Hello there! Welcome back! Yes, I realize that I have left some very important characters out -- mostly Will and Elizabeth, but I assure you they will appear either late in this chapter or in the next!

It's all so SUSPENSEFUL, isn't it?

Happy Readings! (And Happy Reviews!)

Chapter 12

"I can assume by yer face that ye haven't heard the story on yer ring?" Captain Marona's gaze had left hers, and Kate was no longer in a trance.

"My father gave it to me. There was no story to it."

Marona laughed darkly, "Aye, missy. Everything has a story behind it." He
began,

"Long before any of us, when the Caribbean islands had just appeared from
the shallows, arose the first Pirate ever to sail the Caribbean, Captain
Solomon Sparrow.

"Sparrow? Was he also my relative?" Kate interrupted. Captain Marona
looked at her menacingly.

"Not wise to be interrupting me, Miss." He growled. Kate nodded an
apology, and Marona continued.

"Captain Solomon seduced a young Englishwoman, Isabel Maroon, and the two
fell deeply, deeply in love. Consumed by his feelings for her, Solomon
vowed to give his young bride anything she pleased. To protect her from
her evil stepmother, who was plotting to kill her, Isabel wished for a
piece of jewelry that would make her immortal as long as she wore it.
Solomon sold his soul to make her happy, but soon thereafter, Isabel's
stepmother set fire to her palace, and the ring slipped from her finger.
Isabel breathed her last breath there. But, Bartholomew Sparrow, the
doomed couple's only child, found the ring in the rubble. From that day
on, the ring had but one weakness...fire. And to this day, the person who
wears that ring shall be invincibly immortal until the ring comes out of
his grasp."

"So," Kate began slowly, cautious not to interrupt, "All the time I had
the ring with me, I was unable to be killed."

"Aye, missy. But ye have no use for it. So as soon as we find it, it will
be mine."

Kate suddenly felt extremely angry. She had promised her father before
he passed away that she would never lose the ring and she would always
take care of it. He knew about the curse, but didn't bother to tell her.
She figured he assumed that the need for Kate's ring would not increase,
and she would be safe.

"Yer ring is valued by ever pirate in the Caribbean, lass, more
valuable than any ship, and island, any gold."

"You said its weakness was fire. Can it lose its power if it comes in
contact with it?"

"It can, in the case that the ring touches fire, the powers will
vanish."

Kate's anger came out. "I won't lead you to the ring. You'll only use
it for evil." She said bravely.

Captain Marona moved close to Kate's face again and stared her in the
eyes.

"Ye said ye would help me, love. Ye will help me."

Kate felt herself lose control again, and she found her fingers
drifting towards the chain on her neck. She couldn't stop it; she
couldn't control it. This man had power over her, and she found herself
revealing her beloved ring to him. When he saw it, Captain Marona grew
wild with rage.

"Ye lied to me! Ye -- ye LIED to me! Lass, if there's one thing that
will push me off my edge, it's lyin.'" He opened the door that led to the
deck. Some of his crew were busy at work.

"The lass lied, gents. Throw her in the brig and stop at the first
deserted island before Isla de Meurta. We're gonna show little miss Jack
Sparrow's niece what happens to little girls that lie."

Marona snatched the ring from her neck and ordered his men to begin
dragging her to the brig.

"Wait!" Kate yelled and Marona turned to her violently, "How do you
know the ring is still in power if you don't know where it's been?" Kate
asked.

Marona chuckled evilly, "Well, we'll see, lass. Tell ye what." Marona
walked over to Kate and placed the ring on her left ring finger. He then
withdrew a small sword from his belt, walked over to her, and pierced her
shoulder with the blade. It went in deep, and Kate yelled in pain as her
shoulder throbbed and she felt blood trickle down her arm. She screamed
again, but Marona only laughed.

"If the ring's power is gone, ye will be dead in a few hours."

Kate felt her eyes sting with tears. Never before had she been in so
much pain. She tried to keep her head lifted, but it was no use. She
caught a glimpse of Marona's dark evil eyes before she passed out and
everything went black...again.

~~~~~

"Cap'n? Ye have been quiet. Why so down?" Anamaria joined Jack at the helm, concerned.

"I don't know, love. Any other dame I've gone out and tried to save has just been another lass. But, Kate...Kate's me family, Ana. Hate her as you may, she's my family."

Anamaria nodded, then felt a pang of guilt in her side for hating Kate. She knew Kate didn't do anything to deserve such bitterness, but Anamaria was still extremely jealous. It was just her personality.

Anamaria stood behind Jack, and suddenly found her head resting on Jack's shoulder. She could sense Jack was uncomfortable for the first moment, but then relaxed.

"Yer not a god, Jack. Sometimes even brave captains need help. If ye need it, ask for it."

He turned his head to look at her. "Ye scared the girl, ye know that?" said Jack with a smile.

Anamaria lifted her head off Jack's shoulder and moved around the wheel so that she was in front of him.

"Well, I couldn't let yer niece ruin yer family name. Had to toughen her up a bit." Anamaria returned Jack's smile.

All of a sudden, Jack's eyes were more beautiful to Anamaria than they had ever been before. She was lost in them, and he in hers. They leaned closer; she could tell he was going to kiss her...

"Captain?"

"Bloody hell, Gibbs!" Jack leapt away from the wheel, and Anamaria turned also, slightly embarrassed, to Gibbs and Will.

"Sorry, Cap'n. Hope I wasn't interrupting...anything." Gibbs stared at the pair, and then shook his head, snapping out of it.

Will gave Jack a half-smile, Jack returned the glance shortly, and then looked at the ground.

"Think ye might want to take a look at this, sir." Gibbs motioned with his head; Jack was obligated to follow.

"Take the wheel," he murmured softly as he passed Anamaria. She sighed; their moment was lost.

