Jack was standing up on the battlements, waiting. He knew that if his calculations were correct, the British navy would be informing him of the prisoners' escape right about--

"Commodore! Commodore Norrington!"someone yelled from behind him.

Jack turned around to look. The Lieutenant, Gillette, was running towards him, shouting and waving his arms.

Jack faced Gillette calmly. "My good man, what seems to be the problem?"

"Commodore!" Gillette cried.

"Yes, you've said that already."

"The prisoners! Commodore, the prisoners have escaped! The prison, it's empty!"

"Empty?" Jack repeated, in mock surprise.

"I was just informed. If we hurry, we might still find them."

Governer Swann and Elizabeth walked up.

"What seems to be the problem here?" the governer asked.

"This man informs me that the prison is empty of its inhabitants," Jack said.

"The prisoners have escaped!" Gillette exclaimed.

"See?" Jack said.

"Escaped?" the governer repeated. "How?"

"They must have gotten hold of the keys somehow," Gillette said. "There was no sign of forced escape. The cell doors were just standing wide open."

"How many prisoners are missing?"

"Three," Gillette replied. "Two who were caught attempting to loot the Dauntless, and the other who tried to steal the diamond. My men are chasing them as we speak."

"Good... good," the governer said. "Keep up the chase until you find them. Cut off all the escape routes."

"I already did, sir," Gillette announced proudly.

"Well," Jack said, having been ignored up until now. "It seems that you have everything under control, and so if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go get something to drink."

"Wait a minute, Commodore, aren't you going to help us with the pursuit?" Gillette asked, confused.

"No, that won't be necessary. You seem to have everything under control."

Gillette nodded. "Well, if those are your orders, sir, I will--" Gillette suddenly pointed down to the shore. "Commodore, look!"

Jack looked in the opposite direction. "Where?"

"The prisoners!"

"After them!" Governer Swann ordered.

Without another word, Gillette turned and raced down towards the shore.

Jack looked down to where Ragetti and Pintel and the thief Lew were running towards the water's edge. Their plan to row to safety aboard the Black Pearl had seemed good at first, but now Jack could see that Gillette and his men were gaining fast on the prisoners. They would never be able to reach the Pearl before they were captured or shot.

"No, no! Not good!" Jack shouted down to his fleeing crew members, in an attempt to warn them. "Plan B, plan B!"

The prisoners didn't seem to notice, though, and they continued in their attempt to ready the rowboat.

Jack turned and ran down after Gillette towards the shore, drawing his sword. Once he had reached the ground, he turned and took a shortcut to meet his crew members before the British reached them. Jack found a hiding place just a few feet away from where Ragetti and Pintel were arguing over whose turn it was to row on the left side while Lew pushed the rowboat towards the water.

"Hey!" Jack called.

No response.

"Hey!" Jack shouted, louder.

This time, Pintel turned and looked. "Jack?"

Jack motioned for Pintel to come closer. Pintel moved closer to Jack's hiding place, and Jack told him, "The British are on your tail. Get back here, quickly."

Pintel motioned for Ragetti and Lew, and the three criminals ducked into the hiding place alongside Jack.

"What are we doin' in here?" Pintel asked.

"Shh," Jack warned. "Norrington's men will be here in three... two... one..."

"This way!" Gillette shouted, running to the spot where Ragetti and Pintel were standing just a moment before. He looked around for a moment. "Where did they go? They were here just a moment ago." He turned around and shouted to his troops, "Spread out, men! They couldn't have gotten far!"

At that, Gillette and the redcoats ran off in all different directions, brandishing rifles.

Once they had gone, Jack stepped out of hiding and scanned the area. Satisfied, he went back to the place where Ragetti, Pintel, and Lew were hiding. "All right, they've gone," he said. "But do me a favor, and do try to be more careful in the future."

"Of course, sir," Pintel said. "We'll be careful."

"Yeah, real careful," Ragetti added.

"Good," Jack said. "Now, off to the Pearl with you, and hurry. Norrington's men will be back."

Ragetti, Pintel, and Lew stood up and headed toward the rowboat.

Jack grabbed Lew's arm to halt him. "Just a minute there, mate," he said. "I've held up my end of the deal, now how about giving me that combination?"

"Not so fast," Lew argued."How do you know I won't be apprehended on my way to your ship?"

Jack pondered this.

"You get the combination once I am safely aboard your ship."

"I suppose that is only reasonable," Jack said. "But I had better get it."

"You will."

The three escapees jumped into the rowboat and headed out towards the place where the Black Pearl was anchored.

Oh wow, I am so sorry it took so long for me to update! You see, my teachers all came to the conclusion that they should give us two major projects to work on last week, so I was very busy working on those. Thankfully, one of those was turned in last week, and the other will be turned in next Friday. Once school is out (JUNE 2!) the updates will be rapid-fire again. I hope this chapter was worth the wait!