Chapter Ten

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Chapter Ten

"How long has he been like that?" Will asked Anamaria in a hushed tone, gesturing to the pirate Captain currently laid spread out on his bed, an empty bottle of rum resting in his lax hand. The dark woman sighed deeply.

"He passed out about an hour ago, that's the third bottle he drank, and he didn't eat a scrap all day" she replied, her worry clear in her voice.

"He's numbing the pain" Will muttered, almost to himself, yet his tone was still audible to the woman besides him.

"What do you mean?" she asked him sharply. He swung his gaze away from his friend just long enough to look at her.

"He is drinking to numb the pain, whether his wounds are paining him that much or if it is something else completely, but I'd wager my life savings that that was the reason that Jack got so drunk that he is unconscious" Will told her, and Anamaria could do nothing but nod, yes the young blacksmith had certainly grown up. Anamaria sighed to herself and rubbed her face, her own exhaustion catching up with her. "Look you're tired, why don't you go and get some rest, I'll keep watch over jack, and then when he wakes up I suggest that we get some answers from the damned stubborn fool" Will continued when he noticed the dark woman's obvious tiredness. Anamaria reluctantly nodded.

"Okay Will Turner, but I wouldn't hold your breath on getting any answers from the captain, he's tight lipped at the best of time, now its going to be next to impossible" she told him.

"No Miss, Improbable, but not impossible" Will parried with a grin, quoting their favourite pirate Captain.

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Will stuck to his word and took up his previously abandoned position in the chair besides his friend's bed. Jack barely stirred in his drink induced coma, which Will guessed correctly was exactly what the pirate had intended when he indulged in so much alcohol that day. He sat there for what felt like an eternity, yet in reality was only a matter of hours, before he saw the first signs of life coming from the bed. The pirate still weakened from the serious injuries he had been recovering from was weakly thrashing around on his bed, the sweat soaked sheets entangling him until he was effectively trapped. It was at that moment that the pirate literally scared about ten years off of the life of his friend, by shooting up bolt upright in his bed, sending the whole of the cabinet next to the bed flying with the force of his movement. Will moved quickly to get beside his friend, and try to calm him. Jack looked around with deep rooted fear present in his eyes, as he had not yet fully woken up.  Eventually he managed to placate the older man enough to settle him back in his bed.

"Jack, I think you and me need to have a little talk" Will told his friend, determined that this time the pirate would not get away without talking.

"I told ya whelp, I ain't got nothing to say to ya" Jack responded, his eyes closed against the pain.

"Oh but Jack you have. This is killing you, please let me help you" Will asked of his friend, not regretting the begging tone in his voice for an instant.

"Will leave it" Jack replied, his voice tightly controlled, yet still carrying a tinge of anger and frustration.

"Jack tell me what the hell happened Will ordered angrily himself, his worry and concern fro his friend, was making him angry at the captain, everybody knew that Jack was far from all right, yet the man refused to open up about what had happened. "At least explain to me who the man was that took you, and why?" Will reasoned and Jack sighed dramatically.

"You're just like you're bloody father, he never knew when to give in either" Jack complained, yet the anger was now gone from his voice. "Okay I'll tell ya since it's the only way I'm going to be getting any peace around here" he commented, then his eyes seemed to get lost in a distant memory as they glazed over and the pirate stared at a spot just behind William. The young blacksmith made himself comfortable in the chair and sat back to listen to what he knew would be a very important tale.

"I first met this man called Gharry birch some twenty years ago, at the time I was just working whatever ship would take me on. I met him at the docks in Port Maria, he was helping to stock up some merchant ship or other, and he spotted me just walking past. He offered me some money to help him, so obviously I did. I wasn't quite so distinctive in me appearance back then so he probably didn't even know that I was a pirate or if he did he didn't care. Anyway I helped him for the best part of an afternoon, and then he offered to buy me a drink. Now I was only  a lad at the time so I wasn't quite so familiar with me rum then, so when he bought me a whole bottle and handed me a purse full of coins for me work obviously I thought all of me Christmases had come at once. Being a pirate as I am I didn't get too attached to old Harry and the next day I joined the crew of the Black pearl and off we went. It wasn't until over a year later that I next saw Harry. I was still one me Pearl, and we made port at Tortuga, see we had just been on a raid and the lady was damaged, so we had to get some stuff to fix her up" Jack told hi younger friend, Will sat back still listening intently, it was rare that anyone managed to get the pirate Captain to open up so much, so when he did you had to make sure you took in every last details because there was no chance of repetition. Jack was so lost in his memories, and Will so caught up in the tale that neither man noticed the lone dark figure of Anamaria enter the cabin as silent as the grave, nor as she stood there listening to her Captain's story. "That was when I saw him, he was doing pretty much what he was doing before just making his living stocking up the ships, anyway I went across to see him, and he knew me straight away, took me for a drink he did. He got quiet drunk being as he couldn't really take his rum" Jack told his audience withy a wistful grin. "He started telling me about himself, turned out that old Harry had a family, a loving wife and a daughter about my age, that was what he was doing in Tortuga, trying to earn enough money to move them somewhere decent so that his daughter would be safe from eth pirates and such lie, it was then that I realised that Harry hadn't realised what I did for me earnings, dozy sod obviously hadn't heard the reputation of the Pearl, either that or he hadn't put two and two together, anyway not wishing to split up this new friendship I chose not to enlighten the man. I can tell you I later regretted that decision" the pirate told them distantly, his voice growing slurred as he struggled to stay awake. Will sighed to himself, as much as he desperately wanted to hear the remainder of the tale he knew that Jack would not last much longer, he was still sick from his injuries and the fever still run through his veins, plus the amount of rum the pirate had consumed wouldn't be helping maters.

"You go to sleep now Jack, we'll continue this in the morning" Will told his friend softly, before tenderly pulling the covers up to cover the slight man, he got no response from his friend as sleep had already claimed him. Will shook his head to himself; he only hoped that the Captain would be in a talkative mood the next day. Finally Anamaria stepped out of the shadows.

"How the hell did you get him talking?" she asked him in awe.

"It was easy I simply nagged until he couldn't take anymore" Will told her with a glint of mischief in his eyes. She rolled her eyes in response.

"Aye, well I think you will have a lot more nagging to do before this voyage is through" she told him, and he couldn't help but agree with her.

End Chapter Ten

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