The Oldest Story in the Book
Disclaimer: Not mine, but I maintain that it should be.
Author's Note: Sorry this took so long to get up. Crazy life. Don't ask.
"Tell me about grandfather," Emmie requested as her mother rowed them away. "I've heard all the rumors, of course, but I don't know truth from fiction."
"Well, first off, call him Jack," Pearl said. "He dislikes me calling him father--says it makes him feel old--so I can't imagine he'd warm to the title of grandfather. Most of what you've heard is fiction, I'd wager, although the insanity is true enough, and the brilliance. Just compliment the ship and he'll love you forever and always, although he's anxious enough to see you that I don't imagine you need to worry about it. The kindness, if you've heard of that, is real enough as well. He doesn't kill unless he has to, which is high praise for a pirate."
"What about the crew?" Elizabeth asked. "Are they mostly the same?"
Pearl smiled, hearing the real question readily enough. "Don't worry. None of us need fear being knocked down and raped. We've got a few new crew members but between Jack's constant threats and Anamaria's fondness of knives, we needn't worry."
Emmie gasped suddenly and Pearl turned to find them within sight of the Black Pearl. "Aye, she's pretty," Pearl remarked.
"Ho, you nasty Tortuga wench-turned-pirate," they heard as they drew closer.
Pearl chuckled as she turned around and called back, "Ho yourself, you half-drowned insane Captain."
His laughter followed them along the side of the boat as they pulled up close. A rope ladder descended as Pearl secured the rowboat to the side of the ship. She was the first to scale the ladder, with Will behind her, before both turned to help the women onto deck while wrestling their skirts.
Once everyone was on deck they turned to find themselves under the careful scrutiny of a grinning Captain Jack Sparrow and any of the crew that could dawdle along long enough to get a good look. Jack had aged, Will thought, as he looked at the weathered pirate, although it only seemed to make him more handsome. He didn't know why he was surprised. Jack had a hand for turning the worst of circumstances to his advantage. His tanned face was lined now with wrinkles around his eyes and mouth when he grinned. The trademark dreads, still threaded with beads of every imaginable color, were shot through with bits of grey here and there. But his stance--the ramrod straight back and slight sway to his step as he looked down his nose at the new arrivals--declared him the same old Jack.
"Will, me boy!" Jack cried, sweeping forward to pull the man into a hug before pulling back to examine his face. "Man alive, you look more like Bill every time I see you."
"Aye, it really is rather frightening," Pearl remarked.
"Well, if you came by more than every five years it probably wouldn't be so frightening," Will informed him, pushing the old sea dog away with a chuckle. "You don't exactly look like a spring chicken yourself."
"Ah, Father Time, he isn't know for being overkind, especially to pirates. It's a hard life I lead and I've earned every wrinkle and grey hair. Between you and I, lad, the lasses don't seem to mind so. Speaking of which, Elizabeth, I swear you're prettier than the last time I saw you," he added, swinging forward to hug the grinning woman.
"You're still a charmer, Jack, no doubt about that," she replied. "If you're any sweeter someone might confuse you with a noble."
"Never, luv. Come, tell Jack how much you've missed him. Just whisper it into my ear. I'll not tell your husband," Jack suggested, pulling the arm around her waist tight, hand creeping lower.
"Away, you wretch!" Elizabeth ordered, unwinding his arm and pushing him toward a wide-eyed Emmie with a laugh. "Stop ignoring your granddaughter."
"Ug. Don't say that. Makes me sound old." Jack strode up to the girl, who was examining him carefully. "Now, this can't be my darling little Emmie. No way anything this pretty could come of my daughter and that ugly old Commodore."
"Edward is neither old, nor ugly. And you said the same thing when she was born," Pearl remarked.
Jack made a circuit of her, leaving her gawking awkwardly at the pirate. "Aye, she'll do," Jack remarked, returning to stand in front of her. "What do you say, luv? Do you have the courage and fortitude to follow orders and stay brave in the face of danger and almost certain death?"
