24. More Tests

349 19 3
                                    

Rose left the cabin and found herself on the poop deck in the stern

Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.

Rose left the cabin and found herself on the poop deck in the stern. Her clothes had changed again, now she wore a burgundy evening dress – but still the same men's boots. It was dark, late evening or night, and all around her was the open expanse of the sea.

Someone stood by the white metal railing ahead, looking down at the white trail of foam following the ship.

When Rose came closer, she saw it was Elizabeth. She wore an identical dress as Rose, but it looked much better on her. Its color suited her dark eyes and brown hair.

Elizabeth glanced over her shoulder. "Oh, hello. I was just looking at the propellers."

Rose went to join her, looking down too, remembering another night not long ago. It had been bitingly cold and she had balanced outside that railing in the same thin dress she and Elizabeth wore now. How desperate she had felt! She had seen her whole life before her, an endless parade of parties and gala dinners, yachts and polo matches. She had thought about ending it, taking the quick way out – but then Jack had come. Jack Dawson.

"You wouldn't have jumped," said Elizabeth. Jack had said the same thing, and maybe he had been right. Rose was a coward.

Oh how she wished she was brave like Elizabeth. Strong and unafraid, both mentally and physically. The pirates had even assigned her King among their Brethren, and she was a skilled sword fighter.

Unlike Rose, Elizabeth had stood up against her father when he wanted her to marry out of convenience. She had chosen Will – a simple blacksmith – instead of the renowned commodore her father would have preferred. When in the same situation, Rose had agreed to marry Cal, never openly defying her mother.

She envied her friend.

"Why wouldn't you have jumped, Rose? Think about it with a rational, open mind."

Again she recalled the stormy emotions from that night. She had thought about her mother and how badly Rose's death would impact her, she had also thought of alternatives – that there may be other ways to escape the trap and she ought to think it through first.

"I was being logical about it," she said, surprised. "I wasn't afraid of dying, I just did not want to cause my mother pain. And I wanted to live, I wanted to grow old and have an interesting life. I think I realized that there's always a lifeline, some way out."

"And then Jack Dawson came, and you grabbed the lifeline that was him. That took courage."

"You're right. In the end, I chose the man I wanted. I even let him draw a nude painting of me and put it in Cal Hockley's safe." She giggled at the memory. "And later I went down into the sinking ship to save him, cutting him loose with an axe. I am like you, Liz! "

She hugged her friend, no longer jealous.

"You are," said Elizabeth. "And now it's time to get down there again. Third Class awaits you!" She pointed at a stairwell.

Rose in the Caribbean // Jack Sparrow x RoseWhere stories live. Discover now