Revenge of the Fox

Chapter 34

The crew of the Vixen was starting to wake up, but they were all incarcerated. As many as could fit in the brig were locked in there, and several more were locked in the cabins. Davy and Pete were guarding the ones in the brig, and Cotton and Seamus were guarding the passageway by the cabins. With Ralf's help, they'd identified which men were the officers and which the common sailors. The officers were all crammed together in one cabin, which had been stripped of anything they might use to escape. Jack, Will, Norrington and Markson were in the Captain's cabin, waiting for Reynard to wake up. They'd lifted him up off the floor and tied him to a chair. Markson walked over and slapped him lightly on the cheek. "Nothing yet," he said cheerfully. "You certainly did a job on him, Captain."

"You shouldn't have stopped me, James," said Jack with a shrug. "He'd be better off dead."

"He will be," said Norrington calmly. "Shall we take him back to Port Royal to hang?"

"No, I'd rather take care of that before we go anywhere," Jack replied absently looking through the ship's log.

Will was going through the large wardrobe cupboard, and pulled out a small chest. Setting it on the table, he opened it. "Look, it's a jewelry box. Picking up a small pouch, he slid several pieces into his hand. "Here's Gwen's wedding ring, Jack." He held it out as Jack came forward to take it.

Jack polished the large black pearl on his sleeve and slipped the ring onto the little finger of his left hand. "She'll be glad to get this back."

Will continued poking through the contents of the box. "Here's Elizabeth's wedding ring, and the earrings she was wearing when she was kidnapped." Norrington peered into the box as well, picking out the diamond ring he'd given Antonia to mark their betrothal. Will picked up a pair of diamond and pearl earrings. "There are the ones Elizabeth was going to give to Antonia as a wedding present." He handed them to Norrington.

"What else is in there?" Jack asked, looking over Will's shoulder.

"Mostly men's jewelry. Probably belonged to Lord Marlby," Will answered. "There are a few women's pieces though." He held up a string of white pearls. "These are lovely."

"Why don't we give them to Jeannine?" Markson asked, his voice sounding odd even to himself. "We couldn't have done this without her."

Jack glanced up; his dark eyes lingering on Markson's face a touch longer than necessary. "Good idea." He took the pearls and held them out. "Why don't you give them to her?" Markson took them with a long look, and put them in his pocket.

"Oh, this one's pretty," said Jack, slipping a man's ring onto a finger. The large diamond glinted in the morning sunlight. "I just may keep this one."

"Is loot all you think about," said Norrington in exasperation.

"Not all," said Jack, studying the glittering diamond. "I think about a great many things. Including how irritating you are when you get that superior tone in your voice."

"You must indeed be tired, Sparrow," Norrington said coldly. "That insult lacked your usual finesse."

"I could use some shut eye," admitted Jack. He looked at Norrington and grinned. "I promise, I'll be in better form tomorrow."

"Look," Markson said. "Our friend is stirring." Indeed, Reynard's eyes fluttered open. As the light hit his eyes he groaned and shut them again, rolling his aching head on his neck.

Jack grinned broadly and walked quickly across the cabin to where Reynard was sitting. Grabbing another chair he positioned it in front of Reynard, straddling it and resting his arms on the back. "Hey Reynard," he said, slapping Reynard sharply across the face. "Wake up, mate."

Reynard groaned again and opened his eyes to regard Jack. "Sparrow," he rasped.

"Pleased to see you're with again," said Jack with a delighted grin. "I was afraid I'd killed you there for a while."

"Couldn't bring yourself to do it?" Reynard sneered. "You always were a spineless bastard. 'No unnecessary killing,'" he mimicked. "No insulting the ladies. You're a wimp, Sparrow. A bloody yellow coward."

Jack continued to grin, but his expression shifted from delighted to menacing. "Ah, Reynard. A braggart to the end. What on earth shall I do with you? The Commodore wants to bring you back to Port Royal to hang. I say that's too easy. What do you think?"

"Reynard smiled humorlessly. "I was planning on tying you to a post waist deep in the water, cutting you so that you'd bleed and let the sharks have a picnic."

"Inventive," commented Will, eyebrows raised. "You certainly do have an imagination."

Reynard focused on Will. "It's the blacksmith privateer, is it?"

"That's right," said Will amicably. "And you're the worm who kidnapped my wife and sold her to a brothel."

Reynard chuckled. "So you found out about that, did you?" He directed an evil smile at Will. "I hope the fair Elizabeth was well entertained."

"She was," said Will, keeping a leash on his temper. "She enjoys knocking rapists unconscious with their own pistols. Finds it an pleasurable pastime, right up there with shopping and attending tea parties."

Jack threw an amused smile over his shoulder at Will. "He doesn't know much about women, does he?"

"Apparently not," Markson put in.

Reynard shifted his glance in that direction. "Mr. Martin? So you were in league with the Black Pearl all along, were you?"

"I'm Lieutenant Richard Markson of Ft. Charles in Port Royal," said Markson with a slight bow. "At your service, sir."

"And the chit who was with you?"

Markson's expression hardened. "She put a sleeping draught in your crew's breakfast. Never underestimate a lady, Reynard."

Norrington shifted restlessly. "Can we put an end to this useless banter and decide what to do with this, this creature?"

"What's the matter, Commodore, don't want to talk to me?" Reynard mocked.

"Can't say that I do," Norrington answered. "You're right, Sparrow. I should have just let you kill him."

"No time like the present," said Jack genially, pulling out his knife. He tested the sharpness of the blade.

"Would you like me to sharpen it for you?" Will asked solicitously.

"No," Jack replied, his eyes starting to glitter malevolently. "Dull is fine."

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