His mouth was touching hers again, alright so he had the wheel now, and a sharp eye on the horizon, but it seemed Will Turner could turn his hand to more than one thing at a time, fascinating.

“You never told me about Tangiers”

Her voice was startlingly guttural for a second and she blew out the air that was in her lungs. “You really want to know?”

“I really want to know…and especially since othe avenues of passing the time seem to have slipped beyond my grasp”

Rosie raised her eyebrows and sort of grinned, truth was she was having difficulty bringing her mind back into focus. “We were a fortnight out of port when I was discovered by some bastard who spent too much time watching me, disappointed perhaps that I wasn’t the pretty boy he took me to be, he decided that he wouldn’t let that detail stop him, nor any of the others that he called over.” Rosie looked up into Will’s face daring him to stop her “I screamed blue murder 'til the bosun came and dragged me off to the Captain, a red faced bully of a man who had the graces of a dog.” Her hands reached around him now, that soft tan skin over muscle that held him against her, he was truly beautiful and strong fingers drew a moan from him as they dragged over his back, just the bumps of the feel of a cat o’ nine tails and Rosie nodded, this man knew too. Knew what it was like to have to just take what was dealt. “He wanted me- I could tell- always can” a small smile into his kiss and Rosie felt his cock hard against her “well he wanted a manikin for those silks, a woman on his arm and on her back, moaning in the right places and telling him he was the best lover” she could feel him stop to breathe and pushed her hips up hard to meet his while she continued “So I let him believe what he wanted and saved myself from the pricks of all those other sailors, until we sailed into Tangiers that was”

Rosie could feel her bravado wane and she swallowed the sob that she wouldn’t entertain “as soon as we tied the first rope I stepped onto Moorish land and ran as fast as I could, nothing but the clothes I was wearing and a meagre purse…” her eyes were challenging him now “ I had nothing Will, and he had taken all he wanted…don’t move...just don’t fucking move” but they were just swaying now, a soothe that she hadn’t felt from a man and Rosie pulled him closer, no idea really what she was telling this one for, except that she was. “Kiss me”

She didn’t need to ask again, enveloping kisses that she would lose everything in, almost...

“What was his name, this Captain? Have you seen anything of him since?”

A swallow and she spoke clear “I caught a boat out of their when I could, spent weeks in those fuckin’ dirt streets hiding from the lobster backs who he sent to find me, and making money how I could- a curiosity in my dirty silk dress and white skin that had me some money. Eventually I worked  a merchant ship to the Caribbean taking wool for the colonies. We docked in Port Royal and it was there that I happened to find Mary- drunk as I was and about in need of some company. But no, I never heard or seen anything of him since, his name was Standish”

Will stiffened as he felt the blood in his veins stand still.

***

Aboard the Valiant Standish stared up ate the wood that made up the roof of his cabin, the incessant rocking of the ship failing this night to lull him to sleep. Peawick had been right. They couldn’t just hurtle around the Caribbean hoping to come across those pirates, he had to have a plan. He played out conversations in his mind with the Commodore, all of which ended up as unhappily as the last and mostly with him returning to those soft folds of green land they called home. It was a few moments before dawn he sat up, Edison before his time. The Governor of Port Royal! Of course!

“Look lively you bastards and set sail!” Peawick had to admit to being relieved, not only had they a heading but the Captain was smiling, drinking tea and smiling.

“What course of action have you decided on Sir? If you will forgive my curiosity”

“Not at all Peawick…it is all rather brilliant- I am surprised I didn’t think of it before!” Standish, puffed up to his fullest, paid no heed to the ministrations of his lieutenant, while expert fingers adjusted brass buttons and applied wax to a moustache that would seat a whole flock of birds, he glowed with the pride of a man who thought he knew his destiny “You remember Governor Lawes Peawick? He was the one who tipped off the navy about the location of the Chamada do Siren” a small shadow skittered across Standish’s face as he remembered that unfortunate encounter, but which nevertheless was soon to replaced with hope “Fine fellow, and no truck with those liberal sorts! He had those harlots Bonny and Read all but in the hangman’s noose but for some do gooder who created such a scene as to force him to take the whole thing to trial. Got off Scot free pleading their bellies!”

