Chapter 10
For the next few days, Vikki had successfully managed to avoid Sam like the plague. She had also taken over Thomas' duty of scrubbing the deck whilst teaching the eight-year-old how to use a cutlass, and the dark haired boy then wanted to mop the deck the same way Vikki did. The brunette was quick to tell him that he would have to get better at his balance and footwork before he even attempted to put the brushes on his feet, which Nigel had overheard and began to laugh; giving his own warning about the boy ending up with a possible broken leg or sprained ankle.
The red haired pirate had taken over the crows nest for those few days and thought it was time that the brunette resumed her own duties instead of him. As he handed over the silver telescope, he said that he would teach Thomas how to fight.
Vikki sighed as Thomas and Nigel walked away. Successfully managing to hide from Sam meant not being in the crows nest as that was the perfect place where the blonde would find her alone. The sad thing about hiding from Sam meant that she didn't see Jack as often as she would have liked, but being on course for the Isla De Muerta meant that Vikki would be going into the cave with Jack and she was happy about spending some time with him in there.
Reluctantly, Vikki made her way towards the mast and as she began to climb the rigging up towards the crows nest, a deep voice caught her attention from behind. "Victoria would you come in here for a second please?" The brunette turned around to look at Teague standing outside the Captain's cabin, the door held open for the female pirate to enter.
She nodded her head before jumping down from the rigging and following the Captain inside, and she took the opportunity to look around. It was strangely tidy, with a large desk in the centre of the room upon a grand maroon and gold rug. A giant map with various objects and other pieces of parchments were scattered across the tabletop along with a few empty bottles of rum standing side by side in a neat line across the top of the map. On the port wall there was a large cabinet with small, thick books stacked neatly on the shelves, along with a large stash of rum bottles on the shelves beneath. On the starboard wall there was a hammock, the floor beneath it was littered with empty bottles. There was a bed in the corner of the room with clean, made sheets with a scruffy looking dog laying across the foot, a ring holding one big key was held in his mouth and the paw of the mutt was resting over a large, thick book; The Code.
"Excuse the mess," Teague stated. "Jack stays in here." He chuckled. "Take a seat." He gestured towards the wooden chair on one side of the table before walking around to the other side and picking up a pair of compasses and examining the map. "A little sparrow has told me that Sam has been causing you some trouble." Teague began.
'Sparrow.' Vikki thought, rolling her eyes. 'I wonder who that is.' The brunette nodded her head, "Aye, Captain."
"I have decided to drop him off at the next island." Vikki remembered what Teague had told her about how he performed mutinies: 'I only mutiny someone if they have done something remotely insulting to either meself or someone of my crew.' "And I wanted to let you know beforehand."
Vikki shook her head, "Please don't do that Captain." She stated, "I don't wish a mutiny on anyone."
Teague looked up from his map, "You're too kind, Victoria." He stated. "If he had held you at gunpoint, would you still defend him now?" Victoria remained silent, not knowing how to answer him. "I have made my decision. I don't want anyone like him as part of me crew." Vikki nodded in understanding, but felt guilty - she was going to kill Jack for telling the Captain. "We should be coming close to the Isla De Muerta, I'd like you to return to the crows nest for now."
"Aye, Captain." Vikki rose to her feet and turned for the door.
"If Sam lands anymore surprise attacks upon you again, you have permission to shoot him."
Tucking a lock of hair behind her ear nervously, Vikki reached for the door handle. "Aye, Captain." She then left the Captain's cabin and as she closed the door behind her, she ran into Jack.
The dreadlocked pirate smirked, "Looking for me, love?"
Vikki placed her hands on her hips and scowled at him, "Actually, I was." She raised her hand and cracked it across his cheek, sending his head reeling to the right. Slowly, he brought it back round to face her and a look of surprise, shock and confusion crossed his face all at once. "Sam's going to be mutinied."
"Good riddance to the whelp." Jack replied, turning around and walking up to the helm of the Troubadour.
"It's not right!" Vikki followed him and stood on the other side of the golden wheel to Jack, facing him. "No one deserves to be mutinied! Especially on an island in the middle of the ocean - I was lucky to be dropped of at a port!"
"He has a reason to be mutinied." Jack stated, looking past the brunettes head and out towards the sea. "I on the other hand didn't."
The anger and frustrated deflated from the brunette, "You were mutinied?"
Jack nodded, "By me old first mate."
"Barbossa." Vikki stated.
"Who told you that?" Jack asked, frowning as he looked at the brunette.
