Ice Queen - A Pirates Of The Caribbean Love Story

Chapter Ten

I was sitting on the stairs that led to the helm. It was my watch and I was staring out to see and trying not to fall asleep. Plus my mind kept wandering and going back to my father.

Jack knew who he was…

Did I want to know who he was?

Thinking about what I wanted made me remember the compass I had traded “Jack” for. I dug around in my voluminous pockets and pulled it out. Maybe it really would point to the thing I wanted most. What did I have to lose by trying it?

I opened it. The needle swung around for a few moments, then suddenly pointed resolutely straight ahead…

…Just as a shadow fell over me and someone stepped in front of me.

“Captain Jack Sparrow,” I sighed. “You.”

Sparrow wasn’t looking at me. He was looking at the compass. “Where did you get that?” he demanded.

I closed it quickly, in case he happened to see that the compass had pointed to him.

Wait… What did I just say??

THE COMPASS POINTED TO JACK SPARROW?

No, that was impossible! More than impossible, it was… awful!

I was a bounty hunter! Yeah, let me just say that again, a bounty hunter. IE: an enemy of all pirates.

Not only did I have a pirate father, I was in love with a pirate too.

Could my life get any worse?

Thankfully, Jack did not appear to notice my turmoil.

“That compass belongs to me, love,” he said, gently. “Where did you get it?”

“I traded it with the captain of the Black Pearl,” I replied.

“Did ya now?” Jack looked angry. “You’ve, uh… met him, have you?”

“The pirate with the monkey on his shoulder? Gorgeous little thing. Oh, I mean the monkey. Not him. Though, I suppose, in certain lights…” I was rambling. Because I was suddenly acutely nervous around Jack. It was as if all my legs and arms had suddenly grown to gigantic proportions, and I was having trouble controlling them.

“That’s him,” Jack replied, looking troubled.

I stared suspiciously at him. “What’s going on?”

He looked down and coughed innocently. “Nothing, love.”

I pulled out my pistol and pointed it at him. “I’ll ask you again. What’s going on?”

“Now, you’re not going to shoot me, love,” Jack grinned, stepping very close to me, until I could feel the heat from his body and feel his breath tickling my face. “Not when I’m the thing you want most.”

So he had noticed! I felt a hot flush soak through my cheeks. Jack Sparrow was the one chink in my armour. I was no longer the infallible Ice Queen anymore. I was just a girl. An ordinary girl. I must have murmured something to that effect, because Jack said:

“Nah, you ain’t an ordinary girl. In fact, I’ve never met anyone like you before. Well, maybe one girl.” He grinned at a memory, and I felt like slapping him. “But, anyway, you ain’t like other girls. Anyway, since ya feel ya ain’t the Ice Queen any more, how about ya tell me yer real name?”

“Cathy,” I replied, softly. “Cathy James. Once Lady Catherine James. Not anymore, though.”

“Cathy.”

I nodded.

“Cathy. Do you want to know your real father’s name?”

My reply was drowned by the roar of guns and cannon fire, and I felt my adrenaline start rushing as I realized we were under attack!