Chapter 22: Afore too long

It seemed like hours before the other ship reached them, even though both ships were sailing full speed, and they were both extremely fast vessels. Louisa climbed down from the crow's nest, at Jamie's request, and headed for where Isabelle and Will (Jr.) were standing, talking about the strangeness of the flags.

"I can understand why a privateer would fly the flag of it's home country, but why would it join forces wi' another?" asked Isabelle, and Will shrugged, "A few reasons, but none of which make much sense, considerin' the ship...." Louisa stopped at the bow of the ship, and leaned over the edge. There was a stillness in the water, in the air, and she didn't like it. There always was, before an attack, and she knew that this attack wouldn't be a simple hit-and-run maneuver. Privateers were legal pirates, though they gave the spoils to their country (some of it, at least), and they were just as vicious as the pirates of the centuries before.

Will turned to see his sister looking up at the sky, eyes closed, and he smiled. It was easy for an outsider to see how close the twins were, the outsider being Isabelle at that moment. It was going to hurt her when she made her way back into the Triangle, to leave behind the people she'd grown so close to, the person she'd grown to love.... Looking away as the twins spoke, she felt for the papers in her belt, assured by their presence.

Excusing herself from Will and Louisa, she headed for the cabin with the intention to read some more before the privateers attacked. She hadn't had a chance since just before they'd sneaked onto the Pearl, and there was a lot more to go.

'It wasn't what you'd call a nice way to die, but for their sakes, I'm glad it was fast. If the same had happened to me, then I would never have wanted it any other way.

We found the hole, and got set to sail through. It didn't take long, only a few weeks to our perspectives, but I do acknowledge that it could have been longer, or shorter, than what was actual time.

We sailed through, well enough, but when I turned to congratulate my fellow three escapees, I found myself facing three skeletons, with naught but the clothes they were wearing to give any intention that they were once real people, from different times to myself, yet still with the same intentions and beliefs.

I found upon this ship a large chest, large enough to fit three living men inside. It is inside this chest that I have placed the three bodies of my friends, with the intent of keeping them with me, as my guidance, until it is fit that we, all four, should be buried in the traditional way at sea. How I am to arrange this, I do not yet know, but nothing is too good for the people who gave their lives to fund my voyage of escape.'

The next entry was a while ahead of this, yet it was just as important.

'I had searched high and low for the same hole, which I entered into the Bermuda Triangle. It occurred to me that once the entrance has remained open for a certain period of time, it will then close and not open again. I have no way of proving this theory, but I have found another way in.

There is a cave, inside an island that is barely close to the Triangle, yet it hums with the same intensity as did the opening at sea. It was mere chance that we discovered this island, and the treasure it did hold. The most elusive thing any sailing man, pirate or no, could ever hope to possess - the Hand of Midas. I have read things about this Hand that could make even the wealthiest man's mouth water, but upon seeing the evidence inside the caves, I did not dare to approach it.

There are entire ravines full to bursting of skeletons, men who have tried for the Hand, and failed. It was by following the path the right of the natural harbor, inside the island itself, sticking to the middle ridge the entire way through, until a branch is reached of three cavernous openings. It is here that the left cave must be followed, as the center, and right, caves only lead to a dead end.

At the end of this cave is another ravine, which I take to be the same one from the main cavern. There is a natural bridge over this ravine, which leads to another cave opening. It is a tight fit for a grown adult, such as myself, but this cave leads back into the Triangle. I am not sure how, or by what magic, but once the end of the cave is reached, the Triangle is also. I have included a map, for an easier way of finding the cave, and I am fairly sure that this is a permanent opening. I have returned to it three times thus far, and each time it remains open.'

Isabelle dropped the papers at the same time the Pearl rocked to the side with the force of the cannon that hit it. Hastily picking them up, and stuffing them back into her belt, she headed back out onto the deck to see Louisa being held as though she were a prisoner - by Jack!

