"Enjoy life. There's plenty of time to be dead."
-Anonymous
Chapter Seven
When I awoke this morning, I felt strangely normal. I felt healthy.
"It's like your fever wore itself out. It got to it's highest point and then dropped completely." Jaden really looks baffled.
"Yeah," I say, "What a shame."
"But I don't want you running about," he tells me seriously, "I want you to rest. Stay put in here."
"But-"
He's suddenly gone all parental on me. "I mean it, Andie. Just for one more day."
"A person can't handle this many insane hours of sleep! And. . . and Jack already said that he wants me out of here. You can't go against your captain's orders!" I argue.
He looks at me with a firm eye and then opens the cabin door. Sunlight streams past and lights everything around it with a pleasant warm glow. I would give anything to be out in that hot Carribean sun right about now.
"Don't move," he orders, before exiting the room.
I frown. I'm going crazy being pent up in this room! I have so much energy that's built up this past week and I need to burn some of it. Before long I'm going to be cleaning Jack's cabin or rearranging his furniture, which I'm sure will only piss him off. Actually, now that I think about it, that idea is starting to sound pretty good. . .
"He says it's fine for you to stay in here," I look up to see Jaden standing against the doorframe, holding something secretively in the palm of his hand. "And if you have a problem with it, you can stay in Brown's cabin." A slight smirk plays at the corner of his mouth.
Chad Brown is the creepiest man I have ever laid eyes on. He's older, a typical dirty pirate with obvious dirtier thoughts on his mind. He seems to almost follow me, he's around so much. Well, before this last week, of course. Which is why Jack suggested that; he knows I find Chad creepy.Bastard.
"Not fair," I grumble. But it's all a ploy; actually, the moment I know Jaden is away from sight, I'm bolting out that door.
But my plans crumble before my eyes as Jaden shuts the door behind him and a clinking noise fills my ears. The handle twists in return, and then stills as it locks. That's what he was holding in his hand; I didn't know Jack's cabin had a key!
"Sorry, lass," The doctor says from behind the door, "But the Captain told me to use this. Says you'll be right out the door in no time."
"Revenge is a bitch!" I yell back at him. Goddamn it, what am I going to do now?
I glance around the room for a moment, looking for anything of my use. Nothing. I could easily break the lock, but that's too obvious. And then, suddenly, it hits me: a hairpin.
I smile triumphantly; I am such a bloody genius! Why am I not the Queen of England?
I hum the tune of Jack's favorite pirate song aloud as I reach to touch my pulled back hair. I easily pull out a pin as my feet reach the door, and that's when the nob starts to move again.
"Shit," I hiss, and quickly run to the bed. By the time the door swings open, I am calmly sitting at it's foot when a small suspicious smile on my pink lips. "Well, hi, Jaden, how are you?"
He raises an eyebrow. "What're you up to, Andie?" he asks in a low voice.
I fake a look of innocence. "Nothing, I'm just sitting here like you told me to. What are you doing?" I smile.
But he still looks as though he's on my tail. "I forgot something," he explains, and he picks up a bundle of green herbs. He watches me closely as he leaves the room and locks the door again.
I wait five minutes before I try again. This time, the door handle doesn't make a noise as I approach. It feels so right to be up to my shady ways again! I shove the pin into the lock, jerk it right, left, up-
"Andie, are you in there?" A voice calls from the other side.
I groan and throw my arms into the air, defeated. "Bloody go away, Rodney! You're going to get me caught!"
He laughs. "What are you doing?"
"I'm picking the lock," I reply. "But if you tell Jack you'll be a eunuch in no time!"
"I never saw a thing." His boots retreat back up the stairs.
"Damn straight," I mumble.
After another minute or so, I begin again. Just as Loyal had taught me; right, left-
"We kidnap and ravage and don't give a hoot," I whisper quietly. The pure sound of freedom is evident in the air as the door snaps open, "Drink up me 'earties yo ho."
I climb up the stairs without a sound, inhaling the sweet summer air. When I reach the top, I gaze around the corner. Jack has his back to me, his eyes on the horizon. Jaden is nowhere to be seen. A pretty good sign, I must say.
