Disclaimer: See My First Chapter.
Commodore Norrington was once again closing in on the Black Pearl. Captain Jack Sparrow may have eluded him once before, but now he would get his sweet revenge. He could almost taste it. Since Sparrow had escaped, Norrington has blamed Elizabeth's marriage on the elusive captain. Many bitter feelings were welled up in the commodore's heart. Those three beautiful children could have been his; the special treatment from the governor could have been his. Norrington solely blamed Sparrow.
"Sir," Gillette said, coming up behind Norrington, "we are approaching the Black Pearl quickly."
"Prepare to board," Norrington said immediately.
"Sir?"
"Prepare to board, Gillette. We are going to board the Black Pearl."
There was no crew to be seen on the Black Pearl. The anchor seemed to be lowered and the only movement was the ship bobbing up and down. It appeared to be deserted.
"Commodore, there's no one on board," Gillette said in a low voice. "You think this a wise idea?"
"My orders are not to be questioned Gillette. We are boarding."
They were soon within boarding distance and Norrington's men laid down boards on which to cross. Norrington was the first on the ship, his sword drawn and eyes narrowed.
"Pirate," Norrington shouted. "Pirate, you are under arrest for the kidnap of Governor Swann's granddaughter. It would be prudent if you came out unarmed. It would be very imprudent if you decided to challenge us."
"But I am not a man known for my prudence Commodore," shouted Jack from the crow's nest.
"Indeed, Mr. Sparrow. You are known for rash decisions and foolish plans. I assume this is one of them now."
"My plans may be foolish, but they have yet to fail. All of your carefully planned out plans continuously fail. I think a certain.Elizabeth would agree with me.."
Norrington flushed and bit his tongue. "Are you mocking me Mr. Sparrow?"
"It would seem so Commodore." Norrington turned a deeper shade of crimson and glared at Jack.
"You're trapped, Sparrow," Norrington said maliciously, losing all tones of respect. "There's no possible way for you to get down without dying."
"Except this." Jack pulled Catherine up and held a sword at her throat. Norrington was speechless. Two feelings were at war inside himself: his pure loathing of Jack and his still intense love for Elizabeth. The loathing won out.
~*~
"Jack," Catherine whispered out of the corner of her mouth, "where is my father?"
"I don't know," he replied, sounding worried. "I didn't expect the entire navy to come after you."
"Well, what are you going to do?"
"Use you as a bargaining tool."
"Again?"
"Yes, Catherine, again."
"Your little leverage isn't going to work Mr. Sparrow," Norrington shouted up to Jack. "No one, except those under my control, are here to see either of you die."
Catherine gasped audibly. "Jack, get me down from here."
"I can't, they'll kill us both," Jack muttered.
"So, if you don't come down within five minutes, you can consider yourselves dead," Norrington continued to rant. "I have plenty of time to watch you two die."
"So how will explain Catherine's death, Norrington?" Jack shouted down.
A half-smile grew at the corner of Norrington's mouth. "The governor will no doubt believe me and my crew. Four minutes to make your decision."
~*~
"Jack," said Catherine, with tears falling down her face, "I don't want to die."
Jack looked at her. "You're not going to, luv. You're not going to." Jack furrowed his eyebrows and thought desperately of something to make everything better. He didn't need to think any longer when he saw another ship coming up on the horizon.
"Who did you say were your witnesses?" Jack called down to Norrington.
"You heard me the first time, pirate," Norrington shouted back.
"Because you forgot the other witnesses."
"Pray tell Sparrow, who are these other witnesses. Surely these birds," he pointed to the sky, "cannot testify before the governor." He smirked at his own joke.
"Commodore!" Gillette shouted. "We have another ship approaching!" Norrington whirled around.
"What?!" exclaimed Norrington. "Load the cannons!" He turned to face to the incoming ship but did not remove his place from the Black Pearl. He immediately glanced back at Jack and hurried off the ship.
Jack pulled out his spyglass to see who was captaining the incoming ship.
"He steered that ship all by his onesies," Jack said, amazed.
"Who?" asked Catherine, desperate for any information.
"Your father."
~*~
Will Turner was at the wheel of the ship when he saw the distant form of the Black Pearl and another ship, which looked very familiar. He continued to stare ahead, when suddenly a cannonball landed two feet away from the borrowed ship.
