۞
William and Elizabeth had finally retired with Little Will, leaving Jack and Janie to sit happily by the warm fire in the great room, as they always did upon the first night of arrival at the Inn, once the Black Pearl was moored and her captain safely in the arms of his beloved Janie. The small stove in the Turners' room had a welcoming little fire of its own on this cold winter night, and the down comforter was light in weight, but strong in the wonder of warmth... even Little Will's cradle had a tiny, down filled pallet and coverlet, and he was tucked in, like a small chick in a downy nest.
William was not sure just how long he had been asleep, when a very soft noise made him wakeful... his senses were unusually keen since leaving the Flying Dutchman, and he knew that someone was in the room with them... it only took him a moment to hear the soft clicking of beads, and he knew who the visitor was... opening his left eye only slightly, he saw the thin silhouette of his cousin, quietly cracking the door open and peeking in with one kohl lined eye, as the soft, flickering light of a candle reflected upon the wall outside of the bedchamber door... whispered words in Gaelic came to his ears, and he stifled a chuckle when he realized that his baby son was being "kidnapped".
Jack tiptoed into the room in his stockinged feet, holding his hair against himself to prevent the trinkets from making any additional noise, and he padded over to the cradle, his finger to his lips, as if to remind himself to remain silent... William's open eye glanced over to the doorway, and he could see one sparkling blue eye peeping around the corner, and one hand holding a candlestick away from the door, so as not to cast any light into the room. Janie giggled, softly, as Jack began to gather the sleepy, curly haired babe into his strong, slender hands, pulling a blanket around him, whispering to the child to not make a sound. It was an amusing memory for William to recall that Jack had been afraid of holding the newborn at first... now he could not seem to get enough.
As the couple tiptoed down the stairs to the old leather couch, and the waiting, warm woolen blankets, William gave them a few minutes to settle in, then he, himself, quietly climbed out of bed as Elizabeth slept, and made his curious way out to the stairway... silently looking down into the great room, he smiled widely at what met his eyes.
Jack and Janie were curled up together on the old leather couch, with all three blankets pulled over them... Jack had thrown another large chunk of peat upon the fire, and shadows danced on the stone walls as Janie snuggled into him, her head laid against his abundant braids, with Little Will lovingly cuddled into her arms... the only other light that shone in the great room was a large glowing candle in the window, in a heavy glass lantern, trimmed in dulled brass... as the baby opened his soft brown eyes, he frowned a little at first... he still did not recognize Janie as one that was included in his familiar little world, but when his eyes traversed upward and Little Will saw the dark visage of the captain smiling down at him warmly, the infant broke into a toothless smile so broad that his eyes closed tight... he gurgled, and kicked his feet under his blankets as he smiled back at Jack, much to Janie's delight... Jack reached a hand over and lightly tickled the babe's tummy to make him laugh... it was obvious that, even at only ten weeks old, Little Will knew just how fond of him his Cousin Jack was...
William watched them in silence for a while, unable to hear what was being said ... Jack had placed his arms protectively around Janie and the baby... Janie fell silent, herself, for a while, as Little Will yawned and pondered going back to sleep... William could not help but feel a twinge of sadness, as the joyful expressions faded a bit into reflective ones, and the firelight danced on Janie O'Madden's freckled, fair Irish face, and the dark, exotic gypsy features of Jack Sparrow.
What a beautiful child they might have created, William pondered, if it was not for the fact that they were a barren couple. Janie's eyes shone a bit as she gazed at the baby, and then up into Jack's sad eyes... they would never have a child of their own, so they were glad to know that the Turners were happy to share Little Will with them... Jack was the baby's godfather, and Little Will proudly bore Jack's name as a part of his own... an honour that affected the captain deeply. As he watched Janie softly kiss the baby's brown curls, it was then that William knew just how much Little Will meant to all of them... and how proud he was that his son could represent so much to his very unusual family during this special family holiday...
۞
Elizabeth joined Janie in the kitchen early the next morning... she came down the stairs to hear Janie humming to herself, as she was stirring the cookfire into wakefulness and relishing the smell of the fresh coffee as it brewed in its pot, hanging from one of the wrought iron hooks over the flames...
"Dia duit ar maidin!" Elizabeth exclaimed, as Janie looked up, surprised at the greeting. Lightly hugging her younger companion in greeting, she replied, "Top o' the morning, yourself, Izzy! Imagine you greeting the day in a foriegn language!"
Reaching up onto the shelf in order to help Janie set the table for breakfast, Elizabeth looked over her shoulder and winked, "It's a wonder, indeed... Jack and Will won't teach me any Gaelic, so that they can talk among themselves without anyone understanding them! Whenever we sign on new crewmembers, Jack forbids hiring on anyone that can speak Gaelic or Celtic! I can speak some Cantonese, but they won't sign on any Chinese sailors, so I can't talk behind their backs! Can you imagine?"
"What???" Janie laughed, "... William is only a quarter Irish, and he speaks Gaelic like a native, now! I hate to say it, but that scamp that I am 'almost married' to is a good teacher to William, but much too stingy with his instruction to anyone else!"
"Well, I know a few words, such as 'good morning', 'I love you', and 'wee baby'..." Elizabeth placed plates at each chair, pouting a little as she continued, "Jack says that I have such a dreadful accent, that he can barely understand me when I say those few words..."
Janie sniffed at the thought, and said, "Like Jack has room to talk? He trips all over English!"
