Esperanza opened her eyes lazily; she seemed to be getting up later each morning. She stretched her arms out yawning and smacked Jack in the face.
He stumbled back "Mornin' to you too, luv"
She turned to look at him a gave him a short laugh "Terribly sorry about that, good morning captain"
Her ladylike manner also seemed to be a lot more relaxed now. She stood up, grabbed her brush from the nightstand and walked over to the table where Jack was already sitting. Brushing her hair she yawned again "Did I hear you say that we are on a turtle?"
Jack looked at her and smiled "No luv, we are on an island it's called Tortuga-"
"Oh! IslaTortuga!" She said interrupting him "Yes, I have heard of it…and I am not surprised we are here. Will we…well actually…will I be going on shore?" She asked putting her brush down and beginning to pick at her food.
"Yes luv, you will…accompanied by me of course….and I can't stress enough that I need you to look ravishing. Of course you I will be walking beside you, so I doubt many people will look to you first…but in case they do happen to…I need them to be jealous…of me" He said grinning.
"So I am here to be shown off…in display of your magnificence?" She said wrinkling her nose at him "That means I have to wear one of the gowns"
"Precisely"
She gave him a short laugh "Okay" she stood up and walked over to the trunks
Jack strummed his fingers on the table, looking around the room "well, now that's settled…I'll wait on deck" He said standing up and walking towards the door.
"Um…Jack"
Her voice stopped him "Yes luv?" he said turning to look at her. She was looking at him with a shy smile, with one hand she was holding up a pale pink corset.
Jack rolled his eyes and made his way towards her.
As he tightened the strings behind her Esperanza was blushing the entire time. Even though she was covered up, this isn't the sort of thing a man did for a woman; it just wasn't done.
But it's not like she could get anyone else to do it.
"You know luv, I doubt it's a good thing that I know how to do this so well" Jack said finishing.
He walked in front of her; she was a bright shade of red and refused to make eye contact with him. He placed his hand underneath her chin and made her look at him in the eye "Now…there is no need to be embarrassed…if it'll make ye feel better, luv…why don't ye pretend I am a woman?"
The image of Jack in a dress instantly flashed into her mind, making her laugh.
"There, that's better" he said turning back towards the door "will that be all?"
"Yes Jack…Thank you" She replied.
He tipped his hat a made his way out the door. Jack made his way to the main deck where he saw Gibbs handing each man their equal share of the booty.
"Mornin' capt'n" Gibbs said as Jack walked over to him.
"Mr. Gibbs" Jack answered.
"Will the lass be joinin' us today?" Gibbs asked as gave the last crew member his share and turned to look at Jack.
"Aye…she's safer on land with me than on the ship with anyone else" He responded leaning back against the edge of the ship.
"Aye capt'n, I just be thinkin'… with the lass accompanying ye. Ye know what ye should…and shouldn't…be doin'?"
Jack squinted his eyes at him "Mr. Gibbs I am perfectly capable of behaving meself…besides we're only staying one night"
"Aye, mornin'comes and we are on our new route to Asia…just like we discussed" Gibbs said lowering the volume of his voice.
"Aye just as we discussed" Jack said in a low whisper.
Just then Esperanza came out to the main deck "Ah Esperanza, luv!" Jack said dramatically walking to her with his arms motioning to her "You look…ravishing"
She just smiled as he placed his hand on the small of her back and led her towards the ramp. Esperanza stopped suddenly in front of Gibbs.
"Good Morning Mr. Gibbs"
He seemed distracted "..um..Oh…Good Mornin' lass"
"Are you alright? You look bemused"
"Aye lass, I am quite alright…enjoy your day on land" He said quickly before turning around and walking towards the opposite side of the ship.
"Is he alright?" Esperanza asked turning back to Jack as he led her down the ramp.
"Yes luv, I assure you, he is quite alright" Jack said.
They made their way off the port and onto the main street of Tortuga.
This place was far from what Esperanza was used to, the streets were filthy and lined with bodies. Esperanza just hoped they were drunken bodies and not dead ones.
