Chapter 10: The Hand of Midas
It didn't take long for the ships to be repaired, and set sail. Soon, only two ships remained at dock - the Dauntless, and the Black Pearl. Anamaria was planning to stay with Elizabeth on land to become better reacquainted with her friend, and Jack and Will were sailing on the Pearl, leaving the Dauntless in the river for repairs and cleaning.
There was some disagreement over who was in control, and they finally decided that each captain's order's were first priority to their own crewmembers, and in case of emergency, Jack's orders were absolute. It seemed only fair, considering Will had had twenty years to get used to being in control of things, and Jack had always been in charge. Besides, it was Will who figured out the map. Both of them were looking over the map, trying to find a way inside once Jack pointed out the seam line in the gold. Will had simply pressed a few loose catches and, miracles beyond, the sphere snapped open to reveal several folded pieces of parchment.
Jack, not being the type to read unless absolutely necessary, had handed the job over to Will, who discovered several very useful facts about the treasure they were going after. 1) The treasure itself was a gold, model of a hand, complete with a wooden handle to hod onto. 2) It was indeed cursed. 3) The page telling what the curse actually was, and how it was lifted, was missing. And 4) it turned everything it touched into solid gold, killing any living thing, instantly turning them into statue form. Upon hearing about the curse, Jack merely shrugged, saying, "I knew it'd 'ave a curse. Now we jus' gotta find out how t' lift it, an' we'll be right!"
Will didn't bother to try and change his mind - he'd sailed with Jack too many times to waste his time in trying to change the plan of the pirate. Besides, if all else failed, they could always re-curse themselves with the gold of Cortez before they set out on the journey for good, to save themselves, but as Jack so eloquently put it - "There ain't no adventure when ye have no way of dyin' fer somethin' ye love!"
The Dauntless had been secured, and hidden from sight around the bend in the river, and the Pearl had been restocked and made ready for travel. Most of Jack's crew had chosen to stay on land, and build their own homes in the village, or create a smaller village further up the river. That left Jack with only ten of his own men to crew the Pearl. Will asked only a few of his most trusted men, who were left on land at that moment, bringing the crew to a grand total of twenty one men, plus two captains, plus Jamie, and Will. Louisa was adamant that she should be allowed to go along, but all onboard refused, citing the age-old superstition that it's 'frightful bad luck t' bring a woman on board!'
Isabelle was put out as well, that she couldn't go along, but when she learned that her mother was staying, she didn't push the point as much. Louisa protested until the Pearl sailed away.
"Mother! It's not fair! Why can't I go with them?" she asked, hurt that the only reason she had to stay was because she was a woman. Elizabeth didn't answer, and Louisa went off with Isabelle, to show her the rest of the island. It wasn't huge, but it was about five miles in length, along the front coast, and close to four miles wide, along the central river, which was pretty much straight after the first initial bend.
Grumpily, she led the way, until Isabelle stopped her. "Louisa, ye shouldnae be so upset ye cannae go along! Not every man got to go along this time, an' with the exception o' Da's crew who had the choice, it was only those who were asked! Ye father doesnae want t' see ye hurt, an' from what I heard o' this voyage, it'd be mighty dangerous. Your Da doesnae want t' be looking out fer ye the entire journey, an' he needs to have full attention when it comes t' fightin' if they do any! Ye can argue that ye can look out fer yerself, but with ye here safe, ye Da willnae worry a'tall. Savvy?"
Louisa stopped, and her expression changed from that of unhappiness, to a smile. She glanced at Isabelle, who was trying to stop from laughing, and couldn't hold it in. Both girls collapsed on the beach, tears of laughter rolling down their faces, until they were so worn out, it was all they could do to get to their feet and keep going. A little while up the beach, Louisa stopped. "Thanks... I'm used to being told I can't go because I'm a girl, but then Da's stepped in and I've been allowed to, ye know? But I've ne'er been told by him I cannae go along with them... I see what ye mean now... but thanks anyway."
Isabelle smiled, "Any time, Louisa, any time!" The pair continued on their way, not talking about the sea, but about the island, and what each of them knew about the Isla de Meurta, which wasn't much.
