Righty, 14th chapter! Get ready to be introduced to a new character... And guess who it is?!
***
OL' MAN GEORGE
I ran off through the forest, towards a particular area I'd only been once before, but which was impossible to forget.
I feared that if Jack had reached this special place, then the secret of Goldee would have been revealed to him, and the Tinys and the British Empire would finally have their theory of my father confirmed... It would mean death for both him, me and everybody else who knew of it, including Jack.
Though I wouldn't hate it if Jack was to be killed as a consequence to him revealing this dreadful secret.
I ran through the forest, crying out for Jack as I went. Where was he?
The forest lead a bit up into the hills of Dustman island, and it here the area of the forest I feared was. But I didn't reach it, for a voice cried out my name:
"Sally! Over here, love!"
I turned, and there was Jack, about twenty meters away, at one edge of the forest. I recognized it, I'd chosen it myself once to scout out at the sea. It was a cliff, right there on the edge of the forest, which gave a view of the entire strait of Dustman island. And Jack had gone there obviously only to scout. I took a deep breath and relaxed, then took off and met with Jack by the cliff.
"You really shouldn't take off like that when I'm sleeping," I said to him.
He smiled a bit, though he did not seem particularly happy. "No worries, love. Though you did run and scream like the devil himself were behind you."
"I... thought the Tinys had gotten to you," I said, making up a quick excuse.
"They hadn't," Jack said, turning towards the outlook from the cliff. "But they will."
I turned my gaze on the strait and saw what he saw - then gasped. A ship was docking next to the Black Pearl, and it was no common ship, nor a pirate's. I recognized it immediately, just as Jack had: It was the Faithful.
Duke Watson's ship.
"How could they have found us?" I worried, turning to Jack.
"Oh, there's a lot of ways," he said, staring out towards the sea. "They could have followed us, although we did not see them, there's still the possibility... Or they could have found some sailor who knew where to find Dustman. After all, Sally," he said, turning towards me, "you did in fact give them a name to go by."
"Now I wish I hadn't," I said quietly. "What are we goin' to do?"
"We are going to hide," Jack said, then turned and started walking off through the forest.
"Hide?" I said, following him. "Where are we going to hide? What about your crew?"
"Oh, they'll be fine," he answered, still walking. "We have to hide, because the duke and his little ladies are bound to find your father's glade, and they'll go searching through the entire forest. Therefore, we need to hide."
"But where?" I asked, walking fast at his side.
"I thought I saw something earlier today," he replied, "in the forest, a bit up in the hills. It's not far from here. I think it's the entrance to a cave."
"A... a cave?" I stuttered. It wasn't true. It couldn't be true! Of all things possible, Jack had spotted what could be the entrance to a cave. THE cave.
"No, wait, Jack!" I said, and he stopped, looking curiously at me. "Uhm..." I said. "We shouldn't go hidin' in a cave, if it at all IS a cave there. I bet there's an animal in there. This is a forest, after all."
"There's no animals in this forest," Jack smiled. "And if there are, and they're in this cave trying to give us a hard time, I'll give THEM a hard time. I'm not ready to hang just yet." And at that, he started walking again towards the cave.
"Please, Jack!" I begged.
"What's your problem now, Sally? It's almost as if you WANT to be caught."
"No, it's not that," I continued, following him. "But I... I'm afraid of caves!"
"Afraid of them?"
"Yeah! They're... small, right? I find it really scary, Jack, I really don't want to go hiding in a cave."
"Well, then suit yerself," he smiled. "Just don't tell them where I am when they catches you."
"No, Jack, please, don't do it," I kept begging, but he didn't stop. At last, he reached the cave entrance in the hill, and yes, it was a cave entrance. Jack nodded, satisfied. "Thought so," he said, and took a step inside it, looking a bit about in the dark. "It's big," he said to himself.
"NO!" I finally cried, and grabbed his arm. "You CAN'T go in there, Jack, please! Don't go in there. It's dangerous. It's a cave, after all, it's not such a good idea, Jack..."
He looked at me, studying my face. I tried to hide the desperation that was growing inside me, but I think he saw through it. "You're very weird, you know that, Sal? But I believe I understand some of it now. Come on, we can't stay out in the open, I'm sure the duke is on shore by now, going from house to house askin' fer us. And with so few houses, he'll be up in the forest in no time," he added, and started crawling into the cave, pulling me along.
It was very dark in there, and it got darker as we crapt further in, but Jack was right. It was a very big cave.