"What the -" shouted Will. Another cannonball landed even closer to the ship. He immediately turned the wheel to turn in the opposite direction. The cannonballs were getting farther and farther away. He took the ship around to the starboard side of the Black Pearl. He saw an older looking man standing on the deck. Next to him was Catherine.
Will, in exuberant jubilee, immediately lowered his anchor and jumped onto the Black Pearl. He gathered Catherine in a giant hug.
"I can't breathe!" she shouted after being consumed by her father's arms.
Will let go and looked at her. He wiped her hair out of her face and held her face between his hands.
"You know Jack never would have done anything to me," Catherine said stubbornly. Will suddenly felt stupid and he turned very red.
"I know Catherine.but your mother wasn't so sure," he lied.
"Then why didn't she come?" she asked sadly. "Why didn't she come?"
"You know she's not as young as she used to be," he replied. Catherine said nothing, but turned to the man next to her. "It's been several years. He's a spitting image of you." Will suddenly looked at the man.
"Hello William," the man said. It struck Will like a heavy ton of bricks: this man was his father. Mixed emotions swirled throughout his body: anger, joy, fear, and utter confusion. He would have stood there for hours, but Jack quickly ran up.
"Raise the anchor, mate," Jack said in an anxious voice. Will just looked at him. "What part of raise the anchor don't you understand mate?"
"You're giving me orders, after you kidnap my child?" Will said. "I don't believe you Jack!"
"You can think about my logic in a minute, but if you don't raise the anchor, this ship will be blown to bits. Your daughter included," he added. Will shook his head, but raised the anchor just the same. Jack to a deep breath and ran back to the wheel. They were off.
~*~
The Black Pearl was five hundred feet ahead of Norrington's ship, but Norrington's ship was closing in fast. Will had never seen Jack so worried as he was now. His eyes were trained on the horizon and he never took them off of them; he never seemed to notice the ship in pursuit of the Pearl. An intense look of concentration had had concealed his face and on occasion he would glance at his compass. They had roughly been sailing for the past five hours. There was now no sign of Norrington's ship, but Jack insisted they keep sailing.
Catherine had finally gotten over her state of seasickness and was lying on the deck of the Black Pearl, while staring up at the cloudy sky. Bootstrap was trying to engage Will in some form of conversation, but Will was trying to avoid the man he didn't want to grow up to be.
"Must be quite a shock to see me again, William," Bootstrap said grimly.
"Yes," Will replied curtly.
"I s'pose you'd like to know how I'm still alive."
"Not particularly."
"Oh." There was a long silence. "How'd you fare after I.got thrown off me ship?"
"I was just fine. Never received the credit I should have until my master died. Eventually, I found out my father was a pirate and I was named after him. Ever since, I have been trying to change my name to Fredrick Knickerbockers, and move to Spain."
Catherine snorted, but one look at her father's face told her he wasn't joking.
"I'm sorry yeh feel that way William," Bootstrap replied gruffly. "I never meant to become a pirate."
"I never meant to your son either. Is that what you mean? You had no choice?"
"That's not what I meant William."
"That's what it sounds like you meant." Will got up. "I am sick and tired of being lied to. I'm going to bed."
Bootstrap looked helplessly at Will's retreating form. He turned to Catherine, who was now lying on her stomach and watching Will leave.
"Why does he hate me so, Cate?"
Catherine stood up and stretched. "I don't think it's anything personal, grandfather. He just hates pirates in general."
"He seems to like Jack alright."
"Well, since Jack saved me mum's life several times over, Father feels indebted towards him."
"I never meant to leave him fatherless," Bootstrap muttered. "I never meant to hurt him."
~*~
Catherine had eventually headed down to her own quarters, while Jack and Bootstrap took control of the ship. It wasn't before long she was asleep. She slept for hours on end and finally woke when the ship gave an almighty lurch.
"Where are we, Jack?" she heard her father shout. "I thought you were taking us home!"
"I never said that, mate," Jack replied. "Besides, you can't go home now, savvy?"
"Why can't I go home now?"
"Norrington will have told the governor that you were aiding a pirate. By now the governor will have been told and you will have a price for your head."
"My daughter can't spend the rest of her life on the run!"
"She won't have to.. We can drop her off in Tortuga," Jack replied quietly.
