it was then when I realized how lucky Roland was to have such parents.

"He never loved me. That's why he left," I said.

"Shh. Of course he loves you, and we love you too, Astrid." She kissed my head softly and set me back in bed. "Better?" I nodded in reply.

"Good. Now get some rest," Will said. He kissed my forehead, and they were about to leave, when I called them back.

"Elizabeth? Will?"

"Yes," they said.

"May I call you Mum and Dad?" I was waiting for an awkward silence to occur, but it didn't.

"Of course you can, Astrid," Will said.

"We'd love to be your parents," Elizabeth added. I smiled in relief, and they each kissed me on the forehead good night.

"Good night... Mum... Dad," I said.

"Good night, Astrid."