Disclaimer: The characters and concepts in this story pertaining to The Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl are the property of the Walt Disney Coporation. This is an amateur writing effort meant for entertainment purposes only.
Chapter Seventeen: The Storm Breaks
Jack Sparrow couldn't quite explain it himself. One minute he had been flat on his feet, a wine bottle in each hand, and the next he was under the table in the galley, attempting to convince his enraged first mate that he wasn't there. Ana, however, was not in the mood to play the Captain's game, and not long after his initial explanation of, "Jack's not in at the moment…come back in…(he paused, considering just how long it would take him to drink down two full bottles of wine)…best to come back in ten minutes, love," she pushed the table against the wall and faced him, hands on her hips.
He regarded her with suspicion. "I thought I told you I wasn't here."
"You said you were captain!" she shouted.
"I thought that was indicated by the hat," he said, pointing to where the hat should have been, forgetting that he wasn't wearing one.
"You cannot seriously expect to go sailing through a thunderstorm!" Morgan's voice boomed from the hall as she stormed inside the galley.
"We can make it!" Ana recoiled. "Bootstrap built the ship to withstand these weathers!"
"No ship is completely storm proof! And if those sails tear we're riding the tide all the way to this supposed port of yours."
"It's less than five leagues away!"
"I don't care if we've already disembarked, we're hoisting the sails!"
As the two women continued to banter, Jack crawled across the floor, back under the table and out of the crossfire. Unfortunately, Ana caught him again.
"Jack!" she shouted.
"Ten minutes…" he replied, popping the cork out of one of the bottles.
"Jack!" she screamed again, grabbing him by the scruff of his neck and pulling him out from under the table. "Give the order to sail on!"
"Sail on?"
"JACK!" Morgan shouted. "This is still my ship! I'll not have you impugning on my judgment simply because your boatswain thinks she knows better!"
He looked to Ana. "I'll not be doing all those things she just said because you think you know better."
"The sails will hold!" Ana shouted, pointing accusingly at Morgan.
"Not for much longer!" Morgan shouted back.
"WHAT IN THE BLAZES ARE YOU TWO ARGUING ABOUT!" Jack said suddenly. The two women just glared at him in disbelief, unsure if he was being serious or just trying to make light of the situation.
"She just gave the order to have the sails raised when WE'RE FIVE LEAGUES FROM SHORE!"
"They've sustained enough of a beating from the storm already and the winds are picking up. If we don't raise them, we'll lose them, and we can't afford that!"
"It wasn't your order to give!"
"It's not Jack's either!"
He was shrinking away from them again, allowing their argument to press on, unhindered by his interjections. Ana was not so quick to simply let him shy away though, and she once again had him by the scruff of the neck, pulling him out from under the table.
"Captain," she said sternly. "There's not much further to sail. If we raise sails now we might lose the wind by morning."
"We might lose them anyways in this storm!"
"At least we'll be closer to land!"
"Jack, please," Morgan begged.
"Captain," Ana beseeched him.
Jack hesitated and raised a finger towards Morgan first, and then shifted so it pointed towards Ana Maria. Morgan was certain he would side with her, if for no other reason than because they were related, whereas Ana Maria was convinced Jack would take her side, being that they were shipmates and all.
The captain, however, had different plans.
"Eeenie-meanie-miney-moe…"
Morgan stormed out of the room.
"We're not finished yet!" Jack shouted after her.
He had managed to walk across the room without falling, a feat William felt fairly proud of, all things considered. Morgan had mentioned getting a change of clothes whenever he felt up to it, and after several minutes of gathering his strength, he finally rose from the bed and clambered over to the trunk she had pointed out.
It was longer than the others, and wider, for reasons William couldn't determine until he opened it. The trunk was used for all of Morgan's clothing, most of male guises, but others for female ones. White cotton shirts were folded neatly at the base, alongside a pile of undergarments and shoeboxes. Several corsets were stacked along the side, their whale bone inserts keeping them proper upright. Dresses, petticoats, jackets and trousers of varying elegance were spread out in the middle, pressed flat and kept separate by sheets of thin parchment. She could be a working class gentleman one minute and a Duchess the next depending on what she picked to wear.
Bypassing the more elaborate pieces of her collection, he found suitable attire near the bottom of the trunk. The dark brown of the jacket was not suited for the courts and had been well worn. The silver buckles were tarnished with age, practically falling off from use. The pockets had large holes in their bases, and Will made a mental note not to use them for anything.
Wary of his shoulder, he pulled on one of the cotton shirts. The muscles pulled and tugged against the knitting flesh, causing him to wince. He could still feel the blood crawling over his skin under the bandages, even more as he stretched and strained to pull on the other sleeve. Finally, he could relax, allowing the pain to drift off into oblivion before he continued with the task of dressing.
