Aftermath
By: L'Morgan
Disclaimer: I guess I really do need to remind you all that anything and everything related to Pirates of the Caribbean, their characters and settings are all the property of Disney - Disney - Disney - nobody - but -Disney ---- I-just-borrowing-to-play-with-and-giving-back. Only Disney can make money on anything to do with Pirates of the Caribbean. NOT ME!
*************************
A/N: Ummm - I hope this chapter isn't too disappointing - it so happens that I live in San Diego, CA - about 3 miles from an area where over 350 homes have been lost and the 300,000 + acres and still out of control 'Cedar Fire' is now an element of my dreams, not to mention 2 sides around us having huge, towering walls of real flame in the last week - with a sky and streets that look like the Apocalypse is honestly happening right here and now.
Actually - having my little story has been a way to try to forget the smoke and fear and heartbreak for little bits here and there as the world around us seems to go up in never-ending flames.. - but no, I wasn't able to give this part quite the attention the others have gotten in the final stages. Thank you SOOO much for your reviews - I have printed those and carried them all over San Diego County this last week. You are great for morale guys; true magicians if ever there were any!
We still have our home, but it's impossible not to feel for the many that have lost so much. I wish I could pass out your kindness to those around me, the way they hand out blankets and soup at the evacuation centers! But - if you find this part lacking - it's probably due to a little underlying 'smoke inhalation' - of my own? See what happens if you write a story called 'Aftermath'? Fate lets you get some personal experience all right! Now THAT'S ironic! (*quick wink*)
Summary: Port Royal lies in ruins.. The Black Pearl has battled and won.. But is Jack Sparrow at the bottom of the sea or is he not?
Chapter 17: The Legend of Jack Sparrow
Doctor Cook entered the grassy clearing on the edge of town. The survivors from the Pearl had decided they wanted to meet together informally, in private, to remember the pirate who had literally given them their lives back. Yes, they knew that the governor was arranging a more 'formal' memorial. but for them, the idea of formal and Jack Sparrow just didn't sit right together. Of course no one was going to tell the man not to, or not attend the auspicious event. It was a sheer miracle such as the Governor would even bother with such a thing - for a - for a pirate?
From here one could look down and see out over the harbor where the sea lay so calm with little sign of the catastrophe it had wrought. Several of the children's eyes were still puffy from crying - and quite a few of the adults too he noticed. He looked around the clearing at the others who were silently assembling there. The heartbreak that prevailed seemed smothering. They stood in little clumps and groups. The doctor sighed heavily. It hurt to think of the man, even for him. He wasn't sure that would ever go away. It just seemed so unfair. So unreal.
There was a man was there who had been picked up from the sea, the wife and two children who had been left on the land, gathered around him on the grass. A woman who was holding the young girl in her arms with a teenaged boy by her side - the same little imp of a girl who had just had to run back to give the pirate captain a hug before she danced her way off the ship.
Oh yes, Jack Sparrow had touched much more than just the lives of those he had fished out of the sea that day. and now his absence seemed crushing to them all. He sighed to himself. It had only been a few days out of their lives that they had come into contact with the man - so why did they all seem so affected at his absence.
Perhaps it was because they had all feared 'pirates' in general for all their lives - only to end up at the utter mercy of a ship full of them. But what they had encountered had been totally unexpected.
Perhaps the element of surprise was what made it seem important somehow. He knew that he for one had been absolutely stunned by the pirate and his crew. Not that they now believed all pirates could be benevolent - but they knew of at least one group who were. Sparrow and his crew had come sailing along and set all their opinions and carefully formed mindsets, totally upside down and backwards.
Along the outside edges gathered those few who had had no one returned, but who felt compelled to come anyway. The doctor looked over to the side where sat Mr. Gibbs on a large rock and a dozen or so other crew from the ship that still sat in their harbor. Not far away from them stood Elizabeth and William, with Commodore Norrington watching silently from beyond. No one seemed to dare to be the first to speak. Not even to offer up a prayer. They all just stood looking out over the water below.
There was a long, long, long silence as the gentle winds of the Caribbean kissed their lips and whispered through their hair..
"Mama we should sing and dance." a little girl with very dark brown hair advised suddenly in a very loud tone. Her mother's eyes widened in dismay as she told her to hush.
"No! That's not how Captain Jack wanted!" she insisted and the other adults tried not to embarrass her mother by staring.
"Tommy - tell them! Remember, he came down into the hold the night before and he told us that this was our last night on his ship. It was just all of us children. The adults were all busy cleaning and mending and stuff. He said that he was apparently in the way as much as we were, so he came to see us!" she said, and suddenly a blonde haired boy beside the doctor grinned widely and nodded emphatically.
"Remember he told us they would play music for us when it was time for us to go up on the deck and we would dance and be happy cause we were back home and that there would always be someone to take care of us - and if not then we could stay and be just his forever and ever - but no crying! He wanted us to be happy when we left." she said and from three more children came soft agreement.
"Yeah, no cryin' on the Black Pearl," a larger red headed and freckle faced boy said and the other children all nodded.
"I saw him almost cry." one of the younger children said helpfully.
"No you didn't - Captain Jack didn't cry." disputed another equally small dark skinned one.
"I said he almost did. When we found that lady with the red hair in the water and she was too scared to let go of the barrel and grab onto the rope. He had to go down to get her and then the shark came and grabbed her away and she screamed and went under the water. When they pulled him back up on the deck he just fell down and Mr. Gibbs went and hugged him. He almost cried then. I couldn't see though. But he sniffled a lot." The little one said, and all the children were silent for a long moment.
"When I had a nightmare and ran up on the deck at night cause I thought the ship moving was the earthquake again and I was running, he caught me, and he sat there and hugged me til I stopped being scared so much. Then he told me a story while I helped him steer his ship." One young tow headed boy said, and another little girl who was missing her two front teeth frowned.
"Will you tell us the story?" she asked and he smiled and nodded.
"He said that one time, a long, long time ago, he was someplace just doing what pirates do during the summer, and they found these people who were lost.. Kind of like us, but they at least got to an island. He let them come on his boat like he did us, only some of them were really sick. They had been on their way to America to make a brand new colony and now two of the children didn't have anyone they could be with. He told me he took them all the way back to England, and his brother let them come and live with him. He said we would like his brother - he doesn't wear a wig and he has a bunch of pretty horses that he raises. He said if any of us had the same problem we didn't need to worry - pirates make a lot of money and he has a lot of gold. So much even that he could keep all of us if we needed for him to. He said he wouldn't mind at all - but we'd have to learn not to leave candy wrappers all over his deck." He said and the little one missing her teeth looked over at the pirate crew.
"Is that true Mr. Gibbs? What he did for those children?" she lisped, eyes full of innocent curiosity, and the older sailor looked rather uncomfortable, practically squirming under the gaze of the townsfolk. Finally he sighed at her and gave an embarrassed shrug.
