Chapter Nine-Bargain
"Father, we've got to go save him!! He'll die if we don't!" Elizabeth Swann was screaming at her father as Commodore Norrington set a path back to Port Royal. The two Swann girls and Captain Jack Sparrow had been 'rescued' by the HMS Dauntless, and were now aboard fighting to go after Will Turner. Elizabeth was in hysterics; Catherine had to restrain her in order to keep Elizabeth from lashing out at the governor, who stood there calmly ignoring the pleas of his children.
"The boy's fate is regrettable, but he did engage in piracy." That only made Elizabeth more indignant.
"To save me!!"
"Honorable as his intentions were."
"What about me?" said Catherine, joining in the argument. "I engaged in piracy as well, do you want to give me to the pirates, or leave me there on that godforsaken island, or hang me perhaps?" The older girl stared at her father defiantly. Unfortunately for their cause this was something he was quite used to.
"No, of course not."
"Then why in bloody hell are you going to let Will die?" Everyone (except for Jack and Elizabeth) let out a gasp of shock at what Catherine had just said. Governor Swann stared at his eldest daughter as Jack stepped up to Norrington.
"Ye know ye'd like to go after 'er, the Black Pearl, the last real pirate threat in the Caribbean.what's stoppin' ye?" Norrington just gave the pirate an icy stare. The one thing that the commodore hated more than anything else in this world was pirates.
"The knowledge that I serve others and not just myself." The commodore began to walk back up to the helm as Catherine whispered something in Elizabeth's ear. The younger girl ran forward.
"Do it for me, Commodore, as a wedding present." Norrington stopped in his tracks and turned to stare at Elizabeth in disbelief. Her father asked if that meant she was agreeing to marry him, her simple reply was,
"I am."
"Mr. Sparrow, you will accompany me to the helm and navigate the way to the Isla de la Muerta." Norrington marched up to the bridge, his step considerably lighter, as Jack ambled up after him, arms waving. Elizabeth gave a great sigh of relief and threw herself into her sister's arms, and the two girls sat down to wait.
Hours later, Jack, Norrington and his men were positioned outside the caves of the dreaded island. Catherine and Elizabeth, at a slight hint from Jack, found themselves locked in the captain's cabin to keep them from harm. This situation was not one that the Swann girls fancied themselves in at the present moment. As Jack rowed into the caves alone, the girls had rigged an escape rope out of blankets and were climbing their way out of the Dauntless and to one of her lifeboats, both muttering furiously under their breath at their separate injustices.
"I'm not staying here while other people help rescue him," said Elizabeth to herself.
"I'll be damned if he's going to go and get himself killed while I sit locked up in there," muttered Catherine simultaneously. And so the sisters, both outfitted in sloppy soldier's uniforms to replace their ruined dresses, made their way once again into the caves.
Barbossa and his crew were once again gathered about the stone chest of Aztec gold, this time with Will standing in the place of honor. Jack walked casually through the throng of pirates, each one staring at him in shock as he swaggered up to Barbossa. The evil captain looked up to see Sparrow standing in front of him, waving his arms to catch his attention.
"Impossible," Barbossa muttered as his mouth dropped open.
"Improbable," Jack corrected him with a flourish. Pointing to Will he said, "Ye don't want to be doin' that." Barbossa grinned sarcastically, said,
"Oh I believe I do," then placed the knife under Will's throat.
"Your funeral." Jack stood there with his hands folded innocently. Barbossa rolled his eyes in frustration and turned back to Sparrow.
"Why don't I want to be doin' that?" the irritated Barbossa asked. Jack smiled and jumped up to his level.
"Because," he said with a flourish, "the HMS Dauntless is anchored right outside this cave, waiting for ye, an' if I don't come out with the boy, yer'll all dead." The pirates gave emitted a collective roar and began looking around frantically for alternate ways to get out. Barbossa went from irritated to angry very quickly. He waved his knife around in front of Will, who was looking quite nervous, as he shouted orders for quiet. When the noise subsided, he turned back to Jack who was smiling smugly.
"Are ye tellin' me I shouldn't kill the whelp!?!"
