Disclaimer: still the same as before.
Author's notes:
- In Latin, the hexameter "Quis, quid, ubi, quibus auxiliis, cur, quomodo, quando?" can be translated in English by: "Who, what, where, by which means, why, how and when?"
- To Ana: when is Will going to wake up? Can't answer your question right now, it would spoil the surprise! ;-)
- To Matteic: merci pour la blague!
- To Smithy: well, our favorite William certainly needs medical help… You'll see some hurt/comfort in the next chapter; I hope you'll like it! :oD
- This chapter is dedicated to Calathiel of Mirkwood.
Chapter 26: Farewell, Captain Ammand
Aboard the Seref…
The news was so astonishing Bootstrap Bill could have – almost – dropped Will on the planks of the Seref's deck. The Flying Dutchman was here, in these waters? But that was impossible!
"Jack, are you mad?" asked the elder Turner.
"Silly question, Master Bootstrap!" said Ammand with a barely-audible snicker.
But Jack took no notice of the Corsair's allusion about him having a mental illness, too engrossed by the extraordinary sight which had appeared out of nowhere, just on the port side of the galley. Unless his hawk-eyes were playing a trick on him from a severe case of rum deprivation, Jack couldn't retract his words. Otherwise, he'd be lying and he didn't do that... well, sometimes he would, but not very often… less often than people would think, anyway!
"I am quite lucid and I'm not joking, Bill," said Jack, "so you'd better enjoy this very rare moment of seriousness from the great Captain Jack Sparrow while it lasts. The Flying Dutchman is right here and I don't have the slightest idea about the Quis, quid, ubi, quibus auxiliis, cur, quomodo, quando and all that sort of things. But if you are doubtful about my statement, you can get a proof by looking at the reactions of Ammand's men; they are as stupefied as I am!"
Bill looked around and effectively, the rough and tough Barbary Corsairs had stunned expressions on their faces; they were muttering words in Turkish and pointed their index fingers at the port side of the galley, acting like children seeing an elephant for the very first time. None of them had had the idea to grab a weapon or to ask theirs officers for what to do. Even Yusuf seemed rooted on the spot. Only Ammand, standing on his dignity, was keeping an impassible attitude: whatever had appeared nearby his galley, it hadn't impressed him.
Bill Turner quickly made up his mind: he gathered Will and Ammand's cloak in his arms and stood on his feet, anxious to see for himself what that last turn of events was about. Seconds later, he had to admit Jack had been telling the truth: the Flying Dutchman was indeed here!
But like its Captain, the ghost ship wasn't in a good state and the damages caused by Red Hand Pete's guns were still apparent: some of the yard-arms were missing, the sails were torn and the hull had been clumsily repaired; the upper deck was an absolute mess and traces of gunpowder had blackened the masts. In fact, it looked as if the Dutchman had barely escaped from a boarding lead by the most bloodthirsty pirates of the Caribbean. But it wasn't its sad, crippled state that prevailed in the ghost ship: it was a feeling of distress emanating from it, as if the vessel and its crewmembers had been desperately waiting for something… or for someone… to come back. The vague silhouettes of the men aboard had a sluggish gait, like they were sick or unable to think; and the Dutchman looked frail, in a state of abandonment until it would reach a complete disintegration.
Jack cast a brief glance at Will, snuggled up in his father's arms. He remembered Bill telling him at the Faithful Bride how awkward the crew had been after Will's abduction. Just a few minutes ago, the older man had expressed his doubts about their crewmembers keeping their ideas clear enough to look after the damages, and it seemed he had been right. During the Turners' absence, the Dutchman's shipmates had tried to maintain discipline so they could do the necessary repairs, but apparently they hadn't been very successful!
"But how in the world did they manage to find us?" whispered Bootstrap Bill, unable to believe his own eyes. "How have they been able to sail, with the ship in such a deplorable condition?"
The elder Turner may not have a clue about the Dutchman's phenomenal apparition, as well as the Turkish crew, the six Barbossa exiled and Wang Tao, but Jack had a smile at the corners of his mobile mouth. He of all people could understand plainly who had made this peculiar ship "materialize" so close to the Seref!
"Ah, Captain Jack Sparrow, there are definitively no limits to your brilliance!" thought the silver-tongued pirate, praising himself for the hundredth time since he had awakened up in the morning.