"TORTUGA? TORTUGA? Are you mad man?"
Jack said something that Catherine couldn't hear and then she heard her father snort. She got up and looked out her window; they were on a small uninhabited island. It seemed to have held life at one point in time, for there were small, scattered houses around a square and there was a dock. However, Jack had not used the dock except to tie a rope around a post. Catherine heard footsteps coming down from above, so she flung herself on her bed to appear asleep.
Will walked into her quarters and shook her.
"Catherine, dove, it's time to get up," he cooed. Catherine rolled over and looked at her father with her eyes halfway opened. She grunted. "Seriously, Catherine, you've got to get up. We've docked." Catherine gave a fake yawn and sat up slowly.
"Where did we dock?" she asked.
Will shrugged and walked out of her quarters. Getting up, she put on a robe and slippers and made her way on to the top of the deck. The sky was no longer cloudy, but the sun was setting quickly. Jack was ushering Bootstrap and Will to the square of houses, and upon spotting Catherine, he rushed over to her.
"Best get inside before dark," Jack said. "You don't want to know what prowls this island at night." Catherine looked at him skeptically, but hurried into the house all the same.
~*~
The sun set more quickly than it usually did, but Catherine could not tell because a fire was blazing in the fireplace and Bootstrap was cooking some gruel in a pot over the fire. Jack had spread dozens of maps on a table in the middle of the room. Will was helping him pore over them and they talked in low voices. Catherine walked over to Bootstrap.
"That looks.appetizing," Catherine said, slightly gagging. Bootstrap gave a weak grin.
"Can't say it's the best thing I've ever made, Cate," he replied. "The only reason I'm making this is because we need the food."
"What is it?"
"I don't think you want to know." Catherine gulped and slowly backed away from the boiling pot. She walked over to the window to open it.
"Catherine!" called Will curtly. "Get away from the window!" Catherine immediately obeyed.
"Why?" she asked.
"Jack will explain after supper." Jack nodded in agreement. Catherine sat down in a chair and waited for Bootstrap to pour the gruel in bowls that were found in the house. Catherine sat in silence and listened to Will and Jack talk.
"If we go north we can drop Catherine off at Tortuga," Jack said with his mouth full.
"I am not dropping my daughter off at some pirate's city," Will said loudly. Bootstrap and Jack stopped eating and looked at Will; he didn't seem to notice.
"If we head more to the east we can drop her off in Antigua."
"Do we know anyone in Antigua?"
"I hear Gibbs has relocated to Antigua," Jack replied after taking a swig of rum.
"Do we have any other options?"
"You have something against Gibbs?" Bootstrap asked, finally speaking up.
"He's a pirate for one," Will retorted.
"As is your father," Jack reminded him.
Not wanting to see another row, Catherine spoke up. "What's wrong with me going with you two?"
Jack and Will turned to look at her.
"Was my request unreasonable?" she asked.
Will stood up and moved over to Catherine. "I can't imagine you wanting to spend the rest of your life on the sea," he muttered. "It's not fit for a woman."
"I'm nearly a woman," she snapped. "I should be able to decide what I want to do with my life."
"I would not allow you to do that," he replied.
"Nor would I," Jack interjected. Catherine stood up and glared at Jack.
"This is your fault!" she shouted. "I don't see why your opinion should count for anything. I'm going to bed." She marched up the stairs in the back of the room and flung herself on an empty bed. ~*~
They spent the next few days cooped up at night in the house and during the day, they let Catherine roam around the island. She would collect driftwood for the evenings' fires and occasionally found some jewelry. She would take it and show it to Jack.
"Where did you find that?" Jack asked with open eyes.
"They wash up on shore every morning around sunrise," she replied. "Why?"
Jack examined the pieces carefully. They were solid gold and had a seal on them. The seal had a picture of a small wolf with startling green eyes and a visible gash on the neck. Next to the wolf was the word Night. Jack's eyes grew wider.
"Put them back," he ordered.
"Pardon?"
"Put them back in the ocean, where you found them."
"But I -"
"Are you deaf woman? Put the bloody jewels back!" he shouted. Catherine jumped at his voice and threw the jewels back into the ocean. Except one, solid gold with a ruby in the center, washed up on shore. Jack had left, so Catherine bent down and picked it up. She looked around and walked back to the square of houses.
