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Chapter Nine: Bosun vs. Swab
It was the next morning and the only thing the Flying Dutchman’s bosun could think about was the dark skinned girl in the bowls of the ship. Jimmylegs wasn’t ashamed to admit that it had been decades since he had seen a woman let alone touch one. He would go back in his memory and feel the soft and tender touch of a woman and having such pleasures of the wenches in Tortuga and Singapore but those thoughts never lasted and he would be damned if something stood in his way now.
“She will be mine.” he thought to himself and a malicious grin spread across his sharp features
The reminder of the long absence caused the normally moody bosun to become as unpredictable as a caged tiger. Which meant that he had his whip ready to go and was using it on any of the crewmembers for any reason.... excluding Jones and the first mate Maccus.
His latest victim was the conch shell headed Cantonese deck hand named Hadras. It wasn’t that the man wasn’t doing anything or doing something he was not suppose to but just the fact that he was chatting away like there was no tomorrow, and to no one particular. But Jimmylegs heard everything that the man said and it annoyed him greatly.
So without warning the bosun turned around and hit the base of the mans head with the butt of his whip handle and resulting in the disembodied head to go spinning into the air with a shriek of “ANIEDO!!!” as it disappeared into the darkness of the hold.
Down in the Dutchman’s hold it is dampened by the sea water, smells of the sea life that occupies it and is lit by the eerie lantern bearers that morphed into the hull over their long sentence. The head of the dismembered deck hand fell, rolled and spun down steps, past barrels and crates encrusted in sea life till it stopped by slamming into the hull. From Hadras’ resting place he could hear the low murmur of hushed voices.
If one peered into the inky blackness of the hold three figures could be seen hunched over a crate with a feeble candle flickering in the dark.
“So what are we gonna do bout the lil lass down below?” came the gruff voice of Clanker.
“This is the first time Cap’n ever let a female on the Dutchman...” started the ships coxswain Koleniko but was cut off by Clanker
“Let alone pressgang a girl onto this ship, then throw her in the brig. Normally he kills anything female. Never lets us have any fun.” the deck hand grumbled
“Don’t talk like that.” came the third figures worn voice. “Tis not how you speak of a girl.”
Clanker tipped his hat over his face to hide his shame. The curse of their debt had never allowed such contact between man and woman, thats why the fact the young girl in the brig being on the Dutchman was such a big deal.
“Well its completely out o’ the Captain’s normal way o’ things.” Koleniko put in.
“Aye” replied Bootstrap. “This is quite strange coming frem Jones.”
“It just ain’t right, says I.” Clanker said setting his firm fist on the table.
“Well I think it’s a grand thing havin such a purty thing on board” Hadras piped up after listening to the dull conversation.
But no one even seemed to acknowledge him until his head was sitting in Clanker’s lap and all the men starring at the bosun with slightly startled expressions.
“So ye slackers are debating over something that already belongs ta me?” he hissed “Well if any of yew men go near that cell ye’r gonna wish ye had leather for hide when Im done with you.”
The men sat there with pained expression, none moving a muscle, that was until Bootstrap stood up and faced Jimmylegs.
“Whats gonna keep any o’ us men frem doin what yer accusin’ us o’ doin?” he asked in a stone hard tone.
The bosun clenched his fists and barred his sharp fangs. He hadn’t expected anyone to stand up to him, well Maccus maybe but the swab? He must of been going insane. Soon the coxswain and deck hand left the hold with a large conch shelled hermit crab scuttling after them, all in a frenzy to get out of the room with the two sparring men that faced each other.
As if on cue both men pulled out old sea encrusted mugs and sat down at the crate and slamming them down on the surface. It was settled. They would play for the first amount of time with the girl.
The bosun wanting her for his personal pleasure, the swab wishing to offer her friendship, protection and knowledge.
Jack Sparrow stood at the helm of the Black Pearl with compass in hand. It kept spinning in all directions, though this time the Captain knew what he wanted most. His child. Looking back on the past 48 hours Jack recalled the events leading up to Jessa’s eventual death.
The day the Pearl landed on Isla Pelegostas he’d gone out into the woods to relieve himself but had quickly discovered that there were more than just pirates on the island. The natives seemed kindly enough for they quickly declared Jack as their new chief and decided to throw a feast for him. After hunting down his crew for the cookout, with them as the main course, Jack was relieved that Jessa had not been among them. But the next morning when he awoke they came back hauling a young cocoa skin colored girl tied to a pole like a slain deer!
He’d begun trying to convince them that she was a nymph of the woods and that she should be let go or the god inside would be furious. But did they believe him? Not at all. They told him that the girl, his Jessa, was a sea nymph! A child of Calypso, so she was was destined for the Sea only. So they bound her wrists and ankles, tied her in a net and set her adrift in small boat while the ocean was preparing for the biggest storm Jack had ever seen! So to Jack it was plain to see his daughter was... dead.
Jessa’s eyes fluttered open yet she couldn’t tell if she was awake ore still asleep in the deep bowls of the Dutchman’s brig. She stretched herself out and whinced. She remembered curling herself up into a tight ball and she must of kept in that form the whole time she slept, and now she was paying the price. After a few minutes of looking around the area and adjusting her eyes to see fairly well Jessa stood up and began going around the small cell.
As she began her fifth circuit she sneezed. ‘Odd’ she thought. She didnt think the fishy dampness of the brig would cause her to react in such a way. The only things that ever made her sneeze was her mothers incense and the smoke it created. Jessa breathed in deeply and began coughing and trying to get rid of the putrid smell of... pipe tobacco?
Her unspoken question was soon answered by the movement of a darker shadow and a hallow ‘thunk’ every other heartbeat. Now she could feel the pipe smoke and almost see the blue tinge as the Dutchman’s Captain came up to the cell door.
Neither the Captain or Jessa moved or spoke, Jessa figured he was down here to evaluate her for what her ship duties should be. One that would bring the most physical strain on her. So she moved to the farthest corner of the cell, not knowing that even in the dark Jones could see her as if it was daylight.
But for Davy Jones the only reason he was down in the brig, at her cell was because he was interested in her. He wanted answers to why she seemed familiar in more than one way. He figured the answer was in her facial features, he noticed her sharp angular chin and nose. The image of a infamous toothy grin flashed through his mind, he could see it on the girls face easily.
“So... ye lied.” he said matter of factly while letting out a puff of smoke in her direction.
Jones smiled satisfactorily when the girls head snapped up in his direction, her expression was full of fear.
“I... I don’t know what your talking about.” she said quitely.
Jones smirked, it was obvious she hadn’t inherited her fathers false tongue. He watched her squirm under his stare. Even though she couldn’t truly see him he knew she could feel him staring at her intently, and it was obvious she wasn’t going to be saying anything more on the topic.
“Did ye inherit yer mother’s stubborn streak? Or was that yer pirate father’s other gift to you?”
As the seconds passed by Jessa’s fear grew. Did he know Jack was her father? If so... how had he found that out? She knew she hadn’t said anything about it, in fact she’d declared herself as an orphan.
“Answer me!” Jones shouted.
Though she couldn’t see the fuming captain, Jessa went to the cell door and glared at him intently
“Sir my stubborn streak is my own, it does not belong to either of my dead parents.” she said defensively
“Is that so... well if ye ask me Miss Sparrow, I believe yer a pack o’ lies”
 Irish Pirate Queen · Sat Jul 28, 2007 @ 12:43am · 0 Comments |
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