The next morning, Gibbs had rounded up all the sailors he could find and lined them up for Jack to inspect. "Feast your eyes, Captain. All of them, faithful hands before the mast, every man worth his salt. And crazy to boot."

"This is your able-bodied crew?" Will sounded skeptical. Jack stopped pacing to address one man in particular, an older man with a bandanna on his head and a blue and yellow parrot on his shoulder. "You, sailor!"

"Cotton, sir," said Mr. Gibbs.

"Mr. Cotton? Do you have the courage and fortitude to follow orders and stay true in the face of danger and almost certain death?" Jack demanded. "Mr. Cotton? Answer, man!"

"He's a mute, sir. Poor devil had his tongue cut out, so he trained the parrot to talk for him. No one's yet figured how," said Mr. Gibbs.

Jack considered this. "Mr. Cotton's...parrot. Same question."

The parrot squawked. "Wind in the sails! Wind in the sails!"

"Mostly, we figure, that means 'yes,'" Mr. Gibbs explained.

"'Course it does," said Jack. To Will, he said, "Satisfied?"

"Well, you've proved they're mad."

"And what's the benefit for us?" someone demanded.

Jack went over to them and took off their hat, revealing an olive-skinned woman with shoulder-length, wavy dark hair. "Anamaria." She slapped him. What was with him and getting slapped?

"I suppose you didn't deserve that one, either," said Will.

"No, that one I deserved," said Jack, wincing. Anamaria nodded with a sarcastic smile, as if to say, No shit.

"You stole...my...boat!" she shouted.

"Actually-" She slapped him again. "Borrowed. Borrowed without permission. But with every intention of bringing it back to you."

"But you didn't!"

"You'll get another one."

"I will," said Anamaria, pointing a finger at him threateningly.

"A better one," said Will.

"A better one!" Jack echoed, smiling at her in a very sucking-up kind of way.

"That one."

"What one? That one!? Aye, that one," said Jack, going through three different emotions in the same amount of seconds. "What say you?"

Anamaria thought about it and shouted, "Aye!" The rest of the crew joined in. "Aye!"

"Anchors aweigh," said Cotton's parrot.

The new crew made to board the Interceptor. Anamaria jammed her hat back on her head, glared at Jack, and sped after them.

"No, no, no, no, no, it's frightful bad luck to bring a woman aboard, sir. One is bad enough," Mr. Gibbs said, glancing at me, "but two-"

"It'd be far worse not to have them," said Jack.

At that moment, I spotted Anamaria walking up ahead of everyone else and ran to catch up with her. They hadn't really shown much of Anamaria in the movies, so I wanted to try and get to know her. "Hey, you. You're cool."

She raised an eyebrow. "Thank you. I think."

"Sorry, forgot my manners. Bailey Brown," I introduced myself, extending my shook it.

"Anamaria."

"That was really something back there," I told her as we walked. "I've never seen anyone else scare Jack so badly."

She grinned. "Clearly you haven't known him long enough. It's not really that hard."

"Dead men tell no tales," Cotton's parrot croaked.

"Lovely singing, mate," I told it.

Everyone was looking, horrified, at the wrecks strewn all throughout the water. "Puts a chill in the bones, how many honest sailors have been claimed by this passage." Gibbs gave me a wary look, as if just by being here I'd suddenly doom them all.

"Kindly stop looking at me like that, Mr. Gibbs," I told him. "If anybody gives us bad luck, it'll be you, with all your talk about it."

"How is it that Jack came by that compass?" Will asked.

"Not a lot's known about Jack Sparrow before he showed up in Tortuga with a mind to go after the treasure of Isla de Muerta. That was before I met him, before he was Captain of the Black Pearl."

"What?" said Will. "He failed to mention that."

"Well, he plays things closer to the vest now. And a hard learned lesson it was," said Gibbs. I stared at my feet. I didn't know how many times I'd heard this, what with all the times I'd watched the movies, but I'd never felt quite as bad for Jack as I did now. "See, three days out on the venture, the first mate comes to him and says everything's an equal share. That should mean the location of the treasure, too, so Jack gives up the bearings. That night there was a mutiny. They marooned Jack on an island and left him to die, but not before he'd gone mad with the heat."

"Ah," said Will. "So that's the reason for all the-" He imitated Jack's swaggering demeanor. I giggled.

