Chapter Five
Sorry for the delay. Working really long hours. I had this done a while ago but have been tweaking it. Have most of the next two chapters done and will try to get them up this weekend. I really appreciate all my readers and please keep the reviews coming.
Jack and Ana Maria walk with a stealth born of thieves. Staying in the shadows, they traveled from street to street feeling the heavy foreboding in the air. So far they have seen manysoldiers and what citizens they find out, are so frightened that all they do is skirt rapidly to their destination.
"Something is not right Jack. That's the eighth soldier we've had to hide from," said Ana from their perch behind some barrels.
"Maybe Norry lost his brain and sent his solders out to find it…" and he quickly grabs the back of his head, "Ow Ana…"
"That's what ye get you bloody fool…" he covers her mouth as yet another soldier comes by.
Although he isn't showing it, Jack is nervous about all these soldiers. Something is not right. Norrington wouldn't have all his soldiers patrolling this far north in the city. They have seen at least twenty-five in the last ten minutes. Something has to be off for that to happen. At this rate they will never make it to Will's place.
Ana is staring at Jack willing him to come up with a plan before they get caught. Jack had just turned to Ana when someone shouts. Both freeze in their spots thinking they are caught only to hear soldiers running away from their location. They wait a few minutes more before slowly rising.
"See the problem solved itself," Jack said with a broad smile.
Ana just rolled her eyes. Only he would take the soldier's running off as a positive. For all she knows, they are circling back to capture them. However she pressed on when Jack told her to move.
They made it to Will's place without incident ten minutes later to fine it dark as a tomb.
"That's just bloody great. What the hell are s'pose to do now!" said Ana Maria exasperated.
Jack wonders that himself. He never thought that Will wouldn't be home but here they stand and he isn't here.
"Jack look," said Ana pointing to a poster.
Jack read the poster, a niffy thing he learned to do when he realized that there is no shortage of people that wanted him dead and some have tried by poisoning him. It also helps to know what he is worth. A few times he considered turning himself in when he saw the money amount. Reading is a great benefit in a field like piracy where most are illiterate as they come.
They read about the murders and stared at the picture. Jack frown a bit deep in thought. So that's why all the soldiers are out. Someone is killing off the good citizens of Port Royal. Jack scratches his beard a bit wondering if he packed enough weapons for this type of situation. Satisfied that he had he then contemplates where young Turner would be at the moment.
Ana, on the other hand, felt a tingling in her chest as she stared at the poster. There is something about it that makes her think that she is missing something important. Yet the face, drawn with shadows across it, she can't place. She is about to step closer but Jack pulls her away before she could.
"What?"
"The Gov'nor's place luv. It's where he would be." He smiles brightly before turning towards it.
"Are you crazy? You saw the sign. There is a murderer loose. That's why all the soldiers are out and about and you want to go to the place where there are more?" her eyes are bugged in disbelief as she jogs a bit to catch up to a nonchalant Jack.
Jack stops turning to her. He calmly stares a moment before saying, "You said you wanted to find your sister…"
"Yeah Jack but…"
He raises his hand stopping her speech, "Then we need Will and Lizzie help. They can get information for us. Not only that they can hide us."
Ana knows he's right and nods, "Okay but why not break into his place and wait for him?" Hell it would be a heck of a lot easier than evading soldiers.
Jack smiles then, "If I know the Governor he has forbade Elizabeth to leave her home so young Turner will probably stay with her because she would insist that he do so because it would be too dangerous to return home."
Ana almost laughed, "Really? How do you know?"
"I spent a little time with that demanding hellcat," and went on mumbling to himself about fires made of rum. He turns heading to the grand house on the north hill. Ana follows shaking her head a bit.
They made it to the governor's house and like Ana said there are soldiers everywhere. They wait a moment trying to determine a pattern of movement and when finding one, slipping on the grounds without so much as a sound.
In large sitting room for entertaining guest Will sits on the sofa trying to comfort Elizabeth. The news of the Commodore shocked them both. The search for his body has been on since the discovery of the clothes, for if it was the same person that killed the others, they know there is one. The news hit the Governor particularly hard because he had just saw Norrington and he thought of Norrington as a son.
Elizabeth pull away from Will smiling sadly. "It so unfair Will. James didn't deserve to die like that…"
"Norrington is dead!"
Both Elizabeth and Will jump from their seats to see Jack Sparrow climbing into their living room through the bay window. Ana Maria is pulling him in and he falls in with a thud. He stands, straightening his clothes before asking, "What happened to Norrington?"
"What the hell are you doing here Jack!" William says walking around the sofa to inspect Jack. He hadn't seen the pirate captain for close to a year. Yet the time away hadn't change a memory in Will's mind. Jack still looked like the same crazy pirate with the imperfect gait. He still had dreadlocks, beads in his beard, kohl rimming his eyes and a faded hat. Only his clothes look different, basically they are cleaner than when Will last saw him.
