Ring and Goddess post AWE parts16-20
Apr. 23rd, 2008 08:49 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
soleilpirateTitle: Ring and Goddess
Author: Soleil Compeau
Fandom: Pirates of the Caribbean
Pairing: Jack/Other
Spoilers: Set after AWE, a sequel to Life After Loss. It's helpful to have read the first one to better understand Sarah's character and the subsequent events of this story.
Rating: NC17 overall
Disclaimer: These stunt doubles have just reenacted what takes place after the final cut. No profit or wages are being made. I do this out of deep love for the characters.
Summary: Jack and Sarah have settled down into a life of frequent voyages, tending a home, and raising children. But their idyllic life is threatened by an evil man bent on destroying them. Can they call on supernatural forces to save their family and help their friends?
Chapter Sixteen - The Trap is Sprung
In Tortuga, Joshua waited. With great anxiety he scanned the bay every day, hoping to see what he sought. Each day he spent away from Esther, and from protecting Sarah, increased his fears. After a week, he counted the coins that Sarah had given him and concluded they would be enough to buy him passage home again. That was the day that the Black Pearl did come in.
He caught up with the pirate as he strode through town, and walked beside him. Jack looked surprised. "What are you doing here?"
"Sarah's been arrested by Commodore Richard Beckett." he answered tersely.
Jack managed to look incredulous and disgusted at the same time. "Bloody hell! The disgusting little prick of a lord has kin!"
Gibbs came up to them. "Couldn't help overhearing, Cap'n. What shall we do?"
Before Jack could answer, an accented voice hailed him. They turned to see the Indian captain of the Sarah's Swann, Captain Rajeev. Breathlessly he explained. "Forgive me, Captain Sparrow. I have been searching for you, but I bring bad news. I'm to tell you," he hesitated, "that your wife...is now the lady of Commodore Richard Beckett. She has betrayed you."
Jack looked shocked. Joshua burst out. "What rubbish! Sarah would never be untrue Captain Sparrow. She loves you."
He merely looked thoughtful. "Did my wife tell you this, or Beckett?"
"It was Beckett, Captain. Miss Sarah was sitting at the window drinking tea. She didn't even look at me."
"And how did my boy and my little girl deal with this Beckett fellow?"
Rajeev looked puzzled. "Beg pardon, Captain. I never saw any children."
He exchanged a knowing look with his quartermaster. "That tears it!" Gibbs exclaimed.
They began walking back to the harbor. Joshua and Rajeev followed. The manservant asked, "What are you going to do?"
Without pausing his stride Jack replied, "I'm going to find out what's going on! Are ye coming with me?"
"Sarah wants you to stay away." Joshua said quietly.
Jack did stop then, and stood for a long time looking up at the sky, tapping his silver cane on the ground. "I can't." He shook his head and corrected himself, "I won't."
Captain Rajeev reached out a shy hand and grasped one of Jack's dreadlocks. "The long-haired one endures fire, the long-haired one endures poison, the long-haired one endures both worlds. The long-haired one is said to gaze full on heaven, the long-haired one is said to be that light ... Of us, you mortals, only our bodies do you behold. ...For him has the Lord of life churned and pounded the unbendable, when the long-haired one, in Rudra’s company, drank from the poison cup." he intoned.
Jack jerked away from him, but Rajeev only nodded. "I know you will save her!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
He stood with her on the lawn of her home, where she could clearly see several men inside with torches. Her hands were manacled again. She watched helplessly as flames began to lick hungrily at all she had treasured over the years.
Black sails were spotted coming into the bay that night. Immediately Richard Beckett took Sarah to the highest turret of the fort, and stood there with her, watching the Pearl. It was a beautiful purple dusk, and the air felt velvety. Sarah looked with sluggish despair at the ship that brought Jack to his doom. The Commodore ordered the cannons loaded.
The Pearl stopped just barely within range of the cannons and did not advance further. Beckett shrugged. "No matter. We can send out ships. He's close enough to see what I want him to."
He leaned closer to her and spoke for her ears only. "You'll die at sea, and the Flying Dutchman will come for you, with Captain Will Turner offering you a choice. But Jack Sparrow will be caught and finally hang from a gallows. An ignoble death on land does not lead to the same afterlife as dying at sea. You and your love will spent eternity apart, and I'll raise your children to despise and kill pirates."
The laudanum was still making her sluggish and slow, but she found enough rage to answer, "I shall think of you dead, until my husband makes you so. Then I shall think of you no more."
His only answer was to step behind her, and push her violently off the turret. She fell towards the water, hitting it with a bone jarring thud.
Jack stared hard through the spyglass. "Launch a longboat. They're on the edge of the fort, and he's got men on the guns. Run ours out, Gibbs!"
Gibbs obeyed. Ragetti held the boat steady. A line had been fastened to it. Jack looked again through the spyglass. He saw Sarah fall into the water. "Man overboard!" he yelled, scrambling frantically to the boat, rowing even as Ragetti pushed it away. He was too far away and would never make it. But he must try.
Chapter Seventeen - Rescued?
Sarah could see Jack in the distance, see the little boat coming towards her. She wanted to cry. "Jack!" she tried to warn him, tell him to sail away lest he be killed. She could not bear his death. But the water kept filling her mouth. Her arms were so heavy, she was so tired. She just wanted to sleep.
Darkness gathered in her mind. The water was filling her eyes now, so she couldn't see Jack anymore. It filled her nose too. She could no longer draw breath. She was so tired, and dizzy. The waters closed over her head.
Jack saw her sink, and very nearly panicked. He stood, marking the spot where she'd been, and jumped in. It was getting dark, he had to find her quickly. With sure strokes he swam to where she'd been, and dove.
He could not find her. The water was murky, he blinked rapidly trying to see. Coming back up, he sucked in air and thought with horrible fear that if he could not hold his breath and had to come up, how could she, when she'd been under longer? He dove again, down, down, until he thought he would burst. Then he saw pale hands floating above a swirl of black hair. Grabbing her, he hauled with all his might and they broke the surface. Now to find his boat.
He heaved her in, and as he climbed in the slack in the rope tightened. The crew were hauling them in. Willing hands lifted her aboard. The cannons began to fire as he scrambled up right behind her.
"She's not breathing," cried a horrified Joshua as she was laid out on the deck.
Jack knelt beside her. God, she was so pale and still. There was no corset to cut off this one.
He was shoved roughly aside from behind. He had his pistol half drawn before he realized it was Cotton. He rolled Sarah onto his her side and pressed his hands hard on her back. Black, oily water streamed from her nose and mouth. Cotton brought her onto her back again, pinched her nose shut, and exhaled hard into her mouth.
Silence reigned on the deck as he pumped the water out of her lungs twice more. Gibbs steered the ship with a sure hand into open water, noting that two ships were in pursuit.
Sarah's body jerked. She gagged, then threw up more water and coughed hard. Her chest began to rise and fall. Everyone watching gasped in relief. But she did not wake.
Cotton stood up and looked at Jack. The captain clapped him on the shoulder. With deep emotion in his voice he said, "Thank you, man!"
Cotton nodded once. He went back to the helm. One ship had broken off pursuit, the other was far behind. Jack crouched next to his wife and gathered her in his arms. Gibbs came and knelt down next to them.
"Come darling! Wake up now," he crooned. There was no response. "Open your eyes Sarah! Your captain commands it!"
Gibbs' face was streaked with tears. "Jack...we don't rightly know how long she was under water. There might....might not be much left...of her mind."
Jack's face showed open grief as he stroked her cheek tenderly. He turned to Gibbs and his face was also wet. "I promised her port in the storm. I promised her!"
Gibbs searched the sky for words to comfort not only himself and his friend, but the crew that were gathered as well. "Best have the ship's doctor look her over."
Mr. Norton was relatively new to the crew. He'd signed on in Tortuga during Sarah's fit of rage against Jack. Rumour was he'd been press-ganged into piracy a few years ago by a shipload of sick pirates. Be that as it may, Jack didn't ask and Mr. Norton didn't tell. He was still rather in awe of the captain.
