Adrift

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Just because you've been kind enough to take such an interest in my story, Faeritales...here is Chapter 9 for your perusal. Thank you for taking the time to review! It means so much!

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Growing up, Beth had lived a very conservative life. Oh, she’d certainly orchestrated enough petty rebellions through her teens to contribute to her late father’s prematurely grey hair, but for the most part she had remained on the straight and narrow. She’d received a respectable education, had married and divorced a perfectly respectable man and ran a respectable business. With one or two sad exceptions, her life had remained safe, stable and well-ordered. She’d likely have been perfectly content to continue on that path had she not met Hector Barbossa.

There was nothing even vaguely respectable about hurtling northeast on the Overseas Highway, decked out in black leather as she wove through traffic on the back of a rumbling Harley Davidson and contemplated acts of a shockingly lascivious nature with the leader of an outlaw biker club…her outlaw biker club, she amended. It should concern her, Beth thought, that she was placing her reputation in jeopardy, but there wasn’t anything that mattered to her less at the moment.

Never had Elizabeth Swann – studious, accepting and yes, if she dared to admit it, prissy – felt more powerful, more exhilarated, more herself than she did now. It was as if by straddling the bike and trusting her life to fate, she had released a piece of her soul. Her spirit was giddy with the newfound freedom.

She finally understood that this was the gift that Hector had really wanted to give her when he spirited her away from the lab. It wasn’t about a ride on a motorcycle. It was about making her feel deeply, drawing her out of herself and giving her permission to be who she was meant to be. More and more, it seemed as if he knew her in ways that she barely knew herself.

Hector interrupted her thoughts when he revved up again, accelerating past another group of cars and sending a sudden buzz of cold adrenaline through her veins. He laughed with pure abandon and Beth’s heart leapt in her chest as she grasped his hips more firmly, tightening her legs around his to keep steady.

When she was certain that they were on a straight-away and there were no vehicles or corners ahead to worry about, Beth closed her eyes and lifted her face to the wind, smiling against the softly buffeting assault of the night air. It felt like flight, or as close to it as she thought she’d ever get. If she didn’t know that it would be inherently dangerous, she’d have spread her arms like wings and let the air rush over her bare skin.

The fragrant scent of the ocean blew around her and she let it fill her lungs. Hector slowed again and she opened her eyes to see that they’d come up on another group of cars. When she lowered her face, Hector’s hair flickered over her cheeks and tickled her neck. Smiling, she smoothed the wisps away, letting her fingers linger for a moment as the full softness of his locks flowed around her hand. He reached down and ran his long fingers across her thigh, sending a swell of arousal through her with his brief touch. Never had she felt so intensely – her every nerve was close to the surface, ready for the next overwhelming sensation.

Hector flicked on his signal when they came to a sign for the exit to Bahia Honda Beach and they glided around the off ramp down towards the Gulf side of the island. The palm fronds swayed above and backlit by the moonlight, they threw harsh shadows across the road in front of the bike. Hector slowed as he approached the nearly-deserted parking lot and Beth steadied herself against the foot pegs so she wouldn’t slide into him as he stopped.

Although there were a few stragglers, most of the tourist crowd had cleared out to hotels and campsites. When he finally cut the ignition, the quiet was almost startling in its intensity. Only the break of waves against the nearby shore broke the silence.

“How’d ye fare, ‘Lizabeth?” Hector asked, twisting around in his seat with a devilish grin. “Did the ride satisfy?”

Still swept up in a tide of elation, Beth captured his face between her hands and leaned over to kiss him deeply before just as suddenly releasing him. She laughed at the surprise on his face – it was so good to give into impulse. “I’ve never felt anything like that before! I feel…it was terrifying and thrilling and…” She struggled to put the experience into words, but he smiled and nodded his understanding.

“No need to explain. There be only two other things as can lift me heart in the same way. One is bein’ at the helm of a ship, fightin’ whate’er the sea dares throw me way. The other…,” he continued, his eyes glinting and his grin growing even more sinful, “Well, perhaps ye’ll become privy to that after we’ve done with our ride. Fer now, though, get off me bike.”

She grunted and placed her hands on his shoulders, leaning against him as she swung one leg over her seat and onto the concrete. “You, Hector Barbossa, are a tease.”

