Commandeering Commodore

Chapter 8

Mr. Groves watched the Commodore's face as Jack delivered his outrageously peccant apology. He was surprised that except for a few grimaces and what Theodore knew were snorts from the Commodore even at this distance, the Commodore seemed to take the exhortations from the man in a fairly calm manner as he sat there sipping at his brandy. Theodore was sure something was not right here. This was not like Commodore Norrington at all. He got unsteadily from his chair deciding he should go over and make sure all was as well as it seemed.

"Commodore sir." Mr. Groves said looking from James to Jack and back as he stood there swaying a little and attempting to give a proper salute and failing rather a bit miserably. "Is everything all right here? Do you need assistance of any kind sir?"

"Everything is fine…at the moment Mr. Groves. I do not require your assistance at present. However please feel free to join us if it will ease your mind." James said, having experienced the mostly irritating mothering aspects of both Groves and Gillette in certain circumstances numerous times in the past where he was concerned, and felt inviting the man to sit down at the table was the most expedient way to convince the man there was nothing to incite further mothering tendencies in the present situation. Besides he could see the way his lieutenant was looking at Sparrow, the man would like nothing more than to sit and engage the pirate…sorry….privateer in conversation. This would in fact kill two birds with one stone so to speak. It would keep not only Groves's attention affixed somewhere else, and thus if nothing else delay the mothering, but also focus the Captain's attention elsewhere as well. He smiled to himself as his ploy worked and Mr. Groves took the seat on the other side of Sparrow and immediately immersed him in conversation. Jack beamed at the attention being lavished on him by the semi-worshipful Lieutenant, and ordered another round of drinks for the table. James relaxed back in his chair as he sipped on his drink. Elizabeth and Will occupied themselves by making moony eyes at each other and every once and a while giving little kisses and hugs to each other. And so it went for quite sometime, until finally in the wee hours of the morning they each, other than Will and Elizabeth who left together of course, made their ways back to their respective homes, or ship as it were, to get what sleep they could until they departed on their mission the next morning, which was in fact now only hours away.

As he entered the Fort, James stopped at the desk and left word with the officer on duty as to what time he was to be awakened in the morning. And although James had not consumed an over large amount of alcohol he had more than was his usual. It was apparent to the officer that the Commodore had been imbibing, not only by the alcohol on the breath the officer had no trouble noticing, but because there was a certain lack of rigid posture the man was used to seeing in his commanding officer, and there was also the fact that the Commodore was slurring his words just a bit. He smiled as he watched the retreating figure stumble over a nonexistent something in the middle of the floor as the Commodore headed for his office in a most un-Commodore-ly fashion. James often worked in his office until the late hours of the night, often spending the night there rather than bothering to make his way home at such a late hour, so some time ago he had a small cot set in the corner behind a screen for such occasions. As he entered his office he removed his coat and attempted to hang it on the coat rack by the door, a coat rack that was not co-operating at all. James finally decided that the back of a nearby chair would serve the purpose just as well and hung it there instead. His hat and wig he placed on his desk, not even attempting to scuffle with the unco-operative rack again. He removed his cravat and waistcoat, his shoes and stockings, which after the third or fourth attempt decided it would be best if he sat down to perform said task, and placed each item in a neat pile next to his hat and wig. He made his way to the cot, and was sound asleep within minutes of his head hitting the pillow.

Jack swayed up the gangplank and headed straight for his cabin. He went to the cupboard, withdrew a bottle of rum, sat at his desk, kicked his feet up and crossed his ankles on the desk, and began drinking said rum as he pondered the mission they were about to embark on. He had never required much sleep, and this appeared to be one of those nights he would get little if any.

Will explained to Elizabeth about the events that brought about Jack's apology in the tavern as they walked arm in arm on the way to the Governor's mansion. They entered trying to be quiet and not wake anyone, but both were stifling giggles and laughs, their actions bringing back memories of when they were younger and had snuck out and then had to sneak back in without detection. They made their way up the stairs to the room they were staying in until their new house was finished. They made it to their room without alerting anyone, and fell giggling on the bed for a while until the giggles turned into much different sounds altogether.

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James woke at the knock on his door and called out, "I am awake, thank you." He lay there for a few minutes judging the state he was in from last night. He did have a bit of a hangover but thankfully nothing he couldn't handle, just a dull pounding in his head and a very slight feeling of nausea. He slowly sat up on the edge of the bed, and not being hit with any worse symptoms than he already had got to his feet and walked over to the wash basin and began washing up and dressing. As he was buttoning up his shirt one of the men knocked and as James called "enter" brought a breakfast tray in and set it on the corner of his desk. "Thank you Mr. Porter. I won't need anything else, you may go." James perused the items on the tray and decided he would stick with just the tea and perhaps a piece of dry toast. He sat down and went over any paperwork he felt would not wait until his return as he ate. There was another knock on the door and James called out a bit brusquely at the interruption, "Yes, what is it?" As Mr. Gillette and Mr. Groves came in he moderated his tone a bit. "What is it gentlemen?"

"Mr. Groves and I feel one of us should accompany you sir. We feel it would not be safe for you to travel alone in such company." Mr. Gillette said getting right to the point.

"Indeed!" James said as he thought to himself "Here we go with the mothering again and good Lord, both of them at once." He spoke aloud to the men as he looked from one to the other, "What would cause you to think the presence of one more of us would have any effect if the company I was keeping had anything but good intentions in mind, seems like the only outcome would be two dead naval officers instead of one gentlemen."

They looked at each other and then back at the Commodore. "With all respect, we still feel it would be prudent for one of us to come with you sir." Mr. Gillette said.

"I see, well let me explain my problem in choosing either one of you gentlemen, and perhaps you can shed some light on my dilemma here. Do I choose the one who winds up in arm wrestling matches with said company or do I choose the one who is totally befooled by said companies Captain?" James said with a not unkind smirk. "Really gentlemen, I will be fine, and I need both of you here to make sure things go smoothly while I am gone."

"But sir!" they both started to say at once and were at once quieted as James held his hand up in a silencing gesture, stood up, grabbed his jacket and the satchel he had packed a couple of days ago in preparation, and said as he headed for the door, "The discussion is over gentlemen. My mind is made up. You both shall carry out your duties here until my return."

Neither one looked happy about the Commodore's words but they both gave him an unenthusiastic "Aye sir." as they followed him out of the office and the fort and towards the dock.

When they arrived Will and Elizabeth were already there, just getting ready to go aboard after saying good bye to Governor Swann. Governor Swann turned as James approached and said, "A word if you please Commodore."

James stopped by his side and the Governor continued, "I would hope you will do all that is within your power to keep my daughter safe."

"I shall indeed Governor, although I'm sure your request is not needed. Mr. Turner no doubt will see that no harm befalls her." James replied.

"Yes…..well just the same I would appreciate your attention to the matter. You are much more experienced than Mr. Turner and I feel a much better protector in certain situations that may come up. You understand my hesitation to put the safety of my daughter solely in the hands of a blacksmith."

"Mr. Turner is a fine if somewhat inexperienced man Governor. You may depend on the both of us to see to Mrs. Turners safety sir." James said as he took his leave and headed aboard the Pearl.

To Be Continued

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