XIX.
Filling the Hole

Late January 1719

Almost a month and nothing. Mary was at the bow of her ship, looking restlessly for anyone out in the water. It was getting late, the sky dimming. It was about time the dropped the anchor for the night. She hadn't slept much lately though. Her dreams were too haunted, she supposed it the guilt and the worry and the situation... She hadn't slept well and Ade had been worried for her. He had talked to her much in private saying she was only going to exhaust herself again. Let it happen then! She didn't care. Not right now at least.

"Master Kidd" She turned and looked at Ade. "The men are tired; we should rest for the night. We'll pick this up in the morning" Though his voice could have been forceful and blunt, it was almost gentle. She closed her eyes and reopened them as he said; "You've taken a fancy to the Captain, haven't you?" His voice was low enough no one else would hear him.

"I…" Her face hardened. "Taken a fancy to that cur? No."

"If you say so, Master Kidd" His voice was disbelieving. She turned back to looking out in the water. In the distance she caught the light of a ship in the deepening twilight. She adjusted the scope and…

"The Jackdaw!" She gasped. Ade had turned to walk away, but he turned back, leaning against the edge of the ship, gazing out towards the distance.

"What?" She handed him she spyglass and pointed where to look. He lowered it after a moment. "I'll be damned. What's your aim?"

"I'll go to the ship, subdue the mutinous crew and that grog-blossom, Rackham." She turned to her crew. "Half-sail! Half-sail! We need to sneak up on that ship nice and quiet now! Around from behind! Not too close. If they notice, I'll have you flayed! We've been looking for them for weeks now!" Her men jumped to it at the sound of her call. She could see the stressed look in their faces; she was able to hide her own well enough though her own heart was pounding. She had been waiting for this moment for weeks.

"You plan to take them alone?" Ade asked.

"I'm more than capable of taking of their lot by myself." She looked at him, narrowing her eyes. "I've been trained for such things"

"I don't doubt your skills, Master Kidd. But I do owe them a good beating on account of what they did to me. Besides, the crew of the Jackdaw may still be on there. Perhaps we can gain their assistance" She hesitated. That would be easier than going in alone. If they saw Ade, no doubt the crew of the Jackdaw would rally to their cause.

"Fine. We'll have to swim across to the ship. I doubt we can get as close to swing."

"That'll leave us without our guns." Ade cautioned.

"You don't think we can take those deck lickers without pistols?" She gave him a smile. "Knowing Rackham, they'll all be a bunch of drunken slobs when we climb on board." Ade gave a brief laugh.

"Aye, I suppose you're right, Kidd." They left their pistols on her ship and they drifted a little closer. Still it was a good swim to the other ship. She and Ade stood on the edge of the ship, looking down into the water. "We should be ready for anything"

"Aye. Let's just hope that they're so drunk they can't piss straight" Ade smiled and laughed a little. Then they both dived into the water.

Rot! It was cold! She broke the surface gasping at the chill. Sooner they got to the other ship; the sooner they got out of this cold water. Teeth chattering, she began to swim towards the Jackdaw not bothering to dive under. Soon she arrived at the side of the Jack, Ade by her side. She was just about to whisper to him, asking him what route he favored when they heard Jack's voice cut above the waves.

"Planning munity eh?" He called. "Still loyal to that grog-blossom, Kenway, hmm?"

"No sir" a voice replied stiffly. There was the sound of a slap and Mary narrowed her eyes. She began to climb up the ship.

"I didn't say for you to speak! 'Oy, why Kenway didn't flay the bitch out of all of you, I'll never know. You are a bunch of good-fer-nothings!" She peeked to see a ring of men. In the middle she could guess was Rackham and perhaps three of Kenway's men. She could identify those that were loyal to Rackham and those that were loyal to Kenway. They just had different ways of standing. "And 'coz of all you and your lack of ability, I had to take the pardon. We might have outrun that pish posh arse, Rogers otherwise. Now I ain't much of a pirate now am I?"

"I doubt you would have lasted another month, Rackham." Mary called, drawing her sword. She stood on the deck of the Jackdaw, just behind the ring of men. Ade hadn't climbed up yet. She had a feeling he was waiting to make Rackham think he could win against a single man. Or perhaps the only person he wanted to hit was Rackham himself, not that she could blame Ade.

