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Tangled Threads - A Story of Pirates	By : KiwiGirl Category: Pirates of the Caribbean (All) > General Views: 4819 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own the Pirates of the Caribbean movie series, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
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Chapter Fifteen - Fire and Fear

They sailed around the headland black sails billowing
gracefully, Jack stood at the wheel, waiting for that first glimpse of Tortuga. They had made
excellent time, the crew were still wondering at the haste, but Jack had told
no one the reason, not even Turner, he had asked for a private word several
times, but each time he had stopped short of telling him. He had been keeping
Bella�s existence a secret for so long that he just could not do it. William
would know soon enough.

So now he stood hat tilted back on his head, coat billowing around him, ringed
fingers resting gently on the wheel. He frowned; tapping his fingers on the
smooth wood, a pall of smoke shrouded the town making it hard to see clearly,
he squinted trying to make out familiar landmarks, looking for the big house on
the hill. But the smoke was thick, trapped in the natural bowl that the harbour and surrounding hills formed. There was too much
smoke, too much for this time of year and it smelt wrong. His heart began to
beat faster. Usually he liked to take his time coming into port; he liked to
make sure that anyone who wished to greet them as they docked had the time to
run to the wharf. But this time he did not give the order to pull in the sails
but swung the wheel to catch as much wind as possible.

Finally he could make out buildings, Selena�s fine establishment, the church,
the infirmary, his eyes moved up the hill�the house was not there but there was
a smouldering blackened heap where it had once stood.

�Fuck!� The word burst from his lips and he felt cold fear gripping him, making
it hard to breathe �Turner take the wheel!� without conscious thought he had
abandoned it, running down the stairs to the main deck. �Get us alongside the
dock, hurry!!�

With no one guiding her The Pearl turned losing the wind and the sails went
slack. Will sprinted down the deck to take control, all the while looking at
Jack trying to gauge what was wrong for him to be acting in such an irrational
way.

�Hurry damn you� Jack was shouting now, pacing the railings, fists clenched at
his side the crew all staring at him. �What are you lot gawking at� he bellowed
�get back to work.�

Hurriedly they did, shooting sideways glances as they scurried.

Jack stood at the railing ready to jump as soon as the Pearl got close enough,
he waited. 10 metres, 5 metres,
he leapt his knees buckling at the shock. A hand grabbed his arm steadying him.
Jack looked up. Thank God. Sam and Maggie stood side by side, a baby in
Maggie�s arms. Healthy looking brat he thought absently, looking for his
sister, looking for Isabella. She was not there, he swung to stare up the
cobbled street, perhaps she had not had time to get
here yet. There was no slim figure running, the street was empty except for the
curious who were standing watching. He had to get to the house, he did not stop
to look behind, he could not have cared if the Pearl crashed into the
wharf, he needed to find her.

�Jack, Jack� there was someone pulling at his arm holding him back. He snarled
under his breath, trying to pull free but the grip on his arm tightened, he
swung to face Sam.

�She is not there Jack�

�Where is she�?� His voice cracked �where the hell is she�Sam?�

One big hand grasped his shoulder. �She�s not dead Jack. Well least not that we
know.�

�What the hell does that mean, Sam where the fuck is Bella?�

Sam looked at Maggie and she stepped forward one hand resting on Jack�s cheek.

�Jack don�t be blaming Sam, but Bella�s run off
sailing somewhere, sneaked out in the middle of the night bout two months ago.

�Jack, your orders?�

Will�s voice made him start and he turned, looking blankly at his first mate,
The Black Pearl was tied up the sails already furled and a hopeful looking crew
lined the railing, he made an effort to collect his thoughts �shore leave, I
will round em up when we need them. Pay them up
Turner� he fished a key from his pocket and threw it to Will.

There was a cheer from the crew and he saw Will sigh
before going below to retrieve the ledgers and the gold with which he would
need to settle up.

�Sailing� Jack�s voice was a low growl �with whom?�

�We don�t rightly know Jack; she left a note telling us not to worry.�

�How long has she been doing this?� his voice was calm and quiet and Sam
shuddered, he much preferred a Jack who was shouting, this calm was unnerving.

�six months we think, at first we just thought she was running off to visit
with Anna Maria�s Mama, but I spoke with Josie and she has never been there
This is the longest that she has been gone�I swear it Jack� Sam looked up his
deep brown eyes worried �I am sorry Jack, I have failed you.�

Jack looked at his old friend �Sam I am not blaming you mate, short of locking
her in her room how were you to stop her, I know Bella, she is wilful and stubborn and in this case bloody stupid.�

Maggie�s soft voice interrupted, �we found a sack of gold and jewels Jack in
the back of one of the cupboards, behind a panel, Bella must have been doing
some pirating�

�Pirating you say� for a moment he felt a rush of pride that his baby sister
could sail and fight with the worst of them, then the anger rushed over him
again. Stupid, stupid girl, she could have been killed or worse. It was not Sam
or Maggie�s fault, he should have seen it, should have realised
what his sister would do, after all he would have done the same if he had been
her. But he was furious, he would not be leaving Tortuga until whatever
vessel Bella was on had returned. There were things that needed to be said and
more importantly things that had to be done�

*

Will made his way down the gangplank, hesitating before joining Jack who still
stood beside the couple, his face uncharacteristically grave.

