Story [PotC] Hounds of the Sea (post-AWE; action/adventure; Jack, Barbossa, OCs) Updated 8/24: Chap. 3

Title: Hounds of the Sea
Author: Idrelle_Miocovani
Timeframe: post-AWE
Genre: action, adventure, humour, drama, suspense, angst, supernatural
Characters: Captain Jack Sparrow, Barbossa, Eduardo Villanueva, Capitaine Chevalle, Pintel and Ragetti, Gibbs, the rest of the Black Pearl crew, and OCs.

Summary: At the end of At World?s End, Barbossa sailed off with the Black Pearl while Jack stole the navigational charts and went off in a dinghy in an attempt to find the Fountain of Youth. Two months later, things aren?t going quite according to plan. Barbossa is trying to track Jack down to get the charts back, Capitaine Chevalle has arrived in the Caribbean to try rid himself of his self-imposed title of the Penniless Frenchman, Eduardo Villanueva has pulled himself out of retirement in order to hunt for mythological treasure, and Captain Sparrow keeps getting lost whenever his compass stops working because he has run out of rum. To make matters even more complex than they need be, Cadwallader Rogers, Proprietary of the Bahamas, has his eye on claiming completely control of the Caribbean in any way possible while young Katrina O?Connor purposefully complicates happy, rum-soaked pirate lives when she fulfills her dream of finding her pirate father.

Notes: Any attempts at being historically accurate in anyway are to be ignored. The entire plot of this (epic?) fic came from a very crazy dream I had one night a couple weeks ago where the entire story was played out in front of me like a movie. After that, the plot bunnies wouldn?t leave me alone. By all rights, I shouldn?t be started a new fic now but I?m defying my logical side and posting anyways. I?m also trying to keep the same tone as the films.

Disclaimer: I do not own PotC or any of its characters (including Villanueva and Chevalle, who are two of the pirate lords seen at the Brethren Court in AWE). I did, however, create Katrina O?Connor, Alvarez, Rogers and any other OCs that will eventually pop up here.

This is my 7,000th post. I thought I?d make it special.

PM List

ophelia
Darth_Leia_6669
NYCitygurl
Penguinator-179
Quigonjecca
canadianjedimama

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[b]PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN
Hounds of the Sea[/b]

[hr]

[b]Prologue[/b]

The sun had not yet risen, but the child was already awake, sitting on her window ledge as she gazed out at the dark, black sea. The gentle tropical breeze blew in through the window, bringing with it the familiar smell of salty water that she always associated with adventure. Tapping her fingers on the wall beside her, she sang softly to herself as she watched the horizon slowly turn pale pink as the sun prepared to rise.

[i]?What shall we do with a drunken sailor?
What shall we do with a drunken sailor?
What shall we do with a drunken sailor?
Early in the morning??

?Way-hay, up she rises,
Way-hay, up she rises,
Way-hay, up she rises,
Early in the morning.?[/i]

The girl jumped and almost teetered over and fell out of her window in surprise as she heard her mother?s voice behind her. She shrieked and caught the sides of the window, pulling herself upright before jumping off the ledge and back into her room.

?Mother!?

Mary O?Connor laughed and crossed the room, hugging her daughter tightly. ?What are you doing up so early and singing forbidden songs, Katrina??

The girl shrugged. ?I was looking at the sea. Why are they forbidden??

Mary gently brushed her daughter?s dark red hair with her fingers. ?They?re pirate songs, Kat,? she said, sitting down on the window ledge herself. ?Pirates are outlawed bandits of the sea who are very terrible men.? Something about her tone of voice was mocking, clearly stating that she didn?t believe a word she was saying.

Katrina made a face. ?Mother, you don?t believe that.?

Mary laughed again and wrapped her arms around her daughter, rocking her gently. ?No,? she said, looking out at the horizon as the sun slowly came up. ?No, I don?t. I?ve met pirates

 

Very nice beginning! I literally lol'ed at this: Captain Sparrow keeps getting lost whenever his compass stops working because he has run out of rum.

Poor Jack! Nothing ever quite goes right. (Aaaand now I'm imagining an insane crossover with "Titanic," in which the Jacks trade places, and the Titanic hits an iceberg due to a tragic lack of rum.)

