Chapter Three: Home Sweet Home
The sun had been up for a good hour or so before the two ships reached the same point before actually reaching Port Royal. Norrington stepped out on the main deck of the Golden Eagle once again when the Black Pearl came along side his vessel. At the helm of the pirate ship he could see the pirate captain, Jack Sparrow, and his wife Kat waiting for the two ships to align. He waited by the side railing of his ship while Jack and Kat walked down to meet him.
The ships were anchored just a little off shore and hidden from sight by a half submerged rock formation. A boarding plank was lowered between the two ships, although neither of the men used it to board the other vessel. Kat watched closely as the board landed on the Pearl with a loud knock on the black wood. Her mind slipped back to the day when the Harbinger under the control of Catterine tried to take over the Pearl, but took her instead. The three days passed slowly as she was stuck at the bottom of the Harbinger at the mercy of the captain and the crew. Kat quickly shook her head free of the thoughts as Norrington's voice shocked her back into reality.
"Well, now that we are here, what do we do?" Norrington held his arms behind his back, trying to keep his elated position.
"Accordin' to ye, they wan' me. I doub' tha' getting' into the port won' be so tricky. They wanted me to come," Jack said putting his own hands behind his back, in his own way mocking Norrington's small attempt to put himself above them.
"So you suggest that we just sail straight into port as usual?" Norrington asked with an eyebrow cocked.
"Do ye notice wha' time it be?" Jack looked up at the sky where there were still some pink and purples were still lingering in the sky.
"It's just past sunrise," Norrington said annoyed.
"Exactly," Jack looked at the port, "Even when me- or should I saw Barbossa's- crew were sailing, they wouldn't wake up until midday. I'm havin' the thought tha' the Harbinger's crew not be too far off of me old crew's habits."
"You have no idea," Norrington murmured.
Jack didn't notice his last comment and shouted orders to sail toward the port and prepare to dock. The crew that had just recently emerged from the crew quarters below began stumbling toward the stations and began working with the sails and other instruments around the ship. Norrington turned and began to do the same with his already awake crew, trying to make his voice cover over the pirate captain's. Jack glanced back at him over his shoulder, amused that he would try to make such a little thing into a grave competition. Although. Jack was always up for a competition. He began barking his orders a bit louder, trying to make as much commotion as possible.
The boarding plank between the two ships was taken back onto the Golden Eagle and both ships began to make way. Kat was a little apprehensive about the noise from the barking orders and came up to tap Jack on the shoulder.
"Jack," he didn't hear her as he began telling off one of the crew members heading up into the ropes and glancing ever so often at Norrington, "Jack!"
Jack stopped and turned around on one heel toward Kat, "Aye luv?"
"What about the sleeping pirates?" Kat nodded her head toward the port making sure he got the message, "Will they not hear your boisterous arrival, along with Norrington's?"
Jack smiled and patted her on the back, "Even if they did luv, they ain't goin' to stop us. They wanted me to come 'ere, remember?"
"That's why I am so concerned," Kat put her hand on his arm and looked up into his eyes with worry, "I don't want to lose you again, especially if I can't find you again."
"And ye ain't goin' to lose me," Jack kissed her swiftly on the lips, "I promise ye."
Kat nodded and watched as he headed for the helm to steer the great ship into the port, hopeful not to hit any of the emerging rocks from below the waves. She dropped her head and looked at the wooden planks below her feet. She couldn't help but worry about him. These pirates were blood thirsty and no matter how many innocents they have already killed, they wanted to taste Jack's blood. And only his blood could sustain their thirst. She walked over to the railing toward the front of the Pearl and watched as the shoreline of Port Royal began to grow bigger and more detailed.
The houses that had once stood at the edge of the shore were completely demolished and resorted to rubble. Some houses even had the remnants of the furnishings that once decorated the home. In some piles the scene wasn't as pleasant as Kat could faintly see the outlines of dark stained bodies lying limp over the surviving kitchen tables of laying on the floor scattered with the stone pieces of their own homes. Some walls stood, but for no purpose; as they had failed to protect the people that once felt safe and happy behind their stone shell.
The land that once held some crops and orchards that had at one time flourished were all burned. Farmers had toiled to bring their crops to life after so many attempts before had failed. Now all their efforts were burned to the soil, some so bad that no one could scavenge what was left of it. The gardens that lit the plain white homes with color were all gone, either trampled or torn from the soil. Only a few flowers still grew and hung onto life at the edge of the grand homes, barely being able to suck the nutrients essential to their life from the soil below the ground.