"I don't trip over it, love, I dance over it! Theologically, grammatically, ecumenically!" Just then, the subject of the conversation appeared in the kitchen doorway, a bright smile on his face, and a spring in his step. Jack strutted in, his hands lightly wavering and heading directly toward Janie, who wound her arms around his waist, lovingly kissing him good morning... he flushed with pleasure. Elizabeth was a bit surprised at his appearance, and was looking him up and down...
Jack usually wore the same clothes, most of the time ... his wardrobe consisted of his elaborate lightweight linen coat, his two cotton vests, one in light blue, and one in a shade of blue-gray, five identical off-white linen shirts and four pairs of breeches, in brown or blue... but today, even Elizabeth had to note that he looked quite nice! He was dressed in a pair of breeches and a vest that actually matched, made of warm brown wool, adorned with silver buttons... the shirt that he had donned was of soft cream coloured flannel, and all were of the same exact style of his usual clothes... his brown boots, striped sash and red bandanna complimented the other colours very nicely... it then dawned on Elizabeth that Janie must make all of Jack's clothing for him. The warm hues that he was wearing made his skin look like rich, creamy coffee. Glancing her way out of the corner of his eye, he smirked, "Me holiday ensemble, love."
"Oh!" was all that Elizabeth could say... he looked so different that she had trouble finding words.
Janie blew a curl out of her face and regarded him with appreciation, as the captain dipped her dramatically, like as if they were dancing in a grand ballroom. "Whist, Jack Sparrow! Let go of me!" Janie cried. The captain laughed, wickedly, and spun her around, "Persuade me!"
"My, my, isn't my cousin in a good mood this morning?" came William's voice, as he walked into the kitchen with Little Will in his arms.
Janie was finally able to return to her breakfast preparations, as she muttered goodnaturedly, winking at a smug Jack, who was sniffing the fragrance of the bedsheets' rosewater on his braids "... he should be in a good mood, after last night..." Clearing her throat a bit, she snickered into the cookfire, "... I know that I am..." and she slapped Jack's hand away from tickling her.
William sat down at his place at the table, handing Little Will over to his mother... as Janie pushed Jack into his chair, the captain ceremoniously tucked a napkin under his chin and mentioned, offhandedly, "William... did ye notice that you an' I have our very own crocks o' butter? Me Janie placed an order for two wif th' milkmaid, so's you wouldn't hog it all th' time..." William reacted with his pirate eyebrows raised into his bandanna , eyeing Jack's butter as well as his own.
As hot coffee was poured, the four friends made their plans for the day... "Tomorrow night is December 21... the Winter Solstice... "Janie said, as she dished up bacon and eggs for everyone... William was already halfway through a fresh loaf of bread and his crock of butter, as Jack jealously guarded his own.
Janie continued, excitedly, as she made sure that Elizabeth had the chair closest to the kitchen hearth, so she could feed Little Will in comfort, "... I know that he is only a babe, now, but Little Will needs to know of customs of some of his family. As well as the feast that I have planned, we shall be decorating the wee evergreen tree at the edge of me glen outside, to honour the Solstice... I have plenty of berries, stale bread and some nutmeats for us to string today, and..."
Elizabeth interrupted, "I have heard of this custom! I believe that they do this in Germany, also!"
"Well, Izzy," Jack sniffed, as he thickly slathered a huge dollop of wild plum jam on a slab of bread that he had grabbed away from William, "... the Germans stole th' idea from us Gaels and Celts! Th' ancients in Eire have been decorating a tree in the woods for centuries... th' Winter Solstice is th' longest night o' th' year, an' each day afterward lengthens toward spring, wif warm days an' new life... . " he paused for a moment, to take a bite of bread, licking the jam and butter from his mustache. "... my mama would make lovely little things out of lace t' hang on our tree tha' grew outside of our cottage, an'..."
Suddenly, they all looked at Jack, as his voice trailed off, and he became silent. His eyes flickered around to all around him, then looked away... memories began to flood back into his damaged mind... we used to... we had...where was Papa?... I want Papa...
William reached over and patted Jack's arm... at least his nightmares were much fewer, but he would never escape his own mind's mutiny against his powers of reason... they all patiently waited until the captain could blink hard, and regain his thoughts...
He had not celebrated a winter holiday since his mother had been murdered at the order of Janie's father... their cottage had been burned to the ground upon the terrible night that he was taken away and sold into slavery, and everything that had been his mother's had burned with it. Was it any surprise that material things that could be held on one's hand, or braided into one's hair, held such meaning for him, they pondered, when he had nothing of his mother's except for one piece of bobbin lace that never left his wrist, and her red gypsy bandanna, which his father had given to him and he had made it his own.
Reaching across and placing her hand lovingly over his, their fingers intertwining, Janie made Jack's vague eyes meet hers, and softly, she said, "... We'll decorate a tree, me darlin'... we may only have a few things to hang on it's branches... " and as she looked around at the sympathetic faces around the table, she squeezed Jack's hand and said, "... we'll make some new memories instead of being sad over the old ones!"
A small smile tugged at the corners of Jack's lips, as he said, "Aye, me Janie, our Little Whelpie has been hearin' stories o' his grandpapa Bill an' th' Flyin' Dutchman... he also needs t' learn about how things are done at Cousin Janie's Inn... owned by his great uncle, th' Keeper o' th' Code..."
It was as if he had something to add, as Little Will gurgled and hiccuped... little did they all know that Janie had much more planned than just decorating a tree for the Winter Solstice... another Irish custom for the season was to keep a candle in the window... to guide loved ones home... and she had a feast planned that would be more than enough for the guests that had accepted her invitation... especially two who were looking forward to spending the holiday with their sons, and to see the new baby who was representing rebirth to all of them...
To be continued...