To get a confirmation of his private and secret theory, Jack climbed on the galley's rail, holding on one of the ratlines to steady his wobbly frame, and then he called out loud while waving his arm:
"SHIP AHOY! Yoo-hoo! The Flying Dutchman! Yoo-hoo! Is there anyone who wants the honor to talk to me? This is the opportunity of a lifetime! Wake up, you bunch of sleepy heads! It's the notorious Captain Jack Sparrow here!"
Ammand looked at Jack with rounded eyes, while the rest of his crew gaped at their Captain's guest: why was he gesticulating like an idiot on the Seref's rail, yelling incomprehensible words – apart for Ammand and Yusuf, who understood English – and calling out to this phantom ship? Its apparition had been scary enough; who knew what kind of ghosts or demons were aboard? But the man nicknamed "Serçe" by their commander acted as if he was welcoming old friends who had promised him a whole barrel of rum!
After a long while, some slow movement could be observed aboard the Dutchman and finally a tall, staggering man in a torn shirt appeared at the rail: the fellow looked like he had fought ten rounds against the British Navy's boxing champion and lost!
"Cap'tain Sparrow? Izzat you?" asked the man with a slurred voice.
"Maccus!" exclaimed Jack, recognizing the former member of Jones' crew. "Your sense of observation is keen, even if your attire isn't, you ol' hammerhead-shark personification! Yes it is I, the wondrous, extraordinary, undefeated and all-around victorious Captain Jack Sparrow. Don't be fooled by imitations! Or, should I say, don't get mistaken by my modified looks and my forced soberness: the rum may be lacking, but the brains are still full of juice, savvy?"
"Cap'tain Sparrow… but whatayu doin' here?" asked Maccus, blinking his eyes and speaking at the costs of an enormous effort.
"Shouldn't it be I who is supposed to ask this question? Oh, how I hate it when people steal my lines! I really should get them patented – say, that's an idea! Anyway, Maccus, we are the ones surprised to see the Flying Dutchman here, especially since a minute ago these waters were absolutely empty apart from swimming sea creatures and fragments of a recently-sunken brig. Care to give me an elaborated explanation?"
"Beats me, Cap'tain Sparrow! One moment we were tryin' to repair nearby Tres Rocas; and then a big flash of white light fell on us and the next thing we know, we are here. A bit of luck everyone was aboard when it happened!"
Jack had a half-smile at Maccus' words: the man may be absolutely confused about their brusque change of location, but for a sharp mind like the former Captain of the Black Pearl's, things couldn't be clearer… His secret theory had just been proven right but it wasn't the right moment to explain to Bootstrap Bill, Ammand or his men what had happened.
"Cap'tain Sparrow… have you seen our First Mate?" asked Maccus. "We were attacked by a man pretending to be named Peterson and he damaged our ship before abducting Cap'tain Turner… Mister Turner went to Tortuga to ask for your help, did you see him?"
"He certainly did, my good man! Bill came to see me in Tortuga; with my marvelous plans and a little help from Ammand here and his Barbary Corsairs, we have been able to vanquish the despicable perpetrators and to retrieve your Captain!" said Jack with a flourish of his arm in the direction of the Turners.
Maccus' eyes opened wide at the sight of Bill Turner, carrying their unconscious commander. Their young Captain had been found and rescued. Life was back for them!
"Omygosh… JIMMY, JOEL! COME AND SEE, QUICK! THE CAPTAIN IS BACK!" yelled Maccus as much as his state could allow him. "Jacobs, McStraggle, Smith, Drinkwater! Come on you lot; wake up, the Captain is here! Roberts, come and see this! Diego, Sam, hurry!"
Loud moans could be heard from the Dutchman, increasing the Turkish crew's wariness about their unexpected encounter. The laments sounded like ghosts' sighs or, even worse, desperate groans of damned souls!
But how could the Corsairs know those cries were coming from sailors who had been completely disoriented for days, brutally deprived of the young man who was their leading officer and also the living embodiment of their hopes? William Turner Jr. was redemption and fairness, a beacon of light chasing away Jones' evil shadow that had reigned on the Flying Dutchman for too long. His kidnapping had plunged the crew back into the darkness of their fears and almost ninety percent of the crew had fallen ill out of desperation or hopelessness. Only Maccus, Jimmy Legs the bo'sun and Joel McCarthy the carpenter had been able to keep their minds clear during Will's absence, but at the price of a ceaseless effort.
At least, their woes were over: Captain Turner had been found! He was obviously wounded, broken by his abduction and his captivity, but he was aboard a galley and so close to his men. Soon he'll be back aboard the Flying Dutchman and this awful nightmare, where they had all thought they were loosing their minds, would be over!