"Don't you worry none about Captain Jacks' poppets, sunshine. He's done made sure they would be looked after and educated and learn a trade. Just in case something like this were to ever happen. Jack has never been a stupid man. Now come on, Captain Jack wouldn't want any o' you to be cryin' over him! You young'uns know that. Don't you disappoint him now, ye bloomin' little bilge rats!" he said and some of them managed to smile.
"He might have been a bit daft, but he was a good man," Gibbs observed and most of the children suddenly erupted in laughter and he chuckled with a broad smile too.
"He only did all that funny walkin' and talkin' up on the decks, or around other people. He was pretending!" one of them cried out and Gibbs grinned more.
"So you mangy little devils figured the old Captain out did ye? Well that's a lot more than many twice your size can say, I'll give you that. And ol' Jack just let you did he?" he asked and one of the older children grinned.
"Charles is the one that was copying him and we didn't know he was there and he was watching and said no, no, no boy, you got it all wrong, you got to lean a lot more to the side when you do that - now watch! We all took turns trying to be like him and he sat there and just laughed and laughed - really hard. Then he said he was gonna have to make us all walk the plank cause we knew his big secret and he'd never get away with anything again if we told on him." She added and another young boy nearly the same age jumped up
"Til we told him we didn't wanna go with the sharks and he said who said anything about water! Then he fixed up that jumping plank for us. I liked jumping down into all that wool. It was better than my father's old hay barn for jumping into!" he added and the younger ones all nodded and grinned.
"I liked when he told us stories about the mermaids and sea serpents and the city under the sea. Maybe that's where he went! He didn't die, he just went with the mermaids for awhile!" one dark skinned little girl offered as they had all come over to Gibbs and now stood around him and the man smiled.
"And here he said he had to go give you all a piece of his mind. I wondered how come not a one of you looked especially upset after he'd been down there for an hour and a half lecturing you, every time I turned around. I thought sure those were screams of him just torturing the flesh right off yer' little bones the whole time." He said and they all grinned widely.
"You did not - you knew he went down there to play with us. I heard you making up some excuse for him." she told him and he grinned and shrugged.
"It was good for Capt'n Jack to play with all of ye, little minnow. There's not many in this world come up past his belt that Jack'd drop that' drunken sailor' act for if he could help it. You young'uns here - ye don't know the light ye' brought t' that man's heart by not judging him before ye got to find out what kind of soul he was. Ye just don't know. When you're older, you'll understand, sad enough to say." He said and a little girl who couldn't be more than 5 years old came up to him and took his hand.
"I wish he'd just come back." She said very sadly and he looked out at the water and was silent for a moment, then shook his head.
"I don't know where he is or why - but he's not dead. Least I don't think so." He said and the children frowned at him mildly.
"Mama says he is," the same little one offered in a wavering voice, and the man smiled broadly.
"Aye, but yer mama don't know that tricky man the way I do. Death's been walkin' in Jack's shadow before - more times than I can count. Its' just way too soon to count him gone just yet. Now if we'd found HIM - instead of just his bandana - then of course. Been days now and still he hasn't turned up, not even as a body. Me n' the crew here, well, we're gonna give him a couple of weeks to pop up and scare the livin' bejesus out of all of ye before we go anyplace. The Black Pearl's not leavin' without her Captain - and something just doesn't feel right when I think of Jack bein' dead at the moment. Lost maybe - god only knows where he could 'a gone to - but not gone as in dead and gone." He said and another sailor smiled
"That man has more lives than a black cat." He added and Gibbs laughed and nodded "An' he goes through 'em regular like! Ye tell half the stuff that daft Capt'n of ours has done and nobody believes you." He said and the rest of the crew nodded with grins as well.
"Will you tell us Mr. Gibbs? Tell us a story about Captain Jack? Please?" asked a nearby little boy and the other children joined in soft appeal. He considered them for a moment, and then smiled.
He lifted one of the smaller children up onto the rock beside him and pat her reassuringly. "All right - better we be telling tales of him than ye be crying anyway - ye all gather round and find ye a place to rest yer' bones and ol' Gibbs 'll tell you a story or two 'bout yer Captain. A true one even. Just cause this time is kinda' special right now. Let see now - what's' one that be fittin' fer yer young ears.. Aye, I know..." he started
~ * * ~
Commodore Norrington sat in his office staring unseeingly out the window at the rapidly setting sun. A small stack of papers he'd let pile up on his desk sat unnoticed. He sighed. Why was it so hard to get the dead pirate out of his mind? The older sailor's stories that afternoon had made him feel as if he had to have been blind, deaf and dumb around the pirate.
But no. Of course during most of his dealings with the man, he had been one of those Sparrow had 'perpetuated his image' upon. It was only on the pirate's ship - at the very end that he felt he had gotten a glimpse of the real man behind the legends. It seemed like no matter what he did, or was in the middle of trying to do, the image of Jack Sparrow would drift into his mind. He rubbed at his chin. He supposed it had something to do with the guilt he felt. But he truly needed to set the man and his mysteries aside now and get to the matters at hand.
The entire incident with Sparrow had been distasteful, and had now progressed to absolutely nightmarish with the man's death. But the living where still at hand and it was them he needed to see to. He looked back at his desk and picked up the file on Sparrow that he'd pulled out days before. With a sigh he took it back to the file closet where it had come from. He'd had his adjacent put the files in alphabetical order after the problems he had had finding Sparrow's the first time. Before they had been in semi chronological or at best regional order. It was all properly organized now!
He pulled the box forward on the shelf and began leafing through the files to find where Sparrow's should be. Some of these names were so old that he didn't even recognize them. That would be his next project. By regulation, out of date and dead files were supposed to be cleaned out yearly. Obviously it had been a number of years since the Supplies and Records Sergeant had checked to see if it had actually been done. He would need to see exactly what the sergeant had been so preoccupied with instead, that things had gotten into such a state. There were files in this closet on men no one had heard of in decades he would be willing to wager.
Samson, Shakles, Shaney, Stuart, Swift, Svenson - ah yes, between Shaney and Stuart. He started to insert the file, and then froze. He stared at the folder that he was holding back to make room to insert the other.
"Jackson Meriwether Stuart!" he read out loud from the file cover in a surprised whisper. He forgot about filing Sparrows' and pulled Stuart's out and took both files back to his desk. He opened the file on Stuart to find the pages faded with age. This was one of the older files then. No wonder he hadn't recognized the name.
He pulled the lamp closer to the file and began to read. His brow creased into a frown. Then more of one. After several minutes he sat back, looking amazed, surprised, then he rubbed at his forehead. He shook his head sharply as if in disbelief, and then bent back over the file. He reached over and opened Sparrow's file, then took the top page of each and laid them side by side..