I sneak past any crew that see me, signaling to them with a smile and a finger pressed to my lips; they don't say anything, just grin and shake their heads in return, most amused. They've accepted me nicely and will soon be used to my ways, no doubt.
When I reach the bottom of the sparrows nest, Jack is still unaware of my whereabouts. I climb up without any problem, surprising Rodney when I reach the top.
"Hi," I say with a smile.
He laughs. "You broke out of your cage, I see. How are you feelin'?"
"Like I should run fifty laps and then have a drink or two."
"Damn, but that's a lot of energy."
"I've never been sick before!" I say, "Someone should have told me how horrible it is!"
Rodney eyes twinkle like bright lights as he chuckles. "And then you wake up, all better, with this wonderful feeling of excitement!"
"Exactly." I conclude.
I look out into the ocean, across blue green waves and sparkling waters, and I spot land. Not just any land; Helena Port.
"I thought AnaMaria said Jack would never stop there again?" I ask Rodney, pointing to the large town, still too far off to be seeing anything but land in particular. He wouldn't dare to drop me there, would he?
"I suppose we need to stock up on supplies, considering everyone who's been sick," he replies.
I take a look at him with a small smile. "I'm glad you didn't catch the fever, Rodney."
"Me too," he laughs, "Didn't look like something I be wantin'." He doesn't mention the things that AnaMaria or Harrison had said, to which I'm grateful.
A moment later, I spot Jaden Mertz standing at the helm with Jack. I cannot hear what he says, but the pirate looks up, his chocolate eyes sweeping quickly across the deck. But he doesn't seem angry, not even disappointed. In fact, he looks most amused.
"Uh oh," Rodney says from beside me, "Looks like you've been caught."
I ponder this for a moment. "Not yet."
I watch Jaden closely as he looks around for me, nowhere to be seen. But suddenly, his head snaps up to gaze at the sparrows nest. He can't possibly know I'm up here! I look at Rodney for a moment, as if securing my assumptions, but then I realize the black skirts that are sticking out from the side of the nest.
"Shit," I curse, and snatch them toward me.
But Jaden is already at the bottom of the nest. "All right, Andie, I know you're up there."
Rodney jumps to my rescue. "What're you trying to say, Mertz? That I look like a woman from down there?"
"I'm no fool, Baker," Jaden replies, "I saw her dress. I expected her to get out of that room someway, and that's just what she did."
Rodney shrugs, shedding no information. "Well, she ain't up here."
I look over at the helm, where Jack is soaking up the entertainment. I know he can see me, and he winks most cunningly. "Why don't ye go up and have a look, Mertz?" he suggests. But I know he doesn't want me to get caught; he's just interested to see how I'll get out of the mess this time.
Jaden considers this. "Come down here, boy," the older man directs at Rodney.
My friend sends one quick look my way before swinging his legs over the side.
"When you get down there," I whisper, "Let me know when he gets half way up the latter."
Rodney nods and then does as Jaden tells him. I listen as his boots retreat to the right side of the nest, and after a long moment, I look over to see him flick his hand in a slight wave; my signal.
Quickly and stealthily, I climb over the opposite side of the nest as Jaden, digging my fingers into the cracks and crevices in the wood. I swing beneath it and cling onto a plank of wood that supports it, just in time for the doctor to reach the top on the other side. I hang in the air, my feet dangling.
My eyes meet Jack's. I have a 'what do you think of that?' expression lighting my face, and he smiles at me in response.
"I saw her up here, I know I did!" Jaden shouts from the top. I can see the bottom of his leather boots between the spaces of the wooden planks.
When I look down, Chad Brown is below me, trying to take a peak up my skirts. I kick in the air to make it more difficult for him, threatening him with my eyes. "Skat," I hiss venomously, kicking at him as though he were a disobedient pet. And although he stands about 6'2, I'm still too high off the ground to reach him.
Suddenly, Jaden stills above me. I do the same, only daring to move my eyes alone. He stays there for a long moment, thoughtful. The very second he begins to climb down, I make my next move.
There is a thick rope hanging from the sparrows nest, and although I wince at the thought of the burns it'll leave on my palms, I give myself a mighty swing until I latch onto it.
