She replied, in a frightened voice, "Lady with two men- L´auberge Heureuse de Grenouille!" Then she clutched her throat and seemed to hop away.
"The Happy Frog Inn," translated Mick. The motley crew turned toward the darkest building at the edge of Tortuga.
Elizabeth gasped. "It looks so scary!" She clutched Jack´s arm. While Jack appreciated this, he wished Elizabeth could be a little more brave. Simpering idiots have no reason to be on the Black Pearl. Then Jack felt horrible- it wasn´t her fault Gibbs was drunk beyond all reason and had a mind to get himself a whore in the form of his friend´s love. So instead of rolling his eyes, he embraced her. "Darling, you´re about ta meet th´ Queen of Cuba! Don´ be scared!"
Undercover of the night, Jack, Mick, and Will entered the gloomy inn. Annamaria was NOT happy about this.
"Please, mates, it´s MY mother," she protested.
"These aren´ pirates who are gon´ appreciate tha´ sentiment, missy," Mick said. Annamaria glared, and in the end, Layla and Elizabeth had to hold her back as the men ventured in the Happy Frog Inn.
Jack found the owner, a man who looked a little like Mr. Cotton minus the parrot and plus fifty pounds. He regarded them warily. "Bon soir, amis; buenos noches, amigos; ´allo mates, what can I do ya for?"
"May I see your check-in book?" Jack said.
When the man didn´t comply, Will unsheathed his sword and Jack lazily drew his dagger. "Why, you ask? Well, I´m Captain Jack Sparrow, savvy?"
The man let them have it. They scanned the entries- several of them were Mick and Layla under false names, Mick admitted- until they found "Bartholomew, Morgan, and Poppet," room 20.
"´S them," said Mick helpfully.
Will brandished his sword at the stairwell. "Now or never."
Pintel and Ragetti had Marcella tied up in a chair, bound and gagged, as she had been for almost a week. Ragetti, still with his hapless wooden eye, was swirling his wretched tongue around her ear. Pintel was teasing at Marcella, running his hands over her thighs and breasts, pressing his mouth against her gagging rag. This had been going on for quite some time and Marcella was used to it. Her dark brown eyes, identical to her daughter´s, were looking up at the ceiling, trying to ignore it.
Suddenly the door broke down. Jack, Will, and Mick stood in the dust. "Avast, you mangy, slimy curs!" Will barked, amazed that that had come out of his mouth.
Pintel and Ragetti stopped molesting the captain. "What- whazzat? Jack Sparrow- Bootstrap? And Mick Carothers," said Pintel, his yellow eyes narrowed in confusion and hatred.
"My name is Will Turner," glowered Will, his sword drawn.
"So i´ is," Pintel smirked. "Tell us, mate, how ye found us and this cap´n?"
Marcella squeaked, trying to shout, "Shoot them!" but her rag smelt of ether and all-around stink, so she stopped. She emitted some gutteral noises instead, and Jack noticed her.
Smiling a little bit, he winked at her. To Pintel, he said, "Mate, you needn´t know, ´specially since you of all people know that I´m Captain Jack Spa-"
"Brilliant answer," sneered Ragetti. "Quite original."
"And you, you blasted blighter, how you ever got off tha´ island´s a miracle in itself, eh?" Jack replied.
"We´ll tell ya how we got off ´s long as we know how YOU found US," Pintel shrieked.
"But it´s no question!" said Mick. Snatching his gun from the depths of the folds of his moldy coat, he shot Pintel and Ragetti. They howled in pain, as Mick had only shot them in the arm.
"Was that on purpose?" Will exclaimed, as he found a length of rope by the bedpost. He whirled around Pintel and Ragetti, tying them together.
"Wha´ d´you think ´twas?" Mick smirked. He helped Jack free Marcella from her captive chair and ripped the gag from her mouth.
"Let´s beat it!" Will cried.
"Thank you," Marcella shouted as they bolted down the stairs and dashed out of the door onto the main road.
"Anytime, milady," Jack replied, clutching her arm.
Back in the alley were the women were hiding, Marcella and Annamaria reunited.
