Nightmares By The Sea

Disclaimer: Do not own. Wish I did.

What in the heck is a Mary Sue? I’ve read things about “Not another Mary Sue” and “The dreaded Mary Sue?” and I’m confused. What is it and how do I stop from making one? Just wondering. Review, please. Meaty Jack stuff next Chapter. Coming soon. Promise, promise, promise. (Hehehehe….meaty….)

Chapter Two- Over Hill and Over Dale


I stand amid the roar/Of a surf tormented shore/And I hold within my hands/Grains of golden sand/Oh how they creep/Through my fingers to the deep/While I weep, while I weep. -- Edgar Allen Poe


Evangeline woke slowly, her head throbbing. She was lying down and something light was covering her, the sunlight filtering through. Suddenly the previous night’s events came crashing back and she sat up with a cry. In her panicked state, she took everything in as quickly as she could. She was in a farmer’s cart and she recognized the driver as John, husband of Margaret, one of the village children she used to play with. His black eyes were wide with fear and he was making slight motions with his hand for her to lie back down. Behind him the volcano loomed large, closer than she had ever seen it. The cart gave a violent jerk as it hit a run in the long abandoned path they were traveling on. They were on the other side of the island! She looked down to see what had covered her was hay. Margaret’s husband was still silently urging her to lie back down. The hay beside her exploded and before she had time to scream, Tanner had his hand over her mouth and his pistol pressed squarely between her eyes.
“Ye’ll be wanting to lie back down, girlie. Yer man here tells me no on ne’er comes to this side o’ the island, but I don’t think I’ll be takin’ any chances.”
Evangeline sat there, stunned. Taking her inability to move for refusal to move, Tanner slowly removed the gun from it’s place between her eyes and placed it at the base of John’s skull.
“Lie back down,” he said, leaving the threat unspoken.
John’s back shook as he began softly to cry. Evangeline pictured Margaret and their small son and slowly sunk back into the hay. Tanner covered her again and resituated himself beside her, pistol in her ribs. Evangeline closed her eyes and began weeping. Against all odds, between her crying and the rocking of the cart, she fell asleep.