He chuckled knowingly as he put down the kickstand and dismounted as well. “Mistaken, I was, to say ‘perhaps’. Didn’t intend to mislead ye.” He took her hand and pulled her along as he turned towards the beach. She gave only token resistance before following.

The sky was absolutely clear and the silhouette of the old rail bridge loomed darkly in the distance. At Beth’s insistence, they stopped at a picnic table and abandoned their heavy boots in favour of walking barefoot along the sandy strip.

They strolled along in silence and Beth chose the side with the surf. The warm waves conspired to tickle her toes, retreating as she kicked at the foam-tipped water only to return and erase her footprints behind her. She smiled and bit her lip, relishing the way Hector’s fingers so naturally slipped in between hers.

The wind ruffled her hair and she stared out to sea, watching as the lights of distant ships melded with the diamond-studded sky and sailboats bobbed on the water, their lanterns looking like strands of precious jewels. How she would have loved to have lived in the era of the tall ships…to watch as well-armed frigates sailed off to do battle and merchant galleys brought spices and fine silks into harbour.

Beth knew enough to understand that she was romanticizing the time – life had been difficult and very uncertain for all but a privileged few – but it was a world that had held so much possibility, so much adventure. The closest she could come now was to retrieve objects from that distant past and wonder at their histories.

She glanced over at Hector and saw that he was lost to his own contemplations. Right now, maybe he could be her possibility, her adventure. Perhaps the time period wasn’t important, not really. There was nowhere she wanted to be more than walking beneath the moon with this man.

They’d gone about a quarter mile when she tugged him to a stop and lured him over to a castaway boulder half buried in the beach. She dropped down to sit on the sand and leaned back against the rock, pulling him down beside her to do the same.

“Is this where you bring all your conquests? Perhaps you regularly set your ladies to swooning with a romantic stroll on a moonlit beach before taking unscrupulous advantage of their compromised state of mind,” Beth cajoled, resting a hand against his thigh and thoroughly enjoying the solid feel of his leg.

Hector scanned the night sky, his mouth drawing down into a frown. “Needed a place fer ye to take a rest from the ride, is all; I’m not what ye’d call partial to moonlight. As fer setting ye to swooning…” he shook off his brief melancholy enough to give her devious look, “…I’ve no need to worry over such.”

He bent and nuzzled at her neck, sending cool shivers across her skin. Beth closed her eyes and let her head fall to the side, willingly submitting to his affections. “You believe the outcome of this night is so certain that you needn’t even try, is that what you’re saying?” she challenged, spreading a gloved hand on his shoulder and holding onto him tightly.

Hector hesitated for a moment before resuming his exploration. He found her ear and bit at it gently, his hot breath there causing her nipples to harden against the soft fabric of her borrowed shirt. “I know ye need me, girl. Yer limbs are trembling now and I’ve hardly touched ye. Yer breath catches in yer throat and yer pulse flutters beneath me lips and I’ve done naught but hold yer hand. So ye can play coy if ye like but we both know I’ll not be denied tonight.”

Beth moaned, his words igniting a surge of heat between her legs. “So what now, my Captain? Do you intend to take me up against this rock? On a picnic table? Or maybe over the seat of your bike?”

He laughed softly and pulled back to gaze into her eyes. “Perhaps another time, lass, ‘though the thought of havin’ ye spread-eagled on the Harley certainly appeals. But that’s not for tonight. Nay, we must return the bike to the warehouse and then we’re off to Wisteria. I’m of a mind to lay claim to ye upon me ship.”


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The journey back to Key West seemed to take forever, her heady anticipation taking some of the thrill from the ride. Beth sighed with relief when Hector finally turned back into town and found the quickest route to Chevalier.

The crew’s power boats had all been docked back at Wisteria and so they were left to rent a water taxi instead. The driver didn’t look all that happy about making a trip out to the Blackheart’s island home, but quickly overcame his reservations when Hector pulled a bundle of cash from his pocket and waived several fifties in his face.

The boat tripped across the waves and Hector kept his arm around her to stave off any chill. She leaned into him and smiled, warm and happy as they quickly crossed the brief distance. As they approached the landing dock, however, she felt his body suddenly tense against hers.

“What’s wrong?” she asked, following his uneasy gaze towards the island.