"Reason's got nothing to do with it. Now, Will, when a man is marooned, he is given a pistol with a single shot-one shot."

"Yes, that's what single means, isn't it?" I said. Gibbs glared at me, as if daring me to interrupt his story again.

"Well, it won't do much hunting or to be rescued," he continued. "But after three weeks of a starvin' belly and thirst, that pistol will start to look real friendly. But Jack-he escaped the island, and he still has that one shot. Ah, but he won't use it, though, save for one man. His mutinous first mate."

"Barbossa," Will guessed.

"Aye."

"How did Jack get off the island?"

"He's Jack, that's how," I piped up again.

"I'll tell ye," said Gibbs, ignoring me. "He waded out into the shallows and there he waited three days and three nights, 'til all manner of sea creatures came and acclimated to his presence. And on the fourth morning-"

"Sea turtles!" I blurted. Gibbs glared at me again. Whoops. "What? It's true. He roped a couple of 'em together, made a raft."

"He made a raft out of a couple of sea turtles?" Will repeated dubiously. "What did he use for rope?"

"Human hair," said Jack, appearing almost from nowhere. By now, Mr. Gibbs looked quite peeved at having his story hijacked. "From my back."

I grimaced. "You must have one hairy back."

"You have no idea," said Jack. Then he yelled to the rest of the crew. "Let go of the anchor!"

"Let go of the anchor!" they yelled back, doing so.

"Young Mr. Turner and I are to go ashore," said Jack to Gibbs.

"Captain! What if the worst is to happen?"

"Keep to the code."

"Aye, the code."

"What about me?" I said.

"What about you?" said Jack.

"I'm coming, aren't I?"

"It's going to be dangerous. You don't have a sword. Do you even know how to use a sword?"

"I promised I'd come," I insisted. "I don't care that it's dangerous. I'm not a delicate flower!"

"I didn't say you were," Jack said. "All right. If you insist."

The little row boat was hoisted up and lowered just enough so that we could get in. Jack made to climb in first, then thought better of it and stood aside to let me go first. "After you," he said politely. I beamed at him and climbed in. Will tried to climb in next, but Jack pushed past him. Ha ha.

For quite some time we all sat in silence. I wondered what they were thinking about. It'd be awfully funny if each of us were wondering what the others were being quiet, but something told me that wasn't the case. Will, I knew, had to be thinking about Elizabeth. Jack, on the other hand, was a mystery, and he probably made it that way on purpose.

"What code is Gibbs to keep if the worst should happen?" said Will finally.

"Pirate's Code," said Jack.

"Any man that falls behind is left behind," I added. "Or woman, as the case may be."

"No heroes among thieves, eh?"

"You know, for having such a bleak outlook on pirates, you're well on your way to become one," said Jack. "Sprung a man and woman from jail, commandeered a ship of the Fleet, sailed with a buccaneer crew out of Tortuga-and you're completely obsessed with treasure."

"That's not true. I am not obsessed with treasure."

"Denial," I said mock-accusingly, snickering.

"I'm not in denial."

"That's what all people in denial say."

"Not all treasure is silver and gold, mate," Jack told boat slid to a halt.

"Gentlemen, the time has come! Our salvation is nigh!" Barbossa yelled to the crowd of pirates around him. "Our torment is near at end!"

"Elizabeth," Will whispered.

"You'll have her back soon," I assured him.

"For ten years we've been tested and tried, and each man jack of you here has proved his mettle a hundred times over and a hundred times again!"

Barbossa's crew cheered. "Suffered, I have," Ragetti wailed.

"Punished, we were," Barbossa continued. "The lot of us-disproportionate to our crimes! Here it is." He threw the lid off the chest. "The cursed treasure of Cortes himself. Every last piece that went astray, we have returned, save for this." He pointed to the medallion around Elizabeth's neck.

Will started scrambling up. "Jack!"

Jack grabbed him and pulled him down. "Not yet. We wait for the opportune moment."

"When's that?" Will asked Jack. "When it's of greatest profit to you?"

"May I ask you something?" said Jack. "Have I ever given you reason not to trust me?"

"Um, not meaning to be unhelpful here, but we pretty much just waltzed into the smithy where he worked and said, 'Hey, we're pirates,' so yeah, I think you may have," I said. Jack gave me a look like he wanted to slap his hand over my mouth again.

"Do us a favor?" he said to Will. "I know it's difficult for you, but please stay here and try not to do anything stupid."

