Author's Note: Hello and welcome to chapter five. I would like to thank my reviewers, Ms. Elizabeth Turner To You, Jackeroe, Kisskagome13, ElfLuver13 and Charlotte Norrington. Thanks for your continued support! I would also like to thank my beta, Mystress of the Dark, for her help with this chapter. Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do not own Pirates of the Caribbean or its characters.
Chapter Five Kidnapped
The next few days passed by tensely for Emer. Her husband came and went as usual, making his dutiful trips to the fort. He didn't suspect the mischief that went on in his household. Emer had made all the arrangements with Jack, how much he would be paid for this little escapade, where they would meet and at what time. She repeated the list her constantly in her mind, fearing she would forget and miss his ship altogether. Of course he had demanded an advance. That had cost her an emerald brooch. It was a small price to pay for the benefits she would reap in the end.
Little James and Nelly, unlike their father, had not failed to notice her worried manner. In fact Little James proclaimed on the afternoon before her departure that "Mama was nervous like Maeve." Emer had hushed him but not quickly enough. The servants were listening and from then on they eyed her suspiciously.
Nelly kept her thoughts mostly to herself. But when she looked at her mother, her innocent eyes would go wide, as if she were trying to understand something beyond her years. Emer felt as judged by her, as if she were facing the Lord's throne during the last days. She struggled to keep them busy, all the while running through her essential list. The south docks, half past midnight, look for Captain Sparrow.
The eve of her departure loomed like a great gale sweeping in along the ocean. Terrifying and exciting, bringing renewal or perhaps even death. Dinnertime was a nervous affair. To think that in a few hours she would be leaving her family for a pirate's ship, unsure of when she would return…Emer thought her will was about to break. Halfway through the meal her husband looked up with a triumphant smile on his handsome face.
"Aha!" he proclaimed suddenly.
Emer jumped half a foot into the air and knocked over her glass of wine. "What is it, darling?"
"I have just realized something," he remarked.
"Oh?" Nelly and Little James looked on curiously. Never before had they seen their mother so undone.
"Maeve has not escaped from her stall these past three days."
"Ah, yes." Emer sighed inwardly.
"Perhaps that mare has finally settled down. Do you think?"
"One can never tell with horses," she replied softly as a servant leaned over, sopping up the crimson wine with a linen napkin.
Dinner proceeded with little ado, though Emer thought her nerves would never recover. Perhaps her James did know of her trickery. And now he was simply torturing her with unspoken accusations, waiting for her to confess. No, he would never prosecute her in such a manner. Even though he had difficulty showing it, his love for her was sincere and pure.
The children retired early, as usual. Their father announced that he too felt exhausted and would sleep deeper than the dead that night. As Emer watched him lay back on their feather bed with a sigh, she thanked every saint in Ireland for this most generous boon. The momentous pause that reigns in-between the waking world and the land of slumber soon passed. His breathing became slow, steady. She watched his chest rise evenly and her heart swelled. Was she putting her dear husband through frightful grief for nothing? What would happen if the pirates turned on her? The children would grow up without a mother, her James without a wife. Surely, he would be worse off then.
Briefly, she entertained the thought of abandoning her mission with Captain Sparrow. But since when did Emer Corrigan not take a chance for something she believed in? Her mother had taught her better. Slowly, she rose from the bed and leaned over her sleeping husband.
"James?" His name hung in the air like dust caught in a sunbeam.
He didn't move.
"James?" She rested a hand on his shoulder.
Nothing.
"James?" Being bold she poked his cheek with her bony index finger.
He snorted and rolled over, but did not wake.
She sighed. To leave her husband after all, saddened her. But he would come from her, like he had pursued Mistress Turner. If nothing else, he was a good-hearted man. Emer snatched up a simple cloth bag. which she had stashed under the bed. It contained nothing more than a plain change of clothes, a flask of fresh water and a crumbling biscuit. She had debated about whether she should take a weapon, though she doubted the pirates would let her on their ship with one. Either way, she knew nothing of defense. She couldn't wield a sword and the complications of a pistol were lost to her. Her James had showed her once, out of mere curiosity on her part. But the whole business, the wadding, the powder, the bullets was lost to her. Her father had taught her only one measure of defense, something every girl should know. She could throw one good punch and then run. But there would be no running away on a ship.
Thin shafts of moonlight painted the hallway an eerie silver. Emer shut the bedroom door behind her. It closed with an easy click. She clutched her cloth bag tightly, feeling cold sweat seep through her palms. The air was still, so still she thought it would choke her. She longed for a fresh gust of wind, a cool breeze, anything to settle her fear. Not looking back, she forced herself down the corridor to the stairs.
"Where are you going?" Nelly's sweet voice broke over her like crashing waves.
She froze, with the moonbeams feeling like ice on her skin. The child had slipped out her bedroom door, the lacy train of her nightgown like a spider web on the floorboards.
Emer's words came back to her. Life's too short not to be blunt with them. Daughter and mother gazed at each other in silence, until an acknowledged understanding was born. From somewhere inside her, Emer found a gentle smile for Nelly and knelt by her side.
"Mother is going on a sea voyage."
Nelly's eyes went wide with joy at such forbidden knowledge. "Where?"
"I don't know, out to sea."
"Oh." She frowned for a moment in thought. "Is Papa going with you?"
