Usual Disclaimers: I own nothing…not even a measly poster…although I can lay claim to the characters that have sprung for my own warped sense of humor…pitiful though they are.
Chapter 10: The Battle and the Fallout
The capture of the small French merchant ship was straightforward. Their crew barely put up a fight. Their holds were bursting with supplies destined for Nassau Port. Adelaide was ecstatic they had been blown off course into the path of the Midnight's Dove. Her mental calculations now put them at least in the running to win the wager against Sparrow. The crew of Midnight's Dove was cutting the ties between the two ships when the call went up. Ship dead ahead. Adelaide scrambled back to her own ship. At least they had gotten all the cargo they needed and the manifest that was required for the wager. Her crew was hurrying to get heir newly acquired cargo below decks so that they could deal with this new threat or potential prey.
She ran across the deck to the port side to see the Hunter bearing down on them with amazing speed. There was no way that they would be able to get the Midnight's Dove underway before they came into firing range. She ran for the helm. They had no choice but to put up a fight. She had a sinking feeling that this was going to be her last stand.
"Clear for Action. Prepare for boarders, men." Adelaide took a deep breath and made her decision. It was now or never. She heard her orders being repeated down the line of command. It always amazed her how much a pirate ship functioned like one in the navy. Same orders, ranks and there was most of all the same danger involved. Her mouth was a firm, grim line. "And raise the red. No quarter given, men, we fight till death."
The resounding cheer that followed her words brought tears to her eyes. She blinked them back and prepared herself for the oncoming battle. Timothy came to stand at her side. "Let's kill the bastard this time."
Adelaide didn't blink. She shouted, "Roll out the guns…Fire at will."
The world around her erupted into cannon blasts.
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"Captain!" the frenzied shout brought Jack running from his cabin. One of the powder boys hung off the rigging and pointed off the starboard bow. "The Midnight's Dove is under heavy attack from the Hunter. She's flying her red, sir."
Jack grabbed his spyglass. The scene before him was gruesome and bloody. The Midnight's Dove had taken heavy cannon fire before being boarded. She was missing her mizzen mast and her remaining sails were in tatters. The crew of the Hunter grossly outnumbered that of the Midnight's Dove. But Adelaide's men were obviously better trained. Jack found Adelaide in his line of vision. She was fighting valiantly. Welding two cutlasses, Jack watched her thrust her blade into one of her attackers and with her other had take the dying man's pistol and shoot another of her attackers. Her white linen shirt was soaked with blood. He was frightened at the thought that some of it may actually be her own. "Gibbs," Jack shouted as he streaked toward the helm. "Alter course we are going to lend the Midnight's Dove assistance. The Hunter has stepped over the line by attacking what is my future property." And I want Adelaide alive to fulfill the requirements of the wager, Jack thought.
"Take what you get!" he shouted.
"Give nothing back!" The shouts of the Pearl's crew shook the air as they pulled along side the Midnight's Dove. Grappling hooks caught bringing the two ships together. His crew surged forward. Jack swung on to the deck; taking out one of the Hunter's crew with is pistol as he landed. He thanked the lord that the Hunter's crew was in uniform so that he could tell the difference between them and Adelaide's crewmen. It made this messy business of killing that much simpler.
The crewmen of the Hunter quickly began to retreat when they realized that the table had been turned and not only were they out numbered but these were fresh well trained opponents. The decks of the Midnight's Dove ran red with spilt blood. Jack fought his way to where he had last seen Adelaide. He heard her shout out the name Edgeworth and square off with a tall blonde man. He caught glimpses of her fighting desperately against him. Both of them were ruthless fighters but it showed that Adelaide was tiring. Jack struggled to make his way to her. Every time he got a clear path another attacker stepped in the way. With a grunt he dispatched the last man in his way. The sight before him made him freeze in fear.