****

The sudden stop of the cart awoke her. The lack of light filtering through the hay told her it was night again. She lay very still, contemplating whether or not to sit up. Her question was answered for her when Tanner grabbed a handful of her hair and pulled her up and out of the cart. She shrieked at the pain. It felt as if he’d taken the top of her head off. When she opened her eyes she saw they were standing in a village, but something was wrong. It took her a moment to realize there were no candles or lanterns lit within the houses. There were large stones strewn here and there and the absence of color was frightening. The village surrounding the port was a riot of color, from the clothing to the buildings. In the moonlight, everything here was a uniform gray. Tanner motioned for John to get down off the cart.
“I’m goin’ to walk behind ye two. If either of you runs, I shoot the other one.”
John grabbed Evangeline’s hand and they began to walk through the village and down to the sea. Evangeline peered into windows as se walked past, but was greeted with only darkness. When she craned her neck to look in a doorway, she tripped over one of the stones that littered the street. She fell to her knees and found herself nose to nose with the stone figure of a man, his face forever frozen in a rictus of pain and fear.
“The ash turned them to stone. Only the ones who rain survived,” John said as Evangeline began to scream at the top of her lungs.
Tanner crossed the distance between them in two strides and struck her so hard her head snapped to the side and she tasted blood blossoming within her mouth. She fell completely to the ground, sprawled across the petrified villager and slowly brought her hand to her cheek, which was already swelling.
“Do not hit her!” John yelled “There’s no one around to hear her!”
Tanner growled and pulled Evangeline up by the hair again, turning her to face John. Then, with a gesture as casual as brushing hair out of one’s eyes, he raised the pistol and fired it a close range into John’s chest. Evangeline stopped struggling and opened her mouth to scream again, but Tanner stopped her short.
“If so much as an ‘Oh, dear’ comes out o’ that pretty mouth of yers, you’ll get more o’ the same. I have plans fer ye, but it’ll be no skin of me nose to leave you hear dead, either.”
Evangeline’s shoulders slumped, resigned. He sensed the change in her demeanor and let her go, taking a step back.
“What plans?” she asked, monotone.
“Yer da has ruined me in the Spanish Main, I intend to make a wee bit o’ profit off you and sleep better knowin’ I’ve ruined ye as well.”
“My father will find us,” she said, though her voice held none of the hope of the statement.
“Can’t find us if he don’t know where to look.”
He grabbed her hand, leading her out of the village and down to the beach. They kept to the shadows as much as possible until they came to a small cove sheltered from view by some of the rough rocks at the base of the volcano. Evangeline wrinkled her nose, the air smelled like rotten eggs and the rocky ground was warm beneath her bare feet. Tanner pulled her forward until they were walking in water. The water was warm, too. Like a bathtub.
It took her eyes a minute to adjust to the dimmer light within the cove. When they did, she saw, moored half on the beach, half in the water, a small fishing boat like the kind the villagers used back home. It could be rowed for shallow fishing, or it had a single sail that could be raised for maneuvering in deeper water. He smiled when he saw her looking at it.
“Me men stole if fer me after they broke me loose. I told them to hid it here, then sent them along to get a new ship and hire a new crew. We’re to meet them in Fiji in two month’s time.”
“Two months?” she squeaked.
“Thinking ye’ll tire of me before then?” he said with a laugh.
“We’re going to spend two months on that?” she asked pointing to the skiff “What about food and water and, and….privacy?”
“Privacy be the least o’ yer worries, girlie, but let me put yer mind at ease: I have a plan.”
With that he tossed her in the boat and pushed it off the land. After he leaped in himself, he set her at the back of the boat and put the handle of the rudder in her hand. He raised the sail in silence and then sat down facing her.
“You work that rudder. When I say left, ye pull left. When I say right, ye pull right. Got it?”
Evangeline nodded.
“Don’t get any fancy ideas just because I’ve asked ye to help me. I can sail this pile just as easily without you. As soon as we’re clear of the island, I’ll be goin’ to sleep. You stay awake and rouse me if you spot trouble. Remember, I can slit yer throat quicker than help can get to ye out here.”
He reached under the seat and pulled out a pair of manacles stolen from the jail. He attached on end to her and she had to repress the urge to smack him as he caressed her bare ankle, then with a leisurely movement, he leaned back and attached the other end to himself.
“To further discourage fancy ideas,” he said solemnly.
“Where are you taking me?” she asked between clenched teeth.
“Tortuga,” he said with a smile.

****

They went through the meager foodstuffs Tanner’s men had left on the boat in the first two days. By the third she was hungry, thirsty, and after looking at the endless ocean all around her, had begun to give up hope of rescue. Tanner had done little more in those three days than bark orders and leer at her. As the sun set on their third day, she began to contemplate jumping overboard. The loss of her own life being a small price to pay for the pleasure of bringing him down after her. She was lost in the pleasant vagaries of this thought when Tanner laughed so suddenly and so lout that the boat noticeable shook when she jumped.
“Tortuga,” he declared, pointing over bow of the boat.
She looked past his finger and there were indeed the lights of a town.
After another half an hour, they were ready to dock, but he dropped anchor right before they pulled into port.
“Let me make something clear. Tortuga isno a town a bonnie lass like yerself will want to go runnin’ around all by yer lonesome. Specially in yer nightsies.”
He eyed her nightdress and Evangeline pulled her robe tighter around her chest. Chuckling, he continued:
“I’m goin’ to chain you to the mast and cover you with the sail. Don’t move and don’t make a sound. Helpin’ ye won’t be the first thing on anyone’s mind who stumbles across ye. I’ll go find lodging and some more….manageable clothes for ye. I’ll be back within an hour.”
With that, he did as he said, attaching his end of the manacle to the mast and then lowering the sail and covering her with it. Picking up the oars, he rowed them into Tortuga, docked, and left ship without another word to her.

