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In the Hollow of the Heart	By : bonnyblonde Category: Pirates of the Caribbean (All) > General Views: 6365 -:- Recommendations : 1 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Pirates of the Caribbean nor do I make any money from the publication of this story.

Chapter List
- 9
- 10
- 11
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I cringe when I think of how much time has passed since I last posted a chapter to this little story! I’m sorry, faithful readers, but the delay wasn’t the result of not working on the story, but instead my struggles with my storyline and trying to get my characters where they needed to be. Regardless, here it is…I hope you enjoy it despite the unforgivable delay. First off, thanks to my beta, RF, for burning the midnight oil on this little pirate fantasy…thank God for your diligence and devotion! Secondly, thank you to everyone who reads, reviews and rates, with particular recognition going out to Conni and Lynne for their kindness, a shout-out to battibeff (welcome!) and an apology to Scarlett for inadvertently erasing her review (I suck!). I would promise to get the next chapter out more quickly, but I seem to be falling down on keeping my word on that!
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Chapter 10 – A Turn of the Page
Hector slid stealthily along the wall beside the door as the sound of footsteps grew closer, his pistol gripped firmly in his right hand and the sleek muscles of his chest tensing in readiness. Elizabeth dropped to her knees on the mattress, clutching the covers nervously. She had no doubt that Hector would protect both her and William with his life, but she desperately wished for a second weapon within easy reach so she could aid in her own defence.
As the trespasser reached the landing and started down the hallway, Elizabeth took a rapid mental inventory of all the men she’d boarded in the house over the years; she had been so careful about the type of individual she allowed to reside beneath her roof that she found it difficult to believe any of them would have the gall to invade the sanctity of her home in this way. Her instincts had served her well thus far, and the few who dared cause a commotion had most often been escorted from the premises without incident by Sarah’s father. Even those rare mischief makers had proven more rowdy than dangerous, and she’d not had any trouble for many a month.
The other possibility she was forced to consider was that it was someone from a more distant past...someone who held a grudge against the erstwhile King of the Brethren Court rather than Eliza Turner. It might be a truly dangerous person, inclined to employ sinister methods and possessing a far darker disposition than the occasional rabble-rouser. Despite the pains she had taken to establish her new identity, it was entirely possible that she’d been found out – the Black Pearl’s regular anchorage in Barbados alone would have been more than enough to reveal their presence to her many enemies, never mind the fact that the fearsome Captain Barbossa had let it be widely known amongst the pirate community that Bridgeport was under his personal protection. And yes, their discretion had admittedly waned as the years had passed and nothing untoward had occurred. As it turned out, such complacency might well end up costing them both dearly.
Elizabeth held her breath as the footsteps halted just on the other side of her door. A few moments of agonizing silence followed before the doorknob slowly began to turn, the brass squeaking loudly. At last the door swung open but despite the lateness of the morning, the hallway remained mired in shadow and all she could make out was the silhouette of a man, nothing more than a slightly darker outline against the deep, gloomy background.
“Who are you?” she demanded, sudden anger displacing her paralyzing fear. “How dare you force your way into my home!”
“I‘ve come for the heart,” came back an ominous, hollow whisper. “I know it’s here. Where have you hidden it?”
Her pulse raced and horror pooled in the pit of her stomach at the words that had been spoken. The man who now stood outside her door was demanding the one thing she could never surrender. As devastating as it was to imagine Will Turner spending an eternity at sea, it didn’t compare to the thought of him being at the mercy of the same kind of manipulative whims Cutler Beckett had indulged in when he controlled Davy Jones. And there would be no reason for someone to seek out the heart except to use it for the most diabolical of purposes.
For one brief, agonizing moment, Elizabeth wondered if the man in the hallway wasn’t actually Will Turner himself, rendered almost unrecognizable by the toll that his grim position had taken on him. After all, no one aside from Will knew that she’d been tasked with protecting the heart until his return. She dismissed the thought almost in the same instant – there was just over a year remaining until Will was permitted his single day ashore. It was unlikely that Calypso would waive that condition, considering how determined the goddess had been to keep Will for herself.
But if it wasn’t Will in her house, then who could it be? Perhaps it wasn’t such a stretch to imagine that someone intent in seizing power over the captain of the Flying Dutchman would think to look for her first. Who else would he have trusted to look after such a precious object but the woman he loved? And if she was being honest, it wouldn’t take a genius to see past her carefully crafted back story – ‘Eliza Turner’ wasn’t exactly the cleverest alias ever devised.
“I’m sure I don’t know what you’re talking about!” she retorted imperiously, trying to ignore the sick dread that threatened to break her. “There is nothing for you here and I strongly suggest you leave before I summon the authorities!”
