Chapter 3: 1716 An ill-omened Encounter

"And you're really sure you're aware of what to do?" Caithleen kept taps on Jack how he first hauled the oars inboard and then reefed the sails of their little dinghy.

"Yep! I am, love! Sure enough!" When he spotted her sceptical look he smirked and added: "What? You can trust me, sweet, no need to doubt me. I promise that no one within the bay will come to know about this little foray. We'll be back with sundown." His grin got a bit broader: He believed in what he just told her.

"What if there is someone around in town who'll recognize us?" Caithleen raised her gaze while she strapped her pant legs below her knees, wrapped a bandana round her black curls and threw the fardel she kept her shoes within over into the mellow sand ashore.

"Who should recognize us, love? Wasn't it Patrick himself who told us that he and Rosalind rarely anchor over here?"

Caithleen let out a sigh. Most probably, Jack was right and, therefore, she decided that it was idle thinking about what might happen as soon as they would return at night. They would have enough time to deal with Patrick's supposed reaction – and maybe they would be lucky and he would never learn about their little trip to town. Telling herself this, Caithleen jumped out of the boat to assist Jack with dragging it ashore. For they were only the two of them it turned out to be much more straining than they had thought and they struggled with it much longer than they had expected until it lay on safe ground.

The water bathing their legs was warm, shallow and clear, the ground below their feet felt pliant and inviting and their primarily anger about the fact that they were actually landed at this spot of the isle by accident vanished with every step they took ashore.

Caithleen enjoyed the water and the sun on her skin and the sand underneath her feet, but all of a sudden an arm got wrapped round her waist and Jack dragged her with him when he let himself drop to the ground. The white and fine grained sand lessened their bounce and shortly after they lay close to each other on the shore and had a closer look around.

Neither Patrick nor Rosalind had explored this part of the island thoroughly throughout the bygone years and so the two youngsters did agree that it would make a great adventure to find out more about the place. This side of the isle was all different from the one they used to live at. Here, there were no high peaks, sharp cliffs or steep rugged rocks. The whole landscape looked more gentle and mellow than the picturesque scenery which surrounded their secret hideout. Dense virgin forest and a handful of rivers and rivulets surrounded and shielded the settlement. If not an aggressor would raid the bay and the spruce trading port from the seaside, life would go on running smoothly...

After a while, Jack crossed his hands behind his head and closed his eyes for a little nap - they flashed open again when Caithleen placed herself upon his lap, bent over him and asked: "Tell me, you little crab, you won't dare to fall asleep, without letting me know what to do next, won't you? You're the captain, so, what are we going to do when we reach the village and the port?"

"You can ask me this again when we're there, love. At the moment, I'm neither interested in going to town nor in sleeping – for you held me off of doing so", he buried his hand within her hairline and dragged her down on him to face him: "You know just all too well that I'm in need of something totally different right now, love, don't you?" He covered her lips with his, melting into a deep kiss with her and with one fluent move he rolled her round upon her back that he came to lie on her tender body. He wasn't cagey about the desire he felt for her and whispered: "There is no escape for you, Caith. You lightened my desire and, now, I will set you on fire..."

No one paid regard to the two youngsters who seemed to have chosen today of all days to have a visit at town. They kept a low profile amongst all those fishermen, peasants, traders, merchants and market women who praised their goods vociferously while, at the same time, they tried to over-call each other. The same applied when they came across the sailors and seamen being on shore leave while their ships lay for anchor within the bay. They all swarmed ashore to have a visit with the barber, the surgeon or with one of the numerous taverns and brothels to spend a night with a frisky drinking bout, playing cards or searching for some good company with the harlots to get to satisfy some of their urgent needs. The girl with those frizzy black curls and the boy with the pretty face vanished midst the crowd at once and got mingled amongst all the others who used the market-day to have a visit at town.

