Disclaimer: see chapter 1
Author's note: Happy New Year!
----
The Jolly Roger blew out in the wind as the brigantine continued to gain on the Lucky Venture. From below, someone yelled in a voice full of terror: "Pirates, captain!"
Jack climbed quickly back down to the deck, where he joined the rest of the crew. Some men had been roused from their hammocks and were rubbing bleary eyes. Captain Jones was pacing the quarterdeck, his brow creased in worry as he thought.
Jack sat down on a coil of rope and waited. He knew what he would have done in this situation, had he been the merchant captain - hidden anything valuable, brought some tradeable goods on deck, and run up a flag of truce. But this was not his ship.
Jones turned on his heel and faced his crew. "Any of you with personal weapons, go below and fetch them," he said. "I will not let a pirate aboard the Venture without a fight."
The crew cheered, and about half the men hurried below decks. Jack followed, trying to suppress his grin. If only Jones knew that he had already allowed a pirate to stroll aboard the ship, without a blow being struck.
He put on his coat and boots as well as his swordbelt, automatically checking that the compass was attached securely and that the pistol with the single shot was there, before going back on deck. Those men who did not own swords or pistols had been equipped with the ship's supply, and spare spars and belaying pins. But they looked nervous.
The pirate brigantine was closing now. Quickly, Jones snapped out some orders. Some of the crew were dispatched to man the cannon. But Jack could see that the brigantine was already prepared to fire, and sure enough, a shot landed a few yards off the Venture's port stern.
"Warning shot," Jack muttered to himself, waiting by the rail, sword drawn.
Jones called, "Fire!" and the Lucky Venture's cannons belched out smoke. One shot grazed the side of the pirate ship even as it swung around to lie alongside the Venture. Grapples flew through the air, gripping the merchant vessel's rail, and were swiftly followed by pirates. Jack could see the pirate captain on the quarterdeck of the brigantine, calling orders, and for a swift moment he felt a burst of jealousy. But then the first pirate had boarded and he was swinging his blade up to counter the thrust of the other man.
Jack fought without trying to injure, far less kill, just pushing the pirates back off the Lucky Venture. Behind him he heard the cries and clashes as the merchant sailors tried to beat off the boarders, even as he himself landed a solid blow in the stomach of one clumsy fighter, who fell back on to the brigantine's deck with a grunt.
Jack flicked a braid back and lifted his sword for the next man - but the expected attack never came. Instead, the pirate who had just swung on board the Venture looked at him from behind a bushy grey beard, and said: "Jack?"
Lowering his sword a fraction, Jack examined the other man, and laughed aloud. "Elias Carpenter!"
Carpenter, who looked a good deal older than the last time Jack had seen him, leaving the Black Pearl to go home to England, nodded. "Aye, it's me. Is this not a merchant ship?"
"It is." Jack nodded. "It's a long story, Elias. Very long. D'you reckon you can take her?"
Looking over the brawls going on around them, Carpenter nodded. "I do. We've an experienced crew, and this lot aren't much."
"They're not, are they?" Jack agreed. "Unless ... here's a thought, Elias, mate. I know where the swag's kept aboard this vessel. What say you I show you where it is, you lift as much as you need, and then we all toddle off back to your ship and sail away without killing too many of these poor souls, eh?"
Carpenter eyed Jack sideways-on for a few moments. "Sounds like a plan, but what's in it for you, Jack?"
"You get me off this ship and I can start being what I am again," Jack said. "They're decent men, here, but me - I'm a pirate." He smiled at Carpenter. "Good stuff down in the hold."
Ten minutes later, Carpenter had rallied a number of his fellows and Jack was leading them down to the hold. He directed the pirates towards the most valuable goods and stood back to watch them carry the loot away. Elias Carpenter hesitated before joining them.
"Are you not helping?"
"Thing is," Jack said, twirling his sword hilt in his hand, "the captain of this ship's a good man."
"Which is why you've shown us where the stuff is?" Carpenter said, puzzled.
"I was clearly coerced into it," Jack explained, holding his sword out to his old shipmate. "Threatened. Overpowered, like. And once you've gathered all you can, you'll be taking me prisoner and dragging, no, hauling me aboard your fair vessel. Actually, you'll be hauling a certain Jim Swift aboard your vessel."
Carpenter considered Jack's words, and eventually nodded. "Aye. We'll take Mr Swift prisoner, then. Hand over your sword, Jack."
Jack grinned, and passed the weapon to Carpenter.
