Chapter 17 - A Man, A Plan and a Proposal

"Can you sit up," Norrington asked Elizabeth. He turned to me and for the first time, Norrington was wearing his emotions on his face. Deep down, he still had feelings for Elizabeth. "Stephanie, go fetch a basin of water and a cloth."

I was so worried about Elizabeth, I didn't bother to comment on the 'fetch' part and hurried into the kitchen. There weren't any basins and I nearly smacked my head when I remembered that the kitchen sink wouldn't be invented for years to come. Luckily, there was a pitcher of water and a large salad bowl. I grabbed a soft ivory-colored linen napkin from one of the cupboards, finding it more by luck than anything else and rushed back.

Elizabeth was sitting up in Norrington's arms. "Really, James, I'm fine. It's just a bump --- Good lord! Stephanie Plum!"

I stopped in my tracks. Had I accidentally stepped in blood and guts somewhere? Did I have a huge pimple? Or did she blame me for what happened to Will? "What?"

She was gaping at the blue dress but then quickly covered her reaction. "I'm glad to see you."

"It's the dress." I looked down at myself. I was the size of the Buick in the stupid thing. "Sparrow made me wear it."

"I shall have to have a word with him," Elizabeth said, solemnly. "James, do help me to my feet, won't you?"

Norrington obeyed, easing her to her feet with a gentleness I didn't think he had in him. "Can you tell us what happened?"

She nodded, her eyes flashing. "That horrible man just....appeared in the dining room. Will went after him and they fought. There was a bright flash and I couldn't see, but I heard that man say words I shall never forget."

My mouth was dry. "What did he say?"

"He said..." She paused, her eyes cutting from me to Norrington, as she took a deep breath, "tell that...bitch she can't run. There's nowhere she can run where I can't destroy her piece by piece."

Norrington took my hand. "Did he say anything else?"

"He said he's already started changing history." Elizabeth pursed her lips and looked at me. "I'm not sure what he means."

Something was nagging at me. "He murdered Comstock and Stark and he's got Turner and.... Holy cats! Comstock. Stark. Turner."

Now they were both staring at me.

I slapped a hand to my forehead. "Unh! I should've seen this coming."

Norrington grabbed my other hand, so that I couldn't do any more head slapping. "What? What should you have seen?"

"Comstock, Stark and Turner are all streets in the Burg. He's trying to prevent the Burg from existing!"

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Without thinking about it, I wrenched myself free from Norrington and took off. There really was no place to hide and Sparrow's ship was the least safe of all. All it would take was one well-placed bolt of lightning and we'd all be dead, the ship going up like a dried-out Christmas tree. I couldn't endanger anybody else. I needed to find somewhere to hide and figure out my next move.

I was moving pretty fast, despite the fact I was wearing a Buick and figured I was out of there, when I heard Norrington order his men to seize me.

Four redcoats blocked my way. I stopped short. This was the equivalent of fighting with a cop. Did I really want to fight with Norrington's cops?

"Easy now, miss." I didn't recognize this redcoat, but he had incredibly bad teeth. "The Commodore wants you to stay and I'd rather not hit a lady."

Ranger would have knocked out all four in three seconds flat. If the Burg still existed and I got home, I'd have to start paying attention to things like learning how to fight. I hoped it didn't involve too much exercise, since I didn't see how anything that made you get up before the sun came up was a good thing.

"There's a good girl," said another redcoat.

"She's not a bloody horse," the third said, while the fourth nodded in agreement.

This was my big chance. As they started to bicker, I took off again. Norrington shouted and gave chase. I ran faster.

I was huffing and puffing and there was a painful stitch in my side. Okay, maybe if I'd been better at getting up before sunrise and jogging with Ranger, I wouldn't have been wheezing. Or caught by Norrington.

He grabbed me by my voluminous skirts and tugged. Amazingly, the fabric didn't tear or even pull. We tumbled to the ground and he had me pinned in less than a second.

"Propriety just went out the window, huh," I gasped.

Norrington rolled his eyes. He wasn't even winded and his wig was still perfect. Not a hair out of place. "I'm certain men tackle you all the time in the future."

"Not really."

"I will know if you're lying, remember?" He let that sink in. "If I release you, do you promise not to run again or must I truss you up like a common prisoner?"

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"I'll bet there's a good story behind this," Sparrow said, his eyes flicking over the bonds around my wrists as Norrington pushed me up the gangplank and onto the deck of the Black Pearl. "Where's the whelp?"

