A Most Unusual Interest

A Most Unusual Interest Chapter Thirty Four (NC-17)
Disclaimers Apply

A/N Goddess Foxfeather, Queen of Mad Plotbunnies, BUSIEST WOMAN ALIVE ™, Prophetic Muse, Hamster Witch, Uberbeta, and EMPRESS OF MULTITASKING… finally!!! Readers/Reviewers: *ahem* Yes, well… sorry it took so long. And His Beautiful… good story!!!



It seemed that all the bits of ribbon and twine she had saved, all the pieces of rope that Will had put aside, were gone now that she actually needed them. She rifled hurriedly through the trunk in the sitting room where she kept her sewing supplies and found nothing of use. She dared not go to the small shed in back of the house for fear it would take too long, leaving Will at the mercy of their intruder. Deciding a gag was not necessary after all, she ran back up the stairs, shouting at their lone, sleepy maid to call the constable immediately. She heard the woman stagger out into the small courtyard before the house, already calling for help, even as she bounded up the stairs. Will was still facing their intruder, but something had changed… “What happened?” she panted, skidding to a halt. “What is it?”
Will looked decidedly ill. He swallowed convulsively, never taking his eyes off the stranger. “This is Richard. I’m afraid he’s just poisoned me.”
“What?” she cried, her voice breaking. “Stop being foolish!” Elizabeth turned blazing eyes to the man she know knew as Richard. “Leave our home immediately. The constable is already on his way!”
Richard turned his palms upwards in a gesture of supplication. A smear of some dark substance marred one and a quill of some sort lay in the flat of the other, stained with what seemed to be the same dark material as on the other palm. He smiled tightly at her and said in his low, soft voice, “You’re a thick one, aren’t you? If I leave, he dies. If I stay…well, he dies then, too… Sad either way, isn’t it?”
Elizabeth started towards Will but a subtle head shake on his part stopped her. Measuring his words carefully, Will said, “He stabbed me with that quill. He said the more I move, the faster this works… Elizabeth, I love you. Never forget that.”
“Will,” she said as firmly as she could, refusing to show fear in front of the terrorist, “you sailed with the greatest pirate ever, you fought Captain Barbossa and his motely crew of the damned… a little jab will not kill you.” _I hope… _
Richard closed his hands, the quill disappearing up his sleeve as he did so. He walked with long, slow steps towards the trunk, his eyes becoming slightly glazed as he all but ignored his captives in the room. Downstairs, the front door slammed open, jarring the sconces on the wall and making something breakable crash from the mantelpiece. Heavy footsteps sounded and Elizabeth drew a sigh of relief as the constable pounded on the door. Richard’s head shot up and he seemed a thing possessed. “Tell him you’re fine,” he snarled. “Or your husband dies most certainly…”
Will shook his head frantically but his pallor made Elizabeth’s heart skip several beats. The constable pounded again, demanding entry or he would break down the door. “I’m sorry,” she called back. “It was a mistake! We’re fine! We’re all fine!”
There was a long pause and then another, more polite knock. “Misses Turner, open this door now or I am afraid that I shall have to do it myself. I do not wish to intrude on a marital bed but I must if you do not acquiesce…”
Elizabeth cringed at the use of phrase. Richard stepped back, behind the door and nodded to her. She opened it a crack and smiled sickly at the angry looking constable. “I’m sorry,” she repeated. “It was a…marital dispute gone awry…”
The constable looked past her to the waxen faced Will, standing near the bed. “Sir?”
Will nodded, reluctantly. “It was a mistake.”
The constable retreated several steps and shook his head. “I don’t care who your father is, miss, summons such as these are not looked upon kindly…”
Elizabeth nodded frantically. Richard’s breath was sour and far too close for her comfort. “Yes, sit. I shall apologize to the night watch formally tomorrow…” After a few more muttered imprecations, the constable left and the maid grumbled about high and mighty mistresses as she retired. Finally, Elizabeth could shut the . “. “Give him the antidote,” she ordered. “I’ll open the trunk if you give it to him!”
“Sorry, lass,” Richgringrinned, grabbing her by the upper arms and swinging her into the wall. In one swift movement, he was across the room and had swung his booted heel down upon the trunk’s latch. “I think I can take care of that bit myself.”
“No!” cri cried even as he swept into his arms a cloth wrapped bundle from within the trunk. He was gone in a flurry of coat and waft of sour stench. “God, no!”
Will sank to the bedside, sweating profusely. “Liz, I think… I think I need… “ He cringed as a blast sounded from the harbor. Bells exploded into a cacophony of chaos. “Pirates,” he groaned, falling backwards.
Elizabeth was not sure whether she should be sick herself or force herself to cool efficiency. She opted for the latter. “Lay still. Don’t move, no matter what happens, love.” She rang the bell furiously, shouting for cool water as she stripped him of his nightwear to help alleviate that iat in his body. The bells and guns continued to sound from the harbor, making her head throb in panicked pain. She tripped over the trunk once, sending herself sprawling on the hard wooden floors. It tipped over and a clatter joined the chaos—gold coins and a handful of jewels spilled out, a veritable pirate’s booty scattering across the floor. “God,” she breathed, distracted for a brief moment. “Will…”
He groaned. “Elizabeth, get out. Pirates…”
She struggled to her feet, kicking the valuables aside and rushing to his side. The maid fairly dove through the door, a pitcher of cold well water in her hands and panic on her face. “Pirates, memselle. Pirates!”
“Yes, yes, I know!” Elizabeth snapped, taking the water. “Go on, get out. Pirates are the least of my worries right now.” Will chose that moment to spasm in a pain he could not ignore. Elizabeth swallowed her own cry of distress and tried to get him to drink. “Please, Will, just try a little… Damn it, Bess, get the doctor!” But the maid was already gone, fleeing to the back streets in fear of the harbor’s invaders. Elizabeth vented a sob then, her hands shaking as she tried once more to get will to drink. Whatever Richard had poisoned him with was working far too fast for her to leave his side. Another blast sounded, this time from the pirate ship. She gasped and dropped the pitcher as the windows rattled, the shot hitting some part ofir hir house. “Damn it all!”