"JOEL! JIMMY! Get the men up and about, they have to see this!" yelled Maccus. "Mister Turner and Sparrow have retrieved Captain Turner! We have our Captain back, guys!"
Finally, after much coaxing and a few shoves from the bo'sun and the carpenter, some of the shipmates clumsily got on their feet to drag their heavy carcasses towards the rail. To the unaware eye, those men acted like demented persons: they were raving, crying, moving uncoordinatedly and looking fearfully at invisible things; the Turkish Corsairs were becoming more and more nervous, and some of them were muttering the words "Uçuşy hollandali" (Flying Dutchman) after having recognized the phantom vessel, thus increasing the panic.
But the Dutchman's shipmates didn't give a damn about how they acted. Guided by Maccus, they looked at Bill Turner standing tall on the Seref's deck and holding the only guarantor of their sanity. Lucidity slowly came back in their minds as hope was renewed in their hearts, and they started calling out in the direction of the galley:
"Cap'tain? O-O-Our Cap'tain?"
"Gosh, is it possible?"
"Mister T-T-Turner, he has… He has… He got the Cap'tain back!"
"Mister Turner, p-please! Come q-quickly! We must have o-our young Captain… The Dutchman must have a Captain…"
"The ship must have our C-Captain… Mister Turner!"
"Cap'tain Turner! P-P-Please come back! Oh, please…"
"Ready a longboat!" said Maccus. "Let's get him back amongst us. C'mon, guys, let's go!"
But his orders fell on deaf ears: engrossed by the sight of Will carried by his father, the Dutchman's sailors just stood there, stretching their arms as if they wanted to reach out for their commander in spite of the distance separating both ships, and moaning over and over again: "The Dutchman must have a Captain… We must have a Captain…". Maccus shook his head; those traumatized men weren't in shape to pay any attention to his orders, and Jack quickly realized it would amount to nothing if they'd ever wait for the Turners' crew to regain their senses.
"Ahem, Ammand… I think it would be best for everyone if we didn't wait for initiatives coming from the Dutchman's men. Bill and his son have to get back to their ship as soon as possible but your men don't look overly enthusiastic at the idea of getting closer to our unexpected visitors; consequently I will give my friends a lift in my mighty dinghy, The Sparrow Hawk."
"You're going aboard the Flying Dutchman, Serçe? I thought it was impossible for living men to go there, unless they were part of the crew."
"In normal circumstances, yes, it would be true. But this vessel isn't exactly right, tight and shipshape for the moment so this rule can be temporarily overlooked; besides, I am Captain Jack Sparrow and I can do anything, savvy?"
Ammand harrumphed loudly, expressing his doubts about the validity of Jack's declaration, and then he turned towards his First Mate:
"Yusuf, get Serçe's dinghy afloat; he's going to the strange ship with Master Bootstrap and their…"friend", who had been injured by Red Hand Pete."
"At once, Kaptan," answered Yusuf; the man discreetly winked at his leader to show he perfectly knew who the wounded man's real identity was; the First Mate was gifted with the ability to understand without long explanations. But before Yusuf could carry on with his orders, a loud shout followed by harsh words rang out loud across the Seref. Ammand and Jack turned around, and Bill looked up: one of the pirates on the upper deck was vehemently arguing in his mother tongue, pointing at the Flying Dutchman and then to his commander, back and forth.
"Who is this suspicious character who makes all these incongruous noises?" asked Jack, annoyed.
"It's Bilal, the worst guy of my crew," answered Ammand, his intense golden gaze hardening at the sight of the troublemaker while keeping a calm facade. "Like we've agreed, I haven't told my men about Master Bootstrap's son or his functions; I've only informed them about attacking Red Hand Pete for retribution of his Istanbul betrayal. But my sailors must have identified the Dutchman by now – there aren't many ships of this kind in the world. Bilal isn't only complaining about how we have fought without getting any kind of booty, but he's also scared out of his mind by your friends' ship. Now, he is trying to convince the crew that I've carelessly lead them into a trap and soon, we'd be attacked by demons or other ugly creatures."
"That's preposterous! Hasn't he heard about the Flying Dutchman regaining its true purpose after Davy Jones fell in the drink?"
"Aye, well, unfortunately there are still a few pirates – the most superstitious of them – who still firmly believe the ghost ship is piloted by skeletons and his apparition is a bad omen to all vessels crossing its path. Bilal hadn't heard about the Dutchman being freed from its cursed corruption and he wasn't part of my crew when the maelstrom battle happened."
