Chapter Three: Earning Her Keep and Cabin Boys
Disclaimer: I own nothing 'cept Miss Mary and Auburn. (My, these get quite annoying. I'd think you'd get the point by now).
The rest of Jack Sparrow's day was busy, to say the least. It took him much longer than he would have liked to find his crew, or the few that still wanted to journey on with him.
'Can't force a person to go with you,' Jack reminded himself, following the last of his now mere ten person crew up onto his ship. He gave out orders gruffly, eying the sun that was already high in the sky. He had wasted enough daylight already.
"Gibbs!" the captain barked, checking his compass and turning the wheel accordingly.
"Yessir?" Gibbs called back, tying off a freshly unfurled sail.
"How long will our current supplies keep us?"
"Last I checked, cap'n, about two months."
"And the rum?"
"Depends on who's drinkin' it," Gibbs chuckled, turning to help a younger recruit who was having some difficulty tying the other side of the sail. They pulled hard against the rope as a fresh breeze puffed out the grey-black canvas, opening it in all, what Jack thought to be, detested glory.
Just as evening licked the horizon, the Black Pearl had cleared any sight of land. Jack had spent most of the day at the wheel, lazily keeping it on course and enjoying the view that the poop deck gave him of the open waters, reminding him this was the life he was borne to lead. He dismissed the crew to the galley for supper, swung a noose around the wheel to keep her set on course, and headed to his cabin, just after making a pit stop below deck to grab a bottle of rum.
The memory of Mary came flooding back to him only after he had opened his cabin and took a few steps in, seeing her lying on his bed, comfortable as all-get-out, reading. The girl jumped up off the bed guiltily when she heard him.
"What're you doin', little missy?" Jack asked, amused she was still a bit wary of him. 'She should be; I'm Captain Jack Sparrow." He thought with a bemused smile.
"N-nothing, Mr. Jack. Just being good like you told me."
"What'cha got there then?" He nodded towards the bed.
"Oh!" the girl cried, guilty and frantic. "I didn' mean t' go through yer stuff, honest, Mr. Jack, but it'd been so long since I read 'cause Tia was too poor to have books an' I only gots to read when a passing ship would dock an' they'd brings books an' the Bible an' all sorts of things tha' had words and I just wanted t' see if'n I could still read! An' yer bookshelf was such a mess, I jus' wanted t' see what books ye had! I didn' mean to pry, honest, Mr. Jack!"
The man chuckled and smiled at the girl. "No need t' be apologizin' Mary."
This seemed to calm the little one and she picked up the book and brought it over to him. "I can't quite understand what this passage means though, Mr. Jack. Do y' think y' can help me with it?"
Jack's eyes widened at he gazed upon the parchment, unknown symbols and letters scrawled across the pages. "Uhm, maybe later, okay luv? Time for supper."
The girl's eyes widened, his reaction quickly put into perspective. "Y' don' know how t' read, do ye, Mr. Jack? I thought all white grown-ups could!"
Jack shook his head. "Not this 'un, luv. I was too busy learnin' how t' sail and stay out from under the eyes of the law. Ole' Jack hasn't always had such a cushy life."
"What 'bout yer mumses? Didn' ye go t' church or nothing? They teach ye how t' read there."
"Oh sure this black-hearted soul was baptized when I was just a wee 'un, but I haven't set foot in a church since then…. 'cept that one time," he paused in lucid memory smirking, his eyes glittering with mischief. "But that was ages ago."
"Then I'll teach ye. Promise." Mary smiled at him, blue eyes glittering with pride.
"Agreed luv. Now, how 'bout some supper? You must be famished." Just as Jack finished his sentence, there was a knock on the door. "Enter," Jack called.
A young boy, about twice as old as Mary, walked in with a tray filled with food. He shook nervously. "Mr. Gibbs said y' liked t' eat in y' cabin, sir," he said, his accent a deeper and thicker version of Mary's. Jack racked his brain a minute, now seriously wanting to know the origin of it and became disgruntled when nothing came to him.
