The Map

Nell woke to hear a shrill voice drilling into her brain



Okay Usual Disclaimer and a few warnings ahead of time. There be attempted
rape ahead, but nothing graphic and stomach turning. And a bit of gore… but
again nothing graphic.

 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

 

Nell woke to hear a shrill voice drilling into her brain. She opened her eyes and took a moment to
remember that she had fallen asleep by the camp fire. She blinked as she registered the high shrill
voice of Lady Clarence. Sitting up
slowly she looked around to see her stood to one side of the camp-fire facing
off with Jack and two people she didn’t recognise. She realised that they were the people from
the Ardent last night and one of them was indeed a lady, and a very beautiful
one at that. She had brown hair which
was caught up in a pile of curls on her head, a few escaped to hang prettily
around her face. Her clothes told Nell
that she was a gentle lady and probably of the same social standing as Lady
Clarence. She briefly wondered how
someone like Jack knew someone like her, and then for one numbing minute she
wondered if this was Scarlet. Something
flicked inside of her chest and she dragged her gaze to the man stood beside
the woman. He was taller than Jack and
broader, where Jack was liquid boned and slim, this man was muscular and
solid. His face was gentle and
exceptionally good looking. Long brown
hair was tied back neatly with a black ribbon and his clothes told her he was
of good social standing as well, or at least not without the money to buy clothes
of such a fine cut.

“Well I demand to be returned to Port Royal
forth-with!” Lady Clarence high pitched voice cut into Nell’s thoughts and
wincing she stood up.

Jack saw her move out of the corner of his eye and he turned
to swagger across to her completely ignoring Lady Clarence.

“Morning to you luv.” He said
happily and half bowed to her.

Nell sched hed her head and frowned at him, he was usually
in a good mood but this morning he seemed even happier. With a sinking feeling Nell realised that he
had probably told them all about her.

“Come this way Nell and meet my very good ‘friends’ the Turners.” His emphasis on
the word ‘friends’ was not lost of her and she had the grace to colour up
slightly.

She followed him back to the group and eyed them warily,
ignoring Lady Clarence completely.

“This here is Elizabeth Turner and that’s her husband Will
Turner.” He said pointing at the two young people who were stood with Lady
Clarence still.

Nell wasn’t sure what to do so she just nodded at them, not
smiling and feeling decidedly uneasy.
“This here is Nell,
or Helen Montilice as she was christened.” He slurred and then frowned at her
before shrugging “And we kno know her Ladyship there, unfortunately.”

“Jack!” Elizabeth
frowned at him before stepping forward extending her smooth slender hand to Nell. Her smile was friendly and appeared genuine.

“Hello Nell.” She said as Nell took her hand and shook it
her natural good manners came back to her and she returned the smile. She turned ill ill and was struck immediately
by how handsome he was up close. She was
gaping she knew she was, especially when she blushed and Jackled led his eyes
nudging her sharply.

“He’s taken.” He said pointedly and Nell’s blush turned into
a full wash of colour. She turned on him
and glared at him.
“I’m aware of that thank you very
much. I was merely taken with how two
such obviously well bred people would know someone like you.” She spoke without
thinking in her annoyance and embarrassment.

“For once I agree with you.” Lady Clarence said quietly.

Jack roared with laughter and looked back at Elizabeth and
Will.

“Did I tell you that she was a nun?” he asked them clearly
mocking her.

Nell snapped her lips together and arched her eyebrow at
him.

“If all you wanted to do was give them something to laugh at
I would have thought your presence would be enough.” She snapped at him and he
half bowed to her.

“No offence meant.” He slurred mocking her, and turned back
to where both Will and Elizabeth were looking at them strangely.

“Now here’s the plan.” He stated and the drunken slur was
lost from his voice. “Lady Clarence; it
is my unendingly joyful delight to inform you that you will be returning on the
Ardent to Port Royal with Will and Liz here. I do however have to state that I do in fact,
feel incredible sorry for them….” he suddenly stopped and turned to look at
Nell as if something had suddenly occurred to him. He narrowed his eyes reached forward and
gripped her wrist “Excuse me a moment mates.” He stated and gripping her
tightly he dragged her away from the group.

“What are you doing?” demanded Nell trying to drag backwards
from him. He stopped and turned to face
her and gripped both of her upper arms and hauled her in close to him till
their faces nearly touched.

“Did you tell her ladyship what’s on your back?” he demanded
enunciating his words clearly as his head moved up and down. She followed his movements with a look of
incomprehension on her face.

He rolled his eyes at hnd tnd then shook her slightly “Did
you tell her about the tattoo?” he explained in frustration.

Nell blinked and shook her head.

“I haven’t told anyone.” She said truthfully “We weren’t
exactly talking.” She said dryly.

“Good, keep it that way.” He declared and grinned widely at
her “Means we can get rid of the old shrew now.” He announced and leant forward
to close the gap between then and pressed his lips to hers before letting her
go and swaggering back to the others.

Nell blinked and blinked again. Shocked at his actions it took her several
minutes to get her wits about her and then she realised he had been relieved
that he needn’t keep Lady Clarence any more.
Shrugging she turned and re-joined them, aware of Elizabeth’s
eyes on her. She avoided looking at any
of them and concentrated on the sword that hung at Will’s hip. She didn’t listen to the plans they made as
they stood there, she just compared the sword Will to to the sword that hung
at Jack’s hip. The hilts were similar,
intricately carved and inlaid with gold and silver. She idly wondered if they had been made by
the same person.