“Someone is aboard the Corazón Perdido. There be lights in the cabin and a shadow movin’ about.”

Beth shrugged as their driver slowly drew up to the dock. “Probably just one of your men.”

Hector shook his head, his eyes grown cold. “The first one as tried knows he’d be floating face down beside her when I found out. Unless the ship’s afire, ain’t a member of my crew as would dare step a foot on her deck without me leave.”

He jumped up onto the pier as the taxi pulled in close, turning to lean on one knee and looking back down at her. “I want ye to stay here on the boat, ‘Lizabeth,” he warned as he tugged up his pant leg and drew a broad-bladed dagger from his boot.

“No!” she and the driver cried out at the same time, and both she and Hector looked in surprise at the man.

“You just paid me to bring you out. I’m not getting caught up in whatever gang bullshit you’re involved in here,” he informed them, the timbre of his voice rising with the level of his anxiety. “Get off, lady!”

“Yer a bleedin’ coward,” Hector scowled at him, reaching down to help Beth up out of the craft. No sooner had she found her footing beside him than the driver revved his engine, whipped the tail of his boat around and shot off back towards Key West.

“I wouldn’t have stayed behind anyway. I’m not letting you go off by yourself to face some intruder,” she told him as they watched the taxi lights grow ever smaller. She was fairly confident that there wasn’t anyone more capable of looking after himself and it was likely she’d only be in the way as Hector went to investigate; so much could go wrong, though, and if something did she’d never forgive herself for not being there for him the way he’d been for her.

His expression softened for a moment and he cupped her cheek in his hand. “Had no intention of goin’ it alone, lass. But I suppose 'tis easier fer me to be keepin’ an eye upon ye if yer close. Just promise me ye’ll stay back and out of harm’s way.” Beth nodded, holding his hand in place with hers and turning her face to kiss his palm in response.

The island was quiet as they walked slowly towards the long pier where the ketch was tied. From the few lights left on, Beth assumed that most of the other men had either retired for the night or were off somewhere else pursuing their own pleasures.

She and Hector were passing by an outboard cruiser from which faint laughter and talking could be heard, and Hector stopped to smack against the hull with the flat of his hand. The conversation halted and a single voice cried out, “Aye? Who be there and what the blazes do ye want?”

“'Tis yer captain, ye feckless dogs. I’ve unexpected company aboard me ship and I find meself in need of a greeting party.”

There was some rustling before a pair of men dropped over the side of the craft, their casual outfits of t-shirts and boxers in contrast to the seriousness of the weapons they carried. Each had what looked to Beth to be an automatic pistol in one hand and a short sword in the other. Their faces were grim and their stances ready. “What be yer orders, sir?” said the closest, his pale blonde hair aglow in the light of the moon.

“Mister Morris, ye scout ahead, see if there’s others hangin’ about. Ye find someone, dispatch ‘em quick but be quiet about it. Mister Rackam,” he went on, speaking now to the smaller, squatter crew member, “Ye lay aft and make certain no one catches us unaware.”

“Aye, Cap’n,” they answered in unison, both with unsavoury gleams in their eyes that gave Beth pause. Morris slid along the shadows of the other docked craft, disappearing gradually into the gloom. When she turned around, Rackam was nowhere to be seen but she could sense his presence somewhere behind them. She didn’t doubt now that she and Hector would be safe, but she was equally convinced that she couldn’t say the same about whoever had made a most unwelcome landing on Wisteria Island.

Hector halted several yards away from the gangway and asked her to remove her boots. Though he seemed able to move soundlessly in his, the same could not be said of Beth and they didn’t want the visitors scared off before he had a chance to confront them. Morris reappeared beside them like a wraith, startling Beth with the suddenness of his presence as she undid her buckles.

“Didn’t find anyone else, sir,” he muttered, sounding nothing if not disappointed. “So far as I can tell through the port holes, there be only one interloper aboard yer ship. Couldn’t get a good look, though.”

“Come along then, gents,” Hector said, beckoning to Rackam to join them as the other man rematerialized from the darkness as well. “Let’s see who’s decided to call upon me this fine evening.”

