Aboard the Jackdaw: Under Edward Kenway And The Black Flag

39: Simon

Because all three of the women were pregnant, they were transfered to a special wing further into the prison where their health could be closely monitored. Mary, Kidd, and Anna now were housed in cells right next to each other, but the wing was under close observation. Escaping from this wing would be much more dangerous.

Even worse, the wing housed other sick prisoners who needed to be monitored. The rats carried the diseases of the sick from cell to cell. 

It didn't take long for Boney to come down with a cough. Any time that a rat approached Anna's cell, she shouted and threw her pillow at them to shoo them away.

Anna refused to even think about her baby being born in this hell. Surely an infant couldn't survive in these terrible conditions.

They needed to escape, yet day after day past without opprotunity. Dawn and dusk slowly trickled by until a torturing month had passed. The rest of the crew of The Eagle, including Jacques, had all been hung, and the women were now living on the borrowed time of their pregnancies.

The need to steal the keys and escape possessed Anna's mind, but every time that a guard got close to her cells, there were other guards within sight. These men knew how dangerous she was, and they weren't taking any chances.

Anna began to feign severe weakness until the guards loosened their watch around her.

In the back of Anna's mind, she thought of Edward. She should have still been infuriated at the mention of him, but all she could feel was reassurance knowing that he was imprisoned somewhere here too. She began to have a fantasy that he would come and rescue them.

Anna! No! What are you thinking? Edward isn't the prince charmin you think he is! Haven't you got that through your thick skull? Will you never learn? He's not coming to save you!

He's probably long escaped, and back home in England with his wife..

The pain and the stress boiled over Anna's core and suffocated her heart. She squinted her eyes, and she struggled to breathe as painful tears of despair ran down her face. She curled up in the dark on the cold stone floor and hugged her knees as much as she could with her growing belly.

It was her worst nightmare. Suddenly, Port Royal was hell to her. The idea that her child may die leached onto her brain and drained the life out of her. The near impossible escape always whispered tauntingly to her.

Anna thought about Russell. The last time she saw him, they were standing on the streets of Nassau, and she was about to be left behind. She had left in such a hurry, she had barely even told Russell goodbye; she didnt even hug him. Now, she would have traded her own hand for a chance to hug him. He had done so much for her, and yet she took him for granted.

More than anyone, she thought of Edward.. he was so close, yet so far away. She was too weak to fight her emotions anymore. She watched carelessly as the rats came and stole the burned crust of her bread.

All she wanted was to was to see Edward. She missed the way he would look at her; like she was the prize jewel of the whole ocean. She wanted his rough fingertips caressing her cheeks. She wanted him to comfort her like he used to.
Just once..
One more time..
So what if he would use her again? What difference would it make?
She was already dead.

Unless she could escape.

She closed her eyes as the idea of freedom tortured her mind. From the depths of her soul, a memory came over her like a rising tide.