۞

Elizabeth looked up from her book as the soft warm breezes wafted over the ship from the bay. The town of Tortuga City was lit up as if it were daytime, torches burning in the streets brightly, the usual cacophany of sound coming up the gangplank. This was one part of pirate life that she did not partake in much... the nightlife of this place was truly nightlife, and she was always more content to walk the streets during the daytime hours, when they were all but deserted. There was usually much debris and the ocasional drunken pirate to step over ... thank goodness it was never any of her pirates, she thought with a grin. She was about to settle back into her reading when she heard something at the bottom of the gangplank... she immediately picked up a musket, and shouted, "Who goes there?"

The noise stopped, and she then looked down to realize that there were two forms upon the dock below... two feminine forms. They looked up at her. One was taller than the other, both were dressed garishly, but both were ravishingly beautiful, in a downtrodden way. "Permission to board th' Black Pearl... we come in peace, dearie... friends o' th' crew..."

Elizabeth thought it over only for a fleeting moment, then finally said, "Permission granted..." She knew these two... and knew that they would pose no threat. Scarlett and Gisele... two woman of the evening that were very well known upon this island and upon the smiling lips of almost every pirate in the Caribbean.

As the pair walked quietly up the gangplank, their skirts held up in their hands, they looked up at Elizabeth with almost shy smiles. The one with the flaming auburn hair seemed to be the older of the two, and she was the one to speak first.

"Thank you, Mrs. Turner... we were told tha' ye were here all by yerself, an' tha' ye have a brand new baby..."

The younger of the two, a stunning and tall blonde with bright, blue eyes, added, "... we thought tha' ye might like t' have a bit o' company fer just an hour or so... "

Elizabeth regarded the pair for a long moment, and then said, in an almost cool manner, "And how did you know that I was here alone? Did Jack tell you?"

The two women had expected such a reception, and they glanced at each other knowingly. They had absolutely no intention of putting forth any kind of deception upon this woman, who was fast becoming a legend in her own right. They simply wished to make sure that this one, a good friend of their friends aboard the Pearl, was alright alone, especially with a tiny baby sleeping in the cabin behind them.

"... I'm gonna be right forward with you, Mrs. Turner." the auburn haired woman replied, "It wasn't Jack Sparrow that told us you were 'ere, and we weren't tol' that you needed protectin'... we were told by Marty tha' ye might jus' need t' know tha' you 'ave friends upon this island... "

Elizabeth looked at the pair with a bit of surprise. "Marty?"

"..Aye, Mrs. Turner." the blonde replied. Elizabeth marveled at the loveliness of these two, even if it was a world weary loveliness. The blonde continued, "... this is Scarlett Price... and my name is Gisele... Gisele Chevalier... Martin Jacques De Bouvier Chevalier is my half brother..."

۞

As Elizabeth swallowed her shock, Scarlett and Giselle smiled at her. Elizabeth stammered, "Oh, I am forgetting my manners... please sit down!" She removed the pistols and one musket off of a two of the crates next to her, and the pair gathered their skirts around them and seated themselves. "I am happy to meet both of you... I ... hear of you quite often..." Elizabeth was trying to be careful about choosing her words. She was genuinely pleased that Marty had mentioned her to the two women, and this only made her think that they were to be trusted all the more.

"... so we 'ear that you had a baby boy!" Scarlett smiled, "... you an' your Mr. William. An' isn't it wonderful wha' we 'eard tha' he and Jack are cousins? Marty told us much o' the adventures tha' all o' ye have had, an' that your husband is now free o' bein' the captain o' th' Flying Dutchman, an' that Jack had been sick... an'..."

Elizabeth grinned at the enthusiasm that the pair were showing in the retelling of the stories of the recent past... and she settled in to get to know these two women better. In another time and place, the daughter of the Governor of Jamaica would have never been allowed to even walk the same street that was frequented by prostitutes, but she had learned from Jack Sparrow to never, ever take anyone at face value... and many had learned the same thing about the Governor's daughter... she was also not what she seemed.

She sensed from their ensuing conversation that these two women were no different than she was... that they were all where they were because of circumstances... because of choices that they had made. She learned that they did not really know Jack Sparrow any more than anyone else did, and Elizabeth counted herself to be one of three people that knew all about Jack's past... the other two being William, and Jack, himself. And Jack did not know what the Turners knew about him... that was between William and Elizabeth. They were made privy to Jack's life by the benevolence and grace of Calypso, and it was granted to them in order to know what was in his tightly locked up heart. He was their family... and it was because of this knowledge that they loved him, and did their best to protect him from himself.

But even knowing as much as they did, she learned much from these two soiled doves that were two of Jack's friends... Elizabeth blushed a little to think of what ways the three knew each other, but she then sadly thought that there had to be more to their friendship than just that.

"...remember how I first met Jack, Gisele? He was sick, then, too...Aye, Mrs. Turner, he was jus' a skinny young slip of a thing, then...'e was thrown off o' a ship an' I found 'im right under these very docks... 'e was sick with pneumonia, an' the crew didn't want t' take care o' a scrawny, sick deck hand like him...they left 'im behind... I found 'im and took 'im in fer a few days until 'e was feelin' better... tha' was a long time ago... I was 18, an' I think 'e was about 14 at th' time... 'e stayed on Tortuga until 'e hooked up with an old friend, Bill Turner, again... Bill 'ad been on another ship at the time, an' 'e heard tha' Jack was here, so he came t' find 'im...Bill had been in England, spendin' time with 'is own new son...your husband, Mrs. Turner..."

