Fractures 2 - Looks
1.
It was the slight narrowing of Bill Turners eyes that caused him to pause, then the prickling of the skin on the still healing wound on his wrist that reminded him that just because he proposed to deal fairly with them didn't mean that they were proposing to deal with him in the same manner.
Jack summoned his best little boy grin, it had served well him in the past maybe it was worth a try now.
As you say Hector, equal share and all that. Tell you what, I'll do more than that, since not all men can hold the compass, " he gestured to the watching crew with youthful exuberance, " what say you to a map each. Eh? I'll hand Hector here the helm and get me to the cabin and draw a map for each man jack o'you." He turned his eyes on his mate, "All equal then even those who don't know how to navigate."
He looked back at the crew devilment flashing in his eyes,
"You can have it copied in fine silks and gems when we find the treasure as a'fittin' memento." His smile became even brighter and his voice took a gleeful purr, "show the ladies, when you tell them the story of our wondrous voyage eh?"
Hector watched him with suspicious eyes but the crew murmurs of agreement kept him quiet. And Jack drew close to his mate tapping his forearm with a careless finger.
"What say we have a little celebration afterwards? To celebrate like, christen the maps. " He looked back to the gathered crew, "Double rum rations all round."
The agreement echoed around the deck.
***
As most of the crew sat in glum silence on the empty beach, nursing their headaches and trying to shake off their lethergy, Hector reflected that he should have remembered that Jack was a clever lad, and Teague's son. A useful trick though, and one he would remember if he lived long enough. Weapons do not have to be sharp, and a quart of laudanum can change things as well as a pistol when diluted in a barrel of rum.
***
2
Later, as they brought her body home in stately pomp, he would wonder.
He had thought Brown dead drunk, just as the pirate had, and the surprise at his master's unusually coherent actions had been written too clearly in his face when dealing with one who had nothing but the rope waiting for him. The pirate had sprung away without bothering to turn, even as the bottle was still descending. Brown had overbalanced, Will springing forward to catch him out of habit, aware of the pirate bounding past with a muttered 'thank you' as the soldiers hammered on the door. Then there was a rattle of a latch and he was gone as the red coats stumbled into the gloom of the smithy.
He must have come back later for his hat and coat but no one saw him again until the next year when he returned and stole the Interceptor from under Norrington's nose. By which time Elizabeth was dead and buried and he was walking out with a maid from the fort.
But Will couldn't help but wonder if it was at that point that his fate, and that of Elizabeth, was decided. For the pirate had not been beyond compassion, had he not saved her, at some risk to himself? Perhaps if they had caught him, if he had been in the jail when the pirate ship came calling and took Elizabeth, he might have been persuaded to help them find her before they slit her throat.