Chapter 2

Duty

Banging on the door awoke Will from his sleep. Every muscle in his body ached and he pulled on a shirt and walked to the door of his quarters.

"Good day Captain" William Turner I exclaimed as Will opened the door.

"Good day, Mr. Turner" Will smiled as he let his father in.

"How are you feeling this morning?"

"Sore,"

"Well you did just fight off an armada yesterday" Will sat back down on the edge of the bed and started to pull on his boots, pausing before placing the second. Remembering Elizabeth, her smile, her soft skin, the way she laughed when he caressed her leg just right…

"Will, come back to the land of the living, well I guess I should say the land of the dead" interrupted Bootstrap.

"Sorry, dreaming" Will replied.

"Well, I'm sure you have a lot on you mind, you are just recovering from your wedding night you know." Will smiled; as he stood up he looked for his sword.

"I must have left it on the beach," he replied to the question in his mind.

"You won't need a sword here, nothing but calm seas for as far as the eye can see, and guarantee no one you run into here will be armed."

"I guess your right, I just don't remember the last time I didn't carry one." Will walked out of his quarters the sunrise shinning in his eyes, all of a sudden an outline of a woman appeared in the gleam.

"Elizabeth," Will said aloud,

"No…better," a woman's voice replied. As the she walked closer a familiar face appeared.

"Tia Dalma, or should I say Calypso…what a pleasure to see you again," Will stated with some sarcasm.

"William Turner, did I not tell you that de torch of destiny must be passed."

"I guess I should have taken that more literally."

"So was it worth it…your one day…" smirked Calypso.

"Anything to be with Elizabeth, what are the terms of duty."

"Worth it say I… the terms are simple, ten years at sea ferrying souls, if your love remain true, then your debt is paid."

"Who will be Captain; the Dutchman must have a Captain."

"Men perish everyday, all of them begging me for anther chance; the Dutchman will always have a Captain as long as men bargain with the sea."

Will looked about the ship from the deck, men he didn't even know where tending to the sails, sealing the deck, and managing the rigs.

"You are not the only man who has a duty to fulfill," stated Bootstrap.

"Who are they?,"

"Sailors who were lost to the sea, cut a deal with Calypso, and so here they are to serve their duty."

"Men! Gather round," all the crewmen looked at Will and started to make their way to the upper deck.

"My name is William Turner and I am your Captain, I know we are all here because we have a debt to be paid, but we can use our debt to help others whom have suffered the same fate. We have been given a second chance, a chance to live again, to be with the ones we love again. Many people are not given a chance like this and their lives are lost to the endless sea before us. Now we have an opportunity to help them, we can help them find their way home, help them find peace. Will you help me in this journey?, a long silence followed,

"Aye," "Aye, Aye…" pretty soon the entire crew joined in.

"Now, back to work, we have a long night ahead of us." Will turned to father,

"It's a new beginning for the Dutchman, instead of taking souls, we are now saving them."

As night fell, and the lost souls followed the Dutchman across the waters, Will recognized many of the faces. They were crew members of the Royal Guard, men he had met in battle.

"They are at peace, don't feel guilty" replied Bootstrap.

"I don't, they chose their side and I stood by mine, if I didn't kill them they would have killed me… or Elizabeth." Will looked ahead; trying to hide his pain, whenever he even said her name it felt like his stomach dropped to his feet.

"Even though your heart is not in your chest, you still feel it breaking…," noted Bootstrap. Will smiled;

"I don't know what Jones was thinking, it is almost worse, you can't control it when you don't have it in you."

"Do you want anything to drink?",

"No, thanks."

"What pirate Captain doesn't drink rum?"

"Elizabeth hates rum." Bootstrap looked at his son,

"Love, I've seen it drive men to drink, but never keep them sober."

As night fall fell over the sea Mr. Dove's fishing boat was pulling up to port. At least twenty men climbed aboard and started unloading fish from the ship's belly.

"Elizabeth, this way!", yelled Pat. They walked down the dock, the pier was full of men, unloading fish, tending to nets, and selling their catch.

"Stay near dear," Pat grabbed Elizabeth's hand and drug her through the crowds. Fairly soon they stumbled out of the crowd onto a quiet cobblestone street. The lamps where just being lit creating a soft glow on all of the store fronts as they walked past. As Elizabeth walked past the stores she was all of a sudden taken back to a different world, the world of her past. The last time she wore an actual dress was shy of a year ago, at her previous marriage ceremony.

"Right up here dear," as they suddenly turned by a general stone, and walked up the stair case on the side of the building. Pat opened the door to the second story of the general store revealing a quaint living area. She lit a candle and lead Elizabeth in,

"It's nothing fancy, but it's home." She continued to light candles around the house revealing two more bedrooms. Pat then lead her down the hall to another staircase. Elizabeth followed her up, through the door into a large empty room.

"I know it's a bit drafty up here, but we never have used the attic for much, and it can give you a little privacy."

"I won't need to stay long…"

"Not another word dear, you stay here as long as you need."

"Thank you."

She found a spare cot and set it up with blankets and a pillow for Elizabeth. Then they both went down to her bedroom where she opened a large cedar chest. She pulled out two dresses, some undergarments, and a night gown.

