dwgm: (Harry & the Pirate)
[personal profile] dwgm
When I saw that this week's drabble challenge prompt was 'Inherit' I had to write this little prologue to Harry & the Pirate VI: Blood and Treasure. I'm up to chapter sixteen in writing it, and I intend to post a chapter a day beginning on 1-1-11, which is the 7th anniversary of the series.

Harry & the Pirate is an A/U sequel to Curse of the Black Pearl, and the first 200,000 words or so (four chaptered stories and many associated shorter works) were written before Dead Man's Chest came out to thoroughly "Joss" both my plot and character development. If you are a first time reader you might bear that in mind, and also note that this drabble is spoilery for the series as a whole (though I'll probably put a synopsis of the series at the front of the first chapter of B&T for new readers that prefer to skip wading through the preceding stories).

Many thanks to [livejournal.com profile] hereswith for taking the time to look this over.



~ Inheritance ~

The solicitor’s letter had taken months to reach him in exotic Singaraja, addressed as it was to The Right Honorable Lord Wainfleet, though at least they’d got The Black Pearl bit right. Jack gave a snort at the absurd error, but then sobered, realizing what the missive might contain, error or no. Word of a father’s death was a rite of passage for any son, even a bastard estranged these many years.

He broke the seal, spread out the pages and scanned it through. Then frowned and started over, reading more carefully and with increasing consternation. “What the devil?” he finally said aloud.

And then there was a scratch at the cabin door and Tom walked in.

Jack’s mood lightened at the sight of his son, so like himself at nineteen. Clever, capable; a couple of inches taller, perhaps, but still lithe and quick, and blessed with his parents’ beauty.

“Is that the letter?” Tom asked. “Gibbs told me.”

“Here. You read it,” Jack said, handing it over.

Tom read, his expressive countenance mirroring much the same emotions Jack had experienced minutes before. When he was finished, he looked up. “You’ve inherited! But how? I thought—”

“It’s a mistake.”

Tom’s brows rose. “Is it?”

“Of course it is. It has to be. Damnation. Where’s your mother?”

“At the palace with Day – dance practice again.”

“Go fetch ‘em, will you?”

“Aye. Are we off to England, then?”

“I suppose you’d like that,” Jack said bitterly.

Tom grinned. “Bring me that horizon!

Jack scowled. “You dare to bait your father?”

“My lord, I’d never!” Tom said, bowing dramatically, then gave an impudent wink as he straightened and ducked out before Jack could throw something at him.


TBC

Date: 2010-11-16 04:00 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] redbells.livejournal.com
I haven't had a chance to sit down and read your Harry and the Pirate 'verse yet, but after this little drabble? I will MAKE time :)

This is a wonderful sketch of a character I know and love, and one I'm sure I'll come to feel the same way about. I love the snark and the hasty escape especially. Fabulous, and I can't wait to read the rest!

Date: 2010-11-28 05:50 pm (UTC)
ext_15536: Fuschias by Geek Mama (Harry & the Pirate)
From: [identity profile] geekmama.livejournal.com
I'm so sorry it took me so long to reply to this comment. I was really thrilled you read and enjoyed the drabble, and the relationship between Jack and his son, Tom. I've had so much fun writing this series. The seeds of it are decades old, stories I began to develop from the first time I went on the PotC ride at Disneyland when it opened in 1966, so when they made the movie it was a natural progression to develop them in that context -- and writing on a computer, rather than struggling with pen and paper, made it all magically easy. I feel my writing has improved some over the years, there are some issues with POV etc. in H&theP1, for example, and the story rambles a bit more than it should. But they do get better, I think, and each one builds upon plot elements in the others (though I think a new reader would "get it" anyway) If you do end up reading the stories, I hope you will enjoy them.

Thank you so much for commenting!

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