Chapter 7

Raven hopefully set the table with two places. It had been six months since her father had set out on his journey, but she still hoped that he might turn up. After all, he had been on trips before where things simply got complicated and his return was delayed. She had just sat down to a meager meal of stolen bread when a heavy knock came at the door. Pulling a short box over to the door, she peered through the small hole to see who it was. To her surprise, Jack Sparrow was standing out in the rain.

"Raven?" he called out. "I know you're in there, and I'd be much obliged if you could let me in. It's a bit wet out here for my likings." She hastily pushed away the box and opened the door.

"Jack!" she said in surprise. "Where's my father?" Jack ignored her question and seated himself in front of the small fire. When he didn't say anything for several minutes, she tried again. "Jack, where's..." The look on his face stopped her mid-sentence.

"Raven..." he started, searching for the words. "Your father...he's...well... he's not coming back, alright?" The girl stood there trying to comprehend. She understood, of course, but it was slowly soaking in. The maturity with which she took the news softened his voice a little when he spoke next. "I don't have time to explain now, but Barbossa is looking for you. You have five minutes to pack whatever you need. After that, we must leave."

Raven shoved a spare set of clothes into her bag and hastily pulled on her boots. The news still hadn't fully set in, but she refused to give it a chance. She grabbed her father's hat and shoved it on her head. Remembering her father's pistol and dagger, she ran back into his bedroom. As she knelt down to get them out from under the bed, a skeletal face peered into the window. Suppressing a scream, she flew back into the kitchen and told Jack what she had seen. Swearing profusely, Jack grabbed her hand and hurried out the door. They flew down several alleys, her feet barely touching the ground as he pulled her along. When they finally came to the docks, they ran up the gangplank to a ship and Jack shouted hasty orders to the crew. Within seconds they were off. Raven looked back just in time to see her house leap up in flames. She roughly brushed away the solitary tear sliding down her cheek. There was no going back. Ever.

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Blackbird was thrown out of her hammock by the wild pitching and swaying of the ship. She hurriedly pulled on her boots and ran onto the deck. The dark clouds had completely overshadowed the sky and the wind was staggering. Rain was falling in thick, blinding sheets. Men scurried about, attempting to tie down all loose items. Fighting the wind and crashing waves, Blackbird made her way to the helm.

"This is madness!" she shouted to Jack over the driving rain. "There is no profit to be found at the bottom of the sea!"

"She can take it!" he argued. "Call all hands!"

Blackbird hesitated. "All hands! All hands on deck!" she called out. As the last few men hurried on deck, she turned back to Jack. "Maybe your ship can hold together, but the men can't! There's only so much we can do!"

As if in response to her words, they heard one of the men cry, "Man overboard! Man overboard!" Blackbird hurried over to them and looked where they were pointing. Ghost was in the water, flailing his arms about wildly in an attempt to grasp the rope they had flung him. He was swallowed again by a wave. When he didn't resurface, Blackbird tied a long rope tightly around her own waist and tossed the other end to Will.

"If you let go of that, there'll be two lives on your conscience!" she shouted. Before he could say anything in reply, she dove off the rail and into the raging water. She had been under for more than a minute before Will felt her furiously tugging at the rope. He pulled with all his strength and hauled her up. She pulled herself over the rail with Ghost over her shoulder and laid him on the deck. Coughing up salt water, he sat up slowly.

"Thanks," he said with a weak smile. Blackbird only shrugged and went right back to work.

---

As the storm intensified, Jack finally had no choice. "Hands aloft!" he shouted. "Reef all sails!"

Blackbird and the rest of the crew scrambled up the rigging. Holding firmly to the spar with one hand, Blackbird worked her way out, struggling with her free hand to tie down the lines. She had almost finished when the mast swung violently and caught her in the middle of switching hands. By sheer luck, she managed to grasp the slick spar. There she hung, suspended above the raging sea. Every attempt she made to work her way back only loosened her grip more. Her little swim had drained every ounce of strength she had left, though she hadn't let on to it. She had almost given up when a rough hand firmly grasped her own and pulled her up. Blackbird looked up in surprise to see Will. She just smiled gratefully and worked with him to tie down the last few lines.

After a few hours, the storm reduced to a misty rain and the crew worked to clear the debris from the deck. Blackbird awkwardly approached Will.

"Thanks for, y'know, saving my life and all back there," she finally said.

Will gave her an odd look. "That's what family's for, right?" he replied.

She smiled. "Yeah, I guess so." In one sentence, he'd just told her everything was okay between them.

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Blackbird went looking for Jack. When she found him, she just gave him a look that clearly said, I told you so.

"We could have fared worse," Jack finally said in response to her stare.

"Two able bodied sailors almost died!" she argued.

"A child and a woman," he muttered under his breath.

"Excuse me?" Blackbird asked, her eyes like embers. "Are you implying that a woman might not be as capable of staying alive?"

Jack tried to walk away but she blocked his path. "Sorry," he apologized. "Stress can make ye say things ye don't mean."

Blackbird struggled to maintain an angry expression, but she couldn't help but smile slightly. "Good," she said shortly. "Might I remind you that if I wasn't here, you'd be dead by now."

Jack shrugged. "At least it gave you and Will some nice family bonding time. He can't entirely hate you if he saved your life."

"Probably not. I'll be the first to admit that he's taking this better than I thought, though a few drinks can lessen the shock a bit," she replied.

"He was drinking?" Jack asked in surprise.

"Not as much as I would in his situation," Blackbird said, "but enough."
Jack smiled. "Maybe there's hope for him yet."

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Blackbird sat up on the small wooden platform surrounding the mainmast staring out in to the endless black of the sea. The slight breeze blew the few wisps of hair that had escaped her loose ponytail. She always marveled at how incredibly calm it could be right after such a violent storm.

"Mind if I join you?" Will said, pulling himself up to the platform.

"Sure," Blackbird said absently. She hesitated. "Are you still angry? I don't blame you if you are."

Will thought for a minute. "No," he finally said. "A little confused...uncertain...but not angry. All things considered, I have to admit that I would have acted similarly in your situation. I don't blame you for not wanting me to judge you immediately. You are absolutely right in your statement that you don't come across as the sanest individual."

Blackbird laughed slightly. "You remind me too much of Father," she said.

It was Will's turn to hesitate. "So…when did you find out about his death?" he asked.

Blackbird searched her memory. She kept those things buried deep inside her, so secret that even she couldn't remember at times. Her gaze grew distant as she spoke, as if she wasn't really there. "I was eating dinner one night when someone knocked at the door. I opened it to find Jack standing there. He came in and wouldn't speak for quite some time. When he did, he just told me that my father wasn't coming back. He said that Barbossa was looking for me, and I had to get out immediately. The second I had packed my things, we hurried to the docks. His ship was waiting, and we set sail within minutes. I looked back to see my home burning to the ground." She paused for a minute. "All I have left of Father is what I keep with me: my gun, my knife, and my hat. This hat was his," she said, indicating the weathered tricorn that she always wore at a slightly crooked angle. "It was his promise to me. He said the sea wouldn't claim Bootstrap Bill Turner…He failed to mention men."

Will looked over at Blackbird. Where those tears in her eyes? He must have imagined them, because when he looked again they were gone. This woman is my sister, he thought in disbelief. This was going to take some getting used to. Sighing, he started to climb back down the ropes. There would be no more questions for tonight.