And so it was that, kicking, screaming and shouting, James Swift left the Lucky Venture a prisoner of a band of fearsome pirates. The men of the Venture, exhausted from their fight and demoralised by their defeat, let off their last few shots in an attempt to save Swift, for he had become a popular crew member in the short time he had been aboard. The pirate brigantine set her sails and turned westward, leaving the merchant ship floating.
Carpenter let go of Jack's arm as the brigantine picked up speed, and gave him back his sword. "My, but it's good to see you again, Jack, lad. What in the name of Neptune were you doin' aboard that merchant?"
Jack sheathed his sword. "Me crew mutinied."
"Eh?" Carpenter sat down on a barrel. "Lessee, it's what, seven year since I left the Pearl? What's happened to her since then?"
"Captain Flint died," Jack said. "Named me cap'n in his place. We were doing well. But then I reckon I picked the wrong crew, and they turned on me - mutinied, they did, even old William Turner."
"Bootstrap Bill turned against you?" Carpenter said, astonished. "Well, I never did. What did they do, leave you at a port?"
"Marooned me," Jack said.
"So ... how ... where?" said Carpenter.
"Island. Escaped." Jack waved his hand in the air, vaguely. "Joined the Lucky Venture - first ship I found that'd take me. And they were good men, for merchants. Bit stiff for me, but good men."
Carpenter said nothing for a few minutes as he digested Jack's news. "So what'll you do now?" he asked, scratching his head.
Jack looked about him. The pirate crew of the brigantine were emptying sacks and cases and pockets to make a pile of loot on the deck; it all looked comfortingly familiar. He leaned closer to Carpenter and lowered his voice.
"See here," he said. "For the moment I'd rather that Jack Sparrow kept a low profile."
Carpenter snorted a laugh. "You? A low profile?"
"Not me, as such," Jack corrected him, "but the name, savvy? Two captains on a ship's one too many. If your cap'n'll have me, I'd gladly join his crew, but it'll be James Swift that'll be joining."
His old friend looked hard at him. "I reckon I see," he said, slowly. "You'd rather old Bootstrap and the rest o' the Pearl's crew thought you marooned, for a while longer?"
Jack nodded. "Exactly. There's nobody else aboard this boat who knows me?"
"Not that I know of," Carpenter said. "Right y'are, then, Jack - I mean Jim - I'll take you to the cap'n." They stood up and set off towards the quarterdeck, from where the captain was overseeing the sorting of the loot. "He's a Dago," confided Carpenter. "Spaniard out o' Barcelona. Ship's the Lucia."
"Old flame of his?" Jack asked.
"Mebbe." Carpenter shrugged. "Nobody knows." They reached the quarterdeck. "Cap'n Menéndez!" he called.
The captain turned from examining a piece of jewellery. "Mr Carpenter. Is this your prisoner?"
"Aye, sir." Carpenter touched the edge of his hat, respectfully. "Leastways, in a manner of speaking. Turns out we're old shipmates."
"Are you?" Menéndez looked at Jack in much the same way as he had been looking at the jewellery. "What was a pirate doing aboard a merchant vessel, then?"
"Not sure o' that meself," Jack said. "James Swift, cap'n, and I'm mighty glad you came along when you did."
"Why is that?" the captain asked. He spoke with a light Spanish accent, but his English seemed flawless.
"Too much like honest work for me," said Jack. "Too dull. Need a bit of excitement in me life, me."
"Mr Carpenter," Captain Menéndez said, "are you vouching for this man?"
"That I am, cap'n," Carpenter agreed. "You'll not find a better aloft, and he's none too shabby with a blade."
Menéndez came close to Jack and their eyes met. Jack held the other man's gaze, and finally the Spaniard nodded. "All right. You may join us, Mr Swift."
"Thank you, cap'n," Jack said, giving him a small bow. "Much obliged."
"See that you live up to Mr Carpenter's recommendation," Menéndez said. He gave Jack one last look and turned away.
"Aye, aye, sir," Jack told the retreating back.
"C'mon, lad," Carpenter said, "let's find you a place to speak."
Jack hurried to catch his friend up. "Y'know, Elias, just because I'm going incognito does not mean you get to forget one very important thing."
"What's that?" Carpenter questioned.
Jack grinned. "I'm Captain Jack Sparrow - savvy?"
Shaking his head, Carpenter laughed. "Savvy. You haven't changed a mite, have you?"
"And I don't plan to," Jack said. "Now, is there a spare hammock aboard this vessel of yours?"
