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Fine Turner Blood
BY: Missfortune*** Will looked down at the port as
thought it was a place that he'd
never seen before. Of course that was untrue, as he'd lived there for a good part of his life. He'd left the familiar waters to set off for adventures on the high seas with Captain Jack Sparrow. Adventure wasn't the only thing that he'd found out at sea. He'd also found a lover and constant companion in the flamboyant and charismatic captain of the Black Pearl. Now after nearly four years at sea during which they'd visited Europe, Africa, India and Asia, he had finally returned to Port Royal. "Ye ready to face it?" Jack asked coming up behind his lover. "'Course I am. I've faced far worse than some small port town." Will said nodding his head. The motion caused the bangles and braids in his sun-lightened hair to jingle merrily. There were trinkets from every stop of their journey represented. Shells, coins, beads, bones, coral and stones were all strung, braided and tied into his hair. One braid in particular stood out. It held a stamped replica of the cursed coins that once haunted the Black Pearl. Jack had one exactly like it just as prominently displayed. Along with the rings they both wore it was a sign of the commitment they'd made as well as the mutual dangers they'd faced together. "Well then, let's get in there and stir up some trouble." Jack took Will's hand and began to lead him down the beach toward the city of Port Royal. They'd left the Black Pearl in Tortuga under Gibbs' capable hands and under Anna Maria's shrewd eye while they made their little trip to the port city. They seemed to be wanted everywhere these days and it was best not to tempt the navy by sailing right into their hands. The crew deserved a real good rest after their long tour at sea. They needed time for stories about them to cool back down into whispered rumors and the pursuit of their ship calm down. Soon, the Black Pearl would sail and loot again, but for now it was safely docked while Jack took Will to Port Royal. The two men strolled into the bustling streets, their step never wavering, nor their fingers untangling as they were jostled by the crowds. To Will it seemed as if nothing had changed. It was still the busy port city that it had always been. A myriad of faces appeared and disappeared in the crowds and the babble of voices came in multiple tongues, not all of which he could identify, though he'd picked up some new ones at sea. Many of the same shops were still housed in the same storefronts, though it looked as if the Blacksmith's shop had a new and more productive smithy manning the hammer. Jack was just going to suggest that they find the nearest source of rum when something small ran into his leg. He paused and looked down to see a small girl staring up at him in awe. "Daddy! Daddy! A pirate!" she squealed, pointing at Jack with excitement. "Helen! Helen come back here!" a harried voice called as a man burst through the crowd to scoop up the girl. "How many times do I have to tell you not to run off like that!" he chided. "I'm terribly sorry," he said looking up before he suddenly froze. Jack looked at the man and his kohl lined eyes widened. "Bootstrap!" he yelled in synch with and equally surprised exclamation of "Cap'n Sparrow!" Beside Jack Will's fingers tightened around his own as he stared at the man that was his father, long thought dead and gone. "I thought you were dead!" Jack and Bootstrap cried in unison once more. "Bill? Helen! Where are you?" A female voice called through the crowd that was still moving around them. "Mommy!" the child in Bootstrap Bill's arms cried happily. Soon a young pregnant woman waddled up beside the man and child. "There you are." "Elizabeth?" Will exclaimed dumbfounded, his voice going up a pitch in surprise. "Will! Jack!" Elizabeth looked at the pair of them in shock. "Is that really you?" "Las' time I checked." Jack grinned. Their attention was diverted as someone shoved Will from behind and he stumbled into Jack. The pirate captain steadied him and managed to catch hold of the person who'd pushed him, neatly nicking the purse from his grubby hand. "Not today mate," he said with a dangerous toothy grin. The gangly young pickpocket squirmed from Jack's grasp and ran off into the masses. "Come with me," Elizabeth ordered. "We can't all stand around on the street gaping like fish. We'll never find anything out." With a determined stride she lead the men down the streets towards the harbor. Soon enough they were standing on the deck of a large merchant vessel once more staring at each other. "It's been quite a while," Elizabeth