We've got a new access character too, I see, who'll be an interesting change from Elizabeth and Will. Usually OC childfics are very difficult to sell to an audience, but I'm quite convinced that all the male pirates have multiple children in every port--and possibly many of the female ones, too. Some of them have got to want to go search for their missing parent.

The "finding the father" story is usually a father/son thing--it'll be interesting to see it done with a daughter.

And the various agendas of all the Pirate Lords sound spot-on. That's got to be great to watch.

If you have a PM list, put me on, eh?

 

You have quite charming characters and I like the pacing of this already.

 

ophelia:

Very nice beginning!

Thank you! I was aiming for a prologue in a similar vein to what CotBP started with. A pirate song and stories while introducing my main access character. Well, hey -- all three films have pirate songs near the beginning.

I literally lol'ed at this: Captain Sparrow keeps getting lost whenever his compass stops working because he has run out of rum.



Couldn't resist that bit. I was thinking of the last scene of AWE when the compass gets confused and points towards the bottle of rum he has stashed away in the bottom of the dinghy. I can see him getting lost when he runs out of rum because the compass points to the place that has the nearest bottle.

Poor Jack! Nothing ever quite goes right.

Nope, and let me assure you, things are not going to go right here. Ever.

(Aaaand now I'm imagining an insane crossover with "Titanic," in which the Jacks trade places, and the Titanic hits an iceberg due to a tragic lack of rum.)



Now that I would read. Somehow, I don't think Rose would appreciate the swap too much and I can't see her posing for Mr. Sparrow like she did for Mr. Dawson.

We've got a new access character too, I see, who'll be an interesting change from Elizabeth and Will.

I decided that if I was going to do a post-AWE fic, I needed to replace both Will and Elizabeth because both of them are a bit inaccessible after the end of AWE. I mean, Will's off with the Flying Dutchman and Elizabeth has better things to do than to cruise around the Caribbean looking for the Fountain of Youth, endangering her life while pregnant. Katrina's going to be interesting to write because she has interesting relationships with the pirate characters. Here's crossing fingers that she doesn't go Mary Sue on me.


Usually OC childfics are very difficult to sell to an audience, but I'm quite convinced that all the male pirates have multiple children in every port--and possibly many of the female ones, too. tongue Some of them have got to want to go search for their missing parent.

You just got my way of thinking! I figured that pretty much all the pirates onboard the Pearl or other pirate ships must have at least one kid somewhere, considering their behaviour whenever they're at port.

The "finding the father" story is usually a father/son thing--it'll be interesting to see it done with a daughter.

Strangely enough, I never did think of it as a finding the father story until you mentioned it. You'll see why soon enough. It's more like "what to do with the father once he's found." Though you can be sure that Katrina's going to have to work hard to earn her place, as women supposedly bring bad luck on ships.

And the various agendas of all the Pirate Lords sound spot-on. That's got to be great to watch.

They're all up to something.

If you have a PM list, put me on, eh?

Absolutely!


Ish:

Hehe, glad you find them "charming." Whether or not they'll stay that way remains to be seen. Glad you like the pacing; I'm experimenting with a few things here, so though I have the majority of the plot clearly in my head thanks to my dream, I'm not entirely sure how it's going to appear on page. Glad you're enjoying so far!

 

I love Kat!! She's so cute x

Awesome start! The song at the beginning was really cool (reminded me of the movies, particularly AWE). Can't wait for more

 

What an interesting beginning! I can see many complications already, but that?s what makes these stories so much fun, isn?t it? If you start a list, could you add me please?

--later--
6669

 

Nat:

8-year-old Kat might be cute, but wait until she grows up and gets claws.

Glad you liked the song at the beginning. I decided to go with a fairly famous pirate song, like the one at the start of DMC were Gibbs is singing "Fifty men on a dead man's chest, a yo ho ho and a bottle of rum." I'm trying to keep the same atmosphere as the films, and all of them have a song at the beginning, so I thought, "why not?"

Darth_Leia_6669:

Glad you find it interesting! And that's just the prologue!

There are many complications, and we haven't even started yet. I'll add you to the PM list.

--Next chapter is coming soon. I'll post it before I leave on my two week, sans Internet connection trip.

 

Chapter One
On a Dark Night at Nassau Port

The streets of Nassau Port were unusually quiet for the middle of a summer night. The few sounds that could be heard were the creaking of ships and boats tied up at the docks and the crashing of waves on the shore. Occasionally, a dog barked or a cat meowed, but for the most part Nassau was silent. Not a person walked down an alley nor a horse trotted down a road. The people of Nassau were all inside, doors latched and windows barred.