Jack lifted Sarah and brought her into his cabin, laying her tenderly on the bed. Norton followed. "All right sawbones. Have at it."
The young doctor nervously bent over the still form of the young lady. "We need to get the wet clothes off her Captain."
Jack began removing the sodden chemise which was her only covering. She cried out suddenly in pain, just as Norton saw something that made him frown deeply. Jack stopped undressing her and looked at her face.
"Sir? Look at this." Norton indicated the bruises on Sarah's neck and shoulders. "Um..these are...signs that she may have been..raped."
He was instantly sorry he'd said that, because Jack exploded. "WHAT!?!"
Carefully they rolled her onto her side and pulled the chemise off. The source of her cry became obvious as angry red welts on her back. "Oh God. She'd been lashed!" Norton breathed.
Jack made a strange choking sound, and Norton glanced cautiously at him. The captain's eyes were terribly bright. They got the gown all the way off, and the doctor gently went over her body. As he feared, angry bruises marked her hips and high up on her inner thighs. Jack saw them too, and knew exactly what they meant.
"I'm sorry sir," Norton said compassionately as he drew a blanket over her to cover her nude body.
Everyone still on deck was shocked when suddenly the captain rushed out of his cabin looking like a madman. He drew his sword and struck the railing. With a roar of anger, he yanked the blade free and struck the rail again. And again. And again.
"Captain Sparrow!" Joshua shouted. He was the only one brave enough to approach the furious pirate.
Jack closed his eyes and gripped the battered rail tightly, eyes closed. His knuckles went white. "Bring this ship about! We're going back!"
"Why? What's wrong with her? Is Sarah all right?" Joshua pressed tersely.
"He raped her! He lashed her! And he threw her into the water to drown her! I'm going to kill him, and cut his head off, and piss down his neckhole!" Jack snarled.
"And will that make Sarah well? What about Teague and Mary, will you find them again from these actions?"
Jack looked as if he'd been punched in the stomach. Joshua went on. "This Commodore set a trap for you, clearly using Sarah as bait. You got away from him, but if you go back, he'll capture and kill you!"
"No he won't! I'm Captain Jack Sparrow!" the pirate was not going to be placated.
Joshua pointed dramatically back to the cabin. "She needs that Captain! Right now!"
Jack didn't know what to do with his rage. Bloodlust burned in him. But he also felt the tug of Sarah's need calling him, heard the wisdom in Joshua's words. Fine. He could, and would, be patient. And take his revenge on Richard Beckett with a healthy wife there to see it.
Norton came out of his quarters then, and slowly met Jack's eyes. He stood a fair distance away, making Jack realize he still held a naked blade in his hand. He did not sheath it, taking perverse satisfaction in the men staring fearfully at him.
"I've dressed her wounds Captain, but I don't know how to wake her. That's beyond my skill. Her lungs are clear, but she needs to be kept warm, or there's great risk of pneumonia developing." He cleared his throat. "If she wakes by morning, I think she'll probably recover."
Jack nodded curtly and walked to the door of his cabin. Sailors scattered to get out of his way. He slammed the door behind him without a word. Only then did he put away his saber and allow tenderness to come forth, as he moved closer to the bed.
Chapter Eighteen - The Dark Night
First order of business was to find some clothing for her. He went to the trunk at the foot of the bed and rummaged through it. He always kept a few of her things with him on voyages, including a pilfered bottle of her best perfume, so he could smell her when he got lonely.
Aha. There. A simple grey frock, very little frills and lace, just right for a bedridden woman. He drew it out and carried it her, climbing carefully next to her. He dressed her gently, lifting each limb with great care. Throughout, she breathed deeply and regularly, but was otherwise limp and unresponsive.
Once she was covered, he stroked her damp hair away from her face. It was so snarled and matted. Jack fetched his comb and began tugging it gently through the tangles, holding each lock and working on it until it was smooth. Her hair was so dirty, quite unlike her. He would have to find some way to wash it for her. A sob suddenly choked his throat and tears filled his eyes. He dropped the comb and clutched her close to his chest.
"Please. Please." he whispered. "Oh God, please get well!"
He held her that way for hours, touching her face, kissing her, talking to her of the life they'd had. At one point he begged her to wake, sobbing brokenly. He could well understand why Davy Jones had cut out his heart when it was broken. Jack could not bear this crushing weight of sorrow. He wanted his fiery bit o'Sarah, life animating her face and beautiful sea green eyes.
At last he dozed, but his dreams were full of her. He dove ever deeper, his lungs screaming for air. His chest was bursting. And then he saw her, far below him, drifting like seaweed. He tried once more to swim to her, but could no longer hold his breath. Water rushed into his nose and mouth, drowning him.
"Nnnno!" He jerked up on the bed, filling his lungs with sweet air in sharp gasps. He was drenched in sweat, trembling. Glancing next to him, he saw his wife, so still, so far way. At that moment, he believed he was very well losing his mind. Except for the breathing, she looked dead.
He left the cabin, and looked round. Gibbs had the helm, grimly clinging to the wheel and looking haggard. His eyes were puffy and red. "Mr. Gibbs."
"Aye Captain. Any change?"
"No. I need....Will Turner. Summon him."
Jack was pacing at the foot of the bed, waiting for some time, when a knock came at his door. "Who is it?" he barked.
Amazingly, the doorknob turned and the door began to swing open. Angrily, Jack charged forward. Who would dare breach his sanctum without announcing himself?
Will's face with his steady dark eyes came into view. "Jack, what's going on?"
He didn't have the strength to explain the horrible events of this night. He merely waved an arm in the direction of the woman on the bed. Will stood and looked at her a long time. "What happened?"
"There's another Beckett." Jack said bitterly. "He tortured her, and kidnapped our children."
Will looked horrified. "Oh no, Jack!"
Even in his pain, Jack belatedly thought of something his friend might like to know. "By the way, Elizabeth had her baby. Another fine son, looks just like you."
Will's fce went through several amazing expressions, predominantly trepidation, joy, and immense relief. "Her baby?"
"The baby you planted in her coming back from Calypso's island." Jack said gently.
Eagerly, "What did she name him?"
Now Jack hesitated, not at all sure Will would like the name. He could hardly believe it himself. "She uhh, named him...Jackson James." he mumbled.
"Naming her boys after the men who've influenced her the most." Will said with pride and love shining in his eyes. He stared off for another minute, visualizing Elizabeth. Remembering her strength, her beauty, her intelligence, all the things he'd fallen in love with.
Then he turned to Jack again. "What do you want me to do?"
There were so many things Jack wanted from Will. He needed a friend to lean on, he needed the experience of someone who knew about relationships and love, and he needed Will's knowledge of those who died at sea to pull Sarah back from the depths of something darker than water. "Tell me what's wrong with her."
Will merely looked at him. Understanding and compassion showed in his eyes. He moved to the bed and laid a hand on Sarah's brow. He closed his eyes and appeared to be listening.
"She's near death, one foot on that shore so to speak, but something holds her to life." He shook his head. "I don't know what. I am Master of the Dead. This is not my skill."
"I need to know how I can call her back." Jack was tense and trembling.
"Love is the only thing that will pull her through this." Will answered.
"Love?! I do love her! But what am I bloody supposed to do?" He was working himself up to an emotional fit. "I married her, I made babies with her, I go to her port after every voyage I make! I'd do anything-" He abruptly shut his mouth and turned his back on Will, unable to go on.
Will shook his head helplessly. How well he knew what Jack felt. "Do you want me to stay awhile?"
"No. Actually no, I want to be alone with her." They needed few words. Jack and Will understood each other finally, after many struggles and painful misunderstandings. They had no need to say the words 'goodbye' and 'thank you' or even 'I'm here for you.' The two men simply did for each other.
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Jack sat on his haunches on the trunk at the bed's foot, watching several tiny replicas of himself dancing a jig in unison on the headboard. Oh yes, he thought with detachment, you are most definitely losing your mind.
"And why would you think that?" A voice interrupted his thoughts. He jerked his head towards the source and in the corner of the room he saw, himself.
