It's like christmas came early! -squeals- Marianne, I thank thee kindly. I'm glad you liked lil Jack. Only ten, and already a player of hearts! -tuts- What I loved about writing Jack's bit, was I could just see a mini Depp doing it. Especially the barrel bit, and I originally had him flirting with a pair of young ladies as he sat on the wall, but I cut it out, it wasn't needed. And so I put Sarah in! I love Jack, I do.
I was planning to update this later in the week, after a little more tweaking and so on, but that lovely review warmed my bogey toes so, I just had to. See, now I'm in such a good mood! All three of my stories have one review to their name! My little babies, growing up. Okay, I'm now just getting into being plain creepy.
Anywho, on with the Charade!
"Miss, I love you like a sister, truly, I do, but I do not want to go anywhere near that dreaded ship!" Bethany easily matched Marianne's stride, being the fitter of the pair, but as she danced around her friend, trying to convince her, she tired herself out.
"Trust me. We can go on that boat, and not see the face of a single crewmember. I worked it all out in my head, you'll see." Marianne picked up her pace.
"Girls are bad luck to have on board a ship!" Marianne looked at her friend, and raised an eyebrow.
"If girls are such bad luck, how do all those travelling ships get to the New World and back?"
"Many do not arrive with all their passengers, and, you know what? More people die on boats containing women than ones without!" Bethany went back into Marianne's pace; triumphant and sure she had won.
"That, my friend, is absolutely false, and you know it! Men, you see, put up these lies to keep us women from taking power!" She had a faraway look in her eyes, which had turned a dark and determined grey.
"You think you have it bad? You think white women are the oppressed? Do not believe that your kind are the only ones that have troubles, or that you have the worst problems!" Bethany raised her voice, and stamped in front of Marianne.
"Beth, believe me. I did not mean that. I just meant that the oppressor makes up stories to keep the oppressed down." She looked Bethany in the eye.
Bethany calmed down slightly. "Alright, but Miss? I think we should find somewhere sheltered soon."
"Why's that?" Beth looked around her, up at the clear blue sky. "I see no- Beth! My eyes do not control the weather! I am sure that it is just a trick of the light."
"Suit yourself. But I am sure you do not want your precious books to get wet!"
"Where can we go? We must get onto the ship as quickly as possible, lest it sails away, and there is no place near the shore that we may stay at without being spotted by someone."
"How are we going to get onto the ship, anyway? It is too big to climb, surely!" Something clicked in Bethany's mind. "No! That is far too dangerous! We could slip and die!"
"Do not worry so much, Beth! I have studied the ship from afar, and have even tested how far I can jump! I am sure that we will be on that ship, safe in the bottom, before you can say Pirate!"
Bethany just sniffed, and they continued their walk in silence. A few minutes later, they were walking up a steep hill, cautiously watching their step. They knew, if they made one mistake, they could easily fall off the cliff hidden to the side.
"See, you were wrong! Not a single drop of rain or storm cloud!" Marianne smiled triumphantly at Bethany.
"That's because you calmed down, and your eyes went blue again."
She had no chance to reply to that, as at that moment, they got to the top of the cliff. She got onto her stomach, her head and shoulders hovering over the lethal drop. Bethany got down next to her.
"You know, we're very lucky."
"Why do you say that?"
"The Ship chose this spot for a reason."
"That reason being?..."
"Oh come on, Beth, you have a brain!" Marianne tapped her friend on the head. "The ship must be waiting for some sort of signal, and planned to wait quite a few days."
"What makes you say that?"
"Well, look at the spot it chose! From the town, you would only notice this ship if you knew it was here. What does that tell you?"
"They wanted to be hidden."
"Yes! They are facing the sea, which means-"
"They might need to get away quickly?"
"Yes. Now this is good for us because the cliffs surrounding it make it easier for us to get onto it, and once they get whatever signal they are waiting for, it will take them a while to get out, leaving us more time to get in. "
"But why will the cliffs make it harder for them to get out?"
"Wind! Ships like those-" Marianne gestured to the ship below them, "-need wind to move well! Now, how much wind do you think will get behind those sails with the cliffs here?"
"Not much." Bethany looked at the ship in a new light. "So, how are they going to get out with no wind?"
"Oh, the captain is probably very clever. He would never have got his ship into that little spot without knowing how he was going to get it out. I am pretty sure he has a plan, though I am unsure as to what it might include. It is quite a big ship, it is not as if they can use a pole to push it away from the cliff walls."
"Maybe if they had all their crew with really big poles-"
"That would work, but where would they put the poles? Maybe this is a common pirate hideaway, and they leave the poles for other pirates to use? I do not know, but I think we should start making our way down while it is still light."
"Okay. One more thing though, why do we have to wear boys clothes?"
"Easier to climb in."
"Oh."
Around halfway down the cliff-face, as they rested on a ledge, Marianne slipped. Only slightly, but enough to send a few stones tumbling. The girls pressed against the wall, and thankfully no one saw them. One of the bags containing the books had a small tear by three-quarters of the way down, and, scared the bag would fully break and send the books clattering onto the ship, they put all the books in one bag. They took it in turns to carry the bag.