Caithleen – halfway amused and halfway puzzled – just marvelled at a pair of diminutive shoes totally made of brocade when Jack joined her stowing some apples away within his bag. He beheld the shoes first then Caithleen and finally her bare feet then he said while chewing on a piece of apple: "Don't tell me you'd like to wear something like that, love? You would never get up into the shrouds, then, I bet! Or you would fall out of the crow's nest..."

"You...!" Caithleen shot him an angry glare.

"Oi! Time to go as it were..." Jack started running to escape her acted fury, but not for long and when they stopped chasing each other through the lanes and round the places, they finally ended up at the port. They found themselves surrounded by lots of storage- and warehouse and all the offices of the trading companies they belonged to. A loud snarl of different languages and tongues whirred round their heads and they both tried to sound out wherefrom all the men came who dealt with all sorts of business. Besides English and Spanish they picked up nuggets of French, German, Italian, Dutch and Portuguese mingled with the very own sounds of speech the Caribbean was known for.

Within large crates, bales and sacks spices, fabrics, tobacco, coffee and cocoa got handled from the ships over to the storehouses and vice versa. It smelled of all those temptations the wide ocean and the world offered and Jack and Caithleen remained sitting on the quay wall for a while.

"Could you imagine to become the captain of a merchant vessel?" Caithleen asked and pointed towards the ships moored to the pier and anchoring within the bay, all sailing under different colours and for many different trading companies.

"Why not? Maybe not as a merchant but as a privateer. I told you once that it was not my intention to become a pirate." Jack smirked: "All I want is to stay aboard a ship and once I'm the captain of my own vessel you will be my first mate." He sprawled on the wall and buried his head within her lap: "Caith. Caithleen Stevens. Hmm", he looked straight into her eyes before he added: "What do you think, how would this sound, love: Caithleen Sparrow?"

"Like it..." She responded caressing his cheek.

"What do you think? Will you accompany me, no matter where I'll go? I would love you to do so..."

"You're a dreamer, Jack Sparrow! How can you be sure, today, what it is you'll long for in the years to come? How can you be sure that it is me, whom you'll desire in the years to come. For sure you'll come across lots and lots of girls as soon as you're the captain of your own vessel and you'll tell them all the same you just told me..."

"No!" Jack sat up: "I won't!" His words were all stern when he explained: "A life like Patrick and Rosalind use to live it here together...it is something special. It is what I would love to have as well, Caith..."

"A life full of dangers...?" Caithleen teased him with a smile.

"No, a life at sea, a life in freedom, a life aboard a ship which will carry us towards the horizon without letting us know what will wait for us the next day..."

Loud laughter burst out behind them and when they sat up, they found themselves surrounded by half a dozen sailors on their way to town and, for sure, straight towards the next brothel. A rude and rough voice interrupted Jack: "Listen to those little turtle doves, guys! Still wet behind their ears but already talking about love and sailing on their own ship." He built himself up in front of Jack and Caithleen and went on: "First of all you should grow up, lad. Having a look at you, I would think you would not even become a ship's boy under our captain..."

"But you have to admit that this dapper little fellow is a really cute one, isn't he?" A second voice threw in: "He would be the right one to keep the captain's berth warm and the captain as well..."

They burst out laughing again, but it was too late for Jack and Caithleen to escape their attention as they surrounded them tightly and gazed at them with unashamed lust.

"You're right!" The first man answered: "He's slender and I bet he's tight!" He grunted and his companions nodded: "But man alive, guys! Look at his girl! This little poppet he's lying around here with! What a sweet little lass! Let's place another bet. The eighth part of my share from the next prey. I bet this cute little sweet still owns her virginity..."

"I'm in!" The second replied: "Your part and mine as well, they're both virgins and I bet she's very tight as well – on both sides."

"Can't believe that!" A third voice answered back: "I bet this cute little lad already tasted his pretty little lass..."

"Well then, let's find it out, guys!" The first yelled: "Grab hold of them!"