“Are you well?” the words and the gentle touch of a hand on
her shoulder brought her back to the present and she saw Elizabeth had come to
stand beside her.

Nell smiled at her and nodded.

“I am well.”

“I expect it has been a shock to you.” Elizabeth
said softly and Nell wondered how much Jack had told her.

“Being kidnapped by Pirates is enough to shock anyone.” She
stated carefully, mindful of Jack’s words to her.

“Yes. But I was
referring to what your guardian did to your back.” Elizabeth
pointed out and tucked her hand into Nell’s elbow and began to lead her away
from the others. Nell saw Lady Clarence
move to join them but Jack slung his arm around her shoulders and held her
back.

“He told you then.” Nell sighed; on one hand thankful he’d
kept Lady Clarence from joining them but on the other resentful as it meant she
wouldn’t be able to dodge the subject now.

“Yes, he told us both last night. He also told us what he plans. As soon as we drop Lady Clarence we will
follow you.” She said as they walked slowlyn thn the river bank.

“With half the navy after you?”
Nell asked her dryly.

“We will be discrete and hopefully by the time Lady Clarence
is discovered we’ll be long gone.”

Nell looked heavenwards and took a deep breath.

“May I ask you a question?” she said to Elizabeth.

“Of course.” Elizabeth
smiled.

“What on earth is someone like you doing knowing someone
like Jack?”

Elizabeth
laughed and clutched her elbow tighter.

“I knew you were going to ask that. I suppose the story really starts when I was
just a little girl. Look, let’s sit in
the shade of the trees and I’ll tell you all.”

Nell nodded and together they crossed to sit under the
trees.

 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

 

An hour later Nell was convinced that Elizabeth was as mad
as Jack was, but she was obviously a strong woman and courageous and while Nell
found the ghosts a bit hard to believe, although she had to admit they did make
the tale more fun to listen to, she was sure the this woman had gone to save
the man she loved.

“And so you married Will and now… what, are you Pirates
too?”

“Heavens no!” Elizabeth
laughed again “Will makes the finest swords in the Caribbean. He does this and people pay handsomely for
them. We have the Ardent to temper the
pirate blood in his veins and the longing for adventure in mine.” She laughed
and leant back on her elbows.

“Sounds like…” Nell frowned, she had been going to say
freedom but she changed it to “fun.”

Elizabeth sat up
and looked directly at Nell.

“You must feel very restricted here. I know for a fact that Jack won’t let you go
before he’s had chance to find this treasure.
But he won’t hurt you either.”

“And you’re going to help him and gain some of the treasure
for yourself.” Nell replied and didn’t even bother trying to keep the
accusation from her voice. She felt
slightly resentful towards this beautiful woman. She was trying to help her feel better, to
reassure her but Nell knew they all had an ulterior motive, even the beautiful
well to do Elizabeth Turner.

It was becoming quite apparent to Nell that people in
general only helped others when it was helping themselves
as well. She was becoming very bitter
she concluded.

Elizabeth lookat hat her and sighed.

“We’ll be helping Jack.
We owe him a lot and he is our friend.
He asked for our help and we will give it to him.” She stated firmly,
her chin up in determination.

Nell looked at her and stood up brushing the back of her
britches off. Elizabeth
had made it perfectly clear andl col couldn’t blame her.

“You’ve made yourself clear.
Safe travel to Port
Royal, Mrs Turner.” She said and
smiled weakly at her before heading back to the boats where the men were
loading what they had managed to find on the island.

She attached herself to Gibbs until he swondernder his
breath and gave her the task of loading fruit into the boat and layering it
with palm leaves just to get her out of his hair.

Neither Elizabeth nor Lady Clarence tried to speak to her
again before they headed out to the Ardent on the small rowing boat with Will,
along with the crew member that had brought them across.

Nell had tried to keep her back to them but she had been
unable. She stopped loading apples to
watch as they boarded the Ardent. Nell
felt loneliness settle in her that she had never experienced before, not even
when she had been in isolation for committing one sin or another. A loneliness and a
sense of loss filled her so much that she wanted to run after them and holler
at them to take her with them. To beg
them not to leave her here with nothing certain except
the fear in her heart.

She even stood up, her fists clenched at her side as she
watched the anchor being lifted and the sweeps coming out of the holes to help
steer them back down stream to the bay and out onto the ocean.

She heard a whispering behind her and she turned to see
several of the crew watching her and it suddenly occurred to her that they were
questioning why she hadn’t gone with them.
A few avoided her eyes, but some of the others gave her candid looks and
she realised with a rush that they thought she was staying on at the Captains
pleasure.

Colour flooded her cheeks and she jumped out of the boat
heading for the cover of the trees as humiliation, panic and desolation washed
over her.

She walked quickly into theths ths of the trees and let the
tears fall. She hadn’t really cried
since the whole thing had started and now, once they started they didn’t want
to stop.

She fell to her knees and great racking sobs shook her body
as she curled in on herself.

Thoughts swirled around her mind as sobbed loudly. She felt so alone, so helpless and completely
out of control.

“Well, well, what have we here?” came
a leering voice.

She looked up quickly and felt fear shudder through her when
she saw Daniels coming towards her slowly.

She looked around her but she couldn’t see through the trees
and she wasn’t sure which way would lead back to the camp. She scrubbed at her face, wiping the tears
from her eyes so she could see him better.

“Don’t come near me or I’ll scream.” She said and jumped to
her feet.

