Ten . Jack Be Nimble
"If he has me men captive," Jack began, "How is it that you managed to be here?"
Gibbs smiled. "If one man can hide in the undergrowth, why not two?" He explained further. "Hawke and some of his men rounded up most of our crew after we attacked theirs, though there were more of us left than them. I managed to stay in hiding - but we ought to be careful; Hawke's men may still be lurking near."
"Of course," Jack said, his gaze darting around in search of any sign of the others.
"I heard you were in want of some food," Gibbs continued.
"Aye," Jack said with a touch of amusement. Gibbs bade them follow him down the beach, carefully watching for any of the crew. Perhaps they should not have left Hawke alone, sprawled out on the beach, but they did. They were all paying rather too much attention to the contents of a knapsack, as Gibbs pulled out some biscuits and apples.
"How be this?" he asked, relinquishing the items to Jack and India.
"Mr Gibbs, you're a lifesaver," India exclaimed, voraciously devouring the food.
Jack smiled, taking a bite out of an apple. "My compliments," he said, his mouth half-full. "Now, how shall we go about freeing the rest of the crew?" he mused aloud, though he was already devising a plan.
"Well, I suppose the first thing to do would be to show you where they are," Gibbs said.
"Excellent," Jack replied. "Lead on, Gibbs."
The other man nodded, heading towards the trees. No one noticed that Hawke had disappeared.
They walked uneasily through the silent trees and bushes.
"I can't help but feel that as we're trying to surprise them, they're waiting to surprise us," India commented.
Jack nodded and drew his sword. "I know what exactly what you mean."
They approached a clearing in the trees, being careful to stay hidden in the underbrush. They could see several men of the crew bound in the center of the clearing, while some of Hawke's men languidly kept watch on the woods and messily ate food of an indeterminate nature.
"Now what?" India asked with barely a whisper.
"Now you join your friends," said a voice behind them.
Jack rolled his eyes and turned around. "Why can't you bloody well leave us alone, Hawke?" he asked. "Fair is fair. All right, you tortured us, and we hit you on the head. The score's even now, so do us a favour and GIVE UP!"
Hawke smiled a little and shook his head. "On the contrary, Jack. Methinks it's about time that you give up, and surrender to my crew. And lead us to the treasure."
"And why would I do that, mate?" Jack asked drearily, tired of playing this game.
"You may not realize it because they're quite well hidden, but you're surrounded," Hawke explained. Hawke raised his hand and motioned for his men to reveal their location, and a dozen or so men stepped out of the bushes, their swords drawn and pointed at the trio.
India's shoulders slumped in annoyance. Couldn't they stay out of trouble for two minutes?
"Ah," Jack said, taking in the situation then smiling at Hawke. "What do you say we sit down and discuss this, mate? I'm sure, since you're so astoundingly clever, you can see the sense inherent in talking over our problems. What do you say to that, hmm?" he asked.
"Actually I had something else in mind," Hawke replied.
"Jack Sparrow, you are by far the worst negotiator I have ever met!" India said angrily.
"Come on now love, that's a little harsh, don't you think?" Jack replied with a smile.
India stared at him. "No, I don't think it's a little harsh. We're bloody tied up with the rest of the crew now, aren't we?" she pointed out. Indeed, they and Gibbs had been added to the collection of bound pirates in the center of the clearing. "If you were any worse at negotiating, we'd be dead."
Jack grinned ironically to himself.
Hawke intervened. "As lovely as it is to see you two bickering," he began, "I must remind you that you will either tell me where the treasure is, or I will systematically kill the rest of your men."
"Systematically?" India said, "I thought pirates killed indiscriminately - left, right, wherever they choose."
"And what gave you that idea, missy?" Hawke asked, slightly amused.
"Her father was Barbossa," Jack commented in response.
India looked over at him and glared; Hawke raised his eyebrows.
"Barbossa?" Hawke asked with interest.
Jack regretted his words. "Well, he might have been," he corrected himself. "The girl here suffered from some type of amnesia. Can't remember her name, who her father was, or where the treasure is, for that matter. In fact, it's lucky she told me where it was before she lost her memory," he said, deliberately making it sound like admitting this was an accident. "Actually, what I meant to say was ." he trailed off. Hawke took the bait.
