Not All Treasure is Silver and Gold...

Chapter 2

I walked up the rickety stairs of my house the next morning after my little ordeal, fingers tightly clutching a steaming mug of tea and wincing at the creak of wood at every one of my footsteps. I adored my little house, but in all honesty it was falling into disrepair, and it would only be a matter of time before it crumbled away beneath me. Sighing, I shook my head in despair and slipped into the bedroom, treading carefully towards the bed where I gently sat down, finding myself looking down at the man who had saved me last night. He was still sleeping and I now finally had an opportunity to take in all of his features which had been hidden in darkness last night.

He was very tanned, even more than I'd seen last night in the moonlight, and with his eyes shut I could count every one of his long, dark eyelashes. His dark, untamed curtain of hair was spread out over the pillow, and what looked like the bone of some obscure animal was tied in at the top, along with many other ornate trinkets, each braided in with care. The cream bedsheets were pulled awkwardly over his bare chest, his arm lying over the top of them. I gazed at it, my eyes fixed on a delicate tattoo of a bird, flying out of a glorious sunset. Beneath it there was a burn in the shape of a P. My heart stopped.

He was a pirate.

I decided to ignore this for the time being and, swallowing nervously, my eyes moved once more across his face to the dark dreadlocks on either side. Unable to stop myself, I let my fingers reach out towards the coloured beads that were threaded into them, and my palm brushed one of his larger dreadlocks by accident. I was surprised to find it was, despite it's grimy appearance, actually rather soft...

Suddenly Jack's eyes snapped open and he grabbed my hand with his, laughing at my guilty expression as I blushed, caught in the act.

"What are you doin'?" he asked blearily, blinking up at me with those dark eyes.

"Nothing," I said quickly, turning my face away in shame. Jack moaned and rolled over, burying his face in my pillow, the sheets rumpled and tangled around his awkwardly positioned form.

"Hangover?" I asked knowingly, grinning slightly. Something I had a lot of experience with these past few months from working in the tavern.

Jack muttered something, most likely offensive, which I took for a yes.

"Drink this," I said with a sigh, passing him the mug in my hand. He rolled back over, turning his dark eyes on me, and took it as he struggled upright, taking a sip. Then he spluttered and put the mug down on the small table beside the bed, his face contorted.

"What...is...that?" he gasped, wincing at the taste with an expression of utter revulsion.

"Herbal tea," I smiled.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            Jack simply looked at me patronisingly and then asked, "Don't you have anything better? Like...er, rum?"

"Oh yeah, rum...mmm, that'll really cure your hangover," I laughed sarcastically at him. He sighed deeply and then stood up so quickly that I almost fell off the corner of the bed, the sheets slipping from him onto the floorboards softly.

"Thank you for your hospitality, Miss, but I regret to say that I must be off...gotta get back to the Pearl, you see," he told me, pulling on his slightly crumpled shirt with his back to me. I jumped up behind him, open-mouthed, until he turned around once more.