Chapter 19: 1724 A Withered Rose
Let's head home...
When the "Eagle's Wing" set sail to leave Marseilles, neither her captain nor her crew did spend a thought on the idea that they would not head for London and a long Winter's shore leave, but straight for the Caribbean. They sailed past France and Spain without getting followed any further and without getting engaged in another disastrous sea fight and when they passed the Strait of Gibraltar, a calm sea and favourable winds awaited them - as well as another of Lord Beckett's privateers carrying new orders for Jack and his crew:
Setting sail towards Port Royal...
The goods and the freight, better what was left of more than a year's journey after having gotten attacked by Henry Batiste, got reloaded to the waiting vessel and those of Jack's crew mates whose injuries did not allow a crossing over to the Caribbean got replaced by sound sailors and fresh faces.
Neither Jack nor Jacobsen were overly enthused over these orders, especially as they had no chance but to accept the new members of their crew without having been able to hire these men themselves. In addition, the new orders didn't come with any kind of special task or any kind of specification but one:
To head for Port Royal without any delay!
Spared from a rough sea and heavy weather, the "Eagle's Wing" made port within the bay of the former notorious pirate hideout just about two weeks later and Jack got noticed by the governor that he and his crew were meant to hunt down a number of Spanish gold transports.
This said, the "Wing" would patrol round the islands and the Caribbean Sea without a Winter's break, without a chance for a much needed and long waited for extended shore leave and, worst of all, without getting a chance to pull her ashore for proper mending and reparation.
The only one aboard who obviously enjoyed this unexpected journey to the fullest was Professor Prudencia to whom every new day and every new island they passed by felt like a new chapter within his personal adventure diary.
In short: He'd not return to France or to England aboard the "Wing" but stay in Port Royal or elsewhere in the Caribbean to build up a new life for himself...
As the time the "Eagle's Wing" would spend within the Caribbean drew to a close, the same went for Albert Prudencia's time aboard the proud vessel whose captain and crew he came to love and to respect during the months he was allowed to sail together with them. The journey itself but also the hardships and blessings a life aboard a ship meant to its crew, left a deep impression on him as much as the young man who captained the vessel. Prudencia didn't know it, yet, but he already guessed that Jack Sparrow was surely one of a kind amongst the many captains sailing the seven seas, one of those rare human beings who would not abuse their ranks or their position to gain and gather riches or reputation while walking over the dead bodies of their crew or their rivals.
And so he had become witness how the storage and the freight room of the "Wing" got filled up with treasure without leaving behind a trace of destruction and devastation whenever she left another vessel after a successful raid.
Jack considered him a part of his crew and, therefore, he offered the usual payment and the usual ten percent of each successful prey to him, but Prudencia only accepted a small chest with gold and jewels and one of the bigger chests filled not with gold and silver but with clothes, attire and decoration, instead. When asked why he'd prefer this rather useless stuff over a somehow bigger amount of gold and money, his only reply would be a mysterious smile.
It was shortly before the "Wing" would reach Port Royal when Jack and Prudencia shared a bottle of rum within the captain's cabin exchanging thoughts about their shared events aboard and about an indistinct future.
Jack raised his glass of rum with a little smile and addressed his guest: "To you, professor! I hope, you'll find what you're looking for when you'll disembark in a couple of days. My wishes for you are favourable winds and a good fortune wherever you may travel to." He downed the rum in a single draft, topped the glass up and added: "I admit it openly, I hate to let you go, but I cannot lock you up in the brig and keep you from your own adventures, no matter how big or small they will turn out. And, who knows, maybe the tides will wash us up at the same shore again, one day."
"Thank you, son!" Prudencia replied, a hint of woefulness within his words: "I'd lie, if I'd say it comes easily to me to leave your vessel and your crew, but you'll return to England and you'll stay there over the change of the years and that is not for me. I'm not yet sure, if I'll stay in Port Royal. Maybe I will, for a while, but there are so many other places to discover for someone like me, who never got the chance to travel that far ever before. So, I think, I'll sample the pleasures of this new life for a while."
"No doubt on the fact that you'll find what you're looking for. After all, you have a lot to offer. Not only to a former pirate like me, but also to many of the people you'll meet all around the Caribbean."
Prudencia nodded at Jack's words and let them sink in, before he asked: "Do you miss it, being a pirate?"
"What do you mean, professor?" Jack looked at him a little puzzled.
"I was just wondering: Does it really make a difference if you capture a ship with or without letters of marque?" Professor Prudencia gazed at Jack curiously over the edge of his glass.
"I'm not sure, if I get what you want to tell me..."
