Ice Queen - A Pirates Of The Caribbean Love Story

Chapter Twelve

“Captain? Don’t look so sad,” Milton said, comfortingly. We were sailing away from Port Royal Dauntless. I had been able to strike a deal with Norrington. I had my life. I had my crew. I had a ship. But I didn’t have Jack Sparrow. And, right then, I knew I would have traded all of the above and more, just for Jack.

“You and that pirate…” Milton continued. “You…”

I stared out to sea, letting his words wash over me. “I have to get him back,” I said, suddenly.

“What?” spluttered Milton.

I shook my head. “I was a fool to do it. Yet, I would have been a fool to not do it. I…” I broke off. A ship was coming towards us, scudding across the water faster than any other ship I had ever seen. I whipped out my telescope. I could see the Jolly Roger flag flying high. “The Black Pearl!” I exclaimed.

“What?” Milton repeated. “Shall I prepare the cannons, Captain?”

“No!” I shouted. “They’re friends.”

“What?” said Milton, for the third time.

“I told you before. We’re pirates now.”

He stared at me. “You hunt pirates, Ice Queen. How can you say you are one?”

I shrugged. All I knew was, my world had crumbled beneath my feet. And it wasn’t just because I had fallen for Captain Jack. It was more than that. I pride myself on trusting no one. That way, no one could ever betray me. Norrington had betrayed me. He had made a deal with Beckett to deliver me and Jack in exchange for his title back. I was still seething with rage over that. The forces I thought were working for good turned out to be wicked. The forces I thought were working for bad turned out to be good-hearted. I was confused. I didn’t know who to trust.

“Piracy is the right thing to do,” I said, more to myself than to Milton. “Take down the East India Trading Company’s colours, Milton. See if you can put together a Jolly Roger.”

“I will not serve a traitor!” spat Milton.

“I became a traitor as soon as I betrayed Jack Sparrow,” I retorted. “Now do as I say, or I’ll keelhaul you!”

The Black Pearl

was now on our starboard side. “Ahoy, there!” I yelled. “Truce?”

The pirate with the monkey was there. He smiled at me. “Truce…” he agreed.

“Do I have your permission to come aboard?” I called.

“Aye. But make sure you come unarmed.”

I undid my belt, stripping myself of all weapons.

“They’ll kill you, Captain. They’re… they’re filthy pirates!” exclaimed Milton. “Don’t trust them, or make any deals with them.”

“They’re worth ten of Norrington!” I told him. “Preparing to board.”

They stretched a plank across the gap between the two ships, and I walked aboard.

The pirate with the monkey held out a hand and I took it. He helped me jump onto the deck. “Thank-you,” I said, shyly.

“Yer name?”

I hesitated. Obviously, I couldn’t say “Ice Queen”, even though he probably knew that already. And I didn’t want to lie to him. Thankfully, I was spared answering by the fact that his monkey suddenly jumped onto my shoulder, and started pulling my hair gently.

“He’s gorgeous!” I crooned, stroking the soft fur.

The man grinned. “Ye like him?”

“I love monkeys! What’s your name, Captain?”

“Captain Barbossa.”

“Captain Barbossa… I need your help.”

He stared at me. “Why?” he suddenly barked.

I wasn’t sure what to say. I’ve never been particularly good with words, and my tongue seemed to be tying itself in knots inside my mouth. “Because, they’ve got Sparrow,” I said. “And because…” I stared at him. When I had first met him, he recognized me. Yet he had never seen me before. I thought of Jack’s face when he said he knew my father. Everything suddenly clicked into place and I took a deep breath. “And because I always believed a father would help his daughter.”

Barbossa stared at me. I stared back, drinking every detail of his face in. His long, chestnut hair; my hair. Dark, golden eyes; my eyes. His smile was my smile, and they were both rare. “What be yer name, girl?” he asked me.

“Catherine. Cathy.”

He walked towards me, still staring at me. “Can you prove what you say?”

“Do I have to?” I asked, softly.

“No,” he replied, thoughtfully. “But it would be good.” We both laughed.

“My mother was Anne Clark,” I said. “She married you when she was eighteen, and, just before she knew she was pregnant with me, there came news the pirate ship you were on had been sunk. You were assumed dead, and she married again. For money, rather than love, this time. And she never told her second husband I wasn’t his child.”

“Is Anne still alive?” he asked.

“She died when I was eighteen,” I replied, my voice cracking with emotion, much to my own disgust. “I miss her.”

Barbossa, rather awkwardly, held his arms out and I walked into them. I rested my head on my shoulder and smelt a musky smell of leather and sea salt and him. And I thought: This is what it is like to have a father. This is what it is like to be loved.

“And what was it ye wanted me to do for ye?” he asked, suddenly.

I pulled away. “Jack is captured by Norrington. I need to free him.”

He eyed me watchfully. “Jack and I have never been friends, darlin’.”

I felt the breath leak out of me in one long sigh. “Are you saying I have to do it alone?”

He rolled his eyes. “Was yer mother happy?”

That

was out of the blue. “Yes,” I said. “She loved you best, but she enjoyed being a lady. That was what she wanted me to be.” I grinned, slightly ruefully.

“What did you want to be?”

“Alive. I just wanted to be alive.”

“Ye made it,” he observed.

“Only just! And Jack Sparrow won’t unless I can save him. He has a dawn appointment with the gallows, Father.” We both stopped, suddenly realising it was the first time I had called him “Father”. It had slipped off my tongue as easily and naturally as if I had called him that all my life.

He hesitated. “Alright…” he agreed, finally. “We’ll do it.”