“Sir they were incarcerated I believe…”

Standish threw one of those looks that Peawick had long learned to dodge for fear of blood loss “Pssshh! Too good for their sort…what we need Peawick is a clear message- some heads on sticks and ones that will have those pirates pleading for mercy. And I happen to have just the plan to secure such a goal…”

Peawick stopped himself from speaking and let his shoulders fall

“Excellent Captain- Port Royal it is!”

Little did they know that in fact their quarry had every intention of beating them too it. In an Inn so called in Croton Bay Mary squeezed the water out of her hair over a blue rimmed bowl on the cupboard, a shiver at the drips that worked their way down over her breasts and to the floor.

“What’s that face for?” Anne’s resonant voice called out from the other side of the room, where she lay in sheets that told a tale of the night’s tumbles “you still missing that little wench?”

Mary turned to smile at her “You know me too well”

Anne sighed “That I do. Well we’ve a day or two left here before the Chamada is clear for sailing, those bastards did some damage and no mistake. Sparrow should be in Tortuga by morning and with that smile Rosie is sure to secure us a crew, though what their intentions will be I couldn’t say” a wicked grin on her lips she dodged the flying spray from the ends of Mary’s fingers.

“And then we meet them in Port Royal to pick up Rosie and the crew?”

“Patience Mary Read! But aye…we meet them in Port Royal and believe me that fuckin’ Standish will have to pray to his mother he never crosses my path” Anne fell back against the pillows her face hard with anger and revenge.

***

“Land Ahoy!”

“What do you say I slip him a crown to keep that discovery a little more quiet?” Will pulled her against his chest and smoothed large hands over her hair, his jaunty tone at odds with the deep brown worry in his eyes. The night had passed slowly with snatches of sleep  in the wooden cradle at his feet and she was struggling to open her eyes

“Do you intend keeping me a prisoner on this ship First Mate William Turner? Because I have to tell you I have never set foot in Tortuga and I have a mind to see it”

“that Lass is precisely what is troubling me, having spent many a night- they are rarely days that one sees in Tortuga, I can all too well imagine the treasure trove you will find there” he was teasing and testing her all the same, covering a darker thought in his head that Jack would need to know and soon about Standish, and if he was honest with himself covering the blur that he knew Rosie to be.

“Then you had better keep me close, I have need of your help to find me a crew in any case…”

Will nodded graciously “You will have my undivided attentions”

Rosie smiled at him and let her hand smooth over the satin of his skin, an intake of breath and  “In that case I hope you are a man of your word”

It was early yet as Rosie took her first steps into Tortuga, the afternoon only just beginning to come alive with a groan and a grimace. The buildings and citizens seemed to go well together, houses appearing to tumble down the hilly streets with the same drunkenness as their inhabitants, a headlong rush to fall down as quickly as possible. As they passed up from the harbour Rosie watched with a grin the remains of fights were resolved in amnesia embraces, all too used sheets flapped in the wind and what passed for washing of glasses and pots ready for the next filling. Shouts of ‘Jack! You promised..’ bringing a smile and wince both from Kate. The Captain evidently was home, and with a flourish he opened the door that had evidently seen more than it’s fair share of hammering.

“This looks like the place”

“The Squawking Duck? This is a tavern. I had thought to start with all haste to find a crew… ”

“Well certainly one must fortify one’s self appropriately for such a venture, wouldn’t you agree? And where else in Tortuga but a Tavern are you going to find pirates mad or drunk enough to set foot on a boat with Anne Bonny?” a grin she guessed was a tease and Rosie sighed, he might just have something she supposed.