"My father told me about the years he's spent with you." She replied softly. "In vague detail." Jack grinned. Oh how he loved to tell women of his adventures at sea! But not the one of his mutinous first mate.
Remembering where she was supposed to be, Vikki left the helm and descended the steps onto the main deck. She reached the rigging attached to the mast and began to climb up to the crows nest. As she stepped into the nest and relieved the pirate who was in there, Vikki pulled out her telescope and frowned at the oncoming fog. "Jack?" She called down to the helm. "Are we going in circles?"
"I don't like circles." Jack replied. "Too round. You see the same things again and again-"
"Jack!" Vikki rolled her eyes impatiently. "We're coming towards more fog, what if we get attacked by another Ganderberunda?"
The dreadlocked pirate smirked, "It means were close to the Isla De Muerta, love." He replied. "We shall be going into the cave to find the third sacred ring, and I shall be the one to bring it back to the ship." Victoria rolled her eyes at his stubbornness. "Don't roll your eyes at me, love. They're my rings."
As the hatch opened and the blonde pirate stepped out onto the deck, Vikki shrunk lower in the crows nest. If he came anywhere near the rigging, she was going to have to re-join Jack at the helm...but then there would be no one manning the crows nest.
"I wouldn't go up there if I were you, whelp." Jack stated.
Sam turned to face the pirate at the helm. "Oh yeah? And who's going to stop me?"
Jack pulled his pistol out from it's holster. "I've been given permission to shoot you if you go anywhere near Victoria."
Sam paused to think for a moment, "I actually came to apologise to her." Vikki frowned, perhaps he was being honest? She then recalled what Jack had said to her: 'A dishonest man you can always trust to be dishonest. It's the honest ones you ought to watch out for...' She gasped when a face appeared beside her in the crows nest, and the pirate who usually did the nightly duty of manning the crows nest sent Vikki a toothy grin. He was a mute, and Vikki nodded to him before climbing over the side of the nest - the opposite side Sam was standing on. She began to slowly climb down the rigging, making sure the blonde didn't walk round to her side.
Once her feet reached the deck, she looked round the side of the mast to see Sam walking back towards the hatch. Sighing with relief, the brunette walked towards the railings of the ship to sit on a barrel and look out to the ocean.
"Vikki?" A small voice asked from beside the brunette. "I can't sleep." Thomas stood beside her rubbing his eyes.
Motherly impulse kicked in as Vikki pulled the eight-year-old boy onto her lap, "What's wrong?" She asked.
"I dreamt about the attack." He mumbled into her shoulder. "It was dark and stormy and the gunfire was really loud."
She shushed him gently and rocked him back and forth. "It's alright." She whispered, "You're safe now. I'll look after you." A thought came to Vikki as she looked down at the child on her lap, "Tom?" She asked. "Did you see the name of the ship that attacked you?"
The small boy shook his tired head, "It didn't have a flag on it." He grumbled, "But they were pirates."
"OK," Vikki stated softly. "What else did you notice about the ship?"
Tom yawned and started to bite his thumbnail, "There was a wooden fish person on the front of it. Like a mermaid...but it was a man."
"OK," Vikki said again, continuing to rock the boy. "Just imagine being a great pirate and commandeering that ship." Thomas smiled softly and nodded his head against her shoulder and it wasn't long until the young boy had fallen to sleep again.
Vikki didn't sleep that night, and as the sun rose in the sky, she gently shook Thomas and allowed him to wake up before she ushered him to go below deck to awaken Buck and Nigel. The brunette then stretched her legs before standing up and raising her arms towards the sky to stretch out all her limbs. It wasn't very hot that morning, but she climbed the rigging to relieve the pirate manning the crows nest of his nightly duties before scouting the sea for any signs that the Isla De Muerta was close. Upon seeing mounds of rocks, she let Jack know.
The dreadlocked pirate checked his compass before smirking, they had arrived at the Isla De Muerta and were about to find the third sacred ring. "You're mine." Jack snapped his compass closed before stomping his foot three times to wake up his father from his cabin. "Wake up you old codfish!"
Teague stepped up to the helm and steered his son away from the helm so that he could take over his rightly duties. "All hands on deck!" Teague called out as the crew poured out from the hatch one after another like ants from an ant hill.
The Troubadour sailed through two narrow rocks before the fog finally cleared. Vikki grabbed hold of the rope and jumped down from the crows nest before walking towards Buck who was ordering a few crew members to lower a boat into the water. She held the pulley and eased the rope through so the boat was lowered slowly and carefully into the deep blue ocean below. Nigel stepped into the boat and helped the brunette inside, and as they waited for Jack, Vikki caught sight of beautiful gold shimmers in the water.