*****
"Ye cannae be serious, Jack! The Isla de Meurta hasn't been visited for years! Plus Barbossa is still there, unless a high tide happened t' wash 'im away!" Will was astounded that Jack would want to visit the Isla after all that had happened, along with what he'd said about not needing the curse to find the Hand of Midas, as it was called. Jack stood at the helm, holding the 'broken compass'. "Will, you can't go around accusing people of not being serious! I am telling ye that we cannot go after this Hand without being properly stocked with enough gold t' pay fer things we need!"
Will left his spot behind the helm and walked up to Jack. "Has bein' away from life fer twenty years caused ye to go soft? You're a *pirate*, Jack, ye don't like the idea of stealing things anymore?" Jack snapped the compass shut, and turned to face Will. They were nose to nose, "You're a pretty good pirate, William Turner, I'll give ye that much, but this is *my* ship, and I don't think you understand the plan o' things. The Pearl is almost unheard of here - you and ye Dauntless an' the rest o' ye fleet are what people fear, not some legendary ship wi' black sails. If we start t' bring attention to the ship, then we'll be chased. An' I have no intention of leading the king's navy to the Hand of Midas, savvy?" Will didn't step back, and finally, Jack simply turned and went back to steering the Pearl.
The Isla de Meurta was exactly as it had been left. Only now, the real skeleton of Barbossa was lying where he'd fallen, and there was a smaller, monkey's skeleton next to it. The moonlight spilled into the holes in the roof of the cavern, covering the two skeletons. "So the blighter *did* make it back t' here!" chuckled Jack about the monkey as he went past the two. Will had never liked the Isla de Meurta, and now it was downright creepy, made even worse by the amount of moonlight. But it was Jack's place, not his, and Jack knew what he was looking for.
After disappearing amongst the mountains of gold and silver, he returned carrying a small wooden box. He didn't open it, and instead grabbed a chest of roughly the same size, and filled it with coins. He threw the chest to Will, who caught it and carried it to the boat, while Jack followed with his box. What neither of them saw, though, was the skeleton of the monkey get up and follow, in the water, after them, still holding a medallion on a thin chain.
At the ship, the chest was taken to one of the cabin's, below deck, and the box was taken straight to Jack's. Will let the crew take the chest off his hands - anything to do with the Isla he was glad to be rid of. Jack, on the other hand, took the box to his cabin himself. He didn't even pause to yell directions, leaving that bit up to Will. "Weigh anchor! Hoist the sails! Make quickly, ye scurvy dogs!" The crew jumped to action as Will walked past and headed down to Jack's cabin.
Inside, he'd opened the box on the desk, and spread it's contents so not a scrap of the desk top was in sight. He looked over his shoulder when he heard the door open, and pointed to the papers. "Ye wouldn't believe that so much would fit in such a tiny box, would ye?" Will shook his head, but Jack didn't notice, as he'd turned back to his desk.
"So what was it about this chest that's so important we had to stop at Isla de Meurta?" Will asked as he walked up beside Jack. Jack grinned, and picked up a sheet of paper. He handed it to Will, who skim read the first few lines, "...and there will be the captain, trapped in his punishment...? Jack? What the hell is this?"
Jack pulled open a drawer on the desk, and removed a small knife. It, too, was solid gold, but this had a difference. He handed it to Will, and turned back to his papers. "Have a look at the end of the handle, Will. If that's not what ye could call proof, then I don't know what is!"
Will turned the knife over carefully in his hand. At the end of the handle there was a small nick, where someone had struck it with a sharp object to remove something that had been attached at some point. Will glanced up at Jack, who was rummaging through the bottom of the box (and more papers). Finally, he emerged holding what looked remarkably like a finger. "That's why ol' Grey disappeared. He used the thing on 'imself, or someone else did, an' he turned into gold. One o' the ships we attacked, just afore the mutiny, we found this. 'Course, at the time we thought it were just a lary box, possibly having maps t' towns or settlements, or somethin'. Then we found the knife, an' the finger. They were connected once, Will. An' whoever was on that ship who owned the box knew where the Hand is... that information has t' be in this box, savvy?"
Will nodded, now having more of an idea what Jack needed the box for. The only problem was, the papers had no direct order. They jumped years at a time, centuries it seemed, in some places. Jack waved Will out of the cabin, and called through the closed door that he was in charge of the ship until he came out. Will was, of course, confused. Since when did Captain Jack Sparrow, of the Black Pearl, entrust his ship to someone he hadn't seen for twenty years?
The ship sailed cleanly for the rest of the day, with Jamie and Will taking it in turns to man the crow's nest. Will didn't complain - so long as things ran smoothly, he wasn't going to hinder the voyage by telling the two younger members of the crew to stop what they were doing simply because it was childish.
