A/N Thanks for all the reviews. Here is the next chapter.
Chapter Ten.
Harriet stood at the top of the cliff, as the men worked tirelessly to lift up his body. When he reached the top, the eighteen year old collapsed into a tidal wave of tears at the sight of his mangled broken body.
"No!" She screamed. "No, please, no!" She pleaded, as they lay him on the ground. She fell down beside him, and stroked his face. "Come back to me, to us." She said, laying her other hand on the bulge of her stomach.
But he didn't wake up. A few days later he was buried in the local graveyard, she was the only one who attended, against her parents wishes of course. Not even Samara dared to defy them. The reverend looked after her, just as he had looked after the pirate when he was first washed up on the beach nearly three years ago.
They stood together at the graveside. "Maybe you should plant something for remembrance." He suggested.
"I don't wanta live without him." She said, numbly. She wasn't crying anymore, her grief was beyond tears.
He nodded. "I know, I know. I see it often. But you don't have a chose, you have to live, you have to live for your baby."
After that day Harriet returned home, but her parents no longer wanted her. She had defied their rules, planned to marry a 'pirate' and got pregnant before marriage. As far as they were concerned she was no longer a Darlington.
The reverend would have looked after her, he was a good man. But she refused his help, she denied his aid, she was going to survive on her own. Then she met Tobias. . .
"Are you okay?" The reverend asked, he put his arm around Annamaria and gently lifted her to her feet. "Maybe I should call the doctor."
She shook her head, but didn't reply.
"Annamaria?" He asked.
But she just shook her head, silently.
He led her down the aisle and sat her down on a wooden bench. "Was he pushed?" She asked suddenly, causing the man to jump.
"I beg your pardon. . ." He asked.
"You heard me, was he pushed?" She said, looking up fearfully into his eyes. "Tell me the truth."
"They said he was drunk. . ." He broke off awkwardly.
"I don't care what they say!" Annamaria yelled, urgently. "I want to know what really happened. Something, someone, has wrecked my life and I wanna know who." She said, miserably as the tears began to flow.
The reverend was shocked at her emotional outburst, he looked away and sighed. She was too young to be faced with such things, he shouldn't have told her. Now her burden was much heavier then before.
"Was it Tobias?" Annamaria chirped.
The reverend was even more surprised now, he turned to face her once more. "Whatever gives you that idea, child?"
She shrugged. "Just thinkin'."
He put his arm around her shoulders. "I'm sorry, I should not have told you."
"No, you should. Harriet didn't tell me, or Samara. . .and then there's Tobias. . ." She spat the name.
She knew it was Tobias who had pushed her father, she just knew it. Her parents had been happy together, they were going to get married, and live happily ever after with Annamaria. She would have had a family, not the man she lived with now. She had no proof, but her childish instincts told her so.
"Tobias is a good man. . ."
"Good man?!" Annamaria exclaimed.
He smiled at her outburst. "Look past all that Miss Richards, look past the outside, look deeper."
"All I see is a dirty rotten killer!" She screamed.
He shook his head. "He took your mother in when no one else would have her. She was working the streets because her family had turned their backs, her fiancée had unfortunately died, and she was pregnant with you. She had nowhere to live, no money and no way of looking after you Anna. If Tobias hadn't come forward, you could have ended up a prostitute working for the pirates that hound our shores."
"You're saying I should be grateful for that monster?! He killed Harriet! He killed my father!" She got up, and ran past him, the reverend grabbed hold of her, and pulled her back. Her indignant, angry eyes stared into his tired, ageing ones.
"You're seeing him through your eyes, Annamaria." He shook his head. "And what is all this about him killing Harriet?"
"I know he did." She said sullenly. "The doctor said she killed her self, but no, she wouldn't do that, I know she wouldn't!" The child cried.
The reverend's attention was caught by the necklace around her neck. Her took up the cross between his fingers. "It's beautiful," he said, marvelling it.
She nodded. "Harriet gave it to me a few years before she died."
"There is a stone missing." He said, lightly.
She nodded, and took the pendent out of his hands. "Her grandmother lost it." She told him.
"Ah, such history." He stood up, and smiled down at her. "I don't suppose you know the history of poor Tobias. . ." But his words were cut short, as a woman burst into the church followed by a rough looking fifteen year old boy.
"Christopher." She screamed throwing her arms around the reverend's neck, he patted her soft, bonneted head in alarm.
The boy stood watching the doors, anxiously. Annamaria watched him with interest. He was tall and thin for his age, his face was grubby black, matching his hands and fingernails. His hair was matted and windswept, and a small cutlass was concealed by his side.
He saw her violet eyes watching him and winked. She smiled in surprise.
The woman had parted and was standing back slightly, sobbing.
"What's wrong?" He asked.
She looked up, she was quite pretty really. She had blond hair, tinged with dirt and grime, her eyes were shining with tears. Her face was oval and taunt, she had had little to eat it seemed, and her clothes were middle class, patched and repatched.
"They're after Jack." She said, in a desolate voice.
A/N Hope you liked this chapter. And now I must ask for help from my loyal readers, oh yes I must. I need a name for the woman, the one who has just come in with Jack. I want it to be traditional, but a little bit different, or just any name really that would suit her. Please leave your suggestions in a review. And thanks for reading. Next update will be soon! ^_^