Chapter 15

I don't see what was the point of the whole 'Isla Cruces' thing. I mean, we fought over the chest and the key, only to have BOTH deprived of us. Talk about unfair. It would've been alright if we had at least the key... or at least the chest..

I could tell dad was up to something. Or had done something. He was just too happy, after that failure. I mean, he was holding Tia Dalma's jar of dirt like it actually meant something. He gripped it tighter as someone walked by, as if they would actually bother to try and steal it.

"You're pulling too hard!" Pintel shouted at Ragetti.

"You're not pulling hard anoth!" Ragetti argued.

"Outta my way" I pushed Pintel out of the way and took his place. "Soooo... how's your eye?" I asked Ragetti, bored.

He grinned at me and stopped. He pulled out his wooden eye and said. "Great! Look, I polished it last night!" okay. That's nice. Thanks for sharing.

We finished hoisting the sails, and I walked off to find Charlie. She was talking to Ping. When she saw me, she grinned. "How you doing?" she asked.

"Meh. I've been through too much. I mean, cannibals, Tia Dalma, Davy Jones, Kraken, Isle Cruces. And all the while all dad cared about was some mouldy key that leads to a mouldy chest, which leads to a mouldy heart. Pirates life for me all right."

Then I noticed that The Flying Dutchman had surfaced next to The Black Pearl. Crud.

"Lord on high, deliver us!" Gibbs yelled.

"I'll handle this, mate." Dad nudged him, then held the jar of dirt above his head. "Hey, fish face! Lose something? Congealy..." he fell down the stairs.

"Oooh" the whole crew whistled.

"Got it!" a hand surfaced with the jar of dirt. He stood. "Come to negotiate, eh? You slimy git! Look what I got. I got a jar of dirt! I got a jar of dirt! And guess what's inside it?" he smiled fully, golden tooth glittering in the sun.

"Enough!" spat Jones.

"Hard to starboard?" dad asked.

"Hard to starboard!" Elizabeth yelled to the crew. I pushed her out of the way, yep that's onto the floor, and yelled far louder than she did. "Hard to starboard!"

"Brace the foreyard!" Will ordered.

"Hard to starboard!" I heard Jones. "Send his beloved Pearl back to the depths!" I turned, and saw cannons emerging.

"Oh shi..."

"FIRE ALL!" Ma cuscus shouted from the Dutchman, and fire they did.

"She's on us! She's on us!" Pintel panicked.

"Don't you think we know that?" I told him. He shrugged, and continued running around like a headless chicken.

Dad took the wheel from Gibbs, and started spinning it clockwise.

"Make fast!" Will called.

While running around on deck, I caught Pintel patting the side of the pearl, lovingly saying. "Don't let me down, show us what you've got!"

"She's falling behind!" smiled Elizabeth. She was right, for ONCE. The Dutchman had fallen behind.

"Aye, we've got her!" Gibbs shook his fist happily.

"No. She's giving up."

"We're the faster?" will questioned.

"Against the wind, the Dutchman beats us. That's how she takes her prey. But with the wind..." Gibbs started to explain.

Will finished his sentence. "...we rob her advantage."

"Aye."

Marty smiled then cheered. "They're giving up!"

I joined Pintel and Ragetti in a square dance, waving my arms about triumphantly. We had beaten the Dutchman! The most feared ship in the world! This was... amazing!

I tore off my bandana (navy blue one, this time) I tossed it in the air happily.

Suddenly, a crash shook the ship. Dad dropped his sacred jar off dirt, and looked horrified. He searched through it on the ground, whispering to himself. "Where is it? Where is the thump-thump?"

I understood now. in that jar had been the thump-thump of Davy Jones heart. But it wasn't there.

"Musta hit a reef!" yelled some guy with a afro who I had never noticed was part of the crew.

My face paled. No. My holy redcoats wig no. It couldn't be.

Will looked me in the eye. "No, its not a reef! Get away from the rail!"

"What is it?" Elizabeth asked, looking at Will.

"The Kraken. To arms!" Will started bustling around.

"Load guns! Defend the mast!" Gibbs took up the call.

"It'll attack to starboard, I've seen it before! Run out the cannons and hold for my signal!" Will gulped, looking worried.

"I've seen it too!" I cried indigently. But I decided to give it a rest, and headed down below to ready the canons. I helped Ragetti load them, with Pintel. At one point, out or pure curiosity, I poked his wooden eye. He looked at me strangely, then continued going on about loading the cannons.

When we where just about to load another cannon ball, we saw the giant suckers from a giant tentacle outside our cannon port. "Gross" I said.

"Easy, boys" Will held his hand steady signalling for us to remain still.

"Will.." Elizabeth was trying to tell him something. No surprise there.

"Steady...Steady..."

"Will..." didn't she get it? We where about to get attacked by one of the worlds most feared monsters, and all she could think about was Will.

