Chapter 13

"Annalee." Will says, his voice low and in barely a whisper.

He carefully steps forward and stops right in front of me. His eyes are filled with anger, shock, and disapproval.

"I know that I have no authority over you, but…What do you think you were doing?" He says, completely blowing up. "What on earth were you thinking? How could you do this to your father? He already lost one daughter! Why would you do something so inconsiderate and selfish?"

"Hey!" Thomas shouts, shoving his way between us. "Don't talk to her like that." He says, his voice low and deadly; I get shivers. His words, although simple, are intense with authority and held back anger. "You don't know everything about the situation. I didn't bring you here to reprimand Anna. I brought you here to help us, so calm down."

Will takes a step back, obviously a little shocked but he keeps his composure. He waits a few seconds before peering over Thomas's thick, broad shoulders.

"Who is he again?" He asks impertinently.

I barely manage to hide a smile. Will has more guts than I had previously thought.

Before him stood a man that towers over him by at least four inches and who could easily beat him in a fight should the confrontation arise to such extremes, and yet, Will takes the opportunity to anger him.

Thomas growls and takes a step forward, his fists, stiff and tense.

I quickly jump in between them, holding my hands out to stop him.

Thankfully, Thomas stops walking but gives Will one last dirty stare.

Will returns the favor but, fortunately, Thomas doesn't see him.

"Will," I say reproachfully, "Stop antagonizing him or I will let him introduce your face to the floor."

Will doesn't respond but turns around and takes a seat on a chair beside Jack Sparrow, still a little put off.

Thomas also takes a seat but stays a good two meters away from Will, his arms crossed, and eyeing the other two men in a threatening manner.

Will ignores the glares coming from Thomas and instead looks up at me as I take place behind Thomas' chair.

"I wasn't joking earlier." He says nodding at both Thomas and Greaves, who is still silently sleeping, "Who is these men you are with?"

"This is Thomas. Uh, he is… Mrs. Pirren's cousin's son." I say pointing the blonde head beneath me. "And that is," I nod towards the cot behind us. "uh, his father, Jack."

"Annalee, may I speak to you in private?" Will asks, glancing at Thomas to see what his reaction would be.

Thomas doesn't move or speak. And I nod to Will.

He grabs my arm and pulls me to a corner.

"I know it isn't my place to say this, but I think that you shouldn't stay with these men." He says barely above a whisper, "It isn't proper."

I laugh softly, "It isn't like Thomas and I are attracted to each other. We are just friends."

"But what would your father say?"

"Well, since I am in a pirate port, I don't think me being with a young man would be his biggest worry." I tease.

"Anna, be serious. You don't know this man. And don't say you do. Even if he is Mrs. Pirren's cousin's son, which I doubt he is, you still wouldn't have had the chance to get to know him. You aren't very social since you've only just come of age."

"Don't worry. I say, "I'll deal with my father when I return home. I doubt he'll pay much attention to me anyway, since Elizabeth will be back by then. Besides, I know how to take care of myself."

With that, I return the group with Will on my heels.

"What do you need our help for?" Will asks.

I walk to Jack's bedside and our two guests follow.

"What's wrong with him?" Will asks.

"We don't really know." I respond, my brow furrowed, and feeling completely helpless. "He seemed to be okay when we arrived here. He was unusually quiet but I thought that it was just from reverence or awe."

Will and Jack Sparrow both look at me, confused.

"This place holds a lot of memories for him." I explain quickly, not wanting to go much into detail with the older man's permission.

"How long has he been like this?" Will asks, feeling Jack's forehead before snapping back from the heat.

"Well, it was first noticeable the night we arrived, which was last night." I reply. "He is doing better this morning however. He is sleeping more peacefully and his forehead isn't as hot as it was last night."

"I am definitely not a doctor, but have you been giving him anything?"

I nod towards the three leaves lying across the table. "Only two of those leaves last night." I say.

Will picks them up. He inspects them and then passes them to Sparrow. "I have never seen this kind of leaf before. Where did you get it?"

Thomas finally gets up from his chair and makes his way over to our little gathering, "It was from an old medicine cart. There are no more though and this book," He holds up the little medicinal plant book, "says that they don't grow on this island or any around. Traders normally supply them though and they aren't too rare."

I give, Thomas a reassuring smile, thankful that he and Will had put their differences aside at least for now.

Jack Sparrow stands up and walk to the door, "Well, there you are! Buy the leaves and then live happily ever after. Now we must be off. Good night; Good bye; and God bless."

"But we can't!" I say, but Jack is already out of sight.

"Why?" Will asks after it is certain that Jack is not coming back.

Thomas and I explain our situation to him.

"I'd help if I could," He says after we have finished, "But I have no money whatsoever.

I groan and place my head in my hands. Why has everything that could go wrong, gone wrong? What had we done to deserve this? What had Jack done to deserve this?... Nevermind.

"I don't have money, but I have something else that might help." Will says.

My head snaps back up. "What?"

"You... and Thomas, could come with us. You wouldn't have to stay here and I would feel better knowing that you're safe. Your father would agree with me."

"Absolutely not." Thomas says in the matter of a second, crossing his arms.

Will only sighs, but I can't keep silent. Thomas' anger towards Will is getting out of hand. His feelings can no longer be part of any decision. Things are getting just a little too serious for emotions to get in the way.

"Thomas. What Will is suggesting isn't completely absurd. You can't let how you feel determine what you will do. We have to think it over first."

Thomas doesn't move or speak.

I roll my eyes and turn back to Will. "What about Jack?" I ask.

"He could come as well. We have a doctor on board so that might help. We can also stop at a few ports and look for the plants there."

"But what if we don't find the plants? What if he gets worse?"

