Fic: 'Hero' (3/6)

[dwgm]

Again, thanks to hereswith for editing and suggestions, and to all of you who have read and commented!


Chapter One: Caught Out
Chapter Two: Pirate Princeling

Chapter Three: A Disparity of Circumstances

Providence Bay was a pretty place. A town of several hundred people was spread out upon its south shore, and the edge of Sir Calvin Pennistone's vast plantation ran down to the water the rest of the way around. A clear blue sea, a long strip of white sand beach, then gentle, grassy slopes led up to the forest-bordered fields.  The plantation was a rich one, growing a variety of crops for home use, but mainly tobacco for export. Sir Calvin was a careful man, professing to hold himself and those around him to high standards, and his affairs had prospered.

Great wealth and an unfortunate weakness for certain worldly luxuries had brought Sir Calvin into Jack Sparrow's orbit when the two had met by pure chance in St. Thomas. A business relationship had been established, helped along by the friendship that quickly sprang up between Pennistone's son Gilbert and Jamie Turner upon their first meeting. While Uncle Jack and Sir Calvin hammered out the details of an arrangement for the delivery of a quantity of fine brandy that the Pearl had lately relieved from a French barquentine off Basse-Terre, Jamie and Gilbert had found that they had much in common besides their ages. Jamie's mother, returning to the Pearl after visiting a friend in the town for the day, found Jack and Sir Calvin concluding negotiations over a glass of the aqua vitae in question, and the two little boys driving Gibbs to drink with their endless "shenanigans".

Elizabeth approved of Gilbert, remarking that it wouldn't harm Jamie to be exposed to the elegant but more mundane life enjoyed by this scion of the minor aristocracy. And if Sir Calvin had had any reservations regarding Jamie's suitability as a friend for his son, they were completely allayed by his stunned appreciation of Jamie's mother.

"Knocked acock he was, love," Uncle Jack said to her slyly when the Pennistones had taken their leave. "You've got a new beau."

Elizabeth told him not to be absurd, but subsequent encounters with her admirer over the next few days only added fuel to the fire. "I don't know whether to laugh, or run and hide," she said after his second visit, adding, "And Jamie, you will not tell him I said that, do you understand?"

Jamie had reassured his mother promptly, having no wish to jeopardize his association with his new friend. 

Jamie and Gilbert had enjoyed three glorious days together on St. Thomas, and the following year they had met again under similar circumstances. This year, however, Sir Calvin had asked that the Black Pearl bring the happily anticipated cargo to his Providence Bay plantation where Captain Sparrow and Jamie would be welcomed as guests.

The town was too small and the inner bay too shallow for a wharf of any size, so the Pearl dropped anchor some distance out and two longboats were lowered. One was for the crew, granted shore leave in small groups -- "And mind you don't abuse the citizenry," Jack had growled at his men -- and the other was for Jamie and himself, and a case of brandy from their cargo, by way of lubrication, for the price for the remainder had not yet been set.

When Jack and Jamie were halfway to shore, Gilbert, his father, and two other men could be seen, emerging from the trees at the top of the slope.

Jamie jumped to his feet, making the boat rock, and waved his arms joyfully. "Gil! Gil! We're here!"

"Sit down!" said Uncle Jack, a laugh in his voice, a sharp tug on the back of Jamie's coat forcing the issue.

Gilbert was seen to look to his father, who nodded, and the boy broke into a run. He reached the shoreline before the longboat, and his father and the other men were still coming down the hill, though the two could now be made out, black men dressed in simple garb.

"He's brought slaves to help with the goods," said Jack to Pintel and Ragetti, who'd rowed them in. "Seems you lot'll be able to get right back to the ship."

"Awww. I was 'opin' to get a look at the place," Ragetti complained.

"What for?" Pintel demanded. "The captain 'as a business arrangement with these folk. Can't be liftin' their trinkets, too."

"Wasn't thinkin' of that," Ragetti objected.

