True Love

Chapter 12: Insanity

"Elizabeth have you lost your mind?" asked Will leaning over to feel her forehead. "Are you feeling ill? We can't hide Jack and the crew in your house. If your father found out he would have my head!" said Will exasperatedly, still unable to believe that just a few hours ago, his life had been perfect, and now it was completely insane.

"I'm fine Will," answered Elizabeth with a wave of her hand. "And father won't have your head. In fact, he'll never know if we play our cards right."

"And how may I ask would he not notice four pirates banging about his house?" questioned Will.

"Because he won't be there," responded Elizabeth with a smile. "Soon after you left he was called away on business on a neighboring island for two days. He took the butler along to assist him, and two of our other servants have gone to visit their families for the week. So that only leaves Estrella, and I can assure you that she is entirely trustworthy."

Will gaped at her for a moment. "I think you are the smartest woman alive, Lizzie," he said as he moved to embrace her. "I also think God is smiling down on us right now."

"Yes," said Elizabeth, "He probably is. But we must hurry or Gillette will get here before we can leave."

"Indeed," said Will grimly. "Oh, by the way, Andrew has discovered the pirates, but we probably couldn't have kept that secret from him for long." He stopped in his tracks and turned around, something suddenly occurring to him. "Wait Elizabeth, how are we going to sneak five pirates all the way to your house?"

"I drove the carriage here," answered Elizabeth matter of factly. "I don't know how I did it, but you can drive it back so it won't look so conspicuous."

Will shook his head, his eyes twinkling. "You've thought of everything haven't you?" he asked as he led the way towards the little apartment.

"Nearly," said Elizabeth with a nervous chuckle. "I just hope that this works."

"So do I," said Will as he opened the door. "So do I."

A most odd sight met Will and Elizabeth when they entered the room where the pirates were stored. Jack was pointing a sword at Andrew with a most serious look on his face, and Andrew looked terrified.

"Jack!!" exclaimed Will angrily. "Let Andrew go please!"

"But he might be a spy for the navy," argued Jack.

"I can assure you that he is not," said Will. "He is my best friend and the son of the local tailor. Now let him go and listen to me."

Jack lowered his sword and looked at Will and Elizabeth disgruntled.

"Gillette is coming," said Will seriously, gazing around at each of the pirates. "Elizabeth will tell you the details later, but right now you must do as we say or you'll be caught. For now, it is impossible for you to stay here."

"But where will we go?" asked Ana Maria in a worried tone. "Where else is there?"

"My house," said Elizabeth. "It is the last place they will look. I've brought the carriage; now let's go before it's too late."

"Agreed," said Jack, who was wide eyed with shock.

They looked outside, and once the coast was clear all four pirates piled inside. Will helped Elizabeth into the front of the carriage and was about to climb up himself when something occurred to him.

"Elizabeth, if Gillette comes by and sees that I am not here he will know something is wrong," said Will. "I need to stay here. Andrew, can you drive the carriage back to the Swann house and wait until I get there?"

"Of course," said Andrew. "You just be careful, all right?"

"I'll do my best," answered Will as Andrew hopped up into the carriage and took the reins. "Are you going to be okay Elizabeth?" he asked.

"Yes," responded Elizabeth with confidence. "I just hope that you will be."

"I'll be fine," answered Will reassuringly. "I'll make it convincing. If Gillette has no evidence then he cannot do anything." He squeezed her hand gently and poked his head inside the carriage once more before darting back inside. "Jack," he whispered, "Please don't do anything foolish, all right?"

"Calm down mate," said Jack. "I know when to do stupid things and when to not, and this is not the time to do stupid things," he said with a wink. "Don't fret."

Will did the best he could to smile and then closed the door and waved them off, blowing a kiss to Elizabeth. He dashed back inside, attempting to make it look like he had been working. He quickly started a fire and changed out of his church clothes and into his dirtiest set of work clothes. He tied his hair back and put a smudge of dirt on his face for good measure. He pulled out a sword that he had been working on yesterday for one of the new naval officers and had been hammering away for a solid twenty minutes when he heard a firm knock at the door. His stomach did a flip, but on the outside at least, he remained calm.

"The door is unlocked, you may come in," he called casually. He put down his tools and wiped off his hands as Gillette, Groves, and the Admiral himself entered the smithy. "Good afternoon officers," said Will as he walked towards them. "Can I help you?"