****

Evangeline wasn’t sure how long Tanner had been gone, but she was sure it had been longer than an hour. The arrogant bastard had even left the oars and his compass on board, sure she would not try to transverse the open seas. The sounds around her were confusing and discordant. Behind her were the lapping of the waves and the creaking of many ships. In front of her were all manner of sounds. Laughing, male and female, that managed to sound both jolly and troublesome at the same time. Screams and shouts, music, the clinking of glasses, the clashing of steel, and gunfire all filled the night air. After a time, someone stepped on board and she chided herself when she realized she had been praying for it to be Tanner. The sail was slowly raised and before she could turn to see who it was, she heard Tanner’s voice.
“Get up.”
She stood up and saw that he had only raised the sail halfway, blocking the back half of the boat from view of the harbor. He threw a bundle of clothes at her.
“Here, put these on.”
“She looked at the trousers and broadcloth shirt and gave Tanner a scandalized glare.
I will not wear-”
“Ye will,” he stated, matter of fact “Then ye’ll pull yer hair up in this cap and put this hat o’er it.”
He tossed a large, overly long coat at her as well.
“This will have to do to cover up yer bumps until I can come up with something better.”
“My bu-” she started to ask, but blushed scarlet when realization dawned on her.
With a snort, he thankfully went to the other side of the sail to let her change. When she finished, she came around and he looked at her.
“It’ll do,” he said “But yet hat is backwards.”
He corrected it and pulled her off the boat.
“Not a word to no one,” he said “I’ll kill anyone ye talk to.”
He led her through the town and she was amazed at the wantonness of everything she saw. People pressed in from all sides and not a one of them looked like an honest soul. They stopped outside an inn called the “Cock and Bull” that looked like it stood only from the sheer number of people within. They wove their way through the crowd and came to the bottom of the most frighteningly rickety staircase Evangeline had ever seen, when a woman with her breast hanging out of the left side of her dress grabbed Evangeline’s shoulder and turned her around.
“My aren’t you a lovely one?” she cackled “Not often ye see a man with lips like tha’. Ye fancy a toop, pretty? I’ll make ye a fair deal.”
Evangeline stood transfixed as this shambles of a woman made grab for her crotch. Before she could, though, Tanner smacked her hand away.
“Back off, whore,” he growled.
“Oh, it’s like tha’, it is guv’nor?” she said “Meant no harm by it. Carry on.”
She stepped back and let them continue up the stairs. At the end of a dim and dank hallway, Tanner produced a key and unlocked a door. He pushed Evangeline inside and locked the door behind them. Turning, he look at Evangeline with such malevolent intensity, that she backed up against the wall. He walked across the room towards her and she tried to shrink into herself, but he turned at the last moment and walked over to the bed.
“I chose this place for a reason,” he said, pulling the sheet off the bed. “Should ye get feisty or misbehave, no one will blink when they hear yer screams.”
He tore the sheets into strops, relishing her jump at the sound of the tear.
“And if ye cross me, I plan to make ye scream plenty.”
He grabbed Evangeline’s hair and pulled, tilting her head back, making her yell in protest. When her mouth opened, she wadded up a strip of the sheet and shoved it in. She gagged against the foul fabric, but before she could spit it out, he secured it with another strip, deftly tying it behind her head. He then pulled her arms behind her, tied them, then kicked her to her belly and trussed her like she had seen done to hogs in the market back home. He picked her up by the knot that secured her wrists to her ankles and tossed her on the bed.
“I’m goin’ to find us passage,” he said, then added cruelly “Don’t move.”