"You don't? Then let me help you with it! It's about a year, by now, since you dragged me out of my settled life as a doctor and apothecary in Marseilles, and I have to admit that I take a shine to the life you lead as well as to the whole adventure itself and, therefore, it surely didn't escape your attention that I watched everything you did curiously, attentively and fascinated. You're not the kind of pirate, who slaughters other sailors out of bad temper or for pleasure. You're after a proper prey and not after a long list of killings. So, once again, son: Where is the difference for you between sailing under the skull and crossbones or under letters of marque?"
"Since I no longer scuttle English ships, I'm only hunted by the Spanish and the French..."
The professor laughed: "Oh, I see! This definitely pays off, I'd say!"
"What's so funny, professor?" Jack shook his head looking at the man opposite to him: "You're talking in riddles!"
"Am I? Really? And I thought you to be a wide awake young man, Jack Sparrow! Your girl understood immediately!"
"You talked to Caithleen about this?"
"Why not? She's your helmsman, isn't she?"
"Of course, she is and I know, she isn't happy with sailing for the company. Not our rules, not our course, not our prey not even our ship..."
"That's what she told me, indeed. And you? How do you feel, Jack? Are you an employee of the East India Trading Company or are you the pirate you got raised to be?"
"Does it really matter?"
"It does, son! Having watched you over the bygone months, one thing about you, no one had to tell me. It was obvious."
"What's that supposed to be?"
"You love your freedom! So, tell me, why did you sell it? Haven't you noticed, by now: The company will only take and never give, Jack. You won't get anything from them in the long run. In their eyes you will always be a random pirate, no matter what they will promise to you by giving you letters of marque."
"What strange things you're thinking about, professor! I thought you were a scientist?"
"Jack, you're young, you're valiant and for sure you're not a fool. I told you, I kept taps on you, son. Everything you do, is well-thought-out and you do it deliberately – be it in negotiation or in a sea fight. You're passionate, you'll fight like a lion for all those things your heart belongs to. I saw you suffer when your girl was closer to death than to life. So, don't dare telling me it's of no meaning to you what happens to her, to you or to your crew!"
"You think, I've still a choice? Which chance do you think I have if I leave the company?"
"The chance of freedom? The chance to regain self-determination? Have you ever thought about what's left to you of all your proper preys? You get a fractional amount of all the goods and riches you and your crew risk your lives for and as your lovely girl said, not even your ship belongs to you no matter how often you will tell yourself this lie. And I promise you, the day will come where they will drop you. They will take the letters of marque away from you, your ship next and then your freedom and your life."
"Yes, professor, I fear, you're right..."
Jack fell silent.
Prudencia had been right, of course had he been right, and even if Lord Reginald respected him as the one he was, it would not mean that his followers would do the same...
It was the day before the "Eagle's Wing" would reach the bay of Port Royal and to Jack's surprise, Professor Prudencia asked him for a favour before he'd go ashore: He asked for Jack's allowance to use the parlour for a 'little private business of his' and Jack agreed.
He didn't wonder any more about the strange ideas the professor used to come up with and so he didn't even ask of what kind this 'little private business of his' would be supposed to be of. Even more so, because he learned to cherish some of those weird ideas the professor let him in on, like taking a walk on the sea floor while carrying a boat over one's head for breathing - a truly helpful idea if one was hell-bent on avoiding disagreeable encounters.
To make the impossible possible, even if everyone would call him mad, that was what Albert Prudencia taught him and he and Caithleen did listen to him whenever their duties aboard allowed it – all curiously, sometimes sceptically and mostly utterly thrilled.
As the day passed by, he got told that not only the Professor did vanish but Caithleen as well – and none of the men had a clue whereto.
Jack felt tempted to shrug this thought off, as, in itself, it wasn't unusual, but aboard a ship? This was quite remarkable. What really made him wonder amongst all those wondrous things going on behind his back was, when the ship's cook threw him out of the galley. That was when he decided that he had enough of those oddities and when he went to lock himself up within the chart room where he then sat brooding over half a dozen books and sea charts, tried not to think about what was going on aboard his vessel.
It was early in the evening when Prudencia showed up, all of the sudden, and interrupted him within his self imposed exile, but before he was able to say a word, the professor pre-empted him, grasped for a glass of wine and placed himself on the edge of the table: "I guess, you spent the whole day wondering about what I was doing aboard your ship, didn't you?"
"Professor, if I would really wonder about what was going on aboard my vessel, I would have ordered the crew to throw you overboard without further ado. Savvy? Fortunately, I had a year's time to get used to your weird and strange behaviour, so, what I really asked myself, today, was, how you succeeded in enthusing Caithleen over your little conspiracy."