They carefully crept aboard, Morris walking on ahead of them and Rackam following up behind. Hector pointed Morris towards the sunroof over the deckhouse and signalled for him to gain access to the ship from there. He took the pistol from Rackam and handed the deadly-looking knife over to Beth before he made his way down the stairs. It was heavy in her hands and she doubted her ability to handle it properly, but holding it at least gave her some sense of security.

Her pulse racing and the polished wood of the steps cold on her bare feet, she tentatively followed Hector as he descended. When the room came into view, he stopped and straightened unexpectedly, and she had to take care so as to avoid running him through with his own blade. He took a deep breath, shaking his head in disbelief.

“Marilyn,” he said in a low, flat voice, “what do ye think yer doin’?”

Beth stepped down beside him just in time to see the crew’s doctor, dressed in a prim flannel nightgown, jump nearly out of her skin at the unexpected interruption. As Marilyn whirled around, her long grey hair flew around her face, and her expression betrayed fear and guilt. Beth caught sight of navigational charts spread on the table behind the older woman.

Marilyn looked for a moment like she might try to bolt, but Morris moved in from behind her and she had no option but to face them. “Captain…sir…I didn’t expect…I was just…I had trouble sleeping tonight, I thought perhaps I would borrow one of your books…” Her eyes were wild as she sought to explain, her hand nervously fluttering over her chest.

Hector stepped down the rest of the way into the cabin, a move that prompted Marilyn to scoot quickly backwards until the edge of the table stopped her retreat. “After all these many years,” he went on, his lip curled in menace, “ye dare stand before me and lie to me face as if I hadn’t a bit of sense in me head?”

Beth came from behind him, touching his arm to get his attention. “Hector, you’re scaring her! She didn’t mean any harm…”

He looked back at Beth grimly, firmly removing her hand before he continued stalking the doctor. The woman skirted the table until she’d put it between them. “What is it ye be seeking here, Doc? Fer what end and purpose have ye breeched me trust? Must be somethin’ of considerable value fer ye to risk me fury.”

“I…I told you, Captain. I only wanted a book – I didn’t think you’d mind…” Marilyn whined, glancing fearfully at the crew members that were hemming her in.

“This is ridiculous. Let’s just sit down and talk,” Beth tried to calm him but he was having none of it.

“And which engaging novel was it that ye chose to peruse this evenin’, hmm? Or perhaps in the end ye figured that ye’d be more entertained with reading me charts and notin’ our location fer future reference?”

“Why would I care about the charts?” Marilyn feigned disinterest, but her eyes darted down the table and back again to her captain’s face. “It’s nothing to me where you choose to spend your time.”

“Enough!” he roared, his face twisting with rage as he slammed a fist down on the table in front of the trembling woman, causing her to jump yet again. He picked up the chart that lay on top of the others, shaking it in her face. “Ye think that just because yer a woman, I’d not exact the same penalties upon ye as I would a man fer such a trespass? I’ll not abide yer lies a moment longer…ye’ll tell me the truth of it now or I swear ye’ll not see another sunrise!”

“Please, sir, I can explain!” Marilyn cried, holding out a hand in an attempt to keep him at bay. “It’s only an old wreck, and they promised me that you and the men would not be harmed. I never would have agreed to help them if I thought there was any chance you’d be hurt. You have to believe me!”

“Who is it as convinced ye to conspire against us?!” Hector demanded, stepping around the table until he was only inches away from her. She looked up at him beseechingly and tried to lay a hand on his chest, but he angrily pushed it aside.

“It wasn’t like that! I never plotted against you or the crew…” she said, furtively glaring at Beth.

Beth’s mouth gaped in shock. There had never been any indication that the doctor thought of her with anything but kindness during her recovery. “Me? Why would you…”

Hector held up a hand, halting her question before she could get it all out. A terrible calm set over his face, somehow worse than the rage. He looked down at Marilyn, his voice scarcely more than a rough whisper. “What have ye done, woman?”

Before Marilyn could even speak, it hit Beth what was really going on with her. This was about jealousy, not subterfuge. The look she gave him spoke volumes. Age difference or not, this woman loved Hector. Loved him enough that she wanted dead the one person she saw as a threat. And loved him with enough desperation that she’d risk all their lives on the chance that she could win his heart.