"Well, maybe our doctor can find some other remedy. You could always stay here. When the traders come, you could get some."

"How? We have no money, remember?"

"Well, Thomas could always steal some. That is something people like him do, right?"

As Will says this, I can't help but groan internally. Why was he always trying to make Thomas angry? I wait, cringing, for the explosion that is sure to follow.

Strangely enough, Thomas only laughs half mockingly, and half sadly, "You have no idea." He says simply.

Will and I both glance at each other, completely confused.

When Thomas doesn't explain, Will shrugs and lets it go and I follow suit.

"Fine," I say finally, "We'll come with you. Anything is better than rotting away in this hole of a town."

Both men chuckle and Will gets up.

"Good. I'll inform Jack and the rest of the crew. Thomas knows where to find us. We are leaving within the hour."

I nod as Will slips out the door.

I get up and cross the room, picking up our things and wrapping them.

I turn back to Thomas, who hasn't moved an inch.

"Are you not going to help?"

"No." He replies simply.

"And why not?"

"Because I am not going."

"You know what, Thomas; you are really starting to make me frustrated!" I say, stomping over to him. "You are a selfish, prejudiced, stubborn man. You don't care about Jack and you don't care about Elizabeth!"

Thomas stands up, looming over me. "I am not." He says calmly. "You are too trusting. You barely know anything about Will or Jack Sparrow and still you are willing not only to risk your safety, but that of Greaves'."

I can tell that he is trying to intimidate me by his size but right now I am so angry, I would probably stand up to a shark."I know that Elizabeth trusted Will, and Elizabeth was careful. I might not be extremely cautious but at least I am trying to help Greaves. He isn't going to get better just by staying here!"

"So, you would rather risk everything?"

"Yes!" I reply confidently.

"That is so immature and careless!" Thomas starts to get angry.

"What do you think we should do then?" I snap back.

"I don't know. But we shouldn't go off with strangers and trust them with our lives, and Greaves'."

"Well, at least I am doing something other than brooding and getting into arguments." I shout back.

"What do you think we're doing right now?" Thomas fires back.

"Disagreeing, but you wouldn't know the difference, you illiterate prick!"

"Illiterate?" Thomas says.

I cringe at Thomas' voice. I had definitely gone too far.

"Just because I don't have servants to wait on me and an endless supply of tutors doesn't mean that I am stupid and uneducated. I know how to read and write and I have enough knowledge to have successfully fooled you and everyone at that party into thinking that I was one of you."

"I didn't mean it that way." I say more calmly.

"I'm sure you didn't," Thomas says, sarcasm dripping from his words.

"Look, we don't have time for this." I say, "Will and Jack are leaving soon. I am going with them and I am bringing Jack. You are welcome to join us, if you want. If not, then goodbye."

He clenches his teeth and shakes his head. "I can't believe you're actually going to do this."

I just shrug and finish getting everything ready. I grab the makeshift bag I made from a blanket and rope and stand beside Greaves'cot.

Thankfully, the old man is in a deep sleep and doesn't wake as I wrap him up in a blanket and make him into a pack that I can carry on my back.

I had often seen sailors at the docks in Port Royal do the same thing but with bags of food instead.

Jack was already lean, but the sickness has made him loose even more weight. After a few tries, I manage to tie him to my back, groaning under the weight.

Thomas watches, amused, from the other side of the room.

"He doesn't look comfortable." He says, a smile tugging at his lips.

"Well, I am sorry that you are not content with how I tied him. I had to do it all by myself. Thank you, very much." I say sharply.

I slowly walk to the door and take one more look at Thomas, whose face is completely blank and expressionless.

"Bye." I say quickly before heading out the door.

I gradually make my way up the street, careful to watch were I am going so I don't end up in the wrong side of town.

Unfortunately, the going is slow, due to Jack, and I am left with ample time to think.

I can't believe Thomas actually let me go. I would have never taken him as that kind of person. Sure he was raised by pirates, but he himself said that he was leaving that behind. Right now, I am so confused by him. He says one thing, but another.

Mrs. Pirren has always said to trust someone by their actions and not their words, but that is so hard to do with Thomas. He always speaks with such conviction and in a way that makes you certain of his own belief in the words he speaks.

I brush away a few tears that are threatening to slide down my face and start walking faster, wanting to get out of this port as soon as possible.

The docks are not as crazy as the ones in Port Royal. The board walks are more distant from each other and hardly anyone is around. There is only one merchant ship, whose sailors are unloading the boat, and another ship a little further down the beach.

I walk to it, thankful to see that Will and Jack Sparrow are there.

"Will!" I call.

He sees me and smiles, obviously relieved that I haven't changed my mind.

He takes the sac that I have been carrying and helps me unload Greaves.

Will calls an older man to come and help. The man, who Will called Gibbs, takes Greaves from us and takes him aboard the ship which is much bigger and nicer than I expected.

It looks strangely familiar, and on closer inspection, I recognize it as the HMS Interceptor, from Port Royal.

That must have been the ship they commandeered. I think to myself, slightly sad that they had chosen this one. It was known in British towns as the fastest ship in the Caribbean and, unfortunately, it was next to certain that it wouldn't last long in the hands of pirates.

Will leads me onto the ship and shows me to my quarters. I am given the first mate's chamber which is, although small, quite nice. He hands me my sac and tells me that Greaves is in the doctor's chamber and that he will be above deck if I need him.

As soon as he is gone, I quickly unpack my sac, hanging up my two scarves, and setting on the night table my brush and a few other items.

I sit on my bed, not quite sure what to do when I start hearing shouts from above.

I freeze. Could it be my father's men? Had they found out about my escapade? Or could it be pirates?

Suddenly, I recognize a voice.

"Anna!" Thomas calls."Anna!"