"Almost certain death?" she repeated.
"Oh, aye, every day around here," he confirmed.
"Why, if it's only almost certain then why not?" she asked.
"I love this girl," he remarked, moving close to her to loop his arm around her shoulders and draw her close to lay a gentle kiss on her forehead.
She pulled back suddenly as if she had been burnt. Pearl was beside her in a flash, putting calming hands on her shoulders as she asked, "What's wrong?"
"I, nothing, I just..." She shook her head, one hand over her mouth. "I think I remember you."
"Darling, you were only two when they brought you to us," Elizabeth said. "And as much time as we spent convincing you you didn't know pirates I'd say it's fairly unlikely."
"But I do. At the wheel of the ship." She spun to look up at the wheel. "This wheel, I think. You said you were teaching me how to sail."
"So I did," he answered with an odd look on his face. "That was the last day I ever saw you, right before we pulled into port."
Pearl stared at her father in confusion. "Wait, I watched her the whole time we were on this ship. When did this happen?"
Jack shrugged. "I stole her away while you were sleeping."
"You bloody, wretched, scurvy pirate captain!" she cried.
"Yes, you mouthy, nasty, holier-than-thou tavern whore?" he returned.
"You stole my daughter!"
"Pirate," he answered with a shrug.
Pearl frowned, eyes narrowing as she pointed to him. "I'll get you later."
"Emmie, my dear, how much would I have to pay out to throughly check my bed at night?"
Emmie chuckled. "You don't have enough."
"I'm a very rich pirate," he said, waggling his eyebrows at her.
"I prefer all of my digits attached, thank you very much," she returned with a grin.
"Smart girl," Jack remarked.
"I always said so," Pearl replied.
"You don't know the half of it," Elizabeth said.
"I dare say she'll do just fine here," Will added.
"All right, listen up you scabborous dogs," Jack called, leading them into the middle of the deck where everyone could see him. "This here is my granddaughter, Emerald. Any of you lays a finger on her I'll see to it you don't have no more fingers. Or whatever extremity you might be usin' on her, savvy?"
Several calls of the affirmative came. "Or, knowing that Will's been teaching her, it might be worse to let her at them," Pearl remarked.
With an evil grin Emmie nodded enthusiastically.
"That goes double for Elizabeth, although just to avoid her tongue I'd keep well away from her if I were you!" he called. Turning he caught sight of her scowl. "Of course I mean that in the nicest possible way, Elizabeth."
"So what can I do?" Emmie asked, bouncing over to her family.
Jack paused to look at her, swaying as he carefully regarded the girl. "I don't know. What can you do? Bounce about?"
"Well, I can speak Latin. And French. And Spanish. And a little Swedish."
"Wait, Swedish? What the bloody hell does she need Swedish for?" Pearl demanded of Will and Elizabeth.
Will shrugged. "Our maid is Swedish, and she offered. It didn't seem like such a big deal at the time."
"I can fight with a sword. I even beat Will sometimes. And I always win against Ethan."
"What's an Ethan?" Jack asked.
"Norrington's boy," Pearl informed him.
"Ah, well, that sounds entertaining," he remarked.
"I can tie all sorts of knots. I know my way around a ship," Emmie continued.
"Where did you learn that?" Pearl asked.
"She spends hours down at the docks," Elizabeth answered. "And her father cannot tell her no."
"My father," Emmie repeated, wonder in her eyes. "I know who my father is! I know who my father is!" she chanted as she spun around the deck.
"I don't recall you being this hyper," Jack remarked to his daughter.
"Yes, but you got at me when I was five. I was never locked into shore for ten years."
"Did you have a point, luv?" Jack broke in.
"What can I do? Haul in sails? Raise anchor? Swab the deck?" she asked eagerly.
"You want to swab the deck with the scum?" Jack asked incredulously, ignoring calls from said scum who were already at work.
"I want to help," she answered with a shrug.
Jack looked down at his daughter. "She'll make a proper pirate yet."
Author's Note: Sorry it's so short. I'm doing what I can.
