Curse of the White Jewel: Chapter Four
For all other notes: See previous chapters.
**********
Chapter Four: Guess who's back?
When they arrived back at the mansion, Will, Elizabeth and Alex hastily gathered a few things together. They told the servants they would be gone for a while, and would be back as soon as they could. They told them to take care of the house.
Elisha, meanwhile, gathered her clothes, and complained to her dad as they left that they had time to change.
"I cannot go on the Pearl in this dress," she argued.
"You won't be goin' on the Pearl at all if we don't get a move on," he replied.
As they made their way down the street, they saw a large contingent of soldiers heading towards them, accompanied by Commodore Norrington and Governor Swann.
"Jack, hide," Will hissed at the pirate, who quickly ducked into an alleyway.
"Hello Elizabeth," her father greeted. "Mr. Turner, Alex... and who is this?" he asked, glancing at Elisha.
"Her name is Elisha," Elizabeth said. "She's the daughter of one of my friends and is visiting us for a few days."
"Nice to meet you," he said to her. Elisha smiled in reply.
"Commodore Norrington, it's good to see you," Elizabeth said in a friendly manner. "And congratulations on your promotion."
"Thank you, Mrs. Turner," he replied, contempt evident in his voice as he said 'Mrs. Turner'. He never got over Elizabeth, and envied Will terribly. "I was hoping you would attend the ceremony this afternoon."
"Of course they will," Governor Swann interjected, before anyone could say anything. "They wouldn't miss such an occasion. And Miss Elisha is welcome as well. Well, i'm afraid the Commodore, soon to become General, and I have plans, and we wouldn't want to hold you up. Good day." With that, the Commodore, Governor, and the soldiers resumed their walk, leaving everyone else speechless.
When the coast was clear, Jack emerged from his hiding place. "What promotion?" he asked, glaring at Elizabeth.
"Well, he--don't look at me like that, Jack!--he's being promoted to General, and there's a ceremony this afternoon."
"Whan does it start?"
"In an hour," she said sheepishly. "I'm really sorry, I didn't think--"
"It's alright, Elizabeth," Will said, drawing her into a hug. "Now that they're expecting us, we'll simply have to be there and leave immediately when it's over."
"But we might not have enough time," Elisha said. "If we go now, we may have a chance to lose them. But if we leave later they'll see us."
"Elisha's right," Jack said. "We have to go now or else we'll be meetin' the Jewel while we're leavin' to avoid it in the first place, savvy?"
"Well, what are we going to do? My father will notice that we're not there, he'll enquire at our house and find out we left. Then when we come back there'll be a whole lot of fuss and questions about where we were," Elizabeth said.
"If you come back," Jack hinted slyly.
"Jack, if we don't, he'll think something happened to us and he'll send out the entire fleet to look for us."
"Aye, good point," he replied.
"But how did the Jewel know to come here in the first place?" Alex asked.
There was an awkward silence after his question, and for a moment, no one spoke.
"That's interestin'," Jack said, breaking the silence.
"We'll have to think about it later, we have to go," Elizabeth said. As the Turners and Elisha made their way down the street, Jack muttered to himself, "that's very interestin'," before he ran to catch up with them.
~~~~~~~~~~
As the ceremony started, Elisha fidgeted. She was worried. The Jewel was coming to get her, and if they wouldn't have been held up by the Governor they would be safe by now. Instead they were at a boring ceremony with the sun, which just appeared, beating down on them, and Elisha was in a hot, uncomfortable dress. She was also afraid that her dad, who was hiding just outside the fort, would be caught.
Alex saw her fidgeting and elbowed her to stop. She glared at him but said nothing.
Fifteen minutes passed, but they seemed to drag on forever. Elisha couldn't think of a time when she was more bored. So she stopped paying attention and sang 'A Pirate's Life For Me' in her head, dreaming about being captain of the White Jewel. It was her single-most dream to command the ghost ship. The only problem (more like a blessing, really,) was that she wasn't dead.