"If it's necessary, I can be really convincing !"
"As it were, mate!" Jack presented the French with a grin: "But, still, this does not explain what was going on aboard my vessel, aye?"
"Before I will explain it all to you, I want you to answer me a question, son. What do you love most?"
It was rarely enough that one succeeded in leaving him speechless, but the professor seemed to have found a way to make this happen way too often and so Jack beheld Prudencia with an expression of utter confusion: "May I ask you, if you're bored, professor? If it is that way you can relieve me from writing the reports for the logbook, tonight."
"Oh no, I'm not bored, son! I only want your answer to an easy question." Albert Prudencia looked at him full of expectation.
Jack sighed. "Well, then! Actually, there are three things on earth I really love, professor: My freedom, the sea and – Caithleen."
"You see, it wasn't that difficult to answer this, right?" Prudencia gave him a smile: "I haven't told you, yet, but over the bygone months, I started to look at you like a father would look at his son. Maybe even more than I'd look at my own son back at home in Marseilles. You dragged me out of a convenient and contemplative life, but what I saw and experienced since I agreed to sail with you, makes up for all those inconveniences, triply. My son and my...and his wife are pleased with their lives. For them, it's already an imposition if they have to travel from Marseilles to Paris. They cling to their house and the apothecary and to the meek profit it brings in. The girl is somewhat small-minded and my son is a cheapskate. For sure, this does not say anything about his skills as a doctor and apothecary, but I don't like these features. Believe me or not, lad, if he'd have been the one to open the door for you, that night, everything would have ended totally different, but, let us cut a long story short: Sometimes I doubt that I came across you by chance, Jack Sparrow. My new life will be full of challenges and of twists and turns no one will be able to foresee, but I'll embrace them. Keeping all this in mind, I thought about how I could thank you and your girl for everything you taught me – not only about pirates."
"Professor, may I ask, if you're not bored, are you drunk?"
"Not yet, lad, not yet, but before I will give my little secret away, you better follow me. Now!"
Jack let out a sigh. He stacked up the books, dowsed the candles and followed Prudencia to the small parlour, he had occupied the whole day long, and when the professor pushed him through the door, he didn't want to believe in what he saw.
The whole room shimmered and sparkled within the warm light of countless candles and lanterns. The old and nearly blind mirror at the opposite wall had gotten polished and seemed to enlarge the room. The table in front of him carried glasses made of crystal, bottles of wine, rum and sweet liqueur, tableware of finest china and artfully crafted silverware, and, as it seemed, the professor had obviously been able to incite the ship's cook to unusual efforts.
"Sit down, son, and save your questions for later. There is still missing something!"
Jack stared at Prudencia as if he'd dream a magical dream and as if he'd fear to wake up before he'd be able to enjoy it and while he still marvelled at all those delicacies and all the decorations, the eager professor vanished for a moment.
When the door got opened again, Jack had no idea of what to say or what to do.
They told him later that all he did was staring at the miracle the professor brought to him.
Maybe this was the truth...
In front of him stood Caithleen, but Jack had never seen her before like he did tonight:
She wore a dress made of black brocade. It was adorned with embroideries and laces made of silver threads and it perfectly showed and hid her female attractions at the same time. Her hands were covered with gloves of black lace and on her feet she wore slippers made of black velvet. Her untamed black hair got kept in a pearly hairnet and a filigree necklace of silver and crystal adorned her neck.
The professor took her hand and led her round the table and still all Jack was able to do was to behold her.
Prudencia smiled at him: "It's amazing, but there is really something which is capable to leave you speechless. I know, she pleases you most as the one she is: A young and pretty pirate lass. But every man dreams about kissing a princess every once in a while. You are lucky, Jack Sparrow, as you own both in one and because you know you do..."
Caithleen truly looked as if she belonged to a dream and she smiled in amusement when she said: "I suppose, you still know who I am, do you?"
"To forget about it would be light-headed, aye?"
"Light-headed, indeed, Jack Sparrow, because I'm hungry, for I had no time to eat for a whole day long."
"Believe me, I've not in mind to rush anything. Not tonight, love! Tonight, I'll take my time and I'll seduce you at my leisure..."
A couple of days later, Professor Prudencia waved the "Eagle's Wing" goodbye when she set sail for the crossing to England...
When the cry came from the crow's nest that an unknown ship was gaining on the "Wing", it was almost too late to escape. The galleon planed the sea like a shadow and it split the waves like a ghost ship or a greedy beast hungry for a loot. The ship prepared for a strike, the hatches for the cannons were open, already, and the crew was ready for the upcoming fight.
