At last, the long-awaited introduction of Jack's siblings. Enjoy!
On one of Jack and Elizabeth's stops in Port Royale, Teague asked them to go and pick up some cargo that was on a ship due in port that day.
"It's from England," he explained. "Couple of the passengers there will give ye details about it. Can't remember the name, but no matter—I gave 'em a complete description of you, Jacky. They'll find you."
"Oh, great," Jack replied with dread. "Someone I don't know is going to be seeking me out by sight. You know, Dad, usually when that happens I end up arrested!"
"Not this time, Jacky," his father said in a tone that brooked no argument. "Full pardon, remember?"
"Aye, aye, I remember," Jack replied with a nervous smile. "It's just that with having a full pardon and having the Black Pearl, and having Elizabeth with me on it, and finally having enough money most of the time—well, I keep expecting to wake up, is all."
Teague gave him a sympathetic smile and a pat on the shoulder. "Know 'xactly what you mean, son," he said. "But if you're nervous 'bout meeting the ship alone, you can always take along Miss Liz as a bodyguard."
"That's a good idea," Jack said. "I'll do that." He nodded a couple of times and then said, "Oh! She'll need to change first! And get a sword. And a pistol. Or maybe two. What do you think, dad? Think she'll need two?" Without waiting for an answer, he spun on his heel and strode out of the room calling Elizabeth's name.
Teague raised an amused eyebrow. He'd been joking about the bodyguard thing.
Three hours later, Jack and Elizabeth stood on the dock waiting for passengers aboard the Sally Wood to make their way down the gangplank. Elizabeth wore her breeches and hat, with her hair tied back and her sword at her side.
"Any idea what the cargo is?" she asked him as the ship's passengers began to file down the gangplank.
He shook his head. "Not a clue. Oh! There's the harbormaster. He knows Dad; maybe he'll know something about it. Wait here, I'll go ask him."
Elizabeth nodded. The third passenger to make her way down the gangplank was a beautiful young woman who looked about Elizabeth's age, with black hair, a royal blue gown, and a very stylish hat with a feather. She was searching the dock anxiously, presumably for the person meeting her. Then she stopped short and stared. Elizabeth turned to see who had caught the woman's attention.
It was Jack. He was crossing the end of the gangplank to speak with the harbormaster who stood on the other side of it.
Jack's walk was unique. While other sailors tended to pick up a wide-legged, rolling sort of gait in order to keep their balance on board ship, Jack never had. Instead, he kept his feet a normal width apart but used his arms for balance, keeping them out to the side and generally waving about so he wouldn't fall. On land this gave him a rather effeminate gait, but at sea he was the most sure-footed sailor Elizabeth had ever seen.
It was this flamboyant, arm-waving walk which had apparently captured the attention of the newcomer. She broke into a smile and hurried down the gangplank.
Frowning, Elizabeth moved closer. The girl was probably another old conquest of Jack's that Elizabeth would have to frighten off. She was bit higher-class than Jack's usual fare, though.
"Jack!" the girl called loudly.
Jack stopped, turned, frowned in bewilderment. "Er…" was all he had time to say before the stunning young woman threw herself into his arms.
Elizabeth was close enough behind Jack to hear him say uncomfortably, "I'm deeply flattered, dear, but I'm a married man."
The girl kept her arms around him, but tilted her head back to look up at him in shock. "You're married?"
Jack drew his eyebrows together as he studied her face seriously for a long moment, and then the dawn of recognition lit up his face and he started to smile. "Aye, I am," he told the girl, "But don't worry, love—that's not going to keep me from carrying you away!"
He grinned and hugged the girl, kissing her all over her face. They were loud, smacking kisses, culminating in a tight embrace where he lifted her right off the dock and twirled her around while both of them laughed with joy.
Then he released her and held her hands while he stepped back so he could see her whole figure properly. "Oh, just look at you, sweetheart," he said, beaming. "You're so beautiful!"
Elizabeth gritted her teeth. He called lots of women love or darling, but sweetheart was an endearment he reserved for Elizabeth alone. Who was this woman?
