At the End of the Day
Chapter Seven
X
The thunderous booming of cannons and guns echoed throughout the afternoon. The Lady Maribel fought valiantly, but was no match for the greatest legend of the Caribbean. Indeed, The Black Pearl was faster and sturdier than the former merchant vessel.
Captain Bernardo Dominiquez chewed on the inside of his lip in thought while his crew scurried around him, some injured, others carrying cannonballs and guns. The Pearl was gaining quickly on them, and he had no choice but to retreat. The frequent screams and cries from the women in the brig carried onto the deck and seemed to make the captain and crew even more frantic.
Suddenly, a cannon sent by the looming black ship exploded the railing merely feet from him and he careened over to the floor. Wood chips and small bits of metal dug into the flesh that was exposed, and he growled in anger and pain as a particularly thick piece of metal wedged itself deep into the skin of his neck. He sat upon his knees and grunted as he held his hands up to the affliction, and with precise fingers, he pulled the long wedge out, feeling blood immediately gush out of the wound. Tearing off his ornate scarf, he held it to the cut tightly and stood unsteadily, glancing wildly around at his crew.
"Retreat!" He yelled hoarsely, and he hated himself for it. He was a pirate captain, and a captain never retreated from a battle. Several of his crewmembers stopped short and stared at him incredulously.
"Sir?" The first mate questioned, and Dominiquez snarled at him.
"I said retreat, or I'll toss you overboard and leave you to be dealt with by them!" He nodded back to the Pearl and this seemed to spur the crew to begin moving, and they left the guns to prepare the sails and rigging for a quick getaway.
Reaching to his belt, Captain Bernardo extracted a spyglass and peered through to better see The Black Pearl and it's legendary Jack Sparrow. The ship was still firing upon them, but they were moving away quickly now.
Upon realizing the merchant vessel was trying to escape, though, Sparrow's ship soon began moving after him, and Dominiquez cursed in fear.
X
The Black Pearl overtook the smaller merchant vessel easily and quickly. The Lady Maribel was completely and utterly disabled by the time the crew of the pirate ship boarded the illegal slave trade vessel. Jack and Will were the first to board the deck, flocked by several of the strongest crew members, all of them heavily armed and ready to fire if provoked.
Jack squinted and looked around, spotting the Captain easily. He was flamboyantly dressed in Spanish garb, and was bleeding heavily through a scarf at his neck.
The prisoners below deck were still screaming and crying, and William was immediately alerted to the sounds. With a nod of Jack's head, he and a group of others hurried down the steps.
Jack looked to the other captain and smiled charmingly.
"Bad luck, mate," he said, and Dominiquez spat at his feet.
Sparrow frowned and motioned to his crew behind him, who all cocked and raised their guns, aiming to the now defenseless crew of the Lady Maribel.
"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't give the signal right now," Jack challenged, and Captain Bernardo seemed at a lost for a moment. He began to speak, but was interrupted by William bursting back up on deck, livid. A huddled group of girls followed. In a swift motion, William had his pistol out of his belt, cocked and aimed at Dominiquez.
"Where is she?" He bellowed, the vein in his temple throbbing as he kept himself in check and tried not to pummel this man into the ground.
Bernardo raised his brows innocently.
"Whom are you referring to?" He asked mildly.
"Elizabeth Turner!" Will yelled back angrily, his voice masking the deep fear he held.
Captain Dominiquez placed a finger to his chin in mock thought.
"Ah, yes, I believe I know who you speak of. She was a pretty girl, getting quite large around the middle?"
Will dropped his pistol as the air left his lungs quickly.
"Yes," he breathed. "Where is she?" His voice was quiet now, his anger gone and replaced by a fearful hope.
Bernardo Dominiquez grinned evilly, looking now at Jack Sparrow.
"I'll give you a reason not to pull the trigger, Sparrow. You see, I am the only one here who knows exactly where half of the 'cargo' has gone, and where they are headed at this very moment."
-x-x-x-
The Athena docked at the crude, makeshift harbor at midday and the sun was unbearably hot and beat down upon Elizabeth's back as she and the rest of her companions climbed off of the ship. She knew that as prisoners, they were being closely watched, but once her feet touched the sandy shore, Elizabeth looked around hopefully for a chance of escape.
Johnny Coxon took note of this and chuckled.
"Don't think you'll be able to run away from me, Miss. There's not but miles of jungle and swamp around here." He grinned widely at her, showing several yellowing teeth.
Elizabeth glared in disgust and walked foreword, following the crew who seemed to be headed for the thickest, darkest patch of trees. She was surprised, however, that upon walking through approximately ten yards of heavy thicket and underbrush, they stumbled upon a small clearing and a wide river. Tied to the bank were several long boats of a style that Elizabeth had never seen before. On the side of each were foreign, exotic markings, and had her situation not been so horrific, she would have liked to examine them.
She had no time to pause and look around, for she was shoved roughly ahead and she stumbled foreword, her bare feet squishing in the soggy riverbed. Captain Coxon began to address the captives, though, and Elizabeth stopped to listen to him.
"I'm afraid that this is the last part of our journey, and there are several precautions that we must take. I'm terribly sorry that you will not be able to share this experience with me and my crew fully, but this is to insure that you will not know the route to escape once we reach the village." He bowed his head, and Elizabeth gave a startled cry as she felt her arms yanked behind her body and a cloth pressed to her mouth.
