The Break In

Chapter 4

Jack was in no big hurry as they sailed away from Port Royal. This was partially because he felt it would take Commodore Norrington time to find his map had been stolen, and start the hunt for it. He also figured it would take some time for said Commodore to figure out just who had stolen the item of value. His assessment of the situation was partially influenced by the copious amounts of rum that had been introduced to his bodily system in the past day or so. These assumptions were just a bit incorrect.

So although they were not dawdling, they were not sailing to the full potential The Black Pearl was capable of. Anyone care to say Advantage Norrington here?

Commodore Norrington on the other hand, was pushing his ship for every bit of speed he could get. Anyone care to say Disadvantage Sparrow here?

Will came on deck after sleeping off most of his hangover, which gratefully had subsided to just a headache and a slightly nauseated stomach. When he came on deck he expected to get off the ship and return to his home. To his great surprise there was no land in sight….anywhere! Spying Jack up by the wheel, he wasted no time in approaching. Before he had even made it to Jack's position, he was shouting. "Where are we, and why are we sailing?"

Jack turning to look at the sudden appearance of Will with surprise, and then amusement.

"Now William," Jack said in a patronizing tone, " I know there are more than swords and knives and blacksmithy stuff in that head of yours. We are on a ship, and what do ships do? They sail. And what better place to sail a ship but on the water." Said with a movement of his hands encompassing the ship and the water. "So the answers to your questions are, we are doing what ships do in the proper place for them to be doing it." Finishing with a flourish of his hands, and turning back to the wheel.

This in no way satisfied Will. Stomping up next to Jack he said, "You know what I mean! Why are we not in Port Royal?"

"Port Royal can be such a stuffy place sometimes don't you think?" Jack replied waving his hands around in a dismissive manner.

"Jack tell me what we are doing!" Will said in a "now's not the time to be flippant with me" tone.

Jack looked at Will for a moment thinking, and then making some kind of decision said. "Mr. Cotton you have the wheel." And taking Will by the arm headed for his cabin.

They entered the cabin and Jack motioned for Will to have a seat at the map table. Jack poured two glasses of rum and placed one in front of Will, who immediately shoved it away with a very disdainful look on his face and said, "No Thank You!"

"Suit yourself." Jack said and drank both of them. "Now William," watching Will's face very carefully as he said the next words. "You don't have any desire to…. Sail? On a ship? As a… oh shall we say… Captain? by any chance do you?"

Will looked at Jack with disbelief. "I don't even want to be on a ship, this ship or any other for that matter! And I surely don't want to be the Captain! I just want to feel some solid ground underneath my feet!"

Jack satisfied that Will was being truthful continued. "What do you know about Pizarro?"

"Who?" Will replied totally baffled.

Reaching over and thumping Will on the head with his fingers he said, "Come come Will, don't tell me at least some of that fine education Governor Swann paid good English money for didn't happen to fight its way into that intellectual jumble you call a mind!"

Grabbing Jack's arm to stop the thumping Will replied, "I know who Pizarro was! What I don't know is what he has to do with the situation I'm in now!"

"Ah, a fine point you have made young William, and one I'm about to enlighten you on." Jack said with a smile, disengaging his arm from Will's hand and sitting down at the table and pouring himself another rum.

"Now ever since I was a lad I have heard about Incan gold stolen by the Spanish. Its said Pizarro was in possession of much of this gold. That is until some of his more disreputable men relieved him of quite a bit of it and set off on their own. Rumors say these men set off with their twice stolen gold across Columbia headed for the coast on the northern edge of said country. The rumors go on to say these scoundrels made it almost all the way to their destination before being set upon unmercifully by the natives of the area and killed almost to a man." Jack paused here and poured himself another rum and offered Will some also. Will repeated his previous refusal. "The few men who survived the attack eventually made it back to civilization told a story of untold wealth buried somewhere in the area and a map that showed the spot. Now awhile back I happened to be in a position to take advantage of an opportunity presented to me. I was fortunate enough to come across said map, and having it in my possession was feeling very satisfied and joyful. A feeling that continued until I happened to have a little too much rum in a tavern and had said map wrongfully taken from me while I was unawares and totally unable to stop said map taking. It was only through a blind stroke of luck I found out Commander Norrington was in possession of my map." Jack finished.

Will looked astounded at Jack's tale. "That's what we were doing the other night? Stealing some worthless piece of paper from Commander Norrington? Putting ourselves….me in danger for rumors and some scrap of paper that probably tells the directions to absolutely nothing? Jack I demand you return me to Port Royal immediately. I will not be part in any of your wild goose chases for treasure that doesn't even exist!"

"Ah William, as much as I would like to honor your request, I'm afraid I must decline. You are a part of my wild goose chase as you so unkindly put it. I need your bravery, and your skill with a sword in case any of the descendents of those murderous natives are still lurking about."

"Jack I won't lift a finger to help you fight for something that's not even there!"

"Aye you might not fight for treasure Will but if the afore mentioned natives see fit to set upon us, and it's a fight for your life I think you'll have a whole different outlook on it. Savvy?"

To Be Continued

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