FicWad

I sort of gave Barbossa an incredulous look and asked, "But why would Jack tell me about the charts? I don't know how to get him talking about the charts unless I ask about him." Asking about them was certainly out of the question. All it would do is cause Jack to be suspicious of me and then it wouldn't take much for him to figure out that Barbossa was after him.

Barbossa smiled at me though, "Let me tell ya somethin', missy. There are two things that make Jack forget everything that really matters. Like the charts fer example. Ya want ta know what those two things are, missy?" Of course I wanted to know what they were! They were rather essential for me to know if I was going to try to figure out how to get Jack's charts. I nodded.

Barbossa leaned in close to me and winked, "Those two things are rum and women. Seeing as yer a girl and as Sparrow should be in a bar if he's in Tortuga, I'd say ya have a pretty good chance of gettin' those charts. So what do ya think of the plan? Are ya willing to risk it? If not, I could always come up with something else..."

"No, no, I'm good with this," I said quickly before Barbossa could change his mind about me. So when do we reach Tortuga again?" I was suddenly in a hurry to get there and start my mission. I had a good feeling about this. Don't ask me why, but I just did. I'm sure you've had it before where you just have a good feeling about something, right?

Barbossa squinted his eyes and looked off into the distance. Finally, he said, "By the looks of things, we should be there tomorrow evening. That would be good timing. Jack will probably be most drunk at night. But like I said earlier, he may not be there, Miss Cook. So if he isn't, just come back and report ta me. After that, do whatever ya want."

Whatever I wanted? That sounded nice. That sounded like freedom. Freedom was something that I had never really tasted before. I guessed I was going to get my first taste of it soon. Replying to Barbossa's question, I said, "I'll definitely come back and report or hand you over the charts. With a little luck, all should go well."

"Aye," Barbossa smiled at me as he agreed, "With a little luck, ye can go really far. But fer now, I'd recommend goin' back down to the cabin. Yer not completely recovered and ya don't want to be limpin' around when we reach Tortuga. It's a busy place. Ya certainly don't want to end up trampled by everyone else."

Seeing Barbossa's point, I nodded and slowly stood back up. I was tired, but I didn't really like hanging out in the cabin by myself. I was used to attention whether it be good attention or bad attention. Back at home, my parents were always telling me to do things differently or were giving me some sort of chastising. Here in the cabin, I was alone with my thoughts.

Once I reached it, I sighed and plopped down on the bed. It didn't take me too long to fall asleep. I guess I was still really tired from all the stress of being part of the crew on a pirate ship. Or maybe it was from my leg.

~ ~ ~ ~

Luckily, we reached Tortuga the next night just as Barbossa had predicted. Barbossa came and knocked on my cabin door when we arrived close to land. Totally caught off guard, I jumped at the noise and then called out through the thin door, "Come in." The door popped open and Barbossa strode in with Jack the monkey riding on his shoulder. When he saw me, he started chattering excitedly and attempted to jump onto my arm. I couldn't help but giggle.

Barbossa stroked the little animal's neck and turned towards me, "We're almost ta the dock now. If ya don't mind me sayin' this, I really think ya ought ta wear somethin' different." Barbossa motioned towards my clothes. To be honest, I had totally forgot what it was that I was wearing. Looking down, I saw I was wearing a wet, blue shirt and black pants. Hm, those certainly wouldn't catch Jack's eye. But what else was there to wear? I could go to a dress shop, but I had no money.

Fortunately, Barbossa had a remedy to this predicament. He dumped a very fancy dress onto the bed. It was silvery and had little pearls all over the bodice. I raised my eyebrows at him and asked in curiousity, "Is this for me?" Barbossa rolled his eyes at me and leaned against the wall as he said sarcastically, "Nay, I put it there fer the bed to enjoy."

Giving him a little smile, I hurried over to the bed and held the dress up. It look like it was going to fit perfectly. I loved it immediately. Still holding it up and admiring it in the mirror, I turned to Barbossa and said, "It's a gorgeous dress! Where did you get it from?" That puzzled me a bit. Most dresses didn't come in my size.

Barbossa waved my question away and said instead, "Never mind that now. Let's just get ya ready fer meeting Sparrow. Why don't ya change inta that dress and then we'll decide what ta do with ya." I didn't protest to that. I wanted to try the dress on as soon as possible. The moment Barbossa had turned his back to give me some privacy, I stripped out of my damp clothes, dried myself completely from one of the blankets on the bed, and stepped into the dress.

The dress was a perfect fit! It was long and shiny and simply beautiful. Squealing with delight, I ended up catching Barbossa's attention. He turned around and looked me up and down with an unreadable expression. At first, I was a bit miffed by that. I wanted to hear him say that I looked absolutely stunning in the dress. Then I told myself to quit thinking like that. I mean, since when did I need a pirate's approval before I could like a certain dress?

"That will do," Barbossa said, taking a step nearer to me. His eyes stopped roaming my body and fixed on my face instead. Finally, he said, "We really should try doing something with yer hair. It's not terrible, but it's not exactly attractive either." Barbossa fumbled around in the drawer by my nightstand and emerged a few minutes later triumphant with a brush in hand.

I reached for the brush, but Barbossa didn't give it over to me. Instead, he said, "Let me do it. It's hard ta do yer own hair especially in the back. We want ya ta look perfect for Sparrow." Barbossa had a good point as always, so I didn't protest. Besides, I kind of liked having my hair done. It feels nice to have someone play with your hair.

