SEQ CHAPTER \h \r 1Mina took a deep breath. "It's not exactly easy to say."
Will tried to be patient. "Look, no one else is listening. Can't you tell me?" The two of them were at the bow of the ship, Mina sitting on the railing, Will leaning against it. Jack was manning the helm and Elizabeth, looking put out, was doing her best to avoid his forced conversation.
She nodded, gathering her thoughts. "There was a curse placed on the family years ago. The time doesn't matter, but the fact that it's a multiple of fifty years back does."
He was already lost.
Mina threw up her hands. "Every fifty years a spirit comes to our family to take the eldest male straight out of this life and into the burning pits of Hell for the rest of eternity, which is a bloody long time if you ask me."
Will blinked. "Fif- fifty years?"
She was ignoring him. "Father had a plan: after locating the Isle de Meurta and stealing a piece of gold, thus rendering himself immortal and hopefully immune to the curse. The problem is, fifty years ago there was no male to be taken; the next in line was born three years later. Part of the whole slew of the curse is that at least one man must be taken every hundred years or else the entire family'll go. Now, who knows how many of us that would be, but by stealing you away and making you the unwilling sacrifice, he'd be safe to pirate for another however long."
Will's mind was racing. They had Jack; if he could get to Isle de Meurta before the fifty years were truly up, then the burden would fall on some half brother he didn't know he had running around somewhere. And if there were no half brother?
"That's why you need me," Mina said softly. "It's the only way to guarantee the rest of your life."
His eyes hardened. "I'm not going to depend on someone I don't fully trust."
"If you have a better idea, by all means, let me know. I realize you've had your own experience with curses, but I believe I have a bit more knowledge in casting them - and casting them aside." She raised an eyebrow. "So. What's our plan?"
The wheels were having a hard time getting started in his head but they finally began turning. "Well, you can do your hocus=pocus from anywhere, right?"
"Except inside a church or on holy ground, pretty much, yes."
"So you're not going to have problems on Isle de Meurta."
Mina gave him a look he could not decipher. "What are you thinking?"
"That I want backup. We need to get to Tortuga, get a full crew, get you stalked up on whatever magic . . . things . . . you might need, and get to that island." He shoved his hair off his forehead. "Why do you care, anyway? It's not your life!"
She smiled wryly. "Actually, it is. As long as it's not yours, it's mine."
His smile was not so kind. "It won't be mine; I grantee it."
Mina shrugged, leaning back on her hands, eyes closed as she turned her face toward the stern, into the wind. "Then it's a good thing I've made peace with myself, don't you think?"
When she opened her eyes, he was gone.
* * * * *
Elizabeth was beyond shocked. "Tortuga? Isle de Meurta? Will, what has gotten into you?"
"The desire to live?" he said, this time with a wry smile that she tried not to compare to Mina's. "It's the only way, darling."
The sound of a throat clearing behind him made them turn. Mina looked slightly sick. "It's not the only way now, but we're not exactly covered until the time comes."
"What?"
"Come with me."
Thoroughly puzzled, Will followed her.
Jack did not look up as they entered the captain's cabin, pushing aside a door that had been through more than what the waterspout had in its power. "It's hard to say," he muttered, reaching for a cloth and dipping it in cool water.
"If you'd kindly take the helm again, I'd appreciate it." Mina said it lightly, though there was an obvious tension between her and the man of whom she was requesting this. Without meeting her eyes, the pirate slipped out past them.
Will sucked in a quick breath, eyes on the pale figure in the bed. "That's not –"
"Our father." She nodded. "The bastard survived."
He stilled himself from making a comment as to how she herself was, by definition, a bastard. "Then I don't need to worry. He hangs in there until the . . . spirit thing comes . . . and them I'm home free."
"What happens if you count on that and he dies before that day ever arrives?" Her voice was sharp.
Will paused a moment. "But – that'd just be me; why should you care?"
"Because I can tell how much you mean to Elizabeth and I can't stand to see her lose you like I lost – like I lost someone else." She was avoiding his gaze, though he felt he knew exactly who she was talking about and how she may have lost him. "She deserves better than that, Will. I like to think that most people do."
"So you do care about people other than yourself." He leaned against the wall by the bunk, emphasizing his height and position over her.
"You ever questioned that?" Her eyes turned upward to seek his. "There's one man for whom I'd die, even if he wouldn't do the same for me. That part doesn't matter; all that matters is that he lives, even though it hurts me more than anything to know that I am nothing more than a spectator in an event I could never join."
He raised an eyebrow at the passion evident in her voice and posture but did not interrupt.
"I never had him. Elizabeth has you; she calls you her own and you call her yours. I can't imagine the pain of losing something you've actually had. Maybe I will never taste honey, but I don't have a memory to haunt me."
"Jack loves you." Will could not help but break in. "Are you blind? Look at the way he looks at you!"
"Look at his life!" she countered swiftly and bitterly. "He 'loves' me because I'm convenient. He's 'loved' others because they were convenient, and he'll 'love' still more. He's a pirate, Will, through and through. May Elizabeth keep you from such a fate."
He blinked. "Look, you're obviously having a hard day and you're not in a mood to listen to reason."
"Reason? I can't even define the term."
"Would you stop that already!"
"Stop what?"
"Being so bitter, so cynical. Can't you look at storm and see a rainbow coming?"
Mina stood, leaving their father and bringing her face close to Will's. "I've been through many storms in my life. After you've been hit by lightening so many times, the rainbows don't seem so wonderful anymore."
This time, she was the one to walk out on him.
* * * * *
"Tortuga." Jack snorted to himself. "Wonderful. Bloody wonderful." So Mina could see him with multiple women he had seen before, see him slapped by most and flirted with by those who had not heard of his . . . reputation. Exactly what he needed right now.
"You're not the only cheery one aboard," Elizabeth called from the main deck, leaning on the railing. "I can think of half a dozen things I would rather be doing."
"And how many involve Master William, love?" Jack called back, managing his usual jovial tone.
"Captain Sparrow." She straightened, giving him one of her piercing looks. "I don't believe that was appropriate."
He considered this a moment. "Probably wasn't. Oh, well. Can't be perfect all the time."
Elizabeth turned back to the gray sea, staring out at the whitecaps. "Pirates."
A smile twitched its way onto his lips. "Women."
* * * * *
There was one person on board who had not told her they were going to Tortuga and was not taking them there, and it was bad luck that put her in the same place with Elizabeth at the same time. "You," she spat. "I suppose you're enjoying this."
"Your company and excellent conversation?" Mina was not in the best of moods and her tone was clipped.
"This whole bloody trip! Dressing like a lad, and acting like one, too, and pulling my husband deeper into whatever web you're weaving while you take Jack Sparrow on the side."
She was expecting a verbal response, some sort of witticism that would be worthy of the term repartee, but none came. With something in her eyes that looked suspiciously like tears, Mina retreated into her cabin, closing her damaged door behind her.
* * * * *
Jack sighed. "You sure about this, mate?"
"Sure about this?" Will shook his head. "I'm not sure I'm sure of anything anymore."
"That's comforting." The pirate tiredly rubbed a hand over his face. "I was beginning to think I was the only one."
The ship sailed on.