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dwgm700 words (hardly a drabble, but hey! an even number), with thanks to my dear ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
hereswith for beta reading, editing, and excellent suggestions.
Previous bits...
And here's today's...
47. Comedy
~ An Execrable Business, continued...
Jack seemed extremely pleased with the action, which barely qualified as an action at all, really. There had been some resistance from several Écarlates who had differed with Capitaine Récamier as to the necessity of surrendering to the Pearl’s obviously superior force, enough to provide some of that “sport” Bill had so offhandedly mentioned to Nell, though not enough to satisfy Barbossa. The dissenters were disarmed without much difficulty or damage, however, and, along with the remaining Écarlates, were stripped of everything but their breeches and locked up in the bilge, all except their captain, to whom Jack had taken a liking.
Bill had to admire Récamier’s patience. Jack made the man sit in the Écarlate’s Great Cabin while one of the smaller cabins was made ready to receive him by being stripped of every bit of its contents, including the bedding. While these preparations were going forth, Jack casually sorted through the man’s belongings and at the same time bombarded him with questions, alternating these with pithy bits of advice. By the time Jack allowed Bill to take him away, Récamier’s face was very red, the picture of gallic exasperation and chagrin.
“He is a madman!” Récamier said in English, this following a spate of muttering that Bill, who had little French, took to be epithets and outright curses. “How can you follow such a captain? And he is barely more than a boy! It is an absurdity!”
“He ain’t much younger than you, I reckon,” Bill replied, “and you’ll do well to thank the good Lord he’s as mad as he is – any number of others would’ve spared you the talk in favor of cold steel.”
With that, he shoved the capitaine inside the bare, closet-sized cabin, shut and bolted the door, and instructed the two Pearls who’d accompanied him to keep a guard on it.
Bill went back up on deck and saw that the transfer of the Écarlate’s cargo to the Pearl was going smoothly. It was a fine afternoon for it, sunny and not too warm. He saluted Nell and she waved back, and made motions indicating she was going to go below for a time.
Then Jack appeared, doffed his hat to Nell, who was now waving with considerably more enthusiasm, and then turned to Bill, “There’s a couple of passengers, according to the manifest, name of Pelletier. Let’s go roust ‘em out, see what they have for us.”
They gathered a few Pearls and made their way to the deck below, where two small passenger cabins had been installed below the Great Cabin. One proved empty, save for some rather elegant furnishings, and Jack set a couple of the men to clearing it. The other, however, contained the Pelletiers.
Bill followed Jack’s lead and sheathed his sword, though the lads backing them did not. But Monsieur Pelletier wasn’t giving an inch. “Keep away, you villains!” he roared, but his old voice cracked and he looked extremely agitated, almost ill. Brandishing a very pretty bejeweled dress sword, he stood protecting his spouse, a tall, plump woman, with starting eyes and a severely aquiline nose, who was clutching a monstrous, longhaired cat to her bosom.
“Now, now,” said Jack, moving forward, and then continued in French. But Monsieur, suddenly seized by some fit, began to shake and fell to his knees, sagging against the bed, and Madame began to shriek. The cat, terrified into action, yowled and struggled, clawing madly, and Madame, screeching still louder, threw the animal at Jack’s head.
Jack gave a yell and roared gallic curses as he caught the cat and more or less subdued it. It left its mark, though, a wicked red scratch high on his cheek.
His good humor was fair shredded as well.
“Here!”
He thrust the cat at Bill. Fortunately there was a blanket to hand. Bill grabbed it and bundled up the proffered feline, quick as a wink.
Jack continued to address Bill as he turned back to the Pelletiers. “We’ve been needin’ a ship’s cat on the Pearl. You run off now, Mr. Turner, and present that to our new cabin boy with my compliments.”
And madame’s eyes bulged as Jack drew his sword.