A Jack with bone white hair, face and hands lined with wrinkles. "Just because you're sitting there watching your lady die?" Old Jack went on. "This is why you don't fall in love, boy. Ties you down far too much. Interrupts living a life of perfect freedom."
"I don't care," Captain Jack said peevishly, turning back to watch Sarah's still face again. "It's what I want."
Old Jack raised a jug of rum to his aging lips and drank messily. "How can ye want that?" he asked, wiping his hand across his mouth. "It's bloody awful. You might as well wrap a shroud around her now, have a burial at sea and get it over with."
"Shut your bloody 'ole!" Captain Jack yelled, white faced. He passed a trembling hand over his face. Old Jack shrugged eloquently and upended the rum jug against his lips again.
"Don't mind 'im," said another voice. Captain Jack closed his eyes in despair. He really could not deal with talking to himself. Did he have to bear madness on top of losing his family?
He saw a very young version of himself now, standing between the bed and the wardrobe. Himself at fifteen, face smooth and unmarked, hair swept back with nary a dread or bead. He grinned and winked conspiratorially, tossing a tiny green vial in his hand, flipping it in the air.
"Like my shiny trinket?" Boy Jack asked, seeing Captain Jack's eyes following the movement up and down, up and down. "Where have you seen it before, I wonder?"
Captain Jack sucked in his breath as three separate memories exploded soundlessly in his brain. Tia Dalma's shack and the items he'd pilfered there. A boy stuck in the mud, able to breathe but unconscious because of the elements hurling with such force around him, Tia Dalma again, holding that same boy and pouring a green liquid down his throat. A green liquid.
He leaped up and rushed to the table, scattering maps and books in his eagerness. "Tis in your pouch, ye ninny!" Old Jack squawked.
Captain Jack grabbed the pouch hanging off his belt and rummaged through it. His fingers curled around the needed item. "Bye!" Boy Jack waved as he, along with all the others, disappeared.
He lifted her gently, and poured the contents of the vial in her mouth. Then he tipped her head far back and rubbed her neck gently so it would run down her throat. He smiled eagerly, anticipating her lovely eyes.
Nothing happened.
Jack stumbled out onto the deck, eyes dead and downcast. Men scurried around him, preparing for the new day's work. He made his way to the rail and gazed numbly at the pinkening horizon. Jack found all weather aboard his ship beautiful, but Sarah was a sunset lover. Many of her life's significant events had happened at sunset.
Jack cared for none of it anymore. His heart was dark. The sun lifted itself above the water in gorgeous flashes of red, pink, lavender, and green.
Green flash? He blinked. He frowned. Understanding filled his eyes and he dashed back to the cabin. He flung open the door, and found Sarah looking at him.
He ran to the bed and her eyes followed him. "Eyes open...captain...as ordered," she said slowly, voice little more than a rasp.
Chapter Nineteen - Shipwreck Cove
"Where is our mother? What have you done to her?" Teague demanded. He held his little sister protectively, glaring at the man and woman before him.
Richard bent down and spoke calmly. "I told you. Your mother ran off to be with your father. She gave you to me to take care of."
"That's not true! She would never do that! You've hurt her, and when my father finds out, he'll come after you!"
Richard chuckled. "I very much doubt it."
Teague moved forward, looking angry as only a seven year old boy can. "When my father finds you, he'll take you to the Flying Dutchman, and Captain Turner will bring to the depths and send you to your judgement. Savvy?"
Mary darted forward, following her brother's lead. "When my daddy finds you, he'll feed you to the cannibals!" she shouted. "They made him their chief!"
The Commodore knelt down and grinned at her. "You're a cute litte urchin, aren't you?"
Mary punched him in the nose, looking angry as only a three year old girl can. "Ow!" Her fist was tiny, but the force and surprise of it knocked him back on his haunches.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Sarah, where are the children? What did he do to them?" Jack asked urgently after satisfying himself that she was truly awake and he was no longer hallucinating.
Wearily she shook her head. "He said he would raise them as his own. I haven't seen them since I was taken captive." She licked her dry swollen lips. "I'm so thirsty Jack."
He got up and fetched a skin of water, holding it to her lips with his arm supporting her shoulders. She drank eagerly, feeling the fresh cold water refresh her. Finishing, she concluded, "They could be anywhere in the English realm, come to think of it."
"Maybe even in our own home?" Jack wondered.
Tears spilled from her eyes. "No...he burned it to the ground."
Jack felt yet another blow added to him by this detestable man. His mind raced, plotting how he could gather information about where his children might be and how to find and kill the Commodore. "Well, we've got to find them! Before he does manage to indoctrinate them against pirates."
Amazingly, Sarah chuckled. "I have little fear of anyone turning those children against pirates Jack."
He raised his eyebrows skeptically. "They're young and impressionable."
He looked at him with wide eyes. "Jack Sparrow, do you not know?"
"Know what?"
"That you sire hellions." She chuckled again. "It's the Commodore that will need rescuing, not our young impressionable pirate babies."
She coughed weakly, small body shaking. She was so weak, and talking was draining her. Jack held her up again for more water, and she slumped exhausted into him. He held her close, his mind working feverishly to come up with a plan.
"Try the compass." Her voice was a husk.
"Well, there's a problem there love. Compass hasn't worked proper since me encounter with Calypso."
"Let me try." She struggled to sit up. He gave it to her with renewed hope. She held it, thinking longingly of her two precious ones, and flipped it open.
Just as for him, it pointed. North. "Oh my!" she was crestfallen.
Despite the care that had been taken in dressing her lashes, they became infected and Sarah became feverish. When she began a deep wracking cough with horrible efforts to breath after each one, Jack consulted again with Norton.
"She's got pneumonia Captain sir. I'm sorry, but I cannot cure her with the supplies I have available. I was only an student, not fully graduated, before I turned pirate," he explained, eyes downcast and shamed.
"Not your fault mate. After all, this is not exactly the same as setting broken legs, sewing up gashes, and treating scurvy, is it?" Jack was rueful.
Norton looked up at his captain with relief. He felt terrible that he could do so little for Miss Sarah. "You'd best take her to a better doctor than me, if you know of one."
In fact, Jack did, and he ordered them to Shipwreck Cove. Explaining to Gibbs, "There's a man there what healed me twice. Once when I was shot, and the other time..." he trailed off and looked broodingly off, fingers tracing the scars along his inner wrist.
Captain's duties kept him busy, but whenever he could he went to her and held her. Sometimes her fevers were so intense his skin felt burned by contact with her. She would occasionally get delirious, and call her children's names, arms reaching for them desperately.
At any of those times, Jack would get a cold washcloth and bathe her face and arms, talking to her soothingly. Once, she tried to get out of bed, and Jack had to restrain her. She mistook him for Beckett, and struggled with great fear. That brought the bloodlust back for him.
The Pearl made excellent time to their destination, and soon they were through the Devil's Throat. He wrapped Sarah in a blanket and carried her to the longboat. Joshua insisted on doing his duty by her and rowed them in.
The cooler air of the South China sea revived her somewhat and she was lucid as Jack lifted her in his arms once the boat docked. She locked her arms around his neck.
The Captain was surprised to see who greeted him in Shipwreck City. "Father, what are you doing here?"
Sarah heard this and turned her head as a deep, rolling voice answered, "What've you got there, Jackie?"
She looked into a face that beneath the wrinkles and scars was as beautiful as Jack's. She tried to smile as she brought one hand away from her grip on Jack, unable to resist the charismatic pull.
"My greatest treasure," Jack answered.
"You're a pretty darling, aren't you?" Captain Teague spoke to Sarah, taking her hand and kissing it gently. His eyes widened slightly when he beheld the ring she wore. He lifted his head and smiled into her face, disarmed by this sweetheart in his son's arms.
She tried to speak, but was overcome by a wracking cough and sudden, bone rattling chills. "If you'd be so kind as to fetch Doc Baker for me." Jack brushed by his father and walked with confidence to a room on a ship he remembered well. It was his mother's.