Indeed, it could be said that everything went too cleanly. That's why it wasn't such a shock when Jamie called from the crow's nest, "Sail ho!" Will Jr. grabbed one of the ropes and skimmed up to join his friend at the top of the mast, and he called down, "Bootstrap! No black flag, only the English!"
At the helm, Will sent the youngest member of the crew, the cabin boy, to Jack's cabin, requesting orders. The answer was sent back - "Do what needs t' be done, but don't put too many holes in my ship!" Will laughed, and took charge of the Pearl. "You two! Freeman! Bole! Raise the Jolly Rodger! Nine-Cat! Jamie! Get the guns set! The rest o' ye scabbers - set course for the English!"
At the rate the Pearl was travelling, it didn't take long for them to reach the English ship. It was a passenger ship, but it was armed to the teeth, and there were several member's of the English Navy travelling with the rest of the passengers. They were ready for possible pirate attacks, or so they thought. What they were ready for were the stories about pirates being on small ships, with only one or two members of crew.
The ship, The Pacific Jane, turned til it's side was facing the Pearl. "Drop the starboard anchor!" came the yell from Will; the men responded automatically. He let go of the wheel, and it spun the entire ship around. Underneath the deck, Jack was thrown roughly against the wall, but he gathered up the papers and went back to reading, muttering "Not too many holes, Will!"
The guns were set, but they waited for an order before they fired them. Will walked to the edge of the ship, as did the Captain of the Jane. "Name your terms!" called the other captain. Will grinned, "Not all pirates have terms and conditions, Captain. These are our waters, and ye be needin' to pay the toll."
The other captain looked to his men, who shook their heads. "I'm afraid we have nothing to spare, sir. There are none but a few noblemen and soldiers on board, and we have only enough supplies to reach Port Royal," he called out. Will didn't look at him, but at the others behind him, who made as though to say something before thinking better of it and pulling away. Will laughed, and the people on the other ship jumped. "I know ye be lyin', Captain. I don't know what ye have on board, but there be somethin' ye ain't tellin' me, so unless ye reveal it, I do say we be seein' fer ourselves, savvy?"
The Captain turned and spoke to one of the officers behind him, who shook his head. He turned back to Will, and swallowed nervously before speaking. "I... I don't know what you're talking about, sir. We have nothing on board except supplies to get to Port Royal."
Will simply raised an eyebrow, "That is your final comment?" The other captain nodded, and Will turned back to the crew. "Men! Open fire!"
Because the guns were already set, all that had to be done is the fuse to be lit. The Jane had no chance to brace themselves, and men were knocked back from the blasts. "Keep three long boats! Destroy the rest!" called Will as he grabbed a rope and swung over. Several of the men followed him. Jamie and Will loaded a double-ended cannonball into their gun. They aimed slightly higher then they had before, and took out the mast.
On board the Jane, Will sent several men down into the storerooms and galley to search for supplies. Upon their return, they mentioned that there was a shipment of gold bullion's being shipped to Port Royal. The captain, who had escaped being hurt thus far, ran to the door of the storeroom and tried to brace himself. "You cannot steal that! It is for Port Royal, and no one else!" Will held the pistol he carried towards the captain. "Is the gold worth more than your life, *sir*?"
The Captain swallowed, before setting his expression and nodding, "Yes, it is. I'd gladly die for...." He didn't have a chance to finish what he was saying, as Will pulled the trigger and the captain fell, stone dead. "Very sorry, sir. But ye did say ye'd die fer it!"
The few men he'd sent down originally were the ones who took the Jane's supplies and added them to the storeroom of the Pearl. They left the gunpowder, and a fuse. The three long boats that had been saved were brought out. One was loaded with fresh water and food, and the other two were loaded with men who had cooperated with the pirates. The three boats were set on the water, the self-appointed leader given a compass, and pushed off.
The fuse was lit, and the Pearl was almost a mile away when it blew. Only then did Jack come up from underneath. "I did say not too many holes, Will. An' ye did me proud! There's not a scratch on th' Pearl... but we really must keep movin', ye know...."
Taking back control of his ship, he took the helm, and turned the ship almost completely around. Will walked over to him, "What are ye doin'? We've jus' come from that direction, Jack!" Jack only grinned, "Aye, but we missed our turn, Will!"