"Mr. Turner we caught sight of Jack Sparrow's ship on an island just a few miles from here. It was abandoned," said the Admiral slowly. "Have you seen or heard from Sparrow lately?"

Will shook his head. "No sir. I haven't seen him since the day he left Port Royal and have heard no news of him except for the news that Commodore Norrington brought when he returned. I don't even know if the man is dead or alive to be honest with you, after what I heard about the hurricane."

"Is that so?" questioned the Admiral further. "Well then you will not mind if we search the smithy and your rooms?"

"Feel free sir," said Will with a friendly smile. With that the Admiral and Groves went about searching, which left Gillette and Will alone.

"Working on a Sunday Turner?" he said in an accusatory tone. "That's a strange thing to be doing."

Will was ready for this. He had a respect for the navy as a whole, but certainly not for Gillette. It took all he had to answer politely. "I've had a rush of orders lately," he said, which was true, he had. "And I needed to get a head start. The Governor is hosting an engagement ball for Elizabeth and I you see, and I know there will be a few days when Elizabeth will want me to sit down and listen to the plans and things like that and I don't want to get behind."

"You think you are so clever Turner," said Gillette in a mean sort of tone. "You may have pulled the wool over everyone else's eyes, but not mine. You're a pirate just like that foul Sparrow and I know you are hiding him somewhere."

Will raised his eyebrows. "You honestly think I have time to be hiding pirates around my shop when I have work to do and a wedding to plan? I'm not a fool Gillette, much as you may think me one."

Gillette opened his mouth to speak, but before he could start the Admiral and Groves came back in.

"He's nowhere to be found," stated the Admiral. "Now Mr. Turner, just what exactly have you done today?"

"Well I went to church this morning and then met Elizabeth, Amelia Bolton, and Governor Swann for lunch. Then I came back here to get some work done," he said, hoping he sounded credible. "I'm really awfully busy gentleman, how much longer might this take?"

"Well there is no evidence of anything so I suppose we will be taking our leave. Sorry to trouble you Mr. Turner," said Admiral with a bow of his head. He opened the door and went outside, Gillette directly behind him. Groves was out last, but before he left he shot a meaningful look at Will, which said "be careful." The young blacksmith nodded and shot the good officer a tense half smile.

Will was quite sure that Groves knew he was up to something, but he wasn't going to give him away, and for that, Will was thankful. He finished up the piece he had been working on and set it aside to cool. He sat down, giving a sigh of relief. He couldn't believe that they had pulled this off so far, and he could only hope for that blessing in the future. He cleaned up a bit and changed from his dirtiest work clothes into some cleaner ones and set off at a hurried pace toward the Swann residence. The sun was setting and the sky was streaked with pink and purple.

He reached Elizabeth's just as the sun went behind the trees. He rapped on the door and waited for a moment.

"Yes, who is it?" called out the nervous voice of Estrella.

"It's Will Turner, Estrella," said Will in a comforting tone.

"Oh," answered Estrella as the lock came open with a click and he stepped inside.

"Is everything all right?" asked Will as he entered. "It's awfully loud up there."

"I daresay everything is fine," responded Estrella, eyeing him. "But if I may be so bold, you two have gotten yourselves into quite a pickle, what with hiding pirates about, Mr. Turner."

"I know," said Will uneasily. "But we couldn't leave our friends out in the cold, we had no other choice. And please, call me Will."

Estrella smiled. "All right. Well I imagine I should show you upstairs."

Will nodded and followed Estrella up the winding staircase and through the bright candle lit hallway. He winced as he got closer; it was obnoxiously loud. Two voices could be heard over the tumult; Elizabeth's and Jack's.

"Where are they?" asked Will curiously.

"In the upstairs sitting room; it has the smallest windows and is at the back of the house," answered Estrella "It was the safest place."

Will had never been in the upstairs of the house and was in awe on the size. "Here you go," said Estrella. "I'm going to go downstairs and fix some supper."

"Thank you," said Will kindly. "Wish me luck."

Estrella laughed and padded back down the stairs, and Will opened the door to find an unpleasant but nonetheless comedic sight before him. There was only one explanation for the sight that met his eyes: rum. In one corner sat Gibbs, Cotton, Marty, and none other than Andrew, all singing the pirate song; Amelia who had apparently found out their secret was chatting animatedly with Ana Maria, and in the center of the room Elizabeth was shouting at Jack and trying to pry the rum bottle out of his hand while he danced out of her reach. No one noticed Will enter, so he did the only thing that would work.