"These were mine when I was your age, and about half of what I am know," Pat chuckled.

"Oh I couldn't…"

"Nonsense, I always wanted a daughter to pass them down to, and that just never occurred, I would be honored if you would wear them."

"I don't know what to say,"

"Say thank you and be done with it."

"Thank you, I don't know how I can ever repay you." They walked into the main room, "Now take a seat Elizabeth, and we'll quick eat, Edward and Joe will be awhile unloading the boat and there is no point waiting for them." She pulled out some bread and dried beef from the cupboard. Elizabeth didn't realize how staving she was until she finished off the last of her meal, and Pat was only half through hers.

"Want some more?"

"No, Thank you, it was delicious."

"Well you have been out at sea too long if you think dried beef and bread is delicious."

That night as Elizabeth's head hit the pillow, she suddenly felt her entire body just ache. As she closed her eye's her thoughts drifted back to Will. She could she his face, his gentle smile, his broad chest and soft hair. She saw him laughing then picking her up and twirling her around passionately kissing her, then next thing she knew light was beaming into her eyes.

Elizabeth could smell coffee brewing, as she reached for her coat she noticed it had been replaced by one of Pat's dresses. The dress was plain light brown linen that pulled over a white linen shirt. It was a little big, but with some slight adjustments it fit rather well.

"Elizabeth dear, are you up yet?" Elizabeth walked down the stairs to find Pat, Edward, and Joseph all sitting at the table.

"Take a sit my dear, oh we need to fix that dress later, you are a bit more petite than I." "Thank you again for the dress, and for letting me stay with you."

"No problem," stated Edward,

"So Elizabeth, what was your husband's trade back in Port Royal."

"My husband…" Elizabeth stated looking more toward Joseph, "Was a blacksmith," "Was a blacksmith, is he not anymore?"

"No, uhh…he still is a blacksmith just on a ship, not in Port Royal anymore." She had not really thought of Will as a blacksmith anymore, he was more of a pirate to her now. "And what did you do?"

"Edward I don't think I like you harassing Elizabeth at breakfast,"

"No Pat, that is quite alright, I helped him upkeep his shop."

"Did he have a specialty?",

"Yes, he crafted swords."

"That explains the beautiful sword on your jacket then!" exclaimed Pat.

"Did your husband make that sword?"

"Yes…" replied Elizabeth as she now scanned the room for her belongings. She had forgotten about the sword, and that was the last thing on earth she wanted to loose.

"I put it in the closet dear, although I can't lie, Edward and Joe handled it a bit."

"That sword means a lot to me," snapped Elizabeth, trying not to offend but make a point.

"Oh, I'm sorry dear, I'll give it to you right after we ear here."

"No need to apologize," replied Elizabeth. The rest of breakfast was quiet, but Elizabeth was happy it was so, she didn't like having to answer so many questions.

Later that day Pat took Elizabeth down to her small cart on the pier. There she had rings, earrings, and hair piece all made of mother of pearls, and bits of shells.

"How did you make all of these?"

"My mother used to make trinkets out of pearl, and I just worked with it a little more till I was able to make jewelry."

"There beautiful."

"Thank you, I just wish the misses on the hill would think so." Elizabeth looked up to the beautiful plantations on the hill. She remembered being one of those girls, and was glad she wasn't anymore.

"Would you like to learn?" interrupting Elizabeth's flashback,

"You would teach me?"

"Well like I said, I always wanted a daughter and Joe has no interest in learning about jewelry."

"I would love to!"

"Well all things beautiful start out with some dirty work," as Pat pulled out the basket of muscle shells from under the cart. She handed Elizabeth a dull knife,

"Start chippin away." The muscle shells were lined with a thin layer of mother of pearl, "This is going to take forever," Elizabeth thought to herself, patience was something she never had.

After a long night, it never felt so good to lay down. Although exhausted Will couldn't fall asleep, visions of the souls he lead last night kept running through his mind. He saw many of the people he had fought in battle, all but one.

"Beckett," Will thought aloud.

"Where is he, he has to be dead," Will thought aloud. Until he saw Beckett, he would fear for Elizabeth's safety.

"No one could have survived that." Will thought to himself,

"Good business…" what if Beckett had made a deal with Calypso in the locker…

"Nonsense," he must have just missed Beckett floating by amidst all the others. As Will closed his eyes his mind drifted to happier thoughts. All of a sudden he was back on the beach, walking up the shoreline to the clearing where he saw Elizabeth last. As he walked up to the clearing he saw her coat from Singapore laying on the rock.

"Right where I left you," Will smiled thinking to the circumstances that put the coat there. As he walked through and around the rocks, "Elizabeth…" but as Will stepped into the clearing she was no where to be found. Instead there was her sword buried all but the handle in the sand.

"Elizabeth!" Will yelled, as he sat up in bed, drenched in sweat.

"It was only a dream," he laid back down, still breathing heavily. He placed his hand on his chest, even though his heart was gone he felt like it was racing. What was Jones thinking, the heart maybe gone but it was the mind that liked to play games.