The lamp burned very late into the night of Commodore Norrington's office. The only sign of motion being the man himself once or twice rising to pour himself a stiff drink, then pacing slightly, stopping to stare out his window, then back at his desk. finally he would return to the desk and sigh and begin again from the start, comparing the facts and figures and stories.
He had begun to wonder if Stuart and Sparrow were not one and the same person.
Commodore Norrington stared at the two open files before him. He sighed and considered the separate paper under his hand that held tally marks. The pattern was very obvious when you sat down and separated out the facts. But the results were surprising to say the least.
He counted carefully. In the last year Jack Sparrow was charged with the looting of 10 French ships, 3 Dutch, 2 Spanish and one British. The year before, he was charged with the looting of 10 French ships, 2 Dutch, 3 Spanish, and one British. The year before, 10 French ships, 3 Dutch, 3 Spanish and again, only one British. He wondered why it had never seemed obvious to anyone. Yes, various nations served as this particular pirate's targets, but interspersed with them were a definitely weighted number of ships from only one country in particular.
He looked at the dates again and picked a year. And since the reports came out on a quarterly basis, yes, the timing made it so that it seemed he preyed on all nations, not any one in particular. Not unless you sat back and looked at the overall figures.
The war with France had begun in 1688, 4 and a half years ago now. Look at any year before 1688 and the pirate had hardly touched the French. Between 1680 and 1688, Sparrow had taken two or three French ships each year. Never more - never. An eight year pattern even? But then, beginning in 1688, he had never taken less than 10 in a single year! And every single year since! Norrington had to wonder why the French hadn't made a concerted effort to hunt Sparrow down and blast him to kingdom come with that kind of record. Nearing some 40 French ships to his credit alone since the war had begun? He was indeed - efficient!
The raids also seemed to happen only between the months of March through October. During the months of November, December, January, and February, it was as if the Captain, his ship and his crew dropped off the face of the earth itself. Each and every year no less, not just one or two. Where could Sparrow possibly go for 4 months of the year where he wouldn't even be sighted by a merchant ship? Where he wouldn't get himself into some sort of trouble with someone, somewhere? It's not like the man could just quietly blend in with normal people.
The pirate was either very bright, or he had an uncanny knack of running into French ships at just infrequent enough intervals to keep him from - from what, seeming to be an unofficial privateer of some sort? Someone had to be giving the man information on when and where the ships were coming? The Governor himself had offered Sparrow a writ of clemency, which he had said he didn't need and didn't want and wouldn't accept. Odd for a man so 'dedicated to the cause of piracy', to be so unconcerned with the consequences of his actions? He isn't interested in clemency or pardon - in the least?
~ * * ~
Ana sat by the wall of the large cave and watched as the 5 men arranged some sticks and bunches of leaves into 2 different triangle shapes, about 10 feet apart. They had taken forever in choosing their sticks and leaves, as if only certain ones were right. But no explanations had been offered. She had been given a half of a coconut shell with water and a leaf full of fruit and leaves when they arrived, and then practically forgotten.
She frowned down at the pirate who lay with his head in her lap even as she gently toyed with the beads in his hair. Several times now the man had come and put the powder paste in Jack's mouth and made him drink the red juice. She had noticed that the man came whenever the pirate got to sounding wheezy, and shortly after the treatment, he seemed to breathe easier. But whatever it was apparently he didn't like the taste much.
Occasionally he would mutter or cough a bit, but his eyes stayed closed. She didn't like that part at all. But although he was still blazing with fever, it didn't seem quite as bad as just the night before. She sighed down at him, wishing he were well, wishing they were on the Pearl, wishing he'd never even turned back to find those survivors from Port Royal.
To her surprise his brow furrowed and he gave a weak cough, his eyelashes fluttering even as he mumbled in a whisper. She gently stroked his hair hoping to stave off whatever was bothering him in his dreams. Instead he opened his eyes, blinked, closed them again, and repeated the process a few more times before he seemed to notice her. He gave her such a weak smile that it just utterly melted her heart. Not that she would admit to THAT, see here! Not if hell itself were to try to force it out of her!
"Ah, you wakin' up finally?" she asked, still toying with his hair absently.
"No't really love," he mumbled heavily as his hand moved partway up his chest and then stilled as if anymore was too far to exert the effort to move.
She gently lifted his shoulders and offered him some of the drink she'd been given in a coconut shell half. He gulped at the water almost desperately, causing her to take it away before he choked on it.
"Shhhh - easy now, Jack - there's more. You can have as much as you want." She soothed and he nodded as she laid him back down. He seemed content to rest on her lap with a very heavily dazed look. She could feel the fever raging in him still right through his clothing and he was still very pale, his eyes glassy and dull.
"This isn't the lean too." He remarked slowly in a confused tone and she smiled.
"No - but don't you worry about it now. You're safe, and I'm right here - no one is gonna hurt you." She told him, gently stroking his definitely hot cheek.
He seemed to think for a bit, then frowned mildly up at her. "I think I supposed to be the one telling you that - not you tellin' me." He lisped, his thought processes definitely much slower than normal. She seemed amused as she considered him.
'Nah, don' work the same since we both pirates. Now if it was you and Miss Elizabeth - then I'd say yeah - but not here." She told him and he gave her a mildly alarmed look.
"God only knows what that rum burner would do in this mess. Probably set all of Jamaica on fire!" He said in a definitely 'off' tone and she smiled.
"Shhh now Jack - you want more water?" she asked and he nodded right away. She propped him up against her, discreetly keeping her own hand on the shell when he proved too shaky to hold it on his own. This time she governed his drinks, letting have his fill, in small doses.
"You should try to sleep now." she advised and he shook his head.
"Keep havin' nightmares about this man with all wild hair. Like someones' trying drown me an' puttin' mud in my mouth" He said with a mild shudder and looked around as if to make sure said nightmare wasn't about to jump out at him.
"Shhh - it's alright Jack." She soothed gently as she gathered him up in her arms and cradled him there. If that man gave him nightmares she'd rather he went back to sleep before he found out the nightmare was for real.
He gave her a surprised look, then his brow furrowed mildly. "What ye' up to missy?" he mumbled heavily and she gave him an amused look.
"Takin' full advantage of not havin' the crew around fer a bit's all Captain. Now just relax." She said and he sighed deeply.
"Ye can't make me go to sleep if I don' want to." He said a bit stubbornly and she smiled as if amused.
"Shhh - yes I can." She teased back quickly and kissed him on the cheek affectionately and slowly and gently rocked back and forth, knowing exactly how an imitation of a ship's back and forth motion would affect him.
The pirate instantly stilled, his features relaxing even as his eyelids sunk lower. "Ye not playin' fair love.. Ye could at least giv' me a real kiss goodnight if yer gonna cheat lik'e this." He mumbled softly and she chuckled at his pouting tone.
