Mariana groaned as the man set her down on a chair. The dim light of the
coming dawn was the only light in the cabin. He had run with her on his
shoulder all through the silent town and to the port, where he had quickly
scrambled onto a ship. His step had been certain, but there was a hint of
drunkenness to it that did not escape Mariana's notice. He gave her a look
that seemed to say that he was almost as surprised and confused as she was,
before closing the door to the cabin of the ship. He then approached her
as though she might leap up and bite him, and with the same kind of
movement, removed the gag.
It was the first time that Mariana had been able to see him clearly, and she now saw that his skin was a tan colour, and his eyes were a dark brown. A red bandana was tied around his head, keeping his long, black hair from falling in his eyes. Beads and coins hung from braids of hair and from the bandana. A twisted beard clung to his chin, and a moustache framed his mouth. He was dressed in a loose white shirt, which was partly covered by a brown overcoat; brown breeches; and a large leather belt with a heavy buckle was fastened around his waist. He stared at her now, as though wondering curiously what she would do now. She stared back, a look of utter confusion on her face.
"You can scream now," he said, his hands and body moving extravagantly with his words, as though that was what he thought she should do. Mariana stared at him for a moment longer.
"What do you think you are doing!? Who the hell do you think you are!?" she yelled at the top of her lungs, which obviously surprised him as he jumped back about five feet. "How dare you! Let me go!" The man continued to stare at her as though he had never seen a yelling girl in his entire life. Mariana continued to stare back, apparently waiting for an answer. "Well?" she demanded.
"Jack, what on earth is going on?" a sleepy voice asked from the cabin door. It opened, revealing a dark haired woman dressed in similar clothes to the man apparently named Jack.
"Nothing," he replied, stepping in front of Mariana as though that would hide her completely. "Nothing, Anamaria."
"Jack, I heard shouts and yells commin' from this cabin, an' it weren't you," Anamaria replied matter-of-factly. Jack opened his mouth to retort, but thought better of it and shut his mouth again. She moved around the man, who made no attempt to block her way, and came close to Mariana. She studied her for a few seconds, and Mariana felt quite uncomfortable as she did so, shifting a little on the hard wooden chair. Anamaria turned back to Jack, her eyebrows raised, looking at him with an expression that told him immediately that she wanted an explanation – now!
"Jack Sparrow!" she shouted in a stern voice.
"Captain! Captain Jack Sparrow!" he insisted, but she paid no notice.
"What on earth were you thinking bringin' Miss Turner here?" she demanded. "You know Will and Liz'll kill you!"
"No, they won't, because I won't let her come to any harm, just as they wanted," Jack retorted.
"They wanted her to remain in a safe place," Anamaria stated. "Do you think that their definition of a safe place is on a pirate ship bound for Tortuga at the next chance?"
"Why wouldn't that be safe?" Jack asked earnestly, and Anamaria gave an exasperated sigh. "I'm still alive, aren't I?"
"Only because I haven't killed you yet!" Anamaria retorted. She sighed again, and turned back to Mariana. "I'm sorry, lass. You'll have to excuse Jack. He's had one too many rums in his life to think straight anymore."
"How is it that you know my parents, but I have no idea who you are?" Mariana asked uncertainly.
"What? You don't know who we are?" Jack asked, swaggering towards the girl. "Hasn't your father or mother ever told you about us?"
"No, and I'm not sure as to why they should have," Mariana answered. "My parents do not associate themselves with pirates."
Jack and Anamaria exchanged glances, bewildered as to why Mariana would be playing them like this. After a few moments of silence, they both burst out laughing.
"Don't associate themselves with pirates?" Jack repeated through his laughs. Suddenly, he stopped laughing, and became almost serious. "Will and Liz are very good friends of mine, and Will's practically a pirate himself, luv."
"Are you mad?" Mariana asked, but then went on without waiting for a reply. "My father is no pirate, sir, and I would thank you not to call me luv," she snapped.
"See, she's just like her mother," Jack said to Anamaria before returning his attention to Mariana. "Why are you playing us like this?" Mariana looked at him and frowned in confusion. It took Anamaria only a moment to read the girl's expression.
"She's not playing us, Jack," she said, looking at her captain. "She really has no idea who we are."
"No, I don't," Mariana said, greatly relieved that Anamaria seemed to understand. Jack moved over to her, and looked her straight in the eye.
