Chapter Four

The crew assembled within moments of our arrival on deck, and I wished for naught but the ability to be able to sink into the floor and disappear. They gaped at me. They stared….they laughed. My face felt hot, and the sun seemed overly bright, I reached up to adjust the collar of my shirt…

"Straighten your back, square your shoulders" Jack hissed into my ear, as he leaned towards me. I focused on my posture, remembering how I would have greeted guests at the door, or stood as mistress gave her orders. I might look the part for this, I thought grimly, but I was jelly on the inside. I heard Jack draw a breath as he prepared to speak.

"Men---we have a new crew member." He bellowed solemnly. A disconcerted mutter went up through the ranks as they looked at me I felt at least a hundred pairs of eyes on my chest; he silenced them with a glare.

"I said we have a new crew member. Her name is Ana Maria, and though she is a woman, on my ship, she has as many rights as any of you lads." He tried again.

"But she is a WOMAN!" Shouted someone scornfully…from the far back of those gathered no doubt. Coward, I thought.

"I am aware of that, gents. All too aware of it." He added with a chuckle, casting me a sidelong glance. His fellows looked at each other, a bit confused.

And one brave soul ventured to ask, "Is she a member of THE crew? Or a member of YOUR crew, captain?"

Jack swallowed, grimacing as if he had a bad taste in his mouth. I turned towards him, feigning shyness and whispered, my words dripping venom "A member of YOUR crew, captain? What ever can he mean by that?"

"That's not for you to question, now is it?" He spat back at me, and as he looked up to address the crew again, he found that someone else had a question…

"And is she off limits to us then?" said a ratty looking little blonde man. He had a hungry look in his eyes, and it sent unpleasant shivers down my spine.

I swallowed the feeling, and was just about to answer that I was off limits to all of them, including their captain, when Jack answered, voice on edge, "Yes…she is off limits to ALL of you." That said, and seeming to want to make his answer concrete, he stepped close and found my mouth with his, kissing me hard.

A muted cheer went up among the crew, some of them obviously disappointed that I would not be in their bunk sooner or later, but I was just a bit stunned, I stood there like a lack wit and let him kiss me.

Jack pulled away, an unreadable look in his eyes and declared, "This is my final word on the matter…no intentional harm shall befall any member of my crew whilst I am captain. Ana Maria is not to be bothered with…treat her as a fellow, for from this moment on, she is an equal to you. Forget what you have been told about women on land. For on my ship, it is an entirely different story. Now back to your jobs."

They scattered slowly, some lingering, their eyes drinking in the sight of me. I glared at them all, my face set and stubborn. My head felt hot and I was dizzy, but I was still well enough to be angry.

When the last face turned away, Jack grabbed me by the shoulder and pushed me in front of him towards the mainmast. I jerked myself out of his hold.

"I should slap you." I spat at him quietly. He stopped in his tracks and turned to face me. "You had no right to kiss me like that…and in front of the crew. You're leading them on. I'm nothing to you except the person preventing you from sleeping on your own pallet."

"I did that for your bloody own good. Do you remember the man who brought you aboard, hmm? His name is Barbossa, and he's not one for having things taken from him. Or how about the man you spat on? That would be my Bo' sun. And if I don't make it quite clear to the BOTH of them, and the rest of the crew straight off that I have no intentions of sharing…there's nothing stopping them from just taking what they want."

I stepped back, suddenly afraid. "You think that they would….force me to their beds?"

Jack shrugged, squinting into the sun. "They're pirates, after all is said and done, miss. And you ARE a woman. The only woman on a ship full of men."

"You're a pirate." I said simply, leveling my chin at him.

He came forwards and grasped it, tilting my face up, so that he could look in my eyes. I forced myself not to move, and allowed him to keep his hand where it was. He searched my eyes for something. "You think that of me? That I am capable of that?" He asked flatly, eyes void.

I swallowed hard. "You're a pirate." I said again. His eyes dimmed, and he dropped his hand away. I sighed, unaware that I had been holding my breath.

"This is the mainmast," he said simply, and pointing continued, "Those, are the middenmast and mizzenmast, here, let me show you the ratlines…"

I nodded, and my schooling began.

OOO

Hours later, safely back in the captain's quarters I assessed my injuries.

My hands were raw, and rope burned---courtesy sliding down the ratlines. There was a small gash above my left hipbone, after falling against an exposed screw down by the privy, and my feet were dry and cracked from salt water. I had lost my ladies shoes after about an hour on board, after the wooden heel had busted off of the right one…And I fell on my arse in the process, riddling my breeches full of splinters.

My hair felt crusted with salt as well, and I wished that I had an extra set of clothes to change into. My breathing felt restricted and bound by the corset, and after peeling it off, I discovered how warped and ruined it had become from exposure to the ocean. I tucked it below the bed, hoping to perhaps make repairs another time…

Lying across the bed, I was amazed to find how tired I was, for I had worked just as hard as a maid as I had today. Granted, I used quite a few different sets of muscles today, but the labor was all too similar. I closed my eyes, drowning out the lantern so that I could think better.

I heard the door open and turned towards the wall, expecting no trouble from Jack Sparrow at the moment…the crew were all eating down in the mess, and so should he be... Some slop and biscuits, and I wasn't hungry.

"I'm not hungry," I growled softly, as I heard the footsteps approach, throwing an arm lightly over my face, shielding myself from the extra light.

I heard the toe of a boot hit against the bed frame. I jumped in surprise. He laughed, low and deep. And it wasn't Jack's laugh.

"Oh…but I am." I felt a hand on my shoulder; he pulled me off of the bed.

I stood on shaking legs, my eyes terrified and furious as I took in the face of the man who had gotten me into this mess, Barbossa.

"Release me," I whispered dangerously.

He smiled; he was a handsome man nonetheless. With a wide mouth, a proud nose and chin, and a set of piercing eyes. But the smile was a mask…nothing about it suggested happiness, it was malicious to the core.

"So much braver, are we? Now that you have the captain's claim on you." He whispered, jerking me close to him. One of his hands dropped to my hip, lifting my shirt so that my cut was exposed. He ran his thumb across it lightly. "You've hurt your self, love." He whispered.

I tried to push myself away from him, and he tightened his hold. He shouldn't have known about my cut. No one did. I kept my shirt covering it, and it happened below deck…when I was alone, or at least, when I thought I was alone.

"Let go of me." I said again, clenching my teeth.

"You were mine, first!" He crowed, shaking me. Then, as his face relaxed into blankness he intoned flatly, "Now, you're going to kiss me like you kiss Jack Sparrow."

I turned my face away in blatant refusal. "I'll scream."

"Will you?" He spat. "And who's out there that'll come to your rescue? The crew's all below deck, the captain is below deck." He leaned in, brushing a fingertip down the side of my neck.

"There's someone on watch." I shot back, sounding braver than I felt, hoping to god that whoever it was wouldn't think that the captain was just having a bit too much fun with me.

"I know. This is my watch, love." He said joyfully, pushing me towards the bed.

I looked at him out of hollow eyes, as he advanced on me. In my terror, forgetting my earlier threat to scream… I couldn't make a sound.

OOO