She brought him up just a little more and gave him exactly what he had asked for. She'd planned to deliver one brief kiss on his lips, only to find it impossible to break off the tender, drowsy, sweet exchange as his arm came up over her own that held him and he gave a very soft moan of contentment.
Slowly they broke apart and she looked down to find his eyes nearly closed and an angelic expression on his face. She smiled broadly as he sighed deeply and seemed too limp and relaxed to form words as he blinked heavily at her.
"Ye' can put me down now. Think I need a lil' nap." He finally mumbled and she shook her head with a very smug look.
"No, I think I'll just hold you for a while Jack. You'll sleep better." She said, again slowly rocking him back and forth. He didn't even have a chance to reply before his eyelids slid closed and he seemed to relax into a deep and blissful state of floating - not exactly sound asleep, but not awake either.
After a bit she shifted his weight some only to have him turn his head towards her, resting his ear and cheek heavily against her breast as she slowly rocked him. Her eyes widened at first in alarm - but then she realized that he apparently found her heartbeat and skin-to-skin contact comforting. Quickly his muscle tone dissolved into deep slumber, his breath soft, deeper, and even.
It was quite a while later when she looked to see the large dark man with the wild hair heading their way. He came over and settled himself on the pirate's other side. She frowned at him as she held her sleeping burden a little closer, feeling a deep, abiding surge of protectiveness towards Jack abruptly welling up with near to overwhelming strength.
"He's not wheezing now. Ye' don't need to be doin' anything to him yet." She said quickly and he smiled and considered her intently for a long moment. Slowly he picked up Jack's hand and turned it over to examine his palm. Gently he traced the lines on the pirate's palm, then took up his other hand and frowned mildly at the scar on the man's palm.
"A man with more than one life, more than one place in the world," he said softly and again traced the lines in the pirates' palms, then gently felt at the pirate's forehead with the back of his hand. He sighed softly and the pirate copied his sigh without seeming to stir. The dark man interlaced his fingers with one of Jack's hands, and now laid his entire other hand heavily over the pirate's forehead - the he closed his eyes and rocked back and forth, humming softly to himself.
Ana's eyes widened and her skin pebbled up as she gradually recognized the tune and heard the dark man mutter 'bad eggs' in a rather slurred tone. The man opened his eyes suddenly with a startled look, then considered Jack and seemed amused as she seemed to try to gather the pirate more away from him.
"What?" she asked and he chuckled deeply.
"A man who chooses to walk a path in life that lets him make his own rules and set his own standards, yet much energy he spends making sure few know what those really are. They believe the face he shows them and look no further." He said and chuckled again. She stared at his sudden change from 'pidgin english' to a cultured accent rarely heard in those parts. She blinked at him owlishly and he smiled.
"Missionaries when I was a child. Better not to let strangers be too aware. This one would understand what I mean." He said with a nod at Jack. She sat forward now with a hand on the pirate's chest.
"Jack doesn't believe in voodoo - and neither do I. So you can stop trying to impress me." She hissed seriously and he looked at her.
"You say no, but in your heart you remember the tales of the zombie, the curses, the magick, the possessed. You fear the drums, the smoke, the blood, the dance." He intoned dark and low, then suddenly sprung at her with hands up, eyes wild, teeth bared, face distorted, in her face and flailing as he roared at her fiercely. She gasped loudly and startled back, one hand rising instinctively to keep him from inadvertently striking the sleeping man who lay in her arms, apparently completely unaware of their exchange. He sat back just as suddenly and laughed as if amused.
She looked daggers at him meant to kill, and he grinned.
"I am the healer of our people. We escaped from the man who tried to buy us off the large ship to make us slaves. Mostly we come from the land the white man calls Africa. We live here now, hidden in the mountains and hills, far from the white man. I will not take you to our home here. You do not need to see our women and children. Some of us were once slaves, some of us were born and raised here and escaped from slavery. You missy, have seen things not of this natural world. Far worse than the horror of slavery. So has your friend here. Do not tell me you know nothing and believe nothing of the world of the voodoo." He said as he rose and gestured as if for her to surrender the pirate.
She held the man, more securely, with a huge, dark scowl.
"Wait - what are you going to do with him now?" she asked. He didn't answer, but merely bent and easily lifted Jack away from her. Only her desire not to hurt the pirate prevented her from using tooth and nail to keep her grip. She jumped up and followed him over to where he gently laid Jack out between the two triangular stands of sticks and leaves. She watched as at a word from him, one of the other men brought him blankets, some of which he folded and put behind the pirates head, the other of which he put over and around the man.
She scowled as another brought him a large half of a clam shell filled with what looked like slime and swamp mud. He opened Jack's shirt and began smearing it heavily on his chest, particularly in the center, then on either side of his neck and finally adding heavy stripes on his nose and above and under his eyes. The smell alone made her eyes water mildly.
"Oh he's definitely not going to like that! What are you doing to him?" she demanded as she knelt to push his hand away from adding more to the pirate. He smiled at her.
"If you were of my village I would tell you he has evil spirits in his chest and throat and head that I need to purify him of. This will help drive them out. So will the smoke from the fires we will light now for him. You however know it is the water of the bay that is in his lungs. The smoke from the leaves and the mud will help draw the water out of his lungs and will help him fight the putrid liquid that he has in them that is causing the fever," he said and at his nod one of the others brought a flaming stick over and lit each of the triangles in turn.
Instantly they blossomed into bright flames, followed by a thick white smoke. She coughed and shook her head.
"No - no wait! The smoke will kill him! He already can't breathe!! Look you blasted idiot - I'm getting him out of here!" she yelled, becoming quickly alarmed and then angry. Now Jack stirred and started coughing weakly but very, very congestedly. She went to sit him up, only to be grabbed from behind by two of the other men. They drug her out of the cave where a third came to hold her down. The fourth knelt with the skin they used for the juice they gave Jack and tried to pour it into her mouth.
She spat it out, only to find her head pinned to the ground and something shoved between her teeth, then she was inundated with the liquid. It was sweet and berry flavored of some sort, but musty and moldy tasting. She choked, sputtered, then swallowed it against her will. Twice more they forced her, before finally letting her go.
They stepped back and retreated a good ways away, looking rather well pleased with themselves. She tried to stand only to find her arms and legs acted as if she was extremely drunk. She glared at them, as they doubled and then tripled and became very blurry in her vision. She realized the tall dark man had come to stand over her.
He started laughing, deeply, loudly, seeming very menacingly. She forced herself to stand, only to have the world spin and then slowly go black.
'This is really a stupid way to get yerself killed girl.' her mind whispered as she faded away.
*********************************
Today is Thursday when this little section is posted - then comes Friday, then comes Saturday - so WHEN will you find the next chapter up? (waits to hear answer from the truly wonderful readers and reviewers...)
