The fire glowed in the small house. There had never been such a cold night in all history of the Caribbean. It did not seem to matter to the woman sitting with her child.
The woman smiled ear to ear as her child looked up in absolute awe at her mother. From the child's point of view, her mother was everything. She had light brown locks with small blonde highlights. Her eyes were as warm as the fire and her lips were as red as the rose.
There was a knock at the door. The mother looked up and carefully placed her child I a small cradle that sat next to her bed. The knocks became more and more urgent. She opened the door and was immediately shot in the chest.
The baby started crying scared at the noise. He even became more scared at the sight of her mother not moving on the floor.
A hooded figure stepped into the house and smiled when she aw the little girl in her crib. She gently picked her up and ran out into the night. Four men entered the room and picked up the mother's body and buried her by the garden outside.
Natalie gasped and immediately sat up. She looked around eyeing the letter and box next to her. She used the box to prop her leg up to keep it from hurting her
"Relax, it was a dream; nothing more nothing less."
Natalie knew deep down that was her mother. She felt horrible for only having one memory of her mother and that being she was shot. Why would Calypso kill her mother? She looked out onto the horizon the sun was coming up; deep hues filled the sky. She also saw what looked like a silhouette of a ship. The ship was not moving; it was caught on a rock.
"A ship!" Natalie exclaimed. She smiled she may find people that could help her. Natalie stood there in shock; this was her chance. She grabbed her box and letter and headed into the waves. She was going to have to swim out to the ship for she had no boat or dinghy. She grabbed a few pieces of wood to keep her things on and herself afloat.
"I will find a way to get home." She thought
It had taken almost all day to get to the vessel. Natalie held tight to her possessions and tried hard to stay afloat. Her body stung with pain, her ankle refused her leg from working. She panted and breathed heavily.
The sun was gone below the horizon with only a faint shadow of light that remained. Natalie could hardly see because the sun was gone and the salt stung her eyes. The waves pushed her against the rock the vessel was lying on. She grabbed a small place to put her hand and swung across to the top of one of the rocks.
Natalie sat atop the rock to catch her breath. She felt her head, the gash had reopened and blood drizzled out on to her face. Her nightgown was in tatters and her robe was muddy and torn.
Natalie looked down at the ship. It was broken in half and its sails were worn to shreds. Slowly, she made her way down to the deck. She limped across to a sailor crying into his hands. He held a rosary and seemed to be praying. Natalie dare not come near but she had to help him.
"Sailor!" she shouted.
He looked up; his face was almost completely covered in blood. He shivered and cried at first but then he smiled and stood up. Natalie cautiously backed away.
"I told you Amelia, we could get through the hurricane." He stammered.
Natalie was in terror; the man was hallucinating. He pulled forward and tried to grab her but Natalie had already limped away. She turned to find a man that had been drowned and was blue with ocean water. She screamed at the sight of him.
Natalie felt two strong arms grabbing her, she turned to see what it was. A man smiled at her and said, "Hello Pretty" That was it for her; using her good leg she kicked him in the waist causing him to hunch over in pain. She looked around to see sailors in all directions. Two grabbed her she struggled screaming and kicking with all her might. One tried to grab her box away.
"Stop!" she yelled. She punched him as he landed on the ground. More and more men tried to pull her down until she could no longer move. Natalie noticed the ship next to the broken vessel. It was huge, unlike an ship she had ever seen or imagined.
The men who were left on the broken vessel were being escorted on to the larger boat. Three strong sailors pulled Natalie onto the boat. She held tightly to her box not letting anyone touch it. The three men threw Natalie to the ground.
"Kneel!" one of the commanded.
Natalie looked at the people next to her. They had come off the ship that had been wrecked. They looked pale and tired; almost weak. Men looked at the survivors and especially at Natalie. She immediately began to push back against the railing.
"Alert the Captain!" one sailor shouted.
All became quiet except for footsteps. The men parted making a walk way. A man in a crimson shirt stood looking over each one of the men then turned to Natalie.
She had never seen such a man in all her years. He was tall and muscular and had dark brown hair that was wet. His brown eyes sparkled like jewels and seemed like they could melt away anything. Natalie eyed him; she was in awe of him.
He went down to the first man and talked to him. Natalie just watched, she had absolutely no idea what he was doing.
One by one he talked to the men until his eyes came upon Natalie. She backed away as he kneeled in front of her.
"Do you fear death?" he asked slowly.
"What a silly question to be asking someone who only has a sprain and gash in their head considering they went over waterfall." Natalie said matter-of-factly.
The man behind the captain looked up at this remark and just stared into Natalie's eyes. A few men behind him did the same. The captain looked at her in utter confusion.
"This boat you were on fell over a waterfall?" he asked.
"I was not on that vessel; I went over a waterfall and landed over there on that land." Natalie pointed over to the beach far off in the distance.
The man behind the captain tapped him on the shoulder and whispered something Natalie could not hear.
The captain looked down at the girl and bent down in front of her. He smiled and tried to touch her hands but Natalie pulled herself back in fright.
"I have questions too." Natalie stated.
The captain searched her eyes and looked at the first mate that was still in shock.
"Where am I and what ship am I on?" Natalie asked with a bit a fright in her voice.
"You are aboard the Flying Dutchman and are in the locker." The captain stated.
Natalie was shocked; she had heard of this place from Calypso.
"Am I dead?" she asked quietly
"No, amazingly you are still alive and well."
Natalie sighed a sigh of relief. "Well how do I get out?" she asked.
"Well don't you have the charts?" the captain asked.
"What charts?" Natalie questioned.
"The charts to the farthest gate…don't you have them?"
"No" Natalie stated. She realized she might never get home again.
The man behind the captain looked at him and knelt down beside the captain. They looked like almost twins even though one was older than the other.
"Son, she does not know how to get home; and we can't keep her here forever…Calypso would not like that." He said.
Natalie was startled by the mention of Calypso's name. She wondered why Calypso would send her here if could not stay. Natalie wanted to say Calypso sent her but something held her back.
"Calypso should not be bothered by someone who found their way to the Farthest Gate by themselves." Natalie stated. She moved forward a little knowing they would not hurt her.
Both the captain and first mate chuckled a little.
"Well then you obviously do not know Calypso." the first mate said.
Natalie was laughing inside herself. They obviously were true sailors.
"I could stay for a little while until I feel like going back." Natalie said.
She wanted to stay; something here made her comfortable.
The first mate and captain looked at each other; it seemed that they were willing to keep her.
"Alright you may stay until Calypso tells us otherwise." The captain said.
Natalie tried to stand up but winced; her leg was getting worse. The captain helped her up and told her to go to the galley; there were some things that she could do to keep it from swelling.
"By the way I am Captain Will Turner." He said politely.
Natalie smiled a little; he was very kind.
"I am Natalie Elizabeth; I have no last name that I am aware of." Natalie said.
"Sorry to hear that" he said.
"When I get back I will be able to find my long lost father." She said.
"He better be as kind as you are." He complimented.
She smiled at him. They locked gazes for a second. They both had big brown eyes that could melt anything away.
Natalie was not sure what she saw in him; but something was there.