Commodore Norrington was once again closing in on the Black Pearl. Captain Jack Sparrow may have eluded him once before, but now he would get his sweet revenge. He could almost taste it. Since Sparrow had escaped, Norrington has blamed Elizabeth's marriage on the elusive captain. Many bitter feelings were welled up in the commodore's heart. Those three beautiful children could have been his; the special treatment from the governor could have been his. Norrington solely blamed Sparrow.
"Sir," Gillette said, coming up behind Norrington, "we are approaching the Black Pearl quickly."
"Prepare to board," Norrington said immediately.
"Sir?"
"Prepare to board, Gillette. We are going to board the Black Pearl."
There was no crew to be seen on the Black Pearl. The anchor seemed to be lowered and the only movement was the ship bobbing up and down. It appeared to be deserted.
"Commodore, there's no one on board," Gillette said in a low voice. "You think this a wise idea?"
"My orders are not to be questioned Gillette. We are boarding."
They were soon within boarding distance and Norrington's men laid down boards on which to cross. Norrington was the first on the ship, his sword drawn and eyes narrowed.
"Pirate," Norrington shouted. "Pirate, you are under arrest for the kidnap of Governor Swann's granddaughter. It would be prudent if you came out unarmed. It would be very imprudent if you decided to challenge us."
"But I am not a man known for my prudence Commodore," shouted Jack from the crow's nest.
"Indeed, Mr. Sparrow. You are known for rash decisions and foolish plans. I assume this is one of them now."
"My plans may be foolish, but they have yet to fail. All of your carefully planned out plans continuously fail. I think a certain.Elizabeth would agree with me.."
Norrington flushed and bit his tongue. "Are you mocking me Mr. Sparrow?"
"It would seem so Commodore." Norrington turned a deeper shade of crimson and glared at Jack.
"You're trapped, Sparrow," Norrington said maliciously, losing all tones of respect. "There's no possible way for you to get down without dying."
"Except this." Jack pulled Catherine up and held a sword at her throat. Norrington was speechless. Two feelings were at war inside himself: his pure loathing of Jack and his still intense love for Elizabeth. The loathing won out.
~*~
"Jack," Catherine whispered out of the corner of her mouth, "where is my father?"
"I don't know," he replied, sounding worried. "I didn't expect the entire navy to come after you."
"Well, what are you going to do?"
"Use you as a bargaining tool."
"Again?"
"Yes, Catherine, again."
"Your little leverage isn't going to work Mr. Sparrow," Norrington shouted up to Jack. "No one, except those under my control, are here to see either of you die."
Catherine gasped audibly. "Jack, get me down from here."
"I can't, they'll kill us both," Jack muttered.
"So, if you don't come down within five minutes, you can consider yourselves dead," Norrington continued to rant. "I have plenty of time to watch you two die."
"So how will explain Catherine's death, Norrington?" Jack shouted down.
A half-smile grew at the corner of Norrington's mouth. "The governor will no doubt believe me and my crew. Four minutes to make your decision."
~*~
"Jack," said Catherine, with tears falling down her face, "I don't want to die."
Jack looked at her. "You're not going to, luv. You're not going to." Jack furrowed his eyebrows and thought desperately of something to make everything better. He didn't need to think any longer when he saw another ship coming up on the horizon.
"Who did you say were your witnesses?" Jack called down to Norrington.
"You heard me the first time, pirate," Norrington shouted back.
"Because you forgot the other witnesses."
"Pray tell Sparrow, who are these other witnesses. Surely these birds," he pointed to the sky, "cannot testify before the governor." He smirked at his own joke.
"Commodore!" Gillette shouted. "We have another ship approaching!" Norrington whirled around.
"What?!" exclaimed Norrington. "Load the cannons!" He turned to face to the incoming ship but did not remove his place from the Black Pearl. He immediately glanced back at Jack and hurried off the ship.
Jack pulled out his spyglass to see who was captaining the incoming ship.
"He steered that ship all by his onesies," Jack said, amazed.
"Who?" asked Catherine, desperate for any information.
"Your father."
~*~
Will Turner was at the wheel of the ship when he saw the distant form of the Black Pearl and another ship, which looked very familiar. He continued to stare ahead, when suddenly a cannonball landed two feet away from the borrowed ship.
