Sinking with the Titanic, Rose ends up on a ship with the pirate Jack Sparrow and a sea goddess' diamond heart. When she tries to free the cursed Will Turner things get complicated, but falling for a dishonest pirate on rum withdrawal is an even wor...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Rose and Jack spent two days at the monastery, sleeping very prudently in guestrooms placed in entirely different parts of the building to prevent indecency, and enjoying pleasant albeit dull meals with the nuns and the other girls at their care. Jack entertained Pearl with his recent adventures as a merchant marine, which was his given profession – none of them true, Rose suspected – and Pearl told him of all the mischief she had been up to. She apparently was an expert at leading the other girls on quests of trickery and pranks against the nuns, as well as making nightly raids into the kitchens, and she never got caught.
"That's my girl," said Jack proudly.
Then came the evening of the second day, and it was time to leave.
"See you at Christmas then," said Pearl. "I want more earrings, and a necklace to match. Hm. And sweets. Yep, sweets too." The girl's voice was neutral and her eyes dry, but the pain of separation was written all over her face.
"Greedy imp. Do you think I'm made of money?" Jack's feigned rebuke sounded flat and unconvincing. Like he too was hiding his true emotions.
"I do, actually. You've made all these great trade deals lately – you told me yourself just the other day about the amazing profit, savvy?"
"Don't mimic my speech, girl. And I forgot to mention I'm poorer than a church mouse right now. Lost it all at dice – with Miss Dawson." He nodded solemnly in Rose's direction.
"Liar." Pearl pulled his head down so she could smack a loud kiss on his cheek. "You'd never let your girlfriend take your gold. Anyway. Gotta go. Bye-bye!" She whirled around and ran back towards the stern building.
Jack looked long after his daughter, with stiff shoulders and a slight frown on his brow. Then he glanced at Rose. "Girlfriend, huh?" His smile looked plastered on.
Rose did not reply, but when he offered her his arm she squeezed it soothingly.
During the walk back to his house, Jack was unusually cheerful, but he was not very convincing. It was clear he felt bad about leaving his daughter, and tried to hide it – probably from himself more than anything.
He chatted about the summoning they would soon do, and how good it would be to board a ship again the next day. "I've almost lost my sea legs. And I miss the salty wind on my face."
"And the rum?" Rose retorted.
That silenced him, and neither of them spoke for the rest of the walk.
.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.
All the way to the cabin, Rose mulled over all the questions she wanted to ask him, but had not had an opportunity to until now. At the monastery they had never been alone together.
She feared he would refuse to tell her anything personal, as was his habit, but felt that after this she needed answers. And she also needed to figure out what this thing between them really was.
