CHAPTER VII

"Damn pirates! Lay down your weapon!", one of the red coats yelled as he pointed his cutlass at Jack, who just wrinkled his nose as if he had smelled something really bad.

"And really bad eggs…", Jack mumbled as he raised his cutlass even higher. Eve and Will were looking from side to side at the two red coats standing in each their entrance… which would have been their escape route. Now they were trapped on the wall of the fortress… a bunch of people were standing below on the square, looking at the scene, and cheering and hollering. Jack sent them a shimmering smile… he loved an audience.

"Jack?!", Will said nervously as he looked from one red coat to another… very soon there would so many more of them. However the soldiers didn't have their pistols ready – they were to be captured alive again – in order for everyone to see an example be stated. Piracy was a deadly crime… and according to Beckett and Norrington the inhabitants of Port Royal better learn it. Or they would hang.

"What, Will?", Jack just said as he snapped his head to the side and stared at Will and Eve, who both were holding Thomas tight. Will frowned:

"Do something!", Will said and fumbled through his pockets for any kind of weapon – or just a rock, whatever hard would do. But his pockets had been emptied before he had been imprisoned along with Eve and Thomas. Jack smiled a skew smile as the two red coats started to advance on the four of them, clumped together on the middle of the wall.

"Ready for a drink?", Jack merely said and smiled at Eve and Will, winking at the young Thomas. Eve looked completely flabbergasted – how could he be talking about rum NOW… he WAS holding the half-empty rum bottle in his left hand and his cutlass in the other. But this wasn't something they could drink their way out of, Eve thought. Will just stared at Jack, utterly confused:

"Jack, this is not the time to…"

That was all he managed to say before a hard shove in the back sent both Will, Eve and Thomas flying off the wall, diving towards the crystal blue surface of the Caribbean sea on the North side of the wall. Eve let out a surprised shriek while Thomas was screaming in terror, as they fell faster and faster. Rocks in the water was already to be seen and they grew bigger and bigger in their field of vision. They would be extremely lucky to miss them. Jack might have sent them to their deaths. Will pressed his legs together and Eve did the same as they grabbed a hold of Thomas while in the air – and with a loud splash they broke the surface of the cool water.

For a moment everything stood still – a blue vision told Will, that Eve and Thomas had landed safely… in the light blue water Eve's reddish brown hair was raised like a crown above her head and her complexion changed from tanned to pale. For a few seconds the beauty of this mermaid like creature overwhelmed Will – and that was when he felt the pain. A splash sounded again as all three of them broke the surface again, gasping desperately for air – Eve had a good hold on Thomas, who couldn't swim, cradling him in her arms. Will emerged above the surface once more and gained eye contact with Eve. Immediately she could see that something was wrong.

"Will??", she said and swam closer to him dragging Thomas with her. Will suppressed a grimace of pain and his ears couldn't even hear Eve's shriek when she noticed the red water surrounding Will. With a gasp Eve grabbed a hold of Will's collar as he started to sink again – and she put his head on her chest along with Thomas' as she laid partly on her back in the water.

"Jack!!! Jack!!", Eve yelled as her glance travelled upwards – on the wall high above Jack was fully engaged in a sword fight with the two red coats. Eve bit her lip and gathered all of her lung capacity:

"JACK!!!", she screamed and she could blurrily see his dreadlocked head turn to look down on her. And with a powerful jump Jack was off the wall, headed for the ocean in a dreadful pace – his cutlass and rum bottle still in his hands. With a loud splash he landed about seven yards from Eve, Will and Thomas…. For five terrifying seconds Eve waited for him to emerge from the water… time passed… hours seemed to pass… but THERE he came, Jack Sparrow – the ruler of the Caribbean sea. His head popped up through the silent surface of the emerald water, his red bandana soaked along with his dark brown dreadlocks. A goofy smile was on his face as he put the rum bottle to his lips and swallowed – with a cough he spat it back out and stared angrily at the bottle:

"Bloody… Salty…. Stupid… Water…!!", he grimaced and threw the bottle away.

"Jack!", Eve yelled and she finally managed to gain eye contact with the captain, who looked rather irritated:

"What is it?", Jack mumbled as he stared longingly at the place in the water where the bottle had landed. Eve tried hard to swim closer to Captain Sparrow, but she was almost sinking with all that weight on her chest:

"Will is hurt….!!! And Thomas can't swim! You've doomed us all!", Eve hissed as she pushed Thomas into Jack's arms. He unwillingly accepted the small boy, who was coughing up salt water. Jack then looked pretty offended:

"Doomed ye? Then what is THAT?", Jack asked and pointed clumsily to the west…. Eve followed the invisible line of his index finger and… a big ship with black, ragged sails was no more than one hundred yards from them.

A smile appeared on Eve's now pale face:

"Help me – Will has passed out!", she said and Jack grabbed a hold of one of Will's arms as they swam towards the bow of the Black Pearl. Jack noticed the red trail in the water after Will… and he felt more than just guilty. He had aimed the best he could… with a snort Jack concentrated on reaching the ship – and they soon did. Ropes were immediately thrown down and several crew members crawled down and helped getting everyone aboard. With a splash Eve landed on the deck, so did Thomas and Jack – and then Will was carefully carried over the railing and placed on the deck as well. Quickly a small pool of dark red blood spread from Will's left leg…

"Oh my god!", Eve burst out as she saw the small tip of bone sticking out through Will's leather trousers.

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