"So you do know where it is."
Jack went to nod. "No."
Hawke shoved the point of his sword at India's throat. She yelped in fear, the cold metal tip nearly puncturing her skin. "Where is the treasure?"
India realized that he wasn't asking her, he was asking Jack. She was almost relieved that Jack had come up with the amnesia story in the hope that she wouldn't be questioned any further. However, it didn't seem to improve her situation much, because now she had a sword hovering at her throat.
Jack took his time answering. "Would you be more inclined to believe that we were left here to find the treasure, or that we were put here to distract you from following Captain Turner to the real treasure?" It didn't matter that neither of his tales were the truth.
Hawke contemplated this. "I think ye were left here to find the treasure."
"Very well, I admit that we were left here to find the treasure." Jack prayed that his plan would work, and that India wouldn't start shouting obscenities at him and give away the fact that it was true that the treasure was on this island.
However, Hawke was not a master of reverse psychology. "Right men, get them to the ship. We're going to find Turner."
"But Captain, he's just admitted that the treasure is here," a baffled pirate said.
"Look you idiot, of course he'd say that to cover the truth that the whelp and his ship have gone to find the real treasure," Hawke explained impatiently. "Now move, or I'll be slicing your throats too!"
His men hurriedly complied. India, Jack, and their crew were marched down to the shore, shoved aboard rowboats, and taken out to Hawke's ship, safely away from the treasure.
India looked to Jack in amazement. He may have been the worst negotiator she had ever chanced to meet, but despite his misfortunes, luck was certainly on his side.
"Right, so which direction did he go?" Hawke asked, then immediately saw the futility of his question.
"I don't know," Jack replied with some certainty.
"Where is the treasure then, and we'll just have to hope we beat Turner to it," Hawke said. Jack and India had been separated from the rest of the crew, and were now in Hawke's cabin to undergo questioning. Well, Jack was to undergo questioning. India was present as leverage.
"Why should I tell you?" Jack asked.
"Although she might not remember much," Hawke began, waving his sword in India's direction, "I'm sure you'll have the memory of her throat being sliced for . quite some time."
"I see," Jack said, swallowing. Thinking fast, he bargained, "I want fifty percent."
It took Hawke a minute to figure out that Jack didn't mean 'of India.' "Lead us there, and you can have ten," he offered.
"Forty, or I won't consider it at all," Jack said, looking at his fingernails.
"Fifteen or I slit her throat," Hawke threatened.
"Thirty-five and you can do with her what you like."
India protested indignantly.
"Fifteen, and you keep the girl."
"Twenty. There's a lot of treasure," Jack assured him.
Hawke hesitated. "Twenty," he agreed finally. "You drive a hard bargain, Jack."
That's quite a compliment considering I won't be leading you to any treasure at all, Jack thought to himself. "Excellent, then. I believe the first thing that's in order is to cut me loose," he said, extending his bound arms.
"I may be a madman, Jack. But I'm not that mad," Hawke assured him.
"Jack is," India muttered to herself from across the room.
"What was that, love?" Jack asked.
"I don't remember," India said sarcastically.
"Of course."
"Captain!" yelled a man from outside the cabin door.
Hawke exhaled. "What the bloody hell do you want?" he called.
The man opened the door a fraction of an inch. "There's a ship in sight, Captain!"
"Turner?" Hawke asked, his attention focused.
The man shook his head uncertainly. "She's flying the Union Jack."
Jack smiled at the mention of his name, then became momentarily concerned as to whether the Brits would catch up with them and blow them to pieces. Then his confidence overcame his fears, and he resigned himself to watch Hawke's reaction.
"Well don't bloody stand there ye scurvy dog! Stand and fight!" Rising from his chair, Hawke stormed out of the room. He could be heard above deck, shouting orders to prepare the ship to attack.
Jack turned to India and India gazed back at Jack. "Still here, love," he said with a triumphant smile.
"Wonderful, Jack," she replied sarcastically. "You don't think you could get us OUT of here?" she demanded.