"That dreadful man took him, Jack," Elizabeth told him.

Something hardened in Sparrow's eyes. "Don't worry, darling. We'll get him back."

If he was still alive, I added silently. I turned to Norrington. "You gonna untie me or what?"

He handed the rope that led to my bound wrists to Sparrow. "I'm turning her over to you, to do with as you will. You should know she tried to run off by her...onesies. Twice."

"Twice, eh?" Sparrow looked down at me. "I don't know whether to put ye over my knee, toss ye in the brig or keelhaul ye."

"I only ran off once," I argued. At least he didn't threaten to make me swab the deck. "And there was a good reason."

"It was not," Norrington sniffed. "She believes she's made sense of the villain's plan and thought the best way to ensure no harm came to anyone else would be to run off –"

"By her onesies," Sparrow finished. He turned to Gibbs, who just appeared by his elbow. "Get us under way and keep our guests entertained. The lady and I are going to me cabin for a wee chat."

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"Well," Sparrow said, guiding me into his cabin. "You've certainly won over ol' Norrie, didn't ye? I'll bet he's so smitten he's thinking of proposin'."

How did he know? I emitted a small squeak.

Sparrow's eyebrows threatened to climb up under his do-rag. "He didn't."

"No. Really," I said, quickly.

He leaned down, his nose practically touching mine. "Ah, but he did. Did ye accept? Are ye goin' to be Mrs. Rigid-Britches and raise a gaggle of little Norringtons? Were ye going to invite me to the wedding?"

Oh great! Jealous Jack. I rolled my eyes. "I'm not marrying anybody."

"What about the great Morelli?"

"Anybody," I repeated. "Ever. I think."

"You think." He cocked his head, face still right in front of mine. "You're of an age, I suppose, where any offer of marriage is a good one."

Did he just say I was an old maid? "I could get married if I wanted to."

"But ye don't."

"No."

"Why not?"

I thought of my ex, Dickie Orr and Joyce Barnhardt doing it on my dining room table and shuddered. "I have my reasons."

"Such as?"

"I don't want to be a housewife. I like my job."

His eyes narrowed thoughtfully. "There's more. We'll come back to it someday, you and I."

"It wasn't really a proposal."

"Did he kiss you?"

"What?"

"If he kissed ye, it was a proposal." Sparrow's gaze was intense. "Aye, he kissed ye. Go on, then, love. I won't stand in your way."

"I already told you –"

"Ye should marry the poor bugger. He's had one broken engagement already."

"Would you stop?! We have bigger problems than everybody wanting to marry me."

"I don't," he said, quietly.

"You don't what?"

"Want to marry you." Sparrow backed up a step. "Nothin' personal, love. I'm just not the marrying kind."

I heaved a relieved sigh. "That's great. Wonderful. Really. I don't want to marry you, either –"

"But I don't like Norrington messing about with ye," Sparrow continued. "He should have some respect for the notion that ye belong to me."

I could feel my eyes start to bug. "I what?"

"Belong to me."

"Like property? That's crazy! People aren't property."

"Tell that to them in the slave trade." He took my arm and steered me towards a chair. "Treasure trove is property that's been lost or abandoned and then found. I found ye on that raft. Hence, ye're treasure and ye're mine. Any other pirate would've either sold ye or had ye branded with his mark by now. In fact, I think a pretty sparrow on your ankle would be rather fetching."

I couldn't even form words. The best I could manage was a squeak.

"Welcome to 1689, love." Sparrow held the pissed off look for a second more and then he grinned and winked at me. "Gotcha!"

I rolled my eyes. "Jerk."

"Norrie was expecting me to pitch a jealous fit. Now ye can tell him I did and I scared the devil out ye, just like the black-hearted beast he thinks I am." He held up a wicked-looking knife and sliced through my bonds. "Now, pet, tell me why ye tried to run away from Norrie because I'm sure it wasn't his proposal."

I quickly explained about the connection between Comstock, Stark and Turner and my concern about the ship.

Sparrow nodded thoughtfully. "Ye're right to be worried but I think he wanted ye to run off by your onesies. Easier to take you that way."

Oops. I didn't think of that.

"Ye didn't think about that, did ye?"

"Of course I did."

"Right." He stood up and pulled me to my feet. "Come. It's time to lay in a course for Isla de Meurte."

Great. We were on our way to Death Island. I was sure it wasn't going to look like Disneyland.