Jack grimaced: there had never been any living skeletons walking on the Dutchman's planks, just a hideous bunch of freaks terrorized by Jones during his tyrannical reign. However, there had been this kind of bare-boned characters aboard the Black Pearl, after its usurping leader had carelessly gotten his hands on a chest full of Aztecan gold coins. So the Pearl's curse was getting mixed with the Dutchman's legend in the pirates' tales, thus muddling even more the legend of the unique Captain Jack Sparrow. He definitively needed to write down his memoirs, otherwise people would end up in confusing his outstanding personality with Davy Jones: that was a fate worst than death!
"Captain?" called Bill, who had overheard the conversation between the Pirate Lord of the Black Sea and Sparrow.
Ammand cast a furious glance at Bilal, who was getting told off in uncertain terms by Aydin, the quartermaster; then he calmly walked towards the elder Turner who was sitting again on the galley's main deck, carefully cradling his son.
"Aye, Master Bootstrap?"
"I've heard what you were saying to Jack and… well, I think this will soothe your crewmembers' minds," said Bill while slipping into Ammand's hand a heavy-looking leather pouch. The Pirate Lord of the Black Sea opened his eyes wide: it was the bag of diamonds Master Bootstrap had promised him, after they had concluded their alliance back in Tortuga.
"Çok teşekkür ederim (Thank you very much!)"
"A deal is a deal, Captain Ammand," said the older man with a kind smile. "And I can't thank you enough for your help and your support in finding Will."
The Corsair nodded gratefully before standing up, facing his scared or disgruntled men and looking at the agitator straight in the eyes:
"Do you have a complaint about the way I command you, Bilal?" asked Ammand in Turkish.
"I do, Kaptan!" shot the grumpy sailor. "Our ship has been damaged in the attack, half our comrades are wounded, the only thing you've retrieved from the Conqueror is an injured man and now, we have the visit of a ghost ship filled with lunatics! What in the world kind of a stupid plan have you made with the bird-man and the tall guy?"
"If you had wanted a life without risks or dangers, you should have chosen a carpet-trading business, Bilal. You have a great talent to argue, you would have done wonders! But you are obviously not cut for a pirating career, since you are unable to see beyond the end of your nose."
"What do you mean?"
"The ghost ship is here for Master Bootstrap and his protégé. Whatever they will do aboard the Dutchman is of no concerns to us. As for booty, I wouldn't have leaded my men to a boarding without being sure about the existence of a treasure, you idiot! There was one aboard the Conqueror, the private fortune of Red Hand Pete. He had gathered it during all his years of backstabbing and pillaging, and he certainly didn't have the intention to share it with his men. That's why he kept his money on him at all times, to be absolutely sure none of his sailors would find it by accident. I picked it up after I rammed my sword through Red Hand Pete's body, and it will largely compensate for all the losses we have suffered during the fight. Me hearties, this is my privilege and my pleasure to present you… our fortune!"
Ammand untied the pouch's laces with dexterity and let a cascade of diamonds fall in the palm of his hand. A collective "Ooooh!" of astonishment was heard, and the Barbary Corsairs looked with incredulous eyes at the stones shining under the sun in a display of multicolored-lights. The gems were of various sizes and shapes, but their number was incredibly high: Ammand had barely poured some in his hand and it was already enough to have the galley repaired entirely!
Ammand had obfuscated a little about the diamonds' origins, but he didn't feel like explaining to his men that Master Bootstrap had this fortune on him the whole time he was aboard the Seref. Besides, he needed to reinforce his authority on his crew, momentarily imperiled by Bilal's accusations. And, to quote that impossible Serçe, why fight when you have leverage?
"Yes, men," said the Pirate Lord of the Black Sea. "We are richer beyond our wildest dreams! There are diamonds here for every one of us. We can go back to Turkey, settle down in a quiet place and live the rest of our days without working. We can give up our pirating lives and no one would be the wiser – especially not the authorities, the East India Company lackeys or the Janissaries. These stones are the reason why we sunk the Conqueror; they are the gate for our new future. What says ye, men? Have I done a good job leading you?"
"Long live Captain Ammand!" roared old Tahir, waving his sword.