"No, by all means, kill the whelp," Jack replied. Will looked up in a semi-state of shock. "All I'm sayin' is wait for the opportune moment." The captive's ears perked up. Jack squinted his eyes at Will as if willing him to read his mind. "Say, after ye've killed Norrington an' 'is men." Barbossa began to understand Jack's plan, but became suddenly suspicious.
"What is it ye're gainin' out o' this?" the captain asked warily. Jack just grinned and came closer to his enemy, smiling.
"After ye've taken care o' the soldiers, ye'll have two ships, and ye'll naturally be wantin' the grander one fer yerself, but what o' the Pearl? Name me captain, and I'll work under ye, give ye a cut o' the takin's. It'd be the beginnin's o' yer very own fleet. Ye'd 'ave the entire Caribbean at yer mercy," Jack continued as he reached into the stone chest, grabbing a handful of the cursed gold. He then began dropping the pieces back into the chest one at a time. "It'll all be yers, after ye've taken care 'o Norrington an' 'is men, one *clink* by *clink* one *clink*." Barbossa and his crew were too busy pondering the possibilities to watch Jack closely; only Will saw him slip one of the coins from his hand into his pocket. Realization suddenly dawned on young Turner; he looked up at Jack knowingly.
"You've been planning this all along, haven't you!!" he said tersely as he leered at Jack, who seemed relieved to see that his young friend finally caught on and said,
"Ah, yeah!" Barbossa turned to Sparrow.
"I want fifty percent o' the takin's."
"Fifteen."
"Thirty."
"Twenty five an' I'll buy ye a hat, a nice big one. What'd ye say, commodore?" Barbossa leaned back as he looked at Jack appraisingly, and then thrust his hand out.
"We 'ave an accord." The two pirates shook hands. Jack turned with a wave of his arms.
"All 'ands to the boats!" Nobody moved as Jack glanced back at Barbossa who had his arms crossed. "Sorry. Ye give the orders." Barbossa grinned wickedly.
"Gents, take a walk." The crew burst into evil laughter and stomped off.
"Not to the boats?" ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Minutes later, a skeleton army was marching across the ocean floor towards the Dauntless, swords and teeth bared in macabre pleasure. They one by one climbed up the anchor rope and silently boarded the ship, knives in their teeth. The slunk quietly across the ship, slitting the throat of each soldier as they went. It was only as they neared the helm that they were seen and the battle begun. The governor's soldiers fought valiantly and fearlessly, shooting, stabbing, and slicing at the moving corpses who continued to press forward no matter what hit them. One by one the soldiers fell; there was no stopping the pirates' massacre. One dying man managed to ring the ship's bell before he was skewered upon a skeleton's cutlass. Norrington and his men who were waiting offshore hurried to the Dauntless to join the fight.
As the battle raged on aboard the Dauntless, Catherine and Elizabeth silently climbed up onto the almost deserted Black Pearl on, which there were only two or three sentries guarding the ship. Once on board, they found themselves face to face with Barbossa's monkey, who howled an alarm. The monkey's face changed, though, when the girls' eyes narrowed and they came toward him. A moment later, two guards below deck saw the monkey fall into the water. They rushed up to see who the intruder was and the sisters snuck down to the brig. Jack's crew hushed at the sudden noise, but when Gibbs cried
"It's Catherine and Elizabeth!" they all gave a cheer. The next minute, the skeleton guards were standing on the deck looking down at the girls' rowboat, puzzled, when all of a sudden one of the Pearl's own lifeboats swung towards them, knocking them into the water in a dozen bony pieces. Sparrow's crew gave a shout of victory. Catherine and Elizabeth ran to the swinging lifeboat and took up the rope it was attached too.
"Alright," Catherine shouted, "Let's go get Jack and Will! Everyone heave!!" The Swann sisters turned around to see the crew staring somberly back at them. "What? You're going to leave them! What about your captain, what about Jack!?!"
"Jack wanted us to follow the code, an' he owes us a ship!" The girls stared at them in shock.
"But you're pirates!" Elizabeth shouted. "Hang the rules, hang the code!"
After being helped into the water, Catherine and Elizabeth rowed out to the caves alone, two very angry women.