said as she sat in a deck chair that Bootstrap procured for her. "I've gone on and become an honest woman now." Elizabeth grinned and showed them her ring. Jack cast a glance between her and Bootstrap and she nodded at him. "I'm Mrs. Bootstrap Bill Turner." "Mrs. Bootstrap Bill Turner?" Will echoed in shock, staring first at her and then at the father he barely remembered. The resemblance between them was very obvious though Will was younger and a little brighter where Bootstrap carried his years with the quiet dignity of one who'd seen his fair share. "That's right. And that scamp over there," Elizabeth gestured to the girl running around the deck with a small wooden sword, "is 'Hurricane' Helen Turner. Your half-sister Will." "My...my half-sister?" Will looked a little pale under his tan and Jack moved to support him just as his knees gave out. "Well now, tha's interesting," Jack said lightly as he held up Will and looked at the former crewmate he'd thought was dead. "So tell me then, when did this all happen?" He waved his free hand between the two of them and at Helen. "About six months after you left a merchant sailed into town looking for a certain blacksmith's apprentice. His name was Bill Turner but sadly he was informed that he'd come too late for the one he sought had run off with a pirate! Seeing as I had known him best, Mr. Turner was sent up for tea with me. So pleasant did we find each other's company that rarely did we leave it. Soon he'd asked for my hand and not long after we'd wed. Now we live on the ship. I get the adventure I crave along with the stability a proper lady needs." Elizabeth beamed at them. "And what about you then?" Jack nodded towards Bootstrap. "Why aren't you dead?" "The curse. Took me almost a year to walk to land from the middle of the ocean, but I did it. Once I got back to England, I made a fresh start with honest trading and built up a good business. When I found that the curse had been broken, I came out here in hopes of finding my son. Knew he'd had something to do with it all but I'd thought him dead. I was disappointed not to find him here, but I found something else instead." Bootstrap looked at Elizabeth and she smiled back. "That was us then. What have you two knaves been up to?" "Been piratin' o' course. Plunder and pillage we do. Traveled back to Jolly 'ol England then down to Spain. Went to Africa and 'round the cape. Spent time up in India and over in Asia and now we're back again in the lovely Caribbean." Jack nodded to himself. "That's a nice story, but it's not what I meant." Elizabeth's grin grew devious as her eyes took in just how Jack was holding Will and the bright tropical sun glinting off the plain gold band on his finger. The same gold band that matched the one on Will's finger. Jack grinned. "All right you meddlesome wench. If ye must know he's my faithful cabin boy." "Jack!" Will growled, finally coming out of his shock-induced stupor. "What? You didn't like that story either? How 'bout this one? He's my first mate, last mate and only mate these days." Jack gave Will a handsome grin as he squeezed his waist firmly. Elizabeth grinned. "I knew it! What did I tell you Bootstrap? I do believe you owe me! One hundred gold pieces and no rum for a month!" She crowed triumphantly. Jack looked scandalized. "No rum for a month?" Bootstrap nodded. "We put a bet down on it. 'Liz said ye'd get together for keeps. I thought the Jack Sparrow I knew was too much a scalawag to settle down with anyone other than his precious Black Pearl. 'A course she won. Fine man that can tame that Jack Sparrow. Fine man you are Will. Glad to see it." Will nodded, finally seeming to come around to the situation. "If you were alive all this time, why didn't you come to find me?" Bootstrap frowned. "Story back in England was of no survivors on that ship the Pearl sacked. I thought ye dead and didn't know otherwise till ye broke the curse. 'Sides, what kinda father would a cursed ex- pirate make?" Will shrugged. "More than what I had, but I understand." Jack grinned. "Good man my Will. Real forgiving when he wants to be." Jack clapped his lover on the back. "So what brings you to Port Royal?" Elizabeth asked. "We're lying low we are." Jack explained. "In Port Royal? The Caribbean base of her majesty's royal navy? Are ye mad?" Bootstrap looked at the men in disbelief. "Well really we came to look for Elizabeth. Come to see if you'd married old Norrington." Will finally spoke without prompting, sending a teasing grin his old friend's way. "Norrington? Oh no! I'd be fish food at the bottom of the sea before I married that man. Well off he may be, but he has only others in his mind and no