"Fifteen men on a dead mans chest. Yo ho ho, and a
bottle of rum. Drink and the devil had done for the
rest. Yo ho ho, and a bottle of rum. Ha – ha – ha –
ha!" Gibbs sings from the deck.
"Gibbs, shut the hell up!" I scream from the crow's
nest.
"Aye, cap'n," he hiccups.
The Turkish prison bells ring out and I look up out to
sea hoping for a sign of Jack. He had left an hour ago
into that hell looking for something and he wasn't
back yet. I am really worried; Jack promised me he
would be back in an hour and it has been two. When
Jack usually promises to be back in a certain time, he
is back in that time, no matter what the problem may
be. Sighing, I look back out to sea, wishing for Jack
to come into my viewpoint, but he doesn't.
Boom! I look up suddenly, my eyes scanning the
ocean, looking for something until I see him. Jack,
coming alongside the fog-ridden ship.
"Gibbs, he's back!" I yell down.
Gibbs holds out a hand and helps Jack aboard. Jack
puts a skeleton's leg into his hand whilst Cotton
drapes a coat around Jack's shoulders.
"Not quite according to plan?" Gibbs asks.
I land down on deck silently and walk over to where
the crew has gathered.
"Complications arose, ensued, were overcome," Jack
replies.
"You got what you went in for, then?" Gibbs asks.
"Mm-hmm," Jack says.
"Captain, I think the crew, meaning me as well, were
expecting something a bit more... shiny. What with
the Isla de Muerta goin' all pear-shaped, reclaimed
by the sea, and the treasure with it," Gibbs points out.
"And the Royal Navy chasing us all around the
Atlantic," Leech also points out.
"And the hurricane," Marty adds.
"Aye," the crew agree.
I push my way to the front. They all fall silent at my
scowl.
"All in all, it seems some time since we did a speck
of honest pirating," Gibbs finishes.
"Shiny?" Jack asks.
"Aye, shiny," Gibbs confirms.
"Is that how you're all feeling, then? Perhaps dear
old Jack an' Jasmine are not serving your best
interests as captains?" Jack asks.
"Who you calling old?" I hiss into his ear. He
flinches.
"I apologise," he mumbles to me.
"Awk, walk the plank!" Cotton's parrot squawks.
"What did that bird say?" Jack yells.
I jump at how quickly he turns.
"Do not blame the bird. Show us what is on that
piece of cloth there," Leech says.
Barbossa's monkey hangs down from the rigging
and screeches into Jack's face and he drops the cloth.
The monkey picks up the cloth, and he attempts to
shoot the monkey with his pistol, only to find that it
misfires. Jack grabs a pistol from another crewman
and blasts the monkey as it scampers across deck.
The monkey screams in its own way and drops the
cloth, scurrying off into the rigging.
"That doesn't do no good," Gibbs complains.
"It does for us," I say.
Marty picks up the cloth.
"It's a key," he tells the crew in surprise.
"No, much better. It's a drawing of a key," Jack
answers, taking the cloth from Marty and holding it
up.
"Gentlemen, what do keys do?" Jack asks the crew
when they look dumbfounded.
"Keys... unlock... things?" Leech says.
"And whatever this key unlocks, inside there's
something valuable."
"So we're setting out to find whatever this key
unlocks," Gibbs asks, unsure.
I roll my eyes; of course we're not! We need to find
the key first.
"No! If we don't have the key, we can't open
whatever it is as we don't have the thing that unlocks
it. So what purpose would be served in finding
whatever needs to be unlocked, which we don't have,
without first having found the key what unlocks it?"
Jack explains.
"So we're going after this key?" Gibbs asks.
I nod.
"You're not making any sense at all. Any more
questions?" Jack asks and I scowl once again, only
this time in confusion.
"So do we have a heading?" Marty asks.
"Aha, heading. Set sail in a... mm... a general... in
that way direction!" I frown this time. What is Jack
doing? He always has a heading.
"Cap'n?" Gibbs questions.
"Come on! Snap to and make sail! You know how
this works! Come on, oy quick, oy quick!" Jack snaps
at the crew.
As he walks into the captain's cabin, I share a look with
Gibbs. He nods and I follow Jack into the cabin,
sitting across from him on the bed.
"Care to share what that was about?" I ask.