AN (4/5) Well, Spring Break starts on Thursday-I might be able to update with two chapters again. We will see how that goes. In other news, I hate Daylight Savings...with a passion. Today is my brother's sixteenth birthday. Happy Birthday, Kyle, although you probably will never get around to reading this.
Chapter 19- Blackbird
Jack grabbed the cannon ball out of Daniel's slightly trembling hands and stuffed it into the menacing cannon that Daniel had been trying to load. Jack should have been on deck, preparing to board the average-sized sloop they would come across, but Calico Jack had sent the twenty year old below deck when the volley of shots from the Pearl slowed. Jack was appalled by the disorder down here the moment he reached the last few steps down. Snide Shaine had been holding everyone up on the stairs of the Black Pearl that lead to the munitions stock, unable to get up the stairs with three cannon balls in his gnarled hands. The stupid git had been trying to save time, but one of the heavy round projectiles had escaped his clutches and fallen on his left foot. Anne Bonney and Mary Reade had rather unwillingly agreed to help him after Jack had a few sharp words with them. The stream of new shots was soon restored, and Jack took Snide Shaine's place at his cannon, replacing Daniel. Daniel had been trying to compensate for the missing sarcastic pirate, but he was better at the menial toil than at aiming.
The other crewmembers were slightly angry with Jack, for he was receiving special favor from Calico Jack. It was not unwarranted, though, for Jack was honestly trying even harder to impress the man and the rest of the crew. He had gradually picked up all of the slack from Bootstrap being gone. No one had noticed this, save the captain and Barbossa, so they just assumed Jack was Calico Jack's new favorite. It was a relief to Jack that Barbossa had noticed, but even doing double his share of work, the first mate treated him with contempt. Jack just could not figure out why the older man despised him so.
A tap on Jack's shoulder made Jack look up and miss seeing his barely-shot black cannonball smash into the ship to the Pearl's starboard side. Anne Bonney stood there, her green eyes full of approval. Her small, shapely index finger pointed up. "Cap'n wants ye, Jack." She tried to mask the feminine lilt to her voice. Most pirates were men, and the very few women ones often disguised themselves as men to avoid the glances full of superstition. Sailors were a very superstitious bunch, as they had been since the very first boats were built. If a bird landed on a vessel at the wrong time, or if women were aboard, many sailors would simply refuse to sail. Jack did not understand why Mary and Anne kept the facade, seeing as everyone on board knew they were both women ever since that successful rescue of Calico Jack.
Jack suddenly realized Anne was staring at him. He smiled wanly and stood, allowing her to take his place at the cannon. "'Ave fun, bucko." He chuckled as she shot him a simpering smile. After patting Daniel on the back, Jack swaggered his way up to the deck of the Pearl, his ears naturally ignoring the loud noise of cannon fire. The sun, directly in his line of sight, made him stagger back as his eyes tried to adjust to the sudden change in light level. Once they had finally adjusted to the copious amounts of the streaming Caribbean sunlight, he looked around, a grin on his face as he saw that the Pearl was about to board the merchant sloop. The light brown wood of the opposite ship was splintered and had numerous holes already, being no match for the cannons of the Pearl. Many merchant ships ran heavily armed, but there were still those foolish captains that refused to arm themselves, assuming that no pirate would ever attack their ship. Jack spotted a grinning Calico Jack motioning Jack over with several fluid motions. Jack seemingly meandered his way over, his tanned hand resting on the hilt of his trusty cutlass.
Calico Jack had a similar stance, his dark eyes brimming with a mixture of greed and anticipation. "We've nearly got them, Jack." He chuckled slightly, grinning widely in satisfaction as the Jolly Roger waved in the slight breeze. Pirate captains used a different jolly roger, it being their personal signature. Calico Jack's was a skull over two crossed cutlasses, signifying to merchant captains that they would kill everyone, if necessary. Most captains just surrendered after being boarded. The Jolly Roger would be raised only after the pirate captain decided the venture was profitable. It would strike terror into any merchant captain's heart to see a black flag raised.
Jack nodded his expression slightly pensive. He still did not like boarding other boats, constantly worried he would have to kill someone. However, none of the ships they had taken had put up much of a fight after being boarded. It was not like the terrible ordeal with the French pirate, though. Pirates all seemed to have something in common-they were incredibly stubborn. When a pirate ship attacked another pirate ship, it was roughly the same as declaring total war. Neither captain would give up if they could avoid it. That is probably why there was an unspoken rule in which the first ship to spot a mark would get it.