The dim figure shuffled closer to the threshold while Hector remained out of sight, poised and ready to pounce. She had to force herself not to look at her lover; revealing his presence would cost them whatever slight advantage they had. “You’ve kept it well these many years, but the burden is no longer yours to bear,” intoned the stranger, his voice mournful as he gradually stepped forward into the light and revealed himself. “Surrender it to me now and I’ll take my leave of you.”
Just as she was struck by the shocking realization of exactly who stood before her, Hector tackled the man from behind and brought him to the floor with a jarring crash. “Hector, stop!” Elizabeth cried, scrambling off the bed and flying over to the men wrestling on the floor. “Release him! It’s Bill Turner!”
Hector’s surprise was enough for her to easily pull him off of Bootstrap’s sprawled form. Elizabeth then slipped her hands around Turner’s arm and helped him to his feet as Hector shuffled back a few feet and narrowed his eyes in suspicion at their visitor. For Turner’s part, he simply stared back at Hector, the unexpected sight of his former captain and the dramatic change in Hector’s appearance clearly rendering him speechless.
When Elizabeth had last come face to face with Bootstrap Bill Turner, he and the crew of the Dutchman had been inexorably shambling towards the body of his son, set to carve out Will’s heart and bind him forever to the ship. His face encrusted with crustaceous sea life and his body embedded with shreds of the hull, Will’s father had hardly been human any more, his servitude further manifesting itself in his physical form every hour he’d spent aboard. But now that he was more man than beast, the strong resemblance between parent and child was inescapable. From the slope of his shoulders to the set of his jaw and the shape of his face, Bill Turner provided a glimpse of what Will might have looked like had he lived past that fateful day.
“Strange company you keep, Elizabeth,” Bootstrap said to her, his rheumy eyes filling with cold displeasure he slowly took in her state of undress. “And to think I expected to find you here on your own, waiting faithfully for William. Perhaps my son’s concern over your state of loneliness these many years past wasn’t warranted after all.”
The hot flush that rose in her cheeks felt to her like a betrayal of Hector. She was far more shamed, however, by the conclusion Turner had immediately drawn than by the reality of her situation. With one hand, she gathered the collar of her gown at her throat, growing increasingly irritated that she even felt the need to display some semblance of modesty in the face of his accusation. “Neither you nor Will know anything of my situation, and I’ll thank you to keep your barbed remarks to yourself,” she said icily.
“Tell me, Barbossa,” said Turner, his malevolent glare shifting to Hector. “Had the green flash even faded from the sky before you rowed ashore and hiked my daughter-in-law’s skirts up over her head? I must say it’s quite clear from your youthful countenance that adultery with a much younger woman suits you.”
Elizabeth gasped in indignation at the vile remark and Hector took a menacing step forward, seizing Turner by the lapels of his long coat and hauling him closer until his face was only inches from that of his former crew member. “Best keep a civil tongue in yer head, Bootstrap, or I might yet remove it fer ye,” he snarled. “Long did ‘Lizabeth stay faithful to yer son – far too long when ye consider his death released her from her wedding vows straight off, along with any chance he ever had of returnin’ to his life on land. This ye know to be true.”
Bill Turner’s self-righteous smugness faltered and he shot a furtive, guilt-laced glance at Elizabeth that confirmed Hector’s charge. “That’s why you’re here, isn’t it?” she blurted. “Why you came before the ten years was up...” Her knees felt wobbly even as her voice remained strong and level. “Will knew all along he was never coming back…knew that the accord with Calypso was worthless because we weren’t really married anymore once he died.” She stumbled away from the men and sat down heavily on the edge of the bed. Thoughts swirled in her head, a whirling mix of bitterness, relief, and distress that left her dizzy.
“Aye,” Turner reluctantly acknowledged, his shoulders slumping as the sanctimonious anger slowly drained out of him. “William’s known since we first set sail that he’d not be returning…not beyond one day in every ten years, at any rate. Calypso made no secret of the fact that she intended to keep him forever as her ferryman...told him that there was no escaping his destiny.”
“Why not tell me what happened when he first found out? I know it was impossible for him to visit me himself, but you and the other crew members do not labour under the same restrictions about setting foot on land that he does. He could have chosen to send you in his stead...all those years...”
Even as she said it, Elizabeth wondered if it really would have been better for her to know. She likely would have returned to England to give birth and then...what? The chances that Hector would have heard of her pregnancy, never mind come looking for her, would have been infinitesimal. He would not have spent the time with her and William that he did...he would not have finally forced her to admit to her true feelings. She would not now have what she did if she had been aware from the very start that Will was irretrievably lost to her.
“He held onto the slim hope that he’d somehow figure a way past the goddess’ deception.” Turner gave a woeful shake of his head and pivoted towards the door, almost as though it was too painful to look at her as he spoke. “He told me to tell you that he loved you, girl...he loves you still. He asks that you forgive him for keeping the truth a secret for so long, but it was no easy thing to accept that he had to let you go. It took him many a year to decide, but he sent me today to take back the heart...and in so doing, put an end to your futile wait and give you back your life.”