"Bloody pirates." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Father, we've got to go save him!! He'll die if we don't!" Elizabeth Swann was screaming at her father as Commodore Norrington set a path back to Port Royal. The two Swann girls and Captain Jack Sparrow had been 'rescued' by the HMS Dauntless, and were now aboard fighting to go after Will Turner. Elizabeth was in hysterics; Catherine had to restrain her in order to keep Elizabeth from lashing out at the governor, who stood there calmly ignoring the pleas of his children.
"The boy's fate is regrettable, but he did engage in piracy." That only made Elizabeth more indignant.
"To save me!!"
"Honorable as his intentions were."
"What about me?" said Catherine, joining in the argument. "I engaged in piracy as well, do you want to give me to the pirates, or leave me there on that godforsaken island, or hang me perhaps?" The older girl stared at her father defiantly. Unfortunately for their cause this was something he was quite used to.
"No, of course not."
"Then why in bloody hell are you going to let Will die?" Everyone (except for Jack and Elizabeth) let out a gasp of shock at what Catherine had just said. Governor Swann stared at his eldest daughter as Jack stepped up to Norrington.
"Ye know ye'd like to go after 'er, the Black Pearl, the last real pirate threat in the Caribbean.what's stoppin' ye?" Norrington just gave the pirate an icy stare. The one thing that the commodore hated more than anything else in this world was pirates.
"The knowledge that I serve others and not just myself." The commodore began to walk back up to the helm as Catherine whispered something in Elizabeth's ear. The younger girl ran forward.
"Do it for me, Commodore, as a wedding present." Norrington stopped in his tracks and turned to stare at Elizabeth in disbelief. Her father asked if that meant she was agreeing to marry him, her simple reply was,
"I am."
"Mr. Sparrow, you will accompany me to the helm and navigate the way to the Isla de la Muerta." Norrington marched up to the bridge, his step considerably lighter, as Jack ambled up after him, arms waving. Elizabeth gave a great sigh of relief and threw herself into her sister's arms, and the two girls sat down to wait.
Hours later, Jack, Norrington and his men were positioned outside the caves of the dreaded island. Catherine and Elizabeth, at a slight hint from Jack, found themselves locked in the captain's cabin to keep them from harm. This situation was not one that the Swann girls fancied themselves in at the present moment. As Jack rowed into the caves alone, the girls had rigged an escape rope out of blankets and were climbing their way out of the Dauntless and to one of her lifeboats, both muttering furiously under their breath at their separate injustices.
"I'm not staying here while other people help rescue him," said Elizabeth to herself.
"I'll be damned if he's going to go and get himself killed while I sit locked up in there," muttered Catherine simultaneously. And so the sisters, both outfitted in sloppy soldier's uniforms to replace their ruined dresses, made their way once again into the caves.
Barbossa and his crew were once again gathered about the stone chest of Aztec gold, this time with Will standing in the place of honor. Jack walked casually through the throng of pirates, each one staring at him in shock as he swaggered up to Barbossa. The evil captain looked up to see Sparrow standing in front of him, waving his arms to catch his attention.
"Impossible," Barbossa muttered as his mouth dropped open.
"Improbable," Jack corrected him with a flourish. Pointing to Will he said, "Ye don't want to be doin' that." Barbossa grinned sarcastically, said,
"Oh I believe I do," then placed the knife under Will's throat.
"Your funeral." Jack stood there with his hands folded innocently. Barbossa rolled his eyes in frustration and turned back to Sparrow.
"Why don't I want to be doin' that?" the irritated Barbossa asked. Jack smiled and jumped up to his level.
"Because," he said with a flourish, "the HMS Dauntless is anchored right outside this cave, waiting for ye, an' if I don't come out with the boy, yer'll all dead." The pirates gave emitted a collective roar and began looking around frantically for alternate ways to get out. Barbossa went from irritated to angry very quickly. He waved his knife around in front of Will, who was looking quite nervous, as he shouted orders for quiet. When the noise subsided, he turned back to Jack who was smiling smugly.
"Are ye tellin' me I shouldn't kill the whelp!?!"
