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dwgmI decided to go long with this one, and this first part is 900 words. I'll post the second part later today. And then there is a three part epilogue. Many thanks, as always, to ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
hereswith for beta reading, editing, and really great suggestions.
Previous bits...
And the first part of...
60. Rebirth
~ An Execrable Business, continued...
Nell could not help feeling more cheerful as they traveled north through a beautiful English countryside that was dressed in glorious Summer. As much as she had learned to love the sea, and the Black Pearl, and above all Jack Sparrow, this was home, this green and gentle land was what her heart had yearned for since she and her mother had set out with Harrison Claypool so many months ago.
The Pearl had dropped anchor several days before at a port called Shelmerston, on the south coast of England. It was an abode of privateers and, occasionally, pirates, and if it was not Tortuga it certainly was not Bristol, the port from which Nell and her mother had taken ship. Jack had gone ashore the first day to make arrangements for the dispersal of the swag they'd taken off the Écarlate, and to arrange for the hire of a carriage and a "maid".
Nell had been most taken aback when he'd returned to the ship at dusk, smelling of spirits and perfume. He explained that it wasn't his fault, that the lass he'd thought to hire for Nell had been used to work as a lady's maid in an establishment devoted to the needs of gentlemen on shore leave. It had all come to nothing, since the maid had become one of the mistresses in the two years since he'd seen her, yet he had been remembered fondly by all and sundry and had been pressed to stay and pick up old threads, as it were.
This explanation of the matter had not recommended itself to Nell, for though she was a most practical girl and realized that Jack would not long remain faithful to her memory once she was gone, she could not help feeling he might have waited until she was at least off the ship before indulging his baser inclinations.
But he insisted he was blameless, "And I've the goods to prove it: three gifts for you." And he brought in an enormous basket full of flowers and fresh foods such as fruit, cream, and baked goods that she had not had this age, and another basket, a smaller but very beautiful one, designed for carrying Giselle.
"For she's yours, love," Jack said. "Don't think she'd much like the Pearl with you gone."
Nell's sensibilities were much assuaged by these thoughtful offerings. "But what is the third gift?" she asked, and his reply, "Ah, darlin', the third's you and me, and our last night to ourselves, to do whatever you like," melted her heart entirely.
Their feast, which lasted into the small hours, was indulgent, delicious, and appropriately seasoned with both laughter and tears.
There'd been more tears the following morning when she'd bid goodbye to the Black Pearl and her crew. Cook, particularly, was much affected, and he embraced her heartily, then mopped his eyes with his apron. He also pressed a neatly wrapped packet into her hand – Just some bits of fish that I dried, careful like, for that Giselle of yours.
Nell would have wept more at leaving the Pearl, but Giselle, taking exception to being enclosed, carried, and then handed down to the waiting boat, set up an ungodly yowling which made Nell and everyone else laugh instead. So the crew's last view of Jack's erstwhile cabin boy was of her smiling and waving as the boat was rowed ashore, interspersed with periods of fond scolding and encouragement that she directed to the quivering basket beside her.
Jack had hired a carriage, in spite of the expense involved, and since Giselle became gradually more accustomed to her circumstances, the journey to the town where dwelt the family of William Turner was a pleasant one. They arrived in the late afternoon, and the joy of Bill's wife and son brought tears to Nell's eyes again. There was a little awkwardness when Mary Turner discovered that Jack's companion was a young female rather than the boy she looked, but the lady rose to the occasion, adjuring her son, a likely-looking lad of nine, to keep mum about the whole business and taking Nell upstairs to be suitably clothed and coiffed.
Nell and Giselle stayed in the Turners' spare room that night, trying to ignore the sounds of renewed marital bliss that could be so clearly heard through the thin walls. Jack stayed at the local inn, and did not return with the carriage until almost noon the next day, but when he arrived it was seen that he'd brought her more gifts: a strapping, red-faced girl named Ruth to be her maid, thus lending her the countenance due a lady, and a trunk stuffed full of clothing and personal items, everything she needed for a journey of several nights.
Jack kissed Mary's hand with pointed gallantry, directed Bill to rendezvous with him in Shelmerston a week hence, and ruffled young Will's hair and found a shilling, which he subsequently pressed into the boy's hand with a wink. Nell expressed her thanks to them all. Goodbyes were said, and they were off.
That had been three days before.
Now, though the shadows were growing long, they were driving through country that Nell recognized, passing landmarks she remembered. In a very short time she would be running up the stairs to embrace her grandmother. Tonight she would sleep in her own room, in her own bed.