"Hold...hold...£

Pintel looked at Will. "I think we've held fire long enough!"

"WILL!" Elizabeth shouted.

"FIRE!" Will screamed.

We fired, blasting wounds in the Krakens tentacles, leaving huge fleshy gashes. It let go and sank below.

"YAY!" We all cried.

"It'll be back, we have to get off the ship" Will said knowingly.

"There's no boats!" I told him, bursting his bubble. Hah! Mine was still intact.

"Pull the grates! Get all the gunpowder onto the net in the cargo hold!" he gave Elizabeth a gun. "Whatever you do, don't miss" he told her.

"Um, excuse me? I think you should leave that stuff to Ping... I mean she's like a master with guns and stuff" I said.

"Yeah! And she is longing for a gun after those cannibals stole hers..." Charlie pointed out.

"I trust Elizabeth." Will told us.

"As soon as your clear" Elizabeth nodded to Will.

Me and Charlie helped roll the barrels onto the cargo net.

"We're short stock on gunpowder! Six barrel!" one sailor shouted.

"Then load the rum!" Will said, as if it was the simplest thing in the world.

Everyone hesitated. There was a long, awkward, silence before Gibbs went along with it. "Aye, the rum too!"

Now, you may or may not know of my love of rum. So just to say now... I love the stuff! So it was no surprise when I... say pocketed a few bottles.

Suddenly, something crashed underneath the ship again.

"Not good" confirmed Marty.

"Haul away!" Will ordered.

"Heave! Heave like you're being paid for it!" Gibbs joined in, as always.

Tentacles whipped everywhere, grabbing men from everywhere, any direction. Men slashed at the tentacles, but to no avail. Every slice was avenged by a man being dragged down to Davy Jones locker.

Gibbs saved me a couple of times, slicing away tentacles which would sneak up behind me, waiting to grab me.

"C'mon! Come and get it! I'm over here! C'mon!" will goaded the creature, his sword ready. But when the ship jerked, and he dropped his sword, his foot got ensnared in the net. He began to cut it with bootstraps knife.

"Shoot! Elizabeth, shoot!" I heard him in the background, as I was forced to battle: Sword Vs. Tentacle.

I slashed it, but it was just too thick and fleshy. After fifteen attempts, the thing finally snapped off.

I looked over to Elizabeth, to see if she had fired, which she hadn't. She went for the gun but was thwarted, as dad was stood on it. He picked up the gun, and fired at the kegs of powder, which exploded just as Will jumped free. The Kraken retreated, for the second time.

Marty and Cotton emerged from the flaming wreckage. "Did we kill it?" Marty asked.

"No, we just made it angry. We're not out of this yet. Captain! Orders!" Gibbs walked over to dad.

"How about, say, we swim?" I asked.

"I want cake..." Charlie whimpered.

"Abandon ship. Into the longboat" Dad said, sounding pained. We would have to loose the pearl.

"Jack! The pearl!" Gibbs gasped.

"She's only a ship, mate" Dad sighed. I pretended to faint, then rose back up.

"He's right. We have to head for land" confirmed Elizabeth, though no one asked her.

"That's a lot of open water." Pintel said.

"That's a lot of water." Nodded Ragetti.

"We have to try. We can get away as it takes down the pearl." Will advised.

"Aye, abandon ship. Abandon ship or abandon hop." He confirmed, and they all made there way to the boat. I stood behind the mast, waiting for dad. We, dad and Elizabeth where the only people who remained onboard.

"Thank you, Jack" I heard Elizabeth say.

"We're not free yet, love" dad said dreamily. Freedom. It was so near.

"You cam back. I always knew you where a good man." Dad had tried escaping? Without ME. How dare he! I don't think Elizabeth knew I was onboard, 'cause when I turned, she was passionately kissing dad. She lead him to the mast.

I was about to shout 'Oi! Got take your tartly ways elsewhere!' when I heard a 'Click!'

The cow had tied dad to the mast. I stayed hidden, so that I could help dad when Elizabeth was gone.

"It's after you, not the ship. It's not us. Don't you see? This is the only way. I'm not sorry" she said.

"Pirate" shrugged dad.

And Elizabeth left.

I stepped out from behind the mast, dad there trying to break free.

"Bugger, bugger! C'mon!"

"Need a sword?" I said, handing it to him. He broke the lamp beside him, and let the oil slip onto his hand, so he could slip out of the cuff's.

"Aha!" he smiled, triumphantly, then turned to sea the Kraken.

"Were dead." I gulped. 'Do you fear death?' Davy Jones said in my mind.

"I'm dead, luv. Not you." He pushed me hard, and I fell into the longboat.

"Veronica!" Gibbs said, shocked.

"Dad's on the ship!" I shouted, ready to jump out. Will and Gibbs held me back.

"We know. He's a good man" Will whispered to me.

"NO!" I struggled, but it was too late. The Black Pearl had been dragged to the depths.