A Matter of Circumstance

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The hot Caribbean sun is relentless, yet after a few weeks of being aboard the Flying Dutchman, you hardly notice anymore. Your once soft, creamy skin is now a dark tint and is weather beaten. Your hands, while not lady-like to begin with, are rougher thanks to the hours you’ve spent scrubbing the endless mess of the deck, and the countless knots and ropes you’ve handled.

Pushing your dry and salt-slicked hair out of your face, you bend over to resume your newest task: scraping the barnacles and other countless sea life off the side rails of the ship. You have blisters beginning in the crooks of your fingers and sweat tickles the side of your face, all testimony to your hard work, yet the bloody things won’t budge and you’re beginning to lose your temper. With a frustrated yell, you throw the pick down as one of the blisters finally pops and begins to weep.

“Ye need to watch that temper of yers, Rose.” A gentle voice says behind you. You turn to find Bootstrap Bill standing there, pick in hand.

You curse him out under your breath, causing him to laugh. Still, you snatch the pick out of his hands and soften enough to give him a sheepish grin. Over the past few weeks, you and Bill have become good friends. He was the first (and only) crew member to speak to you after the incident with Davy Jones when you first arrived on the ship a cold and lost girl. After getting over the fact that he was, well, what he was, you immediately latched on to his fatherly nature. Morose as he is, Bill is still better company than the rest of the crew, who either ignore you completely or continuously taunt you.

“Have ye eaten yet?” He asks.

You smile at his concern, “Yes, Bill.”

He grunts in response, “The Captain wants ye in the Crows nest tonight.” Now you know why he’s here. Bill never likes to disrupt you from your work; the odd passing comment, yes, but never full blown distraction.

You stiffen at the mention of your Captain. Since arriving on the ship, you have an odd and strained relationship with Davy Jones. You know that his crew think him strange and weak to allow a woman on board, and that he himself views you as more a hindrance than help, but he seems to tolerate you enough to keep you alive without a sworn oath. Just why, you have no clue.

“Aye,” You mutter, turning back to your task. With a sinking feeling you continue. “We planning a raid, then?”

“By the sounds of it,” Bill rasps, a small smile tugging on his lips. He, as do the others, knows of your feelings for what the Flying Dutchman and her crew actually do.

“Right,” You say, dropping the pick in the bucket by your side so you can wipe your sore hands off on the pair of men’s trousers your dressed in. No more peasant dresses for you here. “Thanks, Bill.” You hand off the bucket to him and make your way to the Crow’s nest.

You do your best to ignore the dirty looks thrown at you from Maccus and Clanker, two men who are very outspoken as to your presence, and pick at the shirt that’s sticking to your sweaty back before firmly grabbing the ropes and climbing up. You manage to haul yourself up regardless of the sores on your hands, and settle in to wait for your next orders. It’s not too bad in reality; up here the breeze is a bit stronger and nicely counters the heat of the sun. You stretch out, taking the rare opportunity to relax while on duty. Your peace doesn’t last for long.

The familiar thump of the Captain reaches your ears, causing you to stand to attention. Chancing a look over the side, you watch as Jones saunters on to the main deck and begins to shout out orders to the men. Once he seems satisfied with their haste, he glances up at you. Your stomach twists and you have to swallow hard at the sight of his hard blue eyes, and do your best to listen to his instructions lest you get lashings.

“Eyes on the horizon then, lass!” There’s something behind Davy’s eyes, like he’s challenging you to appear weak before him and the crew. “Lest ye taste the end of the Bo’sun’s whip again.” He laughs before sauntering back to the helm where he takes the wheel.

Cursing under your breath, you turn to face the ever nearing horizon, eyes peeled for any sign of a ship. Your skin prickles unpleasantly in remembrance of past whippings all the same. Shaking it off, you try to refocus your mind. The hours pass and nothing of importance has crossed the ship’s path. Sun close to setting, you decide you can finally lean back and rest. Closing your eyes, you mind wanders…

Beneath you the ship gives a hard lurch, causing your eyes to snap open in surprise. Blinking to clear the sleep and grit from your eyes, you squint in the darkness. It isn’t long before your eyes adjust to what little light the moon is giving off and you see the looming figure of another ship off in the distance, smashed against a small crop of jagged rocks. Various screams and yells carry on the wind to meet your ears, and your heart sinks. Regardless of how many times in the past the Flying Dutchman has swooped down on doomed seamen, it doesn’t seem to get easier to bear. Your heart sinks even lower when, as the Dutchman moves closer, you notice that no colors are flying. The people below are most likely passengers trying to make their way to Port Royal.

Port Royal.

Your stomach twists, which has nothing to do with the ship slowly coming to a near halt. You’ve done your best to forget about your previous home, especially as it appears Davy has no intention of returning you there. This idea doesn’t exactly comfort you and it takes a particularly loud and shrill scream to draw you out of past memories.

Apparently Davy has made his way to doomed ship’s deck.

“Time to come on down, whelp!” One of the men left behind yells up at you. “Yer needed!”

You sigh and quickly make your way down to the deck. Immediately the men around you begin to hiss and curse at you, but before you can retort a number of poor souls who have sold themselves into Davy Jones’s crew appear alongside the others. You barely have time to marvel at their ability to appear like that (a power you yourself do not have, having not sold your soul) before the Captain is standing before you, looking just as imposing as always.