"Let them know, who we are", Caithleen screamed aboard the "Eagle's Wing": "Hoist our colours!"
The same moment they flew the skull and crossbones at the main mast and no longer the colours of the East India Trading Company.
Caithleen had a look around. The whole crew looked stressed and strained to the bones. None of them knew who these aggressors were or where they came from and none of them felt the need to get attacked on their way back to England for a second time.
Having lost a whole year's prey, once, did do...
Aboard the foreign ship was only little light which did not help during a new moon night, either.
"What's going on?" Jack relieved Caithleen at the helm.
"We got company. No sign of who they are, but also no doubt that they will attack us. The men and the guns are ready. If you need me, I'm below. We'll wait for your orders"
"Wait a moment." The space between both ships was shrinking visibly and constantly: "What are they waiting for, I wonder? They already could have sent us to the depths out of the dark, by now."
"What do you think?"
"Ask me when we got through this. I won't be waiting to become their prey, tonight! Caithleen, I want you to prepare for a broadside and for firing at will, afterwards. But wait for my order! And, Caith, be careful..."
"I am, captain!"
Caithleen went below while Jack brought the "Wing" about to get alongside to their enemy. She moaned under the sudden change of course, then the wind caught the sails and she gained speed and gathered way.
"Mr. Jacobson", Jack turned towards his first mate and ordered: "erase the lights that we won't be a target any more. The next they will see of us is the muzzle flash of our cannons!"
"Aye, captain!" The versed sailor went to pass the orders on and one by one the lanterns aboard the "Eagle's Wing" expired.
Strained to the core, Jack kept a watchful eye on the foreign ship, then only one word came over his lips: "Fire!"
The same moment he heard Caithleen below followed by the crack of their cannons. Screaming and the sound of bursting wood got carried over from the other vessel by the wind, then, all of the sudden, the foreign ship was enwrapped in glistening light. The "Wing's" broadside was exactly what their captain had been waiting for. The balls smashed into the ship and ripped open countless holes all along the "Wing's" side.
"What the...!" Jack tried to manoeuvre her out of the fire line, but the other captain was an excellent navigator as well. It was like a deja vu or as if his counterpart was able to read his thoughts. "All right, then, it's not my wish, but we will take you eye to eye."
Caithleen joined him at the helm with her face smeared with smut and with a deep scratch on her neck and while she and Jack watched Jacobsen and his tries to drive the men on, Jack told her: "Tell Jacobsen he shall prepare the men to board! I'm not willing to go down with my ship without fighting for it!"
She nodded and headed straight for their first mate, when, suddenly, everything happened at the same time: A ball smashed the helm with tremendous impact, while a second slashed the mainmast with a terrible crunch.
"Run!" Jack cried out for the crew: "Run! Out of its way!"
They tried yielding to the falling mast and while Jack was desperately trying to hold the "Wing" on course, utter confusion broke out when the ships got wedged in an awful mix of cracking wood, crunching planks and moaning masts. Dead and wounded lay on deck amongst the wreckage aboard both ships and for a split second, time seemed to stand still.
"We have to break free from that wreck!" Jack's men looked at him as if he was requesting a miracle.
"How shall we?" Caithleen asked: "I'm not sure, if Patrick's wisdom will work, this time".
"We have to try, love. Go and blast them away. Either we're successful and they will be ripped or..."
"Or?"
"...or we will...!"
Caithleen nodded: "You heard the captain, gents! Prepare the guns..."
"No need to exert yourself, Jack! Just bring them into line for your own ship! Or do you prefer me saying 'to my ship'?"
The voice sounded familiar to him and Jack turned round to face the bold captain, who had succeeded in hunting him down. In a way, he wasn't surprised to see Rosalind Stevens: This day had been overdue for a very long time.
Rosalind's pistol aimed at the middle of his brow and her icy look out of adamant eyes told him that she wouldn't miss him should he dare to move without permission.
Jack knew, all he could rely on, now, were his wits and his talents if it came to negotiation, and, so, he made a try: "Rosalind! So, that's how we're supposed to meet again? Why haven't you revealed yourself to us? We wouldn't sit here, stuck in the middle of such a bloody mess, then, and instead of two wrecks no longer worth a penny, we could at least still have one ship to set sail with, aye?"
"There is no longer need for you to worry about setting sail again or not, Jack! You won't set sail again! We're through! Once and for all! And I think, this place is absolutely perfect for you to say goodbye to your ship and to your crew. I'm convinced, you will get a privileged place aboard the 'Flying Dutchman' if Davy Jones should find you."