"Hurrah! Long live Captain Ammand!" yelled in unison all the Barbary Corsairs, throwing in the air hats, empty pistols and even some footwear out of joy. Finally, after years of dangers and fights on the Seven Seas, they were all fabulously rich! Bill Turner's diamonds would provide those men long years of happiness and security, for them and the families they have left in Turkey. To think they would end up in clover, instead of rotting away at the bottoms of the ocean or locked up in a cell, awaiting their execution… That was as wonderful as the sudden apparition of the Flying Dutchman!
After a long moment of cheers, exclamations of joy, praises to their commander and loud blessings, the men finally quieted down and went back to their tasks, directed by Yusuf and Aydin. Bilal was sent downstairs with the instructions to "clean up the mess in the surgeon's room, left by the two Barbossa blockheads" and the troublemaker couldn't do anything else but to shut up his mouth and obey.
Jack had a sardonic laugh: "I don't know a word of Turkish so I haven't been able to comprehend what you were saying earlier. But judging from your men's happiness, I daresay you have efficiently muzzled the belligerent brute with your display of a suddenly-acquired wealth!"
"You guessed right, Serçe. Bilal is a good fighter, but too argument-prone. Nonetheless, he'll get his share of the diamonds; I can just hope this little demonstration have taught him a lesson."
"Ah, no one can argue with success. I have been proactive in that area and consequently, there isn't a single being in the whole world that can prove I've been wrong a day of my life!"
Ammand's curled mustache moved slightly after the Corsair mumbled the word "aptal" (idiot) between his teeth, before saying:
"You'd better gather your gear and your friends, Serçe: your boat will be ready soon."
Moments later, the Sparrow Hawk was floating happily, dancing on the waves while waiting for its passengers. After hearing they wouldn't have to get any closer to the Flying Dutchman, the Barbary Corsairs had calmed down a great deal and they had obeyed their Kaptan's orders without any more debates. It had been decided that Jack, Bill and Will would first use the dinghy to embark on the Flying Dutchman. Then Marty, Cotton, Pintel, Ragetti, the two ex-Royal Marines and Wang Tao would leave the Seref as well: the six sailors had agreed to serve under Captain Sparrow's command and Ammand wasn't eager to keep the Chinese spy-stowaway aboard his galley after the fight against Red Hand Pete and Long was over.
The Sparrow Hawk would be too small to contain eight men; consequently, Ammand had agreed to leave an extra longboat so Serçe's new crewmembers would sail more comfortably. Marty, Cotton and Wang Tao would take the dinghy, the four other argument-prone pirates the longboat and they would have to wait until Jack rejoined them, after he'd finish some business with the Turners.
Jack had shredded the last remnants of his "John Silver" personae and he had happily regained his tricorn hat, his colored sash, his weapons belt and the elaborated rings were back on his fingers. He had even managed to put on his trademark kohl-makeup on his eyes and the various trinkets in his hair, in spite of the missing dreadlocks and braids. It would take months before Jack's mane would grown back to its former length but he didn't care about that: once he had saved Will's life by sacrificing his own bid for immortality, so a few shortened strands of hair was a small price to pay for rescuing his little brother a second time.
"You look almost like your former self, Serçe," noted Ammand after Jack had returned on the upper deck.
"Alas, the finishing touches are missing – in the shape of drops of Jamaican liquid gold also known as rum, which is far more precious than all the riches of the Caribbean. Unfortunately, those Conqueror gluttons have drank it all, along with that cheap tafia Red Hand Pete used to provide his men. How can someone get drunk on such a weak beverage, I'll never know! It's barely good enough to enhance the tea of a doddering old lady. Oh well, maybe there will be some rum left aboard the Flying Dutchman?"
"Can't you think of anything else but drinking?"
"How can I, since rum is the indispensable fuel of my intelligence? Without it, the brains of the fantastic Captain Jack Sparrow would turn into a jellyfish purée and it would be a terrible loss to the pirating universe, savvy?"
Ammand rolled his eyes heavenwards and let out a loud sigh, and then he held out his hand to Jack:
"You are the most aggravating and irritating person of the world! You would make a hermit loose his patience and you could be crowned King of Madmen, but I have to admit you know how to pay your debts a hundredfold. Geçmiş olsun (let bygones be bygones) and good luck to you, Kaptan Serçe!"
"Thanks, Ammand! The same to you," answered Jack, shaking the Corsair's hand. It was the first time the Pirate Lord of the Black Sea had called him "Captain" since their association in Tortuga.
"But it seems to me you've gotten the short side of the deal," pursued Ammand. "I got my revenge and the diamonds; Master Bootstrap got his son back; what is there left for you?"
