Chapter 11: I'm dishonest, honestly

The cavern was almost completely full of gold, silver, and various other treasures and precious items. One entire cavern wall had been made into a row of untidy shelves, and books, papers, compasses, sextants, and other sailing equipment spilled off onto the floor. Another wall was being renovated to include a built-in desk, and more shelves. But none of that shocked Isabelle and Louisa - no, that was expected.

The most shocking thing in the room was a cage, standing in the corner. Inside the cage, from the roof, hung three ropes, and attached to these ropes were three skeletons. One wore a commodore's uniform, another wore regular soldiers clothing, and the last wore the high-collared piece commonly associated with high-ranking officials in the king's court. This in itself was shocking, but what was downright scary was the fact that the skeletons were real, and they didn't stink.

If the men had surely died in the cavern, they'd have still carried a stench that the strongest cleaning products couldn't remove - but there was no stench. Isabelle walked over to the edge of the cage, hesitantly. Louisa was still standing in the doorway, breathless, not sure if she should attempt to approach with her friend.

Isabelle paused at the desk, and picked up a few loose papers. She motioned Louisa over, and pointed out several lines on the page. "This is a... a journal. Is this your father's cavern?" she asked, and Louisa shook her head. "No, that's the scary part. I must have pulled the wrong catch, there's another one on the wall, but I've never tried it before!"

Isabelle looked up from the paper, and handed it over, before looking at the skeletons more closely. "Someone knew these people, and kept the skeletons for a reason.... Do the pages tell us anything that could identify these people?" she asked, turning back to Louisa, who shook her head. "No, not from what I've read... but maybe we'd better go - what if the guy who owns this cavern is still on the island? Not all of the men left - I don't want to be caught down here by a guy who keeps dead people as a souvenir!" She put the papers back on the desk, and headed for the exit. Isabelle followed, but she picked up the papers that Louisa had put back on the table.

Louisa turned around when she reached the door, but Isabelle had already concealed them in her belt, under her skirt. Once outside, the wall was closed, and Louisa found the right catch. This time the wall swung a different way, revealing an opening to a room far more impressive than the first.

There were five walls, and three were lines neatly with wooden boards slotted into gashes in the wall. The books that lined these walls were old, dusty, and obviously valuable. They were shelved neatly, with bookends at the start and finish of each small shelf. The lower shelves were lines with rolled up maps, compasses, sextants, and other equipment almost identical to that in the first room. The room itself was huge, almost like the cavern at the Isla de Meurta, and had a raised section in the middle surrounded by water, though not quite as high-piled as like at Isla de Meurta. The outside of the raised section was piled high, with everything from knives and swords, to women's dresses and other articles of clothing, to the regular gold and pieces of eight.

Isabelle paused at the small desk, properly built into the fourth wall, and let her fingers run over the short sword that hung above it. It was finely made, and would obviously never be used again - the blade was whittled down so fine it was a wonder it had lasted so long without breaking. Louisa waited in the doorway. "This is Da's room... He doesn't mind me comin' in here, so long as I don't bring the locals in. But you're not local, so ye'd be givin' permission!"

Isabelle nodded, "Thanks...." Louisa walked fully into the room, and headed for the desk. When she'd been younger, Will had always brought her into the room and told her to look in the top drawer of the desk, and there'd always be a small something inside for her. This time was no exception; a small golden hair-clip lay atop a folded piece of parchment with her name on it. She picked both up, but didn't bother to read he note, as her attention had been caught by something else.

Louisa picked up the paper that lay on the desk; it looked as though someone had thrown it there in a hurry. Isabelle stopped looking at the various books on the shelves, and walked over to her friend. "What have ye found?" she asked, and Louisa handed over the paper. Isabelle read it quickly, then looked up at Louisa. "Ye can't be serious...?" Louisa couldn't do anything but nod. "It looks like, aye?"

*****

After several days of fitful sleep, Will Jr. was finally up to going back above deck. It seemed that everyone was tiptoeing around him, careful not to make any sudden movements in case he was a bomb about to explode. He'd told Jamie what had happened, but Jamie had simply looked at him as though he were mad. "Yer nothin' but a fool, Nine-cat. I went down first, an' ye followed after. I got t' the door, an' looked back, an' ye were standin' halfway between th' mast an' the edge. A wave come along, an' I yelled out. Ye didnae move, an' I thought ye were jus' jokin' 'round, but ye didnae move until th' wave swept ye o'erboard. There was no man on th' deck, 'cept me 'n' you, 'til I called for th' crew, savvy?"

Knowing that no one would believe him, Will had agreed, and let Jamie do the explaining from then on about what happened. He didn't even bother to correct little mistakes, like Jamie running to pull him out of the way of the wave, but not getting there fast enough. By the time that story had gotten around, though, most people had already heard the original version, and only listened for the sake of hearing a good story.

Jack, though, had heard the tale Jamie had been told, about the man onboard. It was true that the events happened like Jamie had explained, but no man would drive himself to fainting if their own story were not at least partially true. Before the week was out, he took the younger Will aside, in the galley of the ship. "I heard the story Jamie-boy put around, and I heard what ye told him - what did the man look like, Will?" Will was taken aback - he'd thought the only person around to hear the tale was Jamie!

"He... he was tall, abou' a head taller than me... which'd make him almost 7-foot tall...." He seemed surprised to say that out loud, which wasn't surprising - at over six-foot, Will was the tallest man on board, though Jack, and Jamie were only just shorter, and it would have taken several goes, and Will off his guard to throw him overboard by one of the crewmembers. Walking past a closed barrel of rum, Jack stopped and leaned on the top of the huge case. "Aye, but what did he *look* like? Beard? Hat? Patched eye? Wooden leg? A bloody parrot? What did the dog look like?"

Will leant against the table, rubbing his temples. "He had a hat on, so I couldn't really see his face, but he had both his arms, and I don't think he had a wooden leg, 'cause when he moved there was no clunking noise.... He was big, too, solid muscle... I'd come off second best if it were a flat out brawl, and I'd be leavin' the fight in a coffin... why? Why ye askin' me all this 'bout the guy that only I saw, and only I think exists?" Jack didn't answer, just stood up from his leaning place, and walked around the table until he was face to face with Will. "What did 'e say to ye, Will? A warning? A promise? A threat?"

Will managed a half-laugh. "Put like that, none o' those options sound too good...." Jack raised his eyebrows, and Will sighed, "He... he said if I didn't stop the journey and turn back to home, it'd end in death." Jack looked as though he'd been poked with a sword; his attention suddenly became fixed solely on Will. "Death? Did he say whose death?" Will shook his head, "No, all he said was that the journey would end in disaster for ev'ryone on board... I don't know if that means ev'ryone will die, or if the Pearl will sink, or the treasure won't be as to what we expected, or if one person onboard would end up dead - he wasnae very specific!"

Jack dropped his head, "Aye, he wouldn't be, would he? Murderous fool - how many pirates walkin' 'round on top o' the ocean *would* be specific? I must 'ave a word wi' him, if I ever gets t' meet 'im!" Will wasn't sure if the captain was talking to him, or to himself - he seemed almost in a dreamland.

Will started to say something, but Jack suddenly came to his senses. "What ye be doin' still here, Will? Back t' the deck, wi' ye!" Will nodded, and headed for above deck, leaving the pirate captain to mutter to himself.