~~~

"Who in God's name are you?" Jack asked in a surprised tone.

Gibbs and Will had led Jack to the gunnery of the ship, where there were many large crates full of canon balls and gunpowder. One such crate was seemingly empty from the outside, but Gibbs motioned for Jack to look inside.

In the small crate was a boy; he didn't look to be older than twenty. He didn't look like a pirate, nor a Navy Officer. He didn't fit with the scenery, and Jack was confused. The boy stood up and climbed out of the crate.

"Hello," said the boy timidly, "I'm -- Jonathan." He held out his hand for the men to shake, but both ignored it.

"Erm, nice to meet you, Jonathan. Now would ye mind tellin' me what the hell a nice little English boy such as yourself is doing aboard a dangerous pirate ship?" Jack swayed and examined Jonathan.

"I'm -- a friend of Kate's. We sort of grew up together. She was a maid in my father's house. When she left with her uncle, you," He nodded towards Jack, "I commandeered my own smaller ship and followed you to Tortuga. I left my boat there and snuck onto your ship while you were out." Jonathan looked at his feet.

Gibbs, Jack, and Will exchanged glances.

"Ye commandeered a ship, lad?" asked Gibbs.

"Yes."

"That's impressive." Noted Will.

Jack shrugged, "He passed my test. Welcome aboard, boy!" he put his arm around Jonathan's shoulders and began to lead him to the stairs.

"Can I see Kate, please? She is for the most part the reason I'm here."

"Ye in love with my niece, boy?" Jack grinned down at Jonathan.

"No -- well, not really. No, of course I'm not, what am I saying? I'm not in love, that's just silly."

Gibbs looked at Will, who nodded with a small smirk on his face.

"Well, actually, son. Kate's a bit -- occupied at the moment. Kidnapped, actually. I'm venturing out to save her."

"Kidnapped? Sir, she's been with you for less than three days and already she's been kidnapped?"

"Don't rub it in, son, if you plan to stay here."

"I apologize."

"Accepted! Gibbs, wind in the sails. We need to make it to the Isla de Meurta before the villain does. And William tell that wife of yers to stop mopin' around the ship. Time she made herself useful."

~~~~

It was dawn when Kate awoke. She was in the brig again, and she suddenly recalled what had happened the night before. She thought it miraculous that she wasn't dead.

Kate moved her dress out of the way to reveal a large scar where Marona had stabbed her. It looked as though it had been healing for quite some time, when indeed, she had only been wounded the night before.

She instinctively brought her thumb to her ring finger to make sure the ring was still in its place, as it was.

Captain Marona had not been lying about the curse of the ring; of this she was sure. She recalled Captain Marona yelling orders to the crew to stop at the nearest island, though she wasn't sure what it was for...until a terrible thought came to her.

They were going to kill her.

Captain Marona hated liars, so much so that he wouldn't let them live! Kate began to panic, and she pushed the cell door to see if it would open, but it did not budge.

Frustrated, she sat back down on the cold wooden floor and buried her head in her hands. She heard footsteps coming down the stairs.

"Poppet? It's us!" It was Pintel and Ragetti. Kate ignored them and did not move from her position.

"We know you're bloody awake, hag." Said Ragetti. Offended, Kate's head shot up and she gave the pirates a nasty look.

"What? Am I to die? Is that what you've come to tell me? Well, frankly, gentlemen, I've had a rather dreadful and agonizing evening, and I would like to spend the remainder of my morning in peace...free from bad news."

Pintel and Ragetti stood speechless at having been given a tongue lashing by a woman.

"Well, poppet. Yer feisty this mornin' eh? We only came to tell ye that we'll be arrivin' at an island shortly. And keep in mind, poppet. We don't intend to maroon ye."

"Why doesn't he just shoot me and be done with it? Why must we stop at an island? It only wastes time."

"Captain Marona loathes liars. Shootin' ye would be a relatively painless death. Captain Marona don't want that." Pintel grinned and Kate's lip trembled as she fruitlessly tried to hide her fear. Ragetti chuckled and repeated Pintel, like a parrot...

"He don't want that at all."

~~~~~~~

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