Author's Note - Well, I'm not at Mardi Gras. But at least you're all still here!

Thirteen

"Insanity. That's what this is. He's lost his mind." Dana was reloading and rechecking her pistols. She had done so to the same ones three times now, but her white-knuckled hands needed something to occupy them. Something other than belting the blacksmith who was grinning to himself on the other side of the room.

"I can hear you, you know."

"That's fine. I wasn't talking to you. I was talking to ~him~." She jerked a thumb in the direction of the bird nestled comfortably amidst the blankets on Will's bed. He looked to be asleep.

"Well, it's clear that I'm certainly causing him a great deal of stress."

Dana stopped fidgeting turned to glare. "I'm glad to see that you're taking this so seriously. When I had recommended you read that paper last night, it never occurred to me that you'd get it in your pretty little head to hunt down the man that every port-raised child has grown up learning to fear." She shook her head, "If my mother could see me now."

Will adjusted the straps on his pack and checked its weight. He didn't answer, knowing that if Dana was truly as angry as she claimed, she wouldn't have packed her own satchel and appeared, grumbling, at his door that morning.

"So you're just going to assume that he's in his Tortuga?"

"It never hurts to check," Will replied. "And it's a good a place to start as any." He smiled as he hefted his pack onto his shoulders. Yes, it was a good idea to begin in Tortuga. Not only was it something of a certainty that there would be word there of the Dread Pirate Roberts, but it was Tortuga. He could barely contain his glee at the thought of being able to go back.

"Fine. Tortuga. Great. How are we going to get there?"

"That's been taken care of, too. It's not a long way there, so after you left last night, I arranged for a friend to have us given passage on his ale barge. The Green Dragon goes through a lot of ale, I imagine."

Dana smiled. "You spoke to Jones."

"That's right. I let him know that the two of us needed to get over to Tortuga quickly, and he was more than happy to help. In any case," Will added with a wink, "Jones owes me a favor or two."

"Oh really?"

"Yes, really. And now it's really time that we got moving. Do you have everything that you're going to need? I'm not sure how long we're going to be gone."

The gun maker spun her pistols in her hands and allowed them to drop into the leather holsters criss-crossed across her hips. It was obvious that she had no desire to conceal them now. "I think so." She shrugged into her own pack, then lifted the dozing tropical bird off of the bed and gently settled it into the crook of her arm.

"You're bringing him?"

"I thought that I might. At least ~he~ doesn't rush me headlong into insanity."

Will laughed as he held the door open for her. "Wasn't he the one who brought us this news in the first place?"

~

When they entered the Green Dragon, it was midafternoon and very warm. The pub was next to empty as it was sweltering inside and still early in the day. Will assumed - and correctly - that many of last night's patrons were still asleep somewhere. There were half a dozen figures hulked over steaming bowls at the bar, and as Will and Dana slid onto their stools, a wiry blonde with rather bad teeth sidled over.

"Sorry there love," she crowed. Dana was reminded vaguely of Carine. "But there's no animals inside." She jabbed a painted fingernail towards the bird. Dana glanced down at it, jiggled her arm to demonstrate that it was not awake, and looked back up at the bar wench.

"He's not going to be any trouble."

The blonde didn't move, and instead stood with her hands on her hips.

"Although," Dana continued, "~I~ might be trouble if you're not going to let us order lunch." She held the woman's gaze for a moment until the latter spun around and tramped to the kitchen in a huff.

"I love going out for lunch with you," said Will. "Such pleasant company."

Dana winked. "Without me, there wouldn't be lunch."

Will pointed to her arm. "Without you, I wouldn't have had this bird problem."

"And wif out the both of ye," a burly - evidently hung-over - man shouted from further down the bar, "Ah'd be able t'eat in peace!"

The two were startled, then chuckled behind their hands and made an effort to sit quietly until the serving girl had dropped their bowls of stew in front of them. They were followed by hard rolls of bread, and Dana poked the bird awake to offer it morsels.

