A/N : Well! I sincerely apologize for being so slow on updating! Truth is, my muse ran away and I got caught up in other things (like, you know, going outside...) and by the time it came back I was too busy watching Deadliest Catch and Man vs. Wild...heh... Anyway, I hope I didn't put anyone off. The next chapter is already underway! Thank you for the reviews, everyone.
The boats had reached land, and Jack was taking large, deliberate steps through the wet marshy ground, holding the frayed, circular chart out in front of him as he walked. Barbossa, Ethel, Pintel, and Ragetti were behind him, mimicking his gait, and a group of five men from the other dinghy followed. Cicadas chirped, adding an eerie soundtrack that blended with their soggy footsteps.
"Twenty-one, twenty-two, twenty-three, twenty-four. . ." Jack stopped, one foot still raised in the air. He paused, then turned the chart upside-down, rotated a few pieces around, and turned an abrupt left. "This way," he said and began the same elongated paces as before. "Three, four, five. . ." Pivot. "One, two, three. . ." Suddenly Jack was yanked back by Barbossa. "Hey! What're you doing?"
"Don't move," Barbossa hissed. The entire party halted and Ethel looked from Barbossa to the vast swamplands as she reached to the gun Barbossa had given her. She didn't see anything, but just in case, she thought, some things you don't have to see to believe. She noticed Ragetti trembling and even the generally stoic Pintel looked unnerved.
"I'm tired of this!" cried one of the men from the other dinghy. "I ain't stayin' here waitin' ter get et!" And with that cry, he was off, bolting past Ethel, Barbossa, and finally Jack.
"No!" Barbossa shouted, but it was too late. The unfortunate sailor was swallowed, not unlike the other dinghy, in a single plop. Barbossa blew out through his nose and rolled his eyes, nodding as if he had expected as much.
"Quicksand," he said by way of explanation, and the swamp let out a burp of a bubble as though in reply. Sorry, mate, it seemed it say. Couldn't 'elp meself. "Any o' ye other dullards wish te follow our learned colleague, I suggest ye do it now and get out of our way," Barbossa said, irked. Nobody responded, and Barbossa turned to Jack. "Our friend Juan didn't account for the fact that landscapes change."
"I shall keep that in mind, mate," Jack said, and gingerly began walking around the mucky quicksand.
"We sure is lucky to have Barbossa," Ragetti said to Pintel. "Wivout him, it might have been us in that alligator's stomach."
"It was a crocodile," Pintel corrected him. "Get yer reptiles straight."
"I thought alligators were in the Americas and crocodiles were in Africa."
"Well you don't know nuffin'," said Pintel smugly as Ethel came up behind them.
"That was an alligator, chum," she said and clapped him on the shoulder. Pintel scratched his head, watching after her as she strolled by.
Barbossa was deep in thought when Ethel tapped him on the arm. "Thinkin' about the Pearl?" she asked. He looked over at her. Truth be told, he was thinking about something far more valuable, but he settled for nodding.
"Her decks need tarring," he said, stepping over a log.
"I thought yer giving her away," Ethel said. If Barbossa was caught off guard, he didn't show it.
"De Leon will only accept a ship if she be in top condition."
"Ah, the Pearl's just fine," Ethel said, but she wondered. If de Leon would only accept a ship in top form–and the Pearl decidedly was not– what would Barbossa do if de Leon refused his offer? And. . . "Will de Leon even accept a monkey? Small price to pay, innit?" No matter how much she loved the creature, it was just an animal. Small price to pay, indeed.
"It could be the sacrifice is only a small part of the process," Barbossa said pensively. "This land be treacherous, riddled with all sorts of obstacles. To weed out the unworthy." And you nearly ended up one. This, of course, was left unsaid, but the subtlety was not lost on Ethel.
"Why did you save me, then?" she asked. There was no bitterness in the question, only curiosity.
"One mistake does not unworthy make," Barbossa replied. "Ye be an important lass, Ethel, whether ye realize it or not." Ethel smiled with a hint of sarcasm.
"Yer Lord of the Caspian Sea, and I'm yer daughter," she said. "That counts fer something, I think." Barbossa snorted.
"Lord knows why t'were the Caspian Sea and not the Indian Ocean, all things considered."
"How'd you mean?"
"Means I ain't seen that o'er sized lake in nigh thirty years. But the illustrious Pirate King Teague Sparrow," Barbossa said the name with more than a little acidity, "didn't quite add that into his calculations."
"Oy, you leave my father out of this, Hector!" Jack called back.
"You mind yer own and keep walking, Sparrow!" Barbossa retorted.
