Chapter 3: Freeing



Will had never before seen Jack that thoughtful and that openly worried. Shortly after the girl had been dragged away by the soldiers, they had left, and now they were sailing the open sea, though not far from the shore. Jack rubbed his palms against each other, than leant them against his lips. His eyes narrowed a bit, while the crew stood around him waiting for him to speak.

"We've ter save the Kitty, me Hearties." He began to speak then, his arms opening.

"What 'bout the Codex?" Anna-Maria threw in, eyeing him suspiciously. The men murmured. "Nothin' 'bout the Codex. We've ter save her." He sharply answered and seemed to think again. "But why?" Anna-Maria asked once again leaning her head back.

"'Cause I need her, finish. Me hearties, you swore ter follow my commands and sail under my flag." Suddenly, his speaking became clearer and his voice sharpened. Anna-Maria stiffened. "...what's this Kitty he's talking about?" Will whispered softly to her, when suddenly Jack reached out his arm for him.

"Will!" Will lifted up to eyebrows and stepped closer to Jack. "The two of us will sneak our way into the prison and free her..." Will looked uncomfortable.

"They changed the cell-doors after you escaped so I don't think I can do without attracting any attention." His look turned doubtful. Jack stroked along his moustache with two fingers and thought again.

"But we will sneak into the prison just to find out when she ought to be hanged and we'll free her by then. And ye, me men.." He cast a glance around, made a swiftly movement with his hand, then cleared his throat. "..and woman, will follow me in the face of danger?" The Pirates let out a single yell of approvements, and Will asked himself what it was Jack had, that all these people followed his eccentric way, while Jack only smiled satisfied and nodded, as if he hadn't expected something different.

~

Kitty sat back against the wall of the cell.

"Had another Pirate in this cell before, Missy." The soldier on post told her freely. "Named Jack Sparrow, he was." Kitty raised an eyebrow unimpressed.

"Not tha' of a great Pirate he's." She muttered.

"What did you say?" The soldier, obviously longing for entertainment, came near her cell. "Kin' o' a son o' a dog he's, tha' Jack Sp'rrow." She was still speaking very slowly and in a low voice, and she seemed to swallow whole words. The soldier smirked.

"Well, he's Pirate." Then he placed a nosy look upon her. "..By the way, what does a young, pretty girl like you have to do with pirates?" He smirked a little more. She looked up on him almost lazily.

"M' mammy tol' me ter." She said slowly and seemed very concentrated.

"You're gonna be hanged by tomorrow, you know?" She dragged her bandana slightly deeper into her forehead.

"Aye." The soldier hissed slightly and shook his head, until, in the very next moment, he fell on the ground with a hard sound. The girl looked up hastily and got on her feet suddenly. She found herself eye in eye with Jack Sparrow.

"So tomorrow ye'll be hanged?" Was all he brought out hastily. He didn't want to destroy this action, again.

"Aye." She cast a side-glance towards Will, eyed him suspiciously. He could tell she mistrusted him.

"We'll save ye, I..." Suddenly he fell silent and listened. "There they come..." She made a sudden gesture towards him, and Will turned his head towards the door to make out how far they still were. When he turned around again, the only thing he saw was the girl reaching out for Jack, grabbing his neck and pulling him towards herself. His and Jack's eyes widened the same time, when she pressed her lips on his, only parted through the cell's doors. He saw her tongue pushing into his mouth. That very moment she let go, Jack looked a little more relaxed than he did within the kiss. 'Who wonders.' Will silently thought and was surprised over his anger. No question why Jack wanted the girl to be saved. He took one or two steps backwards, when they already heard voices asking for the soldier to answer. One man entered the room, and was being hit by Will standing in a corner.

"Out of here! Now!" Jack only nodded, cast a glance towards the girl, who pressed a finger on her lips, and then they ran up the stairs and out of the house, sneaking back to the pearl.