"Mertz," Jack yells across the deck, doing his best to distract him. "I'll bet she never left that room. She's probably just playin' a bit of hide and seek with ye."
Jaden yells something back to him, but I don't hear it. The moment my feet hit the floorboards, I make a run for it. Afterall, this is more than I had in mind in the first place!
I quickly dart into Jack's cabin and settle myself in his desk chair, boots propped upon the surface of the oaken wood. I have just enough time to catch my breath before said pirate enters, a most amused smile on his face.
"Ye, missy, are in for an ear full."
As if on cue, Jaden waltzes into the room. "Didn't I tell you to stay here? You're gonna get yourself sick again, running around like that!"
But I am the best of actors. "What are you going on about? I never left, mate."
He raises a threatening finger, "I'm no fool, Andie. I came in here to check on you and you were gone."
"I wasn't gone," I say sweetly, "I was playing a game of cat and mouse. You're too serious for your own good, Jaden Mertz." I smile, batting my eyelashes girlishly.
"And you are the thorn in my palm," Jaden states, giving me a 'I'm watching you' look before leaving the room.
The moment the door closes I burst out into laughter.
Jack raises an eyebrow at me and moves across the room to fetch a bottle of rum. "Ever thought about the stage in London?" he asks me.
"Acting? Why Jack, I'm a woman! It would be sinful!" I joke with a dazzling smile.
He laughs, but says nothing, instead waves me out of his desk chair. I comply, and make myself comfortable at the foot of his bed instead. He watches me with amused eyes.
"Can I ask you something?" I break the silence. Jack simply nods and takes a long swig of rum. "Why are we stopping at Helena Port? I thought you weren't too fond of this part of the Carribean?"
"Need to load up on supplies, love. And with me crew gettin' sick and all, I thought stoppin' for a few days might settle everyone down a bit." He gazes at his bottle of rum for a long moment, "And ye said the last time I was there may have somethin' to do with yer mission, or what have ye." He looks uncomfortable, and I know he's embarrassed to admit I was right.
"Spit it out, Sparrow. I'm more intelligent than you thought I was. Not so crazy now, am I?"
He frowns. "I never once called ye crazy, Andie."
"You were thinking it," I argue. "What's wrong with you men, huh? You'd rather die than surrender to a woman."
Jack grins a wicked smile, his brows lifting suggestively. "I'll show you surrender, if that's what ye be wantin'."
His words cause a heat to spill in the pit of my stomach. "Is that all you think about?" I ask distastefully.
Jack shrugs. "Only sixty percent of the time, love."
"And the other forty percent?"
He looks thoughtful. "Well, there's me ship. And me rum. . ." he pauses for a moment, watching me with bright eyes. "And then there's ye."
I freeze. Am I just imagining things, or did he just say what I think he said? I definitely wasn't expecting that!
"Yer quite the challenge, Miss Bryant. I can't help but to admit my mind is set on figurin' ye out."
Something inside my stomach drops. Of course he thinks about me; he thinks about how strange I am, and my job, and what my purpose is on his ship in the first place. Why didn't I think of that before?
"I wouldn't count on it, Sparrow."
He grins once more. "I always get what I want, Andie. Ye remember that."
By the way, if you were the first few who read/reviewed the last chapter, I edited it a bit. Nothing major, but I added and took things out from Andie's dream until I was happy with it.
Review please!
Terradaina: What do you mean the smut wasn't HORRIBLE? Are you insulting my smut writing? Haha. I'm trying here; this is my first time writing this stuff. And I actually changed it, like I said up there, since you first read it. That's what was bothering me about that chapter, was the dream, and the moment I realized it I got right on the editing.
A Depp Girl, Orlando's Hot Chick , & Captain Mary Sparrow: Aw thanks, dears! I feel much better now.
FunkyFlamingo: Thanks so much! Glad to have you aboard.
Jadeddreamz: Of course the real thing will be better! I'm actually really excited about writing it. And no, I don't think it's wrong to be turned on by Jack licking Andie's blood, haha. After all, that's why I wrote it. I see we both have interesting urges/imaginations. My goal was to see if anyone else got the chills by that image, and I see my job was fulfilled!