Usual disclaimers… drat!

I am hoping to update this story weekly. If I disappear for a while, I am sorry. I made the mistake of trying to update the Kitty Groves tales and bringing them all under one title, deleting the first story and uploading the newly edited one. Unfortunately I fell foul of the duplicate story rule. I have uploaded the old version of the first of the Kitty Groves tales, and hopefully it will stay. If it is deleted then I will be forced to remove all of the Kitty Groves story to another site.

Anyways… here is the second in the Bessie tales. I hope you enjoy. This tale takes place two years after the end of Masters' Gold.

Chapter 1 – The Stone Chest

Jack sat on the edge of the stone chest, watching as the crew unloaded the last of their haul. He sighed, wondering when he would ever get the time to properly look through all the items accumulated by Barbossa. At least they had gotten rid of his rotting skeleton – dumped it at sea with a cannon ball tied to its feet. They had done the same to the monkey… that bloody monkey. Jack grimmaced as he thought of the cursed creature when they had tried to shoot it. It had led them a merry chase about the caves before they realised it had taken a coin and had finally cornered it, replacing the coin and then killing it. His fingers danced along the edge of the chest as he admired the gleam of the gold within… cursed gold.

"We're all done, Captain!" Henry Holt called from the shadows.

Jack rose. "I'm comin'!" he acknowledged, running his fingers through the coins, sighing ruefully. A sudden grin crossed his face, his teeth glinting in the light from above as he turned and crossed to where Henry waited for him.

"Last boat's waiting, Captain," he nodded.

"Well let's not keep it waitin' any longer!" Jack said, weaving his way through the narrow tunnels and jumping down onto the small secret beach. "I can hear a quiet bay an' Tortuga callin'!" He frowned briefly, annoyed that the Black Pearl had taken damage in their last raid. Her main mast was damaged and a number of holes, despite being patched, were still leaking water. They had lost eleven men too and needed to get the ship repaired before they could head towards the more heavily patrolled seas of the northern Caribbean... and he knew just the bay to shelter in with enough timber to make repairs.

"Don't you mean Bessie!" Henry teased, eager to see her and the children again. He often was invited to dinner by Bessie and was hoping for another home-cooked meal. Jack smiled at him, but did not speak. Henry knew, as did all the crew, how much his wife and family meant to their captain. Henry pushed the boat out, holding it whilst Jack climbed in before following, picking up the oars and rowing his captain back to the Black Pearl.

Jack climbed eagerly onboard, his eye noticing teeth marks on the water barrel. He sighed, realising that they would have to get another cat – the rodents had it easy for too long now that Daffodil no longer prowled the hold. Perhaps she would have another litter of kittens soon, despite her age, or one of her earlier daughters would who now lived at various homes throughout Tortuga. Paying the crew bounty on the creatures was not working - they definitely needed a ship's cat! He nodded to Joshamee Gibbs as he climbed to the quarterdeck to take the helm. He checked his compass for the bearings, steering the Black Pearl carefully through the narrow channel as the sails unfurled, catching the wind, heading northwards – heading home.

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"Captain Groves!" Theodore looked up at the shout, the lookout pointing eastwards in the gathering gloom of late dusk. "Captain Groves! It's the Black Pearl!"

Theodore Groves smiled as he placed his spyglass to his eye, noting that the pirate ship had taken some damage. The Black Pearl was fast – faster than the HMS Dauntless, but with the top of her main mast in splinters it might be a more even race. He knew that the dazzling sunset had hidden them from view, the glare of its fiery orb blinding the other ship to their presence. He noted their course, bidding his helm to adjust theirs to intercept. If he calculated correctly, and the Black Pearl did not change course, then they would be right on them by dawn.

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"Ship ahoy! Ship ahoy!" Ned Cotton's macaw screached from the rigging. Jack emerged from his cabin and cursed, reaching for his spyglass before realising he did not need it.

"Bloody hell Foxx! Are yer asleep up there?" he swore, dashing up to the quarterdeck and grabbing the wheel from Paul Barker. He swung it wildly, swerving away from the oncoming ship, grateful that they were not in reach of her chasing guns.

"I couldn't see them Captain!" Rafe protested. "The sun blinded me!" He was new to his post and had made the mistake of squinting at the morning sun.

"Well I can sure see them now!" Jack retorted. "An' I'll bloody blind yer if I get m' hands on yer! All hands to their stations! I want th' guns readied an' th' sweeps out!"

Joshamee Gibbs led the men below and soon Jack could feel the bite of the sweeps as they dug into the water, turning from the approaching ship. "Holt! Get aloft!" Jack ordered. "An' get that useless bastard below!" He wanted eyes he could trust with the HMS Dauntless so close and he prayed that they could outrun the naval ship for the Black Pearl was in no condition to fight.

"Aye, Captain!" Henry replied, climbing the stairs to the quarterdeck and borrowing Jack's spyglass before scrambling up to the crows nest. He cast a worried eye back at the naval ship before scanning the seas around them, desperately looking for something that they could use to their advantage. His eyes caught on the glimmer of small white sails. "Captain! Merchant ship four points off port!"

"How long?" Jack queried, turning the wheel slightly to adjust their course, long association making more words unneccesary.

"A few hours even with the damage!" Henry assured him.

"Don't lose him then!" Jack ordered, urging his precious ship faster. If they could stay ahead of the HMS Dauntless for a few hours then they could break clear for he knew he could rely on Theodore Groves' sense of duty to aid their escape.

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Captain Theodore Groves paced the quarterdeck of HMS Dauntless, frowning as he saw the pirate ship bear down on the smaller merchant vessel. For a moment he wondered what the Black Pearl was doing, but then gasped as the cannons opened fire, blasting into the other ship. With just a few carronades he could clearly see that the merchant could offer no fight to the pirates, but he quickly realised their plan. Already the smaller ship was listing badly as it's crew frantically tried to release their boat, some jumping into the water or clinging to floating wreckage.

"Furl the sails!" he ordered. "Take us in close and ready the boats!"

"Captain?" his Lieutenant queried. "You are giving up Sparrow?"

"We need to see to the survivors first, Pointer," Theodore sighed. "Jack Sparrow will have to wait a while longer for his hanging!" He watched disappointedly as the Black Pearl sailed away, realising that they would never catch them now. He wondered briefly if Bessie was still with him and how she was… he hoped she was well.

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Jack laughed to himself as he saw the HMS Dauntless slow to rescue the sailors from the sinking merchant vessel. Bessie had told him much about the Captain and the time that she had spent in his household and he had guessed correctly that the man would be unable to condemn the merchant sailors to almost certain death by continuing after the pirate ship. He turned the wheel slightly, adjusting their course back towards the bay he had been heading for prior to chase. He wanted his ship repaired as quickly as possible, not liking to feel vulnerable.

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