room in his heart. He thinks only of what people will say, what they will do, how they will react and yet has no concern at all for their feelings. He'd have tried to lock me up in his house and only let me out for public appearances. You know I couldn't have taken that. So when Bootstrap came along, it was wonderful. He's a lot like Will, with a bit of Jack mixed in and his own person. He's charming and kind and my father approved because he was an upstanding man. He said that any man that had fathered Will Turner was a man fit to marry me." Elizabeth grinned as she tugged on Bootstrap's hand. "Your father said that? About mine?" Will looked as she nodded. "Ah...isn't he a bit old for you?" He finally blurted out what he'd felt the need to say almost from the beginning. Jack chuckled and Bootstrap actually seemed to blush. Elizabeth grinned. "Well, he's younger than Norrington by a year or so. And what about your choice of partner Will?" "Jack isn't that old." Will argued, ignoring Jack's outraged 'oi!' at the "that" part. "Just like rum, he's aged just right wouldn't you say love?" Will smirked at Jack, who knew he was only getting back for the earlier cabin boy comment. "I suppose that's so then. And what does that make you scamp?" "A fresh pure sip of water." Will replied making Jack bark with laugher. "Pure? Me Will! Are ye not the one that memorized that Indian love manual? I've met whores less adventurous in the bunk than you. Pure water indeed!" Jack snorted. Will's face heated up to a fine red blush as he looked between Elizabeth and his father. He might have grown more adventurous, but Jack still knew how to bring that hated blush to his cheeks. Elizabeth laughed. "Jack you're as terrible as ever I see. At least we know you're keeping our Will in line." "Aye, Will's in line, but who's keeping you?" "Why nobody of course. She does what she pleases and pleases to do what she does." Bootstrap said with an amused glance towards his young wife who nodded in agreement. "Wouldn't expect nothin less of Ms. Swann, Mrs. Turner now." Jack grinned. "And what of your little imp?" He asked as he caught sight of the girl standing behind her father, staring at Will and himself. "Little Helen lives up to her nickname. She's a right terror our little Hurricane is." Bootstrap grinned proudly as he picked up the girl and hoisted her onto his shoulder. "Argh!" She said waving her little sword around. "I'm a pirate!" "Aye, and a good one at that. Just keep it up and soon you'll be a fine pirate like your brother Will." Jack gave the girl a wink. "Will?!" She exclaimed in surprise. "Yes sweetie. That is your brother Will." Elizabeth nodded. Helen squiggled around to be let down. "Liz has been telling her all about you. She's wanted to meet you for the longest, you and Jack." Bootstrap explained as he set down the wiggling girl who bounded up to Will immediately. "Will my brother?" the small girl asked looking up at Will in wonder. Will studied the small girl with wavy honey brown hair and big brown eyes. She wore a blue dress marked with small grubby handprints and carried her wooden sword in a small belt at her waist. All in all she was one of the cutest children he'd ever seen. "Yes, I'm Will your brother," he smiled crouching down to her level. "Will you play pirates with me?" She asked her eyes widening in excitement. "If your mother says that's okay we can play pirates and go pillaging. How does that sound?" Helen spun and looked at her mother as though was about to burst. "Mommy! Can I pillage with Will?!" "Yes sweetie, go pillage with Will, but don't take him too far." She said with a wink to Will. Will nodded as the small girl cheered and dragged Will below the decks to find plunder. "Do you think we should tell him what a handful she is?" Bootstrap asked his wife. "No, he'll figure it out on his own." Elizabeth grinned as she stretched out in her chair. "Now now Elizabeth dear, it wasn't fair of you to steal my Will like that. Now he'll be ruled over by that tiny terror and have no energy left in him tonight." "How about a trade dear Jack. You may have my Bill in return for your Will and you two may catch up while Helen plays with her brother. Is that a deal?" Jack looked thoughtful before he nodded with a grin. "Sounds savvy. Let's go Bootstrap me man!" Jack captured Bootstrap's arm and began to drag him off the ship. "And no rum!" Elizabeth called back. "Yes Cap'n Elizabeth Sir!" Jack called back before rambling into song. "We're devils and black sheep, really bad eggs. Drink up, me 'earties, yo ho!" ~*~ "Ahoy matey," Elizabeth whispered as she snuck up on the hammock that had been strung in Helen's room. He and his