White and Black Pearls 1 - Seven Pearls

Chapter Two


‘Oh?’

‘Indeed.’

‘That’s so very… interesting.’

‘Yes, I thought you would find it to be so.’

Curious brown eyes peeked between the pillars of the railing up by the helm, watching his father and the strange white-skinned person as they stood together on the Forecastle Deck. His father was speaking with this weird and wondrous person with a frankness Jack was unfamiliar with hearing his father use with strangers. He could only assume, then, that this was no stranger, but what plagued him more than that was the fact that they had been sailing for a good few weeks now, and she had not left port with them. How she was on the ship now, without being a stowaway, was a mystery… and she certainly wasn’t a stowaway, else his father would have seen to it that she received the proper punishment without hesitation. His brows knitted together as he frowned and crinkled his nose, disliking not knowing what was going on. The frown disappeared in a heartbeat however when he realized that the strange person had turned and was looking directly at him now. He was caught! How had she known he was there? He hadn’t made a sound!

‘Jackie?’ his father called out to him.

He was caught; there was no going back now. Jack stood up, revealing his position, and hurried down the Wicked Wench’s worn stairs towards his father and the being he was now positive was some rich woman. Wordlessly he pulled his shotgun out of his belt and pointed it up at her head, though it was a little difficult to do since it was still very heavy for him, as the boy was still rather young on top of being small for his age.

‘Jack!’ his father said in a much more urgent voice, again startling the boy; was that… fear? Fear, in his father’s voice, and on his face, as he stared at Jack? Fear, and anger, and tension? Impossible! It only made Jack’s intentions more resolute.

‘She doesn’t belong here,’ Jack insisted as he pushed the barrel of his gun closer to her face when he saw she was smiling. ‘She’s not good!’ When the woman turned herself away from Jack’s father and instead looked directly at Jack head-on, his aim wavered slightly. Something about her unnerved him, though he was sure it was just because he was rattled from seeing his father with such an unusual glare on his face moments ago.

The woman’s hand lifted, and she placed it gently on the smaller hand holding a shotgun to her head. The shiver that ran through Jack from the touch was plainly visible. ‘Your son,’ she said softly. Jack’s father nodded slowly, the lines creasing his face deepening as his gaze flicked between her and his son over and over.

He moved without thinking then. Jack’s free hand lashed out and he slammed the butt of his palm against her bodice, pushing her back a few paces and causing her hand to slip off of his. Jack didn’t like the way she seemed to push his father around, and he definitely didn’t like the way she acted as though she could do whatever she wanted, touching Jack and talking with his father so easily like they were on the same rank and level. The woman gasped, and looked rather plainly surprised at being assaulted in such a manner as she came to a stop and touched her stomach where he’d pushed her. When she had recovered some manner of composure, the woman’s gaze returned to Jack’s father. ‘Captain Teague,’ she said in a voice that was still soft but had become very threatening, ‘I suggest you put your son in his place, else some other is forced to do it for you.’

The captain received no chance to comply or ignore her suggestion, however; Jack thumbed the flintlock back and fired.

Luckily, or perhaps unluckily, his aim was still poor at this younger stage of life, and though the woman turned her head away at the shot, it still blasted through her black hair and destroyed one of the strings of pearls, sending the tiny white beads in a spray across the deck, skittering and rolling about. There was a moment of pause, where Captain Teague was left standing stock-still with shock written upon his face, and the same shock was upon Jack’s as well; by that surprised expression upon Jack’s visage it did not look as though he’d intended to fire the weapon, only to threaten by arming it.