Chapter Twenty - Pirate Doctor
Sarah quickly became lost with all the twists and turns Jack made. She gazed upwards at the underside of hulls, saw various anchors and even ship's wheels. Another coughing spasm put her into a grey twilight by the time Jack laid her on a soft bed.
Voices spoke over her, Jack's being one of them so she knew she was protected. Something wet and deliciously warm was put to her lips and she swallowed. Her eyes cleared to show her a man bent over her. A man with half moon spectacles, wild tufts of grey hair all over his head, and a brown waistcoat.
"Hmmm," he murmured. "Hyssop. Goldenrod, I should think. Yes." He rubbed his chin. "Willowbark for fever and pain, mhm."
Then Jack's hands were on her. "Roll over darling"
She felt her back being bared, then more. Jack kept his palm splayed on the back of her neck and it was the comfort of that touch she clung to. Light fingers traced the welts on her back, then a quick examination down lower.
"Stop!" Her cry was piercing and she rose up to get away. Jack did not even try to keep her still, but it was already over.
"A poultice of iris root, with calendula, followed by comfrey. Should heal up nicely." He must be a doctor, Sarah thought. "The other will heal with time."
Whatever he gently smeared all over her flaming back felt cold and so good. He helped her sit up and gave her something pungent to drink, telling her firmly to swallow it all. He bent down to Sarah again. "Young lady, I'll want you to lie on your stomach or your side until your back heals. Yes?" She nodded, and he left with a brief handshake to Jack.
Gingerly she rolled onto her side. Jack was setting his effects on a walnut dresser. He settled on the bed facing her and took her into his arms. Feeling secure, she slept.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Richard stepped into the nursery for his daily inspection and surveyed the room. The nanny sat in a far corner, looking disdainfully at the two children dominating center stage. The boy sat in a chair tilted back on two legs, carving slices of apple which he then fed to the little girl sitting on the table. Jam smeared both her cheeks, and a cup of juice had spilled on her own chair.
The boy glanced sullenly in his direction, and made a great show of slicing the fruit with the pearl handled dagger he held. Richard grimaced. Moviing close to the nanny, he spoke to her in low tones. "That child should not have a blade. Take it from him."
"Ha! You can do it yourself then. I'll not risk being stabbed." She crossed her arms over her chest and sniffed. "Never seen such a pair as those two! You already know about the time he tied me to my own chair! All he speaks is threats about 'when his father comes.'" And the girl! She kicks like a mule anytime I try to get near her. You don't pay me enough for this!"
He was at a loss. "Well...keep trying with them. Surely the bad influence that's already been worked on them will fade in time, and we can make useful citizens out of these poor unfortunates." The nanny looked unconvinced.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
For a day and a half all Sarah knew was her back being cooled by a deliciously aromatic salve, a pungent tea that loosened her tight chest and eased her cough, and Jack's arms around her. The bed was soft beneath her, and her fingers felt the lace edge of the blanket.
She woke from pleasant heaviness to mid afternoon light, though she did not realize the time. Jack was absent. Sarah let her eyes rove about her, for the first time her fever had faded enough to let her be completely aware. And where she was clearly was a woman's room.
Feminine touches were everywhere. Soft rugs covered the wood of the floor, three paintings of obvious French origin graced the walls. The dresser was painted a soft lavender, and the top was arranged with perfume bottles, pots of makeup, other clearly womanly items.
What she found most striking, and what her eyes returned to again and again, was the beaded leather dress hung opposite the foot of the bed. Whose was it? Where was the occupant now? The air had a still, unoccupied quality that suggested this place had been empty quite some time. (Indian dress)
While she contemplated, the door opened a bit to admit Jack, Joshua, and the grey haired man. He beamed at her over the half moon spectacles. Jack looked upset, Joshua seemed amused.
"Feeling better, my dear? You mayn't recall my name, but I am Doc Baker. Let's take a look at how you're progressing under my care."
While he inspected her back, she propped herself up on her elbows and looked at the other two men. Her husband was flicking his hands at the door and looking as if he smelled something distasteful. "What's wrong?" she asked.
It was her manservant that answered. "It seems there's a crowd of pirates outside the door." He seemed quite gleeful about it. "Word's gone around that Jack Sparrow brought a beautiful woman here."
Jack looked very uncomfortable. Sarah looked amazed. Joshua went on. "Even some of the women are gathered, and every time any of us comes or goes, they all press forward trying to catch a glimpse of you."
"Aye," Jack said ruefully, plopping himself into a chair. "I'll have to take ye out of here pig-a-back, brandishing my sword to clear a path!"
All but he had a good chuckle out of that. Doc Baker said briskly, "You're healing up nicely, Miss. I think I'll leave off the bandages now. And tomorrow you can get up and sit in the window a bit. Get some sunshine."
"Thank you very much. I will enjoy that." Sarah smiled at him as she shifted around on the pillows. "Might I ask you, how you came to be doctoring here?"
Doc Baker was quiet a moment as he packed up the various dried roots, flowers, and powders he used. At last he said, "Even pirates need doctors. And a man like me, who deals in God's honest medicine instead of powdered unicorn horn, extract of toad's tongue, and leeches, get accused of all sorts of bizarre things. In fact," he snapped his black bag shut and stood up, "I was nearly burned at the stake for being a warlock. If not for Captain Teague, I would be ashes."
Late that night Sarah woke, in Jack's arms which was usual. He seemed rather restless. A frown marred his forehead. She ran her fingers through his luxurious, beautiful hair. He moaned, hands tightening on her waist.
He was so warm and alive against her body. She kissed him, feeling him wake in the middle of it. Then he was delving one hand through her hair as well, and pulling her even closer. Sarah pressed her leg between his thighs until her leg nested between and she felt the bulge under his breeches growing harder.
The kiss became deeper, hungrier. He pushed his tongue back and forth in her mouth. Their breathing quickened. Jack's hand moved around and grasped her hip.
(Beckett squeezed her hips brutally hard until she cried out, but it did not stop him as he-)
Sarah whimpered and jerked backwards. Jack instantly stiffened and rolled away from her. He lay on his back, head turned away from her, hands fisted at his side.
Bereft, Sarah curled around herself, mourning the loss of his warmth.
The next morning, she tossed restlessly on the bed. "Right about now, Teague would be wanting to climb a tree, and I'd be hard pressed to keep Mary from staining her dress on the grass," she mumbled. Heaving a sigh, she tried hard not to think of what her children might be thinking.
Jack was sprawled on the overstuffed chair in the corner, fingers tented on his forehead. "We'll find them Sarah. Whatever it takes, I promise!"
She shoved at the pillows behind her head and plucked restlessly at the spread. Joshua opened the door. "You have a visitor Sarah. Captain Teague requests to see you."
Teague himself stepped in, and pushed the door shut behind him. Jack leaped to his feet.
"Easy Jackie," came that booming yet somehow soothing tone. "I came to pay my respects." He turned to Sarah and bowed over her extended hand.
"Miss Sarah, I'm glad to see you looking so well," he said smoothly. Jack rolled his eyes when he saw his wife blush and dimple at him.
The Code Keeper drew up a chair, still holding Sarah's hand. "I thought you might enjoy a pirate tale."
"Oh yes please!" Sarah exclaimed with delight, sounding girlish.
"I know a tale of Calypso. A woman, a goddess, as changing and harsh and untameable as the sea. Like a woman, she kept many trinkets." Captain Teague tapped her ring meaningfully and finally let go of her hand.
"Over time, the trinkets were given away and a few were even pilfered. Yet they all lived on in Calypso's memory."
Sarah rested her head back, eyes half closed. She could listen to his voice for hours. Jack sat down and listened, also caught up in the tale.
"Now, if a woman were so lucky as to possess one of Calypso's trinkets, well, she would have a special dispensation. If such a woman called on the goddess and showed her a kindness, why then she could beg a favor of Calypso. The goddess is lonely and wants company. It is why she tricked Odysseus to stay with her for seven years. She would do any favour, for a kindness. From a woman."
Silence greeted him. Teague savored the stunned looks on Jack and Sarah's faces. He knew he'd done well.
