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Chapter Three:

The Medallion Calls

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Sarah glanced idly around the deck. After a tribe of midgets had entered Jack's highly questionable narrative, she had fazed herself out, letting the rocking of the ship lull her into a dreamy state of reflection.

Time travel…It sounded so horribly cliché. It was the kind of thing that happened in old William Shatner movies, or tasteless romance novels. Her life was so utterly un-magical and colourless that she didn't even have dreams about this sort of thing anymore. Her imagination had dwindled and died along with her ambition.

And now, here, in a possible dream world, she could feel it coming back to her.

Jack was ridiculously surreal and unreal, but he fascinated her—from his eloquent hand movements to his drawling style of speech. He was going against all stereotypical pirate characters, who had peg legs, eye patches, and a fourth grade vocabulary. The only thing that rang true was the outfit—or maybe just the hat.

She was staring idly out to sea as her thoughts came and went, when something moved in the corner of her eye. She turned to look at the cliff, and the fort. Her mouth formed a wide 'o' of horror as she caught sight of the female figure plummeting down towards the rocky waters below.

"Look!" She cried, pointing, and they all rushed to the railing as the girl hit the water. There was a split second where they all gaped, and then Jack turned to the stockier soldier, who had introduced himself as Mullroy. He raised his eyebrows. "Will you be saving her, then?"

"I can't swim!" Mullroy said earnestly.

Jack groaned. "Pearl o' the king's navy you are." Removing his belt and coat, he shoved them, along with his hat, into Sarah's arms. "Do not lose these," he ordered gruffly, and then dived expertly over the side of the ship. Her stomach turned over as he disappeared beneath the surface.

There was a split second, where everything seemed to still, and then two huge ripples spread through the water and out to sea. Accompanying them was a sort of muffled boom that seemed to sound far below them.

The three companions left on the boat stared at each other. "What was that?" The other soldier, Murtogg, began to say, but was cut off as he reached out to save his hat. The wind had abruptly changed directions and sped up, making the ship's flag curl around itself. There was a chill in the air that hadn't been present before, and it seemed to linger over the port like a heavy cloud.

The wary, perplexed concentration that had briefly taken over Sarah and the soldiers was pierced by a wordless grunt from the water. Jack was climbing up the side of the ship, a young woman with long sand-coloured hair slung over her shoulder. She was lacking the gown she had been wearing when she fell.

"Got her," Murtogg said, pulling her over the railing and onto the deck. Jack quickly followed, dripping seawater, as they all leaned over the unidentified woman anxiously. "Not breathing," Murtogg observed worriedly.

"Move!" Jack shoved him aside, and used his shiv to cut straight through the laces of the girl's corset. As he shoved it into Murtogg's hands, her eyes fluttered open and she turned to her side, coughing up water.

"Never would've thought of that," Mullroy said admiringly.

"Clearly you've never been to Singapore," Jack remarked, as water dripped from his nose.

Sarah almost reflexively appraised the girl's features—her pout made her lips constantly puckered and full, but they suited her high slanted jaw line. Her eyes were a deep brown colour, and gave away her emotions even if her countenance was still. Now, as they flickered over the people surrounding her, they reflected fear and suspicion.

"Where did you get that?" Jack's quiet, wondering tone broke the silence, and Sarah leaned over to see what he was holding. It appeared to be a gold medallion, with—is that a skull?

Suddenly, a sword appeared right under Jack's nose, and all four of them started. "On your feet." At least ten redcoats were surrounding them, bayonets pointed. The man who was obviously in command, and also the one with his sword pointed at Jack, looked at them all in cold fury.

"Elizabeth!" The girl Elizabeth scrambled to her feet and moved to the open arms of an older, wealthy-looking gentleman, who wrapped his coat around her. "Are you alright?"

"Yes," she replied quickly in a refined accent, her gaze still locked on Jack. "Yes, I'm fine."

The older man, who Sarah assumed was her father and obviously a man of some importance, looked at Jack in contempt. "Shoot him," he ordered.

"Father!" Elizabeth cut in angrily, and then turned to the man in command. "Commodore," she said in lighter tones. "Do you really intend to kill my rescuer?"

Sarah expelled a breath she didn't know she had been holding. She also realized this must be the man who had just been promoted from Captain, in Fort Charles.

Reluctantly, the Commodore lowered his sword. He was younger than his white wig suggested; Sarah could tell. "I believe thanks are in order." He held out his hand to Jack, who, after staring at it cautiously, took it in his own.

Busted, Sarah thought, wincing, as the Commodore grabbed Jack's wrist and pulled up the pirate's sleeve. A scar in the shape of a 'P' was branded on the skin revealed.

"Had a brush with the East India Trading company, did we, pirate?" The Commodore inquired, looking smug.

"Hang him!" Elizabeth's father amended his previous order in heated tones, and Sarah's insides plummeted.

"Keep your guns on him, men. Gillette, fetch some irons," the Commodore ordered another soldier, who marched off obediently. Meanwhile, Jack's sleeve was pulled up further to reveal a tattoo of a sparrow flying over the horizon. "Well, well," the Commodore said mockingly. "Jack Sparrow, isn't it?"

"Captain Jack Sparrow, if you please sir."

"Well, I don't see your ship, captain."

"I'm in the market," Jack replied with a forced smile. "As it were."

"He said they'd come to commandeer one," Murtogg piped up.

