Black
Pearl Tales
is the official archive of
Black Pearl Sails
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Pirates of the Caribbean
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Disney Corporation.
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a In the Watches of the Night by
Eledhwen |
| aaa |
| He woke with a start. Someone was shaking his shoulder and whispering urgently, “Jack! Jack!” “Eh? What’s ‘appening?” He sat up, pushing hair out of his eyes. “Four bells,” said Anamaria, wrapped up in a blanket. “Your watch, captain.” Jack swung his legs out of his bunk and stood up, reaching for a shirt and tugging it on before finding his coat. “Go on, get back to your post, woman,” he grumbled. “I’ll be up in a jiff. Give me a moment to wake up!” Anamaria looked rebellious, but obeyed. Stretching, Jack found a cup of stale water, swallowed it, and followed the water with a hefty swig of rum. That felt somewhat better. Pushing his hat on his head he headed above decks. The night sky was filled with stars, studding the heavens with crystalline patterns. Jack took a deep and glorious breath of air and sauntered up to the quarterdeck, where he found Cotton at the helm, Anamaria wandering from port to starboard with a telescope, and one of his new recruits standing by in case he were needed. Squinting ahead of him at the foremast, Jack thought he spied little Marty swinging his legs over the edge of the fighting top. “Right then,” he said, cheerfully. “Helmsman, how’s your head?” Cotton’s Parrot gave him a sardonic sideways look, and squawked, “nice and slow, nice and slow!” “Exactly,” Jack agreed, and leant over to look at the compass swinging in its gimbals and lit by a small lantern. He glanced up at the stars to check the bearing, and nodded. “Excellent. North-north-west. Thank you, Mr Cotton; you may stand down.” Cotton nodded, and they swapped places. Jack patted the helm comfortingly, gave the stars another look, and began to get comfortable. Footsteps sounded on the stairs, and Gibbs appeared yawning widely. “Good afternoon, Mr Gibbs!” said Jack. Gibbs gave his captain a displeased glance, crossing instead to Anamaria who handed over the telescope. “Nothin’ to see,” she said. “It’s quiet out there.” She folded her arms. “Bonsoir.” Soon two more crewmen came to relieve young Peter and Marty. The new watch settled into its duties, standing quietly at their posts as the great black ship forged her way on through the night. She steered as sweetly as ever, Jack thought as he adjusted the course to account for the wind. Above his head the sails billowed, and the water rushed beneath the keel. He looked over at Gibbs, who was scanning the horizon with the ship’s telescope. Gibbs caught the look, and grinned back at his captain. Jack turned his attention once more to the helm, and his ship, and thought that he had seldom been happier. ~.~ All our authors thrive on feedback. Email the Webmaster to have comments forwarded to the author.
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