"James Kidd, you shanker, get the hell off my ship" Jack pushed his way through the crowd and drew his own sword. It was clear he didn't want to take any shit. She could see from his eyes that he was a little drunk, but more sober than usual. She wondered if he had the ability to fight. His men tensed, ready to attack when ordered. They wouldn't step into the fight yet, less they insult Rackham.

"Oh and who's going to make me? An old Billy-Huff like you? You already took the pardon – it ain't that you don't make a good pirate. It's just you're not much of a man."

"You little-!" He lunged at her and she parried the blow, kicking him in the goolies, sending him straight to his knees, sucking on his teeth to keep from crying out in pain. She didn't' care if it were a dirty move, stealing this ship from Edward hadn't been fair either. She stood over him and then turned her eyes up to his crew.

"Anyone else?" She found six men willing to fight for Jack, but none of them looked thrilled by the prospect of fighting her. Once circled behind her, only to be thrown off the ship by Ade. He climbed aboard and drew his own sword, ready to join the fight.

"You!" Gasped Jack, struggling to his feet. "I sold you!"

"And Master Kidd saved me." He growled back at Jack. "Give me the Jackdaw Rackham and we'll keep you as prisoner. We'll give you quarter."

"I'll sweeten both of you!" He snarled, finding his footing once more, though he was still bent partially at the waist. Mary had kicked him hard. She hoped he limped for weeks; it would serve that rat bastard right. "Lads!"

And then they pulled their guns. Suddenly Mary was regretting her plan. She expected them to be a drunken lot when they got here. Most of them were sober. She could see a few of them had been drinking though. She glanced between them all. There were at least six guns focused on them. Could she reach Jack in time? He was in front of the line, in between two men, still slightly bent at the waist, still in a lot of pain. He was a good few feet away, but he probably wouldn't be fast enough to stop her. What she had to worry about was all the men with guns. She figured one or two of them had to have wet powder, so perhaps up to two of them would fail to fire. They weren't good odds, but they were all she had. Her body tensed slightly.

"Drop your swords." Jack ordered. She dropped her's. She'd be faster without it anyway. "Hands up" She put her hands up, as did Ade.

He was looking at her, Ade was, knowing she was cooking up something in her head. Mary just hoped they wouldn't get a chance to fire their guns, that Ade wouldn't get hurt because of her little idea. She dropped her hands, dropped low and she knew the guns all followed her. Jack brought up his sword, waving the guns off, thinking her unarmed. He thought her nothing but a lad – but had he never heard of James Kidd's reputation? She had stroked it to make herself something fearsome. Someone to be feared, who if you heard the name, you'd never wish to stand against them. He slashed, aiming for her legs, aiming to cap her good. With one hidden blade she parried the blow and she grabbed his shoulder with her other hand. Using his own weight against him as well as her own momentum, she braced her should against his and flipping him over her body to land flat on his back on the deck. She twisted around, turning towards him once more and she put one foot on his throat and the other on his sword arm. She put just enough pressure on his throat so that he could feel he was in a bad position, so he wouldn't get any ideas about putting a dagger in her knee.

"Any of you make a move; Rackham here is going to lose a body part or two. Maybe a finger…maybe his nose…or maybe his cock. Depends on how much you arses piss me off in the next few minutes" She glared at the crew. Jack struggled beneath her. "Knock it off Rackham. You're done."

"You scared me there for a moment, Kidd" Ade admitted. "Thought you lost your damn mind"

"I've faced worse than this arse and his drunk crew. Tie 'em up Ade. We'll drop 'em off somewhere." She gave them a grin. "Maybe it'll be somewhere civilized."

"'Oy! You heard Master Kidd." Ade barked at what remained of the Jackdaw's original crew. There were twenty-five of them left. Just enough to make due. They quickly rounded up and tied up the thirty members of Rackham's crew and locked them up downstairs. They posted three guards, leaving twenty-two to run the ship.

"Against all odds, we did it" She laughed and strolled up to the wheel, Ade behind her. "We got his ship back!"