"They?" The Commodore asked.

"She's his accomplice!" The soldier gestured to Sarah, and she paled, as the Commodore looked her up and down.

"A female pirate," the man said, sounding less officious and more…baffled. "Well, let's see. Your wrists, if you would be so kind, miss."

Sarah, acutely aware of everyone's eyes on her, especially Elizabeth's wide prying stare, pulled up her sleeves to reveal unblemished skin. Oddly enough, she felt relieved, as though she hadn't been sure a 'P' wouldn't be there after all.

"Maybe she wasn't caught like him, sir," Murtogg said, "but they're friends! He told us all about it!"

Norrington sighed. "Are you this man's accomplice, miss?"

"No! I mean, no, no sir," she answered desperately, and she could see him hesitate.

"I'm afraid I'll have to take the word of my men. You will be tried fairly. Another set of irons!"

Sarah was shooting daggers at Jack with her eyes, her fear pushed to the back burner. He had gotten her into this mess with his stupid ploys; he could've gotten her out but he chose to simply raise his eyebrows like some…idiot.

The Commodore took Jack's affects from her, and while she stood there fuming, he examined them. "No additional shot, nor powder," he observed, picking up the pirate's pistol. "A compass that doesn't point north—" He closed said accoutrement, then unsheathed Jack's sword only a few inches. After a beat, he looked up, smiling. "And I half expected it to be made of wood." The surrounding officers chuckled pompously as Jack gave another strained smile. "You are without a doubt the worst pirate I have ever heard of."

Jack held up his index fingers, indicating a pause. "But you have heard of me." This time the grin was genuine.

The smile slipping off his face, the Commodore took Jack by the wrist and pulled him over to where Gillette stood with two sets of shackles. Sarah was pulled up by another officer and watched in horror as Jack's wrists were chained together, waiting her turn with no lack of nausea.

"Commodore, I really must protest," Elizabeth said forcefully, standing between the Commodore and Jack. "Pirate or not, this man saved my life."

"One good deed is not enough to redeem a man from a lifetime of wickedness," the Commodore persisted intensely.

"Though it seems enough to condemn him," Sarah commented cynically under her breath, and Jack cast her an unreadable look.

The Commodore glanced over at her. "Indeed," he commented in exasperation.

"Finally," Jack muttered, as the shackles locked with a click, and with a catlike quickness, flung his arms around Sarah's shoulders, pulling the chain tight around her neck. A whole new kind of fear flooded her as the present company surged forward and then slowed as they realized what exactly had happened. All the soldiers hurriedly aimed their guns.

"No, don't shoot!" Elizabeth cried, eyeing Sarah in alarm.

"Elizabeth," her father said exasperatedly. "She's a pirate; it's no matter."

"And if I lied?" Jack inquired in a ragged tone. "If she's an innocent young woman you're just going to let me shoot, Governor?" He gave the man a penetrating look, and no one shot. "I knew you'd warm up to me," the pirate said fiercely. "Commodore Norrington, my effects please. And my hat!" Again, Norrington hesitated. "Commodore!"

While the man turned away to get Jack's 'effects', the pirate turned his attention to her. "Sarah—it is Sarah, isn't it?"

She nodded stiffly, in between rage and fear.

Jack moved his mouth as close as he could to her ear, and whispered so quietly she wondered if she'd imagined it. "Play along, love." Then, in a louder voice, "If you'd be so kind; come, come, dear, we don't have all day."

She awkwardly gripped the pirate's belongings as the Commodore dropped them into her outstretched arms. Jack spun her around by the shoulders, his pistol still aimed at her head. As she faced him, he grinned devilishly. "Now if you'd be very kind."

Though she was now reasonably sure he wouldn't fire, the cold metal brushing her scalp kept her on edge. She squashed his hat on his head, and fumbled with his belt, heart racing. All the while his hot breath was floating down her neck.

"Easy on the goods, love," he grunted, as she pulled the buckle tight. At his remark, she brought her head up, looking straight into his eyes.

"You're despicable." She half meant it.

"Sticks and stones, love," he brushed her comment off. "I saved her life, you saved mine—circle of life, like." Not waiting for her reply, he turned her back around. "Ladies, gentlemen," he announced, slowly backing up. "You will always remember this as the day that you almost caught…Captain Jack Sparrow!"

With a shove, Sarah fell forwards away from him and into the arms of the Commodore.

"Now will you shoot him!" She heard the Governor cry.

"Open fire!" The soldiers' bayonets fired with a crack. Gunpowder sizzled in the air, and she heard something fall through the wharf and into the water. She scrambled away from the splintered planks, struggling to her feet. Jack was above their heads, swinging from a ship line. For a moment he seemed out of control, and then he landed on the top beam of a giant pulley. Bullets whizzing all around him, he tossed his manacle chains over a line leading to the ground, and slid along it down the length of the wharf.

Sarah found herself laughing in disbelief as he dashed away, disappearing into the streets.

"On his heals," Norrington ordered gravely. "Mr. Sparrow has a dawn appointment with the gallows—I would hate for him to miss it." He then turned to Sarah, and her smile quickly faded.

"As for you, Miss—"

"Burke," Sarah stammered.

"Miss Burke; I am placing you under arrest until we have further proof that you were not, in fact, involved in Mr. Sparrow's machinations. Gillette, take her away."

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