No matter how many questions Will posed, Jack would not answer, only mutter here and there. And when they reached the ship, he disappeared into his cabin at once, coming out again only minutes later, looking a little liberated somehow.

"That girl..." Will immediately began, but Jack declined.

"Let's go in there," he gestured towards his cabin. In the cabin, Jack let himself down on a chair, leaning backwards ans folding his legs on the table like he always did. "The gal - we refer ter her as 'Kitty' - has been foun' aboard me ship by Anna-Maria." He looked at Will, who looked thoughtful.

"..was she the one in the Commodores bureau this night?" Jack dragged his hat off his head and nodded.

"Aye. Wanted ter go there. We've got kinda deal, her an' me." Will raised an eyebrow. "But I shan't talk 'bout it. Now," Jack took his feet of the table and raised. "We shall only 'ave a good drink and think 'bout what ter do tomorrow." He took two bottles of some liquid - guess what, it was rum - out of the cupboard and returned to the table. "And discuss," Jack added, swaying slightly (the thought of alcohol already seemed to make him get drunk) and gesturing towards Will, "Why ye, lad, are on me ship at all."

~

"They'll hang her around evening." Will supposed and Anna-Maria snorted.

"I don' understand, why we should keep that li'l beast on our ship. They made some sorts of deal, I s'pose, but I still don' understand." Will nodded slowly, adjusted the bandage he had around his wrist (it still hurt, but he could deal) and looked at Anna-Maria.

"Not that of a Pirate?" Anna-Maria shook her head.

"She is, oth'rwise Jack wouldn't've kept her. She'd sneak in ev'rywhere, and I s'pose she isn't that bad of a fighter, but, still... " Will remembered their first meeting and gave a little laugh. "When I first saw her I've mistaken her for Jack.." He rubbed his one eye, and Anna-Maria looked aware.

"So ye also noticed? I thought I'd been goin' mad, seein' Jack everywhere..she's like a small, female copy o' him." She declined. "The last days.. Ye shall see them grinning ter each other, 'bout some kinda joke he or she made ter the crew." Anna-Maria rolled her eyes. And Will listened to her carefully. After what he saw, it didn't amaze him. Seemed that Jack didn't deal with the girls on land anymore, but already brought them on his ship. That thought seemed to anger him even more, without being able to tell, why. "And none of the crew may touch her, she's jumping 'round like some sort of sain'...'tis drivin' me insane.." Will silently wondered about how talkative Anna-Maria was, but didn't say anything. Jack stepped out on the ship, looking awfully fresh, even though the night had been a long and drunken one. Will guessed that it had to be the air. He spotted Will and Anna-Maria, and flashed them a broad grin, all his gold teeth glittering in the morning sun.

"Ready fer the a'venture of yer life, Matey? Savin' a kitty from a tree?" He patted Wills shoulder, then laid his arm around them. Will was astonished of his sudden nearness. The men on land used to keep distance, and well, he knew Jack, but not that good. On the other hand he had to admit that he didn't feel uncomfortable. It felt..good, but strange. Jack wildly gestured towards the horizon. "Look at tha', me mate, didn't ye miss that like the air ye breathe?" It was obvious that Captain Jack Sparrow was in a very excellent mood, in opposition to Anna-Maria, who just walked away silently.

"What's with Anna-Maria?" Will asked, and Jack gave a charming heartbreaker-grin.

"I s'pose she's jealous. Been angry all the time Kitty was aboard." He looked rather proud of himself, and Will looked at him puzzled.

"So it's..you and Kitty..?" He made a vague gesture between himself and Jack, and Jack started laughing roughly.

"Well, actually.." He got quiet, leaning in towards Will and murmured: "There's nothin'. Nothin' ter worry 'bout." He rolled his eyes and then winked.

"But..down there in the prison..?" Will raised both his eyebrows, his brown eyes even larger than normally, and mercilessly questioning Jack.