Elisha looked in the distance. She could clearly see her father in his hiding place, yawning and struggling to stay awake. She let out a small smile.
Finally, it was over. Elisha joined everyone in the clapping and tried to look happy.
"Come on, let's go," Elizabeth whispered in her ear. She nodded and followed.
"Finally," Jack muttered. "You bloody Brits, what is it with you and boring, pointless occassions?"
"Jack!" Will exclaimed.
"What? your live's are so dull compared to the life o' a pirate."
"At least we're not in constant danger," Elizabeth said.
"But that's what makes being a pirate fun, luv," Jack said, winking.
Just then several blasts were heard, and parts of the fort wall exploded, sending people screaming and running for cover. The group looked back and stared at the chaos.
"We're under attack!" Norrington yelled. "Prepare the cannons and return fire immediately!"
"Yes, Jack, it's alot of fun," Elizabeth said sarcastically.
"Come on!" Jack yelled, and, grabbing Elisha'a wrist, broke into a run. They met up with Gibbs and Anamaria on the way. "We thought we heard somethin'," Gibbs said.
"Aye, I told you you weren't hearin' things 'cause you were drunk," Anamaria said.
"Well, it's always possible."
"We don't have time for this, mates," Jack said. "Come on, maybe the Jewel'll be distracted so we can make a run for it."
"Don't count on it, Jack," a new voice said. They turned, and were suddenly surrounded with twenty or so pirates facing them, swords and guns drawn. In the center was the last person Jack, Will or Elizabeth ever wanted to see.
Barbossa.
~~~~~~~
"You," Jack spat.
"Now Jack, that's no way to greet an ol' friend."
"That's Captain Jack to you, Barbossa," he snarled angrily.
"That's Captain Barbossa to you, Captain Jack," he replied in the same tone.
Will's eyes widened. "You're the captain of the White Jewel," he voiced.
"Aye. It's really alot o' fun. Nice big hat, too," he said, pointing to his large hat.
"'Tis a bit too big, if you ask me," Jack grumbled.
"Well I didn't ask you, Jack, so would you mind keepin' your thoughts to yourself?"
"Yes," Jack answered pointedly.
Barbossa sighed. "You always were stubborn." He turned his gaze to Elisha. "There you are. You've had our necklace for a long time and took good care o' it. I thank you. Now you're gonna have to come with us."
"No," Elisha replied.
Barbossa gave a small smile. "I wasn't givin' you a choice, lass," he said. "Besides, considerin' who you keep company with, and your strong resemblance, I can only assume Captain Jack here is your father, am I right?"
"For once," Jack said.
Barbossa gave a small chuckle. "Well, i'll be doin' your daughter a favor killin' her, so she won't have a father like you anymore."
"He's the best father anyone could ask for," Elisha snapped. Barbossa raised his eyebrows and glanced at Jack, who pointed to himself proudly.
"Well," he said, "if your father really loves you he would make you come with us."
"And if I did that, I would be the most horrible person alive," Jack replied.
"If you value your life as much as her's, you would make her come." At those words, the rest of the pirate's trained their guns on Jack, and their swords were inches from his throat. Elisha let out a small gasp.
"I value the life o' my daughter more than anythin', Barbossa," Jack said defiantly.
"Barbossa simply shrugged. "Very well. Kill him!" he ordered.
The pirates raised their swords to strike when Elisha screamed "NO!"
"Elisha," Jack said in a warning tone, but she payed no heed to it. "Don't kill my father!"
"Sorry... Elisha is it? Sorry Elisha, he made his choice," Barbossa said.
"Elisha, please, don't do anythin' stupid..." Jack begged.
The pirates started closing in again. "Killin' him will do nothin' for you!" Elisha said, trying to stall for time. "You can't... don't..." she tried to stop them, but they only held her back and laughed at her.