small half-sister were peacefully lying in the gently swaying net. Helen was curled up on his chest fast asleep. She had a ragged red cloth binding her hair back and a small braid at her temple that dangled a round metal coin. Will yawned as he opened his eyes, his hand slowly moving over his sister's back. "Avast me hearty." Will murmured quietly. "Did she wear you out brother Will?" Elizabeth smiled as she toyed with the little braid in her daughter's hair. "Hurricane Helen is a good name for her." Will slowly sat up, cradling the small girl to his chest. "Yes, she is a handful, but then what did you expect from my daughter? And as your sister she's got that same pirate blood running through her veins. She's barely four and the sea already calls to her just like it called to you that day you followed Jack off the wall." Elizabeth relieved him of his burden and carried her daughter to her bunk where she stripped the girl out of her grubby dress and changed her into a clean nightgown. "It didn't help that you pushed me." Will muttered. "I was doing you a favor dear William. If you'd have stayed here in Port Royal you would have been a miserable man and we both know it. It was better off this way for all involved. See, I even netted my own Turner instead of that stuffy Norrington." Elizabeth grinned as she tucked Helen into bed and then kissed her on the forehead. "Can you see him raising a child like Helen? Of course not, he'd try to make her into a proper lady just like he'd do to me. I wouldn't have survived it and she would have suffered under his rule." "I'm happy for you then." "How do you feel about it Will? I know it's a shock. Me and your father. You thought he was dead and gone and now he isn't. Not only isn't he dead but he's gone off and married me and fathered my children. This one's going to be a boy I think." Elizabeth rubbed her round stomach and smiled wistfully. "I think I'll name him Collin. Collin Turner." "Oh yes, then he can have a nice nickname like 'Cut-throat Collin'. Has a nice ring to it don't you think?" "Oh stop Will. And what exactly is your nickname then? As a pirate I'm sure you have at least one, so let's hear it." Elizabeth turned on him with a smirk. "What do they call you out there on the sea? What have you earned yourself a reputation for? One-stroke William? Blacksmith Bill? There's got to be something?" "They call him Sparrow's Shadow." Elizabeth jumped and turned to find Jack leaning in the doorway, Bootstrap just outside the door. She hadn't even heard them come in. "Sparrow's Shadow? Why? Because he follows you around?" "He's always with me. Can't get one without the other and if you threaten me, well let's just say that it's the last thing you'll do. And vice versa." Jack moved into the room and wrapped his arms around Will, giving him a good grope while he was at it. Elizabeth stared at the men, not so much due to their display of affection as much as the small piece of information about their lives. It was true that they were pirates and not everything about a pirate's life was as glamorous as she'd once imagined. However, to hear Jack speak like that, it unsettled her. Of course they killed people that was what pirates did. Robbing and pillaging and making a living off the goods of others, but she usually managed to block out that part of the career and focus on the mythical sea journey and adventure. Bootstrap took Elizabeth's hand and turned towards the other two. "It is long since time to sleep, would you both stay here for the night? We will provide a cabin." "Sounds good to me. And you Will?" Will nodded and soon the pirates were standing in a fine guest cabin not far from the family's cabin. Jack looked around the room. It was certainly a fine cabin with the brass lamp holder mounted on the wall and the carved desk anchored to the floor. The bunk was made up with fine linen sheets, a warm looking blanket and feather pillows. Will threw himself onto the feathered mattress with a sigh. "The little Hurricane wear you out, love?" Jack asked nudging his lover over so he could sit on the bed. "She's certainly a handful. We plundered the kitchens for crackers and cheese and then we pillaged her room where Bootstrap hid a box of treasure for her. It was a toy chest with play coins and small trinkets. It seems that they hide it periodically and provide her with a map. She's a really bright child. I didn't know Elizabeth that young, but I respect her father even more seeing what a handful Helen is." Will looked up at Jack, who was running his fingers over the opening of Will's shirt, tracing invisible designs on the tanned patch of skin. "Suppose if we had an rascal or our