It was perfect for what Katrina O?Connor had in mind.

She slipped through the alleys, ducking out of sight every time a window shutter flapped in the wind. So far, everything had gone according to plan. If she got to her destination safely, she would have to laugh over how easy everything had been to pull off her little stint. Having memorized the passageways through the basement of the governor?s house when she was a child, it had been easy enough to slip out of her room above the Three Black Cats tavern, swing herself up on to the roof, cross a large part of town on the roofs of the buildings where no one thought to look and then clamber over the gate that guarded the governor?s excessively grand house.

It had been ten years since she had last been in the house, but she remembered it well enough. The lavish gardens were so thickly vegetated with the governor?s favourite tropical flowers that she had had no problem slipping past the guards. Her only regret was that she had not had the time to find the resources to change into something more suitable for a night of theft ? the skirt of her dress had been continually getting caught and torn by the excessive vegetation.

She could have chosen any house to raid ? hell, she could have even chosen the Three Black Cats, no one would suspect her if she was snooping around for doubloons in the small chest where they kept the gold and Spanish silver. But there was some alluring aspect about raiding the house she had grown up in and watched the tragic fate befall her mother some months after her eighth birthday ? something Kat would never forget as long as she lived.

It had taken her only a few minutes of having her face scraped by branches and the skirt of her dress muddied in the gardens before she managed to cross to the side of the house, where she picked the lock of the shutter to the lone window leading to the basement. It had been easy enough to slide into the storeroom from there and take her pick of the food and drink.

The good thing about having a full length skirt was that it was incredibly easy to store the stolen goods under it. She already had a knife and a pistol hidden where she could access them quickly, but it didn?t take too much effort to stash a small bottle of what smelled like some very good rum in one of her stockings. A few more food items were stuck into her other stocking by the time she had crept out of the storeroom. The guard, who happened to be looking in the wrong direction when she inched the door open, hadn?t even had the time to become surprised when she promptly knocked him out with her shoe.

Katrina had then made her hasty way down the corridor to the strong room, which was guarded this time by two guards. She had discovered a few months before that ladies? shoes made quite good weapons when you wanted to knock someone out from a few feet away. Slipping off her other shoe, she had lobbed them around the corner, whacking both of the guards in the face. They had flinched in surprise and were looking around wildly for their assailant, but by that time she had managed to slip around them, scoop up her shoes and deliver two good blows to their heads. Inspecting her handiwork and judging that they would be out for at least a few hours, she stole the keys from one of the guards? pockets and unlocked the strong room door.

Inside were more than enough doubloons and pieces of eight to keep her content for months ? as long as she could carry as much as she needed. Katrina usually attempted to be as practical as poss

 

I love the timing! If you have a PM list, It'd be great if I could get on it.

 

Lots of nice little bits in this . . .

Honestly, I think my favorite bit is this:

belligerent, onion-eyed barnacle named Barbossa

What a lovely insult. I think the alliteration is what pushes it over the top.

?How did you miss?!?

There are lots of odd magical abilities in the POTC universe, but the magic ability to miss anything you shoot at 9 times out of 10 is a new one. Clearly, Katrina was born in the wrong universe, and should have been a Stormtrooper.

This was just a nice little piece of business, too:

?Lad,? Jack said as he straightened up, ?I take great offence at people who try to steal my ship.?

The boy raised an eyebrow. ?This isn?t a ship. It?s a dinghy.?

He didn?t sound impressed.

Jack stared at him for a moment and then waved his hands as if he was trying to pass the comment by.

?I know that!?

I can see that being played out. Cute, yet deranged.

I seem to be endlessly amused by Captain Sparrow's Quest for Rum, as well. There's just something about putting that on the same level as the Fountain of Youth which gets me every time.

Great fun so far.

 

I love the Kat and Jack dynamic - and I love the parallel to CotBP

 

Wow! So Katrina grew up to be a thief, and is now saving Capt. Jack? Not much removed from being a pirate I?d dare say! I wonder what tragedy befell her mother? Excellent story, please keep me on that list!


--later--
6669

 

Wow! I really quite like this story. If you have a PM list, could you please add me? Thanks!