"I... oh for bloody's sake, PARLAY!" She screamed. The pirates immediately stopped in their tracks and looked at her.
Jack cringed. "...Like that."
Barbossa walked up close to Elisha. "You invoke the right o' parlay, Miss Sparrow?"
"I do," she replied.
Barbossa backed away. "Very well. Name your price."
"You let my dad and the Turners leave unharmed and you never come back to Port Royal, and in exchange I come with you. Do we have an accord?"
Barbossa nodded. "Aye, we have an accord." They shook hands.
"Good," Elisha said. "Now, release them."
The pirates back away from Jack and the Turners, who quickly moved to the side of the road. "There," Barbossa said. "Now your end o' the bargain."
"See, that's the thing," Elisha said casually. "I said I would come with you but I never said when."
Barbossa's grin faded from his face and was replaced with an expression of pure hatred.
"Elisha, luv," Jack muttered under his breath so only she could hear. "you shouldn't have done that."
"You should have listened to your father, lass, and not have done anythin' stupid," Barbossa said. "Get her!"
Several of the dead pirates started chasing Elisha, who turned and ran. The others started attacking the townsfolk. Jack made to go after his daughter, but Will stopped him. "Jack--"
"Will," Jack growled. "If you think i'm gonna let those bloody things hurt my daughter..."
"I don't think that, Jack," Will replied. "We can help her and we will, but don't do anything rash."
Jack glared at Will, a hint of amusement twinkling in his eyes. "That means naught comin' from you, Mr. Turner," he said. Will laughed in spite of himself. "I guess you're right. You five head out to the Pearl and bring her 'round."
"But Captain, how will you and Elisha get back?" Anamaria asked.
Jack grinned. "Well be swimmin', o' course." And with that he left the Turners and his two crewmates and chased after the pirates.
"What...? Oh nevermind, I don't want to know," Anamaria grumbled under her breath as she watched Jack leave. "Come on, we have to get to the Pearl."
TBC
For all other notes: See previous chapters.
**********
Chapter Four: Guess who's back?
When they arrived back at the mansion, Will, Elizabeth and Alex hastily gathered a few things together. They told the servants they would be gone for a while, and would be back as soon as they could. They told them to take care of the house.
Elisha, meanwhile, gathered her clothes, and complained to her dad as they left that they had time to change.
"I cannot go on the Pearl in this dress," she argued.
"You won't be goin' on the Pearl at all if we don't get a move on," he replied.
As they made their way down the street, they saw a large contingent of soldiers heading towards them, accompanied by Commodore Norrington and Governor Swann.
"Jack, hide," Will hissed at the pirate, who quickly ducked into an alleyway.
"Hello Elizabeth," her father greeted. "Mr. Turner, Alex... and who is this?" he asked, glancing at Elisha.
"Her name is Elisha," Elizabeth said. "She's the daughter of one of my friends and is visiting us for a few days."
"Nice to meet you," he said to her. Elisha smiled in reply.
"Commodore Norrington, it's good to see you," Elizabeth said in a friendly manner. "And congratulations on your promotion."
"Thank you, Mrs. Turner," he replied, contempt evident in his voice as he said 'Mrs. Turner'. He never got over Elizabeth, and envied Will terribly. "I was hoping you would attend the ceremony this afternoon."
"Of course they will," Governor Swann interjected, before anyone could say anything. "They wouldn't miss such an occasion. And Miss Elisha is welcome as well. Well, i'm afraid the Commodore, soon to become General, and I have plans, and we wouldn't want to hold you up. Good day." With that, the Commodore, Governor, and the soldiers resumed their walk, leaving everyone else speechless.
When the coast was clear, Jack emerged from his hiding place. "What promotion?" he asked, glaring at Elizabeth.
"Well, he--don't look at me like that, Jack!--he's being promoted to General, and there's a ceremony this afternoon."
"Whan does it start?"