Since it was late morning,nearing noon, there was very little movement on the streets. There were few women walking around tugging at their clothes and some shop owners were beginning to open their stores.
"Jack Sparrow" A feminine voice said behind them, making Esperanza and Jack both turn around. The woman before them was thin but very well endowed with blond curly hair that was messily arranged on top of her head.
Jack rolled his eyes "Captain, luv…Captain Jack Sparrow" he said stressing each word with the movement of his hand.
The woman leaned in closer to Esperanza and examined her "And who might you be?"
"This is Esperanza" Jack said stepping in between them "Esperanza…Giselle. Giselle…Esperanza"
Giselle narrowed her eyes at him "I 'idn't ask you" she said pushing him away. "I asked 'er" she turned back to Esperanza.
By the low cut of her bodice and the fact that there were strings falling out the front of it, Esperanza knew who this woman was…well more like what she was. Even though she had been thought not to deal in any way with women of such profession, Esperanza could tell that Giselle was waiting to see what she would do, so she did the unexpected.
"My name is Esperanza Gutierrez, it is a pleasure to make of you acquaintance Ms. Giselle" She said as she curtsied and smiled.
Both Jack's and Giselle's eyes opened wide, surprised at Esperanza's response. Usually a lady of such high class would not even bother to cast a glance at women such as Giselle.
"Esperanza eh?" Giselle said turning to look at Jack "I like 'er"
Jack smiled obviously pleased. Giselle drew close to him and ran her finger along his jaw "So Capt'n what business do you and yer lady friend have in Tortuga" She asked as she toyed with his hair.
Esperanza felt jealous in a way that she shouldn't. After all, it's not like she was anything more to Jack than captain's booty, she had no reason to feel jealous. Still, she couldn't quiet the little voice in her head that was telling her to push this woman away.
"Just passing through luv, but if you will be so kind to lead me to the nearest bathhouse-" Jack said making Giselle give him a seductive look "really?"
"-for her" He finished and Giselle narrowed his eyes at him.
"Follow me" she said plastering on a smile and begun leading them down the street.
Giselle and Jack made casual flirtatious conversation and Esperanza just walked in silence. Jack had returned his hand to the small of her back almost unconsciously; his touch was unexpectedly gentle yet possessive.
They stopped in front of a large two-story building with long windows on bottom floor. Jack reached to open the door and Esperanza followed behind Giselle into the bathhouse.
In all honesty the place was a lot nicer than Esperanza expected it. But then again, her expectations weren't exactly high. The room was filled with tables and chairs of different sorts, on the far wall there was a bar that crossed the length of the room; in the middle of it was an elderly woman counting coins and writing on a thick book.
The trio made their way across the room. The elderly woman didn't even look up at them as they stopped right in front of her. Giselle rolled her eyes frustrated and rung the bell that was placed on the book, the woman instantly snapped her head up.
"What may I help ye with on tis fine day" she said in a dull monotone voice as she took a drag from her pipe.
"One bath for girl and two drinks" Giselle told the woman and turned back to Jack batted her eyelashes "for us, whilst we wait"
"Three shillins" The old woman said blowing out smoke to her side.
Giselle looked at Jack and held her hand out; he reached for the three coins and placed them in her hand. She slammed them down on the book in front of the woman, who took them and stuck them inside a small purse. She turned around and opened a door behind her, revealing a long narrow set of dark wood stairs.
"Well c'mon what are ye waiting for?" she said looking at Esperanza.
Esperanza looked at the woman and then at the desk in front of her, there were no openings anywhere. Did she really expect her to climb over this? For goodness sake she was in a gown. She looked at Jack and Giselle who also seemed to be waiting for her to move, but she had no idea how to get to the other side.
She drew a deep breath and turned around, using her hands she pushed herself up to a sitting position on top of the desk and then swung her legs over to the opposite side of were Jack was standing. She stood in front of the door and turned her head to look at Jack behind her. As soon as they made eye contact he flashed a grin and winked at her, she just smiled and continued to make her way up the stairs with the old lady close behind her.