The woman’s head lifted slowly as she recovered some composure, and she took a slow breath before touching her hair and feeling where the string of pearls had once been. Her gaze moved across the deck, looking over the pearls that were scattered about and rolling back and forth with the ship’s rocking upon the waves. They would never all be recovered, and the string would never be repaired. Finally, her gaze landed upon Jack Sparrow, who was standing before her with his mouth open and his weapon still pointed at her. A flash of anger in her eyes made Jack’s muscles tighten all over his body as he prepared to run, but the anger shifted to something else… something curious. The woman regained her composure and closed her eyes for a moment before breathing softly, ‘I must say. You are the first to do that to me.’ Her hand moved to sweep slowly through the air as she guided Jack’s attention to the pearls across the deck. ‘And you’ve ruined one of my strands of pearls Jack Sparrow. But I am not typically a cruel person. I understand that you are young and foolish. Lucky to have lived so long as it is, I’d wager.’ Captain Teague winced behind her. ‘Collect the pearls. Look for every last one, there are ten pearls on each of my twenty two… well, now, twenty one strands. Keep them, hide them, and ensure they’re safe.’

It was Jack’s father who reacted to this though, rather than Jack; the man appeared positively aghast at her suggestion but didn’t dare interrupt.

‘They’re yours to keep, as a reward for catching me off guard. Do not tell anybody where they came from or they will take those pearls from you,’ she continued, ignoring Captain Teague for the moment. ‘They are very valuable. Each one is worth more than a king’s ransom.’ She leaned forward then so that she was at eye level with Jack, though his gaze inadvertently moved down to the crease between her breasts to peer down the front of her dress before moving back up to her eyes guiltily. ‘Be a good boy, Jack. Listen to your father, grow up strong. Go on now, pick up those pearls; I’m rather sure he’ll be upset if you let any more of them spill overboard.’

Jack nodded, though he didn’t know why he was listening to the woman he didn’t like or trust, and he hurried to start collecting the pearls. Maybe it was the fact that he didn’t want to disappoint his father? Yes, that had to be it; he didn’t want his father to be upset at losing these precious pearls, it had nothing to do with the fact that this woman made him feel funny when she looked at him and spoke to him. As he collected the pearls, though, he heard snippets of the conversation that started between his father and this woman.

‘Leave him be,’ Captain Teague urged in a quiet, pleading voice. ‘I’ll take whatever you have in store for him.’

‘He won’t be harmed,’ the woman assured softly.

This caused Jack’s hackles to rise once more but he held his tongue this time. Who did she think she was that she would walk onto his father’s ship and dare to lay a hand on Jack? And why was his father letting her get away with saying such things, and uttering such threats? Why was he trying to bargain for whatever punishment might come from her, what could one woman possibly do? ‘I have seven,’ Jack called out suddenly, wanting to interrupt their conversation.

The woman turned to look at Jack then, and she smiled. ‘Seven,’ she praised. ‘That’s wonderful. Seven pearls all for you. Well then, I’ve decided that I will come back here for you, just to visit you Jack Sparrow, in seven years, one for each pearl you managed to recover.’

For some reason, Jack felt proud of that; he was able to control this woman in some degree, by deciding how long it would be until she came back! ‘Seven years,’ he agreed with a nod.

‘And,’ the woman continued, ‘After those seven years, I’ll be watching. If you can hold on to all seven pearls, I will come again in seven years. But, if you lose some, I’ll come in however many years there are for every pearl you have left. If you lose one, I’ll come in six years. If you lose five… I’ll come in two years. Do you understand?’

Jack nodded dumbly.

‘Good.’ The woman smiled and looked over at Captain Teague. ‘It was wonderful seeing you again,’ she said with a graceful nod, ‘and a pleasure to meet your charming young son. Enjoy your latest escapade Captain Teague.’ She stepped aside then, allowing the captain to rush towards his son.

‘Dad…’ Jack said uncomfortably as he was swept up in strong arms and hugged tightly. When he lifted his head and peeked over his father’s shoulder to see if he could look at the woman again, he blinked in surprise; she was gone. The deck of the Wicked Wench seemed somehow dimmer and darker with her gone as he looked around with a confused expression on his face. ‘Where did she go?’ It was impossible that she wasn’t on the ship any more, she had to be here somewhere… but then, how had she arrived in the first place? That had been the initial question to plague his brain.

‘Jackie,’ Captain Teague said tightly, ‘We need to have a long talk about a lot of things. Put those pearls away before somebody sees them and for gods sakes don’t lose any.’


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