Chapter 10: The Fishwife and Will's Gambit

As Elizabeth made way to Shipwreck Cove, Gibbs, Jack, Barbossa, and the crew of the Black Pearl were just making sail.

"Look alive, and keep a weather eye! Not for naught it's called Shipwreck Island, where lies Shipwreck Cove and the town of Shipwreck!" Gibbs commanded.

"You heard him! Look lively!" Pintel shouted.

Jack stepped over to Gibbs. "For as clever cobs as we are pirates, we're certainly an unimaginative lot when it comes to names," he commented.

"Aye," Gibbs agreed.

"I once sailed with a geezer who lost both of his arms and part of his eye," Jack recalled.

"And what did you call him?" Gibbs asked.

"Larry," Jack said dimly.

Meanwhile, on the bow of the ship, Barbossa and Tia Dalma were engaged in a fierce argument.

"I don't renege on a bargain once struck," Barbossa told her, "But we agreed on ends only, the means are mine to decide."

"Caution, Barbossa," Tia Dalma warned, "Don't forget it was by my power that you returned from the dead and by what means you shall live."

Tia Dalma gripped Barbossa's wrist and turned it back to the formerly cursed, skeletal state.

Barbossa released his wrist from her grip. "Don't forget why you had to bring me back and why I couldn't leave Jack to his well-deserved fate," Barbossa advised her, "It took nine pirate lords to bind you, Calypso, and it'll take no less to release you. Masters Pintel and Ragetti!"

Pintel and Ragetti stood behind Calypso. "Take this fishwife to the brig!" Barbossa commanded.

Pintel and Ragetti took the goddess by both arms. "Right this way, Mrs. Fish!" Pintel said slyly.

Barbossa gave one last glance at his hand as Calypso was taken away. Meanwhile, Guinevere sat alone on the ship's deck. She isolated herself from Jack, and he did the same. She didn't want to believe he didn't love her, but what else could she believe?

I'm losing him, Guinevere thought to herself.

Lucia approached her. "I can sense that something is troubling you, dear Guin," she said gently.

"So, Jack let you off the hook, didn't he? Well done," Guinevere commented.

"Yes, good for me. Now tell me what's going on," Lucia said dismissively.

Guinevere sighed. "I'm losing him, Lucia," she said ruefully, "Jack is determined to kill Jones and be immortal. If he does, then I lose him, save for one day every ten years."

"Are you sure you have a reason to lose hope?" Lucia asked.

"I am," Guinevere said shortly.

"And why is that?" Lucia wanted to know.

"I proposed to Jack last night. He told me it wouldn't work out between us if he becomes Captain of the Dutchman. Now I know he doesn't love me," Guinevere explained.

Lucia was shell-shocked. "Who are you and what have you done with Guin Parris?" she asked, "The Guin I know is a fighter. She's stubborn and refuses to give up. You can fight me, you can fight Jack. He does love you and you know it. We are in a battle with Beckett. We might not come out of it. He will remember that he loves you soon enough. It's only when we are about to lose what we love most that we begin to treasure it. So for my sake as well as yours, cheer up and don't give up."

Guinevere smiled. "Who are you and what have you done with Lucia Barbossa?" she asked slyly.

Later that night, Davy Jones was summoned to Beckett's quarters. He was livid.

"I cannot be summoned like some mongrel pup," he said hotly.

"Apparently you can," Beckett said smartly as he scooped some sugar cubes into a guest's cup of tea, "I believe you know each other."

The guest turned around to face Jones. It was none other than Will.

Davy Jones laughed. "Come to join my crew again, Turner?" he asked.

"Not yours," Will corrected, "His. Jack Sparrow sends his regards."

Davy Jones was confused. "Sparrow?" he said, puzzled.

Will glanced up from his tea. "You didn't tell him?" Will asked, "We rescued Jack from the Locker along with the Black Pearl."

Jones was livid. "What else have you not told me?" he demanded.

Beckett changed the subject. "There is an issue far greater than your debt with Sparrow," he informed Jones, "Perhaps you're familiar with a person called Calypso."

Davy Jones shivered at the name, yet his blood ran cold. "Not a person," he corrected, "A heathen god. One who leads men with her charms and reveals them to be hollow and for naught. The world is well rid of her."

"Not quite so well, actually," Will countered as he slurped his tea, "Jack and the Brethren Court intend to release her."

Davy Jones was quick to protest. "No, they cannot!" he said, "The First Court vowed to imprison her forever. That was our agreement."

"Your agreement," Beckett corrected him.

Davy Jones frowned insecurely. "I…showed them how to bind her," he said forlornly, "She couldn't be trusted. She gave me no choice."

Will's eyes widened as he put the pieces of the story together. "You loved her," he said in shock, "She's the one. And then you betrayed her."

The word betrayal infuriated Jones even more. "She pretended to love me!" he protested fervently, "She betrayed me!"

Will stood up at Jones's level and sipped his tea. "After which betrayal did you cut out your heart, I wonder?" Will asked snidely.

Infused, Davy Jones knocked Will's teacup from his hand. "Do not test me," he warned.

Will calmly glanced at his spilled tea. "I hadn't finished that," he said coolly, "You will free my father."

Will turned to Beckett. "And you will grant the safety of Elizabeth, Guin, Rose, and Juliet along with my own," he declared firmly.

"Your terms are steep, Mr. Turner," Beckett advised him, "We would expect fair value in return."

"There's only one price I want," Jones said callously, "Calypso…murdered!"

"Calypso is aboard the Black Pearl," Will told them brightly, "Jack has sailed the Pearl to Shipwreck Cove."

"And what of Miss Parris, Mr. Turner?" Beckett wanted to know.

"What of her?" Will asked calmly.

"There is something you need to know in this bargain," Beckett told him, "Something that your dear friend has concealed from you. Did she ever inform you of her marriage?"

"Yes," Will replied, "She told me she left him for dead."

"For which I will grant her clemency," Beckett told him, "Miss Parris was once Mrs. Beckett."

Will felt as if he had been punched in the gut like when Sao Feng held him hostage.

Guin and Beckett? he asked himself in surprise, Quite an odd couple. She wouldn't be serious or crazy, rather to marry him.

Beckett smirked. "She never told you, did she?" he asked, seeing Will's disbelief.

"She told me enough," Will countered, "And you will stick to the bargain."

"With you no longer aboard the Black Pearl, Turner, how do you propose to lead us there?" Beckett demanded.

Suddenly, Will remembered Jack's words: Think like me, it'll come to you.

Thank you, Jack! Will thought to himself as he whipped out the compass.

"What is it you want most?" Will asked slyly, a smug grin on his face.