Chapters 21 - 25
Author: Soleil Compeau
Fandom: Pirates of the Caribbean
Pairing: Jack/Other
Spoilers: Set after AWE, a sequel to Life After Loss. It's helpful to have read the first one to better understand Sarah's character and the subsequent events of this story.
Rating: NC17 overall
Disclaimer: These stunt doubles have just reenacted what takes place after the final cut. No profit or wages are being made. I do this out of deep love for the characters.
Summary: Jack and Sarah have settled down into a life of frequent voyages, tending a home, and raising children. But their idyllic life is threatened by an evil man bent on destroying them. Can they call on supernatural forces to save their family and help their friends?
Chapter Sixteen - The Trap is Sprung
In Tortuga, Joshua waited. With great anxiety he scanned the bay every day, hoping to see what he sought. Each day he spent away from Esther, and from protecting Sarah, increased his fears. After a week, he counted the coins that Sarah had given him and concluded they would be enough to buy him passage home again. That was the day that the Black Pearl did come in.
He caught up with the pirate as he strode through town, and walked beside him. Jack looked surprised. "What are you doing here?"
"Sarah's been arrested by Commodore Richard Beckett." he answered tersely.
Jack managed to look incredulous and disgusted at the same time. "Bloody hell! The disgusting little prick of a lord has kin!"
Gibbs came up to them. "Couldn't help overhearing, Cap'n. What shall we do?"
Before Jack could answer, an accented voice hailed him. They turned to see the Indian captain of the Sarah's Swann, Captain Rajeev. Breathlessly he explained. "Forgive me, Captain Sparrow. I have been searching for you, but I bring bad news. I'm to tell you," he hesitated, "that your wife...is now the lady of Commodore Richard Beckett. She has betrayed you."
Jack looked shocked. Joshua burst out. "What rubbish! Sarah would never be untrue Captain Sparrow. She loves you."
He merely looked thoughtful. "Did my wife tell you this, or Beckett?"
"It was Beckett, Captain. Miss Sarah was sitting at the window drinking tea. She didn't even look at me."
"And how did my boy and my little girl deal with this Beckett fellow?"
Rajeev looked puzzled. "Beg pardon, Captain. I never saw any children."
He exchanged a knowing look with his quartermaster. "That tears it!" Gibbs exclaimed.
They began walking back to the harbor. Joshua and Rajeev followed. The manservant asked, "What are you going to do?"
Without pausing his stride Jack replied, "I'm going to find out what's going on! Are ye coming with me?"
"Sarah wants you to stay away." Joshua said quietly.
Jack did stop then, and stood for a long time looking up at the sky, tapping his silver cane on the ground. "I can't." He shook his head and corrected himself, "I won't."
Captain Rajeev reached out a shy hand and grasped one of Jack's dreadlocks. "The long-haired one endures fire, the long-haired one endures poison, the long-haired one endures both worlds. The long-haired one is said to gaze full on heaven, the long-haired one is said to be that light ... Of us, you mortals, only our bodies do you behold. ...For him has the Lord of life churned and pounded the unbendable, when the long-haired one, in Rudra’s company, drank from the poison cup." he intoned.
Jack jerked away from him, but Rajeev only nodded. "I know you will save her!"
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He stood with her on the lawn of her home, where she could clearly see several men inside with torches. Her hands were manacled again. She watched helplessly as flames began to lick hungrily at all she had treasured over the years.
Black sails were spotted coming into the bay that night. Immediately Richard Beckett took Sarah to the highest turret of the fort, and stood there with her, watching the Pearl. It was a beautiful purple dusk, and the air felt velvety. Sarah looked with sluggish despair at the ship that brought Jack to his doom. The Commodore ordered the cannons loaded.
The Pearl stopped just barely within range of the cannons and did not advance further. Beckett shrugged. "No matter. We can send out ships. He's close enough to see what I want him to."
He leaned closer to her and spoke for her ears only. "You'll die at sea, and the Flying Dutchman will come for you, with Captain Will Turner offering you a choice. But Jack Sparrow will be caught and finally hang from a gallows. An ignoble death on land does not lead to the same afterlife as dying at sea. You and your love will spent eternity apart, and I'll raise your children to despise and kill pirates."
The laudanum was still making her sluggish and slow, but she found enough rage to answer, "I shall think of you dead, until my husband makes you so. Then I shall think of you no more."
His only answer was to step behind her, and push her violently off the turret. She fell towards the water, hitting it with a bone jarring thud.
Jack stared hard through the spyglass. "Launch a longboat. They're on the edge of the fort, and he's got men on the guns. Run ours out, Gibbs!"
Gibbs obeyed. Ragetti held the boat steady. A line had been fastened to it. Jack looked again through the spyglass. He saw Sarah fall into the water. "Man overboard!" he yelled, scrambling frantically to the boat, rowing even as Ragetti pushed it away. He was too far away and would never make it. But he must try.
Chapter Seventeen - Rescued?
Sarah could see Jack in the distance, see the little boat coming towards her. She wanted to cry. "Jack!" she tried to warn him, tell him to sail away lest he be killed. She could not bear his death. But the water kept filling her mouth. Her arms were so heavy, she was so tired. She just wanted to sleep.
Darkness gathered in her mind. The water was filling her eyes now, so she couldn't see Jack anymore. It filled her nose too. She could no longer draw breath. She was so tired, and dizzy. The waters closed over her head.
Jack saw her sink, and very nearly panicked. He stood, marking the spot where she'd been, and jumped in. It was getting dark, he had to find her quickly. With sure strokes he swam to where she'd been, and dove.
He could not find her. The water was murky, he blinked rapidly trying to see. Coming back up, he sucked in air and thought with horrible fear that if he could not hold his breath and had to come up, how could she, when she'd been under longer? He dove again, down, down, until he thought he would burst. Then he saw pale hands floating above a swirl of black hair. Grabbing her, he hauled with all his might and they broke the surface. Now to find his boat.
He heaved her in, and as he climbed in the slack in the rope tightened. The crew were hauling them in. Willing hands lifted her aboard. The cannons began to fire as he scrambled up right behind her.
"She's not breathing," cried a horrified Joshua as she was laid out on the deck.
Jack knelt beside her. God, she was so pale and still. There was no corset to cut off this one.
He was shoved roughly aside from behind. He had his pistol half drawn before he realized it was Cotton. He rolled Sarah onto his her side and pressed his hands hard on her back. Black, oily water streamed from her nose and mouth. Cotton brought her onto her back again, pinched her nose shut, and exhaled hard into her mouth.
Silence reigned on the deck as he pumped the water out of her lungs twice more. Gibbs steered the ship with a sure hand into open water, noting that two ships were in pursuit.
Sarah's body jerked. She gagged, then threw up more water and coughed hard. Her chest began to rise and fall. Everyone watching gasped in relief. But she did not wake.
Cotton stood up and looked at Jack. The captain clapped him on the shoulder. With deep emotion in his voice he said, "Thank you, man!"
Cotton nodded once. He went back to the helm. One ship had broken off pursuit, the other was far behind. Jack crouched next to his wife and gathered her in his arms. Gibbs came and knelt down next to them.
"Come darling! Wake up now," he crooned. There was no response. "Open your eyes Sarah! Your captain commands it!"
Gibbs' face was streaked with tears. "Jack...we don't rightly know how long she was under water. There might....might not be much left...of her mind."
Jack's face showed open grief as he stroked her cheek tenderly. He turned to Gibbs and his face was also wet. "I promised her port in the storm. I promised her!"
Gibbs searched the sky for words to comfort not only himself and his friend, but the crew that were gathered as well. "Best have the ship's doctor look her over."
Mr. Norton was relatively new to the crew. He'd signed on in Tortuga during Sarah's fit of rage against Jack. Rumour was he'd been press-ganged into piracy a few years ago by a shipload of sick pirates. Be that as it may, Jack didn't ask and Mr. Norton didn't tell. He was still rather in awe of the captain.
Jack lifted Sarah and brought her into his cabin, laying her tenderly on the bed. Norton followed. "All right sawbones. Have at it."