"Sure you wasn't," laughed Pintel.

"Shut it!" Jack told them. "The little lad'll hear you."

"Gilbert!"  Jamie exclaimed, jumping up as the longboat nosed the sand. He was over the side in a trice, splashing into the shallow water.

As Jamie reached dry sand, his friend grinned and pounded him on the back. "Good old Jamie!"

Jamie returned the favor. "Good old Gil!"

"Old's a matter of perspective, ain't it?" Jack observed and rose and stepped from the longboat with the grace of visiting royalty as Sir Calvin arrived, puffing and damp-browed.

"Welcome to Providence Bay, Captain Sparrow!" he said with a slight bow. "It is very good to see you."  He glanced at the slaves. "Ben, Caleb, get the crate from the boat and take it to the house."

"It ain't so heavy, lads," Ragetti assured the two as they complied.

"Heavy or not, you'll take the greatest care of it," Sir Calvin said, and Jamie's brow wrinkled at his tone.

But Gil didn't seem to think anything of it. "Come on, Jamie! Let's go on ahead. I want to show you everything!"

Jamie turned to his uncle, who lifted a brow and made shooing motions with gaudily ringed fingers. "Off y'go, then. You know how to behave."

Jamie grinned. Behave meant different things, depending on one's company, of course, but having been exposed to the full gamut of society from an early age, from the dregs of Tortuga to his mother's old aristocratic connections, Jamie was confident of giving satisfaction.

*

The plantation grounds, the house, and the outbuildings were well-made, very attractive, and everything neat as a pin, and the contrast between this orderly environment and his own home in Shipwreck Cove made Jamie chuckle.

"What?" demanded Gilbert.

They were sitting on the wide front porch of the plantation house in the late afternoon, eating apples and fresh bread with butter and jam, and drinking glasses of lemonade.

"It's so... different."

Gilbert shrugged. "Don't you like it?"

"Aye," Jamie hastened to reassure his friend. "So many beautiful things, and everything clean and bright, and everyone working hard to keep it that way. It's just..."

"What?"

"Smaller, I reckon. Though that's not what I mean, exactly. It's a big place, right enough. It's just... you don't hear a lot of singing." Jamie frowned, frustrated at his inability to express his feelings.

"Do they sing much at Shipwreck Cove? Father says it's a terrible hard life, being a pirate."

"It is, in some ways. But they sing -- all the time! And laugh, too, whenever they can. I wish you could visit."

"I doubt father would ever let me."

"Well, if you ever need a place to run to, Shipwreck Cove's the place."

"Why would I need a place to run to?"

It was Jamie's turn to shrug. "You never know what life'll throw at you, my uncle says. And he should know."

"Tell me some more about him. He's an odd one – so says my father, anyway. But I like him!"

"He's a good man, and a good pirate," Jamie said, firmly, quoting his mother. "And no one else like him in all the world."

Gil laughed. "That's the truth!"

"Did I tell you about the time he escaped the gallows, and the rope already 'round his neck? My mother was there, and my da. Right under the noses of the Commodore and his marines it was, and my grandfather's nose, as well. He was the Governor!"

"The Governor? Your grandfather was a governor? And the rope already 'round your uncle's neck? He couldn't!"

"Did, though, on my honor. Here's how it was..."

The tale took some telling, and Gil was so wide-eyed at it that Jamie couldn't help embellishing the already fabulous details. They were so deep into it that neither of them noticed when another youngster came and sat cross-legged on the grass a few feet in front of them, until said youngster gave a small gasp at a particularly exciting point and both boys looked up.

Gil exclaimed, "Paki! They sent you back already."

"Yes, Master Gil. They said you might be needing me."

Jamie studied the newcomer curiously. Dark of skin and solemn of demeanor, a little taller than Jamie and Gil, and thinner, the boy was dressed in the same sort of plain garb that Ben and Caleb had been wearing.  "You're a slave," Jamie said in surprise.