“Ye know what to do with them Miss Paxton,” He barks at you. “Take them below and show them about. Mind ye stay out of my men’s way.” With one last severe look, one that makes your heart leap, Davy thuds away.

Sighing again, you push your way through the throng of men who have crowded around the newcomers and introduce yourself. With a heavy heart you notice that one of them is a young boy, barely fourteen, who is pale and shaking. Somehow you doubt that the men will be easy on him, so you decide then and there to at least show him some compassion. At least, once you’re out of the others line of view.

“Come along then. Time to get you all settled”

‘You’ll be here for a while.’

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“How long have you been here, Miss?”

You look up from the ropes you had been tying off to see the young boy from the other night staring at you. Obviously he’s been flushed out from below deck by the taunts of the crew. You’re pleased to see he doesn’t look as pale or as scared as he did before; apparently he’s settled down the past two days.

You turn back to your work before you answer him. “About a month.” You finish up one last knot before wiping your hands clean on your shirt and standing up.

“I’m Rose Paxton, and you are?” You hold out your hand.

“Samuel Reines. You can call me Sam,” He says, taking your offered hand and shaking it. He looks at you quizzically for a moment before blurting out. “You’re still alive.”

You quirk your eyebrow at him. “How did you know?”

Sam shrugs. “I can hear your heartbeat.”

You pause, mind slowly going over this new information. You had no idea that the others could hear your heartbeat. “You can hear it?”

“Yes,” His upper class upbringing is evident in his tone. “I can hear it quite clearly.”

“That’s a tad strange.” You place your hands on your hips and look down at the boy, trying to identify if there is anything special about him. “Did you hear people’s heartbeats before…well, being here?”

Sam offers a small smile. “No. I think the only reason I can hear yours is because I don’t have one anymore.”

“Oh,” You’re slightly taken aback by this. There aren’t really any words of comfort you can offer him, not in this situation.

“Sorry to be so blunt, Miss Paxton,” Sam says, obviously sensing your discomfort. “I merely meant that, well, I suppose when one’s living one takes their heartbeat for granted.” He scrunches his nose together in a cute form of concentration. “Does that make any sense at all?”

“Sort of, I suppose.” You laugh despite your shock.

Sam sighs wearily. “All I know, Miss Paxton, is that before being here on this ship, I never heard anyone’s heartbeat. Now I can hear yours wherever I am.”

“Oh,” Again, this new information unsettles you. No wonder the crew dislikes you—not only are you a woman, but you have a very loud and probably annoying heartbeat.

“I’m sorry if I’ve upset you, Miss Paxton,” The boy frowns slightly. “I know how delicate women can be.”

At this statement you burst out laughing. You can just imagine how delicate you must seem with blistered hands and dark, sweaty skin while dressed as a male sailor. Sam seems to clue into this as he begins to laugh with you.

“Call me Rose, if you like Sam.” You give him a wink once both of you have calmed down.

“Alright, Rose.” He smiles at the informality of it all.

He stays for awhile, leaning up against the side rail so as to talk to you longer. You find out that him and his family had been sailing the crossing from England to the Caribbean when they had been forced on to the very same crop of rocks the Flying Dutchman had found them on by some gigantic beast. You grimace at the mention of this last bit; obviously Jones had his pet beastie do the work for him.

Still, despite the circumstances surrounding Sam’s presence on the ship, you find him likeable and of good company. He’s rather smart and witty for a boy of his age, something you find rather charming. And he’s been enough of a gentleman not to ask you any more personal questions; on the contrary, he seems quite happy to tell of his past. At least he breaks the mundane atmosphere a bit, but it’s all too soon that the cheerful mood is disrupted.

“Lackin’ off on yer duties, are ye?” comes a thick, rough voice. You turn on your heel to find the Bo’sun glaring at the two of you. You notice that his beloved cat o’ nines is firmly in his hands.

“No,” You state, trying not to sound too nervous in his presence. “Simply addressing this new crew member.” You watch as one of his fingers lovingly stroke the board end of the whip and decide that you do not want to see charming little Sam partake in a lashing. “As I’m allowed to do. You do remember what the Captain said, don’t you?”

The Bo’sun thinks for a moment before his shoulders sag slightly in defeat. “Aye. That I do.” He turns to instead glare down at Sam. “Mind what ye do, lad. Once ye get the hang of this ‘ere ship, ye’ll ‘ave no more excuses.”

Sam simply nods before turning back to you. “Thank you for the help, Miss Paxton,” He says, keeping up with the lie. And with that the boy walks off.

You stare after him for a few moments, before sighing and returning to your own forgotten work, only to find yourself face to face with the Bo’sun again.

“The Cap’n may be soft with ye, girl, but not me.” And with one last threatening glare in your direction, he’s off to prowl the other end of the ship.

“Aye.” You mutter after him.

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A/N: There, I know its not much longer than the first chapter, but I’m really just moseying my way through until the good stuff. Hopefully it hasn’t been too boring to read; as I’ve been trying to set the premise down…I promise the good stuff will come along soon. Mainly a little more of the one and only Davy Jones. :)

That said, I’m not sure when the next chapter will be up…I don’t think this story will be all that long, but I want to make any sort of relationship believable. And since I’ll be rather busy the next little while, you might have to wait. So sorry for any delay in advance! :)

Oh, and thanks very much for the reviews!!