Adelaide's opponent had disarmed her and was holding her by the front of her bloodstained shirt. Adelaide looked utterly defeated. Her arms hung limply at her sides. But the expression on her face was one of pure unadulterated hatred. She said something to Edgeworth; ending her statement by spitting in his face. Edgeworth back-handed her with the hilt of his sword and then grasped his sword correctly once more. Jack heart stopped when as he watched Edgeworth poise his weapon for a final blow. The scene was almost identical to when Jack had witnessed Adelaide's mother's death. Edgeworth whispered something in her ear and Jack stood transfixed in horror as he plunged his sword toward her chest.
Jack could almost see it in slow motion as every one on the Midnight's Dove deck lunged forward to where Adelaide and Edgeworth were standing. Jack was the first to reach them. All he could do was catch Adelaide as her body slid off Edgeworth's sword. Edgeworth raised his sword to attack Jack but found himself under assault from Timothy. Timothy shouted in rage as he bore down on Edgeworth. He took stock of the situation that most of his men were back on the Hunter trying to deflect boarders. Edgeworth gave one final blow, knocking Timothy back one step, and took off running to get back to the Hunter. The ties were cut and it started to slip away from the Midnight's Dove.
Jack sat on the deck with Adelaide's blood pulsing over him. He pressed his hands against the wound trying to stem the flow of blood. He couldn't stop it. He suddenly felt thirteen again and this was not Adelaide in his lap but Lady Bridget. He felt Hands on his shoulders, just like the last time. He shrugged them off holding onto Adelaide as if his life depended on it. Gibbs' voice brought him back to the present. Timothy took off his shirt and pressed it to Adelaide's wound. "Captain? Captain, do we pursue the Hunter?"
Jack's voice was cold. "No. No, let the coward run. There will be no where far enough to keep him safe from me. For once I get my hands on him, he will die." Jack was distracted when Adelaide took a sharp ragged breath. "Luv, you're alive. Lie still we are going to keep you just that way."
"Jack," Adelaide's words were soft and slurred. "The Dove's yours. Please help my men get home. I-I am s-sorry."
She passed out and Jack gingerly lifted her into his arms. Her cabin was closer but he wanted her on the Pearl. He walked over a plank that had been set across the two ships. "Gibbs! Send Cotton to my cabin immediately. You and Timothy deal with our wounded. Adelaide must have a medic among her crew."
"Captain, what about the wounded enemy?"
Jack turned to face them. Blood was smeared across his face. His eyes were cold and his face blank. "Adelaide was flying the red. Kill them."
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Jack knelt next to his bunk. Adelaide looked so tiny under his blankets. Cotton had cleaned, stitched and dressed her wound. Edgeworth's blade had missed both her heart and her lung by a stroke of pure luck. Her breathing was shallow but steady. Jack took a fortifying breath and pressed her fingers to his mouth. He needed to pull himself together. He needed to see to getting the Pearl and the Midnight's Dove to a safe port so that Adelaide could get the proper care she needed in her condition. Cotton was a decent medic but Adelaide needed an actual doctor. Jack raised their joined hands to his forehead. He closed his eyes tightly, trying to fight off emotions he did not understand.
There was a soft knock at the door. He was needed on deck. He would send one of the crew to sit with Adelaide. Hopefully Cotton or the medic from the Midnight's Dove would be available. Jack stood slowly. He bent down and placed a soft kiss on Adelaide's forehead. His words were whispered harshly in the silence of the cabin, "You had better survive this Addy, dear. Because the moment you are healthy I am going to strangle you for this foolishness. What were you thinking, attacking a ship twice your size and so heavily crewed? Even the Pearl would have problems with those odds. You did not strike me as an idiot. What demon possessed you to want to die today?"
Knowing he would get no answers from an unconscious woman, Jack turned on his heel and strode out of the cabin. Cotton nodded to him as he came out the doorway and proceeded into sit with Adelaide without orders. The old man couldn't speak but he always seemed to know exactly what was expected of him. Jack braced himself for the grisly scene that awaited him aboard the Midnight's Dove. The bodies of the enemy had already been dispensed of, tossed into the sea without any words read over them. The sounds of sharks already attacking the remains sent a shiver down Jack's spine. No matter how long a man spent on the sea he could never rid himself of the fear of that shadowy predator.