Calico Jack's volume increased to be heard over the noisy cannons. "Prepare to board, ye scabrous dogs!" All of the dirty crew yelled and quickly readied everything. Some grabbed large hooks and prepared to swing across the precipice as the helmsman expertly steered the Pearl right next to the merchant sloop.
Jack unsheathed his cutlass, preparing to storm the unfortunate ship after his crewmates placed a board across. Jack had tried swinging onto a merchant ship on the way out of Tortuga a few months ago and had failed miserably, hitting the water. After swimming next to the Pearl for nearly an hour until they had finally lowered a rope for him to climb, Jack decided it was just best to wait. He had suffered a great deal of teasing after that fateful attempt at bravado.
Calico Jack unsheathed his cutlass as well, grasping the intricate handle. His cutlass was of a much finer build than Jack's cheap one. Jack had to purchase the one in his hands in Portobello last week, seeing as the one he'd taken from his old home had fallen to the bottom of the ocean after his unsuccessful attempt at swinging to the ship being plundered. That ship raid had been one of the most discouraging and embarrassing situations Jack had ever found himself in.
A plank soon connected the two ships together. Jack sighed and went over first, not really wanting to do what Bootstrap normally did. Jack silently prayed that the captain of the ship, which Jack noticed was the Blackbird as he had made his way across, would give up without much of a fight. The rest of the Pearl's crew was busy engaging various crewmembers of the Blackbird. Jack waited patiently for Calico Jack to make it across the wobbling plank before doing anything. It was his duty to ensure nothing happened to the older man.
Once Calico Jack was safely over, he and Jack went off in search of the captain. They had barely gone ten paces forward when Jack subconsciously jumped, having caught sight of the captain. The man was tall, a large hat resting on his black hair, shading his grimacing face from the sun. He wore finery that many never saw in their whole lives, and had a golden cutlass in his calloused hands.
Jack heard himself gasp; somewhat embarrassed he would let his emotions out. He had seen this man before-as a lad being forced to go with his father to purchase more slaves. The horrid memories of that made his face work into that of pure hatred. He looked at Calico Jack, his eyes so full of malice that it startled the older man, and said, "There be the cap'n, Cap'n. We be on a bloody slaver." The inside of Jack's stomach was going in circles as he thought of those trapped under their feet, undoubtedly crammed into a confined space, almost like vast amounts of paper squished into the small desk drawer of some messy politician. Each of the slaves was important, in and of itself, just as each paper stuffed into a drawer would be, but crammed together, none of them seemed important.
Calico Jack nodded, a frown on his face. His views on slavery were almost identical to Jack's, but he did not feel the conviction Jack did. He would be more than willing to transfer the slaves to his ship and sell them at the next port. It was a profitable venture, though he did not like doing it. He would, of course, offer a position aboard the Pearl to any of the strong men that wished to join.
Jack and Calico Jack soon approached the captain of the ship. A short, leering man soon engaged Jack in a bit of swordplay. Jack countered each blow, not really putting much effort into it. He was trying to watch what was going on between the two captains. Unfortunately, the sound of thirty or so swords striking each other made it impossible to hear all of the conversation. It seemed rather interesting, though. The captain of the Blackbird kept laughing somewhat maniacally as Calico Jack would say something and strike against the golden cutlass.
As the short man in front of him began tiring, Jack's dark brown eyes glanced more and more at the two captains. The short man before him was sweating profusely, him being on the slightly obese side. Jack figured that those merchants with the worst kind of cargo did not have to do much, if they were officers. Those who were officers tended to be on the nasty side and could make anyone do as they wished. Glancing back at the short man, he saw his chance to incapacitate him. As the man prepared to strike again, Jack simply knocked him on the top of his head with his cutlass, making the short sailor crumple up in a pile on the mahogany boards of the Blackbird.
Jack gave a satisfied chuckle and swaggered over to where the captains were having a duel. Neither wished to give up. Unfortunately, the two were so concentrated on beating each other that they were not exchanging dialogue any longer. He noticed, with much satisfaction, that crewmembers of the Pearl were overwhelmingly beating those of the Blackbird. A crowd of angry Pearl crewmembers was gathering around the fighting captains. Jack grinned in satisfaction as the tall captain of the Blackbird noticed all of the stares he was receiving.