There were curses from the back of the bar as the door creaked open- something about it surely not being that time again, although there seemed to be some already drinking at the wooden tables, on second glance though they were obviously casualties of the night before, slumped in front of their drinks, no doubt soon to take up where they left off.

‘Help yourself but be sure to leave the right coin or I will knock your block off- have no mistake about that’ a puffed out voice called from out back. Jack smiled as he approached the bar ‘And there I was expecting a welcome having so long been away from this most fair Isle. Clearly things have taken a turn for the worse in my absence’

There is a silence and then the sound of a deep laugh

“Oh my!” the figure of a rotund middle aged woman with what maybe the thickest arms ever seen appeared in the door way, and with a huge smile on her face she practically lifted him from the floor

“Easy now luv…” but Jack’s eyes gave the game away, an easy smile “My most favourite Proprietress. Ruby”

“Now Jack I do know for a fact that you say that to all of us. But since you came here first I will let that slip- what will I get ye?”

“My usual Ruby, and yourself naturally…”

“Well not normally before 1 as you know– I’ve my own standards – but you’ve given me quite a turn already turning up so early so let’s have it.” And she topped up ample glasses, assuming Rosie for the same.

When the tale was over, a stunned Ruby sat and poured herself another shot and drank it down. 

“Well that’s quite the kettle of fish – I’d not have believed it if I didn’t hear it from your lips to my ear directly.”

With which, Jack in fact kissed said ear and swore “by the salt in my veins, luv, every word of it. They blew Anne Bonny’s ship to smithereens” His hat on his heart he took a gulp of rum before introducing Rosie “Rosie meet Ruby...she will be able to tell you where the least drunk women are, and their price” A slightly salacious raise of the eyebrows at Will and Jack sat back in his chair, apparently satisfied with the progress of the morning so far.

Ruby frowned and took a big sigh “well in honest truth, if such a thing is to be encouraged, there are men and women needing to sail crammed into every corner of this island. Convincing them to set foot on the sea however would be another thing entirely- the Navy have the devil in them so it seems. The sea has turned red true and proper so it has”

The frown she met from all four gave Ruby pause to throw back another slug before she continued “Things is bad Jack…not like the old days when a pirate could make an honest bob or two- that East India Company, they have the British Navy doing their bidding now.” A smile crossed her lips as she thought “Though I did hear from a lass in Croton Bay that Mary and Anne saw to it that the Company went begging for a six month stash of silk and tobacco! Up in flames it went, no one knows how…” a smile that claimed the deed as one of their own and Ruby poured  just one more drink, for now.

***

The sun was still high in the sky when the Valiant moored in Port Royal and with something of a regal promenade Standish stepped foot onto dry land, Peawick apparently transformed from Lieutenant to footman. The rap that sounded on the Governors door was one of a man with a mission and a purpose- in this case the hanging of pirates, and one gender in particular. He was admitted to the same rooms that Kate herself has stormed out of so many years ago, leaving the servants gasping and smiling behind their hands at her audacity. Her voice had been loud and true and if the walls had memories they would hold this one as the day the Governor was lost for words

“I mean to warn you that should these women hang, a letter will arrive forthwith on a desk at the London Times informing their readers that Governor Lawes did indeed know full well that these women were bearing children when he sent them to their deaths. And what’s more, this has absolutely nothing whatever to do with my father, you clearly have some way to go in your grasp of modern thinking. Good Day to you.”

The chandeliers, gilt and velvet however stood testament to the enduring strength of what was called ‘order’ and Governor Lawes stood to greet the Captain like an old friend, their bond forged in class and privilege.

“Captain Standish! Come have some refreshment…I hear that you have a  proposition for me…that will I hope at last find us some small recompense for having had those…well one can hardly call them women…witches… cheat the gallows last time!”

“Indeed I do Sir! I have a plan to flush them out- have them come begging for grace and mercy” a small rush of thrill passed though his belly and Standish took a gulp of finest tea laced with Scotch.

(thanks to Fairy for graphic)

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