Jack and Caithleen were trapped. There was no way out of this mess and the men caught them both within their firm grip. They coiled up against the men and Caithleen bit one of them when he placed a hand over her mouth, but the supposed leader of the group pushed his companion aside and slapped her hard: "Don't dare doing this again, little wench."

"Caith!" Jack tried to free himself but they only kept him tighter.

"Quiet, boy! We'll deal with you later. First, we want to have some fun with this little wildcat. To pop a lass' cherry is a rare pleasure after having spent nearly a year at sea, can tell you that! And this one is not only pretty but young and wild as well..."

"You err, mate!" Jack raised the stakes: "This cherry was mine..." He was prepared for the slap but not for its violence.

"Jack!"

"Everything's fine, love!" He replied not sure, though, if he was right, this time.

"You're next!" The first man snarled, then he grabbed Caithleen with her chin and it felt as if he wanted to break it. The same moment he pressed a rough kiss upon her lips and forced them apart while his hand slipped under her shirt and felt for the delicious roundings of her youthful breasts. He cupped and kneaded them by turns, moaning from horniness, but all of the sudden he screamed and let her out. He covered his mouth and blood poured down his lower lip and over his fingers. Caithleen had nearly bitten it through.

He slapped her again and hissed: "You will pay for this, lass, I promise. You know, I don't care if you're still a virgin or not and I also don't care if this bonny lad is still a virgin or not! I will take both of you, one after the other or at the same time, we'll see. And when I'm done, I'll share you with my companions, one after the other, first, and together, later..."

"That will do for now!" They heard a voice coming from the pier and approaching hastily: "Du balai! Get you gone! Or I will send you all back aboard for this shore leave! Aren't you able to get that this girl is not a whore? Malgracieux! Lubbers! As if there are not enough wenches all around the isle! Allez, allez! Hurry up! Don't stand around here gaping!"

"Aye, captain!" The men gave in and let Jack and Caithleen out before they toddled off without protesting any more.

Jack dragged Caithleen into his arms and they watched how the men vanished amongst the crowd: "Are you all right, love?"

"Yes! You?"

"Me too..."

They turned round to have a look at the man standing behind them. He was an impressive and wondrous figure: A long powdered wig covered his head and its skilfully formed artificial curls fell straight over his shoulders and down his back. His face was powdered white as well and on his cheekbone he wore an eye-catching beauty spot. His clothes were made of the most selected fabrics and instead of heavy boots he wore elegantly buckled shoes. He rested on a skilfully carved cane and his whole figure was enwrapped in some intense perfume.

Jack and Caithleen exchanged a look then he cleared his throat and said: "Thank you, Sir, you saved us from a very special kind of mess."

"A votre service, mon fils!" The man replied hinting a bow: "The name is Capitaine Chevalle! At your service." The French hesitated for a moment then he added: "Tell me, lad, is it possible that we came across each other before?"

Jack winced and all of the sudden he got aware that the man was right. They really came across each other before. More than once.

At Shipwreck Island...!

Capitaine Jean-Baptiste Chevalle was one of the nine pirate lords and he visited the fortress at Shipwreck Cove at regular intervals...

Jack reached for Caithleen's hand, turned towards the French, then scratched his head and replied bashfully: "I'm sorry, Sir! If we should have met before, I can't remember. But will you excuse us, now? We have to leave. We'll set sail, soon, and we should not be late, you know. So, a thousand thanks again..."

Two glasses and a bottle of rum within his hands, Jack cleaved through the hopelessly crowded tavern. The market-day and a dozen ships lying for anchor within the bay guaranteed that the taverns and brothels were properly frequented and neither the innkeepers nor the harlots would run the risk of dying from boredom: The seamen, privateers and sailors were well paying guests in every meaning of the word.