"Your father's father was a pirate," he stated as he begun to explain, his body and hands moving with his words as he paced the cabin. "Bootstrap Bill, to be precise. He left Will to grow up with his mother, and when she died, he came over to the Caribbean. On the crossing, my mutinous crew sank his ship, and Elizabeth happened to notice him in the water, so her ship picked him up. Now, for the next ten years or so, they lived happily and peacefully, until the same ship, with the same mutinous crew came and sacked Port Royale, taking your mother captive. In order to get her back, your father teamed up with me, commandeered a ship of the royal fleet and sailed off to save her. In the end, we all found each other, and came back here, where the wonderful Commodore decided to hang me. Your mother and father helped me escape at the last moment, and I sailed off into the distance on my wonderful ship, the Black Pearl."
Mariana looked from Jack to Anamaria. "It's true, lass," she confirmed as Mariana tried to grasp it all.
"My parents...did all that?" she asked at last, disbelief showing in her voice.
"That and more, luv," Jack replied.
"Well then why have they never told me?" she challenged.
Jack opened his mouth to give an explanation, when he realised that he didn't have one, or rather, that he did, and wished to conceal it.
"That one you'll have to clear up with your parents," he said, trying to avoid further questioning. Mariana was about to ask him again when there was another voice from the door.
"Captain? We'd best be settin' sail now. Not long till dawn."
"Yes, Gibbs," Jack called back through the closed door. "Set sail immediately."
"What? You have to take me back to shore!" Mariana protested.
"No, I don't," Jack replied with a sly smile on his face. "We never made an agreement."
"But this is kidnapping!"
"Is it?" he asked, looking surprised. "Oh." With that, he strode over to the door, opened it, and walked out on deck. Anamaria gave Mariana a glance before following Jack into the dark night.
"Are you mad?" Anamaria asked Jack as she shut the cabin door behind her. "What do you plan to do with the girl? Give her a family history lesson that her parents missed out for some important reason? I mean, what is it that you plan to do with her?" Anamaria demanded.
"Bring up the anchor, Mr. Gibbs! Take her out of here!" Jack called to Gibbs before answering the ever-impatient Anamaria. "I intend to set her free!"
"Jack, so far all you've done to the poor child is kidnap her while she was sleeping, tie her to a chair and gag her, and tell her that her parents are not the people she thought they were. How on earth will this set her free?"
"Anamaria, I've watched the lass all of her life, even when Liz and Will asked me to stop coming. She can't stand living like a prim and proper lady; she wants to be free. But she's not going to let go of that way of life too easy. All she needs is a little push, and that's exactly what I'm giving her."
"I hope you know what you're doing, Jack," Anamaria said as she went to climb to the crow's nest.
"I never do luv, I never do!" Jack called after her as he steered the Black Pearl out of the harbour and into the open seas.
It was the first time that Mariana had been able to see him clearly, and she now saw that his skin was a tan colour, and his eyes were a dark brown. A red bandana was tied around his head, keeping his long, black hair from falling in his eyes. Beads and coins hung from braids of hair and from the bandana. A twisted beard clung to his chin, and a moustache framed his mouth. He was dressed in a loose white shirt, which was partly covered by a brown overcoat; brown breeches; and a large leather belt with a heavy buckle was fastened around his waist. He stared at her now, as though wondering curiously what she would do now. She stared back, a look of utter confusion on her face.
"You can scream now," he said, his hands and body moving extravagantly with his words, as though that was what he thought she should do. Mariana stared at him for a moment longer.
"What do you think you are doing!? Who the hell do you think you are!?" she yelled at the top of her lungs, which obviously surprised him as he jumped back about five feet. "How dare you! Let me go!" The man continued to stare at her as though he had never seen a yelling girl in his entire life. Mariana continued to stare back, apparently waiting for an answer. "Well?" she demanded.
"Jack, what on earth is going on?" a sleepy voice asked from the cabin door. It opened, revealing a dark haired woman dressed in similar clothes to the man apparently named Jack.
"Nothing," he replied, stepping in front of Mariana as though that would hide her completely. "Nothing, Anamaria."
"Jack, I heard shouts and yells commin' from this cabin, an' it weren't you," Anamaria replied matter-of-factly. Jack opened his mouth to retort, but thought better of it and shut his mouth again. She moved around the man, who made no attempt to block her way, and came close to Mariana. She studied her for a few seconds, and Mariana felt quite uncomfortable as she did so, shifting a little on the hard wooden chair. Anamaria turned back to Jack, her eyebrows raised, looking at him with an expression that told him immediately that she wanted an explanation – now!
"Jack Sparrow!" she shouted in a stern voice.
"Captain! Captain Jack Sparrow!" he insisted, but she paid no notice.
"What on earth were you thinking bringin' Miss Turner here?" she demanded. "You know Will and Liz'll kill you!"