Captain Sparrow soon stepped into the longboat, and as Nigel rowed them towards the shore, the three of them sat in silence until the boat reached the cave. Jack and Vikki got out and watched the red haired pirate row back to the Troubadour.
"Looks like it's just us two now, love." Jack stated, making his way into the dark cave behind them. Vikki turned on her heel once the longboat was out of sight, and followed Jack into the cave. They walked through a few dark tunnels before a blinding light shimmered and reflected off the cave walls like glass and mirrors. Vikki's jaw dropped open as she looked upon piles and piles of gold, jewels and priceless artefacts. She picked up a golden monkey and stared at it in wonder.
"No looting." Jack stated, "We're only here to find the ring."
"How are we going to find a ring in here?" Vikki exclaimed, throwing the statue to the side.
"Well," Jack began. "As everything in here is made of gold, I think the answer you're looking for is: very difficult."
Vikki wrinkled her eyebrows, "what if the ring is silver? Tia Dalma did say it was unique."
Jack smirked, "I doubt it. The other two were gold." He threw aside a handful of gold coins. "Which would mean that all of them are gold." He turned around to look at her and saw her perched on a rock with her legs crossed. He sauntered over too her and took a seat on the rock beside her, "Love, my tremendous intuitive of the female creature is telling me that you are troubled." Vikki slowly turned her head to look at him and slowly pointed to the ceiling. Jack looked up to see a black rocky ceiling with a small silver glint. "Would you look at that." He stated in awe. "It is silver."
"More to the point." Vikki stated, "How do we get it down? I mean, I could try and climb but...I don't want to die if I fall." She looked around for a rock to start off with. Surely she could just find out the route as it took her along, right? Vikki ignored Jack as she got up from her spot and walked over to one of the rocks in the corner. She could hear him talking as he followed her across the gold littered floor, but her mind was so focused on the rocky wall she drowned him out.
"...should you fall to your death, savvy?" Jack suddenly appeared in front of her, and Vikki stopped suddenly in surprise.
She frowned and looked up at him, "What?"
Jack furrowed his brows before smirking. "Nothing. You go right ahead, love." He moved aside and swept his hand towards the rock in a gentlemanly fashion.
Vikki began to climb the rock, finding a few jutted stones which she was able to grab onto and to put her feet on. Jack watched her curiously and turned around upon hearing footsteps the other side of the cave. Thinking it best if he hid, he left Victoria to climb the rocky wall as he hid behind a large pile of gold. As he looked up to see how far the brunette had climbed, his eyes widened upon seeing her sitting on a ledge close to the ceiling about a foot or two away from the silver ring.
Voices then echoed around the cave - none of them recognisable from anyone aboard the Troubadour. Vikki's eyes widened at the sound of voices and she took a step closer towards the edge and reached out towards the ring. She could touch it with a fingertip and she was stretching so much that her limbs ached and burned. Vikki retracted her hand from the ring and moved back against the rocky wall as a handful of broad pirates stepped into the cave.
"'Ere we arr mateys!" A white bearded one stated, "Isla De Muerta! Take what ye can, load up arr Merman!"
Vikki scoured the cave for any sign of Jack, but upon finding no dreadlocked pirate in sight, she sighed. Of course he wouldn't warn her about anyone coming into the cave - he would save his own skin.
"Excuse me, gentlemen." Her mouth fell open when she spotted the pirate swaggering towards the looters. "But have you seen me wench? She seems to have...vanished. Would you all be so kind as to help me look for her?"
'What in God's name was he doing?' Vikki watched in disbelief as Jack led the group of pirates out of the cave. Frowning, Vikki drew her cutlass and tried to thread it through the ring in the rock. Once the tip was threaded, Vikki beamed with pride. She tried to move the cutlass downwards to dislodge the ring from the ceiling, but when she did, the ring slid off the end of the cutlass, and as Vikki leant forwards to try and catch it, she toppled off the ledge and plunged into the stream below her.
A/N: Thank you to everyone who has reviewed!
I have now left my job at Pinewood :( It is an hour drive from my house and I hate getting up early! I only saw a few celebrities, but unfortunately none were Orlando Bloom or Johnny Depp :(
Anyways, I hope you all enjoyed the chapter! The next one is my favourite, and I hope you like it! xx