Disclaimer- I do not own any of the Pirates of the Caribbean characters I refer to in this story. If I did, the sequel would have been a bit different. I do own Abigail, Charlotte, Sarah, and anyone else whom you don't recognize.

Author's Note- My apologies for not getting this up sooner. I had a really hard time getting inspired…and if it weren't for a really weird dream, this probably wouldn't be up. This chapter is dedicated to CrimsonCrome for constantly e-mailing me and keeping me on track with this. My thanks go out to those who read and review. To the other nine hundred of you that are just reading, it would be nice to know how I'm doing.

Incubus2704- Thank you for reviewing. Yeah, I was kind of afraid I'd strayed out of character with them. I'm glad you like my description.

Smithy- Thank you for the review. I guess it is almost a widowed Will story.

brunette-barbie14- Thank you also for the review. Yep, I'm back. Don't worry, you're not slow. I deliberately tried to make it difficult to see who the leading lady was. This chapter should make it clear.

CrimsonCrome- Thanks for reviewing. Hehehe, a Jack test…cool. I agree, more description on Jack's movements would be nice. Thanks for the suggestion.

On With the Story,

Sarah shuddered as something hit the cabin door.

The sea pounded furiously against the ship, tossing the boat to and fro on the waves. The wind howled viscously overhead.

The British maid didn't like the idea of their small boat being thrown around helplessly. It seemed as if the lives of all on board were hanging by a thread, at the mercy of the ocean's wrath, and liable to end at any minute.

She jumped as something crashed outside.

Water slowly began to leak under the door, making the room's occupants jump back to avoid getting wet.

Sarah took an extra step and collided with Abigail, eliciting a small yelp of surprise from the other woman. Everyone was on edge, easily surprised and frightened by the tiniest thing.

Another onslaught of salty liquid outside piqued the British woman's curiosity. What's going on out there? She asked herself. It was obvious, that it was storming. But what did the waves look like? What were the crewmen doing about the weather? There were so many questions she wanted answered.

Abby saw the curiosity in her friend's eyes and inwardly groaned. She'd know the other servant long enough to know that she wouldn't be satisfied until she got the answer to her unspoken questions.

Sarah inched towards the door, apprehension filling her mind. If she opened the wooden board and looked outside, anything could happen. Yet, she was dying to know what a sea storm looked like. Many people had said that her curiosity would be the end of her. Was that statement about to be proven?

Her hand froze on the wrought iron latch. Maybe this wasn't such a great idea after all.

Abigail let out a silent sigh of relief at her companion's hesitation. Things had gone wrong many times before thanks to the British woman's curiosity and, sometimes, lack of common sense.

Sarah took her hand from the door handle and stepped back. What little common sense she had had taken over.

The maid smiled at the Irish woman and shook her head at her own stupidity. Abby was about to laugh when the door began to rattle.

Being only helpers of the Andrews family, the two women had gotten one of the older, more shoddily put together cabins. They'd noticed that the door's hinges were a bit weak and loose earlier, but had thought nothing of it. However, the problem was definitely on their minds now.

"What should we…" Sarah began to ask. Her words were cut off as a particularly strong gust of wind took the door off one of its hinges.

With their only protection from the elements hanging by a single screw, Abigail and Sarah got a full view of what was going on.

The sails of the Interloper were torn, having not been secured before the weather hit. At least two inches of standing water was visible on the deck. The waves were huge, slopping over the side of the boat. Black clouds blocked the once bright sky completely, casting darkness over the area. The ship rocked dangerously.

"Get outside!" Abby cried, her voice barely audible over the roaring sound of the wind.

Sarah gave her a questioning look.

"Why?"

"Things don't look too good out there. If the ship goes down, it's best to be outside where we can easily grab a piece of debris and keep above water."

It was sound advice. Abigail was the problem solver of the two and usually came up with solutions to tough problems. She'd been wrong very few times in the past.

The Irish maid led the way, pushing past the ruined door and outside. Sarah followed, instinctively throwing one arm up to protect her face from the heavily falling water droplets.

The few crewmembers on deck and in the rigging didn't seem to notice the two women. They had other things to worry about.