It didn't take long for the ships to be repaired, and set sail. Soon, only two ships remained at dock - the Dauntless, and the Black Pearl. Anamaria was planning to stay with Elizabeth on land to become better reacquainted with her friend, and Jack and Will were sailing on the Pearl, leaving the Dauntless in the river for repairs and cleaning.
There was some disagreement over who was in control, and they finally decided that each captain's order's were first priority to their own crewmembers, and in case of emergency, Jack's orders were absolute. It seemed only fair, considering Will had had twenty years to get used to being in control of things, and Jack had always been in charge. Besides, it was Will who figured out the map. Both of them were looking over the map, trying to find a way inside once Jack pointed out the seam line in the gold. Will had simply pressed a few loose catches and, miracles beyond, the sphere snapped open to reveal several folded pieces of parchment.
Jack, not being the type to read unless absolutely necessary, had handed the job over to Will, who discovered several very useful facts about the treasure they were going after. 1) The treasure itself was a gold, model of a hand, complete with a wooden handle to hod onto. 2) It was indeed cursed. 3) The page telling what the curse actually was, and how it was lifted, was missing. And 4) it turned everything it touched into solid gold, killing any living thing, instantly turning them into statue form. Upon hearing about the curse, Jack merely shrugged, saying, "I knew it'd 'ave a curse. Now we jus' gotta find out how t' lift it, an' we'll be right!"
Will didn't bother to try and change his mind - he'd sailed with Jack too many times to waste his time in trying to change the plan of the pirate. Besides, if all else failed, they could always re-curse themselves with the gold of Cortez before they set out on the journey for good, to save themselves, but as Jack so eloquently put it - "There ain't no adventure when ye have no way of dyin' fer somethin' ye love!"
The Dauntless had been secured, and hidden from sight around the bend in the river, and the Pearl had been restocked and made ready for travel. Most of Jack's crew had chosen to stay on land, and build their own homes in the village, or create a smaller village further up the river. That left Jack with only ten of his own men to crew the Pearl. Will asked only a few of his most trusted men, who were left on land at that moment, bringing the crew to a grand total of twenty one men, plus two captains, plus Jamie, and Will. Louisa was adamant that she should be allowed to go along, but all onboard refused, citing the age-old superstition that it's 'frightful bad luck t' bring a woman on board!'
Isabelle was put out as well, that she couldn't go along, but when she learned that her mother was staying, she didn't push the point as much. Louisa protested until the Pearl sailed away.
"Mother! It's not fair! Why can't I go with them?" she asked, hurt that the only reason she had to stay was because she was a woman. Elizabeth didn't answer, and Louisa went off with Isabelle, to show her the rest of the island. It wasn't huge, but it was about five miles in length, along the front coast, and close to four miles wide, along the central river, which was pretty much straight after the first initial bend.
Grumpily, she led the way, until Isabelle stopped her. "Louisa, ye shouldnae be so upset ye cannae go along! Not every man got to go along this time, an' with the exception o' Da's crew who had the choice, it was only those who were asked! Ye father doesnae want t' see ye hurt, an' from what I heard o' this voyage, it'd be mighty dangerous. Your Da doesnae want t' be looking out fer ye the entire journey, an' he needs to have full attention when it comes t' fightin' if they do any! Ye can argue that ye can look out fer yerself, but with ye here safe, ye Da willnae worry a'tall. Savvy?"
Louisa stopped, and her expression changed from that of unhappiness, to a smile. She glanced at Isabelle, who was trying to stop from laughing, and couldn't hold it in. Both girls collapsed on the beach, tears of laughter rolling down their faces, until they were so worn out, it was all they could do to get to their feet and keep going. A little while up the beach, Louisa stopped. "Thanks... I'm used to being told I can't go because I'm a girl, but then Da's stepped in and I've been allowed to, ye know? But I've ne'er been told by him I cannae go along with them... I see what ye mean now... but thanks anyway."
Isabelle smiled, "Any time, Louisa, any time!" The pair continued on their way, not talking about the sea, but about the island, and what each of them knew about the Isla de Meurta, which wasn't much.
*****
"Ye cannae be serious, Jack! The Isla de Meurta hasn't been visited for years! Plus Barbossa is still there, unless a high tide happened t' wash 'im away!" Will was astounded that Jack would want to visit the Isla after all that had happened, along with what he'd said about not needing the curse to find the Hand of Midas, as it was called. Jack stood at the helm, holding the 'broken compass'. "Will, you can't go around accusing people of not being serious! I am telling ye that we cannot go after this Hand without being properly stocked with enough gold t' pay fer things we need!"