Again he smiled. Standing, he swaggered over to the side of the room where several swords were hanging. Listening for a moment to make sure that Hawke was still occupied above deck, Jack expertly sliced the ropes that held his wrists together.
"You must practice that a lot," India observed.
Jack nodded, taking a sword particularly to his liking, and heading over to where India sat, tied to a chair. "Sure you want out, love?" he asked, leaning behind her with his face close to her ear.
She forced herself not to swoon at his voice, at the nearness of him. She reminded herself that he was Captain Jack Sparrow, the fool who had managed to get them into this mess. What was he doing? And why was she enjoying it? She closed her eyes for a moment. "No," she breathed. Then her eyes shot open. "Yes!" she cried. "Get me bloody out of here, Jack!" She tried to regain her edge. "What do you think? I want to sit around here all day with you breathing in my ear?"
He complied, setting her free from the chair. She stood and turned to glare at him defiantly, but her gaze melted as soon as they faced each other.
"Ough!" she exclaimed irritatedly, turning away.
The ship rocked violently as an explosion sounded nearby, and India lost her balance. As he caught her, she found herself in Jack's arms.
"Cannon fire," he explained as she pulled herself away.
"Jack Sparrow, if I didn't know better, I ." she began, narrowing her eyes at him. The way he was acting . . . was much the same as ever. Only now . . .
"Ah, but you do know better, don't you?" he said softly. "Why don't we go see if our old mate Hawke needs any help, shall we?" he asked.
She still stood motionless.
"Can you use one of these?" Jack asked, picking up a sword and handing it to her.
"What do you mean, can I use one of these?" she began, then admitted, "No."
"Well it looks threatening, so bring it along, will you?" he said, pulling her by the arm towards the door of the cabin. They were tossed against a wall as another cannon impacted.
Regaining their footing, Jack and India emerged into the commotion. The other ship was directly beside this one, and men from the other crew were boarding using ropes and planks. Pistols shot and swords clashed, and smoke rose from the cannons as well as from fires caused by explosives. It took Jack several seconds to realize that the men from the other ship were not dressed in British navy uniforms. It took him several more to realize that the crew, in fact, was Will's.
"If he has me men captive," Jack began, "How is it that you managed to be here?"
Gibbs smiled. "If one man can hide in the undergrowth, why not two?" He explained further. "Hawke and some of his men rounded up most of our crew after we attacked theirs, though there were more of us left than them. I managed to stay in hiding - but we ought to be careful; Hawke's men may still be lurking near."
"Of course," Jack said, his gaze darting around in search of any sign of the others.
"I heard you were in want of some food," Gibbs continued.
"Aye," Jack said with a touch of amusement. Gibbs bade them follow him down the beach, carefully watching for any of the crew. Perhaps they should not have left Hawke alone, sprawled out on the beach, but they did. They were all paying rather too much attention to the contents of a knapsack, as Gibbs pulled out some biscuits and apples.
"How be this?" he asked, relinquishing the items to Jack and India.
"Mr Gibbs, you're a lifesaver," India exclaimed, voraciously devouring the food.
Jack smiled, taking a bite out of an apple. "My compliments," he said, his mouth half-full. "Now, how shall we go about freeing the rest of the crew?" he mused aloud, though he was already devising a plan.
"Well, I suppose the first thing to do would be to show you where they are," Gibbs said.
"Excellent," Jack replied. "Lead on, Gibbs."
The other man nodded, heading towards the trees. No one noticed that Hawke had disappeared.
They walked uneasily through the silent trees and bushes.
"I can't help but feel that as we're trying to surprise them, they're waiting to surprise us," India commented.
Jack nodded and drew his sword. "I know what exactly what you mean."
They approached a clearing in the trees, being careful to stay hidden in the underbrush. They could see several men of the crew bound in the center of the clearing, while some of Hawke's men languidly kept watch on the woods and messily ate food of an indeterminate nature.
"Now what?" India asked with barely a whisper.
"Now you join your friends," said a voice behind them.
Jack rolled his eyes and turned around. "Why can't you bloody well leave us alone, Hawke?" he asked. "Fair is fair. All right, you tortured us, and we hit you on the head. The score's even now, so do us a favour and GIVE UP!"
