Chapter Three
Somehow, beyond Will's comprehension, they reach the docks without getting caught. Jack pulled him down behind a stack of canoes on the beach, as a squadron of soldiers, no doubt looking for Jack, marched by.
"What's the plan?" Will whispered.
Jack turned to him. "This girl...how far are you willing to go for her?"
"I would die for her!" Will declared passionately.
"Oh, good. No worries then." Turning, Jack pointed to The Interceptor.
"We're going to steal that ship?!"
Jack shook her head. "No, no. We are going to commandeer. Nautical term, boy. We're going to commandeer that ship."
Shaking her head, Jack neatly tucked herself under a canoe and pulled Will along with her. Once the coast was clear, they began making their way to the ocean.
"This is either mad or brilliant." Will stated as they trudged along the ocean floor.
Jack gave him an unreadable look. "It's amazing how often those two traits coincide."
They reached The Dauntless, and as they quietly scaled the side, Will turned to her. "Jack, why are we on The Dauntless? I thought we were stealing- sorry, commandeering, The Interceptor."
"All in due time, William. All in due time."
Scrambling up on deck, Jack drew her new sword. "Everybody stay calm! We're taking over this ship!" she shouted, with great enjoyment.
"Aye, avast!"
Jack looked at him. "Seriously?" she asked. Will shrugged sheepishly.
Rolling her eyes, Jack turned back to the crew of laughing Naval officers. One, presumably the Captain, approached her. "You really intend to do this? You're naught but a wench! You'll need a full crew to even make it out of the bay!"
Jack growled and stuck the tip of her cutlass under his chin. "I'd watch who I call 'wench', love. Someone could easily take offense to such…harsh language" Her eyes took on a steely glint, and she gestured toward the canoe. "Into the tiny boat."
The Dauntless was soon empty, save her and Will. The crew floundered around in the canoe, trying to get to The Interceptor. She began shouting orders for him to raise the foresail and make ready to raise anchor. Suddenly, Will stopped. "This is going to be impossible."
"Improbable." she corrected. "That's why we aren't taking this ship." She pointed to the horizon behind Will. "We're taking that one."
Sailing straight toward them, having obviously seen the distressed crew, was The Interceptor.
Jack clapped her hands excitedly. "Come along, dear William, and let me show you what being a pirate is really about!"
A short time later found The Interceptor pulled up alongside The Dauntless. As the crew unloaded onto The Dauntless, Jack and Will quickly swung over onto the deck of The Interceptor. Will ran down the side, cutting all the lines tying the two ships. As they sailed away, Jack heard angry shouts coming from behind them. She turned and lifted her hat in salute to the Commodore.
"And many thanks to you, my dear Commodore, for making ready our ship! We'd have had a hard time of it by ourselves!"
"Sir! They've disabled the rudder chain!"
Commodore Norrington stood, staring incredulously at the feminine figure that waved at him from his ship.
"She has got to be the best pirate I've ever heard of." One of his Lieutenants stated, clearly impressed.
Norrington scowled. He would find Ms. Jack Sparrow, even if it cost him his life. She would not get away.
Hours later found Jack back on the open water, the wind in her sails and salt and sea in her face. She breathed deeply, unable to believe her turn of luck. Finding The Pearl, the son of her deceased best friend, and a new ship to boot. For a moment, she felt as though she sat atop the world.
Until the whelp opened his mouth.
"I worked on a ship coming from England as a boy...I came to the Caribbean looking for my father." He said.
"Is that so?" Jack replied, giving him a sidelong glance.
"Yes. My father...William Turner. You knew him."
Oh boy.
Jack remained silent, and the boy grew frustrated. "I'm not a simpleton, Jack. At the jail, you only agreed to help me after you heard his name. You knew him, didn't you?"
Jack's grip on the wheel tightened until her knuckles turned white. She did not want to talk about this.
"Yes, I knew him. Bill Turner. Probably one of the few who could make that claim. Most everyone else knew him as 'Bootstrap'. He was my best friend…"
"Bootstrap?"
"He was a good man, and an even better pirate."
At this, Will looked angry. "That's not true. He was not a pirate."
"I don't want to talk about this, Will."
But the boy would not drop it. He seemed determined to stick up for his father's honor, and pick a fight.
"My father was a merchant! He was a respectable man who followed the rules and the laws-"
Jack whirled around. "You think that your father is the only one who lived his life telling folks one thing, and doing another? He had a family to look after, and a yearning for freedom in his soul. Piracy was a solution to both those problems!"
At this, Will's eyes became murderous. "My father did not think of our family as a burden-"
Jack leveled her gaze to meet his. "Sure, because at the end of the day, he could always turn to pirating."
