Death to my dreams ♒︎ A. Bridgerton

0.0I

Caribbean Dimwits

— ⚓︎ —

        Turns out, the nearest port would be eastern port of London, England. A place neither Jack or Michelle had been in a very long time, with a very good reason not to bring the Black Pearl there as well.

Michelle commanded the crew where needed, an excited undertone in her voice as she was finally able to set foot ashore again.

As much as she likes the bright sun on her face while listening to the waves of the open sea crashing against the black wood of the Pearl, she missed the smell of rain on the stones of a street. Or freshly baked bread from a bakery. Or the sound trees makes in the soft wind.

While Jack refused to set foot ashore Michelle wanted to go and buy a new hat, the sole reason the Black Pearl now made its way to rest amongst the   yellow British navy ships.

The black and buzzing pirate ship stood out like a sore tooth against the neat and new ships calmly resting in the docks. It was no secret that docking in a navy harbor was a very bad idea, considering that the Black Pearl was basically a pirate ship, and a myth most ordinary sailors did not believe.

The only thing Michelle and Jack could do was hope that the sailors that belonged to those navy ships were currently busy with lots of other activities rather than looking for myths and legends in their harbor.

The entire crew was sprinting across the ship in chaos to prepare docking. Shouts and grunts coming from the men and boys busy hauling rope, tying knots and hoping the Sparrows would approve.

The rigging of the ship was being adjusted from every angle. Cabin boys climbing up the ratlines to fasten the sails. Sitting on the crossbeams of the mainsail men loudly counted their aye's as the pulled up the lines one pull on the ropes at a time.

Jack stood at the helm, steering and silently judging the mistakes his crew made as any captain would. "Drop the anchor." He told his First Mate and sister. In turn she shouted it across the main deck. Very loudly.

"Next time you do that, warn me!" Jack winced. "You sound like a screeching siren, woman!"

Michelle rolled her eyes and strutted down the stairs. After checking the knots of the adjusted rigging and whacking Ragetti across his head for stepping on her heel it was time to set foot on solid land.

"Jack dear, give me a few shillings for me hat." Michelle said as she held her hand up.

"Ah yes, I really would love to sister. The small problem with that is-"

"Money's gone, is it not?" Michelle interrupted him, not having the time nor wanting to listen to the empty explanations. She rubbed her temples with closed eyes before abruptly turning to the onlooking crew.

Few men were looking at the siblings now, as they would do often when the pair was squabbling. Some slumped over the rails of the upper deck while others had climbed up to rest in the many ropes of the shrouds with grins on their faces.

"Men, we're going robbing!" The only woman on board suddenly exclaimed with clear annoyance. The pirates all hollered with excitement and swung their weapons around, that was, until Jack started complaining.

"No we're not!" He held both his pointer fingers up and then grabbed his sister by her shoulders, moving her out of his way. "For once, we do not want this entire city out for our heads, dimwits!"

The crew fell silent again, knowing they couldn't disobey their captain, the words of the First Mate losing their meaning immediately.

"What's that? Does Captain Jack turn all lily-livered now?" Michelle started. "Me hat's gone by the board at your hands, brother. And I want a new hat." Her threatening tone was not to be taken lightly.

Michelle knew she was blowing the whole ordeal up, but she started it and was absolutely not backing out of the fight when she actually had a chance of winning it.

Jack looked around at his crew, and for the first time in what had seemed like weeks, he actually saw. The men were looking unhealthy to say the least. Smears of dirt across their faces and clothes looking like they hadn't been washed in years.

Their faces void of real joy and sunken eyes from the lack of sleep or food with any nutritional value. Once again, Jack hadn't been paying attention to the crew he secretly cared just a little about.

After thinking Michelle's proposed plan through, he agreed. "Alright ye scallywags! Go out and find me some rum!" He waved the men off as they thanked their captain, he himself immediately going for the secret stash of rum in the captain's quarters.

Soon after Jack had disappeared off the main deck, Michelle hastily climbed on top of a few barrels in order to tower above her crew. Her feminine voice rose above the group of pirates in front of her. "Listen up ya bunch of walking hazards to society! Do not add to the population, do not subtract from the population, and do not end up in jail or the newspapers, savvy?!"

"We promise to be good pirates for you, lass!" A joking cabin boy winked at Michelle, earning a glare from the girl for that remark.

A round of aye's could be heard and then the plank to the docks was thrown ashore.

Compared to the bunch of pirates in the small harbor just outside of London, even the dockworkers looked well dressed.

They probably were more well mannered too, Michelle thought bitterly while she tripped the insolent cabin boy. A few snickers were heard while he was picked up by quartermaster Gibbs.

Dirty looks were thrown their way as the eccentric group of misfits made their way into the outskirts of town. Most of the people in London had never seen pirates, apparently.

Michelle grabbed two of the men by their collars before they could run off into the nearby shops and taverns for a well-deserved drink.

"Pintell, Ragetti, you volunteer." She stated more than asked.

"Yes ma'am!" They both immediately said. Even though quite dense, both men proved to be handy in the scheme Michelle had come up with. She threw her arms around their necks and led them away from the port and its shops.

The youngest Sparrow sibling explained her plan to them while walking to the destination she had in mind. Michelle knew London's Grosvenor square was one of the places the rich amongst the population lived, and thus where she would get her precious shillings.

— ⚓︎ —

Dear reader,

This is the first real chapter teehee. Also I started this book at the most inconvenient time actually bc I'm starting with my 1st yr in college in like 10 days but who cares lmao

xoxo