(hint ..... S....U....N....D...A...Y)
Disclaimer: I guess I really do need to remind you all that anything and everything related to Pirates of the Caribbean, their characters and settings are all the property of Disney - Disney - Disney - nobody - but -Disney ---- I-just-borrowing-to-play-with-and-giving-back. Only Disney can make money on anything to do with Pirates of the Caribbean. NOT ME!
*************************
A/N: Ummm - I hope this chapter isn't too disappointing - it so happens that I live in San Diego, CA - about 3 miles from an area where over 350 homes have been lost and the 300,000 + acres and still out of control 'Cedar Fire' is now an element of my dreams, not to mention 2 sides around us having huge, towering walls of real flame in the last week - with a sky and streets that look like the Apocalypse is honestly happening right here and now.
Actually - having my little story has been a way to try to forget the smoke and fear and heartbreak for little bits here and there as the world around us seems to go up in never-ending flames.. - but no, I wasn't able to give this part quite the attention the others have gotten in the final stages. Thank you SOOO much for your reviews - I have printed those and carried them all over San Diego County this last week. You are great for morale guys; true magicians if ever there were any!
We still have our home, but it's impossible not to feel for the many that have lost so much. I wish I could pass out your kindness to those around me, the way they hand out blankets and soup at the evacuation centers! But - if you find this part lacking - it's probably due to a little underlying 'smoke inhalation' - of my own? See what happens if you write a story called 'Aftermath'? Fate lets you get some personal experience all right! Now THAT'S ironic! (*quick wink*)
Summary: Port Royal lies in ruins.. The Black Pearl has battled and won.. But is Jack Sparrow at the bottom of the sea or is he not?
Chapter 17: The Legend of Jack Sparrow
Doctor Cook entered the grassy clearing on the edge of town. The survivors from the Pearl had decided they wanted to meet together informally, in private, to remember the pirate who had literally given them their lives back. Yes, they knew that the governor was arranging a more 'formal' memorial. but for them, the idea of formal and Jack Sparrow just didn't sit right together. Of course no one was going to tell the man not to, or not attend the auspicious event. It was a sheer miracle such as the Governor would even bother with such a thing - for a - for a pirate?
From here one could look down and see out over the harbor where the sea lay so calm with little sign of the catastrophe it had wrought. Several of the children's eyes were still puffy from crying - and quite a few of the adults too he noticed. He looked around the clearing at the others who were silently assembling there. The heartbreak that prevailed seemed smothering. They stood in little clumps and groups. The doctor sighed heavily. It hurt to think of the man, even for him. He wasn't sure that would ever go away. It just seemed so unfair. So unreal.
There was a man was there who had been picked up from the sea, the wife and two children who had been left on the land, gathered around him on the grass. A woman who was holding the young girl in her arms with a teenaged boy by her side - the same little imp of a girl who had just had to run back to give the pirate captain a hug before she danced her way off the ship.
Oh yes, Jack Sparrow had touched much more than just the lives of those he had fished out of the sea that day. and now his absence seemed crushing to them all. He sighed to himself. It had only been a few days out of their lives that they had come into contact with the man - so why did they all seem so affected at his absence.
Perhaps it was because they had all feared 'pirates' in general for all their lives - only to end up at the utter mercy of a ship full of them. But what they had encountered had been totally unexpected.
Perhaps the element of surprise was what made it seem important somehow. He knew that he for one had been absolutely stunned by the pirate and his crew. Not that they now believed all pirates could be benevolent - but they knew of at least one group who were. Sparrow and his crew had come sailing along and set all their opinions and carefully formed mindsets, totally upside down and backwards.
Along the outside edges gathered those few who had had no one returned, but who felt compelled to come anyway. The doctor looked over to the side where sat Mr. Gibbs on a large rock and a dozen or so other crew from the ship that still sat in their harbor. Not far away from them stood Elizabeth and William, with Commodore Norrington watching silently from beyond. No one seemed to dare to be the first to speak. Not even to offer up a prayer. They all just stood looking out over the water below.
There was a long, long, long silence as the gentle winds of the Caribbean kissed their lips and whispered through their hair..
"Mama we should sing and dance." a little girl with very dark brown hair advised suddenly in a very loud tone. Her mother's eyes widened in dismay as she told her to hush.
"No! That's not how Captain Jack wanted!" she insisted and the other adults tried not to embarrass her mother by staring.
"Tommy - tell them! Remember, he came down into the hold the night before and he told us that this was our last night on his ship. It was just all of us children. The adults were all busy cleaning and mending and stuff. He said that he was apparently in the way as much as we were, so he came to see us!" she said, and suddenly a blonde haired boy beside the doctor grinned widely and nodded emphatically.
"Remember he told us they would play music for us when it was time for us to go up on the deck and we would dance and be happy cause we were back home and that there would always be someone to take care of us - and if not then we could stay and be just his forever and ever - but no crying! He wanted us to be happy when we left." she said and from three more children came soft agreement.
"Yeah, no cryin' on the Black Pearl," a larger red headed and freckle faced boy said and the other children all nodded.
"I saw him almost cry." one of the younger children said helpfully.
"No you didn't - Captain Jack didn't cry." disputed another equally small dark skinned one.
"I said he almost did. When we found that lady with the red hair in the water and she was too scared to let go of the barrel and grab onto the rope. He had to go down to get her and then the shark came and grabbed her away and she screamed and went under the water. When they pulled him back up on the deck he just fell down and Mr. Gibbs went and hugged him. He almost cried then. I couldn't see though. But he sniffled a lot." The little one said, and all the children were silent for a long moment.
"When I had a nightmare and ran up on the deck at night cause I thought the ship moving was the earthquake again and I was running, he caught me, and he sat there and hugged me til I stopped being scared so much. Then he told me a story while I helped him steer his ship." One young tow headed boy said, and another little girl who was missing her two front teeth frowned.
"Will you tell us the story?" she asked and he smiled and nodded.
"He said that one time, a long, long time ago, he was someplace just doing what pirates do during the summer, and they found these people who were lost.. Kind of like us, but they at least got to an island. He let them come on his boat like he did us, only some of them were really sick. They had been on their way to America to make a brand new colony and now two of the children didn't have anyone they could be with. He told me he took them all the way back to England, and his brother let them come and live with him. He said we would like his brother - he doesn't wear a wig and he has a bunch of pretty horses that he raises. He said if any of us had the same problem we didn't need to worry - pirates make a lot of money and he has a lot of gold. So much even that he could keep all of us if we needed for him to. He said he wouldn't mind at all - but we'd have to learn not to leave candy wrappers all over his deck." He said and the little one missing her teeth looked over at the pirate crew.
"Is that true Mr. Gibbs? What he did for those children?" she lisped, eyes full of innocent curiosity, and the older sailor looked rather uncomfortable, practically squirming under the gaze of the townsfolk. Finally he sighed at her and gave an embarrassed shrug.