Barbossa kept on talking to his crew. Will picked up an oar and whacked Jack with it. I gasped. This was a thing that happened? Why was this a thing that happened? Will was supposed to be a good guy. "Sorry, Jack," said Will. "I'm not going to be your leverage."

I knelt beside Jack. Damn it, why couldn't I remember what happened in this part? "Come on, wake up, please don't leave me alone with all these creepy undead guys!" I whispered frantically.

After a moment, Jack slowly opened his eyes. He furrowed his brow, looking confused. "Bailey? What's happened?"

"Will hit you with the oar! Gosh, I'm glad you're okay. You are okay, right?"

"Takes a lot more than a blow to the head to take out Captain Jack Sparrow, love. Although I must say, it's touching that you care so much," he said wryly. We both managed to stand up just in time for Ragetti to notice us there.

"You!" he said to Jack.

"You're supposed to be dead!" said Pintel.

"Am I not?" said Jack, looking down at himself. "Oh." Everyone pulled out their pistols and pointed them at us. "Palulay? Palu-li-la-la-lu-lu, palili? Parsnip, paisley, par-partner, partner?"

"Parley," I whispered, poking him."Parley! That's the one. Parley! Parley!"

"Parley? Down to the depths whatever man that thought up parley!" Pintel fumed.

"That would be the French," said Jack.

"How in blazes did you get off that island?" Barbossa said.

"When you marooned me on that godforsaken spit of land, you forgot one very important thing, mate. I'm Captain Jack Sparrow."

"Ah, well. I won't be making that mistake again. Gents, you all know Captain Jack Sparrow and-er-"

"Bailey Brown," I filled in.

"And Bailey Brown," Barbossa repeated.

"I don't believe we know her," said Ragetti.

"We do," said the one that isn't Twigg, indicating himself and Twigg.

"Good enough," said Barbossa. "Kill 'em both."

"The girl's blood didn't work, did it?"

"Hold your fire!" Barbossa ordered. "You know whose blood we need?"

"We know whose blood you need."

"So you expect to leave me standing on some beach with nothing but a name and your word it's the one I need and watch you sail away in my ship?"

"No," said Jack. "I expect to leave you standing on some beach with absolutely no name at all, watching me sail away on my ship and then Bailey will shout the name back to you-got a set o' lungs on her, that one does." He winked at me. "Savvy?"

"I think that sounds like an understandable request, given the circumstances," I said.

"But that still leaves us with the problem of me standing on some beach with naught but a name and your word it's the one I need," said Barbossa.

"Of the two of us, I'm the only one who haven't committed mutiny; therefore my word is the word we'll be trusting. Although I suppose I should be thanking you because, in fact, if you hadn't betrayed me and left me to die, I would have had an equal share in the curse, same as you." Jack picked up one of Barbossa's apples and bit into it, then offered one to Barbossa. God, he was cool. "Funny ol' world, innit?"

One of Barbossa's crew rushed in. "Captain, we're coming up on the Interceptor." Barbossa followed him up to the deck. Jack ran after him. I followed.

"I'm having a thought here, Barbossa. What say we run up a flag of truce? I scurry over to the Interceptor and I negotiate the return of your medallion, eh? What say you to that?"

"Now that, you see, Jack, that's exactly the attitude that lost you the Pearl. People are easy to search when they're dead." To his crewmember, he said, "Lock him in the brig."

The guy dragged Jack away. I made to follow him when I felt Barbossa's hand clamp down on my shoulder. "Hold on, missy. I didn't say nothing 'bout you goin' down to the brig, now, did I?"

Slowly, I turned around. "You...want me to stay here. With you," I said flatly. He merely gave me a creepy, lecherous smile. Ugh. As annoying as Jack's never-ending stream of advances could be sometimes, he was infinitely preferable to an old undead guy like Barbossa. I found myself missing smelly ol' Jack. "Why would that be?" The smile merely grew wider and creepier. My suspicions were confirmed. Don't be too harsh, said a little voice in my brain. He's been at sea for months. He's cursed with insatiable lust. He'd probably screw anything that walked if it would let him."Look, uh, Barbie," I said, coming up with the nickname on the spot, "I don't mean to offend you or anything, but...um...no. Nope. Not gonna happen."

Instantly, Barbossa's smile turned into a scowl. "Lock her in the brig, too," he said to one of his crewmen.