 

Penguinator-179:

Glad you like the timing. I'll add you to the list!


ophelia:

Lots of nice little bits in this . . .



Honestly, I think my favorite bit is this:

belligerent, onion-eyed barnacle named Barbossa

What a lovely insult. tongue I think the alliteration is what pushes it over the top.




I know, eh? I've been using your lovely Shakespearean insult machine for help in coming up with insults, like you suggested. I was playing around with a few and then went -- oh yeah, that works perfectly in a ridiculous manner.

There are lots of odd magical abilities in the POTC universe, but the magic ability to miss anything you shoot at 9 times out of 10 is a new one. tongue Clearly, Katrina was born in the wrong universe, and should have been a Stormtrooper.



She can't shoot to save her life. She has really bad judgment and bad hand-eye coordination. It creates a lot of problems. As teh pirates will find out, eventually, as she wrecks havoc on their ship.

This was just a nice little piece of business, too:

?Lad,? Jack said as he straightened up, ?I take great offence at people who try to steal my ship.?

The boy raised an eyebrow. ?This isn?t a ship. It?s a dinghy.?

He didn?t sound impressed.

Jack stared at him for a moment and then waved his hands as if he was trying to pass the comment by.

?I know that!?

I can see that being played out. Cute, yet deranged.



I must be deranged then. That was one of the first things I wrote (in script format, too), for this fic.

I seem to be endlessly amused by Captain Sparrow's Quest for Rum, as well. There's just something about putting that on the same level as the Fountain of Youth which gets me every time.



It amuses me too. I laugh EVERY time I see the end of AWE and he's staring at the compass while in his dinghy and realizes that it's pointing to a bottle of rum.

Great fun so far.

That's what it's here for! Thanks for reading!

NYCitygurl:

Yay! Glad you like the dynamic, dearest beta. Kat's becoming quite a lot of fun to write.

Darth_Leia_6669:

Wow! So Katrina grew up to be a thief, and is now saving Capt. Jack?

Well, she had a rather difficult time after "something" happened to her mother. Thieving made life easier; she's quite an accomplished pickpocket now. Not so good with weapons, though. She's not very good at killing people, either; not a fan of it (she could have let Jack drown after knocking him out, but didn't). She's much better a sneaking and tricking people.

Not much removed from being a pirate I?d dare say!



I wonder what tragedy befell her mother?

Good question. That's a secret.

Excellent story, please keep me on that list!

I will! Thanks for reading!

Quigonjecca:

Thanks, jecca! I'll add you.

 

Chapter Two
Not According to Plan

Half-way out to the black ship anchored in the harbour, Katrina was beginning to question her rather abrupt decision to save the pirate instead of letting him drown. She couldn?t quite figure out what had compelled her to pull him onboard after knocking him out with a paddle, but the point remained that she had ? and now she was stuck with him. On the good side, he wasn?t making any trouble at the moment. On the bad side, she wasn?t sure what she was going to do with him once she boarded the ship she was headed towards. She certainly had not been expecting to run into the same man twice in one evening, particularly not the one she had attempted to shoot, failed to kill and then gave her sole bottle of rum to as a means to escape.

Then again, she hadn?t expected anyone to come running down a dock claiming that she was stealing their dinghy. Why anyone would care about this run-down old thing, she would never know. The bottom was littered with empty, broken rum bottles and the wood was rotting. It was gong to sink at any moment. Its only redeeming factor was that it had the charm of a tattered skull-and-crossbones pirate flag attached to the mast.

Calico meowed and jumped up, placing his paws on the side of the boat as Katrina rowed. His ears flapped in the wind and he bared his teeth, hissing at the water as the ocean spray blew in his face. Curiously, he slowly dipped a paw into the water and yelped at the shock of the cold. Drawing near again, the cat attempted the same act again, to the same result.

?Calico,? Katrina called warningly. ?Don?t do that.?

Calico spun around and hissed at her, baring his teeth.

?What?? Katrina demanded. ?You?ll fall in and you know you don?t like falling in the water.?

Calico turned his back on her and went back to inspect the side of the boat.

?Fine,? Kat finished. ?Be that way.?

?Talking to oneself is a highly dire sign for those wanting to keep their sanity,? a voice said.

Katrina gave one more pull on the oars and glared down at the pirate lying on the bottom of the boat. ?I wasn?t talking to myself,? she said flatly. ?I was talking to my cat.?