Abigail gripped her skirt with one hand to keep it from blowing around her legs. The attempt was futile and the cold wind ripped through the green material. Her fiery hair was soon soaked and whipping about her face, its tie long gone.

"Ah, bloody hell!"

The sound of her fellow maid's often used phrase made Abby turn her head. She was about to ask what the problem was, but her voice caught in her throat as she laid eyes on what caused her friend's alarm.

A large wall of water had risen up on the right side of the ship. The combination of wind and the ocean's violent waves made the dark wall bigger and bigger.

Sarah felt her eyes widen. There was no way the ship would survive this.

The gigantic wave began to bend toward the sailing vessel, its crest foaming white.

Abby opened her mouth in a silent scream as the boat began to float toward the wave.

The current pulled the Interloper until it was up the side of the terrifying wall of water. The top of the wave continued to roll forward until it completely covered the ship.

Sarah was thrown off her feet with the force of hundreds of gallons of sea crashing onto the deck. She felt her body hit the surface of the ocean and go under the still rolling waves. Her mouth filled with water as her sword and skirt pulled her down.

The British maid had never learned how to swim, but knew it had something to do with kicking one's feet.

She frantically moved her booted feet back and forward and fought toward the direction she hoped was up.

Panic gripped her heart as her lungs began to scream for air. She didn't even know if she was getting anywhere.

Just as she was about to give up, she broke through the raging water.

A plank from the hull of the unfortunate ship drifted past and Sarah grabbed it. She clung there, taking in shaky breaths and trying to calm herself down.

With the wind of the dying storm came the cold. Her soaked garments gave her little protection.

Exhausted from her desperate fight to survive, Sarah laid her head against the board and fell asleep.

xxxxx

Will stared at the gray sky. The color of the clouds and the somewhat strong breeze told him that a storm had recently hit. The choppy water added to his theory.

His mind, however, wasn't on the weather. It was on Elizabeth, as it had been for weeks.

He stood near the front of the ship at what had become known as his spot. He wasn't sure how long they'd been sailing, he didn't care. For the most part, the Black Pearl's crew left him alone.

They probably think I'm a madman. Will mused idly. The blacksmith wouldn't blame them if they did. If he'd seen someone crawl over the side of the deck after Jack with a dark green lady's cloak that showed off every thing in the line of figure, he wouldn't only think them mad, but might also question their sexual preferences.

He shook his head and continued to stare at the horizon.

The atmosphere, for one reason or another, reminded him of the night when he and Elizabeth first met. True, he couldn't remember all of it; his fiancée had filled him in on what had happened. He'd been travelling from England when pirates attacked his ship. He alone survived the ordeal, having been pulled from the water by Ms. Swann's ship.

"Father, look, there's a boy in the water!"

Had it not been for Elizabeth, who knew where he'd be now.

His brown eyes scanned the ocean. Nothing.

Wait a minute.

Will looked again and froze.

There was someone in the water.

xxxxx

Captain Jack Sparrow looked over his world map.

He'd been trying for the past two hours to come up with a good course. He wasn't quite sure where he wanted to go, but staying in one place just wasn't a good idea.

He raised his eyebrows as he traced his finger along a route. It looked promising.

The captain reached across the table and pulled a bottle of rum towards him. This called for a celebration. Well, anything he did called for a celebration if rum was involved.

Taking a swig of alcohol, Sparrow glanced down at the charter. His kohl lined eyes narrowed a bit when he glanced at the compass rose.

The map was upside down.

Jack Sparrow put his bottle down and flipped the map around. He wasn't too upset. This was just another day in the life of Captain Jack Sparrow.

Picking up his compass, he began to plot another course.

"There's someone in the water," Will's voice called from outside.

Jack sighed and pushed himself out of his chair.

What was the whelp up to this time?

Author's Note- Please tell me that didn't stink. Yeah, I think I may have got Jack and Will a bit OOC again. I had a very difficult time with getting the words to flow in this chapter and need some feedback. I'll be going on vacation on Saturday until next Sunday so I'll try to get another update in before then. If I can't, see you all in a couple weeks.