Esperanza sat in the large wooden tub waiting for the elderly woman to come back with her underthings; she had said she would wash them while Esperanza bathed.
After washing herself she really had nothing else to do but sit there in the steam filled room…waiting and thinking. She had completely forgotten about things like bathing while on the Pearl, but Jack had remembered. She had to remember to thank him later today.
Esperanza looked down at her hands, her fingers were already getting wrinkly. She steeped out of the tub and grabbed a large piece of fabric that lay on a bench next to her corset and gown. She wrapped it around herself and started squeezing the water out of her hair.
The sliding doors in front of her opened to reveal the old woman carrying her clothes. Esperanza tried pulling at the cloth around her in order to cover more of her body.
"Believe me" she begun looking at Esperanza and taking a drag of her pipe "I have seen it all before…now stand so I can help ye dress"
Esperanza hesitated for a moment, she felt uncomfortable but the old woman was right; and it's not like she was going to call Jack up here.
"Thank you" Esperanza said as she stood up and walked over to he old woman; removing the cloth from around her.
She rested her pipe down on the bench and pulled the white shift over Esperanza's head. "There is no need to thank me dear, from the moment I first saw you I knew you where a lady of high standing and thus used to caretakers helping you dress…how you ended up with those two downstairs I have no idea"
Esperanza didn't know how to respond, she had no idea she stood out so much by Jack's side. She also couldn't decide if that was a good thing or a bad thing. So she just stood there letting the old woman dress her.
"Well that is all, I believe" the woman said after she finished tying the corset much tighter than Jack had and picking up her pipe.
Esperanza grabbed her stockings from the bench and took a seat to begin putting them on. "I am captain's booty" She said as the old woman started to head back out the door.
She turned around and looked at Esperanza "What child?"
"You said you had no idea how I ended up with those two…well, I am captain's booty" Esperanza answered. The old woman just looked at the ground blowing smoke out of her mouth and continued on her way out.
Now fully clothed Esperanza walked out to the long hallway that led to the stairs. She tried to comb her fingers through her damp hair but to no avail, she would just have to brush it when they returned to the ship.
When she made her way back to the bottom floor and again climbed over the desk she noticed there were more people sitting around the tables and the bar. In the far corner she spotted Jack sitting with a bottle of rum in one hand and with Giselle sitting comfortably on his lap.
A stab of jealousy went through Esperanza.
"Hey look at last the princess has arrived!" Giselle announced in a loud voice stumbling off Jack and making a very ungraceful exaggerated bow followed by loud giggling in front of Esperanza.
Had she already been drinking? How ridiculous! Esperanza couldn't have taken more than an hour in the bath so, at the latest, it was just past noon.
Esperanza just kept her head up and smiled, some women had no dignity but she would have to get used to it. This was her life now…the Pirate way of life. She looked around the room. Yup, this was it, drunks and whores.
Great.
Just bloody great
"Thomas!" Giselle yelled to a man across the room tossing her hands up in the air. She turned back to Jack and traced one her finger back and forth on his jaw "I'll see you later tonight" She whispered seductively in his ear.
"Certainly luv" Jack said smiling as Giselle ran over to the man.
"Are we ready to go captain?" Esperanza asked trying to smile.
Jack just looked at her "Why in such a hurry luv?" he asked smiling even though by looking around the room he knew the answer. There were men hung-over from last night that had begun drinking again with women throwing themselves at them, and this was only the beginning. Tortuga would get much worse as the time passed.
He looked at Esperanza, her clean clothes, her soft undamaged skin and her gentle manner. She didn't belong here, she didn't belong with him.
She didn't answer him she just closed her hands together and looked at the ground. He stood up and encircled her waist with his free hand "well I do have some things to take care of before nightfall"
He led them out of the bath house and to the street outside. There was certainly much more movement now. People were walking lazily down the streets and entering the shops and pubs that had already opened and shouts could be heard from the nearby dock.
Jack did have some things to do and people to talk to but he couldn't do any of it with Esperanza following his every move. "Tell you what luv, I bet you must be famished-"
"Not really.."