?Aha,? the pirate continued in a semi sing-song voice. He raised a hand and gestured in a way that he appeared to be conducting an invisible orchestra as he spoke. ?It?s an established fact that talking to one?s cat is even worse a sign than talking to oneself. I highly advise you not to stop as you can never trust sane people ? they?re all insane.?

Katrina raised an eyebrow and continued rowing. ?You?re not making any sense.?

The pirate sat up and adjusted his hat. ?I?m not the one stealing a dinghy, lad.?

Katrina sighed. ?Look, would you stop going on about that?? she exclaimed. ?You can have it back as soon as I get to that ship over there.? She pulled angrily at the oars.

The pirate glanced at the ship and then back at her. ?I?m afraid I will have to dispense of this highly satisfactory boat once we arrive at yonder destination,? he said. ?That ship over there is my ship.?

Katrina snorted. ?It is not.? She didn?t know who was captain of the ship, but she very much doubted that this pirate was even capable of being captain of a ship. The possibility was absurd.

The pirate, however, was not going to agree with her easily.

?It is!? he insisted.

?No,? Katrina retorted, ?it?s not!

?I?m a Captain!? the pirate replied angrily.

?Right,? Katrina answered sarcastically, rolling her eyes, ?and so am I!?

?This is my dinghy!? he shouted.

?Not anymore!? she snapped back. Katrina let go of one of the oars and pulled her pistol from her belt. She waved it in his face. ?At this range,? she said, ?not even I can miss, so drop it, mate!?

The pirate paused. He grinned at her.

?Parlay??

Katrina sighed with frustration and put her pistol back so she could pick up the oar again and continue rowing towards the ship. ?Just stay there and don?t do anything funny,? she hissed.

The pirate

 

I love Barbossa/Jack and Jack/Kat. So much fun

Awesome chapter! My favorite so far

 

I literally lol'ed at several parts of this story. Especially the scene around this section:

?It?s an established fact that talking to one?s cat is even worse a sign than talking to oneself. I highly advise you not to stop as you can never trust sane people ? they?re all insane.?

Katrina raised an eyebrow and continued rowing. ?You?re not making any sense.?

The pirate sat up and adjusted his hat. ?I?m not the one stealing a dinghy, lad.?

This was rather poignant, given Jack's history of having to deal with . . . Jacks:

?Talking to oneself is a highly dire sign for those wanting to keep their sanity,? a voice said.

For some reason, this got me the most:

?Hm.? Jack paused and began inspecting his fingernails. ?Haven?t heard of him. Nice name, though. ?Very Infamous Pirate.? I like that.?

I'm rather tempted to go VIP on Pirate Day, just so I can label myself "Very Infamous Pirate."

The timing is very good for the dialogue, and the story tempo just right for action/adventure/humor.

Very nice job in this section--my favorite so far as well.

 

Interesting development once again! I have a sneaking suspicion, but I?m just going to keep it to myself for the moment. I do have to ask, simply because I don?t remember right off, but how much does Katrina look like her mother? Was it even mentioned?

Ok, I?ll quit with the questions . Excellent post, and I?ll be waiting for more!

--later--

6669

 

Oh really now?

So I was over here, checking out this new index, indulging in my unholy love of Twiligh fic when I saw this. And I clicked. And I started to laugh.

Laugh really hard.

I love this Idri. Truly. Put me on your PM list!

And I'm also glad to see I'm not the only one who thinks Will left Elizabeth a little gift at the end of AWE.



Cyn

 

Nat:

Of course it's fun. Glad you're enjoying it!


ophelia:

Glad that you're finding this lol-worthy. I'm trying to have a similar tone to the films, so I guess I must be succeeding at least a little bit.

I'm rather tempted to go VIP on Pirate Day, just so I can label myself "Very Infamous Pirate."

I DARE you to do it!

I would say that this chapter is my favourite, but I like the next one even more.


Darth_Leia_6669:

Hmm, now what would that sneaking suspicion be, pray tell?



I think I know what it is.

Questions are always good! But it depends on the question as to whether or not I'll answer them.


canadianjedimama:

Cyn!!!!

*does a happy dance*

LOL, glad I could make you laugh.

And I'm also glad to see I'm not the only one who thinks Will left Elizabeth a little gift at the end of AWE.

Well, I'm not one to argue with the implications of the after-credits scene in AWE.