"No, by all means, kill the whelp," Jack replied. Will looked up in a semi-state of shock. "All I'm sayin' is wait for the opportune moment." The captive's ears perked up. Jack squinted his eyes at Will as if willing him to read his mind. "Say, after ye've killed Norrington an' 'is men." Barbossa began to understand Jack's plan, but became suddenly suspicious.
"What is it ye're gainin' out o' this?" the captain asked warily. Jack just grinned and came closer to his enemy, smiling.
"After ye've taken care o' the soldiers, ye'll have two ships, and ye'll naturally be wantin' the grander one fer yerself, but what o' the Pearl? Name me captain, and I'll work under ye, give ye a cut o' the takin's. It'd be the beginnin's o' yer very own fleet. Ye'd 'ave the entire Caribbean at yer mercy," Jack continued as he reached into the stone chest, grabbing a handful of the cursed gold. He then began dropping the pieces back into the chest one at a time. "It'll all be yers, after ye've taken care 'o Norrington an' 'is men, one *clink* by *clink* one *clink*." Barbossa and his crew were too busy pondering the possibilities to watch Jack closely; only Will saw him slip one of the coins from his hand into his pocket. Realization suddenly dawned on young Turner; he looked up at Jack knowingly.
"You've been planning this all along, haven't you!!" he said tersely as he leered at Jack, who seemed relieved to see that his young friend finally caught on and said,
"Ah, yeah!" Barbossa turned to Sparrow.
"I want fifty percent o' the takin's."
"Fifteen."
"Thirty."
"Twenty five an' I'll buy ye a hat, a nice big one. What'd ye say, commodore?" Barbossa leaned back as he looked at Jack appraisingly, and then thrust his hand out.
"We 'ave an accord." The two pirates shook hands. Jack turned with a wave of his arms.
"All 'ands to the boats!" Nobody moved as Jack glanced back at Barbossa who had his arms crossed. "Sorry. Ye give the orders." Barbossa grinned wickedly.
"Gents, take a walk." The crew burst into evil laughter and stomped off.
"Not to the boats?" ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Minutes later, a skeleton army was marching across the ocean floor towards the Dauntless, swords and teeth bared in macabre pleasure. They one by one climbed up the anchor rope and silently boarded the ship, knives in their teeth. The slunk quietly across the ship, slitting the throat of each soldier as they went. It was only as they neared the helm that they were seen and the battle begun. The governor's soldiers fought valiantly and fearlessly, shooting, stabbing, and slicing at the moving corpses who continued to press forward no matter what hit them. One by one the soldiers fell; there was no stopping the pirates' massacre. One dying man managed to ring the ship's bell before he was skewered upon a skeleton's cutlass. Norrington and his men who were waiting offshore hurried to the Dauntless to join the fight.
As the battle raged on aboard the Dauntless, Catherine and Elizabeth silently climbed up onto the almost deserted Black Pearl on, which there were only two or three sentries guarding the ship. Once on board, they found themselves face to face with Barbossa's monkey, who howled an alarm. The monkey's face changed, though, when the girls' eyes narrowed and they came toward him. A moment later, two guards below deck saw the monkey fall into the water. They rushed up to see who the intruder was and the sisters snuck down to the brig. Jack's crew hushed at the sudden noise, but when Gibbs cried
"It's Catherine and Elizabeth!" they all gave a cheer. The next minute, the skeleton guards were standing on the deck looking down at the girls' rowboat, puzzled, when all of a sudden one of the Pearl's own lifeboats swung towards them, knocking them into the water in a dozen bony pieces. Sparrow's crew gave a shout of victory. Catherine and Elizabeth ran to the swinging lifeboat and took up the rope it was attached too.
"Alright," Catherine shouted, "Let's go get Jack and Will! Everyone heave!!" The Swann sisters turned around to see the crew staring somberly back at them. "What? You're going to leave them! What about your captain, what about Jack!?!"
"Jack wanted us to follow the code, an' he owes us a ship!" The girls stared at them in shock.
"But you're pirates!" Elizabeth shouted. "Hang the rules, hang the code!"
After being helped into the water, Catherine and Elizabeth rowed out to the caves alone, two very angry women.
"Bloody pirates." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~