"What the -" shouted Will. Another cannonball landed even closer to the ship. He immediately turned the wheel to turn in the opposite direction. The cannonballs were getting farther and farther away. He took the ship around to the starboard side of the Black Pearl. He saw an older looking man standing on the deck. Next to him was Catherine.
Will, in exuberant jubilee, immediately lowered his anchor and jumped onto the Black Pearl. He gathered Catherine in a giant hug.
"I can't breathe!" she shouted after being consumed by her father's arms.
Will let go and looked at her. He wiped her hair out of her face and held her face between his hands.
"You know Jack never would have done anything to me," Catherine said stubbornly. Will suddenly felt stupid and he turned very red.
"I know Catherine.but your mother wasn't so sure," he lied.
"Then why didn't she come?" she asked sadly. "Why didn't she come?"
"You know she's not as young as she used to be," he replied. Catherine said nothing, but turned to the man next to her. "It's been several years. He's a spitting image of you." Will suddenly looked at the man.
"Hello William," the man said. It struck Will like a heavy ton of bricks: this man was his father. Mixed emotions swirled throughout his body: anger, joy, fear, and utter confusion. He would have stood there for hours, but Jack quickly ran up.
"Raise the anchor, mate," Jack said in an anxious voice. Will just looked at him. "What part of raise the anchor don't you understand mate?"
"You're giving me orders, after you kidnap my child?" Will said. "I don't believe you Jack!"
"You can think about my logic in a minute, but if you don't raise the anchor, this ship will be blown to bits. Your daughter included," he added. Will shook his head, but raised the anchor just the same. Jack to a deep breath and ran back to the wheel. They were off.
~*~
The Black Pearl was five hundred feet ahead of Norrington's ship, but Norrington's ship was closing in fast. Will had never seen Jack so worried as he was now. His eyes were trained on the horizon and he never took them off of them; he never seemed to notice the ship in pursuit of the Pearl. An intense look of concentration had had concealed his face and on occasion he would glance at his compass. They had roughly been sailing for the past five hours. There was now no sign of Norrington's ship, but Jack insisted they keep sailing.
Catherine had finally gotten over her state of seasickness and was lying on the deck of the Black Pearl, while staring up at the cloudy sky. Bootstrap was trying to engage Will in some form of conversation, but Will was trying to avoid the man he didn't want to grow up to be.
"Must be quite a shock to see me again, William," Bootstrap said grimly.
"Yes," Will replied curtly.
"I s'pose you'd like to know how I'm still alive."
"Not particularly."
"Oh." There was a long silence. "How'd you fare after I.got thrown off me ship?"
"I was just fine. Never received the credit I should have until my master died. Eventually, I found out my father was a pirate and I was named after him. Ever since, I have been trying to change my name to Fredrick Knickerbockers, and move to Spain."
Catherine snorted, but one look at her father's face told her he wasn't joking.
"I'm sorry yeh feel that way William," Bootstrap replied gruffly. "I never meant to become a pirate."
"I never meant to your son either. Is that what you mean? You had no choice?"
"That's not what I meant William."
"That's what it sounds like you meant." Will got up. "I am sick and tired of being lied to. I'm going to bed."
Bootstrap looked helplessly at Will's retreating form. He turned to Catherine, who was now lying on her stomach and watching Will leave.
"Why does he hate me so, Cate?"
Catherine stood up and stretched. "I don't think it's anything personal, grandfather. He just hates pirates in general."
"He seems to like Jack alright."
"Well, since Jack saved me mum's life several times over, Father feels indebted towards him."
"I never meant to leave him fatherless," Bootstrap muttered. "I never meant to hurt him."
~*~
Catherine had eventually headed down to her own quarters, while Jack and Bootstrap took control of the ship. It wasn't before long she was asleep. She slept for hours on end and finally woke when the ship gave an almighty lurch.
"Where are we, Jack?" she heard her father shout. "I thought you were taking us home!"
"I never said that, mate," Jack replied. "Besides, you can't go home now, savvy?"
"Why can't I go home now?"
"Norrington will have told the governor that you were aiding a pirate. By now the governor will have been told and you will have a price for your head."
"My daughter can't spend the rest of her life on the run!"
"She won't have to.. We can drop her off in Tortuga," Jack replied quietly.
