Sooooo this is shifting POV's a lot but hopefully it's not too hard to follow! Really hope you like this chapter as it took ages to write, i couldn't seem to get it the way I wanted it. So yes, enjoy and as always please review and tell me what you think as I really do want to know!

Chapter 17

"Scarlett?" Tom said, shaking her gently. When she didn't reply he adjusted the roll of bedding under her head and sat back to wait. She had not stirred since she'd fallen unconscious in the battle and he was worried. The wound wasn't deep but he suspected her reaction was more to do with a build up of strong emotions over the last few days than anything else.

Beside him Scarlett was stirring, she tried to sit up at first but was stopped by the pain that shot through her shoulder. She hissed through her teeth and Tom gently pushed her back down.

"You're hurt, take it slow." He warned her and she let out the breath she'd been holding.

"My shoulder hurts." She murmured, looking up at him with wide eyes.

"You were shot." He told her and she gasped as she remembered everything.

"Am I okay?" She asked, her voice small. Tom grinned at her.

"It'd take more than that to bring you down Lottie." He laughed and Scarlett managed a smile through her wobbling lips as she tried desperately not to cry.

Jim was also holding back tears. Since he'd seen her fall and heard her scream he could think of nothing else; fear and worry consumed him – what if she was dead? The thought of not seeing her or speaking to her again was enough to make him feel physically sick, she had to be alright.

He looked down at Redruth who he was taking care of, the man looked peaceful in his sleep but Jim needed to change his dressing.

"Redruth wake up." He said as loudly as he dared into the silence but he didn't move.

"Sir? Redruth?" He said louder but still no reaction. Panic grew and he shook him.

"Wake up!" He said but his eyes remained closed. Jim moved back; he was dead.

"Captain Smollett?" He whispered and the Captain sat bolt upright, pushing the doctor (who had been tending to his wound) aside.

"What is it Jim?" He asked urgently, obviously anticipating another attack.

"He's dead." He said bluntly and the captain closed his eyes.

"I thought he didn't have long." The doctor murmured and Smollett rounded on him furiously,

"Well why the hell weren't you looking to him instead of me?" He shouted and the Squire woke up with a jolt, looking around him frantically.

"What? Where are they? Where are the pirates?" He yelled and then realised something wasn't right as everyone turned to glare at him.

"Redruth passed away you incompetent nitwit!" The captain growled and the squire turned an interesting shade of red.

"Dead?" He asked quietly and then hung his head. "The first among us."

Jim's heart juddered, the first among them...even if she was...dead Scarlett was not 'among them'. Not anymore.

Scarlett and Tom looked up sharply as they saw Silver coming towards them looking grim.

"Morning." Tom tried but the man pushed him aside and leant over Lottie.

"You could have gotten us killed, you slowed us down." he said lightly but there was something in his voice and eyes that made her afraid.

"I was shot Long John, not admiring the scenery." She said in a poor imitation of her former sass and he gave a sinister chuckle.

"And now you're better so don't be expectin' any favors." He said roughly and began to walk away but Tom ran after him.

"Long John!" He said loudly, barring his way. "She's still not well, you need to give her more time before we move on." He said, Scarlett could see him shaking but his voice did not waver. All the same Silver could sense his fear as he could with anyone and drew himself up to his full height.

"Are you sure ye want to cross me boy?" He growled. Scarlett winced.

"Don't Tom, it's fine." She warned but he didn't back down.

"No. It's not. To be frank with you I never liked any of this! Not the mutiny, not the killing and the lying and definitely not dragging Scarlett into any of this and putting her in harms way." He said, his voice getting louder and more heated as he went on.

"Well ye've had a hell of a lot o' opportunity to say so." Silver said, his hands on his hips and still that look in his eye that made Scarlett feel afraid. Like he could snap at any moment.

"Maybe I only stayed because -" Tom stopped and glanced at Scarlett quickly, she frowned – what had he been going to say?

"Because what boy?" Long John sneered and Tom flushed.

"Because of her." The words were barely audible but the way he avoided looking at Scarlett told her she'd heard correctly.

"So ye stayed to keep her safe?" Silver said as if he couldn't quite believe it, suddenly Tom grew angry.

"Yes!"
"Well fat lot o' good it's done!" Silver shouted. Tom raised a shaking hand to point at him,

"You have no heart it seems, Long John, but I do and it's hers. So yes I stayed to protect her and I did as well as I could but I can't abide this -this treachery anymore! It's eating at me! I'd rather hang than suffer it and maybe I deserve to, and as for you I'll be sure to take me with you if I do get sent down. Make no mistake, I'll expose you for the crooks and mutineers you are."

He turned on his heel and was walking away when the pistol shot rang clear through the camp and he crumpled to the ground, dead. Long John had shot him in the back.

"The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want..."

They were gathered round Redruth's body, the doctor saying the words that would commit him to God. The captain was, for the first time in Jim's memory, visibly shaken, his face was haggard and the shadows under his eyes were painfully clear.

"He maketh me to lie down in green pastures..."

And even then, beside the body of a man he'd held in great esteem, Jim's thoughts strayed to Scarlett. Were the very same prayers being said for her? In his head he was praying for her too, praying that she was alive and only slightly hurt. He couldn't bear anything else.

"He leadeth me..."

Would God forgive her sins as he himself had done? For in the instant when he saw her fall to the ground he had known that nothing had changed, anger can only run so deep but love's depths are limitless and Jim knew this all too well.

"Yea though I walk in the valley of the shadow of death..."

Please let her be okay, the plea went round and round in Jim's mind. He would go to her tonight for better or worse. He had to know. Whatever happened...he had to know.

"I will fear no evil."

But he did fear.