With the coat over his shoulders, he rose finally, and took the first step forward towards the door. It was oddly comforting to not be scrutinized for once. He'd spent the past few months under the harsh eyes of nobles, unable to measure up to the impossible standards they placed before him. But now he was staggering about in well worked clothes, in one of the few places his own father called home, surrounded by people who had once known the elusive Bootstrap Bill.
He reached the door, a major victory considering the lethargy he'd suffered from before. Taking a deep breath, he opened the door, just as Morgan came barreling down the hall towards him, retreating from Jack's shouting voice.
She did a double take, stopping short in the hall before giving him a once over. Will's head shrank low behind his slouched shoulders. He knew he wasn't at his best, but he didn't look that horrible, did he?
A smile crossed her features and she blushed crimson, before continuing on up the stairs to the main deck.
"Now see here!" Jack shouted, as he and Ana Maria entered the corridor. Upon seeing William, however, Jack jumped back, waving his hands around defensively.
William felt like he had been kicked in the gut. He inspected his front as best he could, afraid that he had left a button on his trousers opened or something. He couldn't find anything wrong, yet when he looked back to Jack, the pirate still had a shocked expression on his face.
"Will…" he said, giving him a once over.
Ana just looked unimpressed overall. She didn't see what all the fuss was about. William was too pale a boy to warrant such attention on her part. She grabbed Jack by the wrist and dragged him off towards the deck.
"LEMME GO! You look great, lad. ANA!"
Lightning flickered against the pitch black sky, rattling through the dense, billowing clouds like glass shattering in the night. Rain came down in buckets upon the crew as the ship rose and fell upon waves several feet high. In only her lightly coloured trousers and white corset, Morgan gleamed in the darkness like a star. She had climbed up the mast to help fix the sails with the remaining members of her crew, attempting to keep the thick fabric from ripping as it flapped wildly in the wind.
Jack Sparrow was shouting, but she paid him no heed. Her mind was fixed on the task at hand. The captain ran forward and climbed up the rope ladder awkwardly as the ship rose high on another wave. He leapt behind her and clung to the beam like a monkey, gripping it between his thighs.
The ship dipped low, water splashing against the hull. Will pinned himself in the corridor using his legs to keep him inside. He stared in shock at the sight of the ocean racing towards them, rising high over the forecastle and sloshing over the main deck. Crewmen clung to the mast and the rigging, anything that would keep them rooted to the ship. Above the sails, he caught sight of Jack reaching for Morgan. At first, the captain looked like he was about to strangle her, but as the water splashed up and nearly knocked them off, he had pulled the young woman to his chest and held her back.
The ship leveled out suddenly, and Will was thrown face first into the stairs.
"TIE DOWN THESE SAILS!" Jack shouted at the top of his lungs.
"THEY DON'T HAVE THE STRENGTH TO LAST ANOTHER LEAGUE!" Morgan screamed back at him. "WE'LL NEVER MAKE IT TO SHORE!"
"THEY CAN TAKE IT!"
"ARE YOU WILLING TO BET YOUR LIFE ON THAT!"
"I'm willing to bet yours!" Jack said. "Tie them down and we'll be on land in an hour."
"I can't do that Jack," she replied, shaking her head. Her hands were shaking as she pulled up the sail. "I won't do it."
He grabbed her by the hands, drawing her attention back to his face.
"Please?" he was begging, desperate even. Morgan stared into his face, chewing on her lower lip. It was against all her better judgment to keep the sails in place. It was against all the better judgment of any captain she'd ever known.
But he looked so desperate, and she couldn't refuse him. She released the sail to the wind.
"Ridley, tie off this rigging," she snapped coldly to her first mate. The dark haired man hung his head in shame, unable to look at her, let alone respond. She pursed her lips into a thin line. "Ridley!" she called to him again. "I said tie off this rigging."
"Aye, Aye," he said, hesitating for a moment before he spat, "Captain."
She turned her sights on Jack. "Is there anything else?"
"Let me finish my bloody drink!" he shouted, and dropped down to the deck below.
Morgan closed her eyes and felt her heart sink. Ridley shot her a look but she didn't return it. She climbed down the mast and staggered back inside, walking straight past Will as she headed to the lower decks.
Author's Notes:
I think this chapter's pretty much self-explanatory. The reaction to Will's clothing will be revealed soon, as will a lot of the mystery surrounding Bootstrap and the ship, the Wayfarer's Redemption. Also, some people might be wondering why, if there are bounty hunters looking for Jack, he would be docking his ship. My explanation is that he performed the typical 'switch-a-roo'. The hunters would be looking for the Pearl, not the Wayfarer, so it would be fairly safe for Jack to stop for a while.
Reviews:
Alexwacrap: Why are you jealous? There's nothing to be jealous about!
WhiteRosesforme: Yes, I agree – it seems as if whenever there's something in it for Jack he becomes a little more complacent about things. Tough luck on the rum though. It looks like he'll just have to steal some from the next port they hit.
Oh yes, there are plenty of secrets to dish out. And I can't wait to do it.
Thanks to everyone who reviewed!