Will left his spot behind the helm and walked up to Jack. "Has bein' away from life fer twenty years caused ye to go soft? You're a *pirate*, Jack, ye don't like the idea of stealing things anymore?" Jack snapped the compass shut, and turned to face Will. They were nose to nose, "You're a pretty good pirate, William Turner, I'll give ye that much, but this is *my* ship, and I don't think you understand the plan o' things. The Pearl is almost unheard of here - you and ye Dauntless an' the rest o' ye fleet are what people fear, not some legendary ship wi' black sails. If we start t' bring attention to the ship, then we'll be chased. An' I have no intention of leading the king's navy to the Hand of Midas, savvy?" Will didn't step back, and finally, Jack simply turned and went back to steering the Pearl.
The Isla de Meurta was exactly as it had been left. Only now, the real skeleton of Barbossa was lying where he'd fallen, and there was a smaller, monkey's skeleton next to it. The moonlight spilled into the holes in the roof of the cavern, covering the two skeletons. "So the blighter *did* make it back t' here!" chuckled Jack about the monkey as he went past the two. Will had never liked the Isla de Meurta, and now it was downright creepy, made even worse by the amount of moonlight. But it was Jack's place, not his, and Jack knew what he was looking for.
After disappearing amongst the mountains of gold and silver, he returned carrying a small wooden box. He didn't open it, and instead grabbed a chest of roughly the same size, and filled it with coins. He threw the chest to Will, who caught it and carried it to the boat, while Jack followed with his box. What neither of them saw, though, was the skeleton of the monkey get up and follow, in the water, after them, still holding a medallion on a thin chain.
At the ship, the chest was taken to one of the cabin's, below deck, and the box was taken straight to Jack's. Will let the crew take the chest off his hands - anything to do with the Isla he was glad to be rid of. Jack, on the other hand, took the box to his cabin himself. He didn't even pause to yell directions, leaving that bit up to Will. "Weigh anchor! Hoist the sails! Make quickly, ye scurvy dogs!" The crew jumped to action as Will walked past and headed down to Jack's cabin.
Inside, he'd opened the box on the desk, and spread it's contents so not a scrap of the desk top was in sight. He looked over his shoulder when he heard the door open, and pointed to the papers. "Ye wouldn't believe that so much would fit in such a tiny box, would ye?" Will shook his head, but Jack didn't notice, as he'd turned back to his desk.
"So what was it about this chest that's so important we had to stop at Isla de Meurta?" Will asked as he walked up beside Jack. Jack grinned, and picked up a sheet of paper. He handed it to Will, who skim read the first few lines, "...and there will be the captain, trapped in his punishment...? Jack? What the hell is this?"
Jack pulled open a drawer on the desk, and removed a small knife. It, too, was solid gold, but this had a difference. He handed it to Will, and turned back to his papers. "Have a look at the end of the handle, Will. If that's not what ye could call proof, then I don't know what is!"
Will turned the knife over carefully in his hand. At the end of the handle there was a small nick, where someone had struck it with a sharp object to remove something that had been attached at some point. Will glanced up at Jack, who was rummaging through the bottom of the box (and more papers). Finally, he emerged holding what looked remarkably like a finger. "That's why ol' Grey disappeared. He used the thing on 'imself, or someone else did, an' he turned into gold. One o' the ships we attacked, just afore the mutiny, we found this. 'Course, at the time we thought it were just a lary box, possibly having maps t' towns or settlements, or somethin'. Then we found the knife, an' the finger. They were connected once, Will. An' whoever was on that ship who owned the box knew where the Hand is... that information has t' be in this box, savvy?"
Will nodded, now having more of an idea what Jack needed the box for. The only problem was, the papers had no direct order. They jumped years at a time, centuries it seemed, in some places. Jack waved Will out of the cabin, and called through the closed door that he was in charge of the ship until he came out. Will was, of course, confused. Since when did Captain Jack Sparrow, of the Black Pearl, entrust his ship to someone he hadn't seen for twenty years?
The ship sailed cleanly for the rest of the day, with Jamie and Will taking it in turns to man the crow's nest. Will didn't complain - so long as things ran smoothly, he wasn't going to hinder the voyage by telling the two younger members of the crew to stop what they were doing simply because it was childish.