Elizabeth knew what was happening now, as it had happened to her before. The woman struggled with all her might and refused to breathe in until she was dizzy. When she could no longer hold her breath, she unwillingly sucked in air through the fabric, inhaling the acidic fumes of the vile substance. Coughing and sputtering, her knees buckled, and out of the corner of her eye, Elizabeth could see Anamaria fighting viciously not to be held down. She felt her heart beat slowly, and all went black.
-x-x-x-
Captain Bernardo Dominiquez spit once more, emitting a mixture of blood and saliva from his mouth. He was on his knees on the deck of The Black Pearl, his hands bound behind his back, and William Turner was viciously knocking him across the face as Jack Sparrow interrogated him.
"Last chance, mate. Tell me where Coxon's headed." Jack folded his arms at his chest and walked carelessly around the other captain in circles. When Bernardo refused to speak, Will delivered another punch, and the captain spit a tooth. William looked up at Jack, and Jack nodded. Then, with a sigh, he retrieved his pistol, causing Dominiquez to widen his eyes.
"Wait! No, do not kill me! I will tell you!" He pleaded. Jack smirked in satisfaction.
"Enlighten us," he said with a flourish of his hands and stood back.
Captain Bernardo took a breath before he began to speak.
"They're headed to the Straight; just as we were. He took half of my cargo with him, your wife among them." He nodded to Will as he said this.
Jack smiled in gratitude.
"Well, thanks very much. That wasn't so hard, now was it?" The Lady Maribel's captain interrupted him, then.
"You must take me with you!" He cried desperately, and Jack rolled his eyes.
"Now why would I do something as stupid as that?" Jack asked, incredulous.
Bernardo searched wildly for a reason. He wanted to live. He needed to live. Perhaps if he could get them to allow him to survive, he would be able to do away with them before they reached the village. Johnny Coxon would reward him greatly for that.
"Because… Because you need me to get into the island!" He yelled desperately. "There are guards posted everywhere, most out of sight. You'd be dead before you get through the gates!"
Jack gave a frustrated grunt and turned away.
"Why can't anything be bloody easy?" He yelled before turning viciously on the Spanish captain. "You'd best not be lying to me, mate," he snarled, his face inches away from the trembling Bernardo.
Dominiquez shook his head frantically, and Jack pulled away. Then with a look to Will, he motioned to their prisoner.
"What do you think? Should we keep 'im?" He asked desperately.
Will rubbed the back of his neck in thought.
"We don't have a choice, Jack," he said after a few moments. "If what he says is correct, then we need him."
Jack looked down in disgust at Dominiquez.
"Fine," he growled, and Bernardo's apparent happiness at his choice seemed to anger him more.
"Will…go and show him the same courtesy that he has bestowed upon those poor ladies," he said quietly, and Will smirked.
"Aye, aye, Captain," Will replied mockingly, with a look of anger and disgust to the now fearful Spanish man.
Will grabbed Bernardo roughly by the neck of his shirt, and Bernardo grunted as the wound on his neck was irritated. The blacksmith quite nearly dragged the captain down below to the brigs, where he roughly shoved him into a cell.
"I hope you'll find this accommodating, Captain," he sneered before locking the door and disappearing up the stairs to the deck.
When he returned to the deck, he found Jack peering out of his spyglass to the horizon. The rest of their crew had been completely disabling the Lady Maribel and were preparing to burn it, along with the crew. Will did not believe in partaking in such things, so he approached the Captain.
"What are you looking for?" He asked quietly, and Jack handed him the spyglass.
"Look. Our friend, Norrington has just joined us," he pointed out, and once Will adjusted the spyglass, he too could see the approaching Navy ships.
Will smiled softly and looked over to the huddled mass of women on the deck. He could easily pick out Emily, and he grinned, knowing her nightmare would soon be over.
-x-x-x-
"Seriously mate, I'm getting so used to this, I'll be sad once you're out for my arse again when this whole thing is over," Jack remarked with a cheeky grin as the Commodore stepped onto his deck.
James chose to ignore this and shook Will's hand instead.
"What's happened?" He asked, taking note of the burning ship, and more importantly, of the group of women. With hopeful eyes, he looked to William.
"We caught up with them," Will said softly. "Only to find that half the women were transported through another ship. We're not finished with our journey yet, but we have been able to save a few."
James dared to hope.
"Is she? Is Emily…?" He searched Will's face, but the blacksmith only smiled. He needed not to answer, for Norrington had spotted his wife, and she him.
With tears in their eyes, but a smile on their lips, the two quickly found the solace of each other's arms, and James was showering her face with light kisses.
He held her to him tightly, mumbling nonsense as Emily cried into his shoulder. Will watched the two with a sad smile. He was elated for the two of them without a doubt, but the selfish part of him wished that it were he and Elizabeth in that situation instead.
James pulled away, his eyes brimming with tears.
"Thank you," he said softly, his voice strained. "You have no idea how much this means to me."
Jack nodded respectfully and Will smiled.
Norrington approached them both, Emily still in his arms.
"I will try my damndest to help you two as you have helped me. I will not rest until Elizabeth and Anamaria are safe with us."
xxxxxxx
Author's Note: You guys can go ahead and stab me all you want for making you wait so long for an update.