own they'd be just like that Helen." Jack grinned. "And that's why it's good we'll never have them." Will groaned as he covered his eyes with his arm. "Don't want to be a daddy, love? That's fine, we can just spoil Helen rotten to exasperate her parents." Jack chuckled as he moved Will's arm away from his face and leaned down to brush their lips together. "Are ye okay with all this? Bootstrap and Elizabeth?" Will nodded slowly. "I knew when we came back that she'd have found somebody. I just wanted them to be good enough for her. I'm glad that she's happy, even if it's with my father. That's just strange to say, I hardly even know him and now he's married one of my best friends." "Well now maybe ye can get a chance to know him. We can spend some time here if ye want. Seems they'll not be moving on again until Elizabeth has delivered her next child." Jack's hands had slid under the light shirt Will wore and was taking in more of the warm golden skin with his fingertips. "Suppose we can stay for a while, but next time you entertain Helen and I'll go off with Bootstrap. Deal?" Will sat up and shrugged out of his shirt, the charms in his hair giving a little jingle. "Deal," Jack grinned pressing Will back onto the bed and letting his lips graze Will's skin. Will chuckled. "I hope you know what you're getting yourself into," he purred as he looked up at Jack. "Oh I think I might have some idea." Jack husked back before pouncing on his lover. ~*~ Jack had gotten hold of a few pieces of wire and twisted them into vague circular shapes. A piece of soap and a little water transformed the plain items into something that was providing a lot of wonder for little Helen. She was chasing swirling bubbles across the decks of the Governor's Daughter as Elizabeth sat out in her deck chair beneath a large umbrella reading a book. Jack blew the bubbles in a large circle and the girl giggled as she tried to grab hold of the illusive suds. Will and Bootstrap were standing at the bow of the ship overlooking the port. "Tell me then, how is traveling with Jack?" Bootstrap asked, turning to his son. "It's never dull, that's for sure. What between the sailing and pirating and our adventures in port I've not much time to sit back and be bored." Will turned to look at the man that was his father. He could tell now that he did take after his father with the same shape face, similar eyes and mouth. Bootstrap's nose was a bit bigger and broken in two places where it had healed a little off. They were of a similar build both tall, but Bootstrap had a little more bulk and muscle to his body compared to Will's leaner frame. Bootstrap's hair was dark brown with a slight wave but it had been cut short and Will could just see the beginnings of a few gray hairs mixed in with the darker ones. He definitely had his father's hands, large and capable and just made to hold a sword, one of the reasons he'd been chosen as a Blacksmith's apprentice. Bootstrap nodded and took the chance to study his son in return. The boy had piercing brown eyes like his own staring out a face that was so similar to his own it seemed as if he was looking through a slightly distorted mirror back to his youth. Will looked like him, but bore many features of his mother, like the color of his hair now bleached even lighter by sun. He had his mother's nose and her slender figure as well as her grace and taste of purity. That was what had first attracted him to Will's mother. The fact that no matter what the world threw at her, she still had that fresh taste of purity and he was glad to see that it had passed on to her son. Elizabeth also had that same feeling about her. Despite her run-ins with pirates and her childhood in a governor's house, she still seemed to be untainted by the world and yet quite worldly at the same time. It was something he couldn't resist, but so far those temptations had drawn him in the right direction. Will looked out to the sea and his hair jingled lightly. It seemed that he had taken up Jack's habit of collecting trinkets from his journeys in his hair. He recognized many of the trinkets, a coin from Spain, coral from Africa, glass beads from India, smooth jade stones form China. The one that drew his attention the most was the coin that looked to be one from the cursed chest hanging from a long braid of hair on the left side of his head, just like the one Jack bore. "Why d'ye wear that one, the cursed one in your hair?" Bootstrap finally asked as he leaned back against the rail, looking down on deck to where Helen was making a small rag doll walk off a plank. Jack had stitched up the small doll from a scrap of canvas sail and tied a rope to it. Every time