Ella Raven: Well, I do aim to please ;)
AliKernshatten: Yet another elegantly given review. And a lack of writer's block is preferred, I must agree.
Starsplash: Read on, dear reader. And find the answers…
AKAfredandgeorge: um, have you regained consciousness yet?
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Katrina peered around the corner of the nursery's doorframe and couldn't help but smile. The governor was reading from one of the nursery books, using various voices and gestures, Sera was sitting on the floor in front of him, eyes wide in wonderment. Katrina watched as the prince rode to the castle on his white steed with the princess and they all lived 'happily ever after'. She smiled, that's the way it always ended, wasn't it? She moved into the room and Sera looked up.
"KITTY!" she shrieked and ran towards Katrina, nearly tackling her to the ground.
"Hi, precious." Katrina said, regaining her precarious balance.
"Kitty ok?" Sera pulled back and looked at Katrina with tear filled eyes.
"Yes, precious, I'm fine." Katrina kneeled and pulled the little girl into a hug. "So don't cry." Over Sera's head, Katrina saw the governor looking skeptically at her wrists. Elizabeth had helped her wrap them up before she got in the carriage.
"Niece, there is something I'd like to talk to you about." The governor said, helping her to her feet and tucking a fatherly arm about her. "But I think it best if we all had some breakfast, hmm?"
"Well, I am hungry." Katrina admitted.
"Me too!" Sera stated, grabbing Katrina's hand, making the adults laugh.
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Kipp galloped into the fort courtyard pulling up on the reigns of the horse and hopped off before it came to a complete stop. He halted the nearest soldier and asked him where the commodore was.
"I don' know, suh. 'E left right early this mornin' an' didn' come back. 'E keeps a house right at the edge of town, most like, 'e be there."
Kipp nodded and swung back onto the still heaving horse and turning it back toward the street.
At the front door of the commodore's house a sentry was stationed. "Sorry, sir, no civilians are allowed, excepting the doctor." He told Kipp, blocking Kipp's way when he tried to enter the house.
"I'm terribly sorry, I didn't know." Kipp said trying to sidestep the guard.
"Orders are orders." The man held out his rifle across the door, baring it.
"Correct me if I'm wrong," Kipp started, crossing his arms over his chest. "but I believe you said civilians, what about a captain?" he finished with a cocky grin.
"You can't come in, sir." The guard said.
Kipp sighed and rolled his eyes.
"What's your name?"
"Hunt, captain, if you please."
"What is your purpose here, Mr. Hunt?"
"Soldier." A voice in the clipped tones of England said from behind the guard. "Stop interrogating the young earl, he is welcome in my house, let him pass."
"Earl? Y-yes, commodore." The man said a bit flustered, stepping out of the way and giving Kipp an awkward little bow.
"Come to check on my nephew, Kipp?" the commodore asked in a weary tone after the guard had closed the door and returned to his post.
"Yes. There is a young lady who is most anxious to here news of him." Kipp told the officer. "How is he, really?"
"Not well, not well at all." The commodore led Kipp to Daniel's room, where the young man lay on the bed, as white as the sheets, his shallow raspy breath irregular. "How did this happen?"
"The attacker got the drop on him, surprising him with a hidden dagger. Caught him right on the arm. Before he disarmed and tied up the assailant." Kipp explained, not able to look away from the invalid form of his friend lying on the bed.
"The doctor didn't give much hope." The commodore said, looking worn from worry.
"There is always hope." Kipp placed his hand on the older man's shoulder. "The important thing is to not give up. I'll be back later, I promised a certain young lady news on Danny's condition."
"Yes, of course."
"I'll see myself out." Kipp gave a short nod and left the commodore to his own thoughts.
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Kipp stopped by Turner's smithy to explain everything to Will and write a note that he paid a boy a pound to deliver to the governor's mansion. Then headed to his ship, there was something there that he had a feeling he would need soon.
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Kara had been a teary wreck, claiming she had thought Katrina gone forever and she fussed over every aspect of Katrina's attire. Finally declaring Katrina ready, she let her leave the room and join her uncle, Sera had been put down for a nap.
"So, tell me what happened. You are obviously not 'fine'." Weatherby demanded.
It took Katrina half an hour to tell the story, leaving out the name of her attacker and excluding the parts where Kipp had kissed her.
"And so the captain and the earl saved you and the soldiers took the villain to the fort jail?"
"Yes, sir." Katrina said softly.
"Miss Ellis!" George came running into the room. "I's got a note for you!" he brandished the folded square of paper above his head before handing it to Katrina, who immediately opened it, scanning the quick lines, while the governor frowned at George.
"Oh, dear." Katrina said after reading it through a second time. "Uncle, might I ride over to the Hawthorns'? I promised Lilly I would stop by."
"I don't know…" the governor began.
"I'll take Fred with me, and I'll be very careful. After all, one cannot break a promise, can they?"
"No, no they cannot." The governor agreed. "You will take Lady."
"Yes, sir." Katrina grinned and got up, heading to the stables.