On to Part 2...
hereswith for beta reading, editing, and really great 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. 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 & 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 47. Comedy 48. Mothers 49. Fathers 50. Rib 51. Music 52. Magic 53. Pirate King 54. Freedom 55. Sea Shanties 56. Isla de Muerta 57. Tragedy 58. Sickness 59. Port |
And the first part of...
60. Rebirth
~ An Execrable Business, continued...
Nell could not help feeling more cheerful as they traveled north through a beautiful English countryside that was dressed in glorious Summer. As much as she had learned to love the sea, and the Black Pearl, and above all Jack Sparrow, this was home, this green and gentle land was what her heart had yearned for since she and her mother had set out with Harrison Claypool so many months ago.
The Pearl had dropped anchor several days before at a port called Shelmerston, on the south coast of England. It was an abode of privateers and, occasionally, pirates, and if it was not Tortuga it certainly was not Bristol, the port from which Nell and her mother had taken ship. Jack had gone ashore the first day to make arrangements for the dispersal of the swag they'd taken off the Écarlate, and to arrange for the hire of a carriage and a "maid".
Nell had been most taken aback when he'd returned to the ship at dusk, smelling of spirits and perfume. He explained that it wasn't his fault, that the lass he'd thought to hire for Nell had been used to work as a lady's maid in an establishment devoted to the needs of gentlemen on shore leave. It had all come to nothing, since the maid had become one of the mistresses in the two years since he'd seen her, yet he had been remembered fondly by all and sundry and had been pressed to stay and pick up old threads, as it were.
This explanation of the matter had not recommended itself to Nell, for though she was a most practical girl and realized that Jack would not long remain faithful to her memory once she was gone, she could not help feeling he might have waited until she was at least off the ship before indulging his baser inclinations.
But he insisted he was blameless, "And I've the goods to prove it: three gifts for you." And he brought in an enormous basket full of flowers and fresh foods such as fruit, cream, and baked goods that she had not had this age, and another basket, a smaller but very beautiful one, designed for carrying Giselle.
"For she's yours, love," Jack said. "Don't think she'd much like the Pearl with you gone."
Nell's sensibilities were much assuaged by these thoughtful offerings. "But what is the third gift?" she asked, and his reply, "Ah, darlin', the third's you and me, and our last night to ourselves, to do whatever you like," melted her heart entirely.
Their feast, which lasted into the small hours, was indulgent, delicious, and appropriately seasoned with both laughter and tears.
There'd been more tears the following morning when she'd bid goodbye to the Black Pearl and her crew. Cook, particularly, was much affected, and he embraced her heartily, then mopped his eyes with his apron. He also pressed a neatly wrapped packet into her hand – Just some bits of fish that I dried, careful like, for that Giselle of yours.
Nell would have wept more at leaving the Pearl, but Giselle, taking exception to being enclosed, carried, and then handed down to the waiting boat, set up an ungodly yowling which made Nell and everyone else laugh instead. So the crew's last view of Jack's erstwhile cabin boy was of her smiling and waving as the boat was rowed ashore, interspersed with periods of fond scolding and encouragement that she directed to the quivering basket beside her.
Jack had hired a carriage, in spite of the expense involved, and since Giselle became gradually more accustomed to her circumstances, the journey to the town where dwelt the family of William Turner was a pleasant one. They arrived in the late afternoon, and the joy of Bill's wife and son brought tears to Nell's eyes again. There was a little awkwardness when Mary Turner discovered that Jack's companion was a young female rather than the boy she looked, but the lady rose to the occasion, adjuring her son, a likely-looking lad of nine, to keep mum about the whole business and taking Nell upstairs to be suitably clothed and coiffed.
Nell and Giselle stayed in the Turners' spare room that night, trying to ignore the sounds of renewed marital bliss that could be so clearly heard through the thin walls. Jack stayed at the local inn, and did not return with the carriage until almost noon the next day, but when he arrived it was seen that he'd brought her more gifts: a strapping, red-faced girl named Ruth to be her maid, thus lending her the countenance due a lady, and a trunk stuffed full of clothing and personal items, everything she needed for a journey of several nights.
Jack kissed Mary's hand with pointed gallantry, directed Bill to rendezvous with him in Shelmerston a week hence, and ruffled young Will's hair and found a shilling, which he subsequently pressed into the boy's hand with a wink. Nell expressed her thanks to them all. Goodbyes were said, and they were off.
That had been three days before.
Now, though the shadows were growing long, they were driving through country that Nell recognized, passing landmarks she remembered. In a very short time she would be running up the stairs to embrace her grandmother. Tonight she would sleep in her own room, in her own bed.
On to Part 2...
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Date: 2009-03-11 01:28 pm (UTC)