It's update Wednesday!
Hello to all! If you held on this long, I thank you, now chapter 18, enjoy!
This week's chapter is dedicated to:
Le Jack:
Wow! That is more like an essay than a review! But I loved getting it! And yeah, this is a story that has been floating about in my head for a while now, it was not originally a PotC fiction, but the characters fit in rather nicely, or so I hope. And I DID put it under the PotC category, so I thought I might make it a bit more PotC-ish. Katrina is supposed to originally feisty, hopefully her going into a more defiant role won't screw up her character. I know, Jack slurs, but it was just fun to put all those apostrophes in.. And hey the short attention thing? I totally relate. Wow, that was rather a long review response, at least, it was for me. Oh well, long review equals long response, I suppose.
AKAFredandGeorge: 1. Smashing? Smashing what? Romance, huh? Who do you think?
2. Spanking? Who are my characters spanking? Oh, that sounded dirty. Oops. LOVE your analogies!
3. K, you where either a. in a hurry b. didn't really wanna review or c. on a sugar high. My guess is a or c.
LittleCountryDragon: Yes, yes, Jack is back. Hey! That rhymed! Ok, over it, I promise. And yeah. Corn on the cob is yummy, especially when smothered in butter and sprinkled with salt after being boiled for a few minutes. Oh, and it has to be the bi-colored kind, ya know, the white and yellow.
Drink-Up-Me-Hearties-Yo-Ho: Hedgehogs? Those cute little creatures? Never! Oh, perish the thought! (Oh, the drama) K, I'm over it now, I promise. Any who… Moles mebbe, durn little buggers rip up my lawn.
Sarah-K-O-M: Ok, Ok, caaaaalm down, breath, come on… inhale, exhale, repeat. Yeah, that was the general direction I was going for with Link and Edmund.
Tazz Sparrow: Cereal? Haven't seen that one, but I was tempted to buy the fruit snacks I saw in the grocery store the other day…
BabyBoy1: I don't know how many times I have said it, but I update once a week, on Wednesdays, or earlier if I have the time. That's it, badgering does not make updates go quicker, in fact they impede my creativity and inspiration.
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The crowd was cheering loudly, each person urging on their favorite horse and rider. Katrina gripped the rope strung between the posts that marked the outside of the track, watching the horses race. Coming around the bend, Link and his horse were lengths ahead of the other seven riders, it was easy to see why he was called "the centurion", his horse seemed to be an extension of his own body.
A flicker of a movement out of the corner of her eye caught Katrina's attention. What she saw tore a startled cry from her throat, but her shout was drowned out by the clamor of the spectators.
"Sera!" Katrina screamed desperately. The little girl was chasing something onto the race track. "Sera!" she tried harder. The little girl caught up her renegade object. And turned to hold up her prize, only to freeze halfway. Staring at the speeding animals running straight at her.
Katrina watched, frozen in terror as the first horse approached her, but it was driven to the side and a body flew from the saddle, seizing the child and curling itself around her.
Other riders saw this and swerved their horses to avoid the two humans huddled on the track, but not all could avoid in time. Two horses rode right over both people.
"Oh, Lord." Katrina was on her knees at Link's side before she knew she moved, Keeley following. A dusty and sobbing Sera was on the other side of the fallen centurion. There where hoof prints on his back. "Link!" she gently rolled him onto his side.
His eyes slowly opened, peering up at the three girls huddled over him. "Angels." He muttered. "I must be dead." He added with a playful smirk.
"Link!" Katrina said exasperated. "That isn't funny!"
"You must be the avenging angel." He directed at Katrina.
"He'll be fine if he can joke about all this. " Katrina told a concerned looking Keeley. "He'll be alright." She addressed the growing crowd around them.
Link let out a groan, and managed to prop himself up on an elbow, one hand holding his head. "Is pixie alright?"
"Yes, she's fine, thanks to you." Katrina reassured, helping him into a sitting position.
"Link!" Sera wailed, throwing herself into his arms.
"Ow!" he winced slightly. "Careful, pixie." He held her from him and looked down at her. Seeing she was only dusty and not really hurt, he smiled at her.
"Oh dear." Keeley said and started dabbing at a large gash on Link's forehead with a handkerchief. She looked up at the crowd of gawkers. "Well, don't just stand there staring! Help me move him!" she ordered, causing some of the onlookers to jump into action.
Two of the men in the group pulled Link to his feet , slinging his arms around their shoulders. and helped him walk the short distance to the shade of a large oak a little ways from the track, out of the way of the main events of the fair. Keeley following, instructing them.
Seeing Link had a fully capable nurse, Katrina turned her attentions to the trembling little girl next to her. "Come here, precious."
Sera crawled onto Katrina's lap, Katrina giving her a short hug. "What made you run onto the track?" she asked gently.
Sera turned her large tear rimmed eyes towards her and held up her hair ribbon up, lower lip trembling.
"Your hair ribbon?" she took the scrap of material from the little girl.
Sera hung her head and nodded, big tears rolling down her cheeks.
"Sera! Kitty!" Rachel ran up to them. "I heard what happened, are you all right?"
"Mommy!" Sera sobbed, throwing herself at her mother.
Rachel caught her. "Shh, It's alright, it's alright." She comforted, slightly rocking the child. Sera slowly clamed down, her sobs subsiding into snuffles. "Let's get you cleaned up." Rachel said after Sera had sufficiently calmed down. "Both of you." She added eyeing the skirt of Katrina's dress which was coated in dust from kneeling on the ground.