The young doctor nervously bent over the still form of the young lady. "We need to get the wet clothes off her Captain."
Jack began removing the sodden chemise which was her only covering. She cried out suddenly in pain, just as Norton saw something that made him frown deeply. Jack stopped undressing her and looked at her face.
"Sir? Look at this." Norton indicated the bruises on Sarah's neck and shoulders. "Um..these are...signs that she may have been..raped."
He was instantly sorry he'd said that, because Jack exploded. "WHAT!?!"
Carefully they rolled her onto her side and pulled the chemise off. The source of her cry became obvious as angry red welts on her back. "Oh God. She'd been lashed!" Norton breathed.
Jack made a strange choking sound, and Norton glanced cautiously at him. The captain's eyes were terribly bright. They got the gown all the way off, and the doctor gently went over her body. As he feared, angry bruises marked her hips and high up on her inner thighs. Jack saw them too, and knew exactly what they meant.
"I'm sorry sir," Norton said compassionately as he drew a blanket over her to cover her nude body.
Everyone still on deck was shocked when suddenly the captain rushed out of his cabin looking like a madman. He drew his sword and struck the railing. With a roar of anger, he yanked the blade free and struck the rail again. And again. And again.
"Captain Sparrow!" Joshua shouted. He was the only one brave enough to approach the furious pirate.
Jack closed his eyes and gripped the battered rail tightly, eyes closed. His knuckles went white. "Bring this ship about! We're going back!"
"Why? What's wrong with her? Is Sarah all right?" Joshua pressed tersely.
"He raped her! He lashed her! And he threw her into the water to drown her! I'm going to kill him, and cut his head off, and piss down his neckhole!" Jack snarled.
"And will that make Sarah well? What about Teague and Mary, will you find them again from these actions?"
Jack looked as if he'd been punched in the stomach. Joshua went on. "This Commodore set a trap for you, clearly using Sarah as bait. You got away from him, but if you go back, he'll capture and kill you!"
"No he won't! I'm Captain Jack Sparrow!" the pirate was not going to be placated.
Joshua pointed dramatically back to the cabin. "She needs that Captain! Right now!"
Jack didn't know what to do with his rage. Bloodlust burned in him. But he also felt the tug of Sarah's need calling him, heard the wisdom in Joshua's words. Fine. He could, and would, be patient. And take his revenge on Richard Beckett with a healthy wife there to see it.
Norton came out of his quarters then, and slowly met Jack's eyes. He stood a fair distance away, making Jack realize he still held a naked blade in his hand. He did not sheath it, taking perverse satisfaction in the men staring fearfully at him.
"I've dressed her wounds Captain, but I don't know how to wake her. That's beyond my skill. Her lungs are clear, but she needs to be kept warm, or there's great risk of pneumonia developing." He cleared his throat. "If she wakes by morning, I think she'll probably recover."
Jack nodded curtly and walked to the door of his cabin. Sailors scattered to get out of his way. He slammed the door behind him without a word. Only then did he put away his saber and allow tenderness to come forth, as he moved closer to the bed.
Chapter Eighteen - The Dark Night
First order of business was to find some clothing for her. He went to the trunk at the foot of the bed and rummaged through it. He always kept a few of her things with him on voyages, including a pilfered bottle of her best perfume, so he could smell her when he got lonely.
Aha. There. A simple grey frock, very little frills and lace, just right for a bedridden woman. He drew it out and carried it her, climbing carefully next to her. He dressed her gently, lifting each limb with great care. Throughout, she breathed deeply and regularly, but was otherwise limp and unresponsive.
Once she was covered, he stroked her damp hair away from her face. It was so snarled and matted. Jack fetched his comb and began tugging it gently through the tangles, holding each lock and working on it until it was smooth. Her hair was so dirty, quite unlike her. He would have to find some way to wash it for her. A sob suddenly choked his throat and tears filled his eyes. He dropped the comb and clutched her close to his chest.
"Please. Please." he whispered. "Oh God, please get well!"
He held her that way for hours, touching her face, kissing her, talking to her of the life they'd had. At one point he begged her to wake, sobbing brokenly. He could well understand why Davy Jones had cut out his heart when it was broken. Jack could not bear this crushing weight of sorrow. He wanted his fiery bit o'Sarah, life animating her face and beautiful sea green eyes.
At last he dozed, but his dreams were full of her. He dove ever deeper, his lungs screaming for air. His chest was bursting. And then he saw her, far below him, drifting like seaweed. He tried once more to swim to her, but could no longer hold his breath. Water rushed into his nose and mouth, drowning him.
"Nnnno!" He jerked up on the bed, filling his lungs with sweet air in sharp gasps. He was drenched in sweat, trembling. Glancing next to him, he saw his wife, so still, so far way. At that moment, he believed he was very well losing his mind. Except for the breathing, she looked dead.
He left the cabin, and looked round. Gibbs had the helm, grimly clinging to the wheel and looking haggard. His eyes were puffy and red. "Mr. Gibbs."
"Aye Captain. Any change?"
"No. I need....Will Turner. Summon him."
Jack was pacing at the foot of the bed, waiting for some time, when a knock came at his door. "Who is it?" he barked.
Amazingly, the doorknob turned and the door began to swing open. Angrily, Jack charged forward. Who would dare breach his sanctum without announcing himself?
Will's face with his steady dark eyes came into view. "Jack, what's going on?"
He didn't have the strength to explain the horrible events of this night. He merely waved an arm in the direction of the woman on the bed. Will stood and looked at her a long time. "What happened?"
"There's another Beckett." Jack said bitterly. "He tortured her, and kidnapped our children."
Will looked horrified. "Oh no, Jack!"
Even in his pain, Jack belatedly thought of something his friend might like to know. "By the way, Elizabeth had her baby. Another fine son, looks just like you."
Will's fce went through several amazing expressions, predominantly trepidation, joy, and immense relief. "Her baby?"
"The baby you planted in her coming back from Calypso's island." Jack said gently.
Eagerly, "What did she name him?"
Now Jack hesitated, not at all sure Will would like the name. He could hardly believe it himself. "She uhh, named him...Jackson James." he mumbled.
"Naming her boys after the men who've influenced her the most." Will said with pride and love shining in his eyes. He stared off for another minute, visualizing Elizabeth. Remembering her strength, her beauty, her intelligence, all the things he'd fallen in love with.
Then he turned to Jack again. "What do you want me to do?"
There were so many things Jack wanted from Will. He needed a friend to lean on, he needed the experience of someone who knew about relationships and love, and he needed Will's knowledge of those who died at sea to pull Sarah back from the depths of something darker than water. "Tell me what's wrong with her."
Will merely looked at him. Understanding and compassion showed in his eyes. He moved to the bed and laid a hand on Sarah's brow. He closed his eyes and appeared to be listening.
"She's near death, one foot on that shore so to speak, but something holds her to life." He shook his head. "I don't know what. I am Master of the Dead. This is not my skill."
"I need to know how I can call her back." Jack was tense and trembling.
"Love is the only thing that will pull her through this." Will answered.
"Love?! I do love her! But what am I bloody supposed to do?" He was working himself up to an emotional fit. "I married her, I made babies with her, I go to her port after every voyage I make! I'd do anything-" He abruptly shut his mouth and turned his back on Will, unable to go on.
Will shook his head helplessly. How well he knew what Jack felt. "Do you want me to stay awhile?"
"No. Actually no, I want to be alone with her." They needed few words. Jack and Will understood each other finally, after many struggles and painful misunderstandings. They had no need to say the words 'goodbye' and 'thank you' or even 'I'm here for you.' The two men simply did for each other.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Jack sat on his haunches on the trunk at the bed's foot, watching several tiny replicas of himself dancing a jig in unison on the headboard. Oh yes, he thought with detachment, you are most definitely losing your mind.
"And why would you think that?" A voice interrupted his thoughts. He jerked his head towards the source and in the corner of the room he saw, himself.
A Jack with bone white hair, face and hands lined with wrinkles. "Just because you're sitting there watching your lady die?" Old Jack went on. "This is why you don't fall in love, boy. Ties you down far too much. Interrupts living a life of perfect freedom."
