Chapter Two: Confrontation
Adrianna was tired, her feet hurt, and her back was sore. All in a hard days work, that after Gracie's temper tantrum left her more broke than she had started the day with. At least that man was nice enough to help her clean up, though he didn't look like the type to care. Indeed he looked like the type that would be more likely to not even notice the misfortune of others.
There was a sound at the back door to the kitchen. Adrianna figured it was probably Tommy. He always came by at the end of her night to walk her back to their abandoned shack. It was a sweet thing to do, but a ten year old boy wasn't much protection.
"You ready" he asked peaking in the back door. Adrianna nodded and finished drying off the counter before following him out. She would never forget meeting Tommy and his kindness. She was running from her crazy ex-brother-in-law, who thought that she was the one who killed his brother, her husband. He was a fool and would probably be shocked to know who really did it. At least Tommy was kind enough to offer her a refuge for the time.
It would all be over soon though. She knew that Josh, the crazy brother-in-law, would find her soon. She was not running anymore. She would tell him the truth and to hell with the consequences.
Adrianna coughed when the door to the shack slammed behind them. They were home, if it could be called that. It was shelter, kind of. It kept out most of the weather, but some still seeped through the cracks.
"Addy, what is the matter?" Tommy asked while settling into his corner of the room.
Curse him for knowing her so well, "Bad night is all, don't worry about it." she replied shortly. It was another night with no food for either of them. She guessed that she could work another job at one of the taverns tomorrow to feed them.
"One day Addy we will get out of here." Tommy said in a sleepy voice. Adrianna smiled, he was so sweet to her.
"Goodnight Tommy." she said trying to get comfortable. It was going to be a long night.
"See that the Pearl is ready to sail. We leave tonight." Jack told Gibbs as he walked down the stairs of the inn. Gibbs nodded his head and left as Jack headed for the kitchen of the inn. Once in the door a beefy man in an apron stopped him, "No guests here." He said.
Jack gave a quick smile, "Sorry chap, just looking for that women who was doing dishes last night."
"Fired her this morning for handing out food to some kid. Now be gone." The man said taking a step towards Jack. Jack turned and left. However, he didn't let he spirits fall at not finding her right away. He would find her today.
Jack spent the rest of the afternoon avoiding soldiers and trying to find the girl. He supposed it would help if he knew her name, all he knew was that it began with an "A". When the afternoon started to turn to evening Jack started to loose hope. Maybe after being fired by that man she decided to move on. Jack sighed as he entered The Plank tavern once again. He ordered himself a pint and sat down to contemplate his next course of action. That was when he saw her.
Standing behind a counter towards the back of the tavern she cleaned something. He supposed she was a rather plain lass. Her dull brown hair was pulled back from her face. Her oval face and high cheekbones where hidden by a little bit of dirt smudged here and there. Her dress was a simple wool that was much to big for her. The startling thing to him was her eyes, the changing color of the seas. Jack supposed she was like any treasure and just needed cleaned up a bit to reveal her true beauty.
While looking at her he watched as all the color drained from her face as a man approached. The man didn't look like much, maybe some dandy. But when the man grabbed her arm to keep her from moving Jack jumped into action.
"Let go Josh." the women said through gritted teeth.
"Tell me why Adrianna." The man, Josh said. "Why did you kill him?" That gave Jack pause, she killed someone.
"I did not!" she half yelled at the man. He only grabbed her harder causing pain to flash on her face.
"There a problem here?" Jack walked up then asking.
"No problem, mind your business man." Josh said.
"It looks to me that the lady doesn't want your company." Jack said staggering a little closer.
"This is between the lady and I, she killed my brother and want to know why."
"Well then," Jack said crossing his arms and looking to Adrianna, "Why did you kill his brother?"
Adrianna flashed him a look, and Jack saw the anger burning in the depths of her eyes. "The truth then Josh.." she said focusing back on her would be attacker, "I didn't kill him because he wouldn't give me children. His lover killed him for his land. You know who his lover was Josh, he is the one that now has control of the farm."
Josh's face turned red, "You lie!" he yelled then raised an arm to strike her. It took Jack a moment to recover from the shock of the story but he managed to catch the man's hand before it hit her.
"I wouldn't be doing that mate." Jack said very quietly. The man only glared at him.
"Hey!" a man yelled from somewhere getting Jacks attention. "Yeah you, you be a pirate!" He yelled across the tavern. All of the sudden everyone got quiet looking in Jacks direction. Jack then pointed to Josh. "Not him… Him!" The man said pointing to Jack. Jack backed up to where Adrianna was standing and quickly whispered to her.
"Whats say you leave here in the company of good ol' Jack?" Adrianna only laughed at him and crossed her arms.
"And she is with him, she murdered my brother!" Josh then yelled to the crowd. Adrianna's eyes grew wide and she looked to Jack who smirked at her then offered his hand.
Adrianna paused for a second looking at the crowd of people, then without further thought she grabbed Jacks hand. Neither one of them could rightly tell you how they made it toward the door. They supposed a little bit of balance and a lot of luck.
Once they were at the door, they both smiled at the sight in front of them. The whole tavern was fighting amongst themselves. Before Adrianna could give it a second thought, Jack quickly grabbed her hand again and tried to make a run for it. As he turned he found they were surrounded by British soldiers.
"Oh bugger" Jack whispered wide eyed.