"Aye, thank you, son. Set it on the desk, there's a good lad. What's yer name boy, anyways? We picked you up in that little port in Caicos, did we not?"
"Aye sir, y' did. Auburn's me name." Jack's eyebrow rose, causing the boy to continue quickly. "Not me fault, sir, blame me mum. She was told I was a girl when I was born but soon realized the mistake. Names last a lifetime, though, y'know."
"Uh huh…" Jack replied slowly. "Well, welcome aboard, cabin boy. This 'ere," he pointed to Mary, "is Miss Mary. When I'm busy, you are in charge of her. Anything happens to her boy, and worse things will happen to you, savvy? She's precious cargo so take care of her."
The boy nodded feverishly.
"Good, then you are dismissed Auburn." The boy took off, quick as his feet would carry him.
"That wasn't very nice, Mr. Jack. Y' scared the poor boy away. Now he'll never want to be my friend." Mary told him seriously.
"Aye, he'll get over it, missy. Now, come 'ere and eat some of this but stay outta me rum."
"Your whot?"
"Me drink, luv. Rum fer me, water fer you." It was simply a stroke of luck that Tom, the cook, had provided a mug of water along with the meal. It was well-known that Jack rarely drank anything other than rum but water was always useful while it was good, especially to soften the hardtack.
The girl walked over to the table and took a piece of the bread and pulled off a piece of the meat that was lying on the tray. Jack observed her eat the small portion discreetly as he ate his share, leaving some more left her. She needed it more than he did anyways.
"Now, Mary, lass, I'm takin' first watch tonight." Jack told her when they were both done eating. "I need you to stay here. Practice yer reading or whatever you young'ns do when night time comes."
The thought of the little girl needing to sleep completely slipped his mind. Jack never slept; he merely passed out from drink or exhaustion, or both. The place he did it was mere detail. But the girl simply nodded.
"Don' worry yerself, Mr. Jack. But don' stay out all night, ye need yer sleep too." She replied sternly, placing two fists on her hips like a mother would. Jack sighed and smiled at her, wondering exactly how much hen-pecking courage she had in her.
'No wonder Gibbs fears women onboard and curses them as bad luck,' he thought to himself, rising from his seat and grabbing his hat and bottle. "'Night now, Miss Mary, I'll see ye in the morn."
"'Night, Mr. Jack!" Mary called as he shut the door quietly. The rest of the crew were sleeping already as the dusk had turned into the dark of night, only the stars and the bright half-moon to guide them now. Jack gazed up at the dark heavens and pin-pointed his dog, Polaris, turning the wheel just a touch more east to keep them going straight.
'She's not such a bad thing,' hemused, taking a sip of his drink. 'She might just prove herself yet.' Then his thoughts turned to the new cabin boy, Auburn. Jack's eyebrow's furrowed; he didn't remembering seeing such a fiery head of hair board that morning. 'Oh well, we needed a cabin boy anyways. As long as he don't get himself into trouble, I don't care where he comes from.'
Jack leaned against the wheel, his eyes drooping. Something about how the ship was rocking him and the sullen way the moon shone off the water made him sleepy. He yawned, knowing his watch wasn't quite up yet. The captain flipped open his compass, eyes flickering from the needle up to the moon. "Two hours yet, bugger," he muttered, trying to stifle a yawn.
Suddenly, Jack's ears perked. That creak didn't sound like the normal ones his 'Pearl made at night. His posture became more erect and alert as he looked around, inspecting the entire ship and her shadows from his current station behind the wheel. There was silence, and then a pair of arms came swiftly around his waist, surprising him and causing him to jump out of his skin.
"Tag, you're it!" A young, mischievous voice cried, the pattering of footsteps echoing out onto the ocean entwined with a rippling giggle.
Not my favourite chapter, to be honest, but I'm kind of at a lack of ideas. I know where I want this to go and I know what needs to happen for it to get there but it just seems like no one's really interested in it sigh. Oh well, review even if you didn't like it so I know whether to continue or not.
Cheers!
Puck