Elizabeth’s reply died in her throat at the sudden patter of small feet pounding down the hallway. “Mama! Wake up!” William cried happily as he ran towards her room. “It’s Christmas morn! I forgot to hang my stocking at the end of the bed when we got home, but perhaps Father Christmas...”
“William, wait!” she called out, rushing towards the door with her arms outstretched in the hopes of stopping her son before he came upon the strange tableau...she already had too much to try and explain to him. Her warning came too late, however, and he launched himself into her arms with a giggle as he flew through the door.
“William?” Bill Turner breathed, his eyes widening in surprise.
The joyful grin that had appeared on William’s face upon seeing Hector faded quickly as the boy realized someone else was in the room with his parents. He disentangled himself from his mother’s embrace and backed away until he was standing in front of his father. Hector put a comforting hand on William’s shoulder as their son warily watched the haggard stranger who stared at him so intently.
“You have to remember that we came back very late last night, sweetheart,” Elizabeth said, trying to keep her voice light. “Father Christmas came with your gift, but he had to hide it downstairs in the pantry when he found that your stocking wasn’t ready. Why you don’t go and see if you can find it? I promise that we shall join you just as soon as we are finished speaking with...our guest.”
William took a step away but then hesitated, clearly uncomfortable about leaving his mother in a situation so obviously fraught with tension.
“We need that fire stoked in the kitchen hearth, boy, if we’re to have any kind of Christmas feast a’tall today,” Hector said gruffly, steering William towards the door and away from what was sure to be a barrage of questions from Turner. “Be sure ye feed the flames before ye go seekin’ out whate’er trinket ye’ve been left.” Somewhat reassured, William gave them one last backward glance before heeding their words and making his way to the main floor. Once the echo of his footsteps had faded away, Hector closed the door to ensure that what was to follow could not be overheard.
“That boy...” Turner said with heart-breaking hopefulness. “Is that my… grandson?”
“No. He is our son...mine and Hector’s,” she replied softly but definitively, knowing the truth of William’s paternity would wound Will’s father even further.
He gaped aghast at her and pressed a hand to his chest as though the pain and disappointment that her words had inflicted was too much to bear. “No! It can’t be! But you...you named him William...! He must be…!”
“When I first found that I was with child, I didn’t know who the father was. Yes, I named him after Will...after the man I believed to be my husband. But it became very clear as he grew who had sired him. Will was my first love, but Hector...he was my first,” she revealed unrepentantly.
“Jezebel! Harlot!” roared Turner in sudden fury, his brow furrowing and his hands tightening into fists. “I should have known Barbossa lied when he said you’d been faithful...I was a fool to believe it!”
Even while she understood the source of his spiteful accusation, the vitriol was more than Elizabeth could stand. She stepped forth, halting Hector’s outraged advance with a curt gesture. “No, Bill – I loved your son! When Will proposed in the heat of that horrific battle, that is why I hastily accepted...I desperately wanted to resurrect what we’d meant to each other even if we had only a few hours left to live. The truth, though, is that our love had begun to unravel long before then!”
“It was because of me, wasn’t it? You said as much in the Dutchman’s brig,” Turner sneered, his eyes flaring with anguish and loathing. “He promised to set me free...he set that quest above you. He was a man of honour and you… you condemned him for it.”
Elizabeth shook her head. “You’re wrong. We began keeping secrets from one another long before then – with nothing but the best of intentions, to be sure, but that ceased to matter in the end. The result was that the trust between us was ultimately destroyed. And once that happens...well, how do you keep love alive in the wake of that, however noble the motivations behind the deception might have been?”
“So you threw his love aside and instead succumbed to this lecherous swine’s advances.” Turner’s lip curled as he glowered hatefully at Hector.
“I pursued Hector, not the other way around,” she clarified firmly, meeting her lover’s serious blue gaze. She sighed at the memory of his tender embrace on the deck of the Consolación. “I felt utterly alone and completely shattered...I had lost so much, Will’s esteem and affection included. Hector offered me strength and comfort in that desperate moment, but I was the one who sought more.”
“Then your love was ever false! You’d not have been so quick to take another man to your bed otherwise! If my son still had a beating heart in his chest, learning of your disloyalty would surely break it!” he spat angrily.
“Who are you to judge me, you who deserted your young wife and son in favour of a life of piracy?” Elizabeth countered heatedly, jabbing a finger at him. “I took my vows seriously, regardless of my misgivings beforehand! Because of that commitment, I allowed both my son and his true father to suffer for years on end! What of the vow you took to love and protect your wife and family, Bill Turner? Did you come back for your child after his mother died? No! The only thing you ever did for Will was to send him a cursed piece of Aztec gold, an act of sedition rather than love…and in doing so, you set him on the path to the existence in which he now languishes!”
