Chapter 5 - Journey to Tortuga

Norrington was not an experienced drinker, as Jack discovered the following morning. Sipping wine and toasting the king in the Officer's Mess did not prepare the unfortunate Commodore for the after effects of sinking a quart of contraband rum on an empty stomach. The lingering after-effects of sunstroke, exhaustion and his wounds probably hadn't helped either. The leeward rail was the best friend he had for quite a while.

Jack was less concerned with Norrington's sufferings than with his own. Anamaria had not been softened even a little by last night's account of the treachery and butchery that befell Dauntless and her crew. The Navy was the enemy of all pirates and she had heard nothing to change that fundamental fact of their lives. He knew he'd best stay away from her when she was in that mood. She would calm down, some day, but there would be no more afternoons whiled away in her arms until she did.

They had set sail for Tortuga less than an hour after sunrise. Gibbs might have been galvanised into action by Jack's decisive orders, but it seemed far more probable that superstitious dread had made the old fool get a move on for once. The wind was favouring them, the Pearl was in fine fettle and Jack thought that they should make excellent time.

"A word Jack?" It was Gibbs, flask clasped nervously in his hand.

"What?"

Gibbs took another swig to fortify himself.

"What are you going to do with him?"

No need to ask who him was supposed to mean.

"Nothing"

Gibbs just stood there, shifting his weight nervously from foot to foot. Why did people always want an explanation? He was Captain Jack Sparrow, surely that should be enough for anyone.

"We are sailing to Tortuga, where there will be good times and grog shops and plenty of easy company, enough even for you. The Commodore is on the ship and therefore he will also end up in Tortuga, where he will probably write a stern letter to the Admiralty about the moral depravity of free ports. What he does after that is his own affair, savvy?"

"What if he makes trouble?"

"On his own? In Tortuga?" Maybe Will Turner was right and all pirates were mad, stupid or both. All other pirates of course.

"Gibbs, I have some important advice for you." Jack leaned in close to his henchman.

"Yes, Jack?"

"If we get to Tortuga and Norrington tells you you're under arrest, don't go with him."

Once he began to feel better, Norrington did not seem to enjoy travelling on the Pearl. The informal relationship between Jack and sat uneasily with a man used to the instant obedience engendered by harsh naval discipline. There was precious little to occupy his time, since the few books on board did not meet with his approval, and he was unused to enforced idleness. Most men would have at least taken comfort from the enormous amount of rum on board, but the Commodore seemed to have rather lost his taste for it.

Norrington's biggest problem was Anamaria. He seemed to view women as falling naturally into one of two groups: ladies from polite society who were to be treated with the respect due to them on appropriate social occasions; and absolutely all other women, from whores to governesses, who could be ignored. Anamaria was not a lady and certainly not polite, especially to the Commodore, but it was impossible for a naval officer not to take an interest in the person steering the ship. The fact that she was allowed to steer the ship seemed to violate one of his most sacred principals. For a while, he hovered anxiously, quite obviously ready to grab the wheel when disaster resulted from the lunatic policy of letting a woman take the helm. His mistake was to stray within reach of Anamaria while he was doing that.

The thud that Norrington made when he hit the deck was truly impressive. He apparently had no idea how hard a woman could hit you when she was really angry. Jack raised his eyes heavenward for a moment and then sauntered over to the Commodore, who was still lying on the deck, nursing his jaw. Jack, wise in the ways of angry women in general and angry Anamaria in particular, stayed well out of range.

"I don't think you're wanted mate" he told the aggrieved Norrington.

"That goes for you too! Stay