The tall captain carefully put his golden cutlass down; grateful that Calico Jack noticed he put it down. He frowned, a disgusted look on his face. "Well, it appears you get my cargo, pirate." His voice was dripping with venom as he looked around at the faces of the men who had bested his crew. He pulled several keys out of his effects throwing them to Calico Jack.
"So it appears." Calico Jack handed the keys to Jack, who happened to be next to him. He looked over at the now frowning Jack and said, "Offer any o' the strong men the chance to join our crew. Take the rest below deck, unless they be too weak t' move. In tha' case, leave 'em 'ere."
Jack nodded and frowned, motioning Daniel, Snide Shaine, and several of the other crewmates to follow him down. As he reached the door and opened it, walking below deck, he was instantly appalled at what he saw. He cussed and unlocked a door made of iron.
Hundreds of slaves were in here. The smell of human excrement and vomit hung heavy in the air. Each bunk had five or more slaves shackled to it. Most were moaning for water or food, having very little of either on the trip over from Africa-which had been over two months by now.
"This is what a slaver looks like, then?" Daniel's face was puce and he looked ready to faint and throw up, not necessarily in that order.
Jack nodded, his eyes full of anger. How anyone could let another human live like this was unfathomable. Those who died on the rough journey across the Atlantic were left shackled to those who were alive. Jack lifted the keys in his hands, gingerly stepping to the first row of chained slaves, on the top bunk. He quickly found the key to their lock and pulled the chain keeping them on the bunk out of their leg shackles.
Jack quickly unchained everyone, startled to see a few children in the mix of mostly full-grown men. One little girl, weak and filthy, gave Jack a large grin as he helped her off the top bunk. Jack admired her spunk, for she had been trapped between two dead women for who knows how long.
As Snide Shaine got a count of those willing to join the Pearl's crew, Jack tried very hard not to swear profusely. How could anyone lock humans in conditions such as these and still live with themselves? About a third of the cargo had died in these wretched conditions, being crammed in here tighter than a particularly wide man's girth in a pair of legging several sizes too small. He sighed, deciding that this was even worse than what Richard did to his slaves, for at least he kept them fed.
The grim list of those willing to join the Pearl's crew was five. Those five were remarkably healthy and could speak a few words of English. Jack almost wanted to weep as he realized the rest would be sold to homes like Richard's, never able to experience freedom again.
He sighed and then started rounding the cargo up, carefully leading them to the Pearl's underbelly. No matter how much he disagreed with Calico Jack's policy, he was not going to do something to make the captain angry. He respected his judgment far more then that. The little girl who had smiled at him earlier gave him a nasty look as he locked them down there. She yelled something at him in her language, her dark eyes flashing with disbelief. Jack just shrugged and left, his mind deeply entrenched in his sanctuary.
Calico Jack was back on the Pearl by the time Jack finished his assigned task. "Thank ye, boy. We shall make a load off them slaves."
Jack morosely nodded and didn't reply. The whole slavery system still made him sick when he thought about it. Not even the promise of vast amounts of money could shake away the feeling he'd just doomed the lives of numerous innocents.
Calico Jack stood next to him for several moments, staring aimlessly off into space as Jack was. After a while, he sighed and walked to the bridge, ordering his crew to get the Pearl moving again.
Jack just stared at the sea, his mind wandering. Surprisingly, he was not only thinking about slaves. He was also wondering what Bootstrap was up to, and how Jodi was doing. This last thought was rather surprising, considering the fact he had not thought of his sister sine the Pearl left his home port. He sighed, feeling very alone.
Everyone gets Easter candy, this time! Happy Easter!
starwarsfreakford- Thanks, poppet! I appreciate that you leave me a review each week.
darkmistylagoon- Thanks! I would like to say you are a smashing role-player, and I am glad you got around to reading this!
CaptainTish- Oh yes-if it ever ends...so many more years to go...Anyways, thank you much for the review!
WaNdA-Aye, I am a bit mean to him, aren't I? Ah well, he'd never admit it was bugging him...and yes...Secret Window has a habit of sneaking into my writing.
Courtney- Some day you'll remember-or maybe you just need to join the Forgetful's crew. I'm Captain Oblivious...
Ms. Baldwin- Yes...go Will! We shall soon see some of Will...Silly Erica, letting secrets out...
borne-shadow-childe- All in good time. I haven't forgotten, I'm just a slow writer...
Bluekrystall- He'll be back soon-no worries. I like their banter as well.
meggumscat-Have the customary two cookies, as well-and thanks for the constant encouragement-makes everything so much easier.