TBC...
hereswith for beta reading, editing, and excellent suggestions.Previous bits...
| 1. Tortuga 2. Happiness 3. Festive 4. Last Minute 5. Calm 6. Truth 7. Bargain 8. Spook 9. Down 10. Wounds 11. Moon 12. Monsters | 13. Beauty 14. Name 15. History 16. Service 17. Advice 18. Captain 19. Awe 20. Cross 21. "You've made a big mistake" 22. Heroism 23. Gold 24. Echo | 25. Greed 26. Advance 27. Challenge 28. Adventure 29. Sentence 30. Treasure 31. North 32. Coat 33. Good and Evil 34. Sickness and Health 35. Lost 36. Court | 37. What if? 38. Island 39. That can't be 40. Prophesy 41. Ten Years Later 42. French 43. Deed 44. Tea 45. Scarlett & Giselle 46. Link |
And here's today's...
47. Comedy
~ An Execrable Business, continued...
Jack seemed extremely pleased with the action, which barely qualified as an action at all, really. There had been some resistance from several Écarlates who had differed with Capitaine Récamier as to the necessity of surrendering to the Pearl’s obviously superior force, enough to provide some of that “sport” Bill had so offhandedly mentioned to Nell, though not enough to satisfy Barbossa. The dissenters were disarmed without much difficulty or damage, however, and, along with the remaining Écarlates, were stripped of everything but their breeches and locked up in the bilge, all except their captain, to whom Jack had taken a liking.
Bill had to admire Récamier’s patience. Jack made the man sit in the Écarlate’s Great Cabin while one of the smaller cabins was made ready to receive him by being stripped of every bit of its contents, including the bedding. While these preparations were going forth, Jack casually sorted through the man’s belongings and at the same time bombarded him with questions, alternating these with pithy bits of advice. By the time Jack allowed Bill to take him away, Récamier’s face was very red, the picture of gallic exasperation and chagrin.
“He is a madman!” Récamier said in English, this following a spate of muttering that Bill, who had little French, took to be epithets and outright curses. “How can you follow such a captain? And he is barely more than a boy! It is an absurdity!”
“He ain’t much younger than you, I reckon,” Bill replied, “and you’ll do well to thank the good Lord he’s as mad as he is – any number of others would’ve spared you the talk in favor of cold steel.”
With that, he shoved the capitaine inside the bare, closet-sized cabin, shut and bolted the door, and instructed the two Pearls who’d accompanied him to keep a guard on it.
Bill went back up on deck and saw that the transfer of the Écarlate’s cargo to the Pearl was going smoothly. It was a fine afternoon for it, sunny and not too warm. He saluted Nell and she waved back, and made motions indicating she was going to go below for a time.
Then Jack appeared, doffed his hat to Nell, who was now waving with considerably more enthusiasm, and then turned to Bill, “There’s a couple of passengers, according to the manifest, name of Pelletier. Let’s go roust ‘em out, see what they have for us.”
They gathered a few Pearls and made their way to the deck below, where two small passenger cabins had been installed below the Great Cabin. One proved empty, save for some rather elegant furnishings, and Jack set a couple of the men to clearing it. The other, however, contained the Pelletiers.
Bill followed Jack’s lead and sheathed his sword, though the lads backing them did not. But Monsieur Pelletier wasn’t giving an inch. “Keep away, you villains!” he roared, but his old voice cracked and he looked extremely agitated, almost ill. Brandishing a very pretty bejeweled dress sword, he stood protecting his spouse, a tall, plump woman, with starting eyes and a severely aquiline nose, who was clutching a monstrous, longhaired cat to her bosom.
“Now, now,” said Jack, moving forward, and then continued in French. But Monsieur, suddenly seized by some fit, began to shake and fell to his knees, sagging against the bed, and Madame began to shriek. The cat, terrified into action, yowled and struggled, clawing madly, and Madame, screeching still louder, threw the animal at Jack’s head.
Jack gave a yell and roared gallic curses as he caught the cat and more or less subdued it. It left its mark, though, a wicked red scratch high on his cheek.
His good humor was fair shredded as well.
“Here!”
He thrust the cat at Bill. Fortunately there was a blanket to hand. Bill grabbed it and bundled up the proffered feline, quick as a wink.
Jack continued to address Bill as he turned back to the Pelletiers. “We’ve been needin’ a ship’s cat on the Pearl. You run off now, Mr. Turner, and present that to our new cabin boy with my compliments.”
And madame’s eyes bulged as Jack drew his sword.
TBC...
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Date: 2009-02-26 02:54 am (UTC)