'P' IS FOR PIRATE
By : mirkwood-elf-2931 & Thala

CHAPTER 3

Half a day later, Charity was nearly upon the relatively peaceful port town. It was much like Lively, only slightly larger in area, business and population. Anchoring and tying her ship to a dock post, the flag of St. George fluttering proudly in the sea's wind, she signed the harbormaster's ledger and paid the morring fee, then asked where in town she might find the tavern, the Anchor and Chain.

He gave her directions and on she went to let the owner know his supplies had arrived.

The barrels were unloaded by several men and carried back to the tavern's storage. Meanwhile, Charity talked with the owner, showing him in writing the order he'd placed and the total. After he'd paid, he asked if there might be anything else.

She thought, and there was indeed one more thing she could ask of him. "Yes, do you by chance know if Jack Sparrow has been in this town recently?"

"You mean that pirate that caused all the commotion today?" Said the white haired man, holding out a shaky finger that pointed north. "He's in the jail."

"Jail? Well, that would be the likely place..." She mumbled, not surprised, only imagining what he'd done to put himself there.

"What's that?" He squinted up at her.

"Oh, uh, yes, that would be him. Thank you for your business and information, sir. I won't keep you."

"Sure thing. Give your boss my thanks as well." He replied to the farewell, heading back inside.

She smiled. "I will." And hurried off in the direction of the lockup.

It took her less than ten minutes to find the path and climb it up to the gray stone structure on the top of a large rocky hill, and when had reached it, she then found a way to see inside without having to go into the building itself and risk him recognizing her.

Looking around for anyone that might be watching, she quietly hoisted herself up to the barred window. She couldn't be caught with the way she looked; they would assume she was trying to break someone out. Not that she would anyway; besides, Jack deserved to be there for a while.

And then she winced, just remembering the fate of pirates unfortunate enough to be caught.

There were two cells side by side with an open barred divider. The far cell held more than one person and she couldn't quite make any of them out, so she looked down into the room the window belonged to. On the bed below it, there lay one person she hadn't seen in ten years. In looks, he hadn't changed a bit. It was him, Jack Sparrow and he appeared to be asleep.

"Jack, Jack, Jack, what are you doin' in the town keep?" She whispered, shaking her head.

Jumping down from the barrels, a sudden wave of drowsiness washed over, for she had been up three hours before dawn that day. It was nearly pitch black out and she knew she would need a place to stay. At the first inn she found, she took a room there.

At precisely eleven PM, Charity awoke to a chill running up her spine. She sat up and threw the covers off, finding the air wasn't even the slightest cold. Such an eerie feeling would never allow her go back to sleep, unless she got up to check things out.

Locating her gun, she hopped out of bed and walked across to the single four paned window, pulling its curtain back to peer into the ebony night.

A full moon was hidden behind the clouds and not a single star shown around them. Only a few distant lights from various parts of town were still burning, not yet late enough for some businesses to be closed. A thin ghastly fog hung in mid air, which hadn't been there before, apparently having rolled in while she slept. She stared south in the sea's direction waiting for it to clear so she could see the Drifter and make sure everything was all right.

And when it did, she saw the wooden vessel floating in the calm night waters in the same place she had put it. Her eyes followed the rest of the line, as she was turning to go back to bed, satisfied things were fine. But as her eyes neared the line's end, she froze into a deathly stillness, seeing a sight behind it that caused a dozen more chills to run up her spine.

Yet another existent she had not seen in ten years and thought to herself she must be dreaming this. The Black Pearl was not a hundred feet from the docked ships. Could it be? It was a ship with black sails that were so torn and full of holes, it was a wonder the ship could even travel. It looked worst than she remembered. She would have thought its immortal crew members to take better care of their eternal home.

Snapping out of her thoughts and moving quickly, she pulled on her vest, boots, gun holster, belt and sword, and at last tied her hair back. If they were really coming here, she wanted to get down to the docks and see it for herself.

Tiptoeing into the hallway, an explosion sounded loud and clear from outside. A sound anyone knew could only come from a cannon.

The raiding had already begun.

"Bloody pirates! Can't ye see we're all trying to bloody sleep here?!" This screaming came from the lungs of none other than 'Madd' Jenny Kidd, as she was now fully alert from being awoken by the shouting and crashes that seemed to come from all rooms of Governor Swann's mansion.