"What about you?" the woman asked. "How did you get so handsome, Jack, dear? I wouldn't have known you, except I saw you walking. Nobody else walks like you. But what on earth have you done to your teeth? It's not as if there's a lime shortage in the Caribbean, you know!"
Jack looked outraged. "I'll have you know, I've never had scurvy in me life, young missy! These here teeth are mementos of some of my many wild adventures!"
"And you'll have to tell me all about them," the girl soothed. She looked at him for a moment and shook her head. She hugged him again and kissed his cheeks several times. "Seriously, what happened? You didn't look like this last time I saw you!"
"Like what?"
"Oh, you know. Respectable! Not all rags and tatters. And… clean."
Jack opened his mouth to respond, when suddenly Elizabeth was at his elbow.
"Well!" Elizabeth said brightly. "That was an affectionate greeting, wasn't it? I'm afraid I couldn't stand the suspense any longer. I simply had to come over and—" she narrowed her eyes at the girl and put her hand on the hilt of her sword as she finished, "—find out just who you are."
"Oh!" Jack exclaimed in realization. "Didn't mean to exclude you, darling," he said to Elizabeth, holding out his hand to her. His smile softened and broadened as he took the girl's hand in his other one. "It's me sister, Liz."
Elizabeth's jaw dropped. "Your sister?" she squeaked in surprise.
"Aye! 'Lizabeth, meet my sister, Sarah—what's your married name again, love?" he asked.
"Spring."
"Sarah Teague Spring," Jack finished. "This is me wife, Elizabeth Swann. Sparrow. Smith. Teague. You can take your pick of names, really, but we are married."
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Mrs… er—" Sarah seemed at a loss as to which name to choose.
Elizabeth laughed. "We're family now, Mrs Spring. You may use my Christian name if you like, and it's a pleasure to meet you, too."
"Then you must call me Sarah, Elizabeth. I shouldn't be surprised that the woman to capture my big brother's heart would be one who knows how to use a sword," she said, nodding toward the one that hung at Elizabeth's side.
"Oh, well—it's just that we didn't know what to expect when Captain Teague sent us. And I must apologize for coming across so threatening as I did. You see," she said, giving Jack a playful look, "I often have to chase women away from my husband. Some require more… persuasion… than others," she said, patting the sword. "To keep their distance."
"And my Lizzie's always up to the challenge," Jack responded fondly.
"I jolly well have to be, don't I?" Elizabeth retorted. "There're so many!"
"Aw, shut it, you," Jack said. "Me little sister don't need to hear about that!" He turned back to Sarah. "Are you the cargo that Teague sent us to fetch for him, or are there actual goods to pick up?"
"I'm half of it," she replied laughingly. "No goods, though."
"Oh, did your husband come too?"
"No. Not my husband."
"Not—not Adam?" Jack asked with excitement.
She nodded, beaming.
Jack laughed aloud. "No! I thought he'd be too busy lording it up over there in merry olde England!"
"Father wrote to us about your pardons, so we both wanted to come and see you now that we can do it safely. But Jack," Sarah asked, placing a hand on his arm. "Don't embarrass Adam, hmm? He's a little self-conscious about inheriting this lordship."
"I shall be the soul of dignified comportment," Jack promised.
Elizabeth snorted. "This I have to see."
A dark-haired young man in his early twenties came down the gangplank.
"There he is," Sarah said.
Jack straightened his shoulders as his younger brother hurried down the gangplank with a smile.
"Jack!" the young lord cried, waving.
Jack bowed formally. "Allow me to welcome you to Port Royale, your lordship," he said, his accent suddenly coming out as posh as Elizabeth's ever had.
"Er," Adam replied, puzzled.
"We are honored by your visit, especially so soon after your ascendency to the peerage, Lord Dalrymple," Jack went on, sounding more high-class than ever.
Adam lifted his chin. "Thank you, sir. I appreciate your welcome, insincere though it may be," he replied stiffly. "I must confess that I had rather expected to be greeted as a brother rather than as a lord, though."
"You have our worthy sister to thank for that," Jack went on, with never a hint of a slur in his formal, pear-shaped tones. "It was she who warned me not to embarrass you by my manner of greeting."
Adam replied just as formally, "Then I respectfully urge our esteemed sister to stuff it, and you to greet me like a brother."
