Jack woke up the next morning and rolled over to see no Dinah. He panicked at first, but remembered that on some mornings she would go and make breakfast early. I love her. Jack thought to himself. He got up and went down stairs to hear nothing. No sounds in the kitchen, no rustling in the living room. The house was completely silent except for the various pirates snoring. Something's wrong. He thought. Dinah hadn't been going on walks without me…she wouldn't leave the house…and if she's not here… Jack thought the worse and climbed the stairs as fast at he could with the cast and knocked on Ana's door.
"She's gone."
Ana had been half asleep when he had said that. She sat up in the bed, pulling the covers up with her, "What?"
"Dinah's gone. They've taken her," Ana froze.
"They took her?"
"She's not here, and she's not on a walk, because she doesn't leave without me an' Milton is here…"
Ana got out of bed quickly and walked past Jack and went to their room. The first thing she noticed was the open window. "Jack!" she called and he hobbled over there. He reached the room and grabbed his cane. "The came in through the window. We didn't even need the crew in the house. The blasted man came in through the window!" Ana sighed in disgust, not believing that they didn't think of that tacit.
"Well do we know where they're going?"
Ana shook her head.
"Go get a carriage. We're going to the nearest doctor to get this thing off. And tell the crew to get the ship ready to shove off. We're leaving."
As soon as Jack and Ana got back from the doctors, he washed his leg off from the rancid smell that being in the cast had caused. Jack and Ana had found that the crew had packed and loaded their things onto the Pearl. But right before Jack and Ana dashed out the door, James grabbed Jack's arm.
"My baby sister was just kidnapped…" He started off. Jack knew right away what he wanted.
"Get your stuff. We're leaving as soon as you come aboard. Hannah and the twins can stay here with mum…if that's fine."
James nodded, "Right. A ship ready for battle isn't any place for two-years-olds." And he dashed into his room.
They left right away, not really knowing where they were going, but they were going to hit all the major islands in the whole Caribbean.
-------------------
Dinah awoke the next morning to find that her condition had not improved but not worsened, except for the fact that her arms were sore. She slowly pushed herself up from the bed. She remembered her knife that was on her leg, but wasn't quite sure how she was going to be able to cut the ropes around her hands. But quickly she put her hands under her rear, and up over her legs. There's still the problem of getting them cut…I first have to get it out of its protective holder… She thought to herself. But she heard foot steps coming towards the cabin and waited. The door opened to reveal her captor.
"'ello luv, I'm not sure if we've been properly introduced! M'name is Eric Smith. Captain of this 'ere Ship…now do you promise to be a good little girl?"
I swear, if I had my gun, he'd be dead. Little girl? Luv? Dinah thought, but she nodded. Hoping he would cut the ropes. He did no such thing. He untied the handkerchief from around her face. He took of slowly, as if not sure what her response would be. She stared at him as he seemed to be memorizing everything about her face.
"I would appreciate it if you didn't call me 'luv' or 'little girl', Captain," Dinah said.
"And why would that be?"
"Do I look like a little girl to you? No! And for the 'luv'- that name is for me by my husband, and my husband only."
"Oh! You mean Jack?"
"Yes. I mean Jack." You idiot.
"Well okay then. So what should I be callin' you?"
Dinah rolled her eyes, "My name is Dinah Sparrow. Either Mrs. Sparrow or Dinah is…fine."
Eric nodded. The sat in silence for a while and then she asked, "Why did you kidnap me?"
Eric took a seat beside her and said, "Well lass, I'm just followin' orders."
"How so? You're the Captain."
"That I am, but I'm not the one who owns this ship. The person who does, lets me Captain it, but I have to do umm…errands."
"Doesn't that bother you?"
Eric paused, he had never really thought of it as bothering… "Not really lass."
Dinah nodded, all this time not looking at him. "So where are we going?"
Eric smiled wryly, "We're going to see Fredrick."
Dinah turned and looked at him, wondering who Fredrick and what he wanted with Jack. "What business does he have with Jack?"
Eric clicked his tongue, "Now, that's none of your business, lass. But I'm sure you're hungry, so let me untie you and we'll go down and have somethin' to eat, savvy?"
"How do you know I won't try something after you untie me?" Dinah asked.
"Because I'll have a gun pointed at your head, if you do," Eric said with a serious look on his face. Dinah nodded and he untied her.
As Ana, James and Jack looked at several maps Jack had stashed in his cabin, looking for different islands and who they had on them, Ana began to wonder about how long this was going to take. I promised I'd meet with Evan at the end of this week… She thought. She had totally forgotten about it at the time when Jack told her Dinah was kidnapped, but now, it seemed the only thing on her mind.