“And that should worry me?” he laughed “Tis
been my experience that when they struggle, it makes it all the more fun when
they submit.” He came to stop just in front of her. “Besides, you scream and there’ll only be
more ‘ere waitin’ to collect what’s theirs.”

“I am not yours!” she said and began to back away, fear
escalating inside her.

“Why not?” he growled “Capt’n
had yer.
‘e kept yer on for
this purpose I fink.” He sneered at her “Why else would ‘e keep yer but to entertain us?” he moved fast and caught her
round the neck, his fingers digging painfully into the soft skin of her throat.

She screamed and her hands clawed at his trying to loosen
the punishing grip. He squeezed tighter
and her cries were cut off.

“Of course I’d have preferred the toff. Now she was a beaut. Ripe for the picking, but you’ll do!” he
sneered at her.

She tried to kick out at him but he kept her just out of
reach. He laughed at her and stepped
forward. She kicked out at him but the
spots dancing before her eyes were making co-ordination hard. She was choking as her lungs were denied the
air she needed to live.

“Did they teach ya ‘ow to please a man in that convent of yours? Or shall I teach ya
now?” He leered and stepped forward lifting her onto her toes and taking her
backwards till her back slammed into a tree.
He kept her pinned there with just her toes on the floor as she fought
to prise his hands from her neck.

He brought his free hand up and ripped her shirt open
exposing her breasts, he covered one with his hand and squeezed hard.

Nell tried hard to fight him off, kicking him as hard as she
could but it just seemed to make him laugh at her. He was strong, far stronger than she was and
he was obviously intent on having her.

His hand slid down over her stomach, his fingers splayed
wide. Her eyes squeezed shut against the
pain that was exploding behind them. Her
lungs felt as if they were on fire. She
could feel the darkness creeping up on her.

Suddenly his hands left her throat and she slumped to the
floor, her lungs automatically taking in air.
Fresh air that went straight to her head and
made her pass out for a few seconds.

She forced her eyes open too see Daniels a few feet away on
his knees with a pistol being held to his forehead. She looked up and saw Hock holding the pistol
his stance firm and angry. His face
contorted in pure fury.

“What on hell did you think you were doing?” Hock demanded.

Nell felt hands on her shoulders and she struggled to get
away.

“Tis alright now
missy, tis just me Jimmy.” Nell sank back
still gasping for air that burned her.
Her throat felt like it was swollen to twice its size and her eyes felt
as if they’d exploded in their sockets.

She looked at Jimmy out of bloodshot eyes and began sobbing
once more.

“Tis alright miss, I saw ‘im follow ya and I went for me
pa. Tis
alright now missy.” He spoke softly his hand patting her awkwardly. He looked up at where his father was tying
Daniels hands behind his back, Hock still holding thetol tol to his forehead.

Daniels was blabbering now and pleading with Hock.

“I didn’t mean no ‘arm.
She asked for it, she liked it.” He wailed and Nell wrenched away from
Jimmy to throw up the little contents her stomach held.

“Where’s the Capt’n?” Soames asked
Hock as he crossed to where Nell was huddled on the floor in misery.

“Already aboard the Pearl.”
Hock replied his hand didn’t wave at all as he dug the pistol into the forehead
of Daniels. He growled and pulled the trigger back on the pistol.

Daniels began to sob like a baby and plead for his life.

“You’re begging now aign’t ya?” Jimmy stood up and crossed to stand beside Hock
glaring at the man on his knees.

“Get to the ship boy! Inform Capt’n
what’s ‘appened.” Soames called at Jimmy, who ran off
immediately. He crossed to kneel beside
Nell and took her chin in his hand carefully.” He looked over her face, taking
in the broken blood vessels in her eyes and the dark bruises ringing her
throat. He shook his head at her.

“Twas a close one miss.” He stated and stood. In one quick movement he had hoisted her to
her feet pulling the front of her shirt together and then he lifted her right
up into his burly arms like a baby.

“I’ll take ye back to the ship miss.” Soames was careful to
keep her back to Daniels who was still sobbing loudly. “Don’t kill him till Capt’n says so.” He reminded Hock who just growled in
response.

The shock was starting to wear off Nell and pain was
settling in around her throat. Her lungs
felt as if she’d breathed fire in and every breath was painful. She opened her mouth to thank Soames and all
that came out was an intelligible croak.

He looked down at her and what could be considered a smile
crossed his face.

“Don’t think you’ll be speaking much for a day or two.” He
winked and making sure she was tucked in close to him he started off back
through the trees.

Nell rested her head against his chest; the sound of his
heartbeat under her ear was soothing as her arms went round his neck to help
him with her weight.

“Won’t be long now miss.” Soames
said as he emerged from the trees and onto the river bank.

Word must have spread because Gibbs and several of the other
sailors that remained on the bank had emptied a boat ready for Soames to take
her across in.

Nell kept her head tucked under his chin, unwilling to look
at anyone. Frightened by what she might
see in their faces.

Soames waded into the river and set her down gently in the
boat. Nell curled into herself her
fingers clutching the edges of her torn shirt together. She kept her eyes on the bottom of the boat
as Soames began to row across.

“Ye didn’t ask for it.” He said when they were almost at the
ship “And apart from him there aign’t a one on bo who who’d wish ye ‘arm. And the Capt’n will sort Daniels out, ‘e won’t be comin’ back aboard the Pearl
anytime soon.” Soames didn’t look back at her but Nell heard every word and was
grateful for his kindness.

She tried to thank him again and failed hopelessly.

He chuckled at her croaks and caught the rope that was
thrown overboard.