The gold-toothed pirate smiled like a wolf. Beneath his shirt was the heavy leather pouch he had retrieved after making his spectacular exit from the Isla de Muerta's cavern; the rainy-day money he had dumped in the underwater lagoon years ago, after vanquishing Hector Barbossa over the Chest of Cortez. His very own cash, the one he had been thinking about in Tortuga just before Bootstrap Bill had begged him for his help. Rescuing Will had given Jack the opportunity to regain his personal money… talk about combining business with pleasure!
"That's for me to know and for you to find out, Ammand!" said Jack with a wink, and then he climbed over the Seref's rail to a waiting Sparrow Hawk.
The Turkish Corsair shook his head, definitively renouncing to understand what the scruffiest pirate of the Caribbean wanted to mean; it would probably drive him crazy, anyway! Instead, he turned towards Master Bootstrap, who was still seated on the deck: the burly-shaped man hadn't asked for assistance in getting Will down to Jack's dinghy and somehow, Ammand had guessed the elder Turner wouldn't want anyone to touch his son, not even for helping him. A normal reaction from a man after he had recovered his kidnapped child!
"Master Bootstrap, Serçe has his dinghy ready to bring you to the Flying Dutchman."
"Thank you again for your help, Captain Ammand. Jack and I would never have succeeded in freeing Will without your ship and your men. I don't know how I will ever reimburse this debt, but I swear I will find a way."
"You've already repaid me, Master Bootstrap. A bagful of diamonds, remember? We are now the richest pirates of the Black Sea and it is rare, in our profession, to end our days in the lap of luxury. I also thank you for giving me the opportunity to avenge my cousin Sami; I was convinced Red Hand Pete, that toothless shark, would make a mockery of my wrath forever."
Bill Turner and Ammand shook hands vigorously, and then the older man stood up with Will in his arms, still wrapped in the embroidered cloak. He made the gesture to take the garment off his son to give it back to its owner, but Ammand stopped him:
"Please keep the cloak, Master Bootstrap. Right now, young Kaptan Turner needs it more than I do!"
Bill's blue eyes irradiated that strange light again, and he gave a grateful smile to the gruff-voiced Corsair. He knew Ammand would have lent him the cloak even if he hadn't given the man sufficient means to buy a hundred more of them.
"Thank you for your generosity, Captain. You are an honorable man, and that is rare amongst pirates."
"Well, otherwise I wouldn't have chosen the word "Seref" to name my ship… it means "Honor" in Turkish."
Ammand chuckled slightly at Master Bootstrap's delighted expression; then the elder Turner gathered Will and, in a swift movement, he hoisted him over one of his large shoulders. It wasn't the most comfortable position for an injured man, but his father needed both his hands free to climb down the galley's hull to join Jack on his dinghy. William sighed at the jolting and it broke Bill's heart for the thousandth time since his son' abduction, but they had to get back to the Flying Dutchman at all haste. A good thing the embroidered cloak would efficiently protect Will against accidental splashes of salty water; otherwise it would be incredibly painful on his open wounds.
"Take good care of him, Master Bootstrap."
"I will, Captain Ammand. Thank you again for your help."
Bill Turner promptly climbed down the Seref's keel using a rope ladder, and within minutes he was seated on one of the Sparrow Hawk's benches with his priceless treasure in his arms. Jack simply nodded to the older man and he silently headed his dinghy in the direction of the Dutchman.
Ammand watched as the trio sailed away from the Seref. It was strange but, in a way, he'd miss Serçe's exuberant chatter: as exasperating as the man could be, he was also vastly entertaining, an escape artist and a genius when it came to confuse the enemy. Master Bootstrap's quiet, strong presence had been an asset in their plot against Red Hand Pete – especially in keeping the Barbossa idiots under control – and a good man in a fight. Ammand also regretted he hadn't had the opportunity to talk to Kaptan Turner: to suffer unspeakable pains for protecting the whole world from a Davy Jones' copycat, this young man had to be of an exceptional nature.
"Farewell, infernal Kaptan Serçe, may you drench your thirst for rum at least," thought Ammand. "Farewell Master Bootstrap, may your big heart be blessed. Farewell Okyanusyprens, Prince of the Ocean, may you be rewarded for your altruistic actions."
Ammand looked up one last time and he saw the Sparrow Hawk had reached the ghost ship; Master Bootstrap was getting ready to climb aboard with his son, while Serçe was steadying his dinghy…
"The Dutchman has its Captain back," concluded the Pirate Lord of the Black Sea.
TBC…