Weatherby Swann watched his niece leave and after a moment called for his carriage to be brought around.
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Katrina pushed her horse into a canter, which exasperated Fred, the governor insisted she take one of the grooms for safety and propriety. When she arrived at the Hawthorns', she slid off the horse without waiting for Fred to help her down.
"Your lucky your uncle can't see you, miss." Fred told her as he rushed forward to grab the reigns before the horse moved off.
Katrina rolled her eyes and rushed up the steps to the front door. The butler opened the door to her knock and showed her to the parlor asking her to wait. Which she did, impatiently. She sat down on the sofa and heard the butler telling Fred he could wait in the kitchen and that Sarah was working there. Katrina sat there and wondered who Sarah was until Lilly came breathlessly into the room.
"You have news?" Lilly asked, sinking down next to Katrina on the couch.
"Yes, I do." Katrina held the note in her hand. "Kipp says it's bad, very bad."
"But he'll get better, right? Tell me he'll be alright." Lilly placed her hands on Katrina's arm.
"Oh, Lil," Katrina unconsciencely slipping into the nickname she had heard Thomas use and took Lilly's hands. "They don't know."
"He has to get better, I never told him…" she trailed off before looking back up at Katrina with tear filled eyes. "Can I go see him?"
"The note doesn't say. Perhaps you can later."
"You think Thomas will take me there?"
"I'm sure he would." Katrina said soothingly, and not knowing what else to do, patted her hand. "Tell you what, I know a charming little café down in town. Why don't we ride down there and we can have tea and talk while we wait for new information. How dies that sound to you?" She proposed, hoping the diversion would help settle Lilly's anxiety, as well as her own.
"I… suppose… that sounds nice." Lilly hesitantly agreed. "Can we use your carriage? I'm afraid Thomas took my future sister in law for a ride in ours."
"I rode." Katrina told her.
"Oh! I knew I shouldn't have let Thomas take you home on horseback!" Lilly exclaimed. "We can just walk."
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Weatherby Swann stepped down from his carriage and looked up at the impressive size of the fort. He entered the fort and made his way to the cells.
The cells were in their usual filthy and ill kept state. The governor ignored the one filled with Port Royal's usual collection of drunks and small time thieves and strode to stand directly in front of the cell occupied by one solitary soul. The man was sitting against the wall with his knees pulled up, arms resting across them and his forehead leaned onto his arms.
"You there." The governor directed at the man, who didn't move a muscle. Weatherby turned and looked at the prison guard who shrugged his shoulders.
"Couldn't get him to shut up when he woke up, sir."
"Prisoner." The governor tried again, no reply.
The guard moved forward, unlocked and moved into the cell. "You will respond to the lord governor when he addresses you, scum."
"Well?" Weatherby tried when no answer was forthcoming.
"Answer!" the guard barked, hitting the man in the side of the head with the but of his rifle.
The man grunted and looked up, glaring at the guard. "I dare ye ta do tha' again." He growled.
"You!" the governor exclaimed at seeing the man's face and looked slightly taken aback.
"Well, well, look 'ho we got 'here gents!" he called over to the men in the other cell. "Mr. High'n'Mighty 'imself!" he said with a loud guffaw. "Wha' 'ave ye done ta me brat? She talks back and seems ta 'ave a mind all her own. Took me a good many year ta get 'er like tha'. Yer sister had 'er thinkin' tha' way right up 'til she died."
"Dead? For how long?"
"How shoul' I know?" he stood up, walking closer to the bars and resting his wrists on the crossbars, leering at the governor. "It's not like I really cared abou' 'er. Only took the whore wi' me fer th' money. An' ye woul'a got 'er back too, if'n yer parents jus' paid me."
"What did you say?" Weatherby's eyes narrowed as he entered the jail cell.
Katrina's father turned to face the governor "I said; if yer paren's gave me th' money they coul'a had back th' whore."
At the last syllable, the governor threw a powerful punch at Katrina's father's face, forcefully driving him back and making him hit his head against the cell bars before sprawling on the ground with a small, pitiful groan before falling unconscious. "I thought so." The governor said calmly, rubbing his hand lightly. "You may lock him back up." The governor called over his shoulder to the young guard as he made his way up the steps. The guard, who stood, staring open-mouthed at the governor's retreating form slowly looked over at the usual local minor offenders in the other cell to see shock written on their faces as well. "Never thought the lord governor had it in him." He announced as he stepped out of the cell and turned the key to lock it. "Wait 'til I tell my mates about this…" he trailed off, muttering to himself.
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Katrina and Lilly walked toward the town, the bright and beautiful day mostly lost on them. Every attempt Katrina made at conversation either fell on deaf ears, when Lilly did respond, the subject was quickly exhausted or somehow ended up with the same question.
"Do you think the captain will be alright?" Lilly asked for what seemed the tenth time in twice as many minutes.
"I don't know, Lilly. We'll know better after a day or so, after he has had some time to rest." Katrina answered Lilly the same way she had since the question was first asked. By this time they had reached the general marketplace of Port Royal. "Why don't we do a little shopping?" Katrina turned to Lilly and asked.
