The Devil's Hand

--Chapter Three--



    Both men gaped at her. Will made a few abortive attempts at speaking before he managed, "What?"

    Nicola sighed and perched on one of the chairs nearby. "I told you I've been to the French court. The fact of the matter is . . . I rejected all of my suitors in England and Father . . . is rather desperate to get me off his hands, as Mum insists that my younger sisters cannot wed until I am. She still resents your mother marrying before she did, and four years younger, to boot."

    She tapped her fingers on the arm of the chair, which was an elaborate and heavy thing. "My sister Catherine has a serious suitor, a young Lord by the name of Alexander. Since Father wants us both off his hands, he took me to France to see if he could get me a French husband.

    "While I was there . . . I met Giacomo."

    Jack picked up the blade and examined it. That was why it looked familiar, in a way. It was very expensive Italian steel. "And this bugger . . . what? I mean, besides decided to come into my territory?"

    She stood and went over to the windows, hands behind her back. "At first, I was very flattered. He's a strikingly handsome man, with good manners and with quite a bit of money. But . . . the more time I spent with him, the more uneasy I became. There were whispers about him in the salons. I'd like to think I'm an intelligent woman, I know that men tend to stray. But the stories I overheard from women were . . . increasingly disconcerting."

    Nicola glanced at Will. "They call him the Devil's Hand. At first, I thought it was merely because he had a reputation as a rakehell, that I did not learn until after he'd begun courting me. But it didn't come from that."

    Jack's dark eyes followed her as she paced the cabin. "Cabbalistic magick, then?" he asked.

    Her eyes, blue with an edge of green, darted his way. "To start with. At first, I thought it was nonsense. Until I stumbled into something one night, and he . . . I saw him sacrifice a young woman on an altar. She bore something of a resemblance to me. I told Father immediately, and he sent me on the next ship back to England. Roccelli followed me, because he knew I'd seen. The next thing I knew, I was being arrested for witchcraft."

    Will frowned. "But why?"

    "I'm not entirely certain. I know he was angry that Father had broken the betrothal. I still cannot believe I agreed to his proposal. He came to see me, demanded that I return with him. I refused. The next morning, I was arrested. I . . . managed to escape after promising to wed the garrison commander, who is on the older side and was in need of a wife. He said he could make the charges go away if I agreed to marry him. Since they were going to execute me in a week, I was rather desperate, as you can imagine."

    She looked between the men, from Will's angry, concerned face, to Jack's shuttered, non-committal expression. "I knocked him unconscious, snuck home and packed a bag, and used the letter Father gave me for passage from France to convince Captain Marchant he was to bring me to the Caribbean. This was the only place I could think to come. No one knows me here, except you, Will. I could start over, however I needed to do that."

    Nicola clasped her hands and sank back into the chair she'd vacated. She gazed at Jack steadily. "And then I hid here, snuck aboard after I saw the other woman, the dark one-"

    "Annamaria?" Jack asked.

    "I have no idea. I saw her aboard and thought perhaps I could hide here. I didn't want Captain Marchant to realise there wasn't anyone waiting for me. I hid in here, since I figured the crew wouldn't come barging into the captain's cabin. Then you came in, and you started discussing Roccelli . . ."

    Will crouched by her chair. "You need not worry, Nicola. You're safe here."

    "Am I?" she asked. Her face was a little bleak. "There's no hiding from Roccelli."

    Jack pushed a bottle of rum across the desk towards her. "Drink that, you'll feel better."

    "Thank you, but no." She gave Will a weak smile. "I'm hoping he doesn't learn that I'm here. What Captain Sparrow described, of his ship? That's only part of what he's capable of. I can only imagine-"

    She swallowed, hard. "He's had two hundred years on this world. I can only imagine what he's done during them."

 

-----

 

    Jack accompanied Will when he escorted Nicola home. The two men spoke in hushed voices as they headed back through town.

    "You believe her, mate? 'Bout ol' Roccelli bein' two centuries old?" Jack asked.

    "If you'd asked me a few months ago if I believed in anything . . . supernatural, I'd have said no," Will replied. "After what I saw with Barbossa and his men, I can't deny that it's possible."

    The pirate rolled his shoulders and came to a skidding stop on the street. "There's real fear in the gel, young William. That, at least, is the truth. Right now, our wants coincide."

    Will nodded. "They do. You wish to get rid of Roccelli, and I wish to protect my cousin."

    He sighed and gestured for Jack to follow him into the blacksmith shop. He locked the door behind them and retrieved some bread and cheese from his somewhat meagre stash, setting them out on the table.

    "I spoke with Norrington. He's not interested in any pirate but you. I'm afraid that we are on our own with this."

    Jack wrinkled his nose and sighed. "Aye, that was my thinking. But we make a good team, you and I, do we not? Odd as it is. Can you take leave of your pretty Lizzie long enough to assist me in hunting Roccelli down and sinking his monstrosity?"