Author's note: Happy New Year!
----
The Jolly Roger blew out in the wind as the brigantine continued to gain on the Lucky Venture. From below, someone yelled in a voice full of terror: "Pirates, captain!"
Jack climbed quickly back down to the deck, where he joined the rest of the crew. Some men had been roused from their hammocks and were rubbing bleary eyes. Captain Jones was pacing the quarterdeck, his brow creased in worry as he thought.
Jack sat down on a coil of rope and waited. He knew what he would have done in this situation, had he been the merchant captain - hidden anything valuable, brought some tradeable goods on deck, and run up a flag of truce. But this was not his ship.
Jones turned on his heel and faced his crew. "Any of you with personal weapons, go below and fetch them," he said. "I will not let a pirate aboard the Venture without a fight."
The crew cheered, and about half the men hurried below decks. Jack followed, trying to suppress his grin. If only Jones knew that he had already allowed a pirate to stroll aboard the ship, without a blow being struck.
He put on his coat and boots as well as his swordbelt, automatically checking that the compass was attached securely and that the pistol with the single shot was there, before going back on deck. Those men who did not own swords or pistols had been equipped with the ship's supply, and spare spars and belaying pins. But they looked nervous.
The pirate brigantine was closing now. Quickly, Jones snapped out some orders. Some of the crew were dispatched to man the cannon. But Jack could see that the brigantine was already prepared to fire, and sure enough, a shot landed a few yards off the Venture's port stern.
"Warning shot," Jack muttered to himself, waiting by the rail, sword drawn.
Jones called, "Fire!" and the Lucky Venture's cannons belched out smoke. One shot grazed the side of the pirate ship even as it swung around to lie alongside the Venture. Grapples flew through the air, gripping the merchant vessel's rail, and were swiftly followed by pirates. Jack could see the pirate captain on the quarterdeck of the brigantine, calling orders, and for a swift moment he felt a burst of jealousy. But then the first pirate had boarded and he was swinging his blade up to counter the thrust of the other man.
Jack fought without trying to injure, far less kill, just pushing the pirates back off the Lucky Venture. Behind him he heard the cries and clashes as the merchant sailors tried to beat off the boarders, even as he himself landed a solid blow in the stomach of one clumsy fighter, who fell back on to the brigantine's deck with a grunt.
Jack flicked a braid back and lifted his sword for the next man - but the expected attack never came. Instead, the pirate who had just swung on board the Venture looked at him from behind a bushy grey beard, and said: "Jack?"
Lowering his sword a fraction, Jack examined the other man, and laughed aloud. "Elias Carpenter!"
Carpenter, who looked a good deal older than the last time Jack had seen him, leaving the Black Pearl to go home to England, nodded. "Aye, it's me. Is this not a merchant ship?"
"It is." Jack nodded. "It's a long story, Elias. Very long. D'you reckon you can take her?"
Looking over the brawls going on around them, Carpenter nodded. "I do. We've an experienced crew, and this lot aren't much."
"They're not, are they?" Jack agreed. "Unless ... here's a thought, Elias, mate. I know where the swag's kept aboard this vessel. What say you I show you where it is, you lift as much as you need, and then we all toddle off back to your ship and sail away without killing too many of these poor souls, eh?"
Carpenter eyed Jack sideways-on for a few moments. "Sounds like a plan, but what's in it for you, Jack?"
"You get me off this ship and I can start being what I am again," Jack said. "They're decent men, here, but me - I'm a pirate." He smiled at Carpenter. "Good stuff down in the hold."
Ten minutes later, Carpenter had rallied a number of his fellows and Jack was leading them down to the hold. He directed the pirates towards the most valuable goods and stood back to watch them carry the loot away. Elias Carpenter hesitated before joining them.
"Are you not helping?"
"Thing is," Jack said, twirling his sword hilt in his hand, "the captain of this ship's a good man."
"Which is why you've shown us where the stuff is?" Carpenter said, puzzled.
"I was clearly coerced into it," Jack explained, holding his sword out to his old shipmate. "Threatened. Overpowered, like. And once you've gathered all you can, you'll be taking me prisoner and dragging, no, hauling me aboard your fair vessel. Actually, you'll be hauling a certain Jim Swift aboard your vessel."
Carpenter considered Jack's words, and eventually nodded. "Aye. We'll take Mr Swift prisoner, then. Hand over your sword, Jack."
Jack grinned, and passed the weapon to Carpenter.
