Author's Note- Right, this should help to explain some of the little mysteries going on. I hope it makes sense! Enjoy!
Chapter 4
Jack pauses for a few minutes, seemingly trying to get his story straight and decide how best to start- in the end he opts for a straight plunge in with the most dramatic news.
"Your name is not Sofia Chalmes, daughter of the sugar merchant Robert Chalmes"
I snort- in a rather unladylike manner- at this ridiculous sentence.
"No? Mr Sparrow, I think I know who I am… Perhaps you believe I am… confused?"
"Not confused, luv. Merely…" He waves his hand in the air, while seemingly searching for the right word "…deceived…"
I narrow my eyes at him, convinced he must be weaving some elaborate lie.
"Do continue, Sparrow…"
"Captain Sparrow, luv. Very important that. The most catastrophic results have stemmed from the most insignificant of mistakes… Why, I once knew of a…"
"Captain Sparrow" I interrupt. "If you please, I'd like it if you'd continue with your tale about my mistaken identity. However… preposterous… it may be, I'd much prefer it to whatever tangent you're starting to head off on."
Jack Sparrow smiles crookedly, exposing several glinting teeth.
"I thought you'd say that…"
Jack leans closer to me, his eyes black pools which glint wickedly in the light from the candles around the cabin.
"I'll start again by repeating myself. Your father is not Robert Chalmes, as you have believed for your entire life. You are not even any blood relation to him.
"Instead, you are the child of someone who followed rather a different career path. Have you ever heard of Denver Falcon?"
"The pirate? Who hasn't?" I reply.
"Well…"
I interrupt Sparrow with a disbelieving laugh.
"You don't want me to believe that he is my real father? Please, do not insult my intelligence. If you're going to make up a story, Captain, at least make it plausible!"
"I don't want you to believe he's your father, you want you to believe. Trust me on this one; it will make much more sense as I continue. Otherwise you're going to be very upset when we get to Isla Del Espejos."
"Oh? And why would that be?" I inquire.
"Because it will then be much harder for you to accept that the man who until now you thought was your father- that is to say, Robert Chalmes- is in fact more of a scoundrel than you see most pirates as. He is not the good man he has portrayed himself as to you- as in short, he has betrayed you and your mother, having sworn that he would look after you whereas he wants to do nothing of the sort."
This story seems to be getting more and more far-fetched by the minute- now Sparrow has involved my deceased mother? Strangely though, I feel compelled to continue listening to his tale.
"Please, give the truth a chance, Miss Sofia. If you will allow me, I will tell you the story of how and why you came to be where you are today. I hope it will explain things to you…"
I give him permission with a nod from my head.
"Right… As you have already pointed out, everybody has heard of the great pirate Denver Falcon- how he amassed a great fortune, during his many years sailing the Caribbean plundering from other ships, and how this fortune was hidden on an island before his death at the noose. However, many people believe that is all there is to it- that there is no way to find where this treasure is, that the pirate took the secret to the grave with him.
"However, this is not the truth… For unknown to many, Falcon had another part to him aside from the pirate- he was a family man, happily married with a beautiful baby girl to show for it. They were never on the ship with Falcon, as he thought it too unsafe, but instead they lived close to a quiet, secluded bay where Denver Falcon would often stop to pay a visit to his family. He was always true to his wife- never in his married life had he ever ended up in the bed of another woman, as some men seem so prone to do. And his wife only looked forward to those visits from Falcon, often waiting on the beach for hours with their daughter to catch the first glimpse of Falcon's ship.
"One day though, disaster struck. One of Falcon's crew betrayed him to the officials, and soon his whereabouts and haunting grounds were known by half of the Caribbean. Nowhere was safe for him anymore- he could not continue with the life he so loved for fear of death. And so he decided, for the good of his family, that he would give up the life of a pirate and retire to his house with his wife and child- but not before he had hidden the fortune he had amassed, until a safer time arose when he could return to collect it.
"He paid off most of his crew, taking only who he thought were the most trustworthy men with him for the final voyage. However, unknown to him it was one of these who he thought he could rely on that had already betrayed him and caused all this trouble in the first place, and was, indeed, going to cause more trouble before too long.
"They arrived at the island chosen by Falcon to be where he would hide the treasure, and they proceeded to do so without a hitch. However, sailing back towards home, the trustworthy members of the crew Falcon had chosen found one of their own on deck in the dead of night, acting very suspiciously. Upon further investigation they found a letter on him, addressed to the officials who were chasing Falcon down, which gave the location of the treasure. They had found their traitor, who had been ratting on them ever since their problems had begun and needless to say, they weren't exactly pleased with him. Soon he found himself tied to a Holystone and heading towards the bottom of the ocean, with a bullet through his head, while the crew celebrated, thinking that their problems were over.
"They returned to the bay near Falcon's home with hearts somewhat lighter than they were when they had left, and each went their separate ways with the promise that when the time came, each would get their rightful share of the plunder. Falcon settled down to live quietly with his wife and watch their daughter grow up, waiting until the opportune moment to go back and reclaim his treasure. Sadly, that day never came, for a few weeks after their last trip out to sea, each and every member of the elite crew that Falcon had taken with him on the final voyage was arrested, including Falcon himself. The authorities had learnt of who they were and where they lived, probably from one final letter from the traitor in the crew before he met his end. Luckily they never got hold of the letter telling the whereabouts of the treasure, even if it wasn't exact as only Falcon knew the precise location.