Jack tilts his head, "Well obviously I've come for a visit. Seeing how you making out only to find that the man who swore to kill me is dead." Jack like the look of his oldest friend's son. He seemed more mature, confident. He is now dressed like a proper English man, something that if ole Bootstrap were to see might give him fits. Bootstrap had little love for the English, being Irish himself, but Jack supposes that Bootstrap wouldn't mind his son being an English Gentleman if it means he will be better off and young Mr. Turner is definitely better off.
Will rolls his eyes, "Are you out of your mind! Sneaking into the Governor's house with armed guards outside…"
"Sneaking about until we found an open window. Then climbing up to it and getting in without being notice," Smirking to himself, "We did real good didn't we Ana?" He spies the woman rolling her eyes before turning back to Will saying, "Well it was tiresome but hell for you Whelp anything."
Elizabeth notices the silent behavior of Anamaria. She seems to be very concerned about something. Otherwise the woman looks the same as before. Anamaria has her hair tied back and braided in a long ponytail. She wore a slight brimmed hat, a white shirt and dark pants stuffed into dull colored brown boots.
"Hello again Anamaria."
Ana jerks her head towards Elizabeth. The pretty girl has a sad expression on her face. But Ana could see that she is genuinely glad to see her. Although their acquaintance was brief they had a mutual respect for each other.
"Hi. What 'appened here?"
Elizabeth sighs but holds up a finger. Going to the doors she checks for any signs of her father or servants. Then closing the door, she turns and invites them to take a seat. However, Jack spotted a liquor cabinet. Opening it he finds only whiskey and decides to settle for it grudgingly. Ana takes a seat in one of the overstuffed chairs and Liz rejoins Will on the sofa. Will decided to tell the story.
"A week ago, a murder took place. Then another two days ago. The men were found cut up with their," he clears his throat glancing into his lap, " private parts cut off and stuffed into their mouths."
Jack nearly dropped his bottle, "Are you bloody serious?"
Will nods, "Yes. James was investigating it of course. In fact he got a break in the case. The Governor was excited about it. He told us that capture is assured. But then they found his coiffure and blood near the Garden Park. Not too far away between some buildings they found his bloody clothes. That was yesterday evening."
Elizabeth says, "My father fears the worst and the town is gripped with terror. To top it off, Admiral Norrington is coming. He should be here by tomorrow morning and my father has to tell him that James may have been murdered."
Jack sat on the arm of the chair where Anamaria sat riveted by the tale. He couldn't believe that Norrington may be dead but also emasculated. The idea of it didn't sit well with Jack but only because he couldn't believe that Norrington had pissed someone off enough to do such a thing to him. Kill him yes, chop off his parts? But then his brain caught up with him, "Wait did you say Admiral Norrington?"
"Yes James' brother."
Great there's two of um. Jack thinks wary.
Ana couldn't believe the story they had been told and now they are stuck in the attic of the Governor's house with an Admiral coming the next morning.
Moving to an old chair where Jack sat thinking she tries to think of a way to solve their problems but then just vents her frustration, "Well that beats all. We need to get out of here. A lynch mob is probably formed now to kill anyone unfamiliar to the town." Ana says sadly.
Jack doesn't acknowledge her statements. He just sips his drink and continues to stare out the window from his seat.
Anamaria moved into his line of vision. "Jack. Jack did you hear me. We have to get out here."
"What about your sister."
It was just a whisper but it cut like a knife. She understood the question, the larger point. If they leave here they may not be able to come to Jamaica for while. Yeah they could go to another part if Jamaica but there will probably be an island wide search and right now their best hope for narrowing the search is downstairs sleeping in their respective rooms. With the Admiral coming the crew would get spooked and want to get away as quickly as possible.
"I…I don't want to give up looking but I can't help her dead," she mumbles, the words like ash in her mouth. She turns away. She tries to prevent the water from coming to her eyes but a moment later they are there threatening to fall. Taking a deep breath she tries to convince herself that she still has time to find her sister but she knows deep in her heart that she doesn't. Her time is running short and if she doesn't get something done soon she will loose her sister forever.
Jack studies her for a moment. A part of him is hurting as he watches her give up the search on the island for the moment to get the crew and ship to safety. He knows she has sacrificed her needs for the good of the crew, as a First Mate should but that didn't mean that she would keep doing it forever. Jack knows he is going to have to figure out a way for this all to work out before he looses control over the situation. Anamaria is going to tell him that she has chosen her sister over him and he isn't a big enough bastard to make her feel bad about the situation. Well he is. Yet he knows he wouldn't. So to prevent it from happening at all he needs to do find her sister and in the meantime convince Ana that stay on the Pearl with him would be better for not only her but her sister Eva as well.