"My slave," Gil said, very matter-of-factly. "Father gave him to me last year, on my birthday."

An odd feeling muddled Jamie's insides at this pronouncement. He knew, of course, that people kept slaves. He even knew some people who used to be slaves. Why, the Pirate Lord Gentleman Joe himself used to be one, and had told Jamie some rather blood-curdling stories about it. And of course, Uncle Jack...

"What's the matter?" asked Gil.

"Nothin'," Jamie said. "It's just... there's this other story about my uncle."

"But you haven't finished the one about the hanging yet!" Gil objected.

"Oh, yes!" Paki said, then added, "Beggin' your pardon, can I stay and listen to the end of it?"

It occurred to Jamie that perhaps he wouldn't tell the other tale just now, the tale of how his uncle had saved a whole shipload of slaves, men, women, and children like Paki, and almost died for it. He found it took some effort to smile at Paki and Gil, but he did it, and said, with as light an air as he could, "All right then. Where'd I leave off?"

*

Jamie and Gil were allowed to come down to dinner with the adults that evening. Paki's mother, Subira, helped them wash and dress for dinner, and Jamie felt very grown up as he descended the broad staircase and joined the company assembling in the parlor.

"What a fine looking little lad you are," said Gil's mother, who had felt well enough to join the company.

Gil had said that his mother had recently lost another baby, and wasn't "quite up to snuff yet", and Jamie could see that it was true. The lady seemed pale and rather tremulous. Jamie made a leg, gracefully, just as his uncle had taught him, and said in sincere tones, "Thank you, ma'am, and for your hospitality." That brought a faint color to her cheeks, and a spark of amused approval to his uncle's eye, as well.

Uncle Jack, dressed in Piratical Splendor, looked quite singular in the Pennistone parlor. It was a dichotomy, as Ragetti would say. Two worlds, in one small room.

But there were three worlds, really. For when the Pennistones and the pirates sat down to an elegant dinner together, they were waited upon by slaves, more finely dressed than Paki, and Ben and Caleb, but with the same grave, subdued air. Of course, servants were supposed to be unobtrusive, but Jamie was still disturbed.

He said as much to his uncle, later, when they were alone on the porch as Jack was about to take his leave to return to the Pearl for the night. Jamie was to stay with Gil -- and Paki. "Uncle Jack... how is it folk can 'own' other folk? It doesn't seem..."

"Right?" Uncle Jack supplied.

"Not only 'right'. Possible."

Uncle Jack nodded. "I know what you mean. But it's a fact of life for a great many souls, lad. It won't always be -- there's noises against slavery here and there in the world. But it won't be gone in my lifetime, or in yours, I'll wager."

Jamie frowned. "Gil has a slave of his own. Paki's his name. Might be Gentleman Joe's son!"

"Except he'd be free, then, wouldn't he?" Uncle Jack took up Jamie's hands. "Paki, and his mum, and Ben and Caleb an' the rest are people, just like you an' me. Don't you forget it."

"Gil and his mother and father don't think that way."

"No. But they haven't had the benefit of your education, have they?"

Jamie chuckled, knowing quite well that the Pennistones would view his education in quite another light, for all their kindness and hospitality.

Uncle Jack squeezed Jamie's hands. "Just you do the best you can. You'll only be here a couple of nights. And who knows? Pennistone's a lost cause, but his son might be taught, if you're clever about it."

"Piratical!"

"Aye!"

Jamie loosed his hands and hugged his uncle, who pulled him close. "A pirate and a good man, so said your mother the day you were born."

"That's what she says of you!" Jamie said, looking up with a grin.

Jack gave a reminiscent chuckle. "Took her a mite longer to see it in my case, bein' blinded by your da's light an' all. But she knew it right off with you, soon as she laid eyes on you. I'd say she spoke the truth."


TBC

Comments

[dharma-slut.livejournal.com]

This is a good story, and makes me feel like a kid at bedtime;

Oooh, come on, I wanna hear the rest-- all of it-- right NOW!

