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Tortuga

From his position at the table in the furtherest corner of the room he had an uninterrupted view of the entrance. He had sat in this same

spot for what seemed like hours and his patience was quickly wearing thin. Five brawls had broken out in the last hour alone and he

was thankful that his relatively secluded place had allowed him to remain undisturbed by the other patrons. One hand casually grasped

the glass of watered down rum the barman had served him while the other rested casually on his thigh, inches away from his cutlass. It

was not his first visit to the seedy Inn that serviced most of Tortugas more colourful inhabitants. He'd been here before. With Jack The

man's name left a bitter taste in his mouth and he felt a fresh surge of anger at the thought of him. It seemed almost surreal that this time

a week ago he'd been contemplating his future and a new life with Elizabeth. Now it seemed as if she was a world away, and not in the

comfort of her fathers house as she should be, but in a filthy, rat infested cell in bowels of Port Royals Prison. He had never felt so

helpless.

'Hullo love, you look lonely. Fancy a bit of company?' Will looked up at the sound and found himself looking into the eyes of tired

looking prostitue who'd seen better days. A wave of pity washed over him and he gave her a half smile.

'As tempting as the offer may be, I'm waiting for someone' he offered.

'Pity' her red lips pouted, 'Could've shown you a good time an all'.

A thought sparked to life in his mind and before the whore had a chance to wander away in search of more prospective business for

the evening, he asked her:

'Do you know of a man by the name of Captain Jack Sparrow?'

As soon as the words left his mouth it occured to him that asking this question may get him slapped.

'Know of him' she confirmed. 'Seems Jack's the topic of conversation tonight'.

'What do you mean?' He leaned forward feeling adrenaline course through him.

'O'heard someone else askin bout him earlier I did'

'Who?' He rose from his chair restraining the urge to grab the woman and shake her.

She turned until her back was all but to him and quicly scanned the smoke addled room until her eyes came to rest in the direction of the bar.

'See that young fella over there?' she pointed 'the one with the brown pants and ugly hat'

'What did he say?'

'Just asked after Jack is all. Wanted to know if anyone knew where he was. Made the mistake of asking Gisele too'

The name seemed familiar. 'Did she slap him?' he asked after putting two and two together.

'That she did my love'

'Thankyou' he offered moving away from her and towards the bar.

'If'n you get ya business done later...' she let the suggestion hang in the air between them.

'Maybe later' he murmured knowing it was a lie.

Her throat was on fire. She fought the urge to retch and held on to the bar for dear life. She had consumed three rums in the past half

hour and knew that very soon she would either pass out or bring up her dinner, both effective ways of losing her cover. 'At least I don't

appear out of place' she thought, grateful that the room was bustling with people. The extra numbers helped her hide in plain sight.

She'd been pushed, shoved and knocked to the ground from the melee that had broken out and felt battered and bruised in places she

didn't know existed. And to top it all off nobody seemed to have any idea where her father was. Not that she let on about her

parentage, that would be folly. Getting a straight answer out of anyone here seemed near impossible. They were either too busy

drinking, already drunk or had their minds occupied with other forms of entertainment. For not the first time that night she felt a

heaviness settle on her and wondered if she'd made the biggest mistake of her life coming here. Feeling the burn of the rum leave her

throat and settle across her chest, she took a deep breath. Tomorrow, she promised herself. 'Tomorrow I'll get some answers'. With

this thought in mind she turned from the bar intending to leave and found herself face to face with a pirate. At least he seemed like a

pirate. A very handsome one at that her slightly addled mind thought.

'You've been asking about Jack' he said, his voice low and rich.

A tingle passed down her spine at the sound of it and it took a moment before she could respond.

'What's it to you?' She didn't look him in the eye, trying her hardest to get the right pitch to her voice.

'I'm looking for him' the pirate replied, his velvet voice laced with a touch of steel.

Taking a deep breath of oxygen into her lungs, she squared her shoulders and looked up at him.

'I don't know where he is so I can't help you with that'.

Silence fell as he held her gaze, a slight frown maring his handsome face. She thanked the lord that she'd thought to buy the cabin boys

hat along with his pants and hoped that it helped hide some of her features. Under it her hair ached with the multitude of pins she had

used to keep it up.

'S'cuse me' she muttered deciding the time had come to leave. Gone was the feeling of intoxication she had felt moments before, now

all she felt was a strong need to move away from the man in front of her.

His body moved easily to intercept her. Lifting her chin up she looked him in the eyes, hoping that she looked tougher than she felt. She

took a step in the opposite direction and he mimicked her movement.

'Look' she said in exhaspiration, her hands coming to rest on her hips, 'I don't know who you are or what you want, but if you don't let

me pass I'll knock you fair on your arse'.

The quirk of his eyebrow was his only reaction and she could've swore that the corners of his mouth lifted slightly. She made to move

around but was once again blocked by his tall frame. Taking a step back she came into contact with the bar. Looking up into his now

obviously amused face she felt her blood boil. Who did he think he was? She opened her mouth to vent her anger and frustration but

before she could speak the sound of breaking glass caught her attention. Another fight had broken out and two men brandishing

broken bottles circled one another warily. It had a ripple affect. Within seconds other patrons had joined in. Using the distraction as

her impetus she quickly tried to duck out from under the pirates arm but was not quick enough. She felt his strong fingers encircle her

upper arm and she knew that tomorrow she would have a bruise there.

'We need to have a chat' the menace in his voice was unmistakeable.

Fear blossomed in her stomach and she knew she needed to get as far away from him as possible. Leaning as far back as she could

she brought her right arm around in an arc and her fist connected squarely with his jaw. The action caused him to lose his grip on her

arm, and without looking back to see his reaction she weaved her way through the bar and it's brawling inhabitants and out into the

street.