"The crew and Falcon were tried, found guilty, and hanged. The authorities tried to get Falcon to give up the whereabouts of the treasure, but to no avail, which was probably what sealed their fate in the end. The secret of Falcon's treasure went to their graves with them… Or so it has always been assumed.
"Yet stories have surfaced in the last few years which seem to discredit this belief- tales of a key, some sort of clue, which Falcon gave to his wife before he died. The wife later remarried, to some rich sugar merchant living in the Caribbean, although it is said she never truly loved him- or at least, not as much as she had loved Falcon. She also changed both her and her child's names, for fear of discovery as the wife of the infamous pirate Denver Falcon. When she died, she in turn passed the clue on to Sierra, her daughter, who still has it today."
"Sierra…" I murmur.
"Aye…" Replies Jack. "Do you see what I've been trying to tell you? Do you believe me now? This locket…" With this he reaches down and picks up the locket from between my shaky hands, "is the only way to find the treasure of Denver Falcon. You are his daughter, Sierra, and it is your mother who remarried to Robert Chalmes, changing both your names. She had hoped he would protect you and look after you if fortunes were not kind to her, but unfortunately she was mistaken.
"Please, stop for a moment…" I am finding this all so hard to take in. The story should seem stupid and utterly unreal, and yet, deep down, I feel as though it is making some kind of sense… However, I manage to gather myself to ask one question.
"So, how have you 'rescued' me? Surely you only want me for the locket, to find the treasure for your own selfish wants?"
"That's not true at all, Sierra…" Jack responds with. I notice how he has so easily made the transition to calling me Sierra, even within the last thirty seconds. Oddly, it feels comfortable, and familiar.
The Captain continues.
"Although to find the treasure of Denver Falcon may be every pirate's dream, that is not why I have taken you from Robert Chalmes' home. If you had stayed there, you would have put your life at risk, even without knowing it.
"This is because, recently, the man who you thought was your father has learnt of the legend of the treasure and the clues to it. He has put two and two together, and has got the correct answer of four- he knows you are Falcon's daughter, and he knows that only you have the key to the treasure. He wants that treasure for himself, to satisfy his own needs of a high rank and recognition within society- you know how he is desperate to obtain these goals. He will do anything, even if it means destroying the one he has cared for as his daughter for the last sixteen years- ever since you were two.
"If you had stayed with Chalmes, he would have convinced you to give him the locket, and worked out where it pointed to. He would have then taken you with him to Isla Del Espejos to ensure he got his hands on the treasure- there are tales of traps and barriers only passable by those who are blood relations to Falcon. And finally, he would have killed you on that island, to make sure no-one learnt of what he had done, and to make sure you did not try to claim what is rightfully yours."
I sit there in a shocked silence, unable to move. I do not want to believe what Captain Sparrow has told me, but already there is a part of me that has readily accepted it. Sparrow sees the look of complete confusion and horror on my face, which stems from the fact I could not believe that a man would do something like this for a title or recognition, and smiles grimly.
"It's the dark side of ambition, luv…"
He strolls over to look out the window.
"And even now, Mr Chalmes has not given up on getting the treasure. He is following us aboard The Serpent's ship- the ship that Mr. Gibbs sighted earlier. Granted, we're on the fastest ship in the Caribbean, and we've had a good day's… maybe more… head start on them, thanks to the sedative I gave your household…"
"The what!" I exclaim.
"Sedative, Sierra. A drug that has a calming/narcotic/soothing/soporific effect. Quite capable of knocking a person out for…"
I interrupt him.
"I know what a sedative is, Captain Sparrow. I was more wondering how on earth you managed to administer it to the entire household without anyone realising."
Sparrow grins, looking pleased with himself.
"Wine taster… Useful job, that… Making sure there's nothing in the wine that could harm anyone in the house drinking it… Of course, if the wine taster puts something in the wine, who's to know? The wine gets passed out, with no-one any wiser, until it's too late. And, well, servants were easy- they always love a drink, especially if it's the master's finest…"
I realise what he has done now.
Drugging the wine… It's true no-one would ever think the actual wine taster had done it… That plan was either madness, or brilliance.
Seeing as how it was pulled off so flawlessly, I would go with the latter.
"Sorry I had to knock you out too…" Sparrow continues. "But I didn't think you'd willingly walk out the front door with the strange-looking servant that Robert Chalmes had just pulled in off the street…."
Damn right too… I think to myself.
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Lady Kiara Skywalker- Did that answer your query? Hehehe.
Chocolat Pirate- I love cliffhangers. They always seem to make people squirm! Although, if I do too many m,ore I may have people after me with big sticks and smashed rum bottles because they can't stand the suspense! Happy (belated) Birthday- glad to hear you got some nice stuff, especially POTC-related! And as for school- urgh. Don't mention it. I've just started back as well and I've got masses of work to do this year! Nooo...
Wolf At Heart- Yep, I left it there! Hehe. Then I got all the explanation into one neat chapter. Well... most of it... There's a bit more to come, I think... Anyway. And with your guesses- you can see you had the locket part right, but as for the Sofia/Sierra relationship, you were a bit off! But I love guesses, shows that people are really thinking about the story!
POTC4Ever- Thank you! And I have written more! Hope you liked it. Lol. Chapter 5 is on its way, I promise!
Twadrummer- Yep, the rudeness may well be part of the life of a pirate. Vile and dissolute creatures, the lot of them... No! Stop brain! Ahem... Anyway... And yes, knocking the rum over was stupid of her, but she sounds kinda like me, I guess... Very clumsy! Lol.