Because of all the upheaval they didn't get to ask Will for help in locating her sister or gain any knowledge about the plantation. Ana told him that it was close to Port Royal but she couldn't remember where. Now they have to wait until the situation in Port Royal cooled off. However, Jack figures that they can still leave a tip in the young lads ear that may prove valuable upon their return to Port Royal. Maybe Will and Elizabeth can find out something that will make the choice he and Anamaria have to make now easier on Ana.
"We'll find her luv. This will blow over real quick and we'll be back."
Watching the phony smile hit her face as she nodded she asked, "What we are going to do?" she turns to him finding him standing close to her.
Their eyes lock for a minute. The intensity of their stare stirs something in them both. Jack's eyes darken a bit making Ana's breathe catch. Jack moves his hand a bit as if he is going to touch her causing Ana to jump back a bit with a grim smile on her face.
"No time for that captain…" she makes a joke more for herself than him. Ana knew that if he touched her she would fall into his arms an instant later. The way she is feeling, lost and hopeless…a little Jack passion would sure make her load easier. But she didn't think she deserve that kind of escape especially with a man like Jack. Too much of her heart is connected to his touch. Too many feelings would easily show up to fog her mind and release the hold she put on her heart when dealing with this man.
It's not that she didn't trust Jack, she did. It is because she trusts him that she knows it would dangerous. Jack will be Jack. She trusts him to whore around, she trusts him to love his ship, she trusts him to take care of the Pearl and its crew and she also trusts him to trample her heart. Not because he is mean and a bastard but because Jack doesn't understand any other way. That is why he is Jack and as much as she would love to have him be with her she wouldn't want him to change a thing that made him who he is because those things are the reason she cares for the pirate.
Besides, her sister is out there in trouble and Ana cannot allow herself to escape that fact. She should have been looking for her a long time ago and she failed to do so. Although she had legitimate reasons for not going sooner the reasons seem weak, stupid to her even if it's not in reality. And now this impasse at Port Royal makes her feel like she is creating yet another excuse for not looking. That thought makes the very idea of letting Jack take away her troubles seem dirty to her. She couldn't do it won't do it. In fact she will not deal with anything personal with Jack until she finds her sister safe and sound.
Jack's nose flared a bit when first started looking into her eyes. Those beautiful amber orbs making him wish he could stare into them for eternity. They promised so much, offered so much that Jack wanted to jealously hoard it all for himself. Her smell was even more intoxicating. It is a sea salt clean smell that she somehow manages to keep despite her chosen profession. No other woman he has encounter in Tortuga has ever match that smell. Most have always smelled of used wine and prior sex covered in musky perfume. Not Ana. Everything about her was clean and shockingly fresh. By the God he wanted this woman more than breathing sometimes and standing as close as he is to her emphasizes the point more. But looking just wasn't enough not with her smell overloading his senses. He needed to touch her, to feel the silky softness of her skin on his fingertips.
When he reaches for her he expected that she might move but he didn't expect the look of absolute disgust that she unknowingly conveyed to him. The look gave him pause as he watched the various emotions slide over her face. For a moment her face contorted with pain then sighed with pleasure and finally changed to a determined calm. All this happened in a span of a few seconds before she spoke. Jack had never seen such a display on his First Mate's face yet he knew he would see it again.
Letting his hand drop he stood quietly watching her think and knowing it was about him and her sister. It always comes to that it seems, sometimes for both of them. There is a tension in Anamaria that he wished he could ease but she is not allowing him. So all he can do is stare at her half turned face for a sign, some clue as to what to do next when it comes to her.
When she finally faces him, Jack felt an invisible blow to his chest that was just as effective as a real punch. He realized that had been cut off from her. He could tell. In one look she convey her harshest statement to him more effectively than any slap. It is in the coolness of her eyes, the setting of her jaw, the ambivalence of her stance. He was not important, just a means to an end and that is the way it is going to be until something changed that fact.
It hurt him more than he could imagine. He would have rather been slapped for his antics than to have this cold and distant Anamaria before him. He starts to speak but his tongue for the first time failed him. He didn't know what to say. He never in his life though she would gaze at him in such a manner. But what really shocked him is how much it makes him want to throw himself to her feet and beg for her to change her mind.
Now Jack would never do that. He still has pride. Yet the loss felt as bad as losing the Pearl to a trusted friend. He couldn't comprehend it. Didn't want to comprehend it. So instead he turns grabbing for the whiskey bottle. Brings it to his mouth slowly.
"Jack?" said a cool voice behind him.
He hesitates then takes a drink. After a few swallows, he grimaces then turns with his trademark smile, "Yeah luv?"
Ana studies him a moment before saying, "What are we going to do?"