"Mama- you´re beautiful," Annamaria whispered breathlessly.
"Back atcha," Marcella gasped. Without another word, she grasped Annamaria in a hug, sobbing furiously.
Mick, Layla, Jack, Elizabeth, and Will looked on proudly, and finally Marcella broke away. She turned to Jack and said, "Thank you, Captain Sparrow. This week has been hell. . . but I did manage to make the best of it!"
"Did ya now? Superb. Cap´n, may I introduce my close friends Will Turner, Elizabeth Swann, and Mick´s wife Layla?" Jack said.
"Charmed," Marcella grinned, her smile stretching across her lovely face.
Elizabeth asked timidly, "Captain, how did they capture you?"
"They told me, because they were so sure I would never escape- so I was in Port-au-Prince loading up supplies for a long trip to Boriquien. . . then all of a sudden I was captured. Shackled, blindfolded, gagged. But those two were idiots- there were loads of times when I probably could have escaped. They made it almost amusing- they dressed up in my clothes and spoke in high voices for pleasure. Eventually they let my gag off but I made fun of them so the gag went back on. Then the abuse began."
Elizabeth squinched her eyes. She knew all too well.
"What a coupla blighters," Jack said, rolling his eyes.
"Coupla blighters indeed, Captain," Marcella said, bowing. "I cannot thank you enough."
"Ah, m´dear, you could´ve escaped- you said so yourself. I just helped you a bit," Jack said. "It was just a matter of time."
Elizabeth felt herself stiffen. She felt "m´dear" was her personal pet name. She told herself to relax. Will smiled at her through the darkness.
Annamaria said, "Jack, you brave, heroic, courageous-" With every compliment, Jack smiled bigger. But she wasn´t finished. "-idiotic son of a bitch! What the HELL were you thinking? Those two aren´t dead yet! We have to get out of here- they could be hell-bent on revenge, you buffoon!"
Jack smiled dropped off his face. He grabbed Elizabeth´s hand and said in a low voice, "C´mon you lot, we´re going to The Faithful Bride-" Elizabeth squeezed his hand tighter "-and staking out. If they catch us we´ll fight to the death."
Layla was pulled into a passionate lip lock with Mick before they set off. Will shyly looked at Annamaria. As the crew started skulking out of the alley, Annamaria pulled Will close, so they were forehead to forehead. She was amazed with herself, usually her only two emotions were anger and sleepiness. "Will," she whispered. "I love you." Then she kissed Will full-on, making his gasp.
"Annamaria," he eked out, as they trotted behind the rest, "I love you too."
Elizabeth stopped dead in her tracks. Did she hear what she thought she heard? She couldn´t ask Will- Jack pulled her back to his side and slipped into the tavern.
It was noisy and smelly and sallow as always. Jack sidled to a private room and told Will to "keep an eye out."
Jack, Elizabeth, Annamaria, Marcella, Mick, and Layla went to a wax-stained table and sat down. Even in the dim lighting, Elizabeth could see what a beauty Marcella was. She had the same creamy brown skin, raven hair, and liquid brown eyes as her daughter. Even in her late thirties, Marcella Castilla was gorgeous.
Jack cleared his throat. It didn´t feel right sitting at a table with the three women he´d like to shag most. As they ordered drinks, Marcella said, "Captain, I still feel a great debt towards you. Perhaps this do for some of it?" And she kissed Jack on the lips. Jack wasn´t going to pretend he didn´t like it, but he did push her away after Elizabeth went stony.
"Well, thank ye, Cap´n," Jack said gruffly.
Marcella smiled a bit. Annamaria rolled her eyes. Elizabeth gnawed the inside of her cheek. Mick raised his tankard of rum to toast.
"Ta goo´ chums," he said.
Elizabeth raised her mug of brandy. "To faithful companions," she said to Jack, eyes narrowed. She didn´t realize the irony of the situation.
"A bonne vie," said Layla primly.
"To grateful captives," Marcella said.
Annamaria said, "To new loves." She said this and Will looked over and smiled.
"To new adventures," finished Jack and they drank.