"Dunno." Jack grinned again, taking his hand from Wills shoulder and scratching the back of his head. "Seems ter be a reflex, women develop with me." He winked again, reaching out and ruffling Wills hair. "Ye'll understand, boy, some time." He grinned over the whole of his face, totally pleased with himself and wandered off towards the wheel. Will couldn't say how much he'd lacked that, he just had. It was strange how Jack's face and his movements would stick to Will's mind, and appear sometimes, if something reminded him of Jack (..even if it was only a palm tree swaying slightly to the wind), and a sharp ache that felt like homesickness would flash through his heart.

~

Jack was brilliant in a way, at least he got really creative, when it was something about freeing people belonging to his crew. One ought to think his ideas were great. Anna-Maria, whom Jack wanted to put into a dress, didn't think so at all.

"Ye'll just fake an attack, somethin', an' I will start the whole thing 'til the lads come t' help me at me sign, an' after that we'll just look wha' happens.." He somehow mumbled and beamed right into her face. When he started batting eyelashes, she rolled her eyes and nodded. "I'll do as ye say, me Capt'n." He seemed to beam even more, if that was possible.

So by afternoon, the crew encircled the place where Kitty should be hanged, pretending to be drunken sailors, merchants or beggars.

When the evening came, the executor prepared to put on his clothes, when a knock on his door made him turn around. He opened the door and eyed the lad in front of him suspiciously. Not much smaller, but more slim, and with very eccentric clothing, a walking-stick with a metal knob in his hand, and a bright smile on his face.

"Excuse me, Sir." He just said hit the executor with his stick. The knob met his temple, and with an awful sound, the executor fell to the ground. Jack stepped over the unconscious man, closed the door and eyed the room carefully. He held the clothes in front of him. "Not fashionable, but whatev'r."

"A lot of people have approached on taking part in the ceremony of the hanging of this young girl." The Commodore reported proudly to the governor, standing next to him, while he sat with Elizabeth, having a very good look over the execution.

"Such a young girl, it's a pity.. Tell me, Commodore, have you finally found out about her name? I reminded me there were some problems.." He looked up at the Commodore questioning.

"Well, yes, indeed there were. She refused to tell us her name, but when we searched her clothes, we found a paper where her birth date and name were recorded on, obviously from an orphanage or something similar." Elizabeth interrupted him:

"You searched her clothes? Does that mean, you had to undress her?" She lifted an eyebrow disapprovingly. The Commodore cleared his throat.

"Erm, well, in order to find out who she is - we can't just hang nobody - we had to search her clothes, but be assured, dear Miss Swann, that the most important parts of her body stayed covered." She leant back at that answer, but still looked disapproving. The girl had just been led towards the place. She held her head up in the air. The sun shone on her bronzed skin, her high cheekbones and her sharp nose reminded Elizabeth of someone she knew. She climbed the gibbet, wearing men's clothes. When she positioned under the rope, she turned her face towards the Governor and Elizabeth. Her lips seemed to be in a steady pout, and her nearly black eyes glittered full of pride. When her gaze met Elizabeth's, it struck Elizabeth like thunder: That girl strongly reminded her of Captain Jack Sparrow. In all her way of walking and looking, the colour of her eyes, the bandana she was wearing - though the colour differed -, the pearls and her dishevelled, filthy beads (1). She shook her head, made a ghastly movement with her hand over her eyes, and when she turned her gaze towards the girl, it looked to the sky, and therefor not so much like Jack Sparrow anymore. She was seeing phantoms, indeed.

Ann-Maria, carefully hidden under a hat and wearing a dress indeed, even if it was simple, was eyeing the whole ceremony with an awful feeling. What if something in Jack's plan had gone wrong, like always? What if she mimicked that attack and one would prison her herself? She gave a deep sigh, lowered her head and waited. She'd just do like she had been told, and everything would be fine.