�Jack all is taken care of.�

�My thanks� Jack tugged at his beard and turned �William this is Sam and
Maggie, Sam used to sail with me some time back and Maggie, well she was the
best cook that the Pearl ever had.� He
craned his neck to make sure that Joshua had not heard the last, there was no
glint of gold teeth as he continued, �I have not been introduced to the babe
yet�.�

Sam gave a low rumbling laugh �this is our son,� he gently took the sleeping
babe from Maggie�s arms raising him up so that Jack could see his face �this is
Thomas, Thomas Jack, we would like you to be his godfather��

Jack grinned, the first time that he had smiled in what seemed like days
�Maggie are you sure you would be wanting a scallywag like me being godfather
of your precious child�

�Aye Jack� Maggie slipped an arm through his pressing her lips to his cheek
�you are a special man Jack Sparrow; we would not be wanting anyone else.�

�William Turner isn�t it� Sam was shaking Will�s hand, �I knew your father, he
was a good man.�

�Thank you� Will did not really know what else to say,
�It is nice to meet you sir.�

�Sir?� Sam�s deep laugh made Will
smile in return �I am just Sam to my friends and any friend of Jack�s is a
friend of ours.� He wrapped an arm around Maggie, the other still cradling the
young Thomas. �This is my wife Maggie.�

Will looked at the woman, the last time he had seen her she had been pregnant,
in the gunsmiths shop with Bella.

�We have already almost met� Maggie smiled at Will reaching up to kiss his
cheek. He blushed just slightly unused to such open affection, he was not
really sure what to say, he felt like he was fumbling in the dark here, not
knowing or understanding what was going on around him.

*

It was some hours later that they were settled in at Selena�s, Jack and Will
anyway, the crew had scattered to their favourite
haunts and Sam and Maggie had moved from Maggie�s mothers house to the cottage
that Jack had found for them. A place to live until things were more settled.

Selena had appeared down at the docks offering Jack a place to stay, she seemed
to take it for granted that Will would be staying with
her, a fact that he found slightly unsettling. He liked Selena; he was very
fond of her, but not fond enough to be officially living with her. He hoped
that they would be sailing soon before he had to do something that would make
her very upset.

Jack had what appeared to be the entire upper floor, he even had his own
sitting room, apparently the former madam had once
lived up there. He had gladly accepted Selena�s offer, not even bothering to
look around but insisting that he had to go and inspect the ruins of the house.
He had almost been at the door of the bar, one hand outstretched, when he had
turned looking at Will who was sitting at a table cradling a glass of rum.

�I would appreciate your company mate.�

Will had looked at Jack a long time before pushing his chair back and walking
to the door.

*

Side by side they had climbed the hill and without prompting Jack had told Will
about Bella. He started from the beginning, the day that they had found that
boat and he had left nothing out, telling Will that he had known that the
someone was looking for her five years ago but that he had thought that he had
her well hidden. The conversation with Norrington was
repeated verbatim until finally Will knew everything. They were at the top of
the hill now looking down on Tortuga and Jack turned to
Will his face anguished.

�Tempted though I am to wring her skinny neck for her when she arrives home �
running off like that, it was a good thing that she was not here. But she is in
danger Turner and I don�t know where to even start searching.�

Will hesitated for just a moment then spoke �I know who she is sailing with
Jack.�

Jack spun on his heel staring at him �and how would you be knowing
that William?�

�She was in Petit Goave, I spoke with her.�

�In Petit Goave, well why the hell did you not say
something?�

�She asked me not too and I did not know that she was the reason we were racing
back to Tortuga.�

�No�� Jack sighed �You did not and I should have told you, its not that I don�t
trust you mate. I just have spent so long trying to hide Bella; I would not
even mention her to my own shadow.�

�It�s alright Jack� Will put a hand on Jack�s shoulder �if I had a sister, or
any sort of family I would have done the same.� And it was alright, Will realised that even as he said the words, they were not just
what Jack wanted to hear, Will did understand.

�You are a better man than I think I would be if circumstances were reversed.�
Jack�s face was serious �I am truly sorry mate. You must have been wondering
what the hell I was up to keeping a secret like that.�

�Aye, but I know now.�

A long silence then while they both looked out over Tortuga, at the calm harbour below where The Black Pearl rested, sails furled.

Jack cleared his throat and they began walking again �So what unfortunate
Captain has my fair sister chosen to torment?� his grin was there if a trifle
forced.

�McGuiness�

Jack let out a long breath �well at least the girl has some sense, he looks
after the women on his crew, I should have thought of that, her and his
daughter Tess were good mates when they were
youngsters.�

They were picking through the ruins now, Jack viciously kicking things out of
the way as he realised that there was not much left
to salvage. He seemed to be searching for something though, looking left to
right and counting as he paced. Finally he seemed to find the spot and began
clearing rubble away.

�Ah, ha mate, it seems all is not lost� he was on his knees now his nose almost
in the ashes, one hand tugging at iron ring. There was a creaking noise and
Will leaned froward watching as Jack pulled open the
charred remains of what had once been a trap door.

�the cellar mate� Jack grinned his teeth glinting as
he pulled two candles out of his pocket, lighting them from a still smouldering beam he handed one to Will.

�Treasure?� Will asked craning his head to look down
the dark stairs.

�Of sorts� Jack nodded a wicked glint in his eye �gold like you have never seen
before, richness beyond the measure of most mortal men, tis
Barbossa�s rum.�
- 14
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- 16
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Tangled Threads - A Story of Pirates