Beverly smiled, "Why Jack, nice to see you came. The tea party is now complete. Will you and your companion please take a seat and put your heads on a wooden block for me?"
Will sneered, and tightened his grip on his sword.
"Doubt it Beverly."
"That's too bad, we'll just have to kill you now." She nodded her head and Michael came forward but Jack shot him straight in the heart before he could take two steps. He heard two little gasps and looked to see Gwyneth and Brenda.
"I'm not going to mess with you or waste my time. Give me my daughter and Gwyneth."
Beverly smiled and walked backward. She was moving towards the fountain. "Draw your swords men, the Captain wants some fun…" The now five men drew their swords and walked towards Will and Jack.
"This would be a good time for a brilliant plan…" Will said.
"Steady boy, we've got back up." He whistled and the three people from behind the rock jumped up. Ana and Gibbs came forward without hesitation, but Elizabeth stayed back and looked at the men they were up against. Then she spotted someone she would feel good about sword fighting with, the short one.
As Gwyneth watched all the people start fighting, dodging punches, dodging swords, jumping off rocks, using the terrain as a tool, she moved her eyes to Beverly. She had picked up a cup and was just about to put it to her lips. Gwyneth bolted up and kicked it out of her hands.
Beverly spun around, "Do you think it wise to fight a pregnant woman who's not afraid of spilling blood?"
"I would think the question was going to be do you think it wise to fight someone while you're pregnant." Gwyneth looked around and spotted a sword, she grabbed it and got up to face Beverly, only to be faced with a dagger herself.
"The person…who granted us this map the second time wants a new soul…that's why we brought you along."
Gwyneth narrowed her eyes. Inside she was shaking, but she needed to live through this. She knocked the dagger out of her hands and knocked Beverly's feet out from underneath her. She landed on her back, which was better than landing on the baby. Gwyneth really didn't want to hurt the baby, but this woman threatened to give up her soul!
Jack saw this and got distracted. Be Careful, Gwen. He thought. But before he could finish his thought he was punched by the man he was fighting, which was unfortunately Jordan. He stumbled backward and landed on his back. He was pinned. This is probably the first time I've ever been pinned…but then again look at my opponent.
He heard a gun shot. Ana had cheated. Nice work, Jack thought. That's four to five. We might still win this yet. He looked and Elizabeth had the short guy pinned, but Gibbs and Will were in the same position as him. He sighed. Maybe not.
Gwyneth looked around, they were mostly all pinned. This isn't good… But she made the mistake of looking away from Beverly. "Gweny look out!" She looked and Brenda and she was pointing behind her. She looked, and was face to face with a pistol.
"You cheated."
Will smirked even from his current position. "Not technically but there seems to be a lot of that going around lass, don't make too big of a deal about it."
She stayed put. It seemed there was no hope. Jack, Gibbs and Will were all pinned, Ana was no where in sight, and Elizabeth was pinning some little short guy. Finally Ana popped up in Gwyneth's direct line of sight with Brenda at her legs. She had a gun pointed at Beverly's head.
"Gwyneth 'ere is too nice to kill a pregnant woman, I'm not."
Beverly slowly moved her head to meet Ana's eyes, "You're out numbered whether you kill me or not. Put your gun down."
"The way I see it is it's only you an' me lass."
"I don't want you. I want Jack."
Ana looked at her skeptically, "That doesn't matter. You should've gone after him if you wanted him. Now you got me. Now hand over your gun."
"Never."
"Then you die."
"What about the baby?"
"There are ways…trust me."
Beverly looked at her and then looked around. She moved her gun slightly, and then fast, she shot Ana in the leg and she cried out in pain, and dropped her gun. Jack kicked Jordan out of his way and went running to aide Ana, but Jordan grabbed him by the arms. He held them firmly between his own arms, and although Jack was struggling and trying to move, he couldn't.
"Now listen here. I am going to drink that water. I am going to live forever and none of you are going to stop me. Then I'm going to give my lord a little present. She moved her eyes to Gwyneth who had crawled to Ana, trying to stop the bleeding. "And Jack…dear Jack…sadly enough your little Brenda is going to become an orphan real soon."
Jack struggled more, "You bloody snake. You would let your own-"
"She's not mine Jack…she's yours and only yours."
While this whole thing was going on Elizabeth was thinking about what to do. Will and Gibbs stood only a few feet off, if she could distract them, then maybe they could pull this off. But does this all really rely on me? She just said she was going to kill Jack and Gwyneth…What am I going to do to distract them?
Below her sword a little voice called up to her, "Hey, why don't you let me go? I'll be nice t'yuh."
She looked down, "Shut up or I'll step on you."