Disclaimer: Not mine, but I maintain that it should be.
Author's Note: Sorry this took so long to get up. Crazy life. Don't ask.
"Tell me about grandfather," Emmie requested as her mother rowed them away. "I've heard all the rumors, of course, but I don't know truth from fiction."
"Well, first off, call him Jack," Pearl said. "He dislikes me calling him father--says it makes him feel old--so I can't imagine he'd warm to the title of grandfather. Most of what you've heard is fiction, I'd wager, although the insanity is true enough, and the brilliance. Just compliment the ship and he'll love you forever and always, although he's anxious enough to see you that I don't imagine you need to worry about it. The kindness, if you've heard of that, is real enough as well. He doesn't kill unless he has to, which is high praise for a pirate."
"What about the crew?" Elizabeth asked. "Are they mostly the same?"
Pearl smiled, hearing the real question readily enough. "Don't worry. None of us need fear being knocked down and raped. We've got a few new crew members but between Jack's constant threats and Anamaria's fondness of knives, we needn't worry."
Emmie gasped suddenly and Pearl turned to find them within sight of the Black Pearl. "Aye, she's pretty," Pearl remarked.
"Ho, you nasty Tortuga wench-turned-pirate," they heard as they drew closer.
Pearl chuckled as she turned around and called back, "Ho yourself, you half-drowned insane Captain."
His laughter followed them along the side of the boat as they pulled up close. A rope ladder descended as Pearl secured the rowboat to the side of the ship. She was the first to scale the ladder, with Will behind her, before both turned to help the women onto deck while wrestling their skirts.
Once everyone was on deck they turned to find themselves under the careful scrutiny of a grinning Captain Jack Sparrow and any of the crew that could dawdle along long enough to get a good look. Jack had aged, Will thought, as he looked at the weathered pirate, although it only seemed to make him more handsome. He didn't know why he was surprised. Jack had a hand for turning the worst of circumstances to his advantage. His tanned face was lined now with wrinkles around his eyes and mouth when he grinned. The trademark dreads, still threaded with beads of every imaginable color, were shot through with bits of grey here and there. But his stance--the ramrod straight back and slight sway to his step as he looked down his nose at the new arrivals--declared him the same old Jack.
"Will, me boy!" Jack cried, sweeping forward to pull the man into a hug before pulling back to examine his face. "Man alive, you look more like Bill every time I see you."
"Aye, it really is rather frightening," Pearl remarked.
"Well, if you came by more than every five years it probably wouldn't be so frightening," Will informed him, pushing the old sea dog away with a chuckle. "You don't exactly look like a spring chicken yourself."
"Ah, Father Time, he isn't know for being overkind, especially to pirates. It's a hard life I lead and I've earned every wrinkle and grey hair. Between you and I, lad, the lasses don't seem to mind so. Speaking of which, Elizabeth, I swear you're prettier than the last time I saw you," he added, swinging forward to hug the grinning woman.
"You're still a charmer, Jack, no doubt about that," she replied. "If you're any sweeter someone might confuse you with a noble."
"Never, luv. Come, tell Jack how much you've missed him. Just whisper it into my ear. I'll not tell your husband," Jack suggested, pulling the arm around her waist tight, hand creeping lower.
"Away, you wretch!" Elizabeth ordered, unwinding his arm and pushing him toward a wide-eyed Emmie with a laugh. "Stop ignoring your granddaughter."
"Ug. Don't say that. Makes me sound old." Jack strode up to the girl, who was examining him carefully. "Now, this can't be my darling little Emmie. No way anything this pretty could come of my daughter and that ugly old Commodore."
"Edward is neither old, nor ugly. And you said the same thing when she was born," Pearl remarked.
Jack made a circuit of her, leaving her gawking awkwardly at the pirate. "Aye, she'll do," Jack remarked, returning to stand in front of her. "What do you say, luv? Do you have the courage and fortitude to follow orders and stay brave in the face of danger and almost certain death?"
"Almost certain death?" she repeated.