Nell stood up and crossed to climb up the rope but Soames
stopped her as another rope was thrown over and Soames tied them both to the
boat. After a few minutes the boat was
hauled up the side of the ship and into place.

Jimmy stepped forward instantly and held out his hand to
Nwho who took it and climbed out. She
turned and came face to face with Jack.

He stood with his eyes narrowed as he took in the bruises
around her neck, her bloodshot eyes and her hand clutching the edges of her
shirt together.

He stepped back and looked at Soames.

“Take to mto my cabin and get some rum and water down her.”
He instructed, the usual slur missing from his voice but the hand gestures
still there. “Don’t leave her alone.”

He looked back at Nell and inclined his head to one side.

“Only Daniels?” he asked her and she
nodded, fatigue washing over her. It was
still hard to breath and her eyes were sore and gritty feeling.

Jack nodded and strode to the boat motioning to the men
behind him to lower it back down. He
climbed the railings and clambered down out of sight.

Soamesned ned to Nell who was beginning to sway on her
feet. He chuckled and scooped her back
up into his arms and carried her to Jack’s cabin.

The moment Nell’s head hit the pillow she knew no more, not
even when Soames managed to sit her up and coax some rum and water down her
throat.

 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

 

Nell woke with a start, she had heard screaming in her sleep
and she knew it wasn’t her. Or was it
her? She’d been dreaming about someone
attacking her, trying to rip at her, choking her…

She looked around her with wide eyes as she remembered what
had happened.

She saw Jack sat at the desk leaning on his elbows resting
his head in his hands as he looked over a map.
The usual four bottles of rum kept it in place while a fifth stood to
one side.

She couldn’t face him yet, didn’t want to know how angry he
was with her. She didn’t want to know
what he would say or indeed what any of the crew would say now. She just wanted to curl up and never move or
speak again.

Now she was awake she was aware of the soreness of her
throat, but at least her eyes didn’t feel as sore as they had… she wondered
then how long she had slept. She closed
her eyes and let the rhythm on the ship wash over her. They were back at sea, the gentle rocking of
being at anchor had changed to the rise and fall of open sea.

The fact that it was light in the cabin told her nothing as
it had been only early morning when he’d… she squeezed her eyes shut against
the images of Daniel as he had attacked her.
Her eyes flew wide open to reassure herself that she was in Jack’s cabin
and not back on the island with Daniels.

She looked back across at Jack and was disconcerted to see
he was staring straight at her even though he hadn’t moved.

Seeing that he knew she was awake there was nothing for her
to do but sit up, pulling the cover up with her.

He stood up suddenly and she flinched backwards but he
didn’t speak as he crossed to the chest of drawers and drew out another
shirt. He came across and held it out
for her.

“Rate you’re going I’ll need to double the size of my
wardrobe.” He said and she was relieved to hear the slightly mocking tones back
in his voice. Maybe he wasn’t that angry
with her.

She took the shirt with a grateful smile and waited for him
to go back to the table before she shrugged out of the torn one and into the
new one. She was just lacing it up as he
sat down and looked back at her.

She stood up and crossed to the mirror on the cabinet and
looked at herself. She winced as she
took in the now black bruises around her neck and the slight bloodshot
appearance to her eyes.

“How long was I asleep?” she asked and was dismayed to hear
how croaky her voice was.

“About two hours.” He said holding up one hand in a semi
gesture.

“And…” she ground to a halt and bit her l
H
He arched an eyebrow at her and she crossed to sit on the
cushioned seats under the window.

“And?” he circled his wrists to get her to talk “You’ll have
to add more than that luv, brilliant though I am; mind reading is a touch too
improbable even for me.”

She snorted and regretted it when it hurt her throat. She wrapped one hand gently around her throat
and decided getting to the point was the only way.

“Where is he?” she croaked at him.

He reached for his rum and took a healthy swig before
standing up to cross back to the cabinet where he took out a tankard.

“He’s not on the Pearl
if that’s what’s worrying you.” He said and poured a small amount of rum into
it. He then picked up a pitcher that was
there and she saw water added to the rum.
He walked back to her and held out the tankard to her. She took it with a croaked thank you.

“You left him behind?” she asked and even though she was
still very husky he could hear the surprise in her voice.

“Aye.” He said “I’ll spare you the details but he won’t live
long.” He stuck one leg out to the side and braced his hands on his hips as he
stared down at her.

She sipped the drink and although it tasted vile she had to
admit the feeling of liquid sliding down her throat felt like bliss.

She looked back up at him straight into his dark eyes.

“I want you to let me go at the next Port you stop at.” She
tried to speak firmly but only ended up croaking pathetically.

“Well you see now there we have a problem.” He lifted his
hands to start hiayinaying gestures “We aren’t actually going to be stopping at
a Port and to be certain I can not agree to your request anyway.”

“What do you mean?” she croaked and sipped at the rum and
water again trying to soothe the pain in her throat.

“You shouldn’t actually be talking so just sit there quietly
and listen.” One hand came to rest on his hip briefly before joining its mate
in a weird dance. “I’ve been studying
that map and I now know where about the treasure lies. Roughly.” He shrugged as if that didn’t
really matter anyway “Our course has already been plotted and can not be
changed even if I were to agree to dropping you off which I’m not for reasons
we have previously discussed at length, and therefore need no further explanation.”
He drew a deep breath and continued “So really there is nothing to be done save
for you to keep to your earlier accord with me and go with the flow so to
speak.”

“Including attempted rape by your crew?” she croaked
sarcastically and winced as the words grated her bruised throat.

