Chapter eleven: Gripes

Katerina jerked away with a start. The bell tolled the next watch, and it took her a moment to remember what time eight bells was. She shook herself and scanned the horizon again. Still nothing. It wasn't hard to see in the full moon, and Katerina was fairly pleased to be up in the crows nest, away from everyone else.

Bristol was soon becoming friends with most of the crew. Mostly the senior, as a lot of the new ones Katerina didn't know still didn't trust him. And Jack too, she thought bitterly. They had not spoken since their argument in the brig, and it wasn't until a very vexed Will had come down to clean the place that she was even let out. Everyone fawned over her for a minute; that is until Franc Kister touched her shoulder and inquired about her baby, then she wiped out her pistol with lightening speed, shoved it in his face, and yelled coldly; "Back off!". After that no one approached her, unless it was business. If Jack needed her to do something he would have Will, the only one she could tolerate, tell her.

The days seemed to drag on without end. She never remembered the journey from Port Royal to Tortuga being so long. Usually with the Pearl, it was a week or so. Now the hours seemed like days, and the days seemed like years.

They were in Tortuga for a night, collecting the supplies they would need for the long journey, and off again. Jack told the crew that they would have to beach the ship and scrape her keel after this run because he was worried about the amount of pileworms that were gathering around the keel and hull. Although the Pearl was lined with tar and a layer of felt, he was still uneasy about them, and the kelp that was starting to slow her down.

Now as they were heading towards Bristol, the air had suddenly snapped cold, and it took Katerina a moment to realize that the Atlantic sea was actually cold, not luke-warm like she was used to in the Caribbean sea. Thankfully; however, Will had a spare coat and after a few alterations it fit her perfectly, with enough room to button over her stomach when the time came.

"Tops!" Katerina jumped, and scanned the horizon again for good measure, before leaning over the protective railing that made the crows nest.

"Yes Below?" she called down, and to her dismay noticed it was Jack who was calling.

"Come down, second watch has started!" Katerina nodded and began the descent from her favored pearch to the decks, her hammock starting to look a lot more friendly.

As she landed softly, not unlike a cat, she straightened up and placed her hands on her back, arching and trying to relieve the pressure building up just above her buttocks. Jack caught this, and put a light hand on her shoulder, a prelude to speaking.

"Ginger," he said softly. Everyone had resorted back to the old name she had used before; and she didn't mind because she was rather fond of it herself. "Use the empty cabin tonight."

"I don't need it," Katerina snapped, making to walk away and below again. But this time Jack used more force as he grabbed her elbow and spun her around.

"Don't make me pull rank on this one," He said, his voice now impatient. "I don't care that you get on your knees everyday to scrub the decks, or climb up there in the rigging with the chance of falling to your death, but you should at least have a decent place to sleep," it was almost a double edged remark, but Katerina finally relented to Jack all but pushing her towards the spare cabin that the second mate usually slept in.

Gibbs had been promoted to first mate after Anamaria had left for her own glory and riches, so the cabin went unused.

Other then smelling a bit like mildew, it was perfectly fine, and the soft and small mattress on the bunk was more then comfortable after countless nights sleeping in a hammock. Katerina fell asleep before Jack could even leave the room.

0-0-0

Katerina woke with a sharp pain in her belly, that slowly moved towards her back. Used to such gripes, she sat up and stretched her legs before arching her back. True, sleeping in a real bunk had helped considerably, she still had a hard time getting in and out of bed. And since crossing into the cold of the Atlantic sea, it had grown steadily worse.

Although she knew it was a horrid though, Katerina wondered if it would be for the best if she miscarried. She knew that once she was heavily along, Jack would set her down in some cove and forget about her. With the delivery of the baby came the end of her pirating career, which she had steadily grown to love. She was a regular old swashbuckler now, and the only thoughts about the upcoming pregnancy were dread. And though she was sure she was going to hell anyways, Katerina thought she would especially burn for almost wishing she lost the baby. It wasn't it's fault that she had conceived. Yet she couldn't help but wonder where her life in piracy would have taken her if she wasn't pregnant.

With the thought of fire and brimstone in her mind, Katerina pulled on her coat, stockings (she had taken to wearing wool stockings after they crossed the Atlantic, and one day her feet were near frozen from the cold and had taken her forever to warm back up), and boots before exiting the cabin and walking into the galley.

She was early, and was surprised to see Jack sitting at the table, pushing around some of the breakfast made by Franc, who had become the new cook after she left the first time. He looked up though, when she walked in, and a worried frown crossed his face when he saw her pale and strained face.

"More pains?" he asked, pushing away his bowl and motioning for Franc to get her one.

"Yeah," Katerina's face crumpled as she admitted this. She usually would shake her head and give a smile that was more of a gargoyle grimace, but this time she couldn't bring herself to do that.

"I think you should stop half of the hard work you are doing," Jack's eyes narrowed as he took in her pale face and dark circles under her eyes. He had thought that pregnant women gain weight, but since she had been on the ship, it seemed that Katerina lost more weight then was healthy. He wondered if aborting the pregnancy would be for the best, as the baby was causing more pain then normal. He had a feeling as well that she didn't want it. In any case she grew very annoyed and a few times threatened to shoot someone when they asked about it.

"A few weeks ago you said you didn't care if I wanted to scrub the decks," Katerina snapped. She stared dumbly down at the bowl of porridge Franc set before her. "I don't want it." she said simply, in turn looking up at Franc. "I'm not hungry."

"You need to eat!" Jack shouted, once again feeling annoyed at her for no reason. It wasn't her fault that it was a hard pregnancy. He was almost certain she didn't want the baby, yet she was stuck having to bare it. But when she pulled this it always angered him.

"Then stuff it down my throat!" Katerina yelled back. "If I'm such a nusiance just drop me off at the next port. Have the bloody map for all I care! I just want to go home and go to sleep!"

All of a sudden, she was crying. Out of the blue. Just sobbing away in the galley with only Franc and Jack to witness. Soon, Franc discreetly and it was just Jack who sat there staring at her as she blubbered like a baby.

But she couldn't help it.

Next thing she knew; however, she was in Jack's arms, on his lap, and he was gently swaying back and forth murmuring reassurances into her ear that went unchecked. Without knowing it, Katerina fell back asleep.