VIII - A Meeting Of Old Friends
Constance laughed. "Oh, your father must have scolded you terribly."

"He didn't. I escaped through the vine cellar before he came in. He never found out who did it." Lieutenant Gillette joined in the laughter.

"He must have suspected you."

Gillette nodded. "I am sure he did."

Still chuckling, they walked along the outer edge of the dance floor.

"Where did you grow up, Lieutenant?"

"In a small village near La Rochelle. My father always preferred the wide expanse of our vin yards to the confines of the French court. It grieved him to leave our home for England. He was not very happy when I told him that I intended to the join the Navy."

The Lieutenant's smile faltered for a moment.

"It must have been difficult for you as well." Constance said. "Being half Irish and half French, I mean.

Gillette smiled wistfully. "It was." He took a deep breath and then a large smile spread over his face. "But it was worth it."

Constance laughed at his obvious contentment. "You speak just like the sailors on the Seerose. They were all madly in love with the sea. They even preferred storms, thunder and lightning to setting a foot on shore."

Gillette winked at her. "That's mostly false bravado, my lady. Every sailor fears a storm." He laughed. "But it is rather exhilarating," he admitted.

Isabeau's arrival interrupted the conversation.

Constance introduced the Lieutenant to her sister, but although Isabeau remained polite, she used the first opportunity to address the reasons for her interruption. "Mother requests to see us, Constance. Pamela just told me."

Constance looked at her sister with a frown. "Where is she? I haven't see her for quiet some time."

Isabeau looked weary. "Pamela said that she is waiting in the gardens."

"In the gardens?" Constance looked incredulous. "But what…" she trailed off, obviously displeased. "Oh, very well. Lieutenant, if you would excuse me for a moment." She nodded at Gillette.

The young Lieutenant offered his arm. "Would you allow me to accompany you?"

Constance gazed questioningly at her sister, who nodded after a moment's hesitation.

Constance beamed. "That's very kind of you."

"The pleasure is mine," he replied and escorted the ladies outside.

* * * * * * *

Aside from the ball room, the dining hall, the adjourning corridors and the kitchen, the remainder of the Governor's mansion was barely lit. The shadow that hurried up the servant staircase, at the back of the house, was neither seen nor heard. Quiet footsteps rushed past the guest rooms, and a pair of brown eyes carefully spied around the corner of the corridor that led to the main staircase.

The shadow moved past a maintenance closet towards the door of the Governor's private library, where it came to a sudden halt.

The lock had been broken.

The heavy green skirt rustled, as a dagger and a pistol were drawn from underneath a petticoat. Carefully, the shadow opened the door.

The only light that fell into the room was moonlight, which reflected of the shining surface of a desk and chair that occupied the centre of the room. Three armchairs stood in a half circle turned away from the desk towards the wall. Floor to ceiling bookshelves took up every inch of wall space, filled with leather bound tombs. With his back turned towards the door, stood a man. His attention was fixed on the bookshelf to the right side of the room, where the safe was located.

The shadow drew back the pistol's hammer and aimed. The soft clicking noise made the man spin around.

"Jack, what the hell are you doing here?"

Jack Sparrow looked surprised. The emotion lasted for less than a second. Spreading his arms, as if to hug her, he rushed towards the woman.

"Cat! How good to see you again. I need your help."

Cat raised the pistol a fraction of an inch.

Jack stopped, frowned at the weapon, his fingers spider-walking through the air. Then he casually pushed it to the side. "Now that's no way to greet an old friend."

"Jack."

"Yes, luv?"

"What are you doing here?" There was a tight warning in her voice.

"Stealing this illustrious map, of course." He put a arm companionably across her shoulders and pushed her forward so they were standing next to each other. "Though I have to admit, I didn't expect you to come up here quiet this early." Jack looked perturbed.

Cat took a deep, careful breath. "Really?"

Jack nodded sorrowfully. "Yes. You see, I thought I'd just nick the map and leave, and by the time they find dear, unconscious Edward, you would be arrested for the theft and I'd be on my way."

Gritting her teeth, she glared at the pirate's face. He had not changed much since she had last seen him. He still had coins and marbles braided into his hair, still framed those expressive eyes with dark colour. Gold caps on a few teeth, jewellery around his neck and wrists.

His hand pushed almost gently against hers.

"Now, be a dear and take that thing away, because we both know that you're not going to shoot me." He leaned in until his face was far to close to hers and grinned smugly. "You owe me your life, remember?"

The silence stretched between them. Cat continued to glare, until, with a dramatic sigh, Jack backed off, crossed his arms and waited. Reluctantly, she stashed pistol and dagger in the sash of her dress.

Jack took the opportunity to measure her from head to toe.