Barbossa did my hair much too quickly in my opinion. By the time it was done, I was still ready for more. But of course, I couldn't ask Barbossa to keep playing with my hair, so instead, I turned towards the mirror to see what I looked like. Barbossa had somehow managed to get my unruly locks into a bun. It made me look more like a proper woman and less like the childish adolescent that I really was. I looked almost beautiful. All I could do now was hope that Jack would take an interest in me.

"Anything else we need to do?" I asked Barbossa, still not taking my eyes away from the mirror. Barbossa was quiet for a moment. He came to stand behind me in the mirror. I watched our reflections. We looked like complete opposites. I was short and looked like a dignified lady. On the contrary, Barbossa was tall, rough, and obviously a pirate.

Suddenly, Barbossa placed a necklace around my neck and did the clasp for me. I could feel his warm breah on my neck and for some reason, that made me shiver. Once Barbossa had fastened the necklace on for me, he took a step back and observed. The silver necklace had diamonds in it and it sparkled in the light. It was gorgeous.

Turning dubiously towards the captain, I asked, "Do you really want me to wear this? It looks like it's worth a fortune!" In my head, I tried to figure out how much the necklace might cost. Barbossa answered my question, "Of course I'm sure. The charts are worth it. So do ya think yer ready to go handle Sparrow? We be at Tortuga now."

Now it was time to leave the ship and get back on land! I should've been excited, but for some reason, I was not. For some reason, I wanted to stay right here in this cabin. I felt like there were more things to be said between Barbossa and me, but I couldn't exactly say them. No, I had to go leave the ship now before I made a fool or myself and said something that I might regret later.

I took a small step forwards and then another one. Once I reached the door to the cabin, I stopped and turned back towards Barbossa. He was looking at me with an almost amused smile on his face. Jack the monkey was on his shoulder and was chattering away as usual. Finally, I said the only thing I could think of saying, "Aren't you coming too?"

"Nay," Barbossa laughed. "I be wanted in Tortuga fer plunderin' and a bunch of other stuff. It be best if I just stay down below here and let you go do the dirty work." Barbossa flashed me a smile, "I'll be here waitin' for ya. I have trust in ya, Miss Cook. I bet you'll be able to get those charts from Jack without a problem. I wish ye luck."

There was really no more to be said now. I raised my hand and waved to Barbossa before slipping out of the cabin. I walked up to the deck and started towards the dock. Before I reached it, Pintel and Ragetii stepped in front of me. When Pintel saw me, his jaw dropped open and he stammered, "Miss Cook...is that really you?"

I frowned at Pintel and said in a confused voice, "Yes, of course it's me. Who else would it be?" Ragetti quickly explained, "You look much different if you don't mind me sayin' so, Miss Cook. You look really nice. The captain never dresses up his women so fine. He must really like you." Pintel quickly nodded in agreement.

I blushed at that statement and quickly shook my head, "No, Barbossa doesn't like me. He said something about me being too young and 'underdevloped', whatever that's suppose to mean. And how many times do I have to ask you not to call me Miss Cook? I'm Bern, remember? We're friends and my friends call me Bern."

"Sorry Miss Bern," Ragetti quickly apologize, bowing his head to me slightly. I was taken aback by how different the men acted towards me just because I had a nice dress, a beautiful necklace, and my hair was done nicely. Ragetti went on, "I'm not sure why the captain said that. You don't look underdevloped if you ask me."

I could see Ragetti's eyes roaming over my body. I didn't like people looking at me in that way, but I really couldn't blame Ragetti. He didn't see women very often. I was getting slightly annoyed with him calling me "Miss" all the time though. Trying not to lose my temper, I said, "You can just call me Bern, you know. There's not need for the 'Miss' part."

Pintel was now looking me up and down as well. I sighed. Pintel responded to Ragetti's earlier statement, "I don't think she's underdevloped either. But I think the captain likes women with big tits. Remember that Tortugan wench?" Tortugan wench? For some reason, those words perked my curiousity and I listened in carefully.

Ragetti frowned at Pintel and said, "No, I don't remember. Who was she?" Pintel frowned right back at Ragetti and said, "Of course you remember her! You and me were going to get some rum in the cabin and we went in there and that wench was riding Barbossa like it was the last thing she was going to do, remember? I don't think I've ever heard Barbossa moan so loud before."

Ragetti stratched his head for a moment and suddenly his eyes lit up, "Oh yeah! I remember her now! She was rather pretty, but a bit too dominating for me. I'd rather have a girl like Bern in bed." Pintel thought for a moment and said, "I dunno, I think both would be nice. How did we end up talking up this again?"

"We were trying to figure out why the captain called Bern underdevloped," Ragetti quickly pointed out. "And I guess our conclusion is that he likes women with big tits." Pintel thought about this for a moment before he nodded in agreement, "You're right, Ragetti. All I can say is that the captain has bad tastes in women. But yet again, I wouldn't have minded a turn with that wench..."

Deciding that this conversation had gone on long enough, I quickly cleared my throat to get Ragetti's and Pintel's attention. For some reason, the thought of a wench riding Barbossa was sickening to my stomach. I shouldn't be thinking about Barbossa naked, but for some reason now that I had thought of it, I couldn't get the image out of my head.

When I cleared my throat, Ragetti and Pintel looked up at me in surprise. Motioning forwards, I said, "I have business to do in Tortuga. So maybe you want to let me step aside and pass? I don't think the captain would like it very much if you kept me here all night." I put one hand on my hip and tried to look fierce.

Ragetti and Pintel quickly moved away and called after me, "Good luck in Tortuga! We'll see you back here soon!" I glanced over my shoulder to see them waving at me. A little smile formed on my lips as I stepped onto the dock. I waved back at Ragetti and Pintel. For once, I actually felt like I had friends.