Evangeline McKenna has won Jack Sparrow's heart. Now, as she joins him again on his beloved Pearl, outside forces threaten to tear them-and everyone else-apart. The crew teams up with new and old forces to defeat a wealthy man in London who wants no...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
The Middle of the North Atlantic.
June the 6th, 1745.
Rain fell rhythmically to the deck of the Pearl, the third day straight of such weather. The sea did not churn, but the rain came down continuously, forcing the crew to go about their duties while soaked to the bone. Some complained endlessly, either out loud or under their labored breath. The rest kept to themselves, working harder than ever, knowing if they did that Tortuga was the outcome. Evangeline sat under the cover of the stairs, which only partially shielded her from the rain. It leaked through the cracks and the spaces between steps as she looped her length of rope into a bowline knot over and over. Pintel had given this assignment to her, citing that every good sailor knew his knots. It would lay the foundation of her pirating career, he told her. The act was difficult with her sling, but she improvised. Geline wanted to do the small things; she wanted to go through the wringer and come out a seasoned member of the Pearl. Her last excursion had made an outlier of her, a companion who followed the captain to death. This time would be different, she told herself, she would do what the others did and sign her name on the dotted line. And so, she practiced while hiding from the rain, slipping one end of a frayed rope into a hole until she knew the motions with her eyes closed.
Jack, she had discovered, had awakened before her that morning and had begun his charting and updating the ships logs. Since starting their relationship, he had fallen behind on his more technical duties as captain, and now he aimed to get it all done in one sitting. The act of writing had become difficult for Jack, she had noticed. His letters weren't straight, his hands shook slightly, and keeping the quill between his fingers seemed to bother him. He had said nothing to her about the problem, but she had grown accustomed to watching him, and she knew by now what was normal for him and what wasn't.
Jack had smiled at her from his desk as she rolled over in bed, his quill hovering just over the parchment as he wrote. It was a smile that she had never witnessed from him before; both corners of his lips raised, teeth showing, his eyes focused on hers. It was a smile composed just for her, one of contentedness and no reservations. She smiled back, the sound of rain against the large windows of Jack's cabin. He had said good morning, gave her a wink, and returned to his obligations. Geline had not seen him since then, as Barbossa had been given run of the crew for the day so that he may finish his logs. Now, at midday, Barbossa released part of the crew to head to the galley for lunch, and as he stepped from the helm, he spotted Evangeline.
"Found yerself a nice hidin' spot, did ye?" he asked as he stopped at the bottom of the stairs.
"It's better than being out on the deck in this weather," she replied, handing her knot over to him.
He inspected it and gave a curt nod, which caused rain to fall from his hat and tumble onto the deck.