"No, they won't, because I won't let her come to any harm, just as they wanted," Jack retorted.
"They wanted her to remain in a safe place," Anamaria stated. "Do you think that their definition of a safe place is on a pirate ship bound for Tortuga at the next chance?"
"Why wouldn't that be safe?" Jack asked earnestly, and Anamaria gave an exasperated sigh. "I'm still alive, aren't I?"
"Only because I haven't killed you yet!" Anamaria retorted. She sighed again, and turned back to Mariana. "I'm sorry, lass. You'll have to excuse Jack. He's had one too many rums in his life to think straight anymore."
"How is it that you know my parents, but I have no idea who you are?" Mariana asked uncertainly.
"What? You don't know who we are?" Jack asked, swaggering towards the girl. "Hasn't your father or mother ever told you about us?"
"No, and I'm not sure as to why they should have," Mariana answered. "My parents do not associate themselves with pirates."
Jack and Anamaria exchanged glances, bewildered as to why Mariana would be playing them like this. After a few moments of silence, they both burst out laughing.
"Don't associate themselves with pirates?" Jack repeated through his laughs. Suddenly, he stopped laughing, and became almost serious. "Will and Liz are very good friends of mine, and Will's practically a pirate himself, luv."
"Are you mad?" Mariana asked, but then went on without waiting for a reply. "My father is no pirate, sir, and I would thank you not to call me luv," she snapped.
"See, she's just like her mother," Jack said to Anamaria before returning his attention to Mariana. "Why are you playing us like this?" Mariana looked at him and frowned in confusion. It took Anamaria only a moment to read the girl's expression.
"She's not playing us, Jack," she said, looking at her captain. "She really has no idea who we are."
"No, I don't," Mariana said, greatly relieved that Anamaria seemed to understand. Jack moved over to her, and looked her straight in the eye.
"Your father's father was a pirate," he stated as he begun to explain, his body and hands moving with his words as he paced the cabin. "Bootstrap Bill, to be precise. He left Will to grow up with his mother, and when she died, he came over to the Caribbean. On the crossing, my mutinous crew sank his ship, and Elizabeth happened to notice him in the water, so her ship picked him up. Now, for the next ten years or so, they lived happily and peacefully, until the same ship, with the same mutinous crew came and sacked Port Royale, taking your mother captive. In order to get her back, your father teamed up with me, commandeered a ship of the royal fleet and sailed off to save her. In the end, we all found each other, and came back here, where the wonderful Commodore decided to hang me. Your mother and father helped me escape at the last moment, and I sailed off into the distance on my wonderful ship, the Black Pearl."
Mariana looked from Jack to Anamaria. "It's true, lass," she confirmed as Mariana tried to grasp it all.
"My parents...did all that?" she asked at last, disbelief showing in her voice.
"That and more, luv," Jack replied.
"Well then why have they never told me?" she challenged.
Jack opened his mouth to give an explanation, when he realised that he didn't have one, or rather, that he did, and wished to conceal it.
"That one you'll have to clear up with your parents," he said, trying to avoid further questioning. Mariana was about to ask him again when there was another voice from the door.
"Captain? We'd best be settin' sail now. Not long till dawn."
"Yes, Gibbs," Jack called back through the closed door. "Set sail immediately."
"What? You have to take me back to shore!" Mariana protested.
"No, I don't," Jack replied with a sly smile on his face. "We never made an agreement."
"But this is kidnapping!"
"Is it?" he asked, looking surprised. "Oh." With that, he strode over to the door, opened it, and walked out on deck. Anamaria gave Mariana a glance before following Jack into the dark night.
"Are you mad?" Anamaria asked Jack as she shut the cabin door behind her. "What do you plan to do with the girl? Give her a family history lesson that her parents missed out for some important reason? I mean, what is it that you plan to do with her?" Anamaria demanded.
"Bring up the anchor, Mr. Gibbs! Take her out of here!" Jack called to Gibbs before answering the ever-impatient Anamaria. "I intend to set her free!"
"Jack, so far all you've done to the poor child is kidnap her while she was sleeping, tie her to a chair and gag her, and tell her that her parents are not the people she thought they were. How on earth will this set her free?"
"Anamaria, I've watched the lass all of her life, even when Liz and Will asked me to stop coming. She can't stand living like a prim and proper lady; she wants to be free. But she's not going to let go of that way of life too easy. All she needs is a little push, and that's exactly what I'm giving her."
"I hope you know what you're doing, Jack," Anamaria said as she went to climb to the crow's nest.
"I never do luv, I never do!" Jack called after her as he steered the Black Pearl out of the harbour and into the open seas.