Thought I'd known this for the last seven months...
"All right, we've gone far enough now," I said to Jack. "Let's not go too far. Like I said, I don't like caves."
"We'll go a bit further," Jack replied. "This is really a big cave! It's bigger than the one on the Isla de Muerta, it's really big!"
"Let's stop now," I said again, even more worried. How could this be happening?
"I think there's a turn here, almost like a corner," Jack said, paying no attention to me. "It lead to a bigger hollow, we can stop there. Or wait, maybe it leads to another exit...? I can see daylight, you don't have to worry, darlin'."
I heard what he said, and would have tried to stop him, but it was too late. Jack turned around the corner in the dark before I could hold on to him, and seconds later I heard him cry out in amazement.
I slowly followed him into the light and took in the sight once more.
Like Jack said, was there a huge hollow we'd reached. The roof was almost fifteen meters high, and the "room" was just as wide in both directions. It was enormous. And on the walls were the lights. It wasn't sunlight, but lamps put up here. They weren't big, but lit light enough for Jack to see all the other things that was in this hollow.
On the stone ground there was another matress, similar to the one we'd spent the night on. All over this great hollow there lay books, maps and bottles, as well as leftovers of food and other things. The room looked like a huge mess, and looked clearly more active than the glade.
This Jack noticed.
He turned back towards me, and his face showed no effords to hide the obvious anger he felt towards me. Alright, so he'd understood it. He knew I'd lied to him.
"Sal," he said slowly, "I'm going to give you ten seconds to explain all this."
"I might need a bit more than that," I said.
One thing was lucky, though, and it was what little remained of hope for me: My father was no where to be seen. Most likely he was crawling around in some of the many passages in this cave, and if I was lucky he wouldn't reveal himself at all, and I could make up yet another excuse to Jack.
"Well then," Jack said, and climbed down to the stone ground, where he took a seat on one of my father's old, rickety chairs. "Empty the bag, lass. It better be good."
"It's not what you think," I said.
"You knew about this cave," he interrupted. "There was a very good reason for ya not wantin' me to go in here, wasn't there?"
"Yes, but it's not what you think! I was shamed of this," I fabricated. "That my father had lived in a cave, like this... But you must believe me, daddy left this cave before he left the glade! I've never actually seen this, only known he stayed here for some time."
"Why didn't you just say that, if that were the case?" Jack said. "There's somethin' very smelly about all of this, I'm tellin' you. I don't believe ya, Sally."
I sat down in front of him on the ground. "I thought you wouldn't. I haven't been completely honest with you at all times, after all."
"At all times?!" he said, standing up. "You've NEVER been completely honest with me!"
I got up, facing him. How dared he behave in this way to me? "Have you ever given me a reason to? All you've ever wanted was to take my father's treasure away from him! It's not too strange that I choose to lie!"
"I saved you, remember?" Jack cried. "From the Tinys! TWICE!"
"You're the reason I got into all that trouble! You hid me in that stable or whatever it was where they found us!"
"D'ya think I wanted for them to catch us? What purpose could I have?" Jack replied furiously, waving his arms frantically. "They'd have hanged me too, ya know!"
"This is all a load of shit," I said to him. "You have caused me nothing but trouble! I would have managed just fine without you! I would have gotten away at The Villain, and I wouldn't end up stranded on this dump of an island where you manipulated me into... onto a matress!"
"Oh, yeah, like you didn't enjoy that," Jack said, rolling his eyes.
"Enjoy it?! I was glorious, flawed! I didn't know what was going on!"
"You seemed happy enough at the time," Jack argued.
"You took advantage of me, you distusting lotman!"
"You seem to be rememberin' it quite perfectly. You weren't that drunk, lass, you just don't have the courage to admit you ENJOYED a night with Captain Jack Sparrow!"
"I DIDN'T!" I screamed.
Suddenly, another voice spoke: "Treasure?"
It was humble and insecure, yet loving. I recognized it at once, and fell back onto the ground.
Jack turned towards where the voice had come from. Coming out from one of the passages was no one else but my father, staring at me, and then turning at Jack, where his gaze remained.
Jack, however, looked down at me, more furious than ever.
"I didn't want you to know, not ever," I whispered. "But he's here."
***
Sorry, I keep giving these cliffhangers their way about in my story...! But I love ending the chapter with something like this, it gives it a bit of drama! Anyways, please review, and I'll get right on to chapter 15! We're almost at an end, folks!
