Chapter Five
"And that's what we're going to do," said Isobel. She looked out of her window. Between small talk, catching up, and his interruptions, it had taken her almost the whole day to explain what was going on. They were sitting in her room and it was almost dark. James would be here soon. That thought made her smile.
"Well," said Jon after a moment, "If that what ye be doing, lassie, my men and I are going with you. Two people cannot man a ship by themselves. There are 6 of us including me. That should help you out a bit."
She smiled even wider and laid a hand on her friend's shoulder. "It will," she said happily, "Thank you." This day had turned out to be somewhat productive. Their plan wasn't looking so hopeless.
Just at that moment a knock came on the door. Jon stood up and pulled out a long knife. "Who is it?" Isobel asked nervously. The door opened a crack and James poked his head in. Jon lunged at him with a knife, and James drew his short sword. "Put those weapons away, both of you!" Isobel exclaimed, pulling James the rest of the way through the door and pushing Jon away from him. "Fool men," she muttered shaking her head, "You think with the hair on your chests and not your brains." Neither of the men appeared to be abashed at the scolded. She gave an exasperated sigh and motioned for both of them to sit down at the room's small table. She took a seat beside James and turned to him. "James, this is a friend of mine," she said motioning to Jon, "His name is Jon Harfor. Do you remember when I told you that one man survived when my father's ship was attacked? This is him. He is going to help us." She turned to Jon. "And, Jon, this is the man I told you about. James Norrington, my rescuer." She smiled fondly at James and he held her hand under the table.
"Well," Jon said nodding, "If you saved our Izzy, then you're a friend of mine. I never had any children of my own, and she has always been like a daughter to me." He pulled out his knife again, and his eyes took on a dangerous gleam. "But if I find you ever hurt her or betray her…" He let his words trail off. Isobel rolled her eyes.
"I would as soon kill myself," James said seriously, "You'll find the same thing waiting for you if you ever hurt her."
"Oh for heaven's sake, men!" Isobel exclaimed, "Can you not at least pretend to be civil in front of me." They both continued to stare at each other. She decided a change of subject would work best. She turned James's face so he was looking at her. "Did you find out anything at the docks?"
He blinked in surprise. "Oh! Yes, I nearly forgot. The Traveler is setting sail Wednesday morning. That's in two days. If we can get there very early, before first light, the crewman will already have the ship prepared, and all we have to do is leave. Of course, there is always the matter of overtaking whatever guards and sailors are there."
Isobel bit her bottom lip in thought. "Yes, well, we do have 6 more men now. Maybe together we can overpower whoever is there. We will have to count on it. Jon, do all of your men have weapons?"
Jon nodded. "Aye, lass, we were able to salvage some of those from the ship before we had to get in the life boat."
"Do you have any extra?" she asked hopefully. Jon shook his head and she growled. Too much to hope for. "Then I have a task for you tonight."
Jon nodded good-naturedly. "Anything you say that's within my power."
"Good. I want you to go to the local blacksmith and get me some weapons. I need…" She trailed off counting how many knives she usually carried. She used to keep one up each of her sleeves, one tucked into each of her boots, and four on the inside of her coat. All were easy to access in times of need. "Eight knives." Jon whistled through his teeth, and James raised his eyebrows. She went on, ignoring them. "And a sword if you can get one. I don't have any money right now, but if you'll pay for it, I can pay it back as soon as I get the money."
"I think I have the money," he replied rising from his seat, "I'll go see about them right now. Goodnight, lass."
"I'll still need some proper clothes," she muttered as the door closed behind him.
"Are you sure you have to stop wearing the dresses?" James asked with a grin, "They… complement you very well."
Isobel raised one eyebrow. "You had better watch what you say when I get my knives," she told him, "I am afraid you will find out how skilled I am with them before long."
"I was only saying," he said defensively.
Isobel leaned over and kissed him slowly. She knew that she shouldn't be so forward with him, but she couldn't resist. She closed her eyes and enjoyed the taste of his mouth. After a moment, she slowly drew back and opened her eyes. James took her hands and kissed her finger tips.
"What was that for?" he murmured against her palms after a moment.
She smiled dreamily and made an effort to catch her breath. Being this close to him seemed to have that kind of effect on her. "Did you not like it?" she asked playfully after a moment.
Instead of answering he pulled her chair closer to him and kissed her passionately. After he released her lips, leaving her quite breathless, he pulled her from her chair and urged her onto his lap. She hesitated only a little before wrapping her arms around his neck and kissing him quite thoroughly. What was a little fun going to hurt them anyway? They sat like that for a while, kissing and laughing and talking softly. James became rather bold in his caresses. One of his hands, which before had rested safely on her waist, was working its way up towards her breast. She felt her breathing begin to quicken. She was so lost in his touch that she almost failed to notice when her door banged open. Jon rushed into the room barely pausing enough to look embarrassed about what he might have walked in on if he had come a few moments later.
"Didn't anyone ever teach you to knock?" James growled as he pulled away from her. Despite the fact that she was very fond of Jon, at the moment Isobel wished she had had her knives handy.
"Isobel," that made her stand up. Something was wrong. Jon never called her by Isobel; it was always Izzy or lass. "There's trouble. We have to make a change of plans."
"What!" she demanded as she almost knocked over the table trying to run to him. She reached up and grabbed him by the collar. "Trouble? What kind of trouble? What do you mean 'make a change of plans'?"
He took her hands from his collar and said, "One question at a time, girl!" He paused and sighed heavily. James had walked to stand beside her. The only emotion he showed was his hand tightening and loosening on the hilt of his sword.
"Well, out with it!" he demanded after a moment.
"A few of my men," Jon said in a rush, "Well they were in a tavern having a drink. So were some navy sailors. They had a few drinks and there was a fight."