"I don't care," Captain Jack said peevishly, turning back to watch Sarah's still face again. "It's what I want."
Old Jack raised a jug of rum to his aging lips and drank messily. "How can ye want that?" he asked, wiping his hand across his mouth. "It's bloody awful. You might as well wrap a shroud around her now, have a burial at sea and get it over with."
"Shut your bloody 'ole!" Captain Jack yelled, white faced. He passed a trembling hand over his face. Old Jack shrugged eloquently and upended the rum jug against his lips again.
"Don't mind 'im," said another voice. Captain Jack closed his eyes in despair. He really could not deal with talking to himself. Did he have to bear madness on top of losing his family?
He saw a very young version of himself now, standing between the bed and the wardrobe. Himself at fifteen, face smooth and unmarked, hair swept back with nary a dread or bead. He grinned and winked conspiratorially, tossing a tiny green vial in his hand, flipping it in the air.
"Like my shiny trinket?" Boy Jack asked, seeing Captain Jack's eyes following the movement up and down, up and down. "Where have you seen it before, I wonder?"
Captain Jack sucked in his breath as three separate memories exploded soundlessly in his brain. Tia Dalma's shack and the items he'd pilfered there. A boy stuck in the mud, able to breathe but unconscious because of the elements hurling with such force around him, Tia Dalma again, holding that same boy and pouring a green liquid down his throat. A green liquid.
He leaped up and rushed to the table, scattering maps and books in his eagerness. "Tis in your pouch, ye ninny!" Old Jack squawked.
Captain Jack grabbed the pouch hanging off his belt and rummaged through it. His fingers curled around the needed item. "Bye!" Boy Jack waved as he, along with all the others, disappeared.
He lifted her gently, and poured the contents of the vial in her mouth. Then he tipped her head far back and rubbed her neck gently so it would run down her throat. He smiled eagerly, anticipating her lovely eyes.
Nothing happened.
Jack stumbled out onto the deck, eyes dead and downcast. Men scurried around him, preparing for the new day's work. He made his way to the rail and gazed numbly at the pinkening horizon. Jack found all weather aboard his ship beautiful, but Sarah was a sunset lover. Many of her life's significant events had happened at sunset.
Jack cared for none of it anymore. His heart was dark. The sun lifted itself above the water in gorgeous flashes of red, pink, lavender, and green.
Green flash? He blinked. He frowned. Understanding filled his eyes and he dashed back to the cabin. He flung open the door, and found Sarah looking at him.
He ran to the bed and her eyes followed him. "Eyes open...captain...as ordered," she said slowly, voice little more than a rasp.
Chapter Nineteen - Shipwreck Cove
"Where is our mother? What have you done to her?" Teague demanded. He held his little sister protectively, glaring at the man and woman before him.
Richard bent down and spoke calmly. "I told you. Your mother ran off to be with your father. She gave you to me to take care of."
"That's not true! She would never do that! You've hurt her, and when my father finds out, he'll come after you!"
Richard chuckled. "I very much doubt it."
Teague moved forward, looking angry as only a seven year old boy can. "When my father finds you, he'll take you to the Flying Dutchman, and Captain Turner will bring to the depths and send you to your judgement. Savvy?"
Mary darted forward, following her brother's lead. "When my daddy finds you, he'll feed you to the cannibals!" she shouted. "They made him their chief!"
The Commodore knelt down and grinned at her. "You're a cute litte urchin, aren't you?"
Mary punched him in the nose, looking angry as only a three year old girl can. "Ow!" Her fist was tiny, but the force and surprise of it knocked him back on his haunches.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Sarah, where are the children? What did he do to them?" Jack asked urgently after satisfying himself that she was truly awake and he was no longer hallucinating.
Wearily she shook her head. "He said he would raise them as his own. I haven't seen them since I was taken captive." She licked her dry swollen lips. "I'm so thirsty Jack."
He got up and fetched a skin of water, holding it to her lips with his arm supporting her shoulders. She drank eagerly, feeling the fresh cold water refresh her. Finishing, she concluded, "They could be anywhere in the English realm, come to think of it."
"Maybe even in our own home?" Jack wondered.
Tears spilled from her eyes. "No...he burned it to the ground."
Jack felt yet another blow added to him by this detestable man. His mind raced, plotting how he could gather information about where his children might be and how to find and kill the Commodore. "Well, we've got to find them! Before he does manage to indoctrinate them against pirates."
Amazingly, Sarah chuckled. "I have little fear of anyone turning those children against pirates Jack."
He raised his eyebrows skeptically. "They're young and impressionable."
He looked at him with wide eyes. "Jack Sparrow, do you not know?"
"Know what?"
"That you sire hellions." She chuckled again. "It's the Commodore that will need rescuing, not our young impressionable pirate babies."
She coughed weakly, small body shaking. She was so weak, and talking was draining her. Jack held her up again for more water, and she slumped exhausted into him. He held her close, his mind working feverishly to come up with a plan.
"Try the compass." Her voice was a husk.
"Well, there's a problem there love. Compass hasn't worked proper since me encounter with Calypso."
"Let me try." She struggled to sit up. He gave it to her with renewed hope. She held it, thinking longingly of her two precious ones, and flipped it open.
Just as for him, it pointed. North. "Oh my!" she was crestfallen.
Despite the care that had been taken in dressing her lashes, they became infected and Sarah became feverish. When she began a deep wracking cough with horrible efforts to breath after each one, Jack consulted again with Norton.
"She's got pneumonia Captain sir. I'm sorry, but I cannot cure her with the supplies I have available. I was only an student, not fully graduated, before I turned pirate," he explained, eyes downcast and shamed.
"Not your fault mate. After all, this is not exactly the same as setting broken legs, sewing up gashes, and treating scurvy, is it?" Jack was rueful.
Norton looked up at his captain with relief. He felt terrible that he could do so little for Miss Sarah. "You'd best take her to a better doctor than me, if you know of one."
In fact, Jack did, and he ordered them to Shipwreck Cove. Explaining to Gibbs, "There's a man there what healed me twice. Once when I was shot, and the other time..." he trailed off and looked broodingly off, fingers tracing the scars along his inner wrist.
Captain's duties kept him busy, but whenever he could he went to her and held her. Sometimes her fevers were so intense his skin felt burned by contact with her. She would occasionally get delirious, and call her children's names, arms reaching for them desperately.
At any of those times, Jack would get a cold washcloth and bathe her face and arms, talking to her soothingly. Once, she tried to get out of bed, and Jack had to restrain her. She mistook him for Beckett, and struggled with great fear. That brought the bloodlust back for him.
The Pearl made excellent time to their destination, and soon they were through the Devil's Throat. He wrapped Sarah in a blanket and carried her to the longboat. Joshua insisted on doing his duty by her and rowed them in.
The cooler air of the South China sea revived her somewhat and she was lucid as Jack lifted her in his arms once the boat docked. She locked her arms around his neck.
The Captain was surprised to see who greeted him in Shipwreck City. "Father, what are you doing here?"
Sarah heard this and turned her head as a deep, rolling voice answered, "What've you got there, Jackie?"
She looked into a face that beneath the wrinkles and scars was as beautiful as Jack's. She tried to smile as she brought one hand away from her grip on Jack, unable to resist the charismatic pull.
"My greatest treasure," Jack answered.
"You're a pretty darling, aren't you?" Captain Teague spoke to Sarah, taking her hand and kissing it gently. His eyes widened slightly when he beheld the ring she wore. He lifted his head and smiled into her face, disarmed by this sweetheart in his son's arms.
She tried to speak, but was overcome by a wracking cough and sudden, bone rattling chills. "If you'd be so kind as to fetch Doc Baker for me." Jack brushed by his father and walked with confidence to a room on a ship he remembered well. It was his mother's.
Chapter Twenty - Pirate Doctor
Sarah quickly became lost with all the twists and turns Jack made. She gazed upwards at the underside of hulls, saw various anchors and even ship's wheels. Another coughing spasm put her into a grey twilight by the time Jack laid her on a soft bed.