A soldier stepped out to read out the roll of accuses: "The city of Port Royal accuses this young maiden, to be fallen under the sins of the devil. Ms. Eve-Lynn Sparrow," Anna-Marias head shot up at the mentioning, and Elizabeth stiffened in her seat, "you are accused and guilty of murder, thieving, piracy, and therefor you will suffer death through hanging..." and he folded the role again, after reading out place and date as well.

"..what is he telling, I can't understand anything..." Will murmured angrily to Gibbs, who was hiding near the Governor with him, but Gibbs just declined, eyeing the whole situation very carefully, to step in the right moment.

"Tha' isn't the important part." But another had heard. And Jack had the feeling of something very icy dropping into his stomach, just like Kitty - or better: Eve-Lynn - had in this very moment. He lowered his eyes under the mask of the executor, just to calm himself and not be noticed. There was only one Sparrow sailing these seas. And by now, he finally figured out, whom she had reminded him of: It was the same face staring at him from the mirror.

It all went very quickly. The drummer drummed a steady rhythm, which was his sign (he had been nearly hanged too often, he supposed), and he stepped nearer to Kitty on the wooden ground. Anna-Maria suddenly started twitching and screaming, hitting around herself. In that very moment, Jack drew his sword and cut the rope Kitty was supposed to hang on. The commodore jumped up, when suddenly Will ran into him from behind, nearly knocking him over. "Pirates!" He coughed, and Elizabeth jumped up, as well. Suddenly, the place was filled up with several Pirates, the executor among them, fighting the Commodore's men. The next moment, Will froze. A pistol was held at his head from behind.

"Avast!" Gibbs bellowed. "Leave the weapons!" He demanded. Elizabeth had frozen, but when she met Wills eyes she could tell, he wasn't feeling that unfamiliar at all, and she thought fast. She started screaming hysterically.

"Oh my god, Father! Do as he wants! Oh, Will! My fiancé!" She did her best to start crying. The Governor sighed heavily, and nodded towards the Commodore.

"Give in." The Commodore sighed again, and turned towards his men.

"Stop fighting! Weapons to the ground!" He commanded, and the men obeyed, even though Jack couldn't help hitting one of them for the last time. Swords fell to the ground. Kitty smirked, grabbed one - and with one fast jump she was with the governor, and harshly grabbed Elizabeth's hair, holding the sword up to her neck. The governor paled, and Kitty gave him a daring grin, bowing slightly.

"I'd love to stay with yer, but ye might as well excuse us.. We'll take Missy here down to the harbour and hail the man that follows and therefor decides her fate." Elizabeth gulped, but then was harshly dragged away by Kitty, as was Jack by Gibbs, as a second 'prisoner'. The Commodore gestured the men not to follow the group of Pirates, that was walking away from the place in triumph. When they disappeared, the Governor buried his face in his hands, and the Commodore gave the command to follow in appropriate distance. He could swear he could hear Jack Sparrow sing some triumphal pirate chantey.

Jack Sparrow was indeed singing. After he had gestured towards Kitty to let that sword down, Elizabeth and Will voluntarily followed them to the harbour. When the crew started getting in to the boats, Jack bowed in front of Elizabeth and then stroked her cheek.

"And ye, Miss Swann. Have just seen us disappear, no idea where we went, rightey?" He winked and then walked towards a boat swaying. Will looked at Elizabeth.

"I'm sorry." He said and breathed a kiss unto her cheek before he went to follow Jack. And this time, she didn't have to fake the tears that rolled down her cheeks when the men of the Navy found her. She was sobbing uncontrollably.

"They just dis..disappeared and..they..they took Will with themselves.....!"

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1. I'm sure, you know how Rasta-tails look like, right? So it's if you're wearing them for very long, they get kinda filthy on beginning. (all the stuff sticks in there and it really isn't very tasty to comb them out...) That's what I mean by 'filthy' beads. It still looks like Rasta, that means, different from these Jack has.