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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
- 6
- 7
- 8
Chapter Seven - A Meeting

The hooded figure sat alone at the rear of the tavern, face hidden in the
shadows of a heavy cloak. One hand cupped a battered tankard the other rested
under the folds of cloth, fingertips no doubt lightly caressing a well honed
blade. Each time the door opened eyes swiveled upwards but there was no flicker
of recognition and the constant survey of the room continued. Several drunken
pirates stumbled towards the table intending to sit and drink themselves
senseless but a cold hard look from sharp green eyes had them swiftly changing
their minds and reeling off to look for someone friendlier to sit with. The
serving girl made her way over responding to a sharp nod, bending her head to
listen before taking the empty tankard away. The fingers that had been
clutching the tin cup started tapping impatiently on the table, eyes now fixed
on the door.

*

Bella listened carefully, perched on the edge of her bed rocking backwards and
forwards in anticipation. It was almost midnight, she had retired to
her room immediately after dinner, telling Sam and Maggie that she was tired
and was going to read for a little. She had books aplenty a trunk full that
Jack had bought back from a recent voyage. She had bathed but instead of
dressing for bed she had gone to the wardrobe, she ran a gentle hand over the
soft silks and satins that hung on cushioned hangers, then pushed them aside
with a soft sigh. She rarely wore them but they were beautiful. On the floor pushed
into a corner at the back of the wardrobe behind the shoes and boots there was
a loosely wrapped bundle, on her hands and knees she pulled it out into the
light. Bella untied the knot and pulled out the clothes inside, by the light of
the one candle she dressed in the formfitting trousers and loose linen shirt,
braiding her hair tightly she tied a bandanna over her head and then
extinguished the candle. She had then sat on the bed listening to the sounds of
Sam and Maggie checking the doors and windows. She heard them open the door of
the baby�s room there was a muffled conversation and she imagined them standing
looking at their sleeping son. Finally she heard their bedroom door shut and
the murmuring of voices as they prepared for bed, after what seemed an eternity
all was quiet.

She sat a moment longer listening for footsteps, Maggie sometimes got up and
went back to check that she had locked the doors, or that the fire was out in
the hearth, but the house was silent the only noise the crickets outside her
window. Avoiding the creaky board in the middle of the floor she made her way
to the door. A moment to listen again, before gently opening it, boots in one
hand she crept down the hall, tiptoeing, her feet making soft scuffing noises
on the wooden floorboards. Stopping to listen a again she hesitated at the top
of the landing then turned the latch on the door of a large cupboard, the
hinges creaked slightly as she pulled and she held her breath but there was no
sound from the other end of the house so she pushed it wider and slipped
inside. It was pitch black the darkness so thick that she felt like she was
suffocating. She was not fond of confined spaces and she puffed out a breath,
trying to keep quiet and not hurry too much least she make some noise that gave
her away.

Shoving her way past the coats and brooms, Bella knelt on the floor and counted
eight panels up, then two to the right. Carefully she moved her fingers across
and let out a gentle breath, a sight of relief, when she found the slight dip
in the wood, pressing her thumb firmly in the centre she waited, there was a
soft grinding noise and the rear wall slid smoothly back revealing a set of
stone stairs spiraling down into the darkness. Pulling her flint from her
pocket she lit the lamp that sat in a little cranny in the wall and slipped her
boots on, then with the lantern in hand she made her way downwards.

*

Under the hot heavy cloak Tess sighed, she had been waiting for over an hour
for Bella and there was still no sign of her. The note that the sword smith on Peach Tree Street had tucked into her
hand had asked her to meet Bella here around 11
o�clock. She knew that Bella sometimes had trouble sneaking out of the
house but she was beginning to wonder if she was going to turn up at all. She
had told her father that she was going to The Thistle Inn to see about raising
a crew, he would have her guts for garters if he found out she was here, this
place didn�t even have a name and was not likely to be here the next time they
made port. Liberal though he was it was not the sort of place he would like his
eldest daughter to be frequenting. Ten more minutes and she would have to
leave. She had not seen Bella in several months, she had a pretty good idea
what the other woman wanted but she didn�t think that she could accommodate her
this time. Her eyes fixed on the door again and her fingers drummed on the
tabletop.

Tess McGuiness, eldest daughter of Angus McGuiness dour Scotsman and Captain of
the Silver Gull. She had been sailing with her father since she was a lass and
was the equal of any man in sailing or in a fight. Pretty too, with red hair
and green eyes she had many an admirer in a number of ports but was discreet
with her favors, more for fear of her father�s temper than anything else. She
had no wish to be married off before she was thirty so best her father did not
know of her weakness for slim hipped dark haired sailors. She had a temper
herself and was starting to get rather irritated, Bella knew how much she
risked meeting her, she would not be doing this for any other sailor, but her
and Bella they had a history so she made allowances. But Bella was late...

