"Milord, I have some fascinating news."
"Do you? Pray tell."
"Bad news first, sir. The governer's daughter has escaped."
"If you had only arrived a few minutes earlier, Mr. Mercer, that specific detail would have been made painfully clear."
"The girl was-My deepest apologies, milord, if I had known, I-"
"It is of little importance now. Her escape has not ruined my plans at all. What other news do you bring me?"
"Sir, a ship was spotted near Belem. Going up the river."
"Oh?"
"Sparrow's ship, sir. Mr. Turner was also aboard, as well as another woman."
"Oh. I see."
"Milord, our agents in Recife confirm that both her and the child left Pernambuco with Mr. Sparrow."
Cutler Beckett turned to face the full moon, unable to restrain the smirk rising on his lips.
"How... convenient."
Jack left Tia's in a significantly better mood than when he had entered. He had a plan, a heading, and a jar of dirt.
The only thing marring his peace was the wailing that had commenced as soon as Adelaide had left her daughter. First was the sniffling, then the sobbing and moaning, then... ugh. It was ridiculous.
"Is it going to stop anytime soon, Gibbs?"
The elder man peered at the woman, who had been comforted by almost every man on the ship and worn each of them out, in turn, and currently wailing into a crate of rum.
"I doubt it, Captain."
Jack sighed. "Must I do everything myself?" He walked over to his old friend, squaring his jaw.
"Adelaide, you are being absurd. Please stop this this... emotiony-whatsit you're doing and help."
At that, she began to wail harder, and Jack looked up at the ceiling.
"I was hoping I wouldn't have to do this."
He sighed again, and with that, raised his hand and slapped Adelaide across the face. Will rushed over, aghast.
"For God's SAKE, Jack! That was low, even for you! Ma'am, are you alri- Ma'am?"
Her crumpled form was shaking- but as Will's hand touched her shoulder, her face came up, and her eyes were clear. She was laughing.
"You are a good man, William, better than the both of us..." she said, sighing. "I'm afraid I needed that. Where's my equipment, Jack?"
"In my cabin, as you asked, bloody woman." She nodded briskly to both of them, patting Will on the cheek fondly before disappearing below deck, and the Captain rolled his eyes.
"Women. Mad, the whole lot of them." He turned his gaze to Will. "Go down there and keep an eye on her, you."
"But Elizabe-"
"We won't be in a position to save your dear darling Lizzie for a while yet, and it would be in your best interest, whelp, to make sure Addy doesn't do anything to me Pearl, savvy?"
Will didn't condescend to respond.
"Ma'am? Erm... Adelaide, Miss- Heavens."
Once again, Will was shocked by her lack of propriety, (her dress was halfway unfastened, dark hair unkempt) and the woman turned her head.
"Oh, hello, William." She rubbed her eyes and adjusted her clothes. "Sorry about up there, Celia always gets me a little... over-emotional. Now what is it you need, peixota?"
"Er... Jack sent me to keep an eye on you. Where did all of these... things come from?" He gestured to the flasks strewn across the room, and she shrugged.
"Why do you think the man brought me here. These are the tools of my trade, boy. Now would you mind helping me bolt down these tables so that I can really set up? Grab those leather belts and lay them across the feet there, if you please. Good, now if you'll just grab those bolts we can start working," she said, handing him a strange apparatus as he gave her the metal fasteners.
"Take this, hold it firmly, yes, just like that. Now put the bolt in and turn. Excellent! Now we're getting somewhere."
Will was done quickly- the thing in his hand bolted down and fastened the leather much more efficiently than the usual hammer- he gave the unusual tool back to her admiringly.
She smiled up at him. "Like this, do you? Me too. It was a gift from a friend who went traveling up in the mountains. He met some people there, natives, and they gave him this- well, something like it, in any case. He made a few modifications before I got hold of it." She put it under the bed and grinned, standing back up as she dusted the dirt off of her skirt.
"Thank you, my love. It's nice to have some help here that isn't someone I trust less than Sa- that dreaded pirate."
"Jack isn't all that bad, is he?"
"Hmm? No, no he's not, I was... forgive me," she said, laying out glass beakers and vials of brilliantly coloured solutions. "When you are old, like I am, you forget even the words that pass your own lips."
A silence settled, Adelaide laying out her workspace while Will watched, unsure of what to do. He could never stand quiet.
"What are all of these things for?" She looked up at him squarely, his voice sharp against the sea-sounds that permeated the cabin.
"My work, of course. Why do you think I'm here?" She asked, shaking her head. Will shrugged, and she rolled her eyes in response.
"I am what is called a naturalist."
"A what?"
"A naturalist. I study natural history. Plants, animals, if it's alive, then I look at it."
"So you're a scientist."
"Yes."
"But, I mean... no offense, Ma'am, but how can you be?"
"I just am." He shuffled his feet, inspecting them devotedly; she sighed.
"You mean because I'm a woman?" He nodded, and she shrugged her shoulders, the dark brown blades protruding as she set her jaw.
"I was taught by the same private tutors as my brother- both of our parents placed great value in a fully educated young woman. Even when my brother went to school in Portugal at Universidade de Coimbra, he would send letters transcribing his adventures and send home the books he learned from."
"But- how?"
"I just learned... there is so much out there we do not know, young William, and it is my duty to share it with the world. I could say nothing with a woman's name, so I published under Cristozinho's name, always. There are places you could go where they would mourn my husband's death as a loss to science." She spoke passively, eyes not moving from the table before her, and yet Will felt a great and powerful sadness overwhelm him.'
"I... I'm sorry for your loss."
"Oh, don't say that, you idiot, it just makes me want to hit you," she said, looking mildly irritated before she turned her back to him. "Now are you going to help this lady unpack or not?"