Jack had the grace to look slightly uncomfortable for a few
seconds before once again he returned to his usual foppish self.

“Well yes I have to admit to being a little short sighted
where Daniels was concerned. Hock said I
should have left him in Tortuga last time we passed
through and I wished we had now…” he stepped forward suddenly and gently took
her chin in his hand. He squatted down
till he on on her level and cast a critical eye over her bruised throat. “You
have much to learn of life Nell and I really don’t think a Pirate ship is the
best way to learn it, but under the circumstances there isn’t much choice is
there?” he spoke softly the slur gone from his voice leaving just a hint of a
London accent.

“What?” she frowned down at him, studying the growth of
black hair that grew along his jaw line and up over his top lip.

“What Daniels tried will not be repeated by anyone else
aboard this ship.” He said gravely “Every man under my command knows what fate
awaits them if they try anything like that with anyone, least of all you.”

Nell shifted uncomfortably and frowned at him. He stood up and began pacing with his hand
outstretched.

“They are made to agree to my code before sailing aboard the
Pearl, every man knows what’s
expected of him and what’ll happen to him if he breaks the rules.”

She nodded at him, unsure how she really felt about it.

“I felt…” she stopped and swallowed painfully “I couldn’t
stop him.”

He sighed and his hand came up to wave in the air.

“I’m sorry you had to experience that.” He looked at her
sideways and then continued pacing “But fact remains that you’re a woman, and
therefore a target to men like Daniels.
That’s the reason I won’t set you down in Tortuga.”

Nell nodded at his words bitterness creeping into her
slightly.

“Makes no difference to this crew.” She husked and winced at
the soreness.

“I beg your pardon?” he looked at her in confusion. “Did you
not understand what I just said?”

“They all think you….” She waved her hand about hoping he wouldn’t
ask for more detail.

Jack laughed suddenly and then became serious again.

“Yes well I was coming to that. Crew did think I’d kept you on for certain…”
he looked up for a second or two and then carried on “Pastimes, but that’s all
cleared up now. They knhy yhy you’re
here now.”

Nell looked up in shock and stood up quickly.

“They know about the map?” she managed and he nodded
grinning at her.

“They do now. If I’m
expecting them to sail half way round the Leeward Islands
they have a right to know why, or at least some of them do.” He swaggered to
the door and indicated her to follow him.

She followed him out of the room and onto the deck. She looked around her at the different crew
and she was pleased to see that at least the lurid looks she had been getting
was gone, and in some places it had been replaced with looks of concern.

Jack swaggered up to the Quarterdeck and Nell followed him
as a matter of course.

“SHIP AHOY! SHIP
AHOY!”

Nell jumped and looked up at where Jimmy was all but hanging
out of the crow’s nest clasping a spyglass in his hand. He spotted the Capt’n
and hollered down to him.
“Capt’n
sir! Tis
the Ardent and another ship and they be firing on one
another. Starboard Bow!” he yelled down.

Jack wasted no time in climbing up the rigging to perch on
the top mast, his spyglass to his eye.
He looked out over and in minutes had used a rope to swing back down.

Nell couldn’t help but admire the way he swung through the
air with ease.

“Mister Gibbs take us about.” He turned and called down to
where Hock was waiting for orders.

“Bring out the sweeps Mister Hock and ready the
cannons. Get us there with all speed.”
He turned to Nell and gripped her arm just as the ship responded to Gibbs
spinning the wheel and once again Nell was unbalanced as the Pearl
swung around in a wide sweep

“Whose firing on her?” asked Nell as Jack hoisted her to the
railings. She
gripped hold and he left her go to retrieve his spyglass from his pocket. He brought it to his eye.

“Your good guardian.” He said watching intently.

Nell squinted out over the water and could see the two
ships. They seemed quite far from each
other but then she saw the huge plume of water as a cannon landed in the water
near the Ardent’s prow. The Ardent returned fire, but another cannon took out her main mast and Nell saw the mast
fall half onto its own ship and half into the water.

“They’ll not make it!” Gibbs called from behind them and
Nell heard the concern in his voice.

“As long as they take to a boat and don’t worry about trying
to save the ship….” Jack began muttering as he peered through the glass “C’mon
Will my boy, don’t do anything stupid.
Get your lass into a boat, leave her ladyship if you have to, but get
yourselves away. Old Jack’ll
pick you up… c’mon Will where are you?”

Nell could see now that Jack was scouring the area for signs
of his friends.

The Merchant ship fired another volley and the masts were
destroyed completely.

Nell stood up on the railings to see better and used her
hands to shield her eyes ast tst the sun.
She couldn’t believe the sight in front of her. The Merchant ship was practically untouched,
a few holes in its sails, but nothing to worry about, but the Ardent: The Ardent
was on fire and sinking low in the prow.
Nell could see she was going down and she could see sailors jumping from
the ship. Horror filled her as she
watched.

Jack suddenly stood back from the railings and thrust his
spyglass at her.

“Look for Will and Liz, keep looking till you see them.” he
ordered and when she took the spyglass he jumped from the quarterdeck to the
main deck in one leap.

“Run up the Red!” he shouted and Nell felt a shiver go down
her spine. The red flag was the piracy
flag for battle with no mercy. Jack was
going in with the intention of sending the merchant ship and everyone on her to
the bottom of the sea. And he wanted
them to know it.

Raising the spyglass to her eyes she braced her legs against
the railings and scanned the area for signs of Will and Elizabeth.