"My father was NOT A PIRATE!" he shouted, whipping his sword out.
Jack looked at him and sighed. "Put it away, son. It's not worth you getting beat again."
At this, Will looked positively outraged. "You cheated! You ignored the rules of engagement and beat me unfairly. I would have won."
"Well then, that's not much incentive for me to fight fair now, is it?" Jack sneered.
Quicker than Will could swing, Jack spun the wheel and ducked as the main boom sail swung about, knocking straight into Will. He clung to it, feet dangling over the open ocean. Jack pulled out her own sword and leaned casually to the side.
"Now, as long as you're hanging there, listen carefully. Must, should, do, do not, shall not...those are all just suggestions, love. There are only two absolutes." Jack leveled her sword and gave it an experimental swing, still marveling at the impeccable balance, before pointing it directly at him. "What a man can and cannot do. You'd do well to remember that. Now, for instance, you can accept that your father was a pirate, and still a good man...or you can't. Now me, I can sail this ship to Tortuga all by me onesie, but I cannot dock without you."
Jack spun the wheel again, and the boom came swinging back over the deck. Will landed with a dull thud. She walked over to where he sat. "Now the question is...can you," Jack offered him a hand. "Or can you not sail under and as a pirate?"
Will looked at her hesitantly, before accepting her hand, just as he had back at the jail. "Tortuga?"
Jack grinned. "Aye, Tortuga."
Jack didn't remember falling asleep, but once she did, the dreams came.
Walking along a soft, sandy beach, the setting sun drenching the water with golden light. Rum and coconuts and open fire. Falling asleep under the stars.
Endless nights sailing the dark Mediterranean waters, glowing coasts in the far distance. Fine wine, and even finer music.
Fleeing royal fleets, fooling Kings and Queens alike.
Roses.
Jack woke with a start and flinched violently away from the hand shaking her awake. Will was standing over her and he frowned, removing his hand from her shoulder.
"Are you alright? You were talking in your sleep." he said.
Jack slowly took a deep breath, trying to calm her pumping heart. She looked up. "Of course, mate. But...did I say anything of...particular interest?"
He looked at her strangely. "You kept mentioning 'Roses' and something about the British Crown?"
Jack flushed, but was relieved. Nothing about her and...well...she didn't want to think about that. Jack jumped up. "Well, I think I've gotten enough sleep for the night. I'll take it from here."
Will gave her another uncomfortably long look before nodding, and curled up on a pile of ropes. He was asleep within minutes, leaving Jack alone with her thoughts.
She took the helm and looked up at the stars. Adjusting her course slightly, Jack looked at the sleeping boy thoughtfully. He was almost young enough to be her son- almost. She wasn't that old.
He reminded her so painfully of Bill.
Sometimes she forgot that he was really gone for good. After news of his death had reached her, Jack had been devastated. That had been a very difficult time in her life, the few years after the mutiny. She didn't like to think of those years. A dark cloud shadowed them and seemed to follow her everywhere. In vain, she had tried to banish the blackness, but even drink had only temporarily distracted her.
Jack sighed. She had learned a hard lesson indeed, but the price was finally going to be repaid.
If anyone had bothered to ask Elizabeth Swann how her day had been, the answer would be fairly simple- horrible.
She had been plagued by dreams, woken up only to be strangled into a corset, been proposed to, fallen off a cliff, almost drowned, threatened by a rogue female pirate- I mean really! She thought. I thought women were supposed to stick together!- and had then been chased around her own home before finally being kidnapped in a vaguely roundabout way.
Elizabeth had not had a pleasant day, to say the least.
And now, currently, she stood somewhere aboard the ship The Black Pearl, holding an admittedly beautiful wine red dress that she was supposed to wear to dinner with the Captain- that, or dine naked with the crew.
Elizabeth shuddered and began dressing.
Elizabeth entered the room, and Captain Barbossa gave her an approving look. "Maid or not, it suits you well."
Elizabeth raised an eyebrow at his compliment. "Dare I inquire as to the fate of the previous owner?"
A shadow passed over the Captain's face, and he sat up stiffly. "No, you may not."
She was intrigued, but looking at the spread of food in front of her, she decided to postpone her questions until after she ate. Elizabeth sat, and dug in vigorously.
"Try the wine, Miss." The Captian offered. Elizabeth accepted the ornate goblet and drank deeply.
"And an apple, next?"
Elizabeth paused and a look of horror spread across her delicate features.
"It's...it's poisoned!"
At this, he laughed. "Now, there be no sense in killin' ya yet, Miss Turner."