    Will nodded. "I should be able to, yes."

    "I'll send Annamaria to see if she can find us any allies. She's been wanting off the crew, anyway. I suppose we'll have to take the girl with us, keep a weather eye on her and all that."

    Jack finished off the chunk of cheese he'd taken, thanking Will with a toast-like gesture. "This time tomorrow night, at the Pearl, aye? Then we go after 'im."

 

-----

 

    Will's morning started off on a less-than-auspicious turn. When his employer didn't show up by noon, Will went over to wake him, and found the man in an old armchair, bottle in hand, lifeless as his surroundings.

    Fortunately, there were no signs of foul play and everyone knew that Brown was going to drink himself into an early grave. The man had left the shop to Will, which the young man reflected was rather helpful timing, since it freed him to go with Jack and Nicola after Roccelli.

    Dealing with Elizabeth was another matter.

    "I want to go, too!" she said, as soon as she heard their plans.

    Weatherby Swann immediately vetoed her going. "Let him take care of his family business, Elizabeth. Besides, you have wedding plans to see to, don't you?"

    Will would have cherished the time spent with his fiancée away from her father, but he didn't want to endanger her. The only reasons Nicola was going were because she knew the man they were after, and Will didn't want to leave her in Port Royal unattended and unprotected.

    That afternoon, Will took Nicola to a local seamstress to see if there were any clothes the woman had already made that would fit her, since she couldn't go galavanting around the Caribbean in Elizabeth's expensive dresses.

    The seamstress didn't have much, a skirt or two and an extra blouse and chemise. It was enough for Nicola, who paid for the purchases with a silver coin out of her stash.

    "I do not know how long this will take," Will warned his cousin, after they'd bid Elizabeth and her father farewell. "But chances are good that we will be existing on rum and hard tack for the next few days."

    "The rum, I don't doubt," she said dryly. "But I'm sure Captain Sparrow will have more food than that aboard. His crew isn't large enough to warrant cheaper supplies. But I can endure, I'm not some pampered little pet who can't function without her morning cup of cocoa."

    She didn't figure that Jack Sparrow was the kind of man who would graciously give his cabin over for a female passenger, and she was right. He kicked Gibbs out of the first mate's cabin. The older man was good-natured about it, even if a bit skeptical about having a woman on board.

    With her things tucked in her temporary quarters, Nicola set to exploring the ship, even though it was past midnight. There was little she loved more than to be at the prow of the ship when the sails first caught the wind and a ship leapt forward across the water. Leaning on the rail, Nicola watched as the sails unfurled and rippled as the breeze filled them.

    Behind her, she heard Gibbs barking orders to the crew. Here in the bay, the quarter-moon reflected on the water, and the few houses with occupants still up had dim light shining from their windows.

    Out across the water, though, a storm was moving in, and there would soon be no light. Nicola didn't like the thought of facing what lurked out there in the darkness. So, instead of dwelling on it, she closed her eyes and let the wind rush past her as the Black Pearl picked up speed.

    "Enjoying yourself?"

    She jumped a foot, not having heard Jack's approach. "Ah! Uh. Captain Sparrow."

    He grinned, flashing more than one gold tooth. "Scaring you was not my intention, love. Much."

    She rolled her eyes and went back to looking at the sea. "Then what, precisely was your intention?"

    Jack stepped around the smaller mast and put himself in her line of sight. "I wished to inquire how you found my ship. I see you took your onesies on a tour. I could . . . give you a better one, aye?"

    Nicola fought to keep from smiling and swept her eyes over him, feeling a little silly for fluttering her lashes flirtatiously. "I'm sure you could, being the captain. Though I must say, you are the most . . . visually interesting captain I've ever met."

    He looked down at himself. "Aye?"

    "What is that in your hair?" she asked, gesturing to the white stick-like thing hanging from under his hat.

    Jack lifted a hand to it. "Either a reindeer bone needle or a corset stay. Can't remember which, rightly."

    She raised an eyebrow. "And I'm willing to guess that either one would have an interesting story to tell."

    "Oh, they would at that," he said.

    "Mmm."

    "Nicola."

    They both looked to see Will standing a few feet away, a scowl on his face.

    "Ah, William!" Jack said, completely unperturbed at being caught out. "Lovely evening, isn't it?"

    Nicola excused herself, not wanting to be present for the show of manliness that was about to occur. This left Jack and Will alone on the forecastle.

    "I told you to stay away from her," Will said.

    "Ah, if I recall correctly, you said no touching her. And if you'll recall, there was, in fact, no touching going on."

    Will shook his head. "I'm sending her back to England after this is done, Jack. It would be best if you didn't wreck her chances there."

    The pirate raised both hands. "No touching, mate. Really, I pity your young when you have any."

    "And why is that?" Will asked, knowing Jack would probably tell him anyway.

    "Your daughters will be bloody miserable."