And so it was that, kicking, screaming and shouting, James Swift left the Lucky Venture a prisoner of a band of fearsome pirates. The men of the Venture, exhausted from their fight and demoralised by their defeat, let off their last few shots in an attempt to save Swift, for he had become a popular crew member in the short time he had been aboard. The pirate brigantine set her sails and turned westward, leaving the merchant ship floating.
Carpenter let go of Jack's arm as the brigantine picked up speed, and gave him back his sword. "My, but it's good to see you again, Jack, lad. What in the name of Neptune were you doin' aboard that merchant?"
Jack sheathed his sword. "Me crew mutinied."
"Eh?" Carpenter sat down on a barrel. "Lessee, it's what, seven year since I left the Pearl? What's happened to her since then?"
"Captain Flint died," Jack said. "Named me cap'n in his place. We were doing well. But then I reckon I picked the wrong crew, and they turned on me - mutinied, they did, even old William Turner."
"Bootstrap Bill turned against you?" Carpenter said, astonished. "Well, I never did. What did they do, leave you at a port?"
"Marooned me," Jack said.
"So ... how ... where?" said Carpenter.
"Island. Escaped." Jack waved his hand in the air, vaguely. "Joined the Lucky Venture - first ship I found that'd take me. And they were good men, for merchants. Bit stiff for me, but good men."
Carpenter said nothing for a few minutes as he digested Jack's news. "So what'll you do now?" he asked, scratching his head.
Jack looked about him. The pirate crew of the brigantine were emptying sacks and cases and pockets to make a pile of loot on the deck; it all looked comfortingly familiar. He leaned closer to Carpenter and lowered his voice.
"See here," he said. "For the moment I'd rather that Jack Sparrow kept a low profile."
Carpenter snorted a laugh. "You? A low profile?"
"Not me, as such," Jack corrected him, "but the name, savvy? Two captains on a ship's one too many. If your cap'n'll have me, I'd gladly join his crew, but it'll be James Swift that'll be joining."
His old friend looked hard at him. "I reckon I see," he said, slowly. "You'd rather old Bootstrap and the rest o' the Pearl's crew thought you marooned, for a while longer?"
Jack nodded. "Exactly. There's nobody else aboard this boat who knows me?"
"Not that I know of," Carpenter said. "Right y'are, then, Jack - I mean Jim - I'll take you to the cap'n." They stood up and set off towards the quarterdeck, from where the captain was overseeing the sorting of the loot. "He's a Dago," confided Carpenter. "Spaniard out o' Barcelona. Ship's the Lucia."
"Old flame of his?" Jack asked.
"Mebbe." Carpenter shrugged. "Nobody knows." They reached the quarterdeck. "Cap'n Menéndez!" he called.
The captain turned from examining a piece of jewellery. "Mr Carpenter. Is this your prisoner?"
"Aye, sir." Carpenter touched the edge of his hat, respectfully. "Leastways, in a manner of speaking. Turns out we're old shipmates."
"Are you?" Menéndez looked at Jack in much the same way as he had been looking at the jewellery. "What was a pirate doing aboard a merchant vessel, then?"
"Not sure o' that meself," Jack said. "James Swift, cap'n, and I'm mighty glad you came along when you did."
"Why is that?" the captain asked. He spoke with a light Spanish accent, but his English seemed flawless.
"Too much like honest work for me," said Jack. "Too dull. Need a bit of excitement in me life, me."
"Mr Carpenter," Captain Menéndez said, "are you vouching for this man?"
"That I am, cap'n," Carpenter agreed. "You'll not find a better aloft, and he's none too shabby with a blade."
Menéndez came close to Jack and their eyes met. Jack held the other man's gaze, and finally the Spaniard nodded. "All right. You may join us, Mr Swift."
"Thank you, cap'n," Jack said, giving him a small bow. "Much obliged."
"See that you live up to Mr Carpenter's recommendation," Menéndez said. He gave Jack one last look and turned away.
"Aye, aye, sir," Jack told the retreating back.
"C'mon, lad," Carpenter said, "let's find you a place to speak."
Jack hurried to catch his friend up. "Y'know, Elias, just because I'm going incognito does not mean you get to forget one very important thing."
"What's that?" Carpenter questioned.
Jack grinned. "I'm Captain Jack Sparrow - savvy?"
Shaking his head, Carpenter laughed. "Savvy. You haven't changed a mite, have you?"
"And I don't plan to," Jack said. "Now, is there a spare hammock aboard this vessel of yours?"