The encounter with Chevalle and his men had left Jack all thoughtful for a while. Not only about the French captain having saved them from getting raped by his crew, but also about the question if he had recognized him or not. If Chevalle did, it could become extremely dangerous for all of them - not only for him and Caith, but also for Patrick and Rosalind and even for the hidden bay. What could add to the danger was that, even if the French was not really a friend of his father and even if Jack was certain about the fact that Edward Teague didn't really care about what happened to his son, it was still all about his reputation as the Keeper of the Code. And what could be a much better pressurizing medium to challenge said Keeper of the Code if not capturing his son and heir...

Jack still shivered at he thought that he and Caithleen could have ended up as the toys of Chevalle's crew, but he shook the thought off and squeezed through another two sailors until he finally reached the small niche where Caithleen was waiting for him. He grinned when he saw her sitting there. She wasn't just pretty she had been so courageous...

"If anybody would have told me that you're such a wildcat, love." His grin got broader: "Never thought that you'd bite that scumbag! I always thought girls to prefer scratching." Jack gave her a wink while he dropped down on the bench by her side to place the glasses in front of them and to fill them up to the brim.

Caithleen didn't give him a reply. She grasped for her glass, instead, and emptied it within one draft. Jack stared at her out of wide open eyes and swallowed his cheeky response when she started coughing. She rolled her eyes and said: "Ugh! I fear, I will never get used to it. But I have to get rid of the taste this bastard left on my tongue." She grimaced all nauseated and topped up her glass: "Who are those guys?"

"I've no idea, love. They seem to belong to Chevalle's crew, but except of him, I never came across one of them before. But I can tell you one thing or two about Chevalle. Even if he saved our lives and spared us from getting raped, he's to take with a pinch of salt. We can name us both lucky, because that peacock went ashore and was forced to save face. If they would have dragged us aboard his ship we would have ended up getting used to amuse the crew as long as they'd stay at sea..."

"You mean he would have tolerated that they – touch us?"

"Well, there had been a lot of rumour at Shipwreck Isle that his cabin boy and his ship's boy are a bit more than only that..."

Convinced that this day couldn't get much worse, Jack reached for the rum, topped up their glasses, again, and wanted to take a deep draft, when he suddenly froze to the spot. Two wrecked looking figures were discussing with the innkeeper and they were gesticulating wildly while showing him a framed miniature over and over again. Jack knew them and one of them he would have recognized blindfolded:

Underneath his broad brimmed hat there was his face to spot – inscrutable and wily. It was him who had almost caused his death, it was him to whom Jack owed that he lost his ship and it was him who owned the unrestrained trust of his father: Seamus Finch!

Was it by chance that he appeared on the isle, today? Did he know something about Jack's hideout? Actually, he was convinced that no one knew where Patrick took him to after he pulled him out of the bay, but what meaning did 'actually' really have? He exchanged a look with Caithleen and she got immediately that something was wrong when he said: "Let's make our exit, love. Come quickly..."

Caithleen didn't ask him about the 'why' or the 'what' for she trusted in his intuition. Due to this he had been able to spare him and others from getting hurt a countless times. She knew, there was no reason to doubt him, now.

They just wanted to slip out of the back door when an angry voice yelled after them: "Sparrow! Stand still you lousy toad! Since more than a year you mess about with us! It's time for you to learn that not even you will betray the code unpunished...!"

Jack hesitated for a moment. He thought about giving the man a reply, but then he decided that this could turn out to be a really bad idea. Therefore, he turned round, shrugged the thought off and followed Caithleen. As soon as they found each other in the lane, again, he grasped her hand and said just one word: "Run!"

So it happened that they ran through the lanes and straight over the squares of the spruce little port for a second time that day, always hoping that they'd stay unchallenged. All they had to do was to reach the dinghy in time. No one would be able to catch up with them, then.

Their luck did not last!

Shortly before they reached the shore and the dinghy, a shot cracked and buried into the sand close to their feet: "Don't force me to shoot again, Jack!" Finch pulled out his second pistol and aimed straight at Jack's brow: "I would feel sorry for telling Teague that I had to keep his son from doing something absolutely stupid by brute force!"