"Don't you worry none about Captain Jacks' poppets, sunshine. He's done made sure they would be looked after and educated and learn a trade. Just in case something like this were to ever happen. Jack has never been a stupid man. Now come on, Captain Jack wouldn't want any o' you to be cryin' over him! You young'uns know that. Don't you disappoint him now, ye bloomin' little bilge rats!" he said and some of them managed to smile.
"He might have been a bit daft, but he was a good man," Gibbs observed and most of the children suddenly erupted in laughter and he chuckled with a broad smile too.
"He only did all that funny walkin' and talkin' up on the decks, or around other people. He was pretending!" one of them cried out and Gibbs grinned more.
"So you mangy little devils figured the old Captain out did ye? Well that's a lot more than many twice your size can say, I'll give you that. And ol' Jack just let you did he?" he asked and one of the older children grinned.
"Charles is the one that was copying him and we didn't know he was there and he was watching and said no, no, no boy, you got it all wrong, you got to lean a lot more to the side when you do that - now watch! We all took turns trying to be like him and he sat there and just laughed and laughed - really hard. Then he said he was gonna have to make us all walk the plank cause we knew his big secret and he'd never get away with anything again if we told on him." She added and another young boy nearly the same age jumped up
"Til we told him we didn't wanna go with the sharks and he said who said anything about water! Then he fixed up that jumping plank for us. I liked jumping down into all that wool. It was better than my father's old hay barn for jumping into!" he added and the younger ones all nodded and grinned.
"I liked when he told us stories about the mermaids and sea serpents and the city under the sea. Maybe that's where he went! He didn't die, he just went with the mermaids for awhile!" one dark skinned little girl offered as they had all come over to Gibbs and now stood around him and the man smiled.
"And here he said he had to go give you all a piece of his mind. I wondered how come not a one of you looked especially upset after he'd been down there for an hour and a half lecturing you, every time I turned around. I thought sure those were screams of him just torturing the flesh right off yer' little bones the whole time." He said and they all grinned widely.
"You did not - you knew he went down there to play with us. I heard you making up some excuse for him." she told him and he grinned and shrugged.
"It was good for Capt'n Jack to play with all of ye, little minnow. There's not many in this world come up past his belt that Jack'd drop that' drunken sailor' act for if he could help it. You young'uns here - ye don't know the light ye' brought t' that man's heart by not judging him before ye got to find out what kind of soul he was. Ye just don't know. When you're older, you'll understand, sad enough to say." He said and a little girl who couldn't be more than 5 years old came up to him and took his hand.
"I wish he'd just come back." She said very sadly and he looked out at the water and was silent for a moment, then shook his head.
"I don't know where he is or why - but he's not dead. Least I don't think so." He said and the children frowned at him mildly.
"Mama says he is," the same little one offered in a wavering voice, and the man smiled broadly.
"Aye, but yer mama don't know that tricky man the way I do. Death's been walkin' in Jack's shadow before - more times than I can count. Its' just way too soon to count him gone just yet. Now if we'd found HIM - instead of just his bandana - then of course. Been days now and still he hasn't turned up, not even as a body. Me n' the crew here, well, we're gonna give him a couple of weeks to pop up and scare the livin' bejesus out of all of ye before we go anyplace. The Black Pearl's not leavin' without her Captain - and something just doesn't feel right when I think of Jack bein' dead at the moment. Lost maybe - god only knows where he could 'a gone to - but not gone as in dead and gone." He said and another sailor smiled
"That man has more lives than a black cat." He added and Gibbs laughed and nodded "An' he goes through 'em regular like! Ye tell half the stuff that daft Capt'n of ours has done and nobody believes you." He said and the rest of the crew nodded with grins as well.
"Will you tell us Mr. Gibbs? Tell us a story about Captain Jack? Please?" asked a nearby little boy and the other children joined in soft appeal. He considered them for a moment, and then smiled.
He lifted one of the smaller children up onto the rock beside him and pat her reassuringly. "All right - better we be telling tales of him than ye be crying anyway - ye all gather round and find ye a place to rest yer' bones and ol' Gibbs 'll tell you a story or two 'bout yer Captain. A true one even. Just cause this time is kinda' special right now. Let see now - what's' one that be fittin' fer yer young ears.. Aye, I know..." he started
~ * * ~
Commodore Norrington sat in his office staring unseeingly out the window at the rapidly setting sun. A small stack of papers he'd let pile up on his desk sat unnoticed. He sighed. Why was it so hard to get the dead pirate out of his mind? The older sailor's stories that afternoon had made him feel as if he had to have been blind, deaf and dumb around the pirate.
But no. Of course during most of his dealings with the man, he had been one of those Sparrow had 'perpetuated his image' upon. It was only on the pirate's ship - at the very end that he felt he had gotten a glimpse of the real man behind the legends. It seemed like no matter what he did, or was in the middle of trying to do, the image of Jack Sparrow would drift into his mind. He rubbed at his chin. He supposed it had something to do with the guilt he felt. But he truly needed to set the man and his mysteries aside now and get to the matters at hand.
The entire incident with Sparrow had been distasteful, and had now progressed to absolutely nightmarish with the man's death. But the living where still at hand and it was them he needed to see to. He looked back at his desk and picked up the file on Sparrow that he'd pulled out days before. With a sigh he took it back to the file closet where it had come from. He'd had his adjacent put the files in alphabetical order after the problems he had had finding Sparrow's the first time. Before they had been in semi chronological or at best regional order. It was all properly organized now!
He pulled the box forward on the shelf and began leafing through the files to find where Sparrow's should be. Some of these names were so old that he didn't even recognize them. That would be his next project. By regulation, out of date and dead files were supposed to be cleaned out yearly. Obviously it had been a number of years since the Supplies and Records Sergeant had checked to see if it had actually been done. He would need to see exactly what the sergeant had been so preoccupied with instead, that things had gotten into such a state. There were files in this closet on men no one had heard of in decades he would be willing to wager.
Samson, Shakles, Shaney, Stuart, Swift, Svenson - ah yes, between Shaney and Stuart. He started to insert the file, and then froze. He stared at the folder that he was holding back to make room to insert the other.
"Jackson Meriwether Stuart!" he read out loud from the file cover in a surprised whisper. He forgot about filing Sparrows' and pulled Stuart's out and took both files back to his desk. He opened the file on Stuart to find the pages faded with age. This was one of the older files then. No wonder he hadn't recognized the name.
He pulled the lamp closer to the file and began to read. His brow creased into a frown. Then more of one. After several minutes he sat back, looking amazed, surprised, then he rubbed at his forehead. He shook his head sharply as if in disbelief, and then bent back over the file. He reached over and opened Sparrow's file, then took the top page of each and laid them side by side..