As they passed into the small docking portion of the port and no cannons went off or fire at the two ships Kat began to study the new graveyard around her. Ships that ranged from merchant to the elegant British Naval ships were half sunk in the shallow waters of the port. Kat saw her once favorite merchant ship just off the sandy shore, stripped in half by what had to be by cannons. No doubt entered Kat's mind that there were still some innocent men on the ships as they sank into the waters with no escape readily available to them.
Back on the quickly approaching shore Kat could see stray dog and cats roaming and scavenging for any food that they could find. With all their owners possibly dead, they had no one to provide for them and they had to slip back into their primal instincts. Some dogs were fighting among themselves while others have grown into small packs to tackle trash receptacles and sniff through the rubble of each home. Cats seem to leap from street to street, alone and solitaire in their effort for life. If the animals were reduced to live like this, how were the people that survived living?
Kat shook her head as she found that she had begun to cry once again. She wiped the tears from her eyes and cleared her throat. She had to stay strong for the crew and for Jack. She cannot have him worry about her when he should be focusing more on how he was going to make it through these circumstances. She pushed away from the railing and walked straight up to the helm where Jack was focusing on sliding the Pearl into a slot near the shore, where the new Interceptor once floated.
Kat hesitantly took a step next to Jack and looked back over the destroyed port, "We have to find everyone, Jack. We just have to."
"Don' worry, luv. We will find them," Jack stood rigid and unmoving, except for his hands steering the ship. Kat could tell that he too was trying to suppress feelings of sadness, and more than likely a little guilt.
***
As soon as the ships were docked and secured Norrington took most of his crew and Jack's crew toward the now crumpled naval fort that once stood strong on the edge of the port. As Jack and Kat led their crew through the streets, trying to keep their eyes from taking in too many of the sights, they- both in their own ways- tried to comfort one another. Jack put his arms around Kat's waist and Kat let her head lean on Jack's shoulder. They were both worried about their family and friends; with only thirty-eight survivors, it didn't look so good for Will, Liz and Harriet along with their families.
Kat could hear the crew make comments about the raid that had taken place. Most were amazed by the damage and knew that the Harbinger's crew wanted something, something big. No one crew would do this much damage in a simple raid. Most crews would only take gold, and maybe if their code didn't prohibit it, some women. But this destruction only came from a desperate crew. One that seemed more desperate than Barbossa's. Anamaria and Gibbs followed Kat and Jack closely, looking for any corner that could turn into an ambush or any peak that could turn deadly. None of the crew members, except Gibbs, really had seen the port in its prime, except for what they saw from the Pearl. All of them stayed on the Pearl when Jack had tried to drop Kat off the last time they were here.
Norrington's men could be seen up ahead, staying in their uniform lines and ranks. Kat smirked a little to herself thinking how easy it seemed to kill all of them with a rain of shots if they were to be attacked at that moment. Meanwhile, the Pearl's crew where in scattered sets. They didn't stay in any particular order, and many were jumpy with good reason. If a port as protected as this could be reduced to this level with just one pirate ship and one crew, that crew must either be very good, or be a force not to be recon with.
Norrington made his way into the old fort and was followed by his and the Pearl's crew. He ordered that his crew stay outside his old office and guard the surrounding perimeter for the other pirate crew or anything that seemed out of order. Only his second in command was allowed into the conversation that would take place between him and the pirates. Jack allowed Gibbs and Kat to come into the old office with him while the rest of his crew stayed under Anamaria's commands and rested as well as they could. The five people entered the old office, but found that the room wasn't cramped and all of them had seating room.
"Please," Norrington gestured to the chairs that were in front of the desk and sat down in the plush chair that belonged to the late commodore.
Jack pushed a chair forward for Kat and she accepted it with a small smile. Jack took another chair and looked at Gibbs who shook his head and waved his hand.
"I'd rather stand if it be all righ' with ye, cap'n," Gibbs looked over at Norrington's second in command who also declined to sit. Although everyone silently agreed that he was never offered a chair in the first place.
"Suit yerself, Gibbs," Jack shrugged his shoulders and sat in the chair he was holding and leaned toward Norrington's desk and smiled, showing off his few gold teeth, "So wha' are we actually lookin' at 'ere, Norrington?"
Norrington took a deep breath and looked down at the papers stacked in front of him, "They seem to be impossible to stop."
"That isn't righ'," Jack said, "Ye know as well as I do tha' every ship and crew has their soft spot to exploit."
"They are unstoppable, Sparrow," Norrington started to growl under his breath, angered that Jack didn't believe his statement.
"Unstoppable?" Kat questioned, stopping her husband from making another comment, "Can you please clarify?"
"They cannot die," Norrington looked at Jack who started to become enthralled with his words, "Even if they are hit with a cannonball square in the chest."