He grunted. "You think you're going to live through this missy? I highly doubt it. You'll die and so will everyone else."
Elizabeth narrowed her eyes and looked at him. She picked up her foot and put it on his chest. Next she whacked him upside the head with the butt of her sword. She looked up and saw Beverly going for the fountain. Here's where the throwing lessons were supposed to come in handy… She thought. She drew in a deep breath and then let it out. And with one, large, strong throw she threw her sword at the very top of the fountain. But the sword fell, dropping into the water, but also causing the dirt around it to drop into the fountain.
Beverly turned around and looked right at Elizabeth. "You bloody wench!" She pulled out her pistol and shot it directly at Elizabeth, but she dodged the bullet slightly.
That was the distraction that Gibbs and Will needed. They quickly took over their enemy and slit their throats. Beverly made her way to the injured Elizabeth while this and while Jack was trying extremely hard to get out the hold of Jordan. Finally he heard a loud noise and the grip around him loosened and completely disappeared. Jack turned around and found Gwyneth with a gold bar in her hand. She smiled and he smiled back, and then dashed off to contain Beverly.
She was violently trying to hurt Elizabeth more. Gibbs had gotten a hold of her, but with two men holding her, she was worn out from struggling in a minute of seconds.
Will had helped Elizabeth up and looked at her wound. "Jack, we need to get Elizabeth to the ship."
"Ana too!" Gwyneth called from where Ana still lay. While Elizabeth's wound wasn't in her leg, it was in her arm. She and Ana would be spending large amounts of the voyage home in their cabins resting and trying to dull the pain.
Jack looked around, "Fine. Gwyneth you help Ana to the ship and take Brenda with you. Will- once you get Elizabeth down to Roberts, tell the crew to get down here and take a gander at this gold. I'm sure they'll be more than obliged to…borrow some."
"Jack Sparrow, don't you dare leave me out of this share!" Ana said, as Gwyneth helped her walk towards the opening of the cave.
Jack smiled. Even while wounded Ana still had the heart of a treasure thirsty pirate. "I wouldn't think of doing such a thing."
Before Will completely disappeared he turned and asked, "What about the short guy and the large guy?"
Jack looked at both of them, "Well yer wife did a good job with the midget, and the beast over here? He'll lay quiet. We'll just leave them here. Tie them up, but leave them here."
"And what about me? What will my sentence be oh mighty judge." Beverly said looking at him with pure hate in her eyes.
"Why luv, yer coming with us! Going to Port Royal you are." Her eyes bulged and Jack smiled, "You didn't think I'd leave you here where you can come after me again do you?"
"Port Royal? You've almost been hung there before- I know how they treat pirates."
"I'm not going to tell no one yer a pirate. I'm going to hand you over to the Commodore though. Tell him that yer with child but should be doin' time. Knowing Norrington, he'll let you live. There's a human believe it or not under that red coat."
Two hours later the Black Pearl put the town of Point Fortin, Trinidad to its rudder and was determined never to return. The crew had made short work of all the treasure in the cave, and now it was all stored in trunks under deck. The first stop after Port Royal was of course, Tortuga.
Elizabeth and Ana Maria had their wounds bandaged up and they were both instructed to drink lots of water. And if possible rum, for the pain, but Elizabeth declined.
Jack had come up from the brig to find Gwyneth sitting towards the bow of the ship, looking quite content and comfortable. She was looking out into the ocean. The sun was setting and the whole thing looked beautiful.
Jack took a deep breath and walked to her. She turned and smiled. "Take a seat Captain." He did, leaning against the side of the ship. They sat their in silence for a minute before Jack said, "My back is probably more comfortable than nothing, Gwen."
She turned her head and looked at him, first a little strangely and then Jack saw the light go on in her head. She slowly moved herself to his back, in between his legs. She seemed warily about it at first, and then tense. But as the minutes passed he felt her muscles un-tense and finally her head rested right underneath his chin.
"Where's Will?"
"Oh, he's caring to Elizabeth right now. She seemed pretty shaken up. If she hadn't had moved then she could've died."
Jack sighed. He tried not to imagine what it would've been like if she had died. He imagined Will crying, and being broken. He knew how much Will loved her, and if that would've happened, Jack would feel somewhat responsible. And not to mention that he himself had grown to care for and appreciate Elizabeth. Not only as Elizabeth Swann, Will Turner's bonny lass, but as Elizabeth Turner, the woman I have known for two years, the woman who I have learned to appreciate and the woman who is one of the few, true friends in my life. I would definitely regret losing her.
"And what about Ana? Did she kick you out of the cabin?"