"TORTUGA? TORTUGA? Are you mad man?"
Jack said something that Catherine couldn't hear and then she heard her father snort. She got up and looked out her window; they were on a small uninhabited island. It seemed to have held life at one point in time, for there were small, scattered houses around a square and there was a dock. However, Jack had not used the dock except to tie a rope around a post. Catherine heard footsteps coming down from above, so she flung herself on her bed to appear asleep.
Will walked into her quarters and shook her.
"Catherine, dove, it's time to get up," he cooed. Catherine rolled over and looked at her father with her eyes halfway opened. She grunted. "Seriously, Catherine, you've got to get up. We've docked." Catherine gave a fake yawn and sat up slowly.
"Where did we dock?" she asked.
Will shrugged and walked out of her quarters. Getting up, she put on a robe and slippers and made her way on to the top of the deck. The sky was no longer cloudy, but the sun was setting quickly. Jack was ushering Bootstrap and Will to the square of houses, and upon spotting Catherine, he rushed over to her.
"Best get inside before dark," Jack said. "You don't want to know what prowls this island at night." Catherine looked at him skeptically, but hurried into the house all the same.
~*~
The sun set more quickly than it usually did, but Catherine could not tell because a fire was blazing in the fireplace and Bootstrap was cooking some gruel in a pot over the fire. Jack had spread dozens of maps on a table in the middle of the room. Will was helping him pore over them and they talked in low voices. Catherine walked over to Bootstrap.
"That looks.appetizing," Catherine said, slightly gagging. Bootstrap gave a weak grin.
"Can't say it's the best thing I've ever made, Cate," he replied. "The only reason I'm making this is because we need the food."
"What is it?"
"I don't think you want to know." Catherine gulped and slowly backed away from the boiling pot. She walked over to the window to open it.
"Catherine!" called Will curtly. "Get away from the window!" Catherine immediately obeyed.
"Why?" she asked.
"Jack will explain after supper." Jack nodded in agreement. Catherine sat down in a chair and waited for Bootstrap to pour the gruel in bowls that were found in the house. Catherine sat in silence and listened to Will and Jack talk.
"If we go north we can drop Catherine off at Tortuga," Jack said with his mouth full.
"I am not dropping my daughter off at some pirate's city," Will said loudly. Bootstrap and Jack stopped eating and looked at Will; he didn't seem to notice.
"If we head more to the east we can drop her off in Antigua."
"Do we know anyone in Antigua?"
"I hear Gibbs has relocated to Antigua," Jack replied after taking a swig of rum.
"Do we have any other options?"
"You have something against Gibbs?" Bootstrap asked, finally speaking up.
"He's a pirate for one," Will retorted.
"As is your father," Jack reminded him.
Not wanting to see another row, Catherine spoke up. "What's wrong with me going with you two?"
Jack and Will turned to look at her.
"Was my request unreasonable?" she asked.
Will stood up and moved over to Catherine. "I can't imagine you wanting to spend the rest of your life on the sea," he muttered. "It's not fit for a woman."
"I'm nearly a woman," she snapped. "I should be able to decide what I want to do with my life."
"I would not allow you to do that," he replied.
"Nor would I," Jack interjected. Catherine stood up and glared at Jack.
"This is your fault!" she shouted. "I don't see why your opinion should count for anything. I'm going to bed." She marched up the stairs in the back of the room and flung herself on an empty bed. ~*~
They spent the next few days cooped up at night in the house and during the day, they let Catherine roam around the island. She would collect driftwood for the evenings' fires and occasionally found some jewelry. She would take it and show it to Jack.
"Where did you find that?" Jack asked with open eyes.
"They wash up on shore every morning around sunrise," she replied. "Why?"
Jack examined the pieces carefully. They were solid gold and had a seal on them. The seal had a picture of a small wolf with startling green eyes and a visible gash on the neck. Next to the wolf was the word Night. Jack's eyes grew wider.
"Put them back," he ordered.
"Pardon?"
"Put them back in the ocean, where you found them."
"But I -"
"Are you deaf woman? Put the bloody jewels back!" he shouted. Catherine jumped at his voice and threw the jewels back into the ocean. Except one, solid gold with a ruby in the center, washed up on shore. Jack had left, so Catherine bent down and picked it up. She looked around and walked back to the square of houses.