"I can't agree, Rose! The 'Dutchman' already has a captain and I've not in mind to challenge Jones! So, please, lower that pistol and tell me why you're in such a hurry to get rid of me. You never asked yourself, why we captured the 'Wing', back then, am I right?"
"That's no longer important to me! Thanks to you, she's now the property of the English!"
"Thanks to me, she is...well...was still sailing, before you turned her into smouldering debris, today! But wait, there is more to remember, isn't there, Rose? You blame me for having captured your proud little vessel and for having sailed it to England, but what about you? When we took the 'Wing' and left Tortuga, you had been nothing more but a walking and talking bottle of rum! Instead of going after the Spanish to show them, who Rosalind Stevens is...was...you buried yourself in Tortuga, wallowing in self-pity! Even your own daughter agreed about taking the 'Wing' from you. It was Patrick, who gave us that course, and you drowned his last wish in rum!"
"That's over! The past is over! Patrick is dead and it'll be my pleasure to render this service to you as well, today, Jack! For the last six years I was searching for you. I failed to find you. Again and again! I asked around for you, but it was aleways the same answer they gave me: You and the 'Wing' left a few days earlier. And during the winter months you hid yourself under the coat of your new friends of the East India Trading Company. You had the chance to become a legendary pirate, but you chose to sell yourself to those who are killing us where they find us."
"To hear this from you sounds really strange, don't you think as well, Rose? Wasn't it you, who always sailed for your own profit only? You scuttled, whoever got in your way: Spanish, French, English, even other pirates. Come on Rosalind, what are you waiting for? Kill me! But be assured, before your shot will hit me, you will be dead as well."
"Are you trying to make me a fool, Sparrow?"
"No, he won't! His shot is in this pistol and if you'll force me to make a decision, I know whom I will choose. It's a sad choice to make, but it's the only choice you'll leave me!" Caithleen stepped between Jack and Rosalind now. Her eyes fixed to her mother: "If you want to shoot him, you'll have to shoot me first."
"Foolish girl! I'd have given everything to you, but you ran away. What for?"
"To find, what you lost twice! It is not my fault and it is not Jack's fault that you lost everything. You only should have followed your heart, once! You only should have followed Patrick! Then we would not stand here discussing who of us will end at Davy Jones' Locker at the end of this day. But I can assure you, we will not be the ones!"
It was then, when Caithleen suddenly jumped back. She pushed Jack aside throwing the pistol over to him. Then she screamed: "Fire!"
An enormous blast wave shattered both ships when the 'Wing' broke free and when the wind caught and swelled the remaining sails.
Rosalind stood like rooted to ground when she saw her ship burst into flames and it was just like through a veil of numbness that she heard Jack's order: "Mister Jacobson, do us all a favour and lock Madam Stevens up within the captain's cabin, aye? We will make a decision about her fate later."
"Aye, Captain!"
"What will happen next?" Caithleen had a look around and what she saw left her disheartened within this moment.
The "Wing" was heavily damaged and without an active helm they weren't able to make port anywhere.
"Seems, we can't do anything but wait and see, love. There's nothing left to do, at the moment. Let's take care of the crew and get rid of the mess. It'll keep us busy until I'll come up with an idea, right?"
Some days later, the "Eagle's Wing" got tugged back to Port Royal.
An English merchant vessel found them in their awkward situation and offered to tow them back to port. Jack and Caithleen accepted that offer, gratefully, glad to finally make berth, because they and their crew shared the cramped place aboard with the survivors they pulled out of the sea after the battle. Together they had lightened the ship of all jetsam, including the cannons and the ammunition and afterwards the "Wing" consisted of no more but masts, hull and superstructure.
When they reached Port Royal, Rosalind Stevens got handed over to the governor.
She took this last chance to talk to Jack and Caithleen once more: "They will betray you, both of you. Mark of my words. You're a pirate, Jack Sparrow and they will remind you of it. Believe me, you will wish, you'd have never sold your freedom to the East India Trading Company."
With it Rosalind Stevens, one of the last free pirates having sailed the Caribbean, got thrown into the dungeons of Port Royal, together with her crew.
"I'm sorry, Caithleen!" Jack followed Rosalind with his eyes as she got taken away. There went the woman who had once loved him like a mother.
"It's not your fault, Jack. She would have scuttled us together with the 'Wing'. I had no choice."
"It was a dangerous manoeuvre, love."
"It doesn't matter, any more, right? We're here now, Captain Sparrow! And I did exactly what you had in mind."
"Oh yes, love. You did! You're a piratess, aye?"
"No, Jack! I'm your piratess...!" She replied...
"Captain Sparrow?" A handful of soldiers stopped in front of them: "Will you come with us please? The governor wants to talk to you about your return to England."