Beth wondered what exactly had passed between the two. Surely if they had been together, it had to have been years earlier when Hector was a much younger man. Well, that was then and this was now, she thought, wisps of possessiveness curling in her stomach.

“She should never have come back,” wailed Marilyn, her contempt for Beth as clear as the tears streaming from her eyes. “All these years you’ve carried her memory in your heart and she never even loved you. A pretty face has blinded you, Captain, has made you weak. She will only bring pain…to you, to all of us. She doesn’t belong here.”

All what years? What on earth was she on about? Beth frowned, musing it over and feeling vaguely as if she’d come into the middle of a conversation.

“Turn ‘round, ‘Lizabeth,” Hector said coolly, his pitiless eyes staying pinned on the woman in front of him.

“Why? What are you going to do?” she answered quietly, suddenly afraid of the violence she sensed seething beneath the surface. How far was he going to take his threats of reprisal?

“Just lis’en fer a change!” he hollered and she complied without further argument. Beth flinched as she heard Marilyn cry out in distress.

Hector continued to talk. “Aye, that’s right, take a good look. Voted in as a member she was, and as much a part of the Blackhearts now as meself. Remember this, though: even had it not been so, she’s been placed under our protection and bound we be to honour that accord. Yer a traitor through and through.”

Beth turned back to see him snag Marilyn’s thin arm. “Ye’ve turned yer back on those who’ve done naught but care fer ye all this time,” he snarled, yanking hard to make his point. “And punished ye’ll be if ye continue protectin’ those as would act against us.”

Marilyn uttered a heart-twisting sound somewhere between a laugh and a sob. “You think I would lift a finger to help you now? In all these years, you never once thought to give me that same tribute you handed to her after only a few days. Send me into exile, cut my throat – I don’t care which. But what happens from this point on…well, that’s on her head. I won’t tell you anything.”

He huffed in disgust and shoved her hard towards Morris, who caught her as she very nearly fell to the floor. “Take this back-stabbing bitch to her trawler and from me sight. Keep a guard on board ‘round the clock, and disable both her communications and navigation. I’ll not have her slinkin’ off to warn her accomplices.”

Marilyn shrieked, trying to pull away. Rackam had to help Morris haul her up the stairs and into the night. Beth listened as the woman turned the air blue with expletives that would have had any seasoned sailor blushing with embarrassment. Finally the racket faded away and Hector slumped heavily onto a bench beside the table.

“Ye need to call yer ship and warn yer people, ‘Lizabeth,” he said, his voice weighted with sorrow. “Don’t know that Marilyn had yet betrayed the whereabouts of yer operation but it won’t do to take a chance. I’ll send two more ships out that way tonight in case they’re of a mind to strike under cover of darkness.”

“Maybe we should go back as well. Their safety is ultimately my responsibility,” she suggested, feeling a little sick at the thought of an attack on her crew.

“Perhaps, but ‘tis yer safety that be of concern. They’ve no need of ye there – me men can handle themselves well enough. And I’ll not be entertaining the notion any further,” he warned wearily, “so ye can leave off right now if ye were planning an argument. I haven’t the heart to cross swords with ye tonight.”

Beth sat down opposite him and laid her hands over top of his. The incident had raised a whole lot of questions but now was definitely not the time to pursue the answers – not with his spirits so low. “I’m sorry about what happened,” she said gently, letting her fingertips rove across peaks and valleys of his hand.

“Ye’ve nothin’ to be sorry fer,” he said gruffly. “She was free to choose her path and so she did.” He slipped his hands away, briefly patting hers before he stood again. Not interested in talking about it then…fair enough. “Get word to yer crew, tell them to keep watch fer me men. We’ll stay docked here tonight and make our way back to yer site tomorrow. Do ye concur?”

“Yes, of course.” He didn’t need any additional grief tonight, she thought, and besides, it was likely the prudent thing to do.

Before he ascended the stairs to see to his arrangements, he reached over and caressed her cheek with the back of his fingers. “Sorry I am, ‘Lizabeth, how the night has turned ‘round on us. That’s not how I would have seen it go.”

Beth gave him a small smile and he clambered up the stairs onto the deck. “The night isn’t over, Hector,” she whispered to herself. “Not by a long shot.”

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I've more chapters ahead and I promise, it will be getting much warmer aboard Hector's ship...;)