Chapter 2

"Mama? Tell me the story of Grand-mere and Grand-pere?" The small girl handed her mother a piece of parchment. Even through her writing, her French accent was distinguishable.

"Not now sweetie." Her Mother replied going back into conversation with her husband and the other men at the table. The small girl frowned and angrily scribbled upon the piece of parchment again.

"You promised me mama. When I was eight, you promised to tell me about Grand-mere and Grand-pere." Her Mother excused herself from the group and took the girl into another room.

"Ok I shall tell you the story. Your Grand-mere was a well-known, respectable lady. All the men wanted to seek her out to be their bride. However she was not content living on land. One night she crept from her house and boarded a ship. She left a note in her room saying she had been kidnapped by pirates. Little did she know her lie was about to become reality. The ship she had boarded was attacked by pirates and she and the surviving crew were captured. The Captain of the ship was a very handsome man by the name of Antóire Reynaud. He did not treat Joséphine like he did the others. He allowed her to roam around the ship like an equal of his crew.

One day the ship came across more pirates and your Grand-pere knew he had to protect your Grand-mere. His love for your Grand-mere won him through the battle. That night he confessed his love for her and they married. Antóire was the first known pirate to marry and he and Joséphine were known as the pirate King and Queen. Their daughter Francesca however did not share their same passion for the sea and came to live on land to marry the man in the next room. She was not to see her parents again. A tragic accident destroyed the ship they were sailing on leading the pirate King and Queen to their demise. At least they were together. They were home" The small girl had fallen asleep at her feet. Placing a blanket over her, the woman got up and left the room. "Sweet dreams my angel."

Without waking, tears well up in your eyes and run down your cheeks. The memories of your parents haunt you still even in your sleep.

Jack Sparrow made his way through town. It was a physically tough mission he had embarked upon. He had never been through this part of Tortuga. The places were less rowdy and seemed to have a little decency to them. The one thing that annoyed him: the hills. This part of town sloped considerably upward. How his mysterious friend made the trip every night was yet another mystery to him. It was downright tiring!

Jack climbed to the top of what seemed like the millionth hill and was pleasantly greeted. The land before him stretched out forever. He never would have believed that any part of Tortuga could look like this until now. To the east the sun was starting to rise causing a beautiful array of pinks, purples, yellows and reds to dance across the sky. A small house sat alone in the bay with open fields behind it. The long grass gently swayed with the breeze. It was a perfect picture of tranquillity.

He continued down the path taking in the sights around him. He had barely made it to the bottom of the hill when a soft noise could just be heard from behind some bushes. Taking out his sword, he pushes his way warily through the bushes. The entrance to a small inlet in the rock had been blocked by a blue dress. Bending over, he recognises the sound of crying and reaches out to comfort whoever it is.

A hand comes to rest on your shoulder. Suddenly jerking out of your sleep you whirl around to face whoever it is. You brush the long dark fringe out of your eyes and wipe away the tears and sleep forming in your eyes. In front of you crouches the man from the bar last night. What did he want from you? What was he even doing in this area anyway? You, and once your parents, were the only people who lived this far out of town. Everybody knew that. So why did this man come all the way out here?

A stray tear rolls down your cheek and he reaches out to wipe it away, his fingers lingering lightly on your chin. His eyes look deep into yours and you look away not allowing him to see your emotions and thoughts. "What's troubling you luv?" he asks softly wiping away yet another tear. Was it the tears or did you let him see too much when he looked in your eyes.

Remembering back to your memories in the dream, your crying starts harder. How you missed your parents. He reaches out again to comfort you but you flinch from his touch. He backs away a little bit and you take the opportunity to run from your hiding spot. Having nowhere else to go, you run back towards your broken down house and hide there. You had hoped you didn't have to come back to this place but when fronted with the choice of your house or the man from the bar, you chose your house.

Jack felt a little unnerved. No girl had ever run from him like that and now this one had done it twice. He sighs and leans back on his haunches. He had come all this way to find her and now he had lost her again. As the sun rose higher in the sky, a small glint came from inside the cave. Intrigued, Jack leans in for a closer inspection.

A small blue bag sat just inside the caves opening. He opens the bad a little more than it is to see a dress crammed inside with a small silver rimmed mirror a pipe and a hair brush. The mirror interested Jack the most. The shiny silver metal beneath his fingers was cool and smooth and still had a nice sheen to it even though the mirror itself showed signs of age. Turning it over Jack inspects a small engraving on the back. The letters J and R, written in fancy cursive.

Narrowing his eyes in thought, he packs everything back into the bag and turns his head to look at the direction she had run.

Shutting the door firmly behind you, you run into your bedroom and collapse on the torn mattress, tears making your beautiful brown eyes red and blotchy. You didn't care though. You hadn't thought about your parents this much in a long time. All the memories of trips to town or picnics in the fields came flooding back to you making you miss your parents more than you ever had in your life. You felt all alone in this world. You never had anyone to sit with, no one to share your thoughts with and when someone who had taken an interest in you came along, you ran away.

An unknown rustling comes from downstairs and you try and push yourself further into the mattress, hiding yourself with what was left of your blankets. You hear the stranger downstairs was stumbling and tripping on things. After what seems like forever, you can hear them coming up the stairs, the squeaky floorboards giving away the strangers whereabouts. There is only one other room apart from yours so it's not long before the metallic ring of your doorknob sounds in the silence.

A dim light is cast into the room as a candle is pushed through the crack in the door followed soon after by a face. It was that man from the bar again. Why couldn't he leave you alone? You watch as his gaze follows the floor taking in the mess of strewn about clothes and smashed china trinkets finally finding your retreating form curled up on the bed. You let out a sigh not realising you had been holding your breath. The man comes over to you and sits beside you on the bed. You cringe, if possible, further away from him without actually falling off the bed.

"I'm not here to hurt you luv." He said seeing the fear in your eyes. "What happened here?" You avert your gaze and stare down at the sheets. He walks around the room examining your broken possessions. "Come on lets find you somewhere else to stay eh?" He offers out his hand to you but you just stare at it. "Ok then, well if you need any help I'm in town. Ask for Captain Jack Sparrow from the Black Pearl, savvy?" He gives you one last look before heading out the door.

Jack Sparrow? He seemed nicer than in the stories you had heard of him. Even still you did not really want to have to take him up on his offer to find him at his ship but where else did you have to go? You couldn't very well stay here. The house was broken to pieces and what if the vandals came back and found you there? You had no hope of defending yourself.

You look out the window and see Captain Sparrow walking up the path toward town. Maybe you would go find him. But a few well planned out notes needed to be written first.

To Be Continued…