"If it's all the same to you, Katrina, I'd rather go to the café and sit down." Lilly said, her voice still soft, but oddly void as it had been all morning.
"All right." Katrina turned rather sharply and collided with a young woman with a soft squeak.
"I am so sorry, miss. I wasn't looking where I was going. Please excuse me." The young lady said in a hurried voice head bent.
"Keeley?" Katrina said surprised. The young woman was thinner than she remembered, her hair had lost some of its luster and she had faint circles under her eyes.
The young woman's head popped up. "K-Katrina?"
"It is you!" Katrina exclaimed in an excited voice, grabbing the young woman's shoulders and pulling her into a swift hug before holding her at arm's length. "It is good to see you. How's everyone at Bridgewood? How have you been?" Katrina noticed a slight swelling at Keeley's abdomen. "Are you pregnant?" Katrina added with a smile.
Keeley's reaction was anything but what Katrina expected. No smile, beaming, sweet or otherwise, no soft blushes or words of affirmation and anticipation of motherhood. But bitter tears and a red face.
"He-he was drunk…I-I tried to fight him off…to make him stop…" Keeley managed to get out before she burst into tears. Katrina scrambled to hand Keeley her handkerchief and wrap her arm around her distraught friend, steering her away from the curiosity of onlookers, Lilly trailing behind in bewilderment.
She spied some crates near the opening of an ally and led Keeley to them, sitting down next to her, allowing Keeley to cry out all her anxiety on her shoulder while her story slowly worked it's way out.
"After that I ran away." Keeley was saying. "I eventually ended up working in a seafront tavern, where I heard about the Caribbean. It sounded like a nice place to start fresh, but no one wants to hire a half-pregnant young woman with no husband. Something about loose morals effecting the rest of their staff." Keeley gave a halfhearted laugh. "I had foolishly also hoped to find a man willing to take a wife with a bastard child. But I guess that is a task to tedious for to ask of any man." The tears welled back up in Keeley's eyes, a few spilling over. Lilly, who had sunk down on the other side of the young mother to be during the telling of her tale, offered her handkerchief, as Katrina's was mostly used up.
Katrina, coming to a decision stood up. "Come on." She gave Keeley's hand a tug.
"Where are we going?" Keeley asked with a sniffle.
"To get you something to eat. You are too skinny." Katrina led the two other girls to a house and knocked firmly on the door. They didn't have to wait long before the door was opened by Elizabeth.
"Katrina? What is it?" Elizabeth asked, stepping back to allow the trio in.
"I ran into an old friend on the street and I was hoping you might have a bite for her to eat, and perhaps a spare bed for a few nights while she looks for a job."
Elizabeth covered up a look of surprise so quickly, Katrina wondered if she had seen it at all. "But of course, I wouldn't allow her to stay anyplace else." She led them to the kitchen with its table and bench, setting out a plate of bread and butter while she busied herself warming up some meat pie. They sat and talked for a little while when there was a knock at the front door.
"Now who could that be?" Elizabeth said to no one in particular and went to answer the door. The girls heard muted voices and then Elizabeth returned with someone in tow.
"Link!" Katrina jumped up from her seat to give him a short hug.
He grinned back at her. "The captain thought Mrs. Turner here would like an update on Captain Norrington, but she insisted that I wait to say anything until I came back here."
At the name of the young captain, Lilly perked up a little. "What news?" she demanded.
Link focused on her and gave her a kind smile. "He woke up briefly. Just long enough to drink a little bit of water, laced with laudanum as the doctor ordered. The doc says it is a small miracle that he even woke up at all, though he still isn't too optimistic about a recovery."
Lilly hung off of Link's every word, at the last little bit she gasped. "But he woke up, that's a good sign, is it not?" she anxiously asked the room at large.
"Yes, Lilly, it is a positive thing." Katrina told her, wanting to reassure her, but trying not to raise her hopes.
"Hey, you look familiar. Do I- know you?" Link said, noticing the silent party at the table, who, during the whole conversation kept her head bent to her food, merely picking at it.
Keeley looked up at Link with hurt eyes. "Am I that unrecognizable to you, centurion?"
Link grinned. "Keeley. It's good to see another familiar face." Keeley offered a weak smile on response, looking at her, Link's smile slowly faded. "What's wrong?"
Elizabeth glanced at a small clock on the kitchen wall. "Is that the time? Oh dear, I forgot to bring Will his lunch. He must be absolutely famished. Katrina would you help me bring it to him? Lilly? Do you think you could grab that pitcher on the counter there?" Ushering the two younger girls out of the room, Elizabeth shot a smile at the two people left in the room. "We will return in a while."
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Ooohhh. Where did the governor learn to throw a punch? Will dear Danny survive? What will Link think of his friend and former coworker? Will Will ever get his lunch?
So, what dost thou think---eth?
YAY!!! Another chapter… ::passes out::
Evil Writer's Block Flying Monkey: Reviews are as good as the keys to my cage… LET ME OUT!!!