Will emptied his bowl quickly, but the stubborn waitress made no move to clear away the dish. Dana started on her own lunch when the bird was satisfied, and allowed it to strut back and forth across the countertop. "So, where's Jones at?"

Will shrugged. "No idea. He said he wouldn't be at the pub today, but wished us luck."

"Doesn't he know why you're going away so suddenly?"

Laughing quietly, Will said, "There's a lot of things that lad knows - not that he lets anyone else in on most of it, mind you. It's tough to say with him."

"What did you tell him, exactly?"

"Well, you had left in something of a bad mood and I certainly wasn't going back to sleep, not as excited as I was and what with everything I had to think about. So I thought for a bit, reread that scrap again, and decided the best place to start looking for Roberts was Tortuga, and the best way to get there was on a boat."

Dana snorted. "I'd figured that was the only way, William."

"Quiet. So I got to thinking about the fastest way to do that, and had no real ideas. I decided to come back to the Dragon for some company and a coffee, when Jones laughed at me being back.

'Back for more already?' he asked, and I told him no, I'd had quite enough - so much in fact that I had had to leave a good amount beside the road on my way home. So Jones laughs again, inquires as to what could have disturbed my sweet slumber, and I tell him that you and I need to find ourselves in Tortuga in a hurry. He claps me on the back, asks if that was all, and tells me to be at the docks after lunch tomorrow. The captain of his ale barge would be more than happy to take us."

"Sounds like Jones is quite the friend."

The blacksmith smiled. "Decent people aren't easy to find, but they're valuable once you've got them."

"I could say the same for feathered accomplices," Dana replied softly. "Take a look at that." She pointed along the bartop to the grumpy man from before, who was slumped over his bowl and snoring loudly. His coin purse was on the counter, and the blue-green bird was approaching both slowly. With its eyes ever on the barfly, it bent its beak and tugged the man's coin pouch open. A single gold piece tumbled out. Cautious still, the bird took the coin in its beak and inched backward. The gentle 'clickclick' of its claws on the counter barely made a sound, and the bird returned happily to Dana's arm with the man none the wiser.

With a laugh, Dana took the coin from the bird's beak. It crooned.

"It looks like our chipper new friend has just paid for our lunch."

~

Will, Dana and bird made their way down to the port. Seagulls screamed in the sky overhead, burly sailors shouted from below the dock, and all around was the bustle and chatter of the sea-faring. Will thought that it was a fantastic, really fantastic afternoon, Dana wondered what sort of pubs and pub-going fellows were in Tortuga - she knew enough that it would not have been exactly accurate to call them gentlemen - and the bird was asleep again. Both Dana and Will thought it strange that the creature had shown little interest in returning from whence it came, but Dana passed it off as exhaustion. The thing had flown quite a distance, after all.

"He could really do with a name, couldn't he?" Dana mused, stroking his feathers.

"For someone who takes great pleasure in shooting things," Will replied, scanning the port for the promised barge. "You've certainly grown attached to that thing."

"Well he's a proper pirate bird. He may not be a parrot, but he steals, stuffs his beak and sleeps all day. He'd be perfect."

Will shielded his eyes with a hand and continued his effort. "And you're looking to turn pirate yourself, is that it?" He was preoccupied enough with what he was doing that he didn't notice Dana stiffen. A cloud had passed over her face.

"No. I'm not."

"Okay then," said Will absently. "Then not a pirate name. And I suppose it should be a boy's name."

She toyed with his feathers, admiring how they caught the sun's shine. "That sounds like a start. Any ideas?"

"Jones!" Will cried suddenly.

Dana laughed. "I don't know if that really suits him, but -"

"No, I mean Jones!" Will pointed over Dana's shoulder, and she turned to see the younger man nonchalantly making his way up the dock to join them. Neither failed to notice the pack slung across his shoulders.

Will clapped him on the shoulder. "What are you doing there? I thought you were busy today!"

Jones grinned. The breeze off the water lifted his dark curls off of his shoulders and his clear eyes sparkled. "I'm coming with you." Dana didn't hide her smile.