She wanted to ask the captain about leaving ship, but was a little afraid about the response that would get. Then she thought she could write Evan, but she would have no way of getting the letter to him, and had no idea where he might be. She sighed, imagining Evan at the Faithful Bride, waiting all night, getting irritated and leaving quickly.
"Ana!" Jack shouted. Ana's eyes snapped open and she looked at Jack, "What the devil were you thinking about? I've been trying to talk to you!"
"Oh…uhm…sorry."
Jack looked at her and nodded, "Okay, go to your posts, we'll go to the next island. James- come and tell me when you see land." Jack said wearily. The past three days made him look thirty years older. He didn't seem to be getting any sleep and when he drank, he did it slowly, not in gulps. James nodded and exited the cabin and Ana followed but stopped in the doorway. She turned and asked, "Can I talk to you?"
Jack looked at her and nodded. She shut the door and stood while he sat in his desk chair. "Jack…I uh…promised Evan I would meet him at the Faithful Bride at the end of this week…"
"Why would you something like that? When you knew Dinah was kidnapped?"
"No, I made before we even came upon Eric and his ship. I promised him the night before I left…"
"What are you sayin' Ana?"
"Jack, I'm sayin' I promised…"
Jack paused and looked at Ana, "No."
"But Jack! Our accord is off! You're captain of the ship again…and so I'm not part of your crew anymore!"
"But you came along," He said getting up and looking at her, "We're not makin' any stops just so you can go off with your lover."
"You have to drop me off somewhere!"
Jack narrowed his eyes, "You want to leave?"
"That's what I'm sayin'! Jack, we made an accord before you got married that I wasn't going to be part of you're crew."
"Just because you're on m'ship doesn't mean you're part of m'crew!"
"Jack, this is important to me! I need to go to Tortuga!" Ana yelled.
"Ana, this is important to me! My wife is out there!" Jack yelled, pointing to the door, indicating 'out there'.
"I know. But holdin' me against my will is just kidnapping me."
Jack sighed, "Ana, I need you here. You're you were one of my best crew members and you left to go be with that fool. And now that you're here and it's my choice to leave you or keep you…"
"But it's not your choice!" Ana yelled, stomping her foot, feeling herself loosing this battle, "I'm not part of your crew so you can't make those kinds of decisions for me! I'm part of Evan's crew! JACK! We made a blasted accord and you're going to break that?"
"No."
Ana looked at him in disbelief and then a thought came to her, it may be my only hope, "Jack, what if we went to Tortuga, I told Evan of our problem and both ships go lookin' for Dinah?"
The thought appealed to Jack. Two ships would make it quicker, and would cover more ground. And the Destroyer was lookin' for the Pearl not for the Challenger. Jack had been up every night thinking of you it could've been. But he had threatened and killed so many people; it was hard to think of anyone. But he had to. Dinah was out there, maybe already dead. The thought sent shivers down his spine; he yearned for her in his arms, her soft skin against his, her voice in his ear. He needed to see her face…If Evan is the only way Ana will agree to stay on board for the time being…and the only way I'll get Dinah faster… "Fine. We'll go to Tortuga on Friday and meet with Evan.
There was a knock on the door before Ana could respond. She opened it to find James, "There's something you might want to see Jack…" He said. Both Ana and Jack came out of the cabin to find the remains of a sunken ship. There was personal items and cargo and burned limbs of people floating on the water.
Jack grimaced and thought of Cotton's tongue, "Ew…" He said.
"Any thoughts of who did it?" James asked.
Ana looked at the water, and found this very familiar. Then something old popped into her head. "Douglas."
"Huh?" Jack asked, looking at Ana.
She turned and said, "Remember when Kevin Johnson came aboard ship and he told us that The Douglas had sunk his ship?"
Jack nodded.
"Well actually he just said it started with a 'D' and Dinah offered that and he agreed. But then Douglas came to take Dinah and said that he had never sunk any ships…he was telling the truth."
Jack waited.
"It was the Destroyer. That's the only explanation. Eric said he had been looking for you for YEARS…"
"Yes, but why would he sink a ship now? He has Dinah…"
"He's trying to play with our minds. Give us clues. He just sunk a ship and killed probably six dozen people just to play with our minds…" Ana said in disgust, looking at the water. Jack was silent as he too looked at the water. "Remain of course James…" Jack said quietly after a few minutes. Determined more than ever to find this man.