Turner reeled back and his expression crumbled as though she’d struck a physical blow. “If I could take his fate upon myself instead, I would,” he cried despondently, hiding his face in his hands. “If I’d known that Jones would strike him down…if I’d only been of sane mind in that moment, I would have stopped that monster and gladly accepted the consequences if it meant that my boy would live.”
“What we might have done,” she said, dispassionately regarding the man who had fallen to his knees before her under the weight of his lament, “means nothing to anyone now. Whether our actions could have altered events is something we can never know. What I do know, however, is that I have been given a chance at a better life than I deserve, and my son will have the love and guidance of his father as he grows to become a man. So I won’t apologize to you or anyone else for the choices I’ve made, regardless of how you view them.”
“And so what will you have me tell him?” Turner challenged tearfully, wiping at his eyes with the back of his coat sleeve. “When I return with the heart, he will surely ask after you. He has endured so much already, I can’t bear to make his suffering worse!”
“Tell him that he did right by me in reclaiming his heart and setting me free,” Elizabeth said more gently. “Tell him that I kept it safe and I will always remember our time together with fondness, but that his kindness means that I can move on with my life. You may tell him…” She stopped, her words briefly choked off by the lump that had formed in her throat. “Tell him that I will pray that some day, he is granted a reprieve by Calypso and can finally find the happiness he so richly deserves in the mortal realm.” “
Where be the chest, ‘Lizabeth?” Hector said forcefully, grabbing up his shirt from the floor and impatiently spearing his arms through the sleeves. “We’ve had more than enough turmoil o’er the past few days; I think it best that Bootstrap take charge of his cargo and make good his departure.”
“In the attic.” She returned to her bed and sat down again, feeling drained by the emotional stress of the exchange. “Padlocked and concealed beneath some old clothes in the large trunk in the northwest corner.”
Handing over the pistol to her care with a look that warned her not to trust Turner for a moment, Hector brushed her brow with a quick kiss and headed down the hall to fetch the heart from its hiding place. As soon as he’d left, Bootstrap Bill Turner rose up slowly and made as if to follow. He paused by the door, however, and gave her one last sad, weary look.
“Why him?” he queried in a low, deep voice. “Why Hector Barbossa? Given all that he did, all that he was and is…why would you choose him? I don’t understand.”
“He saw something in me worth loving,” she answered, unflinchingly meeting his puzzled gaze. “He has seen me at my very worst and at my very best, and his devotion has never wavered. He even loved me enough to marry me to another man when he thought that was what I wanted…and loved me enough to act as a father to a son I long pretended wasn‘t his. You hate who he was, the tormented creature who exacted such terrible vengeance on you – and I do understand, for I too feared and hated him once. But once his humanity was restored, I saw the man as he really was - and saw the passion and love of which he is capable. I would never have admitted it to myself all those years ago when I first went to him, but I knew it then, too. We are well-suited to one another, Mister Turner…as smart a match as ever was made.”
He grunted with unconcealed disbelief. ““May I ask one last question before I go…just to satisfy a matter of curiosity?”
“You want to know what happened to him – why he looks so different,” she guessed, giving him a reticent smile when he nodded.
“How is it that he appears to be so much younger than when I saw him last? Even accounting for the fact that he’d not have aged while the curse was still upon us, I know for a fact he’s seen the tail end of nearly twice as many years as you. What kind of sorcery would erase the mark of so much time?”
“It took him so long to find what he wanted most in life, he felt he needed to find a way to recapture those years so he could spend them with us,” she explained reluctantly, uncomfortable in sharing their secret. Who would Turner tell, though, that would care? Only the dead were passengers aboard the Dutchman, and its immortal crew had no need of the Fountain. “I’ll not reveal more except to say that during a recent voyage, he found something that made his transformation possible. It was a gift for which I will forever be grateful, for it means that we have more days ahead of us than I would have dared hope for.”
He sighed heavily. “So it’s not just a change on the surface, then. Perhaps now that he has a chance to live those days differently, he’ll not make the same mistakes again. It’s been my experience, though, that men like Barbossa are slow to change.”
“I hope you’re right, because I wouldn’t want him to.” Elizabeth stood, uncocking the pistol and tossing it onto the bed. Despite his earlier anger, she knew she was in no danger from Bill Turner. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I will see to my son and the preparations for our morning meal. Farewell, Bootstrap. I hope that you, too, will eventually find joy and peace.” She made her way down the stairs, and left her past behind without so much as a last glance back.
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More to come, I promise!
- 9
- 10
- 11
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In the Hollow of the Heart