the doll splashed into the water, they hauled it back up on the rope so Helen could terrorize it again. "So we won't forget and get too greedy. We're pirates true, but to take more than you need only means trouble. So we choose carefully. The richest of the rich, the scum of the sea, those are the people we go after and never take more than we need. Most honest sailors have nothing to fear. The other reason is because it brought us together Jack and I. It was our first adventure and something not to be forgotten so easily, so we wear them to remember." Will explained also turning to watch the activities on the deck below. Jack seemed to be having no trouble at all keeping Helen occupied while Elizabeth was able to read a book and the two Turner men conversed. "A good reason, noble even." Bootstrap nodded as they faded into silence once more. Will frowned, finally breaking the silence that had fallen between them. "This is stupid!" Bootstrap jumped at the outburst and looked at his son. "I'm sorry." "No, don't apologize. I just mean that this situation is ridiculous. How about rather than trying to catch up and make up for all the years we lost, let's just agree to be friends and not complicate the matter unnecessarily." Will said turning to him. Bootstrap thought about it for a minute before turning to Will. "You mean you don't want that toy sword I've been saving for you since you were seven?" Will blinked. His face twitched and soon he was laughing along heartily with Bootstrap as they set aside the awkwardness and set about being just friends. They talked for a while about whatever crossed their minds to talk about. The sun had passed its peak when Bootstrap had inquired about Will's skill with a blade. That was how their little duel began. They called down to Jack to keep Helen out of the way as they took out their blades, both examining the sword of the other. Will had a fine blade that he had crafted by himself but Bootstrap's sword was nothing to scoff at either. Elizabeth and Jack, who had Helen on his shoulders, came up and positioned themselves out of the way so they could watch the two men fight. Helen was allowed to give the signal by waving around Jack's hat with an excited cry of "en guarde!" The men circled each other cautiously, each taking in the small nuances of the other's stance. Will attacked first with a few quick swipes to test Bootstrap. They parried back and forth for a bit before beginning to fight in earnest. Their attacks grew more daring and dangerous yet neither was really gaining much of an upper hand as their feet took them back and forth across the deck. A crowd of people seemed to have gathered on the dock beside the boat to watch the spectacle of the two men fighting so skillfully. There were a few shouts from the docks and soon a group of red-coated soldiers were jogging down the docks towards them. There was a commotion as the soldiers made their way onto the ship only to find their way blocked by a plump pregnant woman and a scraggly man with a child on his shoulders wearing an overly large hat while a sword fight continued above. "What is the meaning of this?" Elizabeth demanded, waddling down the stairs. "So it's true then, you are back in port." One of the men separated himself from the others and Elizabeth immediately recognized Commodore Norrington. "We came because there was talk of pirates on the docks. And I can see those rumors are true." Norrington threw a disgusted glance in Jack's direction. "Is there a problem gentlemen?" Bootstrap called from above where he and Will had ended their fight as the soldiers flooded on board. "I had heard rumors, Mr. Turner, that there were pirates about your vessel and I can see that we were not mistaken in coming aboard." Norrington called up to the merchant. "I am sorry Commander Norrington, but there are no pirates on this vessel, merely guests. My son and his partner are paying us a long overdue visit. There is no need for you or your soldiers." Bootstrap called down frostily. "Guests? These men are wanted the seven seas over and yet you harbor them as guests?" Norrington glared up at Bootstrap. He had never liked the man, not only did he father Will Turner, but he was a former pirate that had served under Jack Sparrow. The fact that he had married Elizabeth had only sealed his dislike for the man. "I think you are mistaken sir. My son is a trader. He trades spice in the east. He's on leave as they get their ship repaired from a recent pirate attack." Bootstrap explained as he came down the stairs to stand beside Elizabeth. Will followed and stood next to Jack. "A merchant...recent pirate attack." The look on Norrington's face