What an excellent conflict point. I had no idea it was coming. I'm so pleased.

There is a lot of exposition, though, depending on your intentions you might want to re-write some of it. Just little things, like "A town of several hundred people..." might be too specific. "a tiny town" or something of that nature might keep better serve, without disrupting the flow of the story.

[geekmama.livejournal.com]

I was wondering if there was too much exposition, but the rest of the story doesn't have much, so I'm just going to leave it for now. I'm glad you're enjoying it. The "kid at bedtime" thing is what I was going for with this one, so I guess it's working OK! Thank you for the feedback, it's very much appreciated!

[torn-eledhwen.livejournal.com]

Oooh, morals and everything. I like that the Pennistones are essentially good people - you're not setting them up to be slave-owning villains - but Jamie can see through it. Good lad. Great story!

[azulada.livejournal.com]

I find the exposition to give more detail and depth to the story. A town of several hundred people today is much different than of those of history. Tiny in today's standard wasn't so then...just my piece of eight. :)

It continues to be quite excellent! Waiting until the next...

[geekmama.livejournal.com]

Thank you! More on Monday, and I hope you will continue to enjoy it. :)

[geekmama.livejournal.com]

I think the shift in philosophy required to see slavery as wrong is something that would have been bred into Jamie, growing up as he has, but there were many who didn't see it that way yet weren't villains by any means. The world was changing, but slowly.

I'm glad you're enjoying this! Thank you for letting me know.

[compassrose7577.livejournal.com]

Oh, yeah! Another installment. I was needing something to lighten my day!

Slavery is one of the issues that haven't been addressed much, given Jack's history. It had to have been an uncomfortable truth, in spite of it being so prevalent. A good person would naturally know it was a bad thing. I can't imagine how difficult it must have been to have to face it on a daily basis.

I like Jack being so philosophical about it, trying to educate without creating even more prejudices. Jack the Social Equivocator. There's one no one has ever thought of!

Still great! Still lovin'! Still keepin' a weather eye for the next. Monday you say? Hmm...what to do until then...Kerry

[compassrose7577.livejournal.com]

It would seem exposition would be a necessary tool when you're trying to create a complete story in a short amount of time. Granted, it might be a necessary evil, but necessary, nonetheless.

Excessive only happens when the reader is left wondering "Where are we going with this?" You've never left the reader wandering down aimless paths; all roads have led to exactly where you wanted to go.

"Tiny?" Twenty? Forty? Or, two hundred? A fine point, but of significant significance.

Don't allow the Demon Self-Doubt haunt your dreams, luv!

[salr323.livejournal.com]

I'm enjoying this a lot! An interesting twist on the PotC world which is, of course, a little squeaky clean compared to the reality of the time.

Love Jamie's interactions with Jack. Looking forward to more. :)

[geekmama.livejournal.com]

I'm glad you're still enjoying it! Thank you for the feedback -- I really appreciate it.

[geekmama.livejournal.com]

An interesting twist on the PotC world which is, of course, a little squeaky clean compared to the reality of the time.

Yes, of course. One can go either way with it in fic, but gritty reality isn't what we were seeing on the screen, and when I began writing fanfiction I wanted more of that amusing, exciting, romanticized world. The tone of this is more post-CotBP, rather than post-DMC/AWE angst. Hopefully it will still be interesting, in spite of that. I'm glad you're enjoying it, so far!

[sharklady35.livejournal.com]

Wonderful! A story with fun interactions and social depth.

I hope you're planning to keep this series going.

[geekmama.livejournal.com]

There are three more chapters (or actually two and an epilogue). Four will be up by tomorrow morning, and I plan to post the others on Wednesday and Friday, respectively. I'm so happy you're enjoying it! Thank you for letting me know.

[faeritales.livejournal.com]

Another great installment! It looks like little Jamie might become a bit of a hero to Jack by the end, if he can convince Gil of the wrongness and impossibility of slavery.

