Disclaimer: Unfortunately, I own nothing related to Pirates of the Caribbean. That belongs to Jerry Bruckheimer, Disney, and a bunch of other people. Only original characters and plotlines are mine.
AN: Here's the next chapter! Thanks for reading, and please don't forget to review!
Chapter 10: Surprise Matches:
A few days after we left the little port town in Florida, I could see that a few crewmembers were seriously doubting my decision in bringing Rosa onboard.
For the most part, I think it was Rosa's strength of character that put them off. She was a strong woman who let her temper show when she was angry, and a woman in possession of a backbone always unnerved men. Personally, I felt she was no worse than Anna-Maria, but to the crew, having Anna-Maria was bad enough –they didn't count the rest of us females as 'difficult,' but adding Rosa's temperament to Anna's was like making a hard situation worse.
However, after I got to know her better, I could feel that Rosa and I were beginning to become friends, just like Anna and I had. Over a shared pot of tea in my cabin, we traded life stories, and unsurprisingly, hers was far more difficult than mine.
"I know I must appear a difficult woman, but I must be strong if I am to survive," she'd told me during her first night aboard. "Weakness gets you killed when you are alone in the world. If I were weak, I would have married my foolish, bastard cousin who is stupider than a rock and far more useless. And if I had married him, my uncle would have dominated us both until the day one of us died. I had to stay strong in order to live on my own and find a way out of that town before I was forced into that marriage.
"My wits have helped me find work with a local herb woman, though I did not get paid much. My temper has helped me win bargaining sessions in the marketplace, for anyone who shows weakness while bargaining is sure to be robbed by merchants. With these I was able to etch out a living, and I would happily continue to do so, if it weren't for my uncle."
I felt sorry for her, to be sure, but if she was poor, why did her uncle want her to marry his bastard son? When I asked her, Rosa merely snorted and growled something about him being a controlling man with no soul.
Thus, I wasn't really surprised that, beneath her spirit and fiery temper, Rosa was a good person. When she'd come onboard, she'd brought not only her clothes and possessions, but large packets of dried plants and herbs for medicines. As a gesture of friendship, she made small, strong-scented pouches for Selene, Penny, Anna and I to store with our clothes, keeping them not only free of vermin, but sweet-smelling as well.
Of course, after such a kind act, the other girls insisted on becoming friends with Rosa. We all tried to eat our meals together, but since I still cooked with Mr. Cotton, met with Gibbs for a lesson or two on pirates, and practiced knife-fighting with Anna, I was usually too tired to do more than eat and listen to the other girls' chatter. It was very cozy, almost home-like, and we relished the 'safe' feeling such a gathering provided us.
It was Rosa's fifth day aboard when we managed to show the men how useful she was. She had first spent a majority of her time settling in and helping Penny in the storage room, taking tally of what herbs and spices we already had aboard so she could see what we had and she didn't (and vice versa). Once she had a general idea of our herb stores, she went straight to work, creating a distilling room in one of the spare cabins, and began brewing things, using her herb skills to create treatments for wounds, burns, illnesses, and hangovers. She even mixed spice packets for Mr. Cotton and I to use in the crew's meals, which added a nice bit of flavor to everything that we never had before. Needless to say, it wasn't long before the men began noticing the improved flavor in their food, and when they did, Rosa began to receive some thanks from those bold enough to approach her.
However, the day that truly marked her acceptance onboard was when Gibbs came down with a very bad hangover.
Now, hangovers were not uncommon aboard a pirate ship. Considering all the drinking that occurred either on deck or below it, I'd be surprised if we managed to go two days without someone being hung-over.
As it so happened, Gibbs became involved in a drinking game with a few of the crewmen, and as he didn't want to be left out of the fun, Jack insisted on joining them. I, personally, wasn't there to witness the event, but I could certainly hear them on deck that night, laughing and staggering around as they thoroughly enjoyed themselves. It made for a horribly restless night for me.
The next day, Marty found Gibbs suffering from not only a headache, but also nausea, dizziness, and a head that felt like it'd been stuffed with cotton. He was so miserable that some of the men began worrying about his health and voicing their fears to one another. Coincidently, they were standing by the 'women's cabins,' where we females had gathered to chat over biscuits and tea.