By nightfall, the members of the crew that had been on deck playing cards, or having burping and spitting contests, or play sparring, had gone below. All apart from one, who had, as the two girls got lower down the cliff-face, fallen asleep. They guessed he was a watchman.
Marianne jumped silently from the wall to the ship, waiting before signalling for Bethany to follow. She put her finger to her lips, and they crept passed the sleeping pirate. She led Bethany down, right to the bottom of the ship, where they found the cargo room mainly full.
"Well, the rum will be used often, knowing pirates, so we should keep well away from that, but they I do not believe that they will eat the food that quickly." She made her decision, and pulled Bethany to an empty space behind a group of crates, all smelling very strongly of salt, which repulsed her.
Nevertheless, they were in.
"Ma, please! I can't 'elp it! My fingers just slipped, I swear!" Jack flinched and yelped as his Ma cuffed him repeatedly.
"You-" Thwack! "-Stupid-" Slam! "-Little-" Whack! "-Devil!" Jack's Ma stood up straight once she had decided he had been punished enough. "You know, all this thieving could cost me my place here! Master does not want a thief under his roof!" She spat the word thief, and pushed him to the floor.
"I have a suggestion, if I may, Ms Sparrow?"
Jack's Ma turned to Mr. Durton, her smile as sweet as apple pie. "Yes, of course!"
"I could find him a job, if you wish."
"Ma, no!"
Jack's Ma swatted him out of the way, and nodded at Mr. Durton. "A job? I never thought of that! He could start to earn his keep!"
"But Ma, I help you do your job!" Jack was pushed down again.
"Yes! I do not think he could be a guard, but I hear young lads like him are always wanted to help the merchant ships."
"Merchant ships? Well, I do not think that he should go on a merchant ship. Just another word for slave ship, if you ask me."
"I assure you- no? All right, what do you think about navy ships? Then he would be fighting pirates!" Mr. Durton turned to Jack. "How does that sound?"
"Perfect!" Jack's Ma smiled at her son and Mr. Durton. "Thank you Mr. Durton. I would invite you to stay longer, but…"
"I understand perfectly. Duty calls!" Mr. Durton stood up. "Goodbye, you two. I will see what I can do about that place in the navy."
"Such a nice man, that Mr. Durton. So nice of him to get you a job." Jack's Ma started to make lunch.
"But Ma! I would never be able to leave you!" Jack gave her his puppy dog eyes. "I love you too much."
"Aw." She ruffled his hair, then cuffed him. "Now, go behave. Actually, go see if you can get me some apples. I intend to make a crumble for the family's dinner dessert."
"When I go away, to work in the navy, who will fetch you your ingredients?"
"Be off with you!"
"Yes, Ma." Jack ran to the door before turning. "But just think about it!"
"Captain?"
"What is it?" Captain Dreg Valhauger, captain of the Black Pearl, stood at the bow of his ship, watching the waves lap against the sunset.
"Falherty has just come back. The Opal will set sail in under a week. They just need a few more crew members."
"Good." He faced the man speaking to him, revealing the scar that ran from his blind right eye to his collarbone.
The man before him was much shorter but older, grey hair streaking what had once been a brilliant and fiery red, and fell down to his lobes. Two deep blue eyes stared out from his leathery and tanned face, his beard chopped finely, just over the length of stubble. His nose had been broken in several places, and in his mouth, he was missing several teeth, though through decay or fights, it was unclear.
"You may leave." Valhauger turned back to the ocean, caressing the wood beneath his fingertips, as though he was stroking the ocean itself. His hair, which should have fallen below his ears, stuck up at odd angles, jet black with one piercing streak of white from the middle of the front to the top of the back. His eyes were a silvery blue, almost as white as the streak in his hair, but not quite. The rest of his face was as pale as humanly possible, and though it was hard and leathered, it was difficult to tell that he spent his days up on the deck of a pirate ship. His lips were a pale purple, making him appear terribly cold, even when he was sailing South, to Africa, or the New World.
He wore black gloves, a dark blue jacket, a cream shirt, blue breeches, and brown leather boots. All of his clothes appeared faded with age, except for the silky blue bandana he tied around his left ankle, hidden from public eyes. No one knew about the bandana, as it was a secret he held dear.
He smirked, the movement causing his scar to ripple, like a snake. It would have been better if he had found a ship called The Pink Pearl, but The Opal would have to do. He didn't actually speak of his reasons for wanting to raid The Opal, but he believed they knew his reason already.
Irony.
Pure, sweet laughter in his head, which made him happier than any riches could. He always chose his victims for laughter. No one actually laughed out loud, of course. Valhauger himself only permitted a slight chuckle at the most funny of his inside jokes. But the laughter in his head, that kept him going.
That's what kept him alive.
Forgive me father, for I have sinned. It has been five hundred years since my last confession. I admit, and if my lovely friend K. is reading this, she'll know what this is about. The beginning of this chapter, when Bethany and Marianne shout about the whole opressor/opressed thing? I totally took the lines from a play. The problem is, I do not know who wrote the play, or even what the play was about, as it was just from a duologue in drama club.
Say five hail marys and you shall be forgiven.
Anywho, please review, and I'd be best pleased.
May Tra'ers guide you onwards,
Razzy