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the afternoon had melted away to early evening and most of the fair's participants were sitting on blankets spread around the village commons, partaking of their evening meal. Katrina, Rachel and Sera joined Kelley and Link beneath the oak, all enjoying a basket from the kitchens of Bridgewood.
"I think Millie has grossly over judged the capacity of everyone's stomachs." Katrina commented as they were finishing up their meal, almost half of the food left over.
"Cookie?" Sera said, rummaging around in the basket. Finding none she sat back and fixed Katrina with puppy-eyes.
"Alright," Katrina gave in. "I think I saw a pastry stall at market, lets see if they have any thing left." Sera eyes immediately lost their begging look and lit up along with her smile.
"I better come with and make sure she doesn't convince you to buy the whole stall out." Rachel got up to join them as the small band started tuning up their instruments.
"Hurry back!" Keeley called after them. "You don't want to miss the dance, masques are so fun!"
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The shop was just getting ready to close as the trio of girls walked up to it.
"Excuse me, sir, but my daughter would like a cookie if you have any left." Rachel called to the owner.
"Well now, no cookies left. But I believe I have just the right thing." He said at seeing Sera's expression fall. He lifted a towel covering a tray and pulled out a honey bun, handing it to Sera. "Will this do?"
Sera beamed at him and accepted the treat.
"What do we owe you?" Katrina asked riffling through her skirt pocket for a few coins.
"Owe me?" the man said. "Why nothing, those buns would have been no good by morning anyhow."
"What do we say to the nice man, Sera?" Rachel prompted her daughter.
"Tank oo." Sera recited shyly around a mouthful off honey bun.
"Sera! Don't talk with you mouth full!" Rachel admonished her daughter. Sera swallowed her food and giggled.
Have a nice evening, sir." Katrina said before following her friends back to the commons.
"Where are Keeley and Link?" Katrina asked when they got back to their blanket.
"There, they are dancing." Rachel pointed out a couple twirling around the area cleared for the dancers, festive lanterns strung about to give light in to on coming darkness.
"He shouldn't be moving around like that! He just got run over by two horses!"
Rachel gave a soft laugh. "Link never let something like that stop him before."
"Miss Kitty?" a young masked footman from Bridgewood interrupted whatever Katrina was about to say. "Would you care to dance with me?" Katrina recognized him as Matthew, he was almost painfully shy.
"I would be delighted, Matt." She answered, very aware what a rejection might do to the shy young man's newfound fragile confidence. She tied on her mask and accepted his proffered his hand.
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The sun had set hours ago Katrina had been dancing for hours on end, and felt as if she danced another dance, her feet might fall off. So she made her way to the refreshments provided by the villagers, begging pardon from a few offers to dance.
She was sipping from a weak but cool glass of lemonade when she caught sight of twinkling green eyes behind a mask at the edge of the trees close to the refreshment table. Katrina smiled and waved to him. He grinned back and motioned for Katrina to follow him, disappearing into the darkness of the forest. Setting her glass down, Katrina wandered into the shadows.
"Link?" she called. "Where are you?"
No answer.
"If you are trying to scare me, I'll hurt you." She warned.
A hand grabbed her arm and spun her against a tree. Rough lips cut off her scream of surprise.
"I got you now, my little minx." Katrina started into green eyes.
"Sir, release me, we don't want a repeat of what happened in the gardens." Katrina strove to remain calm. She was in a dark forest, pinned against a tree by a lecherous man who had a grudge against her. And as far as she knew, no one knew where she was.
"Ah, Minx, why are you so mean to me?" his lips brushed hers. "I could make life much more enjoyable."
"Like you did for Rachel?" She spat at him..
His rough laugh chilled Katrina to the bone. "Oh, she fought it at first too, but in the end I got my own way. I always get my way." He ran a finger down her cheek, roughly forcing her face back to him when she jerked away form his touch. "I don't mind though," he continued "I like my girls feisty." He captured her lips in a forceful kiss. Katrina made a protesting noise against his lips and tried to fight him off.
"Come on, Minx." He whispered in her ear, pressing her against the tree. "I can show you a good time."
"Let me go." Katrina snarled, turning her head away.
"I don't want to." He grabbed her chin, making to kiss her again. But he was abruptly suddenly gone.
"I believe the lady asked you to leave her alone." Link's voice was dangerously low as he stood between Katrina and Edmond. "I suggest you do as she asks."
Edmond scoffed and made a charge at Link, who merely let him come, lending more force to the punch Link threw. Edmond sprawled on the ground, nose bleeding. Link spat at him. "Dumb lecher." He then took Katrina's arm. "Come on, Kitty. Rachel sent me to look for you. We are going back to Bridgewood. And that thing," he pointed his thumb at the unconscious man on the forest floor "will, unfortunately, be fine when he comes to."
Katrina allowed Link to lead her to the wagon where she climbed in, a sleepy Sera snuggling up to her.
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Hope you all liked this chapter! It was kinda a last moment thing, they have been keeping me busy at work (grumble).
I am so excited about X-men III: The Last Stand, coming out on Friday!
Hey! Guess what Saturday is!
My Birthday! I'm gonna be 20! Bye-bye teens, sadness.
Reviews are as good as birthday presents!
Sneak peek for next week goes to the first person who can correctly tell me where this line comes from:
"I think when you're groveling, important to bring a very large present."