They were still too far for her to see details, but she
could see the sailors jum fro from the Ardent into the sea. She was sinking fast now and Nell knew that
anyone close would be sucked down with her.

She began praying under her breath subconsciously, the words
leaving her lips over and over in a repetitive chant, as she watched in horror
at the sight of burning men jumping into the sea.

“Hail Mary, full of
grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed
art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Holy Mary, mother
of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Hail Mary, full of grace,…”.

Nell was unaware of the tears pouring down her face, as she
watched the unfolding scene of carnage, all the while trying to find the people
who meant the most to Jack,

“MISS!” Nell turned and saw Gibbs
motioning her to get down from the railings.

“When we fire you’ll go over!” he shouted and she jumped
down to stand on the deck leaning against the railings instead. She wanted to look at the merchant ship but
knew she had to keep searching the sea around the Ardent for survivors, most of
all, Will and Elizabeth. Her thoughts went to Lady Clarence and once
again she began praying. No one desired
to die in this manner… well almost no one and certainly not Lady Clarence.

A boom from the sides of the ship had Nell jumping in
fright. At first she thought the
merchant ship was firing on them, but it was the Pearl
firing. She heard a shout from behind
her that told her the canon had missed, but she daren’t take her eyes from the
waters.

“She’s Turning!” Jimmy shouted from
the Crow’s nest “Going hard to Port.
She’s retreating.”

Nell waited to hear what Jack’s orders would be and wasn’t
surprised to hear him order to drop anchor as soon as they were close
enough. He came up onto the Quarterdeck
and took the spyglass from her.

Nell immediately looked at the Merchant ship and was
surprised to see her retreating, with her sweeps out.

“Why is she running?” she asked.

“She’s no match for the Pearl
and he knows it, the Ardent got a shot in and she’s low in the scubbers.” He said shortly and lowered the spyglass to look
back down on the main deck.

“Get the boats ready to search for survivors. Bring anyone on board who still breaths.” He
shouted and once more began to search the area.

The Pearl
finally got close enough to drop anchor and Jack left to climb down into one of
the boats.

Nell leaned over watching with clammy hands and a cold
heart. Surely no one survived this
massacre.

She watched as three boats set out, rowing towards the
sinking Ardent.

“Will they get pulled under?” she husked to Gibbs who came
to stand beside her.

“No Miss, Capt’n knows what ‘e’s up to.” He said. Nell blinked at the mess of burning wood and
salvage that littered the sea bobbing this way and that.

“Oh Mary Mother of God!” she cried out but it was little
more than a hoarse croak, but Gibbs had spotted what she saw as well and his
lips clamped together.

Sleek sharp fins cut through the water around the wreckage,
searching for easy prey and finding it amongst the broken pieces of timber and
burning sails.

“Things’ll only get worse and if
you can’t ‘andle it, go below. No one will blame ye.” He said gruffly but
Nell lifted her chin and shook her head, the bruising around her throat
forgotten in the horror she was witnessing.

“What can I do?” she asked huskily.

“Prayin’ won’t hurt none.” He
intoned “And you can get down onto the main deck, Mister Hock will let ya know.”

Nell didn’t think twice she headed down the steps and towards
where Hock was ordering the crew that had stayed on board to clear the deck for
space.

She went to him and waited till he looked at her.

“Get a couple of spare sheets and then get fresh water.” He
barked and immediately turned back to the crew.

Nell rushed off just glad to be doing something. A wave of adrenalin seemed to have flooded
everyone on board and once again she was struck with how well they worked as a
team, as a single unit.

By the time she had returned with the sheets and a bucket of
fresh water they were starting to bring on ones they had managed to find but it
was only a few and Nell became aware that the death toll would be high.

Timms came striding across to her
and flicked open his knife.

“We need the sheets in strips.” He grunted “Not many coming
aboard but ones that are, are ‘urt bad.”

Nell took the knife from him and set to tearing the sheets
into long strips. When she had done that
she got up and went to the closest man who was lying on the deck.

She knelt beside him, her eyes on the gaping wound in his
side. He was staring up at her, his eyes
open and slightly glassy looking.

She smoothed her hand over his brow and tried to smile at
him, his skin felt hot to touch despite he’d being in the sea. Her stomach turned at the amount of blood and
torn flesh showing through the rip in his stomach.

“Ma?” his voice cracked as he stared at her and Neelt elt
tears spring to her eyes.

“It’s going to be alright.” She husked and taking a strip of
sheet tried to stem the of of blood.

Timms came back across to her and
knelt briefly by her to lift her hand from the wound. A fresh pool of blood appeared and he pressed
her hand back down gently.

“Just stay there.” Timms said
softly to Nell.

Nell looked up at him and he caught her eyes and shook his
head, his expression telling her that he wouldn’t make it.

Nell looked back down at him, her eyes huge with unshed
tears as she smoothed his forehead again.
He was going to die anere ere was nothing she could do about it. Nothing at all, and it made her feel useless,
totally useless.

“Ma?” he spoke again
and she bent over him, his voice had dropped to a whisper. His hand came up and gripped her hand on his
head “I feel cold Ma.”

“Shh.” She gripped his hand tightly,
pleased to feel his hold tighten on hers.
Maybe Timms was wrong maybe he would
live. “I’m here.” She didn’t know what
to say to him, didn’t know what would help him.

The lad let go of her hand and touched the side of her face
before his hand fell limply to his chest.

Nell stared at him in horror as she realised he had
died. His eyes were still open but the
life had drained from them. Tears
blurred her vision as she stared down at his lifeless body.