"Louisa? What's...?" she didn't have time to finish speaking, before Jamie grabbed her from behind, covering her mouth with his hand. "Don't say anything," he hissed in her ear, and she nodded. Jack didn't look around, just grinned at the privateer captain across the ships. "Shoot another cannon, sir, at *my* ship, an' it will be *your* fault that these two lovely ladies meet their deaths - savvy?" The other captain was young, but not young enough to not know the stories about Jack Sparrow.

"Release the ladies into my custody, I thank ye, mister Sparrow, sir, an' all will be well," he was a little too... soft to be a privateer captain, yet he still sailed under the colours of one. Jack shook his head, "Aye? I think not, sir, considerin' that ye still have the long guns pointed toward my ship. Take them away, back inside, an' I'll release one o' the ladies, afore I think about the other, savvy?"

The other captain looked perplexed. On one hand, he could remove the long guns, and negotiate the safe return of two very British women, or he could forget he'd ever saw the women and sink the famous Black Pearl. It took some considering - he was, after all, a gentleman by birth. Jack pulled the small knife from the back of Louisa's belt, and spun it around his fingers until it was resting at the side of her throat. "Ye have little time, sir, to follow my orders - I will not hesitate to kill one o' these women - one is enough for a ransom."

He whispered to Louisa, "Trust me, I won't cut ye too deep, but it needs to be seen, savvy?" Louisa nodded slightly, and felt the light sting of the knife blade as it broke the fine skin under her jaw. It didn't hurt so much as scare her, especially when she felt the trickle of blood run down the column of her neck. The other captain paled visibly, "Remove the guns!" he yelled, and his crew hesitated before obeying his orders.

Jack waited until the guns were removed, and the hatches locked, before dropping the knife and pushing Louisa toward her father. "I am a man of my word, sir, an' so I shall release one of my prisoners," he turned to Will, who was holding Louisa in much the same way that Jack had been, "Throw her over," he said simply, causing outrage on the other captain's part. "You lied! You said you'd release her!" Jack pulled up short, obviously insulted. "You attack *my* ship, force me to release one of *my* hostages, and then insult me! You will not call me a liar, sir. I am holding my end of the bargain - it was *you* who failed to specify how the lady was to be released, savvy?"

The other captain seemed quite taken aback - it wasn't everyday that a woman was thrown overboard because of what someone did or didn't say. He looked wildly around his crew, who all shrugged, or looked away, and back at Jack. Jack grinned, and nodded to Will. Louisa played the part of a victim better then most victims would have. She struggled against her father the entire way, though not enough so that he'd be forced to let her go, until they reached the edge. There was a plank already there, which just had to be pushed up and out over the edge. Will (Jr.) grabbed the edge, and pushed it out, just as Louisa was pushed up onto it. "Don't worry, we'll get you afore too long, savvy?" he whispered as he pushed her out, and she turned before she reached the end.

"You'll pay for this... you... you... pirates!" Jack only bowed, "Aye, that we are, miss. An' if ye'll please excuse me, we really must get going. You have one of our treasures, sir, an' that'll be all you'll manage to take from the Black Pearl, savvy?" He nodded to Jamie, who took the struggling Isabelle back under the deck to her cabin, and turned to Will. "Send her swimmin', Bootstrap."

Will nodded, and stamped on the end of the plank. It moved so much that Louisa couldn't have kept her balance even if she'd been ready for it. The water was so cold it almost numbed her to the bone the moment she hit the surface, but once reason set in, she tried swimming for the surface. The dress she wore was pulling her down, and the bottom was too far away to bother with. Pulling at the strings frantically, she managed to remove the outer, heavy layer, and swim to the surface in only her shift.

The other captain set down ropes, and men, to assist her onboard, while the Pearl sailed slowly away in the other direction. Louisa watched it go, wrapped in blankets so kindly lent by the ship's doctor, and wondered just how long 'afore too long' actually was.