When Rosa heard about Gibbs's issue, she immediately decided to help. Muttering about the foolishness of men, she gathered a few pouches of herbs and stalked down to the crew's quarters, not caring what the men might think about having their private space invaded by a stubborn Spanish girl. Worried that she might cause more problems than she solved, I hurried after her, leaving Anna with the other girls behind.
It was a good thing I went along, because Rosa needed someone to help her mix up the herbs, and none of the men were willing to involve themselves. Over the shared stove that heated the crew's cabin, she boiled a small teapot of some sort of concoction, and poured a cupful of it. The medicine was thick, almost sludgy with herbs, but the smell of the mint leaves freshened the room, though it didn't quite cover up the scent of boiled green things.
Gibbs, superstitious as always, refused to drink the remedy until Rosa threatened to have me pour it down his throat while she and Anna held him down. Shocked at the threat, he obediently drank down the entire cup and lay back down on his bunk as Rosa put her things away.
In a little while, he sat up, blinking. "Well, I'll be damned. The mess worked!"
"Of course it did," Rosa replied smugly. "After living so long with an herb woman, you think I don't know how to cure a hangover? It is one of the most popular remedies, and one of the simplest to make."
"I suppose you dislike men who drink, eh?" he asked, taking the mug of water I offered him. "Most women do."
Rosa actually chuckled, a soft sound that surprised not only Gibbs, but me as well, for it was the first time I'd heard her laugh. I had seen her smile, but never laugh, and I couldn't believe that it was Gibbs who had startled the sound out of her.
"Would it surprise you that I have no objection to men drinking?" she said, gathering up her basket. "My own father enjoyed his rum, and he was a good man who loved his family and took care of them. As long as they don't drink too much and become violent, I don't oppose men indulging."
Gibbs couldn't have been more surprised than if Rosa had turned into a mermaid right before his eyes. For a moment, he was actually speechless, and after she had left for her own cabin, I smirked at the expression on his face.
"Well, I suppose that you'll be joining the crew for lunch," I merrily told him as I walked towards the door.
"Aye," he muttered, rubbing his hand over his hair, a thoughtful look on his face.
After lunch, everyone except me was surprised in Gibbs's sudden change in personality. For the past few hours, he'd made an effort in approaching Rosa, who treated his attempts at 'charm' with goodhearted laughter and a gentle, but firm rebuke.
At first, Gibbs had been disheartened by this, but with a bit of encouragement from me, he decided to try and slowly win Rosa over. He started by inviting us ladies to join him, Marty and Rannoch on deck for cards after supper. After we all gathered around a table the men put together from planks of wood, they proceeded to patiently tell us about the game, and its rules. Whenever the men attempted to cheat, Anna would reach over and slap them upside the head, a sight that always made us laugh.
Following the game, while the men indulged in their rum, Anna led us to a quiet part of the deck near the helm. A few large coils of rope, a small bucket or two, and a couple barrels were strewn about, but we helped each other gather them so that we could sit together and talk. Once we were settled, I made sure to study Rosa's face, wondering she was thinking about. She looked unusually solemn, as though there were something on her mind and she was unsure as to whether it was a good thing or not.
"So…" I drawled, smiling as I looked over at her. "Mr. Gibbs certainly seems interested in you."
The other girls snickered as Rosa scowled. Since it was dark out here, I couldn't tell if she was blushing or not, but from the slightly embarrassed look on her face, she probably was.
"That is not funny," she retorted, her eyes not meeting ours. "Besides, he is too old for me. Seriously, look at him! He has white hair and everything!"
Selene waved her words aside. "Oh, come now, Rosie! You know that men his age marry girls our age all the time, so don't try and use that weak argument on us."
The rest of us laughed at that, and tried to avoid getting pushed off our chairs by a smiling Rosa. "Alright, I won't say that, but I do not think he is my type. He is a pirate who enjoys his drink too much, and I do not relish the idea of having to treat his hangovers for the rest of my days!"
"Oh, I think you might be able to change that little flaw in his character," Penny teased, causing all of us to burst into laughter. "Or if not, he might convert you into liking rum instead!"