“He’s gone.” Timms muttered and
reaching out closed his eyes with his hand and then placed one of the torn
strips over his head “Taign’t nothing ya can do now lass.” He stood and taking her arm hauled her
to her feet.

A pistol shot brought Nell’s head up sharply and she
realised it was from the boats still searching for survivors. She pulled from Timms
grip and rushed to the side, fears that the merchant ship had returned filled
her.

She heard another pistol shot and saw one of the crew
shooting into the waters, at first she thought it was the sharks he was
shooting at but then she saw it was a man. And sick realisation dawned on her
when she heard another pistol shot ring out.
Sharks had already gotten to some of the men and the sailors were
shooting the ones that the sharks had a grip on.

“Why?” she whispered unable to comprehend what she’d just
seen. “Can’t they drag them out?” she spoke to where Timms
had followed her.

“Nought worth saving once those things get ‘old of ya.” Timms said “It be kinder
that way, ‘is sufferin’ is over. Best get yourself
below deck Miss.” He said.

She looked at him, his face was tired of of his usual
cheerfulness could be seen in the lines around his face. His eyes were shaded with pain and acceptance
for what he saw around him.

“No. I want to help.”
She croaked “I can help.” She had to,
she couldn’t sit below deck and pretend this wasn’t happening, no matter how
much she would rather do that, she knew she couldn’t.

He looked at her and nodded his head once and indicated
where a lad was leaning against the side of the ship.

“He’s not too bad, needs cleaning up tis
all and pour a good amount o’ rum over ‘is wounds.”

Nell nodded and accepted the flask he handed her. She took some sheets and dipped them into the
water before crossing to kneel beside him.

He looked at her and tried to smile but the pain was evident
in his face.

“I’m Nell.” She said croaking and hesitantly moved to lift
the shirt away from his chest where he had been caught by some wood. She could still see some splinters protruding
from the wound.

Gritting her teeth and keeping her mind on the man in front
of her, she blocked out all the other sounds and began to clean him up and
remove the splinters. She finished and
moved wordlessly to Timms who looked at her blood
splattered hands and shirt and indicated her to stay with him.

She helped as many as she could with him, by either just
holding their hands and speaking huskily while he cleaned and dressed wounds or
by handing him the things he wanted when he stitched some up. It wasn’t till the last man had been dealt
with that she suddenly thought about Jack and the others.

She looked at Timms and caught his
arm.

“Did Jack find the others?” she croaked, her voice was
nearly gone with the effort of using it.

He nodded and wiped his bloody hands on a cloth.

He jerked his head to one side and then handed a flask of
rum to her.

Nell looked and with relief saw Jack and Elizabeth
stood over Will who was awake but from bleeding from a gash on his head. But he was talking and Elizabeth
looked concerned and very angry at the same time.

Nell took a sip of Timms rum
thinking she had nothing to loose now and swallowed quickly before it could
burn her mouth this time. She let out
her breath in a rush as the fire spread down her throat and into her stomach
but it helped. She had to admit that it
did help; it certainly helped quench the cold that had crept into her. And it seemed to stop the shakes that were
threatening to take over her body.

“Her Ladyship made it an all.” He laughed and pointed toward
where Lady Clarence was sat on a crate, clearly in shock. Nell pressed the rum back at him quickly and
hurried forward to kneel in front of her.

“Lady Clarence?” Nell placed a hand on her knee and peered
up into her face.

Dazed eyes looked at her and she shuddered at the shock
reflected in them.

“They fired on us.
They were running a white flag and they just opened fire on us.” she
shook her head, shock making her numb.

“Lady Clarence, are you hurt anywhere?” she asked.

She shook her head slowly in a trance.

“Mr Turner made us take to the boats after the first cannon
was fired.” She stated and shook her head again.

Nell opened her mouth to speak but a crate falling somewhere
behind her made her jump in fright. Lady
Clarence looked up, the blankness replaced by a sudden spark of fear.

“They’re here?
They’re firing on us here!” she sat up and looked around her, her eyes
wide with fear and Nell saw the hysteria right as it took her. She began to scream, her hands covering her
ears as she screamed.

Nell stood up and tried to ‘ssh’
her, but it wasn’t working as the woman became more and more hysterical.

Nell was suddenly caught round the waist and bodily moved to
one side and then she saw Hock as he brought his hand out and slapped Lady
Clarence once on her cheek.

The screaming died instantly and she stood gaping at him
before she burst into tears and threw herself at him.

He caught her and stepped backwards in shock, his arms going
round her in instinct.

She clung to him as she cried nosily into his shoulder.

Nell backed away, turning from them. She looked around her, everyone who could be
saved had been tended to, but there were still far too many men lying with the
telltale cloth over their heads.

She pressed her hand into her chest and looked down at
herself; suddenly realising she was covered in blood. A pain in her chseemseemed to settle and
lodge itself just under her breastbone and she didn’t think it would ever leave
her. She took deep breaths as she tried
to make her way to the hatch that would lead her below deck.

Everything seemed to slow down as the adrenalin left her,
the noise of the crew and the men still alive blurred together and her world
naed ted to the pain in her chest.

She needed to sit down somewhere, just rest for a minute and
wait for the world to stop spinning.

She struggled back the way she’d come until she found a
corner of deck that was free of men or bodies.
She slid down the railings, the crates that had been piled to one side
blocking her from the rest of the deck.