"Oh, aye, every day around here," he confirmed.
"Why, if it's only almost certain then why not?" she asked.
"I love this girl," he remarked, moving close to her to loop his arm around her shoulders and draw her close to lay a gentle kiss on her forehead.
She pulled back suddenly as if she had been burnt. Pearl was beside her in a flash, putting calming hands on her shoulders as she asked, "What's wrong?"
"I, nothing, I just..." She shook her head, one hand over her mouth. "I think I remember you."
"Darling, you were only two when they brought you to us," Elizabeth said. "And as much time as we spent convincing you you didn't know pirates I'd say it's fairly unlikely."
"But I do. At the wheel of the ship." She spun to look up at the wheel. "This wheel, I think. You said you were teaching me how to sail."
"So I did," he answered with an odd look on his face. "That was the last day I ever saw you, right before we pulled into port."
Pearl stared at her father in confusion. "Wait, I watched her the whole time we were on this ship. When did this happen?"
Jack shrugged. "I stole her away while you were sleeping."
"You bloody, wretched, scurvy pirate captain!" she cried.
"Yes, you mouthy, nasty, holier-than-thou tavern whore?" he returned.
"You stole my daughter!"
"Pirate," he answered with a shrug.
Pearl frowned, eyes narrowing as she pointed to him. "I'll get you later."
"Emmie, my dear, how much would I have to pay out to throughly check my bed at night?"
Emmie chuckled. "You don't have enough."
"I'm a very rich pirate," he said, waggling his eyebrows at her.
"I prefer all of my digits attached, thank you very much," she returned with a grin.
"Smart girl," Jack remarked.
"I always said so," Pearl replied.
"You don't know the half of it," Elizabeth said.
"I dare say she'll do just fine here," Will added.
"All right, listen up you scabborous dogs," Jack called, leading them into the middle of the deck where everyone could see him. "This here is my granddaughter, Emerald. Any of you lays a finger on her I'll see to it you don't have no more fingers. Or whatever extremity you might be usin' on her, savvy?"
Several calls of the affirmative came. "Or, knowing that Will's been teaching her, it might be worse to let her at them," Pearl remarked.
With an evil grin Emmie nodded enthusiastically.
"That goes double for Elizabeth, although just to avoid her tongue I'd keep well away from her if I were you!" he called. Turning he caught sight of her scowl. "Of course I mean that in the nicest possible way, Elizabeth."
"So what can I do?" Emmie asked, bouncing over to her family.
Jack paused to look at her, swaying as he carefully regarded the girl. "I don't know. What can you do? Bounce about?"
"Well, I can speak Latin. And French. And Spanish. And a little Swedish."
"Wait, Swedish? What the bloody hell does she need Swedish for?" Pearl demanded of Will and Elizabeth.
Will shrugged. "Our maid is Swedish, and she offered. It didn't seem like such a big deal at the time."
"I can fight with a sword. I even beat Will sometimes. And I always win against Ethan."
"What's an Ethan?" Jack asked.
"Norrington's boy," Pearl informed him.
"Ah, well, that sounds entertaining," he remarked.
"I can tie all sorts of knots. I know my way around a ship," Emmie continued.
"Where did you learn that?" Pearl asked.
"She spends hours down at the docks," Elizabeth answered. "And her father cannot tell her no."
"My father," Emmie repeated, wonder in her eyes. "I know who my father is! I know who my father is!" she chanted as she spun around the deck.
"I don't recall you being this hyper," Jack remarked to his daughter.
"Yes, but you got at me when I was five. I was never locked into shore for ten years."
"Did you have a point, luv?" Jack broke in.
"What can I do? Haul in sails? Raise anchor? Swab the deck?" she asked eagerly.
"You want to swab the deck with the scum?" Jack asked incredulously, ignoring calls from said scum who were already at work.
"I want to help," she answered with a shrug.
Jack looked down at his daughter. "She'll make a proper pirate yet."
Author's Note: Sorry it's so short. I'm doing what I can.