Can't wait for tomorrow!

[geekmama.livejournal.com]

So happy you're enjoying it! Thank you for letting me know. :D

[djarum99.livejournal.com]

Great story - I love the juxtaposition of Jack and Jamie's world and the realities of plantation life. Jamie is a wonderful OC, very believable as Elizabeth's son and Jack's protege.

[geekmama.livejournal.com]

Thank you! I'm so glad you're enjoying it. More tomorrow morning!

[p0wdermonkey.livejournal.com]

This is getting interesting!
I think the way you present the gap opening between Jamie and Gil - and their friendship across it - is very realistic. And I'm still smiling over Uncle Jack: mentor in social graces and social subversion simultaneously.

[geekmama.livejournal.com]

I'm still smiling over Uncle Jack: mentor in social graces and social subversion simultaneously.

There are few, if any, instances where Jack's chameleon-like qualities can't charm the socks off one. Which is why he's the best character ever to write. *g*

Glad you're enjoying the ride here! Thank you for letting me know.

[weather-eyes.livejournal.com]

"And mind you don't abuse the citizenry," - loved that line. :)

Behave meant different things, depending on one's company, of course. - Very true. :)

I loved Jamie's retelling of Jack's escape from Port Royal and the way you have conveyed his confusion over slavery is very convincing.

"Took her a mite longer to see it in my case, bein' blinded by your da's light an' all. But she knew it right off with you, soon as she laid eyes on you. I'd say she spoke the truth." - Wonderful last line. I can imagine Elizabeth being so in love with Will that she overlooked Jack while he was alive.

Loved it. :)

[kseenaa.livejournal.com]

Very nice. I like the thing about the slaves to. Can not have been easy to Jack. :-P I enjoyed this chapter muchly. :-)

[geekmama.livejournal.com]

Thank you! I'm so glad you're enjoying it. :)

[geekmama.livejournal.com]

Thanks so much!

*loves kseenaa's icon*

[kseenaa.livejournal.com]

:-) The icon is made by lostmemento and is snaggable, so go ahead and use it if you wish, so long you give credit to her. ;-)

[captaintish]

I read both Chapters 3 and 4, so I'm all caught up!

Jamie's mother, returning to the Pearl after visiting a friend in the town for the day

I love how this little snippet tells us so much about the post-AWE relationship between Jack, Elizabeth and Jamie. Sailing around on the Black Pearl, just as it should be. Nicely done!

As soon as those slaves showed up, I knew that could present a problem. I love that you're working Jack's backstory about freeing the slaves into this, even though they never really brought it into the movie (at least, not explicitly, I might argue that it was implicit in that scene on the Pantano River at the end of DMC, with the mourners).

"A pirate and a good man, so said your mother the day you were born."

"That's what she says of you!" Jamie said, looking up with a grin.


I like that!

Okay, I'm going to go review Chapter 4 now.

[geekmama.livejournal.com]

I love how this little snippet tells us so much about the post-AWE relationship between Jack, Elizabeth and Jamie.

I have this vision in my head, you see, and it is much less angsty than a lot of the post-AWE fic that's out there. I hope to continue writing about it when this one's done.

Thank you for the feedback -- it's so good to know what's working.

[captaintish]

I have this vision in my head, you see, and it is much less angsty than a lot of the post-AWE fic that's out there. I hope to continue writing about it when this one's done.

ah, yes, I hope you do!

[ericadawn16.livejournal.com]

Jamie grinned. Behave meant different things, depending on one's company, of course, but having been exposed to the full gamut of society from an early age, from the dregs of Tortuga to his mother's old aristocratic connections, Jamie was confident of giving satisfaction.

Hehe

Aww, I liked the return of a Pirate and a Good Man, but do they ever mention Jamie's namesake? Also, could we please have a little more description? Colors, emotions, etc.? The dialogue's good, I just would like a little more around it.

[geekmama.livejournal.com]

I'll have to work on that. Thanks for the feedback, though.