Jack made the mistake of glancing down when he swung between the two ships. The water was stained a dark rusty black color. Blood, he thought blankly. They needed to get far from this place so that they could wash there decks and make repairs without the threat of sharks in the water. And most importantly lay their dead to rest. Jack was surprised to find that there were few of either Pearl or Dove crewmembers who had actually died in the fight. Plenty were wounded but they had survived the onslaught of the Hunter. He met Gibbs grim expression and scanned Timothy's tight features. Both men looked too worried for Jack to think that his only problem was Adelaide's condition. "Well, what's the damage to the Dove?"
Timothy's voice was strained with emotion. "She's sinking."
"What!" Jack had not been expecting this. Over all the Midnight's Dove did not seem to have sustained enough damage to be in immediate peril. He had not contemplated actually loosing Adelaide's ship.
"She is hulled. Two shots entered just below the water line on the port side. The ship is rapidly filling. I estimate we have little over an hour before she goes down completely, maybe a little more if we relieve her of the weight of her cargo."
"Then do so. Transfer all of the Midnight's Dove's cargo onto the Pearl. Gibbs, I want it kept separate from what we have taken in the last month. I do not want Adelaide accusing me of cheating on this damnable wager when she awakens. If there is no more room in the hold put it in the crews' quarters. If the weather holds, most of the crew can sleep on deck." Jack swaggered across the deck. "Remove everything from Captain Adelaide's cabin and transfer it to mine."
He stopped and looked at the two men. He spread his hands out in his customary semi-drunken way. "Well? What are you waiting for—the ship to sink? You, yourself, told me we have less then an hour…time is of the essence. Move."
Both Timothy and Gibbs began shouting orders to their respective crews. Jack supervised the activities for a while and then he wandered into Adelaide's cabin. Three members of the Midnight's Dove crew were busy filling trunks with all of Adelaide's belongings. Jack absently ran his fingers along the edge of her desk. He could easily imagine her here. The colors suited her. Deep blue, vibrant red, warm heavy yellow-gold contrasted against each other.
The drapes that hung at the windows felt like sunlight but their fabric was heavy enough to block light if needed. They reminded him that he needed to invest in some similar himself. After he had regained the Black Pearl from the traitorous hands of Barbossa he had wanted to rid his cabin of any traces of the darkness that had plagued his ship for the last decade. He had wanted as much light in his cabin as possible. Sunlight, moonlight, it made no difference. Now looking at Adelaide's cabin he realized that in trying to remove Barbossa's stink from the Pearl he had yet to leave his mark. The rest of the ship had been over hauled. New sails, a fresh coat of black paint, all new rigging and other equipment, but he had not refurnished the captain's cabin. He had just left it stark and bare. Well that was going to change.
"Bring the drapes, along with the bedding. Adelaide would not want to loose her possessions to that twit Edgeworth." His gaze fell on a couple of miniature portraits that were sitting on the desk. He picked one up of two handsome young men and three beautiful younger women. There was an obvious familial resemblance between all of the subjects. Jack narrowed his eyes. Something…he turned on his heel and strode out of the cabin and back out of deck. He spotted Timothy trying to organize the chaos on deck. The crew had fashioned a pulley to lift the cargo out of the hold and swing it over to the Pearl. Distracted by what he was seeing Jack forgot the portrait in his hand. The quality of the goods Adelaide had taken was remarkable. She was definitely giving him a run for his money. In the back of his mind Jack wondered if he actually had a chance at loosing this wager. He laughed at that. It didn't really matter at this point because Adelaide wouldn't have a ship to give him anyway when she lost. He sobered quickly. It was a shame. The Midnight's Dove was quite the ship. Jack would have been proud to have control of her. If they had the time he would have insisted they try to save her but time was running out and Jack needed to get Adelaide to a port city where she could get actual medical attention. Cotton was good for an emergency but Jack wanted her well looked after.
The question was where to go. Nassau was too far. Tortuga was close but he wouldn't trust his worst enemy in the hand of that butcher that called himself a doctor. He could try some of the Spanish islands in the vicinity but he did not think the arrival of the Pearl would be well received. The last thing he wanted was have to deal with fighting off Spaniards when Adelaide was dying. That left Port Royal and that would be a sticky situation trying to explain Adelaide presence on his ship. Maybe Timothy or Gibbs could give him a better option. Jack picked his way across the deck.