"Quiet!!!" he bellowed as loudly as possible. The room went dead silent. Will looked around the room. "Now, who in here has not had rum?"

No one said anything for a solid two minutes, shocked at Will's display. Three people slowly raised their hands in the air; Elizabeth, Ana, and Amelia.

"Just as I thought," said Will. "Jack, I imagine you are the one responsible for this?"

Jack sauntered towards him, waving his arms animatedly about with a grin. "We were just having a bit of fun, mate," he said casually. "Just a bit of rum to loosen the nerves."

Will closed his eyes for a second, trying not to lose his temper at Jack. "I realized that everyone is feeling tense, but I could hear the racket from outside the house! We are trying to keep suspicion away, not bring it in! Gillette and the Admiral both suspect something and it was all I could do to keep them away! Rum is fine, but just keep it down!"

"Sorry," said Jack, looking sheepish. "But I must say, Will, your friend over there certainly has a high tolerance for alcohol."

"Don't listen to him Will," said Andrew. "I didn't drink that much of it. But I have to say these pirates are a hoot!"

Will broke into a grin despite himself. "Why don't all of you just go downstairs and eat something, Estrella was whipping something up when I got here."

Jack, Ana, Cotton, Marty, Gibbs, Andrew, and Amelia all made their way down the stairs, leaving Will and Elizabeth alone.

"That was unexpected," said Will rolling his eyes. "Although, I really probably should have known that might happen."

Elizabeth sighed in irritation. "Jack Sparrow may be a pirate and a good man, but he needs to learn when to drink his rum and when to not. Which reminds me, hold on just a second."

Will looked at her, perplexed. She proceeded to pick up all the rum bottles in the room, put them into a bag, and tie it tightly.

"Follow me," she said with a smile. "I'm going to hide this rum in a place Jack would never figure out, and even if he did, he wouldn't dare to come and get it."

Will was even more confused now, but he followed her nonetheless. They walked a little distance down the hallway until they reached a door that led into a room that Will had never seen before; Elizabeth's. She proceeded to take the bag of rum and hide it under a loose floorboard under her bed.

"Planning on saving that for later?" asked Will jokingly.

"Oh yes, that is my plan," said Elizabeth sarcastically as she kissed his cheek. "You know me."

"Yes I do," said Will with a laugh. "And I know how you feel about rum. I won't even drink it around you. So," he said uneasily, "This is your room?"

"Yes it is," said Elizabeth, blushing slightly. "Its been mine ever since I was twelve."

"It's nice," said Will, blushing as well. "It's awfully big. Well, we should probably get downstairs before Jack causes anymore havoc."

Elizabeth laughed. "You're right. How did the whole situation at the smithy go? I was really worried because you were gone for such a long time."

"It was a close call," said Will as they walked down the stairs. "But I think it worked. Just wondering, but how did Amelia find out about this?"

"She happened to come by just as we were getting everyone in the house," said Elizabeth. "But she's completely trustworthy. It will be helpful to have Amelia and Andrew around to help. It will be less of a burden for someone besides us to know."

"You're right," said Will as he took her hand delicately in his and kissed it. "I just can't believe we've managed to get through this so far, thanks to you."

Elizabeth smiled and felt her heart warm as she looked at her love. "But you are the one that pulled the wool over the navy's eyes."

"I just hope our luck will hold out," said Will as they walked hand in hand towards the dining room. "This could get dangerous."

"It could," responded Elizabeth. "Let's just hope it doesn't"

The two walked into the dining room where everyone was waiting for them. Jack looked odd sitting at the fancy table but took now time in propping his feet upon it.

"So," he asked, "Can we have some rum with this?"

It took all Will and Elizabeth had not to burst out laughing. "The rum is gone," said Elizabeth firmly.

Jack stared at them and his face had the expression of one whose whole world has just been ripped away from him. "But why is the rum gone?"

A/N: Hey everyone! Thanks so much for all of your review on the last chapter! So, I'm getting really excited about this story because earlier tonight my younger cousin and I were sitting and talking about my story and he gave me some really good ideas and we fleshed out the next few chapters, which really helped me out, and plus gave me some inspiration for some later chapters!!! I also watched DMC tonight which helped, so expect more updates. I hope you enjoy!! Long live WE!!!