"You look lovely," he leered playfully.

"Shut up," she snapped, but there was just the barest hint of an exasperated smile that took the sharpness from her voice.

Jack rubbed his hands and walked back to the bookshelf. "Well, then. Which book do I have to pull out? There was so much water in my ears that I didn't hear everything Geraldine said."

Cat looked outraged. "You were eavesdropping!"

"Of course. When I sailed back from England, I saw the Emerald Queen anchoring in a small bay at Tortuga. At first I couldn't believe it, but then I got curious." He glanced back at her.

"Naturally," Cat muttered.

Jack nodded with a smile. "So I looked around a bit and soon there where whispers that you'd gone to Port Royale, and that you were looking for a treasure map there. I was also told that the Bulldog was not far behind." His smile widened. "So you see, I had to come."

Cat crossed her arms and leaned back against desk as if she had all the time in the world. "What so you need more treasures for? From what I heard, that whole cursed island of yours is loaded with gold and silver."

Jack finally turned away from the bookshelf and looked at her mournfully. "They took it away. They have no decency, these navy boys. Loaded everything onto the Dauntless, except the Aztec medallions, of course, and just took it away."

"Poor baby."

Hearing the sarcasm in her voice, Jack gave her a reproachful look and pointed a finger at her. "Oh you just laugh, but those treasures were honestly stolen."

Thoughtfully, Cat pushed away from the desk.

"What were you doing in England?"

Jack looked almost embarrassed, which was something she would not have thought possible.

"Just making sure a friend of mine had a nice honeymoon."

Cat laughed in disbelieve. "You turned the Black Pearl into a passenger vessel?"

Outraged, Jack waved his hands. "No, no, no. I took one friend of mine and his wife to England because they just got married and wanted to spend their honeymoon there. And since the Black Pearl is the fastest ship in the Caribbean and the boy's father was also a friend of mine, I did them a favour. " He gave her an indignant look. "The Black Pearl is a pirate ship. It has always been a pirate ship and it will continue to be a pirate ship." He took a deep breath and stilled the erratic movements of his hands.

Cat was about to say something, but then threw an annoyed glance over her shoulder.

Immediately, Jack straightened. His hand reached for his belt and the pistol that was fastened to it. "Did you hear something?" he asked, his gaze fixed on the door.

Cat's head snapped back around. She seemed embarrassed. "Ahm… no."

While Jack was still looking at her suspiciously, she walked towards the wall and studied the books. Within seconds she had found the volume she was looking for. She turned back towards the pirate captain.

"You can't have the map."

Jack just grinned.

"It' s mine," she insisted.

Jack pressed his hands together as if he were praying.

"Now, you see… at the moment it appears that the map belongs to Mr. Travers and…"

"He stole it. Took it from Captain Gareth's belongings."

"But Gareth was dead. A dead man doesn't have any belongings."

Obviously agitated, Cat stepped forward. "He wants me to have it."

"Wanted."

Cat blinked. "I'm sorry?"

"He wanted you to have it. He died two months ago, didn't he?"

Cat rubbed two fingers against her brow. She felt a headache spreading beneath her skull.

"Yes. He was hanged."

Spreading his arms slightly, Jack nodded. "There you go."

She remained firm. "You can't have it."

Jack approached her slowly his arms still held out in front of him. "Well, I'm not leaving, and not to say that I don't enjoy present company, but we should resolve this quickly, because good old Edward is going to wake up any minute now." He looked cautiously over his shoulder towards the door. "And I really don't want to be here when the guards come barging in."

It took her a moment to consider all options. Fighting, or even just firing a single shot, would have the guards running for the library, so that was not a valid course of action. There was no chance for her to subdue him until she had taken the map and left, either, and to yell for the guards and have him arrested while pretending that she had merely come by the library by accident was far too risky.

"What do you propose?" She scowled at him.

"We split the treasure."

Cat nodded thoughtfully. "I take the map back to the Emerald Queen. You catch up to us and we both go after the gold and diamonds."

A fake laugh tumbled from Jack's lips. "No, my dear. I take the map to the Black Pearl and you catch up to me."

"Why would I trust you?"

Jack seemed honestly offended. "I'm your friend."

"You're the person you planned to steal my map and then have me arrested for a crime I did not commit," she practically spat at him.

"Well, yes. But there is no need to take it personally."

Cat sputtered with anger.

A woman's scream cut the air.

For a moment, the two pirates simply froze, then both of them bolted for the window.

The sound of fighting could be heard from below. There was more screaming and then a shot rang though the night.

Cat looked at Jack. Their eyes met.

"Tell me you didn't…"

"I came alone."

"Damn."

* * * * * * *