She hugged her arms around her knees and rested her head
into her arms. She was so tired, a sort
of tiredness she didn’t think she’d ever experienced before. The pain in her chest grew until it seemed to
choke her. She kept seeing the first
man’s eyes as the life slipped from him.
She had never witnessed death before, not first hand. She knew of nuns that had passed away of
course, but she had never seen someone actually cease to exist. She closed her eyes trying to will away the
sight of his lifeless eyes, but instead her mind was bombarded with images of
the men lying on the deck with their faces covered; never to see the sea again
or feel the breeze on their faces. She
couldn’t sit still, despite the fatigue washing over her; desolation filled her
threatening her sanity. She needed to be
moving again, doing something. If she
could do something she could stop herself from thinking.

She stumbled to her feet and headed below deck. She would wash the blood from her hands and
clothes. If she could rid herself of the
blood maybe the images in her mind would go too.

With a set determination born of desperation she headed
straight to Jack’s and took out his last clean shirt. She headed blindly towards the deck and
struggled towards the crates again, stopping to pick up a bucket.

She dropped the shirt on the deck and lowered the bucket,
bringing it back up filled with sea water.
Dropping to her knees she washed off the blood from her hands and face
and then stripped off her shirt and shrugged into the clean one. She looked down at the bloody shirt. She had to get it clean. She stuffed it into the bucket and began to
scrub it ther her in the cold sea water, but no matter how hard she scrubbed
the stain wouldn’t move, leaving the shirt a splattered pink colour. She kept trying, harder, rubbing with a
feverish intensity; everything depended on her getting out the blood from his
shirt.

A hand on her shoulder went un-noticed as she rubbed the
shirt.

“Nell.” Someone crouched down beside her and she finally
looked up to see Jack watching her closely.
His black eyes narrowed slightly.

“It won’t come out.” She husked by way of explanation and
looked down at the shirt helplessly. She
was getting nowhere and the pain in her chest was about to explode.

“I can’t… I can’t…” she lifted the shirt helplessly and
screwed her face up at him.

He reached out, took the shirt and without looking threw it
overboard.

“No point in trying luv.” He pointed out reasonably
squinting at her.

“But I can’t…” she looked at him and stared at his face as
if it was the last thing keeping her sane. “I don’t…” she shook her head and
pressed her hand to her chest still kneeling on the deck. “He just died.” She
whispered and dragged her eyes to her hands, still slightly red from the blood
staining them.

Jack brought his fingers to his braid and kept silent.

“Why did they do that?” she asked him and the pain exploded
into anger, hot, thick and choking her alive.
She shot to her feet, her fists clenched at her sides as she stared down
at Jack. He got to his feet in one
movement still keeping quiet.

“I hate you.” She said suddenly, her eyes meeting his. Her voice was croaky still but filled with
venom. “I really, really hate you!”

He stood there, slightly wide-eyed, hands lifted in a half
gesture, fingers at odd angles.

“You did this!” without even realising what she was going to
do it she launched herself at He Her fists coming up to smack at his chest, kicking at him and
crying out in fury. He didn’t try
to stop her and he didn’t hit her back; he just blocked any blows that came too
close to his face and stopped her from clawing at him. He let her pound her fury out on him, until
her blows got weaker and tears poured down her face. His arms came around her and he held her to
him tightly holding her up when her strength fled along with the anger.

She sobbed into his neck, her arms going around his neck as
she clung to him.

He held her, and rocked fsideside to side, his hands still
on her back.

“I hate you.” She sobbed into his neck and his arms
tightened around her waist in silent reply.

 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

 

A/N: Okay, okay where
to start…

 

Hum… first thing: was
this chapter too overdone? Or not good at all.
I’m a bit wary of this, because my fingers imagimagination runs away
with me and before I know it I’m thirty pages of waffle!

 

I don’t know if the prayer is actually a real one… I had to
do some searching to find this and it seemed to fit nicely. It came from a book I read called “The secret
life of Bees.” Which was excellent and I can’t remember the author to save my
life!

 

Let me know what you think… I’m just the same as most
authors and have a very fragile self-confidence.

 
nk ynk yous to:

 

Everyone who reads this and makes this far
and still wants to come back for more.
Regardless of whether you review or not… although
reviews are gratefully received. ;-)

 

Pirate: Thank you!!
I hope that you liked these two chapters as well.

 

Robyn Maddison:
Aha! Waterworld!
I’d forgotten all about that one. I had
a good long chat with my mum and we both think that the film was called the
Black Swan and we think it was either a Douglas Fairbanks jr? sr?
or a Kirk Douglas movie…. But if I never find out I’ll
be using your tip and say Waterworld!! I hope you continue to like this.

 

Hellyn: Thank you!
I’ve seen the soundtrack for sale, but I’m in two minds whether to get
it. I probably will though…. Good news
on a region 1 release date being 02/12/03. Not too long to wait for the DVD. Thank goodness for hacks that muti-region players!
Hope you continue to enjoy this.

 

Elita: Thank you!!! It’s taken me awhile to
get the action going but hopefully you’ll like this. I just hope you continue to like this.

 

Julianna: Thank you! I hope you continue to enjoy it.

 

Cami:
Thank you! You made me smile!

 

Whitecrow:
Thank you! I hope you continue to
like this.

 

MiscellaneousSparrowGroupie: Great name and email! Thanks for your review,
you made me very, very happy. I just
hope you continue to enjoy it.

I did a bit of research and found pirates absolutely
fascinating but very scary! Disney
really does hide the black spots.

 

If I’ve left anyone out, I’m sorry!

 

Take care of yourselves and have a great day wherever you
are!