Thanks for reading, everyone!

 

Chapter Three
Arising Complications

Katrina was running on adrenaline and found that she was wide awake throughout the rest of the early morning hours. Because she felt so excited, she couldn?t stay in one spot for long. She remedied this by spending the time she should have used for sleeping in as many different positions as possible in her cell, though she kept as much distance between her and Jack as possible. However, he hadn?t bothered her once since they reached their agreement, keeping completely to himself.

Though there were times when Katrina was quite convinced that he had as much company as he needed. As she tried to sort out the numerous ideas flooding her mind, she caught catches of random conversations spoken between Jack? and himself. The first time it happened, she thought she was hearing things.

?But what shall we use for leverage??

?Well, you got us into this mess, so you find a way out ? what do you think??

?Excuse me?? Katrina said, spinning around.

Jack?s head popped up and he stared at her, surprised. ?What??

Katrina frowned. ?Were you saying something??

Jack paused. He crossed his legs and stood up. ?Are you imagining something, love??

Katrina?s eyes narrowed. ?Um? no??

?Then go ahead and use your imagination,? he said, bowing extravagantly and sitting back down.

Katrina attempted to wonder what that comment possibly meant, but it ended up giving her a headache, so she let it drop.

When dawn broke and the thundering footsteps of the crew could be heard overhead, along with the slightly muffled orders of Barbossa, there were three things that continued to run through Katrina?s mind. The first was how to break out of the cell. Neither she nor Jack had tried to figure something out in the long early morning hours and their agreement ? upon reflection ? had been based solely on the fact that she thought that Jack knew his ship well enough to find a way out of the brig, while he seemed to think that she would think of something. So far, Katrina?s couldn?t think of anything, even though she had been puzzling about it for hours.

The second was what she was doing on this ship in the first place. It had seemed like a good idea when she was still working at the Three Black Cats, but now she wasn?t so sure if she should have left. Perhaps things weren?t quite as bad as she thought back home, even if her pick-pocketing career was going to land her in disaster at some point. Yet, she had been surprised that her plan had gone so smoothly. Katrina had never fully worked out a plan before this ?escape from Nassau?. She usually ran on half-worked plans and improvised where necessary. Tonight, she had technically succeeded in fulfilling every aspect of her plan, except that she had overlooked the outcome of some of her actions. She had never expected to land in the brig. She had expected to land on the ship and either become a stowaway until it reached the next port, or strike a bargain with the captain.

Which she had done ? sort of.

If Jack was telling the truth, that was.

That led her to the third point she was puzzling over. Where did Jack fit in the picture? He had said he could help her find her father if she helped him sail his ship. What did that entail and why should he trust her? From what she knew of pirates, they would easily stab a friend in the back if the price was right. Jack was a strange man, from what she could tell, yet there seemed to be some sort of intelligence behind all of the absurdity. And he was dangerous ? that much, she knew. Perhaps it was easy to catch him off his guard with a paddle or if you were backed by a dozen crewmembers, but from the brash, confident way he had spoken to Barbossa, Katrina thought that he was someone who rarely backed down to anyone.

And that meant that he was dangerous.

Perhaps Jack did know of her father. He was a pirate, after all, and Katrina did have a name to go by ? or rather, a last name. Her father was a captain who sailed somewhere in these wa

 

*dies laughing*

Again.

You've got Jack nailed here, m'dear. Very well done. I could literally hear his voice when I was reading his lines.



Oh, and I didn't know about that little extra scene in AWE. Watched it. And now I have this nasty little bunny nipping at my heels.

Gah!



Delightful read. I loved it!

Cyn

 

These last two chapters were awesome! I love the dialogue and the characterization. I half-way expected Kat to be a Sparrow though Very good, and thanks for the PM!

 

Absolutely hilarious! I loved how you ended that, and I did have a strong suspicion, but I still loved how you played it out!

Katrina certainly has some tricks that have and will (I?m sure) continue to come in handy.

I wonder how Jack will take the news

Awesome!

--later--
6669

 

Sry for seeming to disappear on you . . . I didn't, really, work just started up again this week, which means my life stopped.

Again--your Jack is delightfully quirky and unpredictable. I had a strong suspicion that Katrina would end up being his daughter, but I have no idea at all about how he'll react to that.

I'm sure he'll find it useful for some plan or other. Thanks for sharing this with us, and keep up the good work!