DISCLAIMER: I do not own any original plots, characters, themes, ideas of anything from "Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl". All I own is everything in the story of my own creation.
Chapter Six – The Flapping Mermaid
Diane and Lynn spent the rest of the day together. The wandered along the beach of Tortuga, up and down the main streets laughing and chattering all the while. Diane recounted her life as a Lady, how she met her husband, she spoke a lot about her husband; how life was now in Port Royal, her friends in town. Then Lynn captured every detail of her life to date; how she hopped on any ship after her mother left; not even knowing where it was going and ended up in Tortuga. She became a bartemaid at the Flapping Mermaid and has been going there ever since and an interesting story of how she became a pirate.
"I met a man called Jack Sparrow when I was nineteen and he swept me off my feet. He took me on the account and showed me the ropes; I became a cabin girl. He said he loved me. But I have grown up since then, I left and joined another account here on the Maiden and after a mutiny I was made captain," she noticed her sisters expression, "Oh don't worry it wasn't bad or anything, we just voted him out of power basically and left him here in Tortuga. Not like most mutiny's where the crew leave the past captain on a random island somewhere," she said in a matter-of-fact tone.
"I am glad to here that! Oh Katherine it is so good to see you, I cannot tell you how much I have missed you," a cool breeze swept past Diane's bare neck. "We should get inside is it getting dark,"
"You're right, come on," said Lynn leading Diane back into the heart of Tortuga.
"Aren't we going back to the ship?" Diane said grabbing her twin's arm as she guided her through the now alive Tortuga.
"No, why would we do that. Tomorrow we shall start to find your husband; my tracker will give me the coordinates tomorrow morning. Don't worry, for now we shall give you a lasting impression of Tortuga," Lynn said laughing. Diane already had a pretty foul impression imprinted in her brain. Men were grabbing at her and her sister, women wandered around half naked and grog was everywhere. Not Diane's paradise.
Lynn led her sister back to the now busy Flapping Mermaid. Diane recognised a few men from Lynn's crew in the bar laughing and drinking. They all sat around a circular table in the corner where Diane had found her sister previously. Joshua stood up and pulled up two extra chairs and called for a waitress to come and take orders.
"You hungry? Madame Poppy makes good food here," Lynn yelled to Diane over the noise.
"No I am fine, just something to drink will be fine. Perhaps red or white wine?" She suggested as the waitress came over.
"Ha! You think you get to choose what your going to drink, dream on sister," Lynn said laughing, "Bring a 'bout" Lynn counted seven heads as the waitress came over in an even more whore-ish outfit than before, "Fourteen bottles of rum for now, and a Mamma knows what I like the boys have eaten," The waitress walked but not before tracing her finger over Joshua's shoulders. Diane sat next to him bolt upright. Everyone else laughed and ooh ahhed.
"Cambell has a beau!' One of the boys from the end of the table called, making everyone laugh. Joshua went red.
"Who wants to play cards?" Lynn called pulling a strange deck of cards from her breast pocket. After two rounds of poker and three bottles of rum on Diane found herself with a sack full of gold coins and light head.
"I am not sure I like this stuff…stuff Lynnie," she said laughing giddily. She was becoming tipsy. Usually first time rum drinkers were off their face on the first bottle Diane and Lynn on the other hand had abnormally high alcohol tolerance. So it would take a while for Diane to get drunk her first time, and Lynn of course was so used to drinking it every night it was like water to her.
"Diane, why are you drinking it then?" she said laughing at her sister, the respectable Diane and her stupidity.
"Because you told me too!" she said seriously. Lynn just shook her head and laughed, Diane soon joined in. Lynn handed Diane large sandwich on a plate and forced her to eat it. She did and began to calm down a little.
"Do you want to win some more Diane?" Lynn said after while taking advantage of her sister's drunken state. Diane nodded quickly.
"Yes, defiantly sweetheart I love winning," she said giggling. Lynn smiled coyly and called to the boys;
"You want to play Guns Eye boys?" she called. They all raised their glasses in agreement. Lynn ran to the counter and ordered enough shot glasses for everyone and enough rum mixed with the Russian drink Vodka to allow everyone to play the game. Created by Lynn Swallow, it was a drinking game. The winner would with stand three rounds of twenty shots of a concoction of rum and vodka and still have the ability to fire straight and quick in the centre of an eye that was painted on the wall. Lynn was the current champion.
The waitresses returned and stayed to help with the game, one was a pretty blond and made herself comfortable on Joshua's lap playing with his sandy hair. Unaware of what was going on around her Diane soon found herself face to face with a man call White. She quickly drunk the shots and ran to the wall and fired, surprising herself. She one all three rounds and afterwards wobbled on her feet as she staggered back to her seat. Such adrenaline rushed through her when she drank that she almost forgot what she was doing. Next think she knew Diane was sitting opposite her sister hardly able to string a sentence together. Diane won the first round but her shooting was a little off as she wobbled on her feet. Next Lynn won drinking much faster than her sister. Finally Lynn was up first, was aiming until she heard a gun shot from behind her and a whistling past her ear. Dead middle a bullet was lodge in the eye and Diane stood gun cocked. She soon collapsed to the ground. The last thing Diane remember was waking briefly to find herself being carried upon the Black Maiden she passed out again soon after.
