It was a clear day out at sea but Jack knew something bad was going to happen. He could smell it. He knew how the sea's mind worked. Yes, the sea was mysterious but so was he. He gave the sea very little to carry so for payment the sea responded to him well. But there had come times when the sea had bested him, oh, but he learned its devious tricks. He could tell when someone had made the sea angry. Like right now, it had been angered by someone. But who? Who had tampered with the cool blue water? A sailor had probably crashed and now littered the ocean floor. The sea had a short temper. Already clouds were forming. Little white puffs.
"Raise the mast and drop the anchor. There's a storm a'coming"Jack yelled down to the crew who scrubbed and mopped and puked. The crew suddenly livened up at the tone of their captain's voice. They had been caught being lazy.
"Those were orders you lazy dogs"Addison yelled from the net up at the tops of the masts, waiting for the sails to be passed up to her. Jack gave her a grin and pointed up to her.
"I suggest you follow Mrs. Addison over there. She knows more than the lot of you"Jack yelled. From the nets, Addison's cheeks turned bright red and caught herself off guard and thought of Jack's grin instead as she climbed up only to slip. She let out a scream as she pummeled towards the deck. Jack looked over to see her falling. Frowning, he ran for her, catching hold of a rope and swinging over to her. He reached her just in time to catch her before she fell through the deck. Addison felt him catch her and she leaned into his grip around her. She had waited for this for months. She had a huge crush on Jack and probably everyone but him knew about it. She was trembling as he set her down and jumped down to the deck himself. She wanted him to keep holding her close. But he didn't love her that way. He protected her because he didn't want to be ended by her father. That was the only reason he kept her close to him.
"Don't forget you lesson in my cabin at 6"he mumbled in her ear. That was when he turned away and headed back up to the wheel. He watched his still crew for a moment then frowned.
"Well. Get on with it"he said, taking hold of the maple wood wheel.
***
The sky was almost black as they sailed into the storm. There was no point in sailing away from it. He couldn't afford that. Oh no, it would only make his men more tired and lazier. Jack walked to the wall facing the vast ocean. He looked at the twin broadswords on their stands. Below it was a rapier. He glanced at the rapier and took hold of the broadswords. He was going to practice with them today. As much as he loved the rapier his father had made him he loved his broadswords more. They were the extensions of his arms. He could fight better with the two because he never did think of them as separate. They were exactly alike. To him, it wasn't a sword.
There was a soft knock on the door that made Jack jump softly. He glanced down at the swords and put them back as one again. He grabbed the sheath that laid on his hammock. He quickly sheathed the swords and headed to the door. He opened it to find Addison. Was it 6 already? He glanced at the grandfather clock in the corner. Yep, it was six.
"Come on in Mrs. Addison. Today we are to work with actual swords. We are going to try to fight you to a sword"Jack said, stepping aside to let Addison in. Addison walked in slowly. She suddenly beamed when she heard she was going to start fighting with swords. For two long months she had been getting fit or learning the wounding and killing spots of the body.
"Ok, pick your sword wisely from my wall. Choose carefully. Don't pick a sword because its pretty. Choose it because it fits you"Jack said, gesturing to his sword wall.
Addison frowned and walked over to Jack's vast collection of swords. She tried out the big swords but they were too heavy. Finally she chose a small sword and inspected it closely.
"The small sword is a good choice for sword of your experience. Ok, today we will only work on how to hold the sword and your stance"he said.
For hours he taught her different stances and taught her how to hold the small sword. Finally, exhausted, he put the lesson to a close. Addison was tired as well and put the sword back in its place and trudged her sore self back to her room. Jack went into his room and laid down. He let the the heavy storm lull him to sleep.