*

It was dark and windy on the streets of Tortuga leaves were blowing in doorways
and rats ran skittering into dark holes, Bella kept one hand on her sword as
she walked. There were plenty of two legged rats about as well, the sort that
liked dark alleys and soft flesh and she did not intend to be easy prey. Her
eyes were hard meeting any interested stares with a cold gaze, waiting until
the others eyes slid from her face. That was something that Jack had taught
her, never show fear, that and she knew how to fight, fairly and with every
sneaky trick that Jack had ever shown her.

The tavern she entered was noisy and her hand remained steady on the one
visible weapon at her waist. Her eyes were constantly moving as she made her
way across the room slipping between drunken pirates lost in rum induced
stupor, her destination the far corner where a cloaked figure sat alone in the
darkness.

�You�re late� a low feminine voice growled as Bella stepped up to the table
�and I don�t think I can help you this time, come Friday we be going for some
months, if you are wanting short voyages you are coming to the wrong place.�

�No� Bella replied, �Two is good.�

�Usual terms then?�

�That was a fair deal� Bella nodded.

�So we have an accord?� the woman in the shadows held out her hand and Bella
shook it.

�Bring some rum� the woman called out to one of the serving girls who scowled
then slouched away, returning she gave a grimace that served as a smile and
slapped the tankards on the table with such force that the spirits slopped over
the side. The woman grabbed one and pushed the other across at Bella �you know
if they ever find out they will gut the both of us?�

�Aye� Bella nodded and grimaced slightly as she took a gulp of the harsh rum �I
don�t know about you Tess but I am counting on the fact that they don�t.�

Tess grinned and pushed the cloak back from her head. �I don�t know why I do
this for you Bella; you know how much Jack annoys him. If the Captain found out
I could be keel hauled.�

�Tess he would be looking to do that to me, I can�t see him doing that to his
daughter.�

�Suppose not, would Jack be that upset if he discovered what you have been
doing?�

Bella shuddered �don�t even talk about it, I have never really seen Jack angry
but from what Sam has said it is fearsome.�

�That bad?� Tess was all ears, Jack was an enigma, a man that had come back
from the dead and she loved to hear Bella talk about him.

�Horrible, you must have heard what he did to Barbossa.�

�Aye� Tess nodded her eyes serious �but that is different Bella, he stole
Jack�s ship, you have just been sneaking out, doing a spot of pirating, no real
harm to anyone.�

�I don�t know, Jack gets all funny whenever I speak to him about sailing.�

�Still won�t let you go on the Pearl?�

�No Tess, why else would I be here�?

Tess nodded in commiseration then took a deep swig from her tankard �it will be
good to have you sailing with us again�

�Yes it will� Bella agreed as she swallowed another mouthful wiping her lips on
her sleeve.

They sat in companionable silence, they had known each other for some years and
Bella envied Tess, she had sailed with her father since she was fifteen. He
tended to stay closer to Tortuga than Jack but still
Tess had seen far more of the world than Bella. She took another sip coughing
slightly, the rum was harsh not like the golden liquid that Jack drank when he
was home. This stuff was raw but most of the patrons were beyond caring and
Tess and Bella could not risk meeting in one of more salubrious taverns, Sam
had been known to pop out for a drink with old mates every now and then. Since
his son had been born two months early he had barely left the house but Bella
was taking no chances, she suppressed a shudder as a large cockroach scuttled
up the wall and wiped the rim of her glass with her hand before looking up at
Tess.

�Did you ask your mother?� Bella spoke into the silence; the last time that
they had sailed together Tess had offered to talk to her mother, hoping that
she might remember some of the things that Jack seemed to have forgotten.

�I did� she made a rueful face as she looked up at Bella �she told me to mind
my own business. That I was a pirate and I should know better than to be asking
about other pirates.�

�She knows something��

�I think so but when I asked again she tried to swat me with the broom, and
then warned me that if she heard me talking about it again that she would be
speaking to my father.�

�Damn� Bella muttered, it seemed like no one was speaking, they either did not
know or they would not talk.

�I tried� Tess put a hand on her mate�s arm �perhaps on this voyage we might
find out something more.�

�Maybe� Bella forced a smile, she did not want Tess getting too worried about
it, and it was something she needed to find out for herself. �So where are we
bound?�

�Usual places, you would think that the Spaniards would have learnt by now but
Father has been amassing a tidy little fortune� Tess leaned in close �but we
will be heading over to Petit Goave, there is a fellow there that has a
proposition for the Old Man.�
`��
- 6
- 7
- 8
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Tangled Threads - A Story of Pirates