"No," Emer muttered. "You see, Papa doesn't know right now. It will be our little secret. If he asks, just tell him that I've gone down to the docks for a walk."
She nodded happily. "How long will you be gone?"
"Not long, I promise to return as soon as I can. But until then, you are to be a good girl. Say your prayers, wash before dinner. Tell Little James the same for me."
"I will." The child agreed excitedly. Given such a duty by her mother filled her with importance.
"It would also be best if you didn't tell you father I am teaching you and your brother Gaelic," Emer said. "He might not approve."
Nelly's face darkened for an instant. "He already knows. Little James told him by mistake."
"Ah," Emer said. "And what did he say?"
"He said he was proud that we could learn so fast."
Tears darkened Emer's eyes. "That's my girl. Now go back to bed." She kissed her daughter once on the forehead. "Mother loves you, be good."
The child obeyed and Emer nearly threw herself down the stairs. If she didn't leave now she never would. Maternal instinct called to her, pulling her back to her home and family.
Jack reclined on a near ancient barrel by the south docks. His passenger has not yet arrived and now he half expected she wouldn't show. Perhaps the Commodore himself would come strolling about the corner and order his arrest. Had it all been a sham? He tapped his toes uselessly; there would be no escape now.
The moon remained high in the sky, a few pink clouds clustered about its base. Ever since his battle with Barbossa, he never looked at the moon the same. It had become a cold, far off thing. A betrayer, bringer of mist and horror. But perhaps it was only his pirate's superstition. He glared at it now like a scorned lover. The ebony waters beckoned. If Mrs. Norrington didn't show up soon…
"Captain?" The voice sounded timid, different from the confident tones he had encountered in the Lioness.
"Aye?" Jack leaned forward off his barrel.
"I'm ready, sir." Emer stepped forth from the shadows caressing the docks. Jack quickly searched the space behind her. No sign of Norrington.
"Did ye bring the twenty-seven casks of rum that I asked for?"
"What?" She recoiled.
"I was jus' kiddin' ye love." He smiled playfully. "Ye look so nervous."
"You understand the risk I'm taking," she said softly, still clutching her cloth bag.
"No more than me. So as I see it, the two risks will cancel each other out, eh?"
Emer managed a thin smile. "I suppose, if that's the way you think."
"Aye it is." Politely, he offered her his arm. "If you'll just step this way, madam. All we have to do is wait for the sign from me crew."
"What sign would that be?" she asked, taking hold of his arm a bit reluctantly. A delicate fluttering noise overhead startled them both.
"Shiver me timbers," a colorful parrot squawked, landing on the barrel Jack had recently vacated.
"There we go," he said happily. A longboat appeared in the bay. Unintentionally, Emer tightened her grasp on his arm. "Are we ready, Mrs. Commodore?"
One last time, she glanced back at Port Royal. The top of her house was just visible from the docks. "Yes," she replied.
At one o'clock in the morning, James Norrington stirred in his sleep. It was not often that he did so, being a deep sleeper for the most part. He sat up, rolled his shoulders and looked about. Something was not right. The house seemed too still, the air heavy with foreboding. It reminded him of the night Nelly was born. The midwife had been sent for in all haste, it seemed as though the baby wouldn't wait. He hadn't been there for Little James's birth though, being away at sea.
Norrington turned slightly to his right, expecting his body to brush against his wife's. But when his leg met nothing but sheets and blankets, his heart stopped. Emer wasn't in bed. He threw back the covers and stood. Perhaps she had gone into the children's room. They sometimes had nightmares and she would often settle them back to sleep.
He pushed the door open and stepped out into the hallway. The downstairs clock ticked solemnly. No sign of Emer in the hall or by the stairs. She was most assuredly in…
"Papa?" Nelly had slipped out of her room. She looked wide awake.
"Ah, there you are." Lightly he touched the top of her head. "Is your mother in your room?"
"No." There was something decidedly ominous in her innocent eyes. "She went down to the docks to take a walk."
"How long ago?" He felt panic rising within him.
Nelly shrugged helplessly.
"Stay here with your brother," Norrington called over his shoulder as he dashed back into his room. Nelly allowed herself a little smile. She had done what her mother asked. Content with herself, she shuffled back into the nursery.
Norrington pulled on his breeches and boots, striving to ignore his thundering heart. It was not the first time his wife had taken an evening walk, but never at such a late hour by the abandoned docks. He feared for her safety. A maid stood in her dressing gown by the foot of the stairs as he stumbled down them, roused from her sleep by the confusion.
"Sit with the children," he ordered hastily, flying out the front door. Halfway down the drive Norrington realized he had neglected to grab his pistol or sword. But it mattered not. His stomach threatened to revolt against him as he saw men gathering by the roadway. The blue of their uniforms stood out like inky black in the darkness. Gillette was hurrying towards him, up through the gate. Five men accompanied him, all sailors on the Dauntless.
"Commodore, sir!" he panted. His pale face looked ghostly in the moonlight.
"Dear God, Philip," Norrington managed. Emer…
"Captain Sparrow." Gillette gasped. In his hand he clutched a creamy piece of parchment covered with rude black letters. "Mrs. Norrington sir, he's taken her."
Author's Note: Awww, I feel a bit bad for poor James in this chapter, don't you? Thanks for reading! Please review.