But that left a hollow note in her chest. Yes, they got the Jackdaw back, but…Edward. She looked at the wheel, gently placing her hands on it. Edward took such pride in piloting his own ship. He always looked so happy when he was behind the wheel of his ship. He would grin even in the face of a storm. The wheel itself was worn slightly, probably from his hands on it. That thought was almost comforting as she ran her fingers across it. She stood where he would; she looked out as he would. It almost felt like a sign that they would find him. She hoped they would find him or at least he'd find his way back to them. He missed him something fierce and…It wasn't easy to admit that sometimes. She felt like perhaps if she had gone with him to speak with Thatch, something might have gone differently. Then again, knowing Rackham he'd have just thrown the three of them off the ship. Vane wasn't a person she needed to know her secret though.

They had no idea where to look however. They had been in open water when Jack had decided to betray the lot of them. Not even Ade had an idea where to look. So Mary and Ade decided to stay where they were for the night. She had her schooner pull alongside and also drop anchor for the night. She didn't sleep though, she went right back to the navigation room to ponder over a map with Ade.

"About where did you stop?" She asked. Ade pointed to a location in the water not too far from Kingston on the map.

"I think somewhere about here." He frowned. "But it'd be hard to tell and the Ranger ain't going to be there anymore, even with its ruined sails. The currents could have carried it anywhere" Probably nowhere civilized though, seeing as Edward was still missing. She chewed on her cheek. "Mary, I'm sure he's alive" Ade's voice was soft and reassuring.

"You think?" she asked. Her voice was soft and nervous.

"Yes, I'm sure. You don't think he'd die that easily do you? Besides that, he has Vane with him. Between the two of them, I'm sure they're doing fine" She nodded, dropping her eyes to the table. Where was he? She wished she knew. Still, there was no way to be sure. They could sail around and hope they found him but…That was stupid. They'd run out of supplies and money before they could ever find him.

"So what do you think we should do, Ade?" She asked.

"Return to his cove. There is no doubt in my mind when he finds his way back, he'll go there" She had to agree with that. "If we wait there, he'll find us for sure. Besides that, there's no doubt that these men could use a holiday after what they've been through with Rackham."

"We'll drop his men off in a rowboat by Nassau. If they're lucky, someone will see them and come to their aid." She stated. Ade smiled and shook his head.

"If you say so, Master Kidd" Then he began towards the door. "We should get what rest we can. We're not too far from Nassau, but with the skeleton crew we have to run her, I fear what might happen if a storm were to hit the Jack."

"If worse comes to worse, you'll take the helm and I can help the men" She didn't mind and though it wouldn't make much of a difference, one more hand could be of some use.

"As long as you don't get hurt like last time" She had to laugh at that and she straightened, following him out the door.

"Aye, I'll try to avoid that" They talked a little more as they walked to what were Edward's quarters. She would be staying there. Privacy from the men seeing as she was a woman. Ade insisted on it. They didn't know what to expect when they got there though. When they opened the door, they found while there were countless rum bottles, it seemed to be in decent shape. They bid each other a good night after which Mary closed and locked the door.

She sat down on the bed, feeling that ache in her heart. It wasn't as bad now as she did truly believe that Edward was alive. Somehow, Ade really had reassured her. Somehow, she felt that he was alive and somehow he would find his way back to his cove, his ship…and her. That thought was…odd to her. How much did she really miss Edward? How much did he miss her? …If he missed her at that was. What did she feel for him? Were they friends or…

No, they were just friends. Not in a million lives would the great Mary Read even think of a fool like Edward Kenway as more than a friend. She shook her head, at herself of course. She was the fool she supposed. She took her hair down, running her fingers through it. It needed to be cut again. It was getting a little long. She guessed she'd handle that…after. She got around for bed, removing her corset and her boots and her jacket and then she lay back on the bed. She dug her charm out, clutching it in her fingers, playing with it in a way that helped calm her. She was a fool, but this wasn't the first of such mistakes she had made.

Soon…soon she would see Edward again. She had to keep hoping – it was the only way to dull the ache in her heart.

A/N: Guess who finished another chapter last night? Obviously me! Here, I'm spoiling you more! Anyway, there may be another chapter later if time provides. Leave some reviews to let me know what you thought?