told them that he knew they were lying. "It's true ye know. Me, I was at the wheel as we sailed down off the coast of Spain when a ship with blood red sails came upon us. It all happened so fast, they took our spices and our gold and when we put up a fight they killed half our crew. Will's dear wife was among them that met their end. Sweet girl she was too, fiery spirit that one. Was run through on a poisoned pirate blade. She kissed him once before she died with a sweet sigh on her lips. We had to tear Will from her and lock him in his cabin as he raged to go after them. Wanted to throw himself on the same blade that killed 'er. It was all very tragic like. Ain't never been the same since then. The grief touched him hard it did, poor lad." Jack explained with some grand sweeps of his hand. Will suddenly buried his face in Jack's chest. Jack wrapped an arm around him as Will's shoulders began to shake. Helen squealed and started petting Will's head from her position on Jack's shoulders. "Bad man! Make brother Will cry!" Helen shouted as big fat tears began to roll down her cheeks. Norrington looked quite dumbstruck as Jack soothed the man in his arms and Bootstrap collected his wailing daughter. Elizabeth glared at him as she helped Bootstrap attempt to soothe Helen. An occasionally harsh sob seemed to come from Will as Jack made calming noises, his hands fluttering over Will's back in some attempt at comfort. "Loved her well. Heart broken he is." Jack said to the nearest soldier who nodded in sympathy. "Are you happy now? You've upset my family for such a silly notion." Elizabeth raged. "I would kindly ask you to leave but I don't feel so kind at the moment so I am ordering you to leave my ship and leave my family be. Do you understand?" "Yes but Elizabeth.." "That's Mrs. Turner to you!" Elizabeth said imperiously looking every inch the governor's daughter. Norrington knew he had no hope to argue against her, she was still the governor's daughter after all. "Mrs. Turner," Norrington replied woodenly, "Please forgive our intrusion, we shall not bother your family again." "See that you don't." She said, turning away from them with a dismissive gesture. Jack watched the cowed man leave. He waited till the soldiers had disappeared back onto land before he burst out into laughter. Will lifted his head from Jack's chest showing cheeks red with laughter as he chuckled against his lover. Elizabeth grinned triumphantly and Helen quieted at the sound of the ringing laughter issuing form Will and Jack. "Did you see the look on his face? That was wonderful Elizabeth dear, simply smashing job." "You too dear Jack. And you Will, when you began to break down it was as if the clouds had up and swallowed the sun from his skies." Elizabeth chuckled. "How could I not with Jack's ridiculous story of pirates and whispered confessions and poisoned swords. Finely crafted tale from a king of liars." Will teased Jack. "Well it got him to leave didn't it?" "Good family effort." Bootstrap said as he bounced Helen who grinned. "Yes, and what a family we make, a merchant, two pirates and the governor's daughter." Elizabeth smiled. "Indeed, quite a team we make. Maybe you should rejoin our crew." Jack teased. "No thanks, I've got quite a handful on my own with my ladies to take care of, don't want any of them run through by poisoned swords you know." Bootstrap commented as he put Helen down and she scampered across the deck. "I don't think either of your ladies would allow such a thing. Anyone foolish enough to attack would find holes in them first." Will commented as Helen picked up her wooden sword and tried to emulate some of the moves she'd seen Will and her father demonstrating earlier. "You're probably right about that." Bootstrap said bemused. "She'll make a fine pirate that little scamp." Jack announced. "And one can never have enough fine Turner blood in one's crew." "Jack, stop stealing my children away." Bootstrap shook his head in amusement as Jack rambled on about what a fine crew he would have if Elizabeth kept having children such as Helen. He had just reached plans for taking over the British Monarchy when Helen hopped up singing. "We're rascals, scoundrels, villains, and knaves. Drink up, me 'earties, yo ho! We're devils and black sheep, really bad eggs. Drink up, me 'earties, yo ho! Yo ho, yo ho, a pirate's life for me!" "That's right, one big lot of bad eggs we are." Jack agreed as he scooped up the girl and settled her on his shoulders and continued the song. "We're beggars and blighters, ne'er-do-well cads. Drink up, me 'earties, yo ho! Aye, but we're loved by our mommies and dads. Drink up, me 'earties, yo ho!" The End |