Hawke smiled a little and shook his head. "On the contrary, Jack. Methinks it's about time that you give up, and surrender to my crew. And lead us to the treasure."
"And why would I do that, mate?" Jack asked drearily, tired of playing this game.
"You may not realize it because they're quite well hidden, but you're surrounded," Hawke explained. Hawke raised his hand and motioned for his men to reveal their location, and a dozen or so men stepped out of the bushes, their swords drawn and pointed at the trio.
India's shoulders slumped in annoyance. Couldn't they stay out of trouble for two minutes?
"Ah," Jack said, taking in the situation then smiling at Hawke. "What do you say we sit down and discuss this, mate? I'm sure, since you're so astoundingly clever, you can see the sense inherent in talking over our problems. What do you say to that, hmm?" he asked.
"Actually I had something else in mind," Hawke replied.
"Jack Sparrow, you are by far the worst negotiator I have ever met!" India said angrily.
"Come on now love, that's a little harsh, don't you think?" Jack replied with a smile.
India stared at him. "No, I don't think it's a little harsh. We're bloody tied up with the rest of the crew now, aren't we?" she pointed out. Indeed, they and Gibbs had been added to the collection of bound pirates in the center of the clearing. "If you were any worse at negotiating, we'd be dead."
Jack grinned ironically to himself.
Hawke intervened. "As lovely as it is to see you two bickering," he began, "I must remind you that you will either tell me where the treasure is, or I will systematically kill the rest of your men."
"Systematically?" India said, "I thought pirates killed indiscriminately - left, right, wherever they choose."
"And what gave you that idea, missy?" Hawke asked, slightly amused.
"Her father was Barbossa," Jack commented in response.
India looked over at him and glared; Hawke raised his eyebrows.
"Barbossa?" Hawke asked with interest.
Jack regretted his words. "Well, he might have been," he corrected himself. "The girl here suffered from some type of amnesia. Can't remember her name, who her father was, or where the treasure is, for that matter. In fact, it's lucky she told me where it was before she lost her memory," he said, deliberately making it sound like admitting this was an accident. "Actually, what I meant to say was ." he trailed off. Hawke took the bait.
"So you do know where it is."
Jack went to nod. "No."
Hawke shoved the point of his sword at India's throat. She yelped in fear, the cold metal tip nearly puncturing her skin. "Where is the treasure?"
India realized that he wasn't asking her, he was asking Jack. She was almost relieved that Jack had come up with the amnesia story in the hope that she wouldn't be questioned any further. However, it didn't seem to improve her situation much, because now she had a sword hovering at her throat.
Jack took his time answering. "Would you be more inclined to believe that we were left here to find the treasure, or that we were put here to distract you from following Captain Turner to the real treasure?" It didn't matter that neither of his tales were the truth.
Hawke contemplated this. "I think ye were left here to find the treasure."
"Very well, I admit that we were left here to find the treasure." Jack prayed that his plan would work, and that India wouldn't start shouting obscenities at him and give away the fact that it was true that the treasure was on this island.
However, Hawke was not a master of reverse psychology. "Right men, get them to the ship. We're going to find Turner."
"But Captain, he's just admitted that the treasure is here," a baffled pirate said.
"Look you idiot, of course he'd say that to cover the truth that the whelp and his ship have gone to find the real treasure," Hawke explained impatiently. "Now move, or I'll be slicing your throats too!"
His men hurriedly complied. India, Jack, and their crew were marched down to the shore, shoved aboard rowboats, and taken out to Hawke's ship, safely away from the treasure.
India looked to Jack in amazement. He may have been the worst negotiator she had ever chanced to meet, but despite his misfortunes, luck was certainly on his side.
"Right, so which direction did he go?" Hawke asked, then immediately saw the futility of his question.
"I don't know," Jack replied with some certainty.
"Where is the treasure then, and we'll just have to hope we beat Turner to it," Hawke said. Jack and India had been separated from the rest of the crew, and were now in Hawke's cabin to undergo questioning. Well, Jack was to undergo questioning. India was present as leverage.
"Why should I tell you?" Jack asked.