The lamp burned very late into the night of Commodore Norrington's office. The only sign of motion being the man himself once or twice rising to pour himself a stiff drink, then pacing slightly, stopping to stare out his window, then back at his desk. finally he would return to the desk and sigh and begin again from the start, comparing the facts and figures and stories.
He had begun to wonder if Stuart and Sparrow were not one and the same person.
Commodore Norrington stared at the two open files before him. He sighed and considered the separate paper under his hand that held tally marks. The pattern was very obvious when you sat down and separated out the facts. But the results were surprising to say the least.
He counted carefully. In the last year Jack Sparrow was charged with the looting of 10 French ships, 3 Dutch, 2 Spanish and one British. The year before, he was charged with the looting of 10 French ships, 2 Dutch, 3 Spanish, and one British. The year before, 10 French ships, 3 Dutch, 3 Spanish and again, only one British. He wondered why it had never seemed obvious to anyone. Yes, various nations served as this particular pirate's targets, but interspersed with them were a definitely weighted number of ships from only one country in particular.
He looked at the dates again and picked a year. And since the reports came out on a quarterly basis, yes, the timing made it so that it seemed he preyed on all nations, not any one in particular. Not unless you sat back and looked at the overall figures.
The war with France had begun in 1688, 4 and a half years ago now. Look at any year before 1688 and the pirate had hardly touched the French. Between 1680 and 1688, Sparrow had taken two or three French ships each year. Never more - never. An eight year pattern even? But then, beginning in 1688, he had never taken less than 10 in a single year! And every single year since! Norrington had to wonder why the French hadn't made a concerted effort to hunt Sparrow down and blast him to kingdom come with that kind of record. Nearing some 40 French ships to his credit alone since the war had begun? He was indeed - efficient!
The raids also seemed to happen only between the months of March through October. During the months of November, December, January, and February, it was as if the Captain, his ship and his crew dropped off the face of the earth itself. Each and every year no less, not just one or two. Where could Sparrow possibly go for 4 months of the year where he wouldn't even be sighted by a merchant ship? Where he wouldn't get himself into some sort of trouble with someone, somewhere? It's not like the man could just quietly blend in with normal people.
The pirate was either very bright, or he had an uncanny knack of running into French ships at just infrequent enough intervals to keep him from - from what, seeming to be an unofficial privateer of some sort? Someone had to be giving the man information on when and where the ships were coming? The Governor himself had offered Sparrow a writ of clemency, which he had said he didn't need and didn't want and wouldn't accept. Odd for a man so 'dedicated to the cause of piracy', to be so unconcerned with the consequences of his actions? He isn't interested in clemency or pardon - in the least?
~ * * ~
Ana sat by the wall of the large cave and watched as the 5 men arranged some sticks and bunches of leaves into 2 different triangle shapes, about 10 feet apart. They had taken forever in choosing their sticks and leaves, as if only certain ones were right. But no explanations had been offered. She had been given a half of a coconut shell with water and a leaf full of fruit and leaves when they arrived, and then practically forgotten.
She frowned down at the pirate who lay with his head in her lap even as she gently toyed with the beads in his hair. Several times now the man had come and put the powder paste in Jack's mouth and made him drink the red juice. She had noticed that the man came whenever the pirate got to sounding wheezy, and shortly after the treatment, he seemed to breathe easier. But whatever it was apparently he didn't like the taste much.
Occasionally he would mutter or cough a bit, but his eyes stayed closed. She didn't like that part at all. But although he was still blazing with fever, it didn't seem quite as bad as just the night before. She sighed down at him, wishing he were well, wishing they were on the Pearl, wishing he'd never even turned back to find those survivors from Port Royal.
To her surprise his brow furrowed and he gave a weak cough, his eyelashes fluttering even as he mumbled in a whisper. She gently stroked his hair hoping to stave off whatever was bothering him in his dreams. Instead he opened his eyes, blinked, closed them again, and repeated the process a few more times before he seemed to notice her. He gave her such a weak smile that it just utterly melted her heart. Not that she would admit to THAT, see here! Not if hell itself were to try to force it out of her!
"Ah, you wakin' up finally?" she asked, still toying with his hair absently.
"No't really love," he mumbled heavily as his hand moved partway up his chest and then stilled as if anymore was too far to exert the effort to move.
She gently lifted his shoulders and offered him some of the drink she'd been given in a coconut shell half. He gulped at the water almost desperately, causing her to take it away before he choked on it.
"Shhhh - easy now, Jack - there's more. You can have as much as you want." She soothed and he nodded as she laid him back down. He seemed content to rest on her lap with a very heavily dazed look. She could feel the fever raging in him still right through his clothing and he was still very pale, his eyes glassy and dull.
"This isn't the lean too." He remarked slowly in a confused tone and she smiled.
"No - but don't you worry about it now. You're safe, and I'm right here - no one is gonna hurt you." She told him, gently stroking his definitely hot cheek.
He seemed to think for a bit, then frowned mildly up at her. "I think I supposed to be the one telling you that - not you tellin' me." He lisped, his thought processes definitely much slower than normal. She seemed amused as she considered him.
'Nah, don' work the same since we both pirates. Now if it was you and Miss Elizabeth - then I'd say yeah - but not here." She told him and he gave her a mildly alarmed look.
"God only knows what that rum burner would do in this mess. Probably set all of Jamaica on fire!" He said in a definitely 'off' tone and she smiled.
"Shhh now Jack - you want more water?" she asked and he nodded right away. She propped him up against her, discreetly keeping her own hand on the shell when he proved too shaky to hold it on his own. This time she governed his drinks, letting have his fill, in small doses.
"You should try to sleep now." she advised and he shook his head.
"Keep havin' nightmares about this man with all wild hair. Like someones' trying drown me an' puttin' mud in my mouth" He said with a mild shudder and looked around as if to make sure said nightmare wasn't about to jump out at him.
"Shhh - it's alright Jack." She soothed gently as she gathered him up in her arms and cradled him there. If that man gave him nightmares she'd rather he went back to sleep before he found out the nightmare was for real.
He gave her a surprised look, then his brow furrowed mildly. "What ye' up to missy?" he mumbled heavily and she gave him an amused look.
"Takin' full advantage of not havin' the crew around fer a bit's all Captain. Now just relax." She said and he sighed deeply.
"Ye can't make me go to sleep if I don' want to." He said a bit stubbornly and she smiled as if amused.
"Shhh - yes I can." She teased back quickly and kissed him on the cheek affectionately and slowly and gently rocked back and forth, knowing exactly how an imitation of a ship's back and forth motion would affect him.
The pirate instantly stilled, his features relaxing even as his eyelids sunk lower. "Ye not playin' fair love.. Ye could at least giv' me a real kiss goodnight if yer gonna cheat lik'e this." He mumbled softly and she chuckled at his pouting tone.