"That's what you say now, but in no time you'll be beging for something to eat" Jack said leading her into one of the nicer looking pubs and making her sit down on one of the chairs close to the window. "So tell you what, why don't you sit right here order whatever you want and I'll be back in no time, Savvy?" he finished putting a couple of coins on the table in front of her.
Esperanza opened her eyes wide at him, was he serious? He was leaving her here all by herself with all these strange people? "But Jack-"
He interrupted her "okay then it's settled, ta!" he said before rushing out the door.
Esperanza her head in her hands on the table in front of her with a sigh. She wasn't hungry whatsoever so she didn't bother with the coins that were placed in front of her.
Why was Jack acting weird…er? Was he planning to ditch her? What if he didn't come back?
For the love of God Jack, couldn't you choose a better place to abandon me? She said to herself as she glanced around the room.
Eventually Esperanza folded her arms on the table and put her head down.
The loud noise of shattering glass woke Esperanza up. She couldn't believe she had actually fallen asleep, how long had she been out?
Someone else flung another bottle across the room to the wall behind her. She followed it with her eyes as it shattered, leaving a dark liquid running down the wall. She turned to look at who had thrown it and before she knew it men were yelling and cursing and throwing much more than just bottles.
On instinct Esperanza crawled underneath the table. "You're pretty" a dragged out voice said from beside her. An old dirty man was leaning in trying to touch her, Esperanza screamed and crawled away from him.
If Jack hadn't left her here all by herself she wouldn't have to be dealing with this. She was so mad at him she was sure she would kill him if she ever saw him again.
Standing up she backed away from the table looking for any way to get out of this place, unfortunately the entrance was completely blocked by large bodies knocking each other over.
There were two men in the middle of the room who seemed to be the ones whom the fight was centered around. The high pitched noise of the men's swords being pulled from their sheaths was followed by loud clanking as metal hit metal.
Esperanza tried to back up as the dueling duo advanced towards her but she quickly found herself against the wall.
One of the men had his back towards her and as the other hit his sword, an arm swung back hitting Eperanza's arm; cutting her dress and penetrating the skin. The stinging pain traveled all through Esperanza's arm and was making her lightheaded. She couldn't faint; who knows what could happen if she did. Focused on staying alert Esperanza tried to make her way towards the door.
She felt a strong hand grip her lower arm and pull her through the crowd of people and out the door.
Once on the street she could see her rescuer's face "Jack!" she yelled at him. What great timing he had, she felt like seriously ripping his head off. She was so frustrated, her arm was killing her and she was tired of playing nice. "Took you long enough!"
"that doesn't sound like a thank you to me" he said surprised, he had just pretty much saved her life.
"You expect me thank you? You must be kidding" she said outraged. Jack looked at her, she looked furious. Her face was flushed and she was breathing heavily as the afternoon sun played with the shadows on her face. He grabbed her upper arm and started walking down the street.
Esperanza hissed at the pain and tore her arm away. Jack looked down at his hand and saw the blood on it "You're hurt"
"I am aware of that, thank you" she said squinting her eyes at him "Of course if you hadn't left me all by myself this wouldn't have happened"
She was right and Jack knew it
But hell would freeze over before he admitted it. "I would think that a lady your age would be able to fend for herself"
Esperanza looked at him "fend for myself? You left me in a pub with a bunch of strange men while you went to go do God knows what!" she threw her hands up in the air and walked off in the opposite direction.
Jack didn't even call after her, he was probably dancing his way back to his whore; celebrating the fact that he had finally gotten rid of her.
I am not lost, I will not panic because I am not lost. Esperanza said to herself once again as she walked through the streets of Tortuga trying to find a way back to the harbor. With any luck she might be able to find a ride back to Spain.
She turned the corner into what turned out to be a dead-end alley.
Ok yeah I am lost.
She turned around to go back the way she came in only to run into a solid brick wall and stumble to the ground. Looking up she noticed it wasn't a wall at all, just a very large man.