Will, however, did not seem so excited. "What do you mean?"

"You're going to Tortuga, aren't you?"

"Yes."

"Well, if you think about it, it makes good business sense for me to go. I've got to make sure my ale is being fetched as it should be. Besides," he added with a wink in the gun maker's direction that brought a blush to her cheeks, "I've been to Tortuga before. I'd like to visit again."

Will was incredulous. "You've been there?" Jones was relatively short, his fair skin shone, and his delicate mouth dropped into a pout. He was, Dana thought, the very picture of innocence. "I don't believe you."

Jones fluttered his dark eyelashes over his blue eyes. Dana found it difficult to keep on her feet. "What's the matter, William? Don't think I'd fit in?"

The blacksmith was about to retort when he paused and took another look at his friend. Jones pursed his lips and winked again, this time at Will. Will smiled slowly, understanding. "Ah. Now that I think about it, Jones Underhill, I think it's all right for you to come along after all." Jones looked pleased, and turned to lead the way to the ship they sought.

As he sauntered ahead of them, Dana leaned close to Will. "And what exactly did you two mean by that little exchange?"

The corners of his mouth twitched. "Jones has, ah, made it clear, that he is familiar with Tortuga and its ways." Dana raised her eyebrows in question, but Will would say no more.

After a short time, Jones halted their procession and indicated a smallish, rickety vessel. "Here we are. This is my ale-wagon. She goes back and forth between our Port and Tortuga's every week."

Dana eyed it. "Is it safe?" The wood had gone gray with age, and there were several places where the hull had been patched.

"Would I trust such a precious cargo with anything less?" He responded with a flourish, and gestured for Will and Dana to board. Dana had turned slightly pink at his comment until Will leaned over and whispered:

"He meant his ale." Dana patted the butt of a pistol in reply, making Will chuckle.

"Has your little wagon no captain, Jones?" The slender blacksmith looked over the small deck.

"I am the captain this time. I told you that he would be more than willing to ferry you across." The young man's eyes shone.

"Then I'd say it's a good thing we agreed to let you come along, eh?"

Jones only smiled and bent to the task of preparing the craft to sail. Will stowed his pack and went to help him. Dana leaned against the wooden railing and regarded them both with some amusement, not unlike the way she had been entertained by the strutting of her feathered friend. The aforementioned bird was now awake and alert, and had side-stepped onto Dana's shoulder to keep a better eye on the seagulls that wheeled overhead.

She hardly noticed. Her eyes were occupied, and indeed, very busy. Will's shirt had been tugged open both by the slight wind and by his exertion, and she could see the movement of his taut chest beneath it. At the same time, Jones' fair cheeks were touched with the coloring of effort, and Dana fancied that his dark lashes were long enough to brush his cheeks when he blinked. Her heartbeat's speed kicked up slightly, and more so when she felt a small beak close briefly on her silver earring.

"Ouch!" She was startled out of her reverie by the little bird, who had grown accustomed to the shrieking gulls and was finding other things with which to occupy itself. She held her arm out straight, and it sidled from her shoulder to perch easily on her wrist. "You still need to be named, I remember. Would a name please you enough to keep my jewelry out of your sharp mouth?"

It fluffed its green-blue feathers and turned its head to train one golden eye on her. "I'll take that as a yes. Good, we then have an accord. Now all I've got to do is give you a name. Not a pirate name ... No, not a pirate name. But I can't very well keep making our poor narrator refer to you as 'the bird' or find creative synonyms for 'creature'. So what shall it be?" The bird shifted from one foot to the other, chirping softly. Dana laughed.

"Well I'd be hard-pressed to find a more cliché way of naming you than to use the type of sound you make. Let's hear that again, then." Enjoying the attention, the bird peeped again, and Dana nodded. "Okay little friend. I've got it. I'm going to call you ... Pip." She thought a minute. "You know, I could probably lengthen that a little bit into something more familiar ... something a little more famous. But Pip's a good name, and I think the narrator will be satisfied."

And the narrator was.