"Oh bugger", was the only answer Jack had in store within this moment.

Finch beheld him with a broad grin and continued while having a look at Caithleen: "Shove off, lass! This has nothing to do with you! Unless you're hell-bent on sharing my hospitality with this little bastard!"

"Hospitality?" Jack nearly spat that word out: "To be a visitant aboard your ship means to die of starvation while sharing the brig with vermin and rats. Although, if I think it over, I think I would prefer the vermin and the rats, if I'd have to choose between them and your crew, mate!"

"Now, now! Jack! It's just a few days until we reach Shipwreck Island. Not enough time to die, but time enough to prepare for a heart-warming reunion with your father!"

"Mark my words, mate, you can try everything you're able to, but I won't return to the island with you! Never!" Jack made a step forward to get to stand between Finch and Caithleen: "If you want me, there's only one way: Come and get me!"

"Who do you think you are, lad? You're not worth the try!" Finch snarled.

He prepared to shoot when suddenly another shot cracked. The bullet grazed Finch's cheek and bounced the pistol out of his hand: "You want to discuss who's worth a try? Mark my words, you're not, Finch!" It was a calm voice, unimpressed by Finch's rageful snort: "Get along with you and take your comrade with you before I'll think it over and send you back to Captain Teague tied up and enwrapped like a present! With kind regards, Mister Finch!"

Jack and Caithleen gazed at each other – the day prepared to get much, much worse...

"Patrick!" Jack whispered.

"And Jacobsen!" She replied.

"Well", Jack cleared his throat, raised his gaze and faced Swallow with an uncertain grin: "I'll explain all the matters to you, aye?"

"What did you think? Did you even think at all?" Patrick looked at Jack and Caithleen by turns and shook his head in disbelief: "One's willing to believe that not the children of two infamous pirates are standing in front of me, but two outstanding loggerheads!" He ran a hand through his hair and put it back into a braid, before he went on: "Not only did you steal my dinghy, no! It had to be the market-day you chose for your little foray!"

"But..." Jack made a shy try to answer him.

"I don't want to hear anything from you! Not that it had been by chance that the two of you came across Chevalle and Finch! Not that you're both sorry for it! And nothing else at all! I should throw you into the brig and keep you there for minimum a week! Both of you! Aboard different ships! Wasn't it enough that you're free to do whatever you want to? It was by a hair's breadth that you sold out the passage, the bay and our hideout without even knowing!"

Partick Swallow took Jack and Caithleen back aboard the "Silver Stream" after he had ordered to get the dinghy ready to be tugged. Back aboard he pushed the two youngsters into his cabin. He was angry and this wasn't due to the fact that they took the boat without permission, but due to the fact that they got themselves into the danger of losing their lives for several times that day.

Patrick dropped down into a chair and went on: "Both of you will become captain of your own ships, one day – in case, you'll survive your next adventures. So, I want you to think about one little aspect: Neither me nor Rosalind will always be there to get you out of a mess like today's!"

"Patrick...!" Caithleen also failed to answer him.

"Oh no, little lass, I'll not put in your favour that you're still children. Not, since you're old enough to spend a lot of time on finding out how well you fit together! Did I make myself clear?"

Patrick Swallow wasn't able to hide a satisfied grin when Jack and Caithleen both blushed up to their ears. Obviously, they knew what it was he tried to tell them and they were both too sheepish and abashed to realize his smile. Because he didn't want them to catch him by surprise, he cleared his throat and added: "We did not reach the end now! I want you to take responsibility for your stupidness, so, tomorrow morning, you will start scrubbing the deck! Both of you! On both ships! Did you get that? And this means also: No sensual nightly expeditions, but some daily encounters with bucket, water, soap and brush for about a week or two!"

When Jack took a deep breath to give him a reply, Patrick waved them both to leave: "I've nothing more to say...!"