".. please..." Elizabeth smiled, as it was very plain that the two before her were enjoying having another woman to talk to... someone different who was a friend of friends. "Call me Elizabeth... I feel as though I already know both of you.."

The pair raised eyebrows and giggled a little, "No doubt by the power behind th' slaps that we deliver t' th' one that deserves them, no matter how he denies tha' one." Scarlett said, pulling the decolletage of her bodice up indelicately. She rolled her eyes and said, "What we won't let that man get away with..." Elizabeth blushed again.

Scarlett smiled and said, "... oh, now, dearie... I know what you're thinkin'... th' scamp owes us money, but not for that," she laughed, "he sometimes leaves us with bar tabs, and likes to gamble wi' us, only t' skip out on anteing up... he is a true scamp in th' truest sense o' th' word, but that's a part o' his charm...he can be a dear most times..."

Gisele grew strangely quiet for a moment, and added, "... he has come through for us when we needed a friend, too..." she hesitated, as Elizabeth poured small glasses of the table wine for all of them... "... Jack once shanghied a man ...to save me..."

Elizabeth straightened up and leaned forward to listen.

Gisele fell silent for a long moment, sipping the wine that Elizabeth offered, her weary blue eyes becoming distant..." ... I was engaged, once... I wanted t' escape Tortuga... I fell for a sailor who was th' most handsome thing tha' ye ever saw. But he beat me..." The brilliant blue eyes began to glisten. It was plain enough that the pain of the experience was still fresh in the beautiful woman's mind and heart.

Scarlett reached over and took Gisele's hand. Elizabeth got up from her seat upon a barrel, and sat down next to the tall young blonde, careful not to rumple the voluminous skirts gathered about her... Elizabeth noticed just how thin this woman was...and wondered if it was because she was naturally slender, or of it was from too much drinking and for wont of good proper food.

Tears welled up in Gisele's eyes as she continued, "... Jack arrived on Tortuga wi' Gibbs one time... it was when Jack was still searchin' for th' Pearl th' first time... they wondered where I was, as they hadn't seen me in a couple o' days, an' Scarlett told 'em... she was always against my bein' engaged t' my fiance', an' I shoulda listened..." she squeezed Scarlett's hand as she went on..."Jack an' Gibbs found me... I was just about at my worst... I had two black eyes, an' some of my hair had been pulled out... my wrist was broken... I couldn't work..."

Elizabeth slipped an arm around the woman who was now openly weeping,"... my fiance' came in upon all of us, an' Jack flew into a rage, an' you know that is not like Jack... he said tha' no one should ever strike a woman... for any reason. A fight ensued, an' my fiance', who was a very strong man, nearly beat Jack t' a pulp, until Gibbs was able t' knock 'im out wi' a chair... they tied 'im up, gagged 'im, threw 'im into the hold o' a ship bound for India an' told 'im t' never come back or they'd kill 'im . Nothin' was ever said about it here on Tortuga..." Gisele swallowed hard, "... th' man needed killin', but he never came back again.'...I think that because o' this, Jack may have saved my life..."

Scarlett handed her friend a handkerchief, which Gisele used to blow her nose indelicately, and she turned to Elizabeth and proclaimed, "Jack an' Gibbs taught us how t' defend ourselves... you'd be surprised at what ya might find strapped under these petticoats... I can hit a rum bottle dead on at twenty paces wi' a gun, and I was taught by th' best. Don't tell Jack I said that."

Elizabeth hugged Gisele across the shoulders, and tried to brighten things up..."I know how that is... I have hidden weapons many times," she smiled to herself, thinking of the arsenal that she was capable of concealing upon her person... even Barbossa had been shocked in Sao Feng's bath house at her talent for subterfuge with weapons.

Brightening, she decided to change the subject, "Would you like to meet my new baby? I am rather proud of him... he will probably be just waking up for a feeding soon..."

The two women smiled as Elizabeth went into the open cabin door and brought out a sleepy Little Will, whose small pink fists waved about in the air, much like Jack's would. As they exclaimed in delight, Elizabeth allowed each of them to hold the newborn. They fussed over him, and Elizabeth studied them, as they wistfully made cooing sounds to her son. She found herself feeling a kinship toward these two women of the street... she no longer regarded them as the simple whores that most might make them out to be, but as human beings who, like herself, were existing in a world that they could not control... they had emotions... they had hearts... they had love... they just had to do the best that they could with what life dealt to them.

And Gisele was Marty's half sister... it was obvious that the small pirate, who was a native of this island, had a Caribbean mother while Gisele's might have been English.. it was not for her to ask, she thought to herself... it was simply more ties that bound her pirate family. An odd family, but a family, nonetheless.

Elizabeth smiled warmly as Scarlett and Gisele praised what a fine job she and Will had done in producing such a beautiful child, and marveled at the fact that he had his Cousin Jack's beautiful hands... and she knew that she, too, could be friends with the two most famous prostitutes on Tortuga... for they had not always been prostitutes. They were, first and foremost, women... tough women, like she was...

... as they sat together in the warm evening air, Elizabeth suddenly was aware that there was another presence upon the Pearl... that they were being watched... no one had gained entrance to the ship by way of the gangplank, so she knew exactly who it was... and she excused herself from the presence of Scarlett and Gisele, making the excuse that she needed to put Little Will back in his cradle...

To be continued...