DISCLAIMER: As I'm sure you know by know, I don't own anything to do with POTC just my characters.

Hmm…only one Review, it's ok though.  I'm hoping that with this chapter I will get some, so pllllllleeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaassssssssseeeeeee review!!!!

Chapter 6

"I'm listenin'," Jack said as he settled back into the bed. 

            "About a month ago…my mother left to go do some shopping.  I spent the day working in the tavern as a maid and when I returned later that night my mother wasn't there.  Being worried I went in search for her.  I found a few people who had seen her during the day, but there was no sign of her.  She just disappeared…I haven't heard from her or anyone knowing anything.  She wouldn't just up and leave, so I know something had to have happened."

            "Aye, sounds like trickery of some sort," Jack said nodding.

            "There's a place, a cave actually, that has a magical crystal that allows you to see anything you want.  If I can find that then I can find my mother.  To get in the cave you need-"

            "You need three gems…ruby, sapphire, and emerald to be placed in the sealed rock of The Cave of Sins."

            "You do know of it then!  So you know how to get there and what to do," Jeanette said excitedly.

            "Aye, and there is more…it is called The Cave of Sins for a reason.  Any who walk in improperly equipped will lose their mind.  Once ye step in your head becomes flooded with all the sins you have committed in your life.  And not just the little ones like cursin', er lyin' they be the blackest, darkest ones that occur in your dreams and in reality.  Thousands rush through yer head every single moment until ye collapse with madness.  Some have said it is so terrible tat yer very soul flees from yer body to escape the horror of it."

            "Oh no…" Jeanette muttered.

            "But there is a way through," Jack assured her.

            "Well then you can take me there and we will need to find these gems and the "proper equipment".  I would expect you could do this for me since I saved your life-"

            "By bashing me in me head!"  Jack retorted, annoyed by her sudden change of mood.

            "By the means necessary and frankly I don't know why you're not more grateful.  I save your life, house you, take care of you, that should be enough of a reason for you to help me, but you will also be rewarded for your help so it is beyond me-"

            "Aye, woman!  Doesn't that hole of ye's e'er stop movin'?" Jack asked holding his head tightly between his hands.

            "And you still don't appreciate what I've done," Jeanette muttered.

            "Thinkin' bout it, were ye even the one that was shouting?" Jack asked.

            "I beg your pardon?" Jeanette said confused.

            "Right before I went out, I heard someone shouting 'no'.  I don't be believin' it was you." Jack released his head and scratched his beard.

            "I don't remember that…" Jeanette replied.

            "A babe could lie better than you," Jack raised an eyebrow.

            "I vaguely recall a young man on the docks say something."

            "Young man?" Jack asked seriously.  His thoughts went immediately to Will, but he couldn't believe that he would have fount out about his problem.  "What did he look like?"

            "How am I suppose to know?  It was pouring rain; we were being tossed around in a boat.  I wasn't paying attention to him until he- well you understand."

            "He? He what?  What did he do?" Jack asked as Jeanette shifted her eyes away from him.  "Well!"

            "He rammed the man with the gun, alright!" Jeanette snapped.  Jack starred blankly at her. His head was pulsing with his wound as he absorbed what she had just told him.  Fear and anger filled him.

            "The man…rammed the guy shooting at me…meaning the bullet came no where near me and you hit me anyway with the oar…now that lad is either dead or soon going to be," he said in a low voice.

            "I…guess," she muttered.

            "How could ye!  I'm a pirate for-bloody 'ell- why! We 'ave to save 'em if we can d'ye gets that?" Jack growled.

            "No! We have to go to the cave and find the crystal and save my mother!  We have to save her!" Jeanette said desperately.

            "I'm not doin' a damn thing fer ye if ye don't help me save him!"

            "You said it yourself he's probably already dead…there isn't any time to waste."

            "I need to know for sure, I need to see him with me own eyes," Jack said slightly softer.

            "If I do this for you…will you help me?" Jeanette asked in a wavering tone.  Jack looked down pondering what this would mean if he accepted the accord that was presented before him. 

            "Fine, I'll get ya what's needed and take ye to the cave, but I'm leavin' after that.  I won't go in." Jack looked up with dark brown eyes, piercing her softer blue ones.  For a moment, they seemed to lose all their walls and coldness leaving a depth that could not be fathomed and an emotion Jack couldn't recognize in the time that was so brief before the walls went back up and the coldness returned like an artic breeze.

            "Good," Jeanette muttered.  An uncomfortable silence followed and was broken by the sound of the door being pounded on again.

            "I want to come! I want to help!  Let me go with you!" The boy from earlier shouted.

            "Tyde, go away.  You can't come." Jeanette called out.

            "Tyde?  That's what the boy's name is?" Jack asked, shaking his head to forget the moments that had just pasted.

            "Yes, it's a long story."

            "Please, I want to help find Nana!" Tyde begged.  Jack got up to walk to the door and opened.  Tyde looked up at him with calm eyes.  He was young, no more than eight or nine.  He was lean, but toned for a child.  His hair was bleached blond by the sun as his skin was sun kissed.  He had warm brown eyes that seem to match Jack's own, but without the years, the memories, the weight that sometimes consumed him.  But it seemed to Jack that the boy had more years in his eyes than any boy his age had a right to. 

            "Tyde, it is too dangerous, you can not come."  Tyde's back straightened and his shoulders became stiff.

            "I am not afraid." Tyde replied.  Jack watched the boy…and believed.  The curiosity and childishness was no where to be found that was there only a while before.  It was replaced by a strength and seriousness that was reserved for pirates and soldiers alike.

            "Despite that, you may not come.  You need to stay here and take care of the house for Christina while she is away.  If we are to continue to stay here, it must be done." Jeanette said.  Tyde looked at her for a moment and shoulders sunk just slightly.  Without a word or change of expression he left.

            "Now we must prepare you for your venture out," Jeanette sighed.

            "I don't know how ye plan to get me around here without peoples known I'm not trouble.  I've been here before and they know me face." Jack said.  For the first time Jack saw Jeanette give a genuine smile.

            "Don't worry, I have a plan…" her smile widened and Jack couldn't help but feel a little bit afraid.

*~*

            I know this chapter was kind of dramatic, but I assure you it will get back to the comedy of errors you love! ;0)  The mishaps and bantering that you so enjoy.  Hehe sorry this took a while, but ya know being a college freshman and maintaining a minimal social life is time consuming.  (Not to mention the naps between classes he he he)  But I hope you liked it this far and will continue to read ahead as long as I continue.  Once again, please review, I really appreciate it, even if it is just a few words.  Thanks very much on mine and the characters in this story behalves. 

Jack: "If ye all love me you'll pretend te hate this.  That way I don't 'ave to be runnin' round all the time.  It gets tirin' ye know."

Jeanette: "Stop your blubbering!"

Jack: "You! What are ye doing here! Hey, why is she here?"

Same reason the monkey was, makes for an interesting read.  ::winks::

Jack: "Ye remember what happened to the monkey?"

Yea…I'm still cleaning the stains off the wall…

Jeanette: "What happened to the monkey?"

Jack: "This better not become a regular thing ye he'r?"

We'll see.  ::grinning::

Jeanette: "Excuse me, what happened to the monkey?"

You could've been a little cleaner with that ya know.

Jack: ::Shrugs:: Pirate…

Jeanette: "Hello…what became of the monkey?"

Jack: "Can we get some rum? I'm gonna need it now that she's here."
Sure, lets go.  ::Both exit::

Jeanette: ::Shouts:: "What happened to the monkey?!!!!!"

p.s.

*No monkey's were harmed in the making of this story*