Jack looks over at Gibbs who had the same expression of fear and confusion on his face. Kat looked at the two men from the Pearl with her own confusion. All of them had some knowledge that she was lacking. Jack looked back at Norrington with a now beyond mad expression.
"Are ye tellin' me tha' they had discovered the Aztec gold?" Jack was standing up from his chair now, trying to express his enraged attitude.
"I believe so," Norrington said looking back down at the papers that were scattered on the desk.
"Wait a moment. Aztec gold?" Kat broke in, "Jack, you cannot be serious. I thought you had told me that it was destroyed."
"As far as I knew it was," Jack didn't take his eyes from Norrington, "I told Norrington over there to get rid of tha' cursed treasure when we were sailin' back to me first hangin'."
"I didn't think much of it," Norrington diverted his eyes to the far wall.
"Than wha' were ye thinkin', Norrington? Ye know how many pirates 'ave 'eard of tha' legend?"
"It seemed like complete nonsense to me," Norrington finally looked back Jack, "A cursed treasure? Please."
"Than how do ye explain all the events tha' 'ad happened, then?" Gibbs piped up from behind Jack and Kat.
"Stories," Norrington simply answered, "Remember I was never there when they were actual 'skeletons'. And when they were, they immediately become human again, and I killed the first of them. I felt they were still human."
"So ye decided to totally forget 'bout it and wait 'til Port Royal was hit and its population nearly demolished to do anythin' 'bout it?" Jack asked, nearly yelling at the naval commander.
"I didn't think-"
"Yeah, I 'eard tha' excuse. Give me another tha' actually would clear yer name," Jack kicked his chair to the side of the room and threw the door open. Gibbs followed after him and started to inform the crew on the situation. Kat sat in her chair for a few seconds before standing and started to walk toward the door to go after her husband.
"I did all I could with what I believed," Norrington offered as Kat neared the door.
Kat turned and faced Norrington, "Just because he is a pirate captain doesn't mean that all he says is nonsense."
"That wasn't what I believed."
"And look where it has brought you," Kat turned back toward the door, "If I had learned anything from Jack, it was to be cautious, not unbelieving. He may be a pirate, but sometimes when I look at him and consider a mountain of things that have happened. I know that he is the most honest person I know."
"So now what do we do?"
"We do whatever we can," Kat stepped out of the office and ran after Jack.
"Which isn't much," Norrington mumbled.
"What now, sir?" his second in command asked.
"We wait. As soon as the pirate comes back, we take him to see the survivors. Then we wait for a plan to form. It's all we can do," Norrington stood and walked outside to talk with his crew.
***
"Jack!" Kat caught up with Jack down the road from the fort and stood in front of him, "Jack, it isn't wise to walk about in this port with midmorning coming. You know perfectly well that the Harbinger's crew in gathered somewhere around and that they have you marked as the ultimate prize."
"It wasn't particularly wise to leave tha' gold knowin' wha' it could do," Jack said looking away from Kat.
"I agree," Kat said hugging him, "But just because Norrington was a bloody idiot doesn't mean that you should be out by your lonesome."
Jack hugged her back, wrapping his arms around her back, "So ye be givin' me yer company?"
"Exactly," Kat smiled up at him, "You told me that story I don't know how many times. I absolutely loved it each time, but I never could really relate it to real life. But now. seeing all this, it is so real. so close."
"Aye," Jack looked at the buildings that were now dramatic, now distorted, "It's just tha' I told him to get rid of tha' treasure. It would bring nothin' but death, and he didn' believe me."
"I guess we found out what he was holding back, aye?"
"Aye.Well, we should head back."
"Are you feeling up to facing Norrington with out punching him to a bloody pulp?"
"I think I can handle the urge."
"That means that I have all the shots at him then," Kat smiled again at him, trying to brighten his mood. Jack began to chuckle a little and they both walked back toward the old naval fort.
After they had gotten back, many of Jack's crew seemed edgy, since they had experienced a cursed crew before, and weren't looking forward to facing another one. Even under these circumstances, all of them followed Jack. They were not going to mutiny, or abandon their captain. They were better than that. They had to hold to their own code, the code that held the crew of the Black Pearl.
Norrington had only a select number of his crew follow him with Jack's crew around the town to the hiding area of the survivors while the others went in a completely different direction, to keep the Harbinger's crew guessing, just in case they were watching. On the way to the hiding place, the group walked by the Benikin's estate that looked exactly like the one Kat had grown up in. When she saw it she stopped dead in her tracks and looked over every detail. It was the same from the window etchings to the garden out front.
Norrington noticed this and walked back toward her, "The Benikin's estate."