Her pistol in one hand and cutlass in the other, she tried her hand at fending off the attackers. The first man she fought, the entire silver blade of her sword disappeared into his torso and she quickly jerked it out thinking him to soon be dead.

But it was not so.

Jenny's eyes were very round indeed, when the man did not fall down to her feet, but merely smiled sinisterly through his anger and delight, proceeding to make his fist connect with her face.

So shocked, she hadn't really expected the blow and soon lay unconscious on the floor of the stair hallway.

Deathly quiet Charity tried her best to be, while rowing up to the rear of the Black Pearl.

Once within hearing range, she sat like a statue in her little boat, not believing she still recognized most of the voices she could hear. She was listening for a few in particular and perked up when she finally caught one in a conversation Barbossa seemed to be having with someone he didn't seem to know.

"Turner..." She repeated in a whisper to herself. She knew the name well; the boy who carried this name had been the reason she was in Port Royal a few years before. "Will."

But Bootstrap never had a girl that she knew of, and this one claimed to work in the Governor's household as a maid. But she remembered that Elizabeth was Governor Swann's daughter's name and she sounded just like her from what else she could remember. So why was she using his surname?

She continued to listen closely for anything else important; when she heard the most important word she'd been looking for. Medallion. How in the world did this girl get the necklace? Though if she knew Will personally, then perhaps he had given it to her for some reason.

Charity bit her bottom lip in frustration, as she could do nothing to help Elizabeth. Armed or not, what could anyone do against a ship full of deadly immortal men? Besides, she knew they wouldn't be very happy to see her in particular.

Seeing more of the crew coming back from the town, she quickly rowed out of sight on the other side of the ship. She waited until they were aboard; then paddled her way back to shore, as the Black Pearl began to take its leave with a helpless captive and whatever they'd taken as treasure from Port Royal.

The rest of the night, the town's people picked up the mess that had been made in the foray.

Charity walked the bustling streets, seeing the damage for herself. After a while, she checked out of the inn she had stayed at and returned to the Drifter. For one reason, she would feel safer and another was only in case if any further detrimental events were to occur, the ship wouldn't be in the way. It was for work only and her responsibility, she could not afford any damages done to it.

So the rest of night the Drifter sat idly near an inlet.

And the next day, Charity had awoken later than usual, at the crack of dawn instead of whatever hour she was usually required to wake up before, as Ethan always told her different times to be in by.

Once awake enough, she kept an eye on the shores and docks, occasionally with the aid of her spyglass. She wondered as she did so, if she would see a certain someone set out this morning.

A few uneventful hours passed and it was soon to strike mid morning, when she sat up with a jerk at the sight of two figures lurking under a stone bridge leading to the docks. She looked closely with her spyglass once more, smiling to herself. It was definitely Jack, but she only had to wonder whom in the world would be following him? And how he had broken out of jail in the first place? Perhaps this person had helped him, whoever he was; she couldn't get a clear look at his face.

Maybe it was even who she thought would set out that morning, but she would know sooner or later, for if the suspicious two were about to commandeer a ship, then she was going to follow them.



"Damn pirates..." Muttered Jenny, as she rose from the highest landing of the mansion's main staircase. Rubbing her sore jaw, she looked around, but there was not a single body of the filthy men in sight, only fair ones of those who worked there unfortunate enough to not get out of the way of the raiding. "Damn...dead pirates." Of course she assumed they were already dead, they wouldn't die. Collecting her sword, she hid it and her gun in her room and bounded down the curved steps, looking over the violation conditions of the house. Great, now I have to clean, she thought, and then eyed the maids still left. Or do I? But her conscience got the better of her and she began helping.

"Poor girl. They took her, you know. Miss Swann." Jenny overheard one of her co-workers telling another, as they went about the foyer straightening what they could. "Probably for ransom, since she's the daughter of the governor and all." But the woman had no idea how wrong that guess would turn out to be.

TBC ...

mirkwood-elf-2931 :
hehehe...I love Jenny, she's hilarious. Oh, and I made up the 'Anchor and Chain' tavern by the way, I'm sure you could tell though since there was never mention of one being in Port Royal in the movie. :)