Catching her breath, Rosa tried to stop her giggles. "Well, we'll see," she replied, smiling in spite of herself.
I exchanged a knowing look with Anna-Maria, then turned the conversation elsewhere. Relieved that we were no longer talking about her, Rosa relaxed and joined in wholeheartedly. It was a good evening all around.
Taking a swig from his rum bottle, Jack listened to the sound of females giggling, and frowned.
How had things come to this? Besides Anna-Maria and Evie, there were three other ladies aboard, and Jack hadn't a chance with any one of them! It was almost killing him inside, knowing that Evie had somehow managed to find mates for Marty of all people, and Rannoch, the giant Irishman who more often frightened girls than attracted them!
What was worse, though, was the fact that Gibbs, his first mate and best friend, had actually found a girl he was interested in. Not only that, but the girl was a beauty. True, she had a temper to match the passionate nature of the Spanish people, but that could only prove interesting in a marriage, at least in Jack's opinion.
'I can't abide dull women,' he thought with a shudder.
That's why he had tried to make an attempt on the Spanish beauty, Rosa. She had more spirit than either Selene or Penny, and if he managed to win her over, she might make life more exciting for him. And so, on her second day aboard ship, after making sure he looked his best, Jack had found Rosa alone on deck and proceeded to use his charms on her.
Unfortunately, his efforts had been an utter failure. Rosa had merely laughed at him, stating that she had heard of his reputation, and knew the kind of man he was. She then proceeded to tell him that she would not be one of his conquests, and that he would have to look elsewhere for female attention.
Jack shouldn't have been surprised at her words, as he knew that his reputation was wide-spread, but to have her fling that back in his face had hurt not only his feelings, but his pride as well.
'On the other hand, perhaps a wife with a sharp wit might not be a good idea after all.'
Still, a wife with a temper would be better than a meek, milk-skinned girl with no will of her own. It would make for spectacular fights, for one thing, and Jack always found fiery women amusing when they were in a foul mood –well, when he wasn't ducking to avoid objects being thrown at his head. And as for 'making up' afterwards…well, that might just be worth the whole thing!
Sighing, he took another drink and sat back in his chair as the sound of laughter again came from above. Hopefully those ladies weren't plotting against him or his men –if any of those girls tried to purposely lead on any of his crewmen and turn them against one another, they'd be thrown off at the next port.
'Conflict amongst the crew leads to dangerous situations,' Jack remembered his father saying. He had learned his lesson after Barbossa, and he would not repeat that mistake again.
Meanwhile, Jack was in the middle of his own internal conflict. He has so far failed to get even close to the women in their time aboard, and he had a feeling that was his own fault. Something had been holding him back, and he wasn't sure what it was.
At first, he'd thought it was his duties aboard the Pearl, which was true enough. As Captain, Jack had a lot of work and not much time to do it in. There'd been several raids already, so there had been the battle preparations to see to, and afterwards, he'd had the task of counting and distributing the goods evenly amongst the crew. That always took a lot of time and effort, so it really was no wonder that Marty and Rannoch had managed to swipe the first two bonny lasses that Evie had found.
Taking another swig from his bottle, Jack began grumbling under his breath. Thus far, his goal of finding a wife was going down in flames. Between sailing the Pearl, pillaging, caring for his men, and a dozen other duties, he was beginning to feel like a failure when it came to finding and wooing a woman.
It wasn't as though he could blame Evie, either. She was actually doing her duty in bringing women aboard, and though she wasn't actually making any matches, those women had been just the right fit for some of his men.
'Maybe I need to go elsewhere to find a woman.' Oh, now that was an idea.
He stared at the bottle in his hand, lost in thought. Since it was full of merchant sailors, pirates and Navy-types from all over, some of them also looking for wives, the Caribbean was somewhat limited when it came to eligible females. Why not head to other waters, perhaps Europe? The civilized world was full of all sorts of women, and it might even have the kind he was looking for
Jack smiled and took another drink of rum.
AN: I know, much shorter chapter this time, but if I put anything else in here, it wouldn't "fit" with the way I want it to go. I promise the next one will be longer. Thanks for reading, and please review!