"Although she might not remember much," Hawke began, waving his sword in India's direction, "I'm sure you'll have the memory of her throat being sliced for . quite some time."
"I see," Jack said, swallowing. Thinking fast, he bargained, "I want fifty percent."
It took Hawke a minute to figure out that Jack didn't mean 'of India.' "Lead us there, and you can have ten," he offered.
"Forty, or I won't consider it at all," Jack said, looking at his fingernails.
"Fifteen or I slit her throat," Hawke threatened.
"Thirty-five and you can do with her what you like."
India protested indignantly.
"Fifteen, and you keep the girl."
"Twenty. There's a lot of treasure," Jack assured him.
Hawke hesitated. "Twenty," he agreed finally. "You drive a hard bargain, Jack."
That's quite a compliment considering I won't be leading you to any treasure at all, Jack thought to himself. "Excellent, then. I believe the first thing that's in order is to cut me loose," he said, extending his bound arms.
"I may be a madman, Jack. But I'm not that mad," Hawke assured him.
"Jack is," India muttered to herself from across the room.
"What was that, love?" Jack asked.
"I don't remember," India said sarcastically.
"Of course."
"Captain!" yelled a man from outside the cabin door.
Hawke exhaled. "What the bloody hell do you want?" he called.
The man opened the door a fraction of an inch. "There's a ship in sight, Captain!"
"Turner?" Hawke asked, his attention focused.
The man shook his head uncertainly. "She's flying the Union Jack."
Jack smiled at the mention of his name, then became momentarily concerned as to whether the Brits would catch up with them and blow them to pieces. Then his confidence overcame his fears, and he resigned himself to watch Hawke's reaction.
"Well don't bloody stand there ye scurvy dog! Stand and fight!" Rising from his chair, Hawke stormed out of the room. He could be heard above deck, shouting orders to prepare the ship to attack.
Jack turned to India and India gazed back at Jack. "Still here, love," he said with a triumphant smile.
"Wonderful, Jack," she replied sarcastically. "You don't think you could get us OUT of here?" she demanded.
Again he smiled. Standing, he swaggered over to the side of the room where several swords were hanging. Listening for a moment to make sure that Hawke was still occupied above deck, Jack expertly sliced the ropes that held his wrists together.
"You must practice that a lot," India observed.
Jack nodded, taking a sword particularly to his liking, and heading over to where India sat, tied to a chair. "Sure you want out, love?" he asked, leaning behind her with his face close to her ear.
She forced herself not to swoon at his voice, at the nearness of him. She reminded herself that he was Captain Jack Sparrow, the fool who had managed to get them into this mess. What was he doing? And why was she enjoying it? She closed her eyes for a moment. "No," she breathed. Then her eyes shot open. "Yes!" she cried. "Get me bloody out of here, Jack!" She tried to regain her edge. "What do you think? I want to sit around here all day with you breathing in my ear?"
He complied, setting her free from the chair. She stood and turned to glare at him defiantly, but her gaze melted as soon as they faced each other.
"Ough!" she exclaimed irritatedly, turning away.
The ship rocked violently as an explosion sounded nearby, and India lost her balance. As he caught her, she found herself in Jack's arms.
"Cannon fire," he explained as she pulled herself away.
"Jack Sparrow, if I didn't know better, I ." she began, narrowing her eyes at him. The way he was acting . . . was much the same as ever. Only now . . .
"Ah, but you do know better, don't you?" he said softly. "Why don't we go see if our old mate Hawke needs any help, shall we?" he asked.
She still stood motionless.
"Can you use one of these?" Jack asked, picking up a sword and handing it to her.
"What do you mean, can I use one of these?" she began, then admitted, "No."
"Well it looks threatening, so bring it along, will you?" he said, pulling her by the arm towards the door of the cabin. They were tossed against a wall as another cannon impacted.
Regaining their footing, Jack and India emerged into the commotion. The other ship was directly beside this one, and men from the other crew were boarding using ropes and planks. Pistols shot and swords clashed, and smoke rose from the cannons as well as from fires caused by explosives. It took Jack several seconds to realize that the men from the other ship were not dressed in British navy uniforms. It took him several more to realize that the crew, in fact, was Will's.