Rosemary awoke the next morning, her arm raised upon pillows to find that the Pearl had begun to move again. She was beginning to get used to the continually moving and rocking of the large ship. Slowly she got out of bed and moved to her dresser. Up-righting the chair she sat down and attempted to fix her self up but after ten minutes of struggling with a broken wrist gave up and walked outside. Shouting was coming form a few rooms down the hall and Rosemary went and look, intrigued. She pushed to door slightly and it opened up to a small room with beautiful red draped windows and carpeted floors. It was a small room, an entrance hall with a small dresser table against the wall with a bottle of ink and rolls of parchment. Across the small hall was another door left ajar. She peered inside to see a room of similar décor to the entrance hall, beautiful red carpet and drapes, finely sewn cushions, delicate carved chairs and other furniture. However, it was quite clearly a bedroom with people standing and sitting inside.
"What on earth were you thinking? You could have been killed?" Will screamed at someone. Trying to see further into the room she opened the door only to have it creek loudly giving her a shock making her loose balance and fall forward into the room.
"Sorry for interrupting sir, I just heard yelling from my room and I wanted to see if anything was going on and – Lady Elizabeth what are you doing here?" Rosemary said surprised as she saw Elizabeth sitting on a large carved chair inside the decorative room.
"Rosemary, would ye step outside with me for a moment, leave the couple to their…er…own," he said guiding Rosemary outside and into the gallery which now had been cleaned completely and right sided.
"What was happening in there?" Rosemary asked sitting down whilst Jack began to boil some water.
"Well, luv, early this morn' we were going to set sail but encounter some problems, so a passing ship came up next us an' asked if me needed some help. Course I knew the capt'n, good man, an' so he got the ball rolling. Ye were asleep course. Anyway then we discovered something of particular interest. Elizabeth had hitched a ride coming after us. Will course didn't speak to 'er until 'bout twenty minutes ago cause he was so angry. Quite funny really. But Elizabeth is in quite a bit of trouble, sneaking away an' bringing 'er little girl," he said laughing to himself.
"Jack that isn't funny," Rosemary said seriously.
"Whatever, ye want something to drink?" He asked leaving over the wood fire stove.
"Just hot water please," she said politely.
"So 'ow do ye know the Turners?" Jack asked changing the subject, bringing over the mugs of liquid.
"Elizabeth and Diane are good friends to I see her regularly. I have known them ever since I came," she was about to say something when she quickly changed her mind without Jack knowledge, "Into Diane's service. We are the same age so we have common interests and they are very easy to get along with," just then Elizabeth burst through the doors nursing the crying Mary in her arms carrying a bottle of milk with a spout on top. She tipped it into the pot of boiling water that Jack had left and turned to her husband who was in close pursuit.
"Will you are being very unfair and unkind! I don't understand I thought you would be happy to see me?" She yelled.
"Not when you have just come off a pirate ship with our only child cradled in your arms," He retorted.
"Oh so you would rather like to come home and see me with another man?" she yelled
"That isn't what I am saying!" Elizabeth was rocking the baby shushing her.
"Will, you have left me so many times to go off on your adventures and I am just left, alone. I want more that anything for you to take me with you! I hate being in Port Royal; I long for the sea and adventure too. Just because I have Mary doesn't mean I want to be stuck on that rock for the rest of my life!" She said tears welling in her eyes.
Will paused and his facial expressions softened "Oh darling Elizabeth I am so sorry, please forgive me? I was just so upset; I never knew that you felt like that. I just want nothing more that the safety of you and Mary, I couldn't bear to loose either of my girls," he said stroking his wife's face.
"I know, I am sorry Will but I was so alone, please can I come with you?" She pleaded staring into her husband dreamy brown eyes.
"It is up to Jack. I want nothing more then you by my side," he said lovingly. Elizabeth turned to face Jack who was sitting next to Rosemary, both with the same expression on their faces.
"What is with ye women and stealing away? Just ask to join the account, easiest thing to do," he said laughing, Rosemary joined in. Will and Elizabeth embraced with daughter between them. Rosemary looked upon them longingly; she wanted a family.
"Here give me my little girl," Will said taking the crying child from her mother. Almost instantly she quietened down and began laughing in her fathers arms.
"She is a daddy's girl," Rosemary said laughing.
"Yeah Will, watch out, she'll fritter away all ye money," Jack said laughing too. The five of them all sat down for a beautiful breakfast cooked by none other than Captain Sparrow himself.
Diane woke the next morning with a splitting headache. She could barely sit up in the hammock she had been assigned. After regaining some vision she looked around to see the familiar room of which she spent her journey to Tortuga in except instead of one hammock there was two. She slowly got out of the hammock only to loose her balance again realising that the ship was moving.
Painstakingly slowly she walked up to the deck to find her sister at the helm barking out directions to the crew. Diane trudged up the stairs to the quarterdeck and almost fell on top of her sister.
"How are you feeling," Lynn said laughing. Diane moaned in response, "Don't worry it will go away, and guess what? I have found where you husband is!"