***
OL' MAN GEORGE
I ran off through the forest, towards a particular area I'd only been once before, but which was impossible to forget.
I feared that if Jack had reached this special place, then the secret of Goldee would have been revealed to him, and the Tinys and the British Empire would finally have their theory of my father confirmed... It would mean death for both him, me and everybody else who knew of it, including Jack.
Though I wouldn't hate it if Jack was to be killed as a consequence to him revealing this dreadful secret.
I ran through the forest, crying out for Jack as I went. Where was he?
The forest lead a bit up into the hills of Dustman island, and it here the area of the forest I feared was. But I didn't reach it, for a voice cried out my name:
"Sally! Over here, love!"
I turned, and there was Jack, about twenty meters away, at one edge of the forest. I recognized it, I'd chosen it myself once to scout out at the sea. It was a cliff, right there on the edge of the forest, which gave a view of the entire strait of Dustman island. And Jack had gone there obviously only to scout. I took a deep breath and relaxed, then took off and met with Jack by the cliff.
"You really shouldn't take off like that when I'm sleeping," I said to him.
He smiled a bit, though he did not seem particularly happy. "No worries, love. Though you did run and scream like the devil himself were behind you."
"I... thought the Tinys had gotten to you," I said, making up a quick excuse.
"They hadn't," Jack said, turning towards the outlook from the cliff. "But they will."
I turned my gaze on the strait and saw what he saw - then gasped. A ship was docking next to the Black Pearl, and it was no common ship, nor a pirate's. I recognized it immediately, just as Jack had: It was the Faithful.
Duke Watson's ship.
"How could they have found us?" I worried, turning to Jack.
"Oh, there's a lot of ways," he said, staring out towards the sea. "They could have followed us, although we did not see them, there's still the possibility... Or they could have found some sailor who knew where to find Dustman. After all, Sally," he said, turning towards me, "you did in fact give them a name to go by."
"Now I wish I hadn't," I said quietly. "What are we goin' to do?"
"We are going to hide," Jack said, then turned and started walking off through the forest.
"Hide?" I said, following him. "Where are we going to hide? What about your crew?"
"Oh, they'll be fine," he answered, still walking. "We have to hide, because the duke and his little ladies are bound to find your father's glade, and they'll go searching through the entire forest. Therefore, we need to hide."
"But where?" I asked, walking fast at his side.
"I thought I saw something earlier today," he replied, "in the forest, a bit up in the hills. It's not far from here. I think it's the entrance to a cave."
"A... a cave?" I stuttered. It wasn't true. It couldn't be true! Of all things possible, Jack had spotted what could be the entrance to a cave. THE cave.
"No, wait, Jack!" I said, and he stopped, looking curiously at me. "Uhm..." I said. "We shouldn't go hidin' in a cave, if it at all IS a cave there. I bet there's an animal in there. This is a forest, after all."
"There's no animals in this forest," Jack smiled. "And if there are, and they're in this cave trying to give us a hard time, I'll give THEM a hard time. I'm not ready to hang just yet." And at that, he started walking again towards the cave.
"Please, Jack!" I begged.
"What's your problem now, Sally? It's almost as if you WANT to be caught."
"No, it's not that," I continued, following him. "But I... I'm afraid of caves!"
"Afraid of them?"
"Yeah! They're... small, right? I find it really scary, Jack, I really don't want to go hiding in a cave."
"Well, then suit yerself," he smiled. "Just don't tell them where I am when they catches you."
"No, Jack, please, don't do it," I kept begging, but he didn't stop. At last, he reached the cave entrance in the hill, and yes, it was a cave entrance. Jack nodded, satisfied. "Thought so," he said, and took a step inside it, looking a bit about in the dark. "It's big," he said to himself.
"NO!" I finally cried, and grabbed his arm. "You CAN'T go in there, Jack, please! Don't go in there. It's dangerous. It's a cave, after all, it's not such a good idea, Jack..."
He looked at me, studying my face. I tried to hide the desperation that was growing inside me, but I think he saw through it. "You're very weird, you know that, Sal? But I believe I understand some of it now. Come on, we can't stay out in the open, I'm sure the duke is on shore by now, going from house to house askin' fer us. And with so few houses, he'll be up in the forest in no time," he added, and started crawling into the cave, pulling me along.
It was very dark in there, and it got darker as we crapt further in, but Jack was right. It was a very big cave.