"um…excuse me sir" she said in a low voice and she stood up and attempted to go around him, only to have him stand in her way. She tried again to move around him but he just kept shadowing her. "Sir, I said excuse me" she said sharply looking at him in the eye.
He started chuckling under his breath as he looked her up and down. A grin spread across his face and he took a step forwards, making Esperanza take two steps back.
"Why are ye in such a hurry to leave dearie?" He asked, the stench of liquor saturated his breath.
He continued his advances forward and soon had Esperanza shoved against the far brick wall.
Esperanza couldn't breathe as his body crushed her against the brick of the building. He squeezed both hands on her arms, just under her armpits, and a stinging pain from her wound hit her. "Let go of me!" She screamed attempting to shove him off but he wouldn't budge. Esperanza continued screaming for help in hopes that someone would hear her, which was doubtful due to the noise on the streets.
"Calm down now dearie, there's nothing to fear" The man said as he moved one hand down to begin pulling up Esperanza's gown.
She hit him with her free hand and continued to kick at him, she wouldn't give it this easily.
He continued looking at her "Now now, I told you to stop fret-" his words were interrupted by a bottle being broken on his head. He took a sharp breath in, his eyes opened wide and he fell to the floor unconscious.
Behind him was standing no other than Jack.
"Jack!" Esperanza said stepping over the man on the floor and jumping to wrap her arms around Jack.
"it's Captain, remember?" He said as she broke her embrace. All the anger was gone from her face, now she looked terrified.
"I do apologize for yelling at you Captain. It was very unladylike of me, but I was just so angered. Please will you accept my apology? Although I would totally understand if you didn't but I am-"
He placed his index finger over her mouth making her cease her ranting. "No apologies needed…it is quite alright" he said as he bent over to check if the unconscious man on the ground possessed anything of value.
"How did you know I was in need of your help?" She asked curiously.
"Simply luv, I'm Captain Jack Sparrow" he said arrogantly. In truth Jack had followed her the entire evening, making sure she wouldn't do anything stupid; but that was something she didn't need to know. "Now, have we learned out lesson?" He said taking the man's gun and inspecting it "are you ready to go back to the pearl with dear old Jack?" he asked her putting the gun in his belt "Or do you want to go around and have some more fun?"
She didn't bother answering his questions, she just straightened with her head high "Which way are the docks?"
He pointed in a general direction and Esperanza begun walking that way.
"That's what I thought" He said walking beside her.
Back at the Pearl Esperanza sat on Jack's bed in her sleeping gown. Mr. Gibbs had come in earlier to clean and bandage her wound, and now there was no sign of Jack. He had just escorted her back to the room and promised he would return soon.
She didn't really want to see him, mainly because he was right and she was too stubborn to admit it. She needed him at all times to protect her. That knowledge made Esperanza furious; she hated the fact that she was so dependent on him.
The door creaked open and Jack stepped in the room. They looked at each other for a couple of seconds before she turned her gaze away and walked around the bed to put some space in between them.
"We set sail in the morning" Jack said as he walked over to the table and begun removing his effects.
Esperanza leaned back against the bed post with her hands behind her back "Where to Captain?" she asked looking at him.
He sat on the hammock and removed his boots "Asia…with a few stops in between" He said as he leaned back and closed his eyes. "after careful consideration of the current circumstances, I've come to the conclusion that you are to stay aboard the Pearl at all times. Even when we make port I will have two of my trusted crew members outside this door to stay watch…because I am sure we certainly don't wish to repeat our little adventure today, savvy?" he said as he grabbed a rum bottle from the floor next to him and opened his eyes to look at her, waiting for a response.
Esperanza couldn't bring herself to look at him "Yes Captain" she nodded softly.
Jack closed his eyes again and continued to drink from the bottle. Esperanza stood there for a couple of seconds watching him and then crossed the bed to blow out the candle on the bedside table.
She settled down on the bed and pulled the covers over herself, like she did every night; except today she didn't wish him a good night. She just lay there looking out the window at the sea until sleep finally overtook her.
party...working on next chappy