"No, I made my bed again and then got her into bed after Roberts had fixed her up. I put a canteen of water and rum next to her bed and then I left. Figuring that she would sleep better without someone in the cabin with her."
Jack nodded, "True. She will need her rest."
"Can I ask you something?" Gwyneth said after a few more minutes of silence.
"Of course luv, anything."
"Why didn't you drink the water?"
"How do you know I didn't?"
"I don't. I'm just assuming…"
"Well there was dirt in it for one thing…"
"Yes, but that could've easily been cleaned out. But Beverly didn't really have the time to do such a thing, not to mention the patience."
"Well then the main reason would be because, that's such a…unworthy way to die! Because you can never die. What would be the point of living forever? The greatest adventure is the unlived life. But if you live forever, then how do you get that?"
Gwyneth thought about that for a minute before saying, "I guess you're right. But I would think pirates would want to live forever. You seem to live such a carefree life, that I would think you would want to keep that."
"Well piracy is great, but it's not all it's cracked up to be…and part of the fun of bein' a pirate is livin' on the edge…never knowing when yer last day is gunna be."
"What do you mean it's not all it's cracked up to be? Pirates get the best of both worlds! You get to do whatever you want and if you're good- then you get into the history books!"
Jack smirked, "And if yer not careful, ye get a ticket to the gallows. You have to watch yer back in this business…and there's other down sides…"
"Like what?"
"Well take me for example, I never learned how to read or write. Now, that does come at a great disadvantage when you want to write ransom letters or if you want to read a warnin' on a map. Or anywhere else for that matter."
"Okay…"
"And then there's other pirates who do their best not to plunge a sword into anyone, and do succeed, but still end up bein' hung anyhow. And then there's the uncertainty of the crew- you could be left on an island while yer first mate sails off with yer ship without you."
"Oh, is that for other pirates?" She asked, a grin on her face. Jack rolled his eyes.
"And who in their right mind would take a pirate seriously other than other pirates? Noblemen and rich men and people of high class look at a pirate and see nothing more than a pirate. They don't see his heart or his brain. Some pirates have the kindest heart or the smartest brain, but people over look that simply because they're pirates."
"Yes, but they think if the pirates were bright, then why are they in piracy when they could be doing so many other things? I mean, you make it sound like piracy is just as bad as it is good!"
"Not really luv. The Good outweighs the bad…that's why people are in piracy. But there's only a couple of good things…the main one, the one that tips the scale- is Freedom."
"There's freedom in-"
"No, no there isn't…not like this kind of freedom. The freedom to do whatever, whenever, whyever. A ship gives you complete freedom. Sure, the kings navy has ships, but they also have a schedule. We don't."
Gwyneth paused before saying, "And then there's the perks like loose women and treasure, right?"
Jack nodded, "Correct…unless yer foolish enough to go after the women who aren't so loose."
"Pirates can' get any woman from…" Gwyneth paused, that didn't sound rude in her head, but now it did.
"I know what you mean, Gwen. But its dangerous fallin' for a woman of upper-class…you get yer heart broken."
Gwyneth turned and faced him, "That sounded too sincere…what's wrong?"
Before he could answer, Brenda came up and stood in front of them, "What are we doing?"
Jack kept his eyes locked in contact with Gwyneth. Her green eyes seemed to be trying to search the depths of his soul. But she wasn't going to get far. He had trained his soul to keep far away from a woman's caring eyes.
"We're talking…" Gwyneth gave up and turned back around, "Come sit on my lap darling." Brenda gladly obeyed and cuddled up with Gwyneth. She put her arms around the small girl and sighed. Jack drew in a deep breath and then let it out before wrapping his arms around both the girls.
Gwyneth, feeling the warmth that suddenly came from Jack's arms closed her eyes and imagined herself at home, sitting in front of the fire and having these same arms around her. Somehow this felt right.
The three spent the rest of the evening there until Brenda had fallen completely asleep. For all three had had a most tiring, exhausting day. It felt good just to lean against someone and close their eyes and rest.
Author Thanks:
Dawnie-7: Brenda is cute isn't she? A lot of my reviewers do like her…and what's not to love? Um…big battle scene? I'm not sure- tell me what you think.
PED-Sarah: I did love chatting with you btw- and ummm Brenda is adorable. But yea, Beverly DID want Jack to be there- so she could kill him. She doesn't like him much since she had it in her head he killed her husband…which he did…so yea.
Vickie0: Sorry I took so long to write this! And I did mean to leave people hangin' there- mean aren't I?
ThePinkPanther: I'm glad you like my story! And as to 'intense'…sure! Why not? *smile*
Dragonflygirl804: Um…thanks! I'm glad you think I have a talent.