"In an hour," she said sheepishly. "I'm really sorry, I didn't think--"
"It's alright, Elizabeth," Will said, drawing her into a hug. "Now that they're expecting us, we'll simply have to be there and leave immediately when it's over."
"But we might not have enough time," Elisha said. "If we go now, we may have a chance to lose them. But if we leave later they'll see us."
"Elisha's right," Jack said. "We have to go now or else we'll be meetin' the Jewel while we're leavin' to avoid it in the first place, savvy?"
"Well, what are we going to do? My father will notice that we're not there, he'll enquire at our house and find out we left. Then when we come back there'll be a whole lot of fuss and questions about where we were," Elizabeth said.
"If you come back," Jack hinted slyly.
"Jack, if we don't, he'll think something happened to us and he'll send out the entire fleet to look for us."
"Aye, good point," he replied.
"But how did the Jewel know to come here in the first place?" Alex asked.
There was an awkward silence after his question, and for a moment, no one spoke.
"That's interestin'," Jack said, breaking the silence.
"We'll have to think about it later, we have to go," Elizabeth said. As the Turners and Elisha made their way down the street, Jack muttered to himself, "that's very interestin'," before he ran to catch up with them.
~~~~~~~~~~
As the ceremony started, Elisha fidgeted. She was worried. The Jewel was coming to get her, and if they wouldn't have been held up by the Governor they would be safe by now. Instead they were at a boring ceremony with the sun, which just appeared, beating down on them, and Elisha was in a hot, uncomfortable dress. She was also afraid that her dad, who was hiding just outside the fort, would be caught.
Alex saw her fidgeting and elbowed her to stop. She glared at him but said nothing.
Fifteen minutes passed, but they seemed to drag on forever. Elisha couldn't think of a time when she was more bored. So she stopped paying attention and sang 'A Pirate's Life For Me' in her head, dreaming about being captain of the White Jewel. It was her single-most dream to command the ghost ship. The only problem (more like a blessing, really,) was that she wasn't dead.
Elisha looked in the distance. She could clearly see her father in his hiding place, yawning and struggling to stay awake. She let out a small smile.
Finally, it was over. Elisha joined everyone in the clapping and tried to look happy.
"Come on, let's go," Elizabeth whispered in her ear. She nodded and followed.
"Finally," Jack muttered. "You bloody Brits, what is it with you and boring, pointless occassions?"
"Jack!" Will exclaimed.
"What? your live's are so dull compared to the life o' a pirate."
"At least we're not in constant danger," Elizabeth said.
"But that's what makes being a pirate fun, luv," Jack said, winking.
Just then several blasts were heard, and parts of the fort wall exploded, sending people screaming and running for cover. The group looked back and stared at the chaos.
"We're under attack!" Norrington yelled. "Prepare the cannons and return fire immediately!"
"Yes, Jack, it's alot of fun," Elizabeth said sarcastically.
"Come on!" Jack yelled, and, grabbing Elisha'a wrist, broke into a run. They met up with Gibbs and Anamaria on the way. "We thought we heard somethin'," Gibbs said.
"Aye, I told you you weren't hearin' things 'cause you were drunk," Anamaria said.
"Well, it's always possible."
"We don't have time for this, mates," Jack said. "Come on, maybe the Jewel'll be distracted so we can make a run for it."
"Don't count on it, Jack," a new voice said. They turned, and were suddenly surrounded with twenty or so pirates facing them, swords and guns drawn. In the center was the last person Jack, Will or Elizabeth ever wanted to see.
Barbossa.
~~~~~~~
"You," Jack spat.
"Now Jack, that's no way to greet an ol' friend."
"That's Captain Jack to you, Barbossa," he snarled angrily.
"That's Captain Barbossa to you, Captain Jack," he replied in the same tone.
Will's eyes widened. "You're the captain of the White Jewel," he voiced.
