The Life I've Been Waiting For (SLOW UPDATES)

Chapter 4

We had just left the dock. I could tell by the way the ship rocked. I hadn't been out to meet the crew yet. Jack had said to be there at 11, and it was now 10:30. "You almost ready, Martha?" I asked, brushing my hair. I was dressed in a simple dress that I wasn't allowed to wear at the bar because it "wouldn't attract men" the dress I wore now was loose compared to what I was forced to wear. It hugged my curves in a relaxed, natural way. It was a dark red color which apparently went well with my dirty blonde hair. I had decided to wear my hair down. I didn't put on any make-up, all I did was wipe off my old make-up from last night. I decided to put on a little bit of light red lipstick.

I turned to Martha and gasped, "Oh, Martha... You look beautiful." She let her black hair fall down her shoulders in their natural curls, which were usually straight. She was wearing a light blue dress similar to mine. She was also make-up free and looked younger than our age of 28. "So do you. You look so young." she smiled. "That makes two of us," I smiled back. "We should be going. They will be expecting us soon." I said, walking towards the door. She nodded and followed behind me.

We walked down the hall and up the stairs. I squinted against the bright light of the sun. I looked around the ship. The crew was hard at work. Finally, my eyes settled on Jack he was and the helm gripping the wheel and looking across the sea looking very heroic. I smiled at how calm he looked. His gaze then moved and settled on me. He seemed to suck in a breath. He let go of the wheel and headed towards me. A crew member quickly took his place. "We are ready to meet the crew," I said when he came close enough to hear us. He nodded "Form a line, men!" Quickly all the crew, minus the one who was steering the ship, was in a line facing Jack. I quickly scanned the crew till my eyes landed on a familiar face.

"Mathew!?" I exclaimed, running to the pirate with a parrot on his shoulder. His eyes widened as he stepped out of line holding in arms out for a hug. I jumped into them, causing him to take a step back due to my weight. "Oh, Mathew, after they took you away, I thought I would never see you again," I said, a tear rolling down my cheek. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Jack walking towards us. "I'm sorry to interrupt this moment but, how do you two know each other?" He asked with a little bit of disappointment on his face. We both turned to look at him, happiness on our faces. "I've know Mathew since I was a little girl. He was like a father to me. Well, aside from my own father, that is." I said, glancing up at Mathew. He nodded in agreement.

"Oh, well then." He looked at the two of us for a minute. "You have already met our dear Cotton....... Can I call you Matt?" "Why do you call him cotton?" I interrupted, "Well.. because he had his tongue cut out. And he can't tell us his real name." Jack said. I nodded and looked at Mathew. "Why didn't you tell them your real name? You know how to" He cut me off, shaking his head rapidly. "Oh," I said in understanding. "Well, I'm glad to have found you again. It's all my fault that this happened to you... I'm sorry," I said, looking down in shame. I felt a hand on my shoulder and saw Mathew smiling at me. "Cotton," He mouthed. I nodded "ok...Cotton"

Jack grabbed ahold of my arm and dragged me towards the front of the line. "We'll catch up later!" I called to Cotton as I was put in my place next to Martha. "What was that about?" She asked, "An old friend.. I'll tell you later." I whispered. Jack decided to start "Now you already met Gibbs, my first mate, next is Pintel and Ragetti, you know Cotton, next............." I didn't hear the rest; I was too busy studying the ship. "So what do you think?" Jack turned suddenly, snapping me out of my examination. "I think it is a fine crew for a fine captain. You made a good choice." I said without thinking. Jack looked like he would burst with pride. "Now, what's our heading?" I asked, putting all my attention on Jack. "We are heading to treasure," He said, pulling out his compass. I raised my eyebrow. "Oh really? I never would have thought", I said sarcastically, causing Martha to laugh.

Jack looked at me with a bored expression. "It's not just any treasure... It's the treasure of BloodMoon Cavern." He finished waving his hands around and looking excited. "Bloodmoon Cavern? Isn't that a myth made to scare children?" I asked. "Oh, it's real, and that's where we're going." He said, opening his compass and turning. He walked around the ship for a little bit before finally coming to a stop. The heading is........ that way." He said. We all turned to look where he was pointing. "To the north?" I asked. He nodded "To the North!" Immediately everybody headed to their posts and started to move the ship in the direction Jack had pointed.

We had been sailing for about an hour since Martha and I were introduced to the crew. I hadn't had much time to talk to her or Cotton since I was supposed to be in charge of steering the ship. I saw that she was off hanging out with a crew member that I can't remember the name of. She was smiling and laughing a lot. I smiled, happy that she had found someone to spend time with. She deserved to be happy. I was so focused on Martha that I didn't hear Jack come up behind me. "So... How do you like sailing with pirates?" He asked, getting my attention. I smiled "It's the most fun I've had in a while." I said, turning my face to him. He stepped towards me and placed his hands on top of mine. Turning the ship a little more. "We need to go this way... see?" He pulled out his compass and showed me.

The arrow spun as if it couldn't decide, first pointing behind me and then where the ship was headed. Finally, it stopped in the middle. He quickly nervously stepped away from me and held the compass out. Then it pointed North to where we were heading. "See?" he asked again nervously. I nodded "yeah" I didn't know how the compass worked since it wasn't a normal compass. "What does it do?" I asked. "I mean, I know it points us in the direction of the treasure, but how?" I asked. He hesitated for a second, then he smiled. "I'll leave you to figure out how it works. Use that pretty little head of yours" Gibbs then shouted his name. He nodded at me and then headed towards Gibbs. I shook my head in annoyance and then looked out to the ocean. Well, at least I'm not stuck on land anymore, I thought with a smile.