Timothy looked up from a list as Jack approached. "We are nearly finished, sir. It should not take more then twenty more minutes to transfer the last of the cargo to your ship." Timothy's voice was bitter. Jack under stood that, it was hard for a man to loose his ship. Especially when he had to watch it slowly sink into the depths of the sea. "Have the men finished with the Captain's cabin? She would not want any thing left behind."
"They should be finished about the time you are…what is your last name man or am I to call you Timothy like Adelaide?" Jack asked briskly. He was watching the progress of the cargo being lifted between the two ships. Adelaide had taken quite a few ships he thought as he eyed the cargo. How had she managed only to take those with high quality cargo?
"Timothy works fine." That was all Timothy said as he looked at Jack. His eyes narrowed when he saw the portrait in Jack's hand. "Captain Adelaide does not like her things touched, Mr. Sparrow."
"Captain, it is Captain Sparrow. And I do believe she will have to deal with it as all of her things will have to be touched to be moved to the Pearl. Other wise they will be going down with this ship." That shut Timothy's mouth. Jack grinned. "I was wondering if you would be so kind as to tell me who exactly is featured in this portrait. It caught my eye and I seem to remember Elizabeth saying that Adelaide was an only child."
Timothy took the portrait and studied it carefully. "I believe this was given to her grace by her friend Lady Emily last Christmas as a gift. It is of her and her siblings, minus her oldest brother, Earl of Exbridge. The captain and Lady Emily spend a great deal of time together when Adelaide is in England. She took Elizabeth's place as her best friend when the Swanns left for Jamaica. Along with the Montcliffe girls they cause quite the stir in the ton according to rumors."
"Really," Jack answered absently as he studied the portrait once more. It seemed that he had quite a lot of unanticipated surprises to deal with in regards to Adelaide. If she was this closely attached to the Exbridge hoard it could prove difficult for him later. He put those thoughts aside. He had more pressing matters to think of. He needed to get the Pearl on the move. The sooner they got way from these waters the sooner Adelaide would get the medical attention she needed. He watched the last of Adelaide's things being carried across the planks between the two ships. The Dove was rapidly loosing its sitting on the water. They needed to get away from here before she went down. Jack did not want to risk any damage to the Pearl from the Dove's masts as the ship sank. With silent Timothy he swung over to the Pearl. Jack ordered the crew to get the Pearl underway. "Gibbs, set the course for Port Royal. Head for the docks, not the bay we normally put into."
"Port Royal, Jack, the commodore will blow us to bits before we could even get close to the docks. That won't help the young miss none." He ducked his head slightly at Jack's sharp gaze.
"Then we will have to run up a flag of truce then won't we? Norrington should be curious enough to want to meet with me before he opens fire. Don't worry, mate."
"Aye, Captain."
"And it would be more like smithereens rather than bits, Gibbs." Jack swaggered back towards his cabin. Cotton stood as he entered. Jack looked at the old pirate blandly. "Any change in her condition?"
Cotton shook his head silently. His tongue had been cut out by pirates years before. Jack moved over to Adelaide's side. He picked up her hand. He could feel the heat move from her hand to his. She was still with him. Cotton's parrot squawked loudly. "Steady as she goes."
Jack jumped slightly at the bird's opinion. He glared at it. Damned bird was a nuisance. He wished he could get the damned thing off his ship but Cotton was very attached to the cretin. Oh the crosses he had to bear to keep this crew…
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Okay girls sorry for this taking so long…and I am not quite as comfortable with the quality of this chapter but I thought I had left you guys hanging long enough…I might make changes if I can't make this work…I need reviews so I can move on with this story…
Thank you all my reviewers: TwistsofShadows, and Skystrike26 are my newest editions…and of course all of my faithful: Freak in Corner, Immortal Captain Young, Elonna, TriGemini, lissa james, Rebel-Ravenclaw, Mean Girl, Nova Viper, tvmademma, Down2MarsGirl, jennifer123