Oh. She thought. Well if he wasn't going to kill her, he obviously needed her alive…
Elizabeth had always been a...troublesome girl (not troubled, mind you). She had always stuck her nose into others business and liked knowing things about others, particularly things that nobody else seemed to know…she took pride in that. She could only imagine what her father would say now, seated at the table of a notorious pirate captain, sill sticking her nose where it didn't belong.
Carefully wiping her hands on a napkin, Elizabeth looked at the man sitting at the table with her.
"I must express my gratitude, Captain, for this impressive amount of food and drink, and the lovely dress. It really is quite stunning, though it has not been in fashion for quite some time...I must ask, how did you come by such a pretty thing?"
The Captain eyed her, his face unreadable. Elizabeth shoved her fear deep inside and met his gaze evenly. "I mean, such a fearsome, powerful captain such as yourself couldn't have spent all his years at sea alone…"
Barbossa looked at her a moment longer, before chuckling. "Ye've got spunk lass, I'll give ye that. Questioning a Pirate Lord at his own table…Why? What's got ye so interested?"
"I've always held a strong fascination for pirates, ever since I was a young girl. I've read every book I could get my hands on about pirates, and when I was young, I used to help the cooks in the kitchen and listen to the maid's gossip about the going-ons at the docks...pick up rumors and the like." She paused, and watched as Barbossa absently fiddled with a scrap of white lace tied around his wrist. "And while I've read much about Jack Sparrow- who by the way, is a woman!- I've yet to see anything written about you."
At the mention of Jack, Barbossa's face darkened. "I'll not be havin' that name mentioned on me ship, Miss Turner, and you'll do well to remember that."
However, Elizabeth's eyes lit up with excitement. "Ah! So you know Ms. Sparrow? Don't bother denying it, Captain. You didn't even look surprised when I said she was a woman, seeing as the common misconception is that she is a man."
"Yer too clever fer yer own good, Miss Turner," Barbossa said, sighing heavily. "Aye, I knew her...we had...dealings, in the past."
"Knew her?"
"Aye, Jack Sparrow is dead. Been dead fer close to 10 years now."
Elizabeth couldn't conceal the shock on her face. The Captain thought Jack was dead?! Elizabeth had been threatened by her less than a day ago! Wisely, Elizabeth chose not to reveal that information to the Captain, and chose her next words carefully. She didn't know exactly how the Captain felt about Sparrow.
"Did you know her personally?"
"...you could say that." He said at length.
Elizabeth was not to be deterred. "So...how did you get this dress? Was it hers?"
"Ye be askin' too many questions, Miss Tuner."
"So it was her dress?"
"I didn't say that."
"But you didn't deny it either."
Barbossa glared at her and Elizabeth smirked triumphantly.
"You'd do well to leave off, Missy."
"But if it was Jack's...how did you come by it? Why is it here, especially if she's dead? Do you know what happened to her?"
At this, Barbossa hesitated. An unreadable emotion flashed through his eyes. "She died alone, abandoned on a deserted island by her crew."
"What! They mutinied against her?"
"Aye, that they did. See, Jack had the bearings to an island of great treasure. Her crew asked fer the bearings, ye know, fer equal parts an' all, and so Jack gave them up. That night, they mutinied against her and left her on an island to die. She hasn't been heard from since."
"Why, that's awful! How do you know all that? What happened to her crew and ship?"
Barbossa narrowed his eyes. "That be enough questions from you. Eat up."
Elizabeth frowned. One more she thought.
"Captain...why aren't you eating?"
The Captain grinned wickedly, and Elizabeth regretted asking.
Less than an hour later found Elizabeth's night significantly worse than it had been before.
She had stabbed the Captain in the chest, only to find that he was some sort of undead vagrant and that he and his entire crew were cursed by Aztec Gold that, of course, only her blood could reverse. They had then proceeded to terrorize her, and now she was locked in the dingy brig below deck.
She curled up as best she could on the cold bench. Something was missing, some piece of the puzzle. Jack and Barbossa obviously knew each other. Elizabeth thought about the emotion that she had seen on the Captain's face while they had talked about Jack. Anger and...guilt? She had a suspicion that Captain Barbossa and Captain Jack knew each other very well. She just couldn't figure out how.
These thoughts continued to swirl around her head as she fell into an uneasy sleep.
Hey guys, thanks for your patience with this chapter! Not to worry though, I haven't forgotten about this fic. I am beyond excited with the reviews I've been getting. If you notice any errors or spelling mistakes, just let me know. I look over these very carefully before posting, but I am only human. Anyway, I hoped to show a bit of what Barbossa was thinking with this chapter