Voices spoke over her, Jack's being one of them so she knew she was protected. Something wet and deliciously warm was put to her lips and she swallowed. Her eyes cleared to show her a man bent over her. A man with half moon spectacles, wild tufts of grey hair all over his head, and a brown waistcoat.
"Hmmm," he murmured. "Hyssop. Goldenrod, I should think. Yes." He rubbed his chin. "Willowbark for fever and pain, mhm."
Then Jack's hands were on her. "Roll over darling"
She felt her back being bared, then more. Jack kept his palm splayed on the back of her neck and it was the comfort of that touch she clung to. Light fingers traced the welts on her back, then a quick examination down lower.
"Stop!" Her cry was piercing and she rose up to get away. Jack did not even try to keep her still, but it was already over.
"A poultice of iris root, with calendula, followed by comfrey. Should heal up nicely." He must be a doctor, Sarah thought. "The other will heal with time."
Whatever he gently smeared all over her flaming back felt cold and so good. He helped her sit up and gave her something pungent to drink, telling her firmly to swallow it all. He bent down to Sarah again. "Young lady, I'll want you to lie on your stomach or your side until your back heals. Yes?" She nodded, and he left with a brief handshake to Jack.
Gingerly she rolled onto her side. Jack was setting his effects on a walnut dresser. He settled on the bed facing her and took her into his arms. Feeling secure, she slept.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Richard stepped into the nursery for his daily inspection and surveyed the room. The nanny sat in a far corner, looking disdainfully at the two children dominating center stage. The boy sat in a chair tilted back on two legs, carving slices of apple which he then fed to the little girl sitting on the table. Jam smeared both her cheeks, and a cup of juice had spilled on her own chair.
The boy glanced sullenly in his direction, and made a great show of slicing the fruit with the pearl handled dagger he held. Richard grimaced. Moviing close to the nanny, he spoke to her in low tones. "That child should not have a blade. Take it from him."
"Ha! You can do it yourself then. I'll not risk being stabbed." She crossed her arms over her chest and sniffed. "Never seen such a pair as those two! You already know about the time he tied me to my own chair! All he speaks is threats about 'when his father comes.'" And the girl! She kicks like a mule anytime I try to get near her. You don't pay me enough for this!"
He was at a loss. "Well...keep trying with them. Surely the bad influence that's already been worked on them will fade in time, and we can make useful citizens out of these poor unfortunates." The nanny looked unconvinced.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
For a day and a half all Sarah knew was her back being cooled by a deliciously aromatic salve, a pungent tea that loosened her tight chest and eased her cough, and Jack's arms around her. The bed was soft beneath her, and her fingers felt the lace edge of the blanket.
She woke from pleasant heaviness to mid afternoon light, though she did not realize the time. Jack was absent. Sarah let her eyes rove about her, for the first time her fever had faded enough to let her be completely aware. And where she was clearly was a woman's room.
Feminine touches were everywhere. Soft rugs covered the wood of the floor, three paintings of obvious French origin graced the walls. The dresser was painted a soft lavender, and the top was arranged with perfume bottles, pots of makeup, other clearly womanly items.
What she found most striking, and what her eyes returned to again and again, was the beaded leather dress hung opposite the foot of the bed. Whose was it? Where was the occupant now? The air had a still, unoccupied quality that suggested this place had been empty quite some time. (Indian dress)
While she contemplated, the door opened a bit to admit Jack, Joshua, and the grey haired man. He beamed at her over the half moon spectacles. Jack looked upset, Joshua seemed amused.
"Feeling better, my dear? You mayn't recall my name, but I am Doc Baker. Let's take a look at how you're progressing under my care."
While he inspected her back, she propped herself up on her elbows and looked at the other two men. Her husband was flicking his hands at the door and looking as if he smelled something distasteful. "What's wrong?" she asked.
It was her manservant that answered. "It seems there's a crowd of pirates outside the door." He seemed quite gleeful about it. "Word's gone around that Jack Sparrow brought a beautiful woman here."
Jack looked very uncomfortable. Sarah looked amazed. Joshua went on. "Even some of the women are gathered, and every time any of us comes or goes, they all press forward trying to catch a glimpse of you."
"Aye," Jack said ruefully, plopping himself into a chair. "I'll have to take ye out of here pig-a-back, brandishing my sword to clear a path!"
All but he had a good chuckle out of that. Doc Baker said briskly, "You're healing up nicely, Miss. I think I'll leave off the bandages now. And tomorrow you can get up and sit in the window a bit. Get some sunshine."
"Thank you very much. I will enjoy that." Sarah smiled at him as she shifted around on the pillows. "Might I ask you, how you came to be doctoring here?"
Doc Baker was quiet a moment as he packed up the various dried roots, flowers, and powders he used. At last he said, "Even pirates need doctors. And a man like me, who deals in God's honest medicine instead of powdered unicorn horn, extract of toad's tongue, and leeches, get accused of all sorts of bizarre things. In fact," he snapped his black bag shut and stood up, "I was nearly burned at the stake for being a warlock. If not for Captain Teague, I would be ashes."
Late that night Sarah woke, in Jack's arms which was usual. He seemed rather restless. A frown marred his forehead. She ran her fingers through his luxurious, beautiful hair. He moaned, hands tightening on her waist.
He was so warm and alive against her body. She kissed him, feeling him wake in the middle of it. Then he was delving one hand through her hair as well, and pulling her even closer. Sarah pressed her leg between his thighs until her leg nested between and she felt the bulge under his breeches growing harder.
The kiss became deeper, hungrier. He pushed his tongue back and forth in her mouth. Their breathing quickened. Jack's hand moved around and grasped her hip.
(Beckett squeezed her hips brutally hard until she cried out, but it did not stop him as he-)
Sarah whimpered and jerked backwards. Jack instantly stiffened and rolled away from her. He lay on his back, head turned away from her, hands fisted at his side.
Bereft, Sarah curled around herself, mourning the loss of his warmth.
The next morning, she tossed restlessly on the bed. "Right about now, Teague would be wanting to climb a tree, and I'd be hard pressed to keep Mary from staining her dress on the grass," she mumbled. Heaving a sigh, she tried hard not to think of what her children might be thinking.
Jack was sprawled on the overstuffed chair in the corner, fingers tented on his forehead. "We'll find them Sarah. Whatever it takes, I promise!"
She shoved at the pillows behind her head and plucked restlessly at the spread. Joshua opened the door. "You have a visitor Sarah. Captain Teague requests to see you."
Teague himself stepped in, and pushed the door shut behind him. Jack leaped to his feet.
"Easy Jackie," came that booming yet somehow soothing tone. "I came to pay my respects." He turned to Sarah and bowed over her extended hand.
"Miss Sarah, I'm glad to see you looking so well," he said smoothly. Jack rolled his eyes when he saw his wife blush and dimple at him.
The Code Keeper drew up a chair, still holding Sarah's hand. "I thought you might enjoy a pirate tale."
"Oh yes please!" Sarah exclaimed with delight, sounding girlish.
"I know a tale of Calypso. A woman, a goddess, as changing and harsh and untameable as the sea. Like a woman, she kept many trinkets." Captain Teague tapped her ring meaningfully and finally let go of her hand.
"Over time, the trinkets were given away and a few were even pilfered. Yet they all lived on in Calypso's memory."
Sarah rested her head back, eyes half closed. She could listen to his voice for hours. Jack sat down and listened, also caught up in the tale.
"Now, if a woman were so lucky as to possess one of Calypso's trinkets, well, she would have a special dispensation. If such a woman called on the goddess and showed her a kindness, why then she could beg a favor of Calypso. The goddess is lonely and wants company. It is why she tricked Odysseus to stay with her for seven years. She would do any favour, for a kindness. From a woman."
Silence greeted him. Teague savored the stunned looks on Jack and Sarah's faces. He knew he'd done well.
Chapters 21 - 25
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Date: 2008-04-24 06:27 pm (UTC)**waiting impatiently for more**
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Date: 2008-04-24 09:11 pm (UTC)