Jack nods a bit. Then cocking his head to the side before saying, "I think we need to leave before dawn. Well before it. That way we steer clear of any real chance of bumping into any of Norrington's relations on the way out." That would be the icing on the cake. Meeting a Norrington that by all accounts is worst the than the one he already knows.
Anamaria nods in agreement. Then in a contemplative mood she frowns, "What about the soldiers…"
"If we leave early enough we'll probably miss the lot of them. It won't take much. Hell we managed to dodge them in broad daylight, it should be twice as easier in the early morn."
"True," said Anamaria. But she notices something about Jack. He seems unsettled, wary of her, maybe even hurt. She studies him a moment and then realizes what it is. He won't look at her. He doesn't even make the attempt. As they plan in more detail she found him looking anywhere but in her face. Finally curiosity got the best of her.
"Jack, what's wrong?"
His eyes flash with something Ana can't decipher when it barely focuses on her but he turns away saying nothing.
"Like hell its nothing. You know something is wrong. You know something and you're not telling me."
Jack turns back to her with a frown. This time he does look into her eyes. The burning fire there gives Ana pause because she doesn't understand why he seems angry.
"I don't know a bloody thing woman. I just gave you the plan and yer going on about secrets when you just…" he gets really silent. So quiet that Ana thought him dead. Just when she is about to speak he says, "On the way out maybe we can ask the boy about looking into plantation. Maybe he'll have some news by the time we get back." He turns away from her taking the bottle and goes to the other side of the attic.
What the hell? Thinks Anamaria. She racks her brain trying to figure out the moody pirate and then thinking she has the answer to what kind of bug crawled up Jack's ass, she storms over to him.
"I can't believe that you're pissed that I won't screw you Jack! You act as though it's the end of the world. Well I'm sorry if I have bigger things to worry about like a sister who needs me than a pirate who wants to use me for one night because I'm the only available piece of ass in the house…"
Jack whipped around so fast that Anamaria nearly got hit with some of his beaded braids. The coolness of his face was a nasty contradiction to the inferno blazing in his eyes. Ana though didn't back down, she just returned the glare.
Jack wanted so much to smack the eyes out on Ana's head. He couldn't believe she thought so little of him. But clearly in her mind that is all she ever was to him, a piece of meat. And the only way they can solve it is to get her sister back so that little issue can be put to rest…hopefully. And when that time comes they can finally deal with each other because Jack is determined that they must.
Speaking in a way that Anamaria has never heard from Captain Jack Sparrow he said, "I never treated you like a whore Anamaria and I never would. I am not insinuating that I don't have a desire to take you and screw your brains out until your very breath becomes a song of the pleasure that I would be giving to you. So yes I admit that I do want you but I understand that your sister is more important to you than I can ever be. Therefore, respecting your desire to find her as was our original plan when coming here, I stepped away from the need that I had to make you forget all you pains in the hopes that you would understand that I respect your needs. Yet when you look at me it is in disgust like I'm some vile slaver about to take from you something you don't choose to give freely…"
Anamaria gasped in shocked. A proper speaking Sparrow shocked the hell out her but his statements nearly knocked her off her feet. Shaking her head, "Jack…."
"Captain luv. Now, do try not to interrupt. I want make something perfectly clear to you. You aren't my whore nor would you ever be. You are my first mate and comrade who I find very attractive. But from here on out I will make perfectly sure that our business stay as it should. I'm the Captain you are the First Mate and when not finding gold and treasure, we will search for your sister. Do we have an accord?" he extends his hand.
Anamaria blinks at him. There is coldness in Jack's voice that has never been presented to her before. The glint in his eye makes her scared of him for the first time in her life. She realizes that she has pissed him clean off for him to drop all pretense of drunkenness and ignorance. She begins to wonder about the man before her looking at him with a new eye. Just when she felt that she may have lost something she saw his eyes soften a bit for a moment and she knows that Jack her Jack is there and that he is given her the space she needs to work out her own issues before dealing with him. But she wasn't about to let him off easily.
Taking his hand she says "Fine Captain. But don't think you have the last word. We aren't finished…"
Jack removes his hand in a flourish. With a return of his trademark smile he cuts her off with the wave of a hand, "But we are now. See if you can find some rope up here while I get Will up. I think its time we left, don't you?"
This man's mood changes faster than the sea wind, thinks Ana but she nods going on her search. It is probably a good thing, their accord. It means that she can put any feelings she has for Jack on the back burning and when she finds her sister deal with it then. She only hopes that then it will be easier. Somehow she doubts it.
On their way to the ship, Anamaria snatches down one of the wanted posters. She couldn't shake the importance of it and until she looses the feeling her gut she is going to study it until it reveals its truths to her.
Sorry for any mistakes…hopefully I caught them all Nykky