Ice sufficiently broken and sister's face sufficiently red, Jack grinned and held out his arms. "Come here then, squidge!"
Adam leaped to hug Jack, the two of them pounding each other on the back and laughing all the while. Jack grabbed his brother's face, pulled it down, and smacked several kisses across his forehead as well before he released him. He stood back to look him over. "So you finally got your growth, eh?" he joked. Adam now topped him by several inches. "'My word, you are a good-looking pair of siblings. How'd that happen?"
Elizabeth had to agree; they were. All three of them had inherited their father's black hair and dark eyes, but Adam and Sarah had more English features: broader faces, fairer skin, rosy cheeks. Next to them, Jack's fine, chiseled features and golden skin bore evidence of his own mixed heritage, but it was obvious they were all related.
Elizabeth smiled at the sight, and Adam's attention was drawn to her. "Who's this?" he asked Jack.
Jack, with a twinkle in his eye, said, "Ah, yes, I'd like you to meet Captain Swann, one of me colleagues. Captain, this is my brother, Adam Lord Dalrymple."
"Your servant, sir," Elizabeth said in a low tone, bowing to go along with the joke, wondering how long it would be before Adam realized she was a woman.
"I'm honored, Captain," the young lord replied.
"Speakin' o' servants, I'm assuming yours will be along with your luggage, aye?" Jack asked, returning to his usual slurred, working-class accents. "Come on, then. I've a carriage to take us all back to Teague's." He led the way with Elizabeth at his side, with Adam and Sarah trailing behind.
When Adam noticed Jack had taken Elizabeth's hand, he nudged his sister. "Is Jack holding hands with that sailor?" he asked, eyes wide as saucers.
Sarah giggled and nodded. "Looks as if."
"B-b-but… he's our brother!" Adam said in a strangled voice.
"So he is. But doesn't he look happy?"
Jack had at that moment let out a ringing laugh at something Elizabeth had said, and without pausing he'd lifted Elizabeth's hand to his lips. He could just barely hear Adam's soft-spoken comments. Jack's grin widened and he slid his arm around Elizabeth's shoulders and pulled her close. Without slowing his stride, he bent his head and kissed Elizabeth lightly on the mouth.
That was it. "Jack!" Adam called out.
Jack and Elizabeth slowed and turned to face him.
"Exactly what sort of 'colleague' is this Captain Swann?"
"Technically, Captain Swann is my superior," Jack said. With a glint in his eye, he explained, "Above me, y'know."
"I don't need to know that sort of thing!" Adam protested, turning red. "Just who is Captain Swann to you? And does our father know?"
"I should hope so, since he was present when we was joined—" Jack paused just long enough for Adam to turn puce, and then continued, "—in Holy Matrimony."
Adam's mouth fell open and he stared at Elizabeth, eying her closely up and down from hat to boots, and everything in the middle.
Jack started to get uncomfortable with Adam's thorough inspection of Elizabeth's figure, and stepped in front of her. "Oi! That's enough oglin' my wife, little man!"
Adam was startled into a laugh. "'Little man'? Oh, God, I haven't heard that for years!" He smiled at Elizabeth. "So who are you, really, uh… ma'am?"
Elizabeth smiled back. "Really, I am Jack's wife, Elizabeth Sparrow. And I do captain a ship under the name Swann. And yes, I am technically Jack's superior in the pecking order of pirate peerage."
Adam shook his head, still smiling. "I could thump him for playing a trick like that. Welcome to the family, Mrs Sparrow. Call me Adam, won't you?"
"Elizabeth, then, Adam. And Jack is awfully good at lying by telling the truth. Can't think where he picked up that particular skill!"
"Come on, come on, time and tide, children!" Jack collected Elizabeth's hand again, with a wicked smile at his brother, and marched off toward the carriage.
"'Little man?' 'Time and Tide?' 'Squidge?' He never changes, does he?" Adam remarked quietly to Sarah as they scrambled to catch up. "What did he call you when he saw you?"
"He called me 'Sweetheart,'" she told him smugly, "And he told me I was beautiful!"
Adam grumbled quietly to himself the rest of the way to the carriage.