Disclaimer: So, I don't own anything pirate-related besides a pirates poster. So...don't sue me and stuff and legality blah blah.

AN: So, I hope everyone likes this story. I write another one called Old Nights and New Days if you enjoy this one. And umm...review and let me know what you think. Wow, I'm boring today with these disclaimers and whatnot.

Chapter One: Lorelai Peters

Jack was a practiced hoverer. It was an especially useful talent in the town of Port Royal, and even more useful when he wanted to watch the arrival of Norrington's latest captive. It was rumored that a major captain had been caught the week before, and Jack had his hopes set on it being that blighted Cording. He'd beaten Jack out to a substantial gold trove last fall, and there was no love lost between them.

So, he found himself on the edge of a large crowd near the docks that included everyone from society's finest to the beggars who lived on the back streets. He was positioning himself behind a woman with a particularly large hat when there was a sudden shift in the crowd. It was parting in a line that ran to where he was. Jack had a momentary fear that a group of the military officers present had spotted him despite his attempts to remain hidden, and prepared to turn away when something touched him lightly on the shoulder.

He turned back to face a rider on a dark colored horse. It was a woman, sitting side saddle. Her riding crop rested on his shoulder, and the faint scent of oiled leather drifted from it to his nose. She lowered it as he turned back to face her. The woman slid down from her horse in a elegant flood of expensive skirts and held out her hand, her face still hidden under the brim of her wide black hat.

"Captain Sparrow?" she said, half a question, half a statement.

"Aye.." Jack was suspicious. He glanced down at her hand as he took it, and stared for a moment. An oversize ring wrapped around her index finger, and bore a familiar mark. A ship with four sails was engraved on the band, and a letter was inside each sail. MMHP.

Mason, Mayle, Harrison, Peters; some of the most famous ship builders in the world.

"I thought so." She inclined her head slightly in greeting, and the red feather on her hat waved. "I'm Lorelai Peters."

Peters' daughter? Granddaughter? He still couldn't see her face clearly enough to judge her age. Only the end of her nose and her mouth, smiling graciously, showed under the huge hat brim. Her horse snorted, and she tapped it gently with the crop, silencing it. Only then did she push the hat away slightly, and he saw that she looked maybe twenty five. She had the aristocratic nose that he associated with Elizabeth, very straight and thin, and intelligent eyes. They looked dark, shadowed too much under the brim to tell what color.

"Nice to meet you Miss Peters." Jack couldn't really think of anything to say to her. What did she want anyway? He hoped she would say something soon, because he had no idea where the conversation would go otherwise. Luckily, she was better prepared than him.

"I've been trying to track you down for several months, Captain. You are exceedingly difficult to find."

"Norrington's found that too," Jack said. He hoped she wasn't a staunch supporter of the navy. She only laughed.

"Norrington and everyone else in the Caribbean. I've been through every tavern in Port Royal trying to catch a bit of gossip about where you're sailing these days."

Jack's eyes narrowed. "And who blabbed?"

"Your first mate, just yesterday evening, in The Gull's Wing. Gibbs is his name?"

The pirate muttered something under his breath that she didn't catch, but it didn't sound promising for Gibbs. She spoke quickly. "Don't be too harsh on him yet, his loose tongue may do you a great deal of good. You see, my reasons for tracking you are quite…profitable."

"Profitable?"

Jack's interest had grown considerably, and he eagerly awaited an explanation, but there was something more pressing happening at the moment. The crowd had turned suddenly. Neither had noticed it as they spoke, but Lorelai turned as her horse snorted and shied to the side.

"-got away. Norrington's piping mad. Here he comes now." Snippets of conversation blurred in Jack's ears, and he noticed a group of suspiciously similar red coats appearing in the crowd. Naval looking red coats.

"Not to worry, good people. We shall rid the port of one criminal today! If I'm not mistaken, the infamous Jack Sparrow has decided to make a visit to our esteemed city."

Jack spotted Norrington in the crowd to his left, and was about to try and run for it when he felt a pull on the fabric of his jacket. Lorelai was back on her horse, sitting astride this time, her skirts awkwardly rumpled. She tugged at him more sharply.

"Come on!" she hissed. "D'you want to be on the gallows? Step up on the stirrup!"

Jack crammed his foot over hers into the narrow stirrup and swumg cumbersomely up behind her. The sound of the crop on her horse was a resounding slap as they broke through the crowd at a canter. Despite the unfortunate and dangerous situation at present, thoughts of alternate uses for the crop popped into Jack's mind. He forced himself to be serious; the last thing he wanted was this Lorelai Peters shoving him off the back of the horse to meet Norrington and his men.

They rode recklessly through the narrow back streets of Port Royal for several minutes, and eventually the sounds of the naval pursuit faded away. Shortly, Lorelai pulled up outside the gates of a sugar plantation. She dug through her pockets and her hand emerged with a long key, which she shoved into Jack's hand. "Open the gates."

Jack got off, just as awkwardly, and unlocked the gates, swinging them open on silent hinges. Lorelai rode through and waited while he locked them again, then slipped off her horse and walked with Jack as they made their way up a sloped path. They were silent for a moment, the rustle of sugar canes punctuated by the blowing breath of the horse. Reaching the top of the hill finally, Jack saw they were looking down slightly at an immense white plantation house. Lorelai gave over the reins of her horse to the groom that had appeared unnoticed, patting the animal's damp shoulder and slipping it something from her pocket, then turned back to Jack.

"Come on," she said, smiling. "My father will be expecting you."

AN: Okay, chapter one! More adventure and whatnot to come, haha.