****

After an hour or more, every muscle in Evangeline’s body was screaming in protest. She might have cried were she not so angry. She was happily contemplating the probability of clawing Tanner’s eyes out before he had a chance to kill her when he stumbled back into the room, obviously drunk. Her eyes widened when he pulled a knife out of his belt, but it only served to cut her loose. She quickly tore the gag away from her mouth and then went about the business of rubbing circulation back into her limbs.
“’Ere,” he said and parcel landed next to her on the bed.
“What is it?”
“Open it and see.”
She eyed the package suspiciously and then slowly opened in. Inside were yards and yards of linen cut into one continuous, thin strip. Remembering what he did with the bed sheet, she was afraid what this would be used for.
“What is it?” she asked again.
“Bind yer breasts,” he stated, answering and ordering at the same time.
She looked at the fabric and back at him, silently willing him to leave. When he didn’t she sighed.
“Are you just going to stand there?”
“Had planned on it,” he said with a sick smile “Won’t be long before you won’t even think twice afore being naked with a man.”
He head snapped up at his last statement as she slowly began to unbutton the shirt, blushing furiously. She fumbled with the linen, only making a few passes around, when he groaned and crossed the room.
“Not tight enough,” he said huskily as he unwound her meager work.
He captured one of her breasts in his rough hand and rubbed his thumb over her rose-colored nipple. He pinched it sharply, causing her to gasp in pain. She smacked his hand and he smacked her face causing her cheek to throb anew. Then without a word, he efficiently and painfully bound her breasts.
“Put yer shirt back on and sit on the bed,” he commanded when he finished.
Fidgeting with the bindings, trying unsuccessfully to make them more comfortable, she obeyed. He sat behind her, gathered her hair into one bunch, and drew his knife again.
“Too bad we’ll have to cut this hair. Hair like this’ll bring me a fortune in any eastern port. It’ll grow back, at least.”
As he was speaking, he began to saw through her hair with the knife.
“Too bad yer a virgin or I might have to sample the goods. You are a virgin, aren’t ye?”
“Of course I am,” she said, shocked “Pig!”
He tugged her hair roughly as he made the last cut, letting ten inches of auburn curls fall limply to the floor. Her hair now hung just to her shoulders. He gathered the remaining hair a tail at the nape of her neck and secured it with a ribbon in a style she had seen some of the men downstairs wearing. He stepped back to admire his work and finding it passing, began stuffing things into a sack.
“I found us passage on a ship,” he said as he worked “We leave within the hour. Yer to be my son. Didna tell them much more than that. Yer name’s to be Adam.”
“Adam?” she asked.
“Got a better name?”
“I always did fancy Aloysius,” she said, grinning cockily.
“Don’t sass me, wench, or I’ll worry your other cheek so they both match.”
“Adam,” she said as she glared at Tanner.
“These men are not yer honest sailors,” he continued, ignoring her “They’re pirates. So don’t get any ideas about rescue. Even if ye do reveal yer fairer sex to them and they relieve you of me, you don’t want to know the things a ship of men will do to a lonely girl. I’ve seen it, hell I’ve done it.”
He watched with mirth as his last comment made her shift uncomfortably.
“Don’t speak unless spoken to and when ye do, try to lower yer voice. Do any work they ask of ye and we should be fine. The cap’n knew me on sight, so there’s no lyin’ about who I am. Lucky he didn’t know I don’t have a son. Thinks I’m bringin’ ye up to be a scallywag like yours truly. Are ye ready?”
She stood without a word and let him lead her out of the inn and down to the docks.

****

She was looking up at the most imposing ship she had ever seen. Her father had sailed larger ships than this, but there was something about this one that was intimidating.
“Maybe it’s the black sails,” she thought.
They came up behind a man who was standing on the gangplank, alternately yelling orders and yelling obscenities.
“Cap’n?” Tanner said and the man turned around with a slight wobble and a flourish of his arms.
Evangeline studied him intently. His hair was braided and twisted and had all manner of trinkets woven into it. He wore an open broadcloth shirt, worn trousers, and battered boots. A bright sash was woven around his waist, and another held his hair away from his face. He certainly looked the pirate, but his eyes confounded her. They were like liquid chocolate and had none of the inherent hardness present in Tanner’s In them she saw amusement, wisdom, and calculation, but not hardness. What kind of man was this?
“Barty!” the man slurred and Evangeline almost smiled when she felt Tanner tense at the use of the nickname.
“Jack,” Tanner all but spit.
“Captain Jack,” the man corrected, smiling.
He fixed his eyes on Evangeline, sweeping them up and down, seeming to take in everything.
“What happened to yer face, son?” he asked.
“A brawl,” Tanner answered, simply.
Jack nodded and with another smile and another flourish, clapped Evangeline on the back.
“Welcome to the Black Pearl, mate!”