An Unexpected Visit-Part B

The stars sparkled more brightly that night than ever before. Of course, Jack didn't

notice this since he had thoroughly enjoyed his rum for a few hours previous. He

stumbled and swayed about, more than usual. His face was extremely pale, his body

aching, calling to something unbeknownst to him that would change his present and

make all his future a gaping hole of wonder.

He tripped and ran into the beat up wooden door of his 'residence'. It was an

abandoned old barn slightly outside of Tortuga and not far from the tavern he frequently

visited. He fell onto the bail of hay he called a bed and began to fall asleep when he

thought he heard odd noises from outside.

'Bloody animals...children. Can't a man REST without being disturbed?' He questioned

the air as he looked outside. The hills and countless trees around the barn creaked and

moaned with the wind.

"Somethin' strange and foul 'bout this wind 'ere." He talked aloud to himself. There was

never anyone around to hear him. He had no neighbors, visitors, kin, or friends. There

was no one but the wind and himself.

He swayed back inside, a chill coming over him as he laid back down onto the hay,

nothing over him to use as a blanket but the clothes on his back.

As he began to fall into a deep sleep, he dreamt an untimely dream.

Jack never dreams. Yes, others do, but this is Captain Jack Sparrow, he's definitely

different than others.

The dream took place in a small row boat in the middle of the Caribbean. Jack thought

he was alone, but no, he was mistaken. He had a companion, a friend along for the ride.

It was one he did not expect. Ol' Bill Turner.

"What the blazes." He paused, taking in his surroundings and the man in front of him.

"Bill. You're..dead?" Jack finished, talking very quiet as if he thought someone was

listening.

"Oh Jack, you always were one to underestimate me. So I give you this." Bill said

putting his gift in Jack's left palm with a smirk on his aging face. Just as all the crew

members had said, Bill and his son looked almost identical. Bill's face had aged 20 years;

his long slightly-past-shoulder-length hair was turning a beauteous silver, skin fairly

wrinkled. His body hadn't aged a day, his face had. He was a big man, a head or two

taller than Jack, his skin darker- he had more sun than Jack's. His eyes were brown like

dirt and had the nose same as Will's. If you had seen each one of them, standing by one

another or not, the resemblance was exceptionally striking.

"But.." As Jack was about to ask why he should get such a gift, he sat up, completely

caught off guard, the sweat rolling off his face.

"Just a dream." He whispered and went to lie down again when he looked down. There

in his left hand, a gold ring held a tiny piece of paper rolled. He stared down at the

paper with a few letters on it, the rest had faded. It looked like:

S A E O LT DA

"Hmm. I wonder what all that means." He looked at the paper, it mesmerized

him. He knew all this had to have some sort of meaning otherwise it wouldn't

have happened. There was one person he needed to help him figure this out,

Will. But, he had no way to get to Port Royal, so he knew he had to do

something, even if it meant talking to people other than the bartender at the

local tavern.

After a night full of no slumber but the little he got before this startling

revelation, Jack set out to Tortuga to find himself a 'companion' of sorts,

someone to help him find a way to Port Royal, and once there, a way to not get

caught, a protector, like Mr. Gibbs once was, someone to take his place for now.

++++++++++

His beads strung through his black hair shined brightly in the hot sunlight of mid-

afternoon on that July day. Small droplets of sweat ran down his tan face and

landed on the dirt road beneath him. He sat along the edge of the Caribbean

near his barn, looking out at the sea, and past it wondering what his future held.

He hadn't the energy to go find a replacement yet.

"Rum sounds a bit good right now." Jack stood, his rum hadn't completely left

his system since his last round of it the night before. He began his short walk to

the tavern in town asking himself how he got into all these things.

He came to the main street in Tortuga and all the ransacking was still going on,

so everything was normal. He walked into the tavern, passed the bartender-all

he had to do was nod and the man knew what Jack wanted. Men were fighting

everywhere, as usual, that was the one thing you could always count on, a

'show' while you had your drink. The men fought and the women were looking

for men to show a good time to. Jack went to sit in his corner of the tavern, he

always sat there, no one ever sat next to him or within a few meters of him.

But, that night and that day were much more different than they had ever been

for Jack so it wasn't uncommon for something to be off, strange, or odd. He

noticed a woman fight a man, throwing punches and kicks towards him and a

woman screaming at her for some unseen reason. An eyebrow rose from Jack's

face.

"A woman...fighting? Well then, I guess anything could happen in Tortuga

today." Jack mumbled to himself as his first pint of rum was brought to him.

"What, Captain Sparrow?" The bartender thought he heard him say something,

so he asked.

"Nothing, boy." Jack motioned for him to be gone, at which he did. He kept

watching the woman, wondering who she was, and why he'd never seen her

before.

"I'll go have a quick chat with that one after I'm done with my rum." He made a

mental note and sipped his rum, taking in the fighting, the sounds.