Indeed, it could be said that everything went too cleanly. That's why it wasn't such a shock when Jamie called from the crow's nest, "Sail ho!" Will Jr. grabbed one of the ropes and skimmed up to join his friend at the top of the mast, and he called down, "Bootstrap! No black flag, only the English!"
At the helm, Will sent the youngest member of the crew, the cabin boy, to Jack's cabin, requesting orders. The answer was sent back - "Do what needs t' be done, but don't put too many holes in my ship!" Will laughed, and took charge of the Pearl. "You two! Freeman! Bole! Raise the Jolly Rodger! Nine-Cat! Jamie! Get the guns set! The rest o' ye scabbers - set course for the English!"
At the rate the Pearl was travelling, it didn't take long for them to reach the English ship. It was a passenger ship, but it was armed to the teeth, and there were several member's of the English Navy travelling with the rest of the passengers. They were ready for possible pirate attacks, or so they thought. What they were ready for were the stories about pirates being on small ships, with only one or two members of crew.
The ship, The Pacific Jane, turned til it's side was facing the Pearl. "Drop the starboard anchor!" came the yell from Will; the men responded automatically. He let go of the wheel, and it spun the entire ship around. Underneath the deck, Jack was thrown roughly against the wall, but he gathered up the papers and went back to reading, muttering "Not too many holes, Will!"
The guns were set, but they waited for an order before they fired them. Will walked to the edge of the ship, as did the Captain of the Jane. "Name your terms!" called the other captain. Will grinned, "Not all pirates have terms and conditions, Captain. These are our waters, and ye be needin' to pay the toll."
The other captain looked to his men, who shook their heads. "I'm afraid we have nothing to spare, sir. There are none but a few noblemen and soldiers on board, and we have only enough supplies to reach Port Royal," he called out. Will didn't look at him, but at the others behind him, who made as though to say something before thinking better of it and pulling away. Will laughed, and the people on the other ship jumped. "I know ye be lyin', Captain. I don't know what ye have on board, but there be somethin' ye ain't tellin' me, so unless ye reveal it, I do say we be seein' fer ourselves, savvy?"
The Captain turned and spoke to one of the officers behind him, who shook his head. He turned back to Will, and swallowed nervously before speaking. "I... I don't know what you're talking about, sir. We have nothing on board except supplies to get to Port Royal."
Will simply raised an eyebrow, "That is your final comment?" The other captain nodded, and Will turned back to the crew. "Men! Open fire!"
Because the guns were already set, all that had to be done is the fuse to be lit. The Jane had no chance to brace themselves, and men were knocked back from the blasts. "Keep three long boats! Destroy the rest!" called Will as he grabbed a rope and swung over. Several of the men followed him. Jamie and Will loaded a double-ended cannonball into their gun. They aimed slightly higher then they had before, and took out the mast.
On board the Jane, Will sent several men down into the storerooms and galley to search for supplies. Upon their return, they mentioned that there was a shipment of gold bullion's being shipped to Port Royal. The captain, who had escaped being hurt thus far, ran to the door of the storeroom and tried to brace himself. "You cannot steal that! It is for Port Royal, and no one else!" Will held the pistol he carried towards the captain. "Is the gold worth more than your life, *sir*?"
The Captain swallowed, before setting his expression and nodding, "Yes, it is. I'd gladly die for...." He didn't have a chance to finish what he was saying, as Will pulled the trigger and the captain fell, stone dead. "Very sorry, sir. But ye did say ye'd die fer it!"
The few men he'd sent down originally were the ones who took the Jane's supplies and added them to the storeroom of the Pearl. They left the gunpowder, and a fuse. The three long boats that had been saved were brought out. One was loaded with fresh water and food, and the other two were loaded with men who had cooperated with the pirates. The three boats were set on the water, the self-appointed leader given a compass, and pushed off.
The fuse was lit, and the Pearl was almost a mile away when it blew. Only then did Jack come up from underneath. "I did say not too many holes, Will. An' ye did me proud! There's not a scratch on th' Pearl... but we really must keep movin', ye know...."
Taking back control of his ship, he took the helm, and turned the ship almost completely around. Will walked over to him, "What are ye doin'? We've jus' come from that direction, Jack!" Jack only grinned, "Aye, but we missed our turn, Will!"