She brought him up just a little more and gave him exactly what he had asked for. She'd planned to deliver one brief kiss on his lips, only to find it impossible to break off the tender, drowsy, sweet exchange as his arm came up over her own that held him and he gave a very soft moan of contentment.
Slowly they broke apart and she looked down to find his eyes nearly closed and an angelic expression on his face. She smiled broadly as he sighed deeply and seemed too limp and relaxed to form words as he blinked heavily at her.
"Ye' can put me down now. Think I need a lil' nap." He finally mumbled and she shook her head with a very smug look.
"No, I think I'll just hold you for a while Jack. You'll sleep better." She said, again slowly rocking him back and forth. He didn't even have a chance to reply before his eyelids slid closed and he seemed to relax into a deep and blissful state of floating - not exactly sound asleep, but not awake either.
After a bit she shifted his weight some only to have him turn his head towards her, resting his ear and cheek heavily against her breast as she slowly rocked him. Her eyes widened at first in alarm - but then she realized that he apparently found her heartbeat and skin-to-skin contact comforting. Quickly his muscle tone dissolved into deep slumber, his breath soft, deeper, and even.
It was quite a while later when she looked to see the large dark man with the wild hair heading their way. He came over and settled himself on the pirate's other side. She frowned at him as she held her sleeping burden a little closer, feeling a deep, abiding surge of protectiveness towards Jack abruptly welling up with near to overwhelming strength.
"He's not wheezing now. Ye' don't need to be doin' anything to him yet." She said quickly and he smiled and considered her intently for a long moment. Slowly he picked up Jack's hand and turned it over to examine his palm. Gently he traced the lines on the pirate's palm, then took up his other hand and frowned mildly at the scar on the man's palm.
"A man with more than one life, more than one place in the world," he said softly and again traced the lines in the pirates' palms, then gently felt at the pirate's forehead with the back of his hand. He sighed softly and the pirate copied his sigh without seeming to stir. The dark man interlaced his fingers with one of Jack's hands, and now laid his entire other hand heavily over the pirate's forehead - the he closed his eyes and rocked back and forth, humming softly to himself.
Ana's eyes widened and her skin pebbled up as she gradually recognized the tune and heard the dark man mutter 'bad eggs' in a rather slurred tone. The man opened his eyes suddenly with a startled look, then considered Jack and seemed amused as she seemed to try to gather the pirate more away from him.
"What?" she asked and he chuckled deeply.
"A man who chooses to walk a path in life that lets him make his own rules and set his own standards, yet much energy he spends making sure few know what those really are. They believe the face he shows them and look no further." He said and chuckled again. She stared at his sudden change from 'pidgin english' to a cultured accent rarely heard in those parts. She blinked at him owlishly and he smiled.
"Missionaries when I was a child. Better not to let strangers be too aware. This one would understand what I mean." He said with a nod at Jack. She sat forward now with a hand on the pirate's chest.
"Jack doesn't believe in voodoo - and neither do I. So you can stop trying to impress me." She hissed seriously and he looked at her.
"You say no, but in your heart you remember the tales of the zombie, the curses, the magick, the possessed. You fear the drums, the smoke, the blood, the dance." He intoned dark and low, then suddenly sprung at her with hands up, eyes wild, teeth bared, face distorted, in her face and flailing as he roared at her fiercely. She gasped loudly and startled back, one hand rising instinctively to keep him from inadvertently striking the sleeping man who lay in her arms, apparently completely unaware of their exchange. He sat back just as suddenly and laughed as if amused.
She looked daggers at him meant to kill, and he grinned.
"I am the healer of our people. We escaped from the man who tried to buy us off the large ship to make us slaves. Mostly we come from the land the white man calls Africa. We live here now, hidden in the mountains and hills, far from the white man. I will not take you to our home here. You do not need to see our women and children. Some of us were once slaves, some of us were born and raised here and escaped from slavery. You missy, have seen things not of this natural world. Far worse than the horror of slavery. So has your friend here. Do not tell me you know nothing and believe nothing of the world of the voodoo." He said as he rose and gestured as if for her to surrender the pirate.
She held the man, more securely, with a huge, dark scowl.
"Wait - what are you going to do with him now?" she asked. He didn't answer, but merely bent and easily lifted Jack away from her. Only her desire not to hurt the pirate prevented her from using tooth and nail to keep her grip. She jumped up and followed him over to where he gently laid Jack out between the two triangular stands of sticks and leaves. She watched as at a word from him, one of the other men brought him blankets, some of which he folded and put behind the pirates head, the other of which he put over and around the man.
She scowled as another brought him a large half of a clam shell filled with what looked like slime and swamp mud. He opened Jack's shirt and began smearing it heavily on his chest, particularly in the center, then on either side of his neck and finally adding heavy stripes on his nose and above and under his eyes. The smell alone made her eyes water mildly.
"Oh he's definitely not going to like that! What are you doing to him?" she demanded as she knelt to push his hand away from adding more to the pirate. He smiled at her.
"If you were of my village I would tell you he has evil spirits in his chest and throat and head that I need to purify him of. This will help drive them out. So will the smoke from the fires we will light now for him. You however know it is the water of the bay that is in his lungs. The smoke from the leaves and the mud will help draw the water out of his lungs and will help him fight the putrid liquid that he has in them that is causing the fever," he said and at his nod one of the others brought a flaming stick over and lit each of the triangles in turn.
Instantly they blossomed into bright flames, followed by a thick white smoke. She coughed and shook her head.
"No - no wait! The smoke will kill him! He already can't breathe!! Look you blasted idiot - I'm getting him out of here!" she yelled, becoming quickly alarmed and then angry. Now Jack stirred and started coughing weakly but very, very congestedly. She went to sit him up, only to be grabbed from behind by two of the other men. They drug her out of the cave where a third came to hold her down. The fourth knelt with the skin they used for the juice they gave Jack and tried to pour it into her mouth.
She spat it out, only to find her head pinned to the ground and something shoved between her teeth, then she was inundated with the liquid. It was sweet and berry flavored of some sort, but musty and moldy tasting. She choked, sputtered, then swallowed it against her will. Twice more they forced her, before finally letting her go.
They stepped back and retreated a good ways away, looking rather well pleased with themselves. She tried to stand only to find her arms and legs acted as if she was extremely drunk. She glared at them, as they doubled and then tripled and became very blurry in her vision. She realized the tall dark man had come to stand over her.
He started laughing, deeply, loudly, seeming very menacingly. She forced herself to stand, only to have the world spin and then slowly go black.
'This is really a stupid way to get yerself killed girl.' her mind whispered as she faded away.
*********************************
Today is Thursday when this little section is posted - then comes Friday, then comes Saturday - so WHEN will you find the next chapter up? (waits to hear answer from the truly wonderful readers and reviewers...)
(hint ..... S....U....N....D...A...Y)