"I have heard of it," Kat said softly, turning her head away from the structure, "But I had thought it was in another one of the outer lying cities. Not in Port Royal."
"It originally was," Norrington looked at Jack who gave him a suspicious glance, "This is an identical copy in memory of Arthur Benikins and his daughter Katerina Benikins who were told to have died at the hands of the Harbinger's crew. That is a big coincidence, don't you think?"
"Yes, very," Kat looked at him and then back at the estate where she could have sworn a smaller version of herself was playing on the steps leading up to the doors. She could see the fine fabric on her small dress flow and ripple with her movements. Her mother was at the top of the stairs near the entrance. The young girl ran up to the woman's open arms and was swung around. She could hear the giggles that came from the happy, young girl. Kat turned away quickly and looked up at Jack. He gave her a concerned look and she gave him a small reassuring smile.
"You know, I never understood why Mrs. Harriet Blener built this grand house for only her family. It seemed like a waste of her new fortune from her uncle," Norrington commented.
"No, she probably saw it as a great tribute to lost family," Kat smiled to herself, "I know what it feels like to lose family. I would want to do the same."
"I see," he said in a thoughtful tone, "Well, I should head to the front again."
Before he began to walk up to the front where his second in command was leading one of his men came toward the back and saluted him, "Sir, there is someone out in the gave yard around the back of the estate."
"Who is it?"
"It is hard to say, but it seems to be a female," the solider put his saluting hand down.
Kat's eyes grew and she began to run full force toward the graveyard. If the estate was an exact duplicate from her old estate than she knew exactly where to go. She rounded the corner and saw an outline of a woman hunched over in front of a tombstone. She slowed her pace and began to walk slowly toward the shivering form.
The woman had a dark burgundy dress on, with her brown hair up in a bun, secured tightly on her head. As Kat came closer, she realized that the woman wasn't shivering, she was crying. The woman extended a hand to touch the stone and tried to dry her tears with her other hand. Kat stopped abruptly as the woman raised her head to see who was disturbing her in her time of grievances.
Kat's breath seemed to stop as she saw that it was Harriet staring back at her. Harriet seemed a little older, her eyes were swollen with tears and her frame seemed so frail. But her eyes, even as swollen as they were, still held that bright hope that Kat remembered. The frail Harriet pushed herself off the ground as her breath started to increase in her breast. She steadied herself and finally got the energy to speak.
"K- Katerina."
Kat smiled as tears started to show in her eyes and slowly nodded her head, "I told you I always enjoyed a good challenge, Harriet."
Harriet coughed out a small cry of happiness and ran over to hug her long lost cousin, "God! Thank goodness you are here. How I've missed you."
Kat and Harriet sunk down to the ground in a hug, "Thank goodness they spared you. I heard that there were only thirty-eight survivors. I had thought the worst."
"Well, not everyone was as lucky, if you call this existence lucky," Harriet said dryly.
"What are you talking about? Shouldn't you be in hiding with Olivia and Robert?"
Harriet kept her eyes away from her cousin and nodded toward the tombstone she was touching only a few moments ago. Kat let go of her momentarily and stepped in front of the tombstone trying to prepare her self for what she saw. As soon as she saw the name etched quickly on the stone she covered her mouth as a sob escaped her lips.
She turned toward Jack, Gibbs, Anamaria and Norrington as they ran around the house, now able to catch up with Kat. Jack saw Harriet on the ground still sobbing a bit and then found Kat over by the tombstone. Kat looked at him and rivers of tears made their way down her cheeks. He went over and hugged her tightly, finally seeing the name upon the stone.
"Oh no." Jack murmured and held Kat tightly in his arms and she grabbed his arm tightly.
"Why." Kat asked choking on her tears, unable to get the name out of her mouth.
"We should head to the hiding area," Norrington said softly.
"Give them time, Norrington," Jack glared up at the naval commander, "Ye owe them tha' much."
Norrington only nodded stiffly and headed over to the collapsed form of Harriet, to help her stand. Jack brushed Kat's hair and started to rock her in his arms.
"It's goin' to be all righ', luv. I promise," he kissed the top of her head and as she stared blankly at the stone in front of her, with only one thought going through her mind.
'Why?'
A/N: Sorry, I had to leave it on a type of cliff hanger. Whose name is on the tombstone? Who did Kat and Harriet lose? Check up next time for the fourth chapter. Sorry it took so long, I had a lot of things on my plate, but I'm hoping to update the next chapter earlier than this one took.. Or I can just leave you dangling for another month.. But that would be inhumane. Just keep checking and I will update soon. And remember, review!
^-~Ana