Thought I'd known this for the last seven months...
"All right, we've gone far enough now," I said to Jack. "Let's not go too far. Like I said, I don't like caves."
"We'll go a bit further," Jack replied. "This is really a big cave! It's bigger than the one on the Isla de Muerta, it's really big!"
"Let's stop now," I said again, even more worried. How could this be happening?
"I think there's a turn here, almost like a corner," Jack said, paying no attention to me. "It lead to a bigger hollow, we can stop there. Or wait, maybe it leads to another exit...? I can see daylight, you don't have to worry, darlin'."
I heard what he said, and would have tried to stop him, but it was too late. Jack turned around the corner in the dark before I could hold on to him, and seconds later I heard him cry out in amazement.
I slowly followed him into the light and took in the sight once more.
Like Jack said, was there a huge hollow we'd reached. The roof was almost fifteen meters high, and the "room" was just as wide in both directions. It was enormous. And on the walls were the lights. It wasn't sunlight, but lamps put up here. They weren't big, but lit light enough for Jack to see all the other things that was in this hollow.
On the stone ground there was another matress, similar to the one we'd spent the night on. All over this great hollow there lay books, maps and bottles, as well as leftovers of food and other things. The room looked like a huge mess, and looked clearly more active than the glade.
This Jack noticed.
He turned back towards me, and his face showed no effords to hide the obvious anger he felt towards me. Alright, so he'd understood it. He knew I'd lied to him.
"Sal," he said slowly, "I'm going to give you ten seconds to explain all this."
"I might need a bit more than that," I said.
One thing was lucky, though, and it was what little remained of hope for me: My father was no where to be seen. Most likely he was crawling around in some of the many passages in this cave, and if I was lucky he wouldn't reveal himself at all, and I could make up yet another excuse to Jack.
"Well then," Jack said, and climbed down to the stone ground, where he took a seat on one of my father's old, rickety chairs. "Empty the bag, lass. It better be good."
"It's not what you think," I said.
"You knew about this cave," he interrupted. "There was a very good reason for ya not wantin' me to go in here, wasn't there?"
"Yes, but it's not what you think! I was shamed of this," I fabricated. "That my father had lived in a cave, like this... But you must believe me, daddy left this cave before he left the glade! I've never actually seen this, only known he stayed here for some time."
"Why didn't you just say that, if that were the case?" Jack said. "There's somethin' very smelly about all of this, I'm tellin' you. I don't believe ya, Sally."
I sat down in front of him on the ground. "I thought you wouldn't. I haven't been completely honest with you at all times, after all."
"At all times?!" he said, standing up. "You've NEVER been completely honest with me!"
I got up, facing him. How dared he behave in this way to me? "Have you ever given me a reason to? All you've ever wanted was to take my father's treasure away from him! It's not too strange that I choose to lie!"
"I saved you, remember?" Jack cried. "From the Tinys! TWICE!"
"You're the reason I got into all that trouble! You hid me in that stable or whatever it was where they found us!"
"D'ya think I wanted for them to catch us? What purpose could I have?" Jack replied furiously, waving his arms frantically. "They'd have hanged me too, ya know!"
"This is all a load of shit," I said to him. "You have caused me nothing but trouble! I would have managed just fine without you! I would have gotten away at The Villain, and I wouldn't end up stranded on this dump of an island where you manipulated me into... onto a matress!"
"Oh, yeah, like you didn't enjoy that," Jack said, rolling his eyes.
"Enjoy it?! I was glorious, flawed! I didn't know what was going on!"
"You seemed happy enough at the time," Jack argued.
"You took advantage of me, you distusting lotman!"
"You seem to be rememberin' it quite perfectly. You weren't that drunk, lass, you just don't have the courage to admit you ENJOYED a night with Captain Jack Sparrow!"
"I DIDN'T!" I screamed.
Suddenly, another voice spoke: "Treasure?"
It was humble and insecure, yet loving. I recognized it at once, and fell back onto the ground.
Jack turned towards where the voice had come from. Coming out from one of the passages was no one else but my father, staring at me, and then turning at Jack, where his gaze remained.
Jack, however, looked down at me, more furious than ever.
"I didn't want you to know, not ever," I whispered. "But he's here."
***
Sorry, I keep giving these cliffhangers their way about in my story...! But I love ending the chapter with something like this, it gives it a bit of drama! Anyways, please review, and I'll get right on to chapter 15! We're almost at an end, folks!