Isobel groaned. Why? Why now when everything was going according to plan?
Jon continued. "A few of the sailors were killed. Needless to say my men are being hunted. We cannot risk staying in Port Royal longer. We will all be found out. Tonight is the night."
James slammed his fist into the wall. "How could you let that happen?" he asked furiously. He sighed and fell silent for a moment. No one spoke. He appeared to be thinking. Finally he spoke quietly, "How quickly do you think we can make ready a ship?"
Jon's brows furrowed in thought. "I'm not sure," he said after a moment, "It depends on how fast we work, and how soon we get to the docks."
James nodded. Then he turned to her. "Are you sure you want to do this, Isobel?" he asked as he took her hands.
Isobel bit her bottom lip in anxiety and thought. She knew she wanted to avenge her father. To kill Blackeye had been her mission since that fateful night. But it was just so sudden. She knew what she had to do though. She gave James's hand a squeeze. "Yes," it surprised her that her voice was steady, "Are you sure that you still want to help me?"
The fact that he did not hesitate at all almost brought tears to her eyes. "Without a doubt," he said firmly, "I would die for you."
Jon seemed to be fed up with the romance. "Well," he growled irritably, "You may very well have to do that yet, lad. And if we don't go soon, you will certainly have to do that. So I would suggest we gather our things and make way." He paused and handed a sack he had been carrying to Isobel. To her surprised delight, in it were two regular sized knives, one long one that was not quite long enough to be called a sword, and some men's clothing complete with a belt to hold the long knife in. "Don't ask me where I got those," Jon said, holding up his hands and giving her an innocent look, "As far as you know, I got all of that in a totally honorable fashion." He knew that she had never liked to steal from civilians. She limited her thievery to treasure and things of that sort, but at that moment she didn't care. She had weapons and clothes to wear.
"Thank you, Jon," she said hugging him tightly. "Let me go change, and I will be ready to go."
"My men are waiting outside," he said with a nod, "I will go out with them. Be as quick as you can."
"I will wait with them so you can get ready in privacy," James said. He almost leaned in to kiss her, but he glared at Jon and pulled away. Instead he squeezed her hand and followed Jon out of the door.
James stood outside of the inn with the 6 pirates. Even though Isobel was a pirate and he loved her, he was not sure that he could get along with these fellows. He was not so sure that they could get along with him other. One large burly man with tangled gray hair and bad teeth kept giving him murderous looks as he eased his sword in and out of its scabbard. James kept a hand on the hilt of his own sword just in case.
The door opened and Isobel walked out. Even though she was in dirty men's clothes, she still took his breath away. Her red hair fell loose from a floppy black hat that was falling over one eye. The clothes fit better than the ones that she had been given on Seaspray. There was knife hanging from the belt around her slim waist.
"Okay," she said a little breathlessly, "Let's go." They began walking briskly toward the docks. They split up and stayed hidden in the shadows. James walked with Isobel the whole way. Across the street he could see Jon and two other men. He wasn't sure where the other three were. He noticed that Isobel still had the sack with her.
"Why do you still have that?" he whispered, gesturing to the sack.
She jumped at the sudden noise. She was so nervous. He thought he could hear her heart beat. She cleared her throat. "Oh," she whispered back, "I didn't want to leave your mother's dresses." She looked over and smiled at him. It was a shaky smile, but it was a smile nonetheless. "I figured that after this is all over, and I take you back to Ireland with me, I can still wear them."
He smiled widely in the darkness. He was glad she was planning on going back to Ireland and giving up being a pirate. All the better that she was planning on him being with her. If they weren't so rushed he would have pulled her into a corner and kissed her senseless. Instead he reached out and placed a hand on her back to comfort her as they walked. "It will be alright," he murmured softly.
She let out all of her breath in a rush. "I hope so," she whispered breathlessly.
After what seemed like forever, the docks came into view. James and Isobel gathered with the 6 other pirates in a secluded area of the street where they had a good view of the docks, but no one there could see them. Two sailors with muskets and swords were guarding the Traveler. James assumed they would still be taking it.
After they had devised a plan, James and Isobel waited while Jon and another member of his crew snuck up behind the two guards. Luckily they didn't make a sound as the two pirates slit their throats.
"If we're quiet," said one of the other men in a gruff voice, "We might have time to get out of here alive."
Isobel turned and glared at him. "Then I suggest," she growled in a low voice, "You be quiet, Finn." When the man nodded and she was satisfied, she turned around with a huff. She squinted in the direction of the boat. "Okay," she whispered excitedly, "Jon says that everything is clear. Come on."
Once they were all on the boat, they all began working as fast as they could to ready the ship. It was hard to be quiet, and James felt as if every sound they made was loud enough to wake the dead. The street behind them was clear every time he looked over his shoulder.
When they had the Traveler ready to set sail, James heard the sound of shouts and running. At least a dozen navy men were running towards the ship, yelling. One man in the front lifted his gun and aimed it. James whirled around and saw that Isobel was standing behind him. With a yell, he jumped and pulled her down to the deck just as he heard the gun go off.
"Stay down!" he commanded Isobel firmly. She appeared to want to get up anyway, but she stayed down. James crawled over to the side of the boat and peered up. As soon as his head popped up, a bullet whizzed by his ear. He took out his gun and began shooting. He saw two men go down. After what seemed like hours, but could not have been more than a few seconds, the ship began to move. James kept on shooting. One more man went down. Soon the men fell back. They wouldn't be able to stop them now, but he knew that they would certainly come after them. He felt a pang of sadness at having to kill his own men, but he knew that he would kill however many men he had to, to be with Isobel. He stood by the railing of the ship with Isobel watching the place where he had grown up disappear into the night.