"Aye. It's really alot o' fun. Nice big hat, too," he said, pointing to his large hat.
"'Tis a bit too big, if you ask me," Jack grumbled.
"Well I didn't ask you, Jack, so would you mind keepin' your thoughts to yourself?"
"Yes," Jack answered pointedly.
Barbossa sighed. "You always were stubborn." He turned his gaze to Elisha. "There you are. You've had our necklace for a long time and took good care o' it. I thank you. Now you're gonna have to come with us."
"No," Elisha replied.
Barbossa gave a small smile. "I wasn't givin' you a choice, lass," he said. "Besides, considerin' who you keep company with, and your strong resemblance, I can only assume Captain Jack here is your father, am I right?"
"For once," Jack said.
Barbossa gave a small chuckle. "Well, i'll be doin' your daughter a favor killin' her, so she won't have a father like you anymore."
"He's the best father anyone could ask for," Elisha snapped. Barbossa raised his eyebrows and glanced at Jack, who pointed to himself proudly.
"Well," he said, "if your father really loves you he would make you come with us."
"And if I did that, I would be the most horrible person alive," Jack replied.
"If you value your life as much as her's, you would make her come." At those words, the rest of the pirate's trained their guns on Jack, and their swords were inches from his throat. Elisha let out a small gasp.
"I value the life o' my daughter more than anythin', Barbossa," Jack said defiantly.
"Barbossa simply shrugged. "Very well. Kill him!" he ordered.
The pirates raised their swords to strike when Elisha screamed "NO!"
"Elisha," Jack said in a warning tone, but she payed no heed to it. "Don't kill my father!"
"Sorry... Elisha is it? Sorry Elisha, he made his choice," Barbossa said.
"Elisha, please, don't do anythin' stupid..." Jack begged.
The pirates started closing in again. "Killin' him will do nothin' for you!" Elisha said, trying to stall for time. "You can't... don't..." she tried to stop them, but they only held her back and laughed at her.
"I... oh for bloody's sake, PARLAY!" She screamed. The pirates immediately stopped in their tracks and looked at her.
Jack cringed. "...Like that."
Barbossa walked up close to Elisha. "You invoke the right o' parlay, Miss Sparrow?"
"I do," she replied.
Barbossa backed away. "Very well. Name your price."
"You let my dad and the Turners leave unharmed and you never come back to Port Royal, and in exchange I come with you. Do we have an accord?"
Barbossa nodded. "Aye, we have an accord." They shook hands.
"Good," Elisha said. "Now, release them."
The pirates back away from Jack and the Turners, who quickly moved to the side of the road. "There," Barbossa said. "Now your end o' the bargain."
"See, that's the thing," Elisha said casually. "I said I would come with you but I never said when."
Barbossa's grin faded from his face and was replaced with an expression of pure hatred.
"Elisha, luv," Jack muttered under his breath so only she could hear. "you shouldn't have done that."
"You should have listened to your father, lass, and not have done anythin' stupid," Barbossa said. "Get her!"
Several of the dead pirates started chasing Elisha, who turned and ran. The others started attacking the townsfolk. Jack made to go after his daughter, but Will stopped him. "Jack--"
"Will," Jack growled. "If you think i'm gonna let those bloody things hurt my daughter..."
"I don't think that, Jack," Will replied. "We can help her and we will, but don't do anything rash."
Jack glared at Will, a hint of amusement twinkling in his eyes. "That means naught comin' from you, Mr. Turner," he said. Will laughed in spite of himself. "I guess you're right. You five head out to the Pearl and bring her 'round."
"But Captain, how will you and Elisha get back?" Anamaria asked.
Jack grinned. "Well be swimmin', o' course." And with that he left the Turners and his two crewmates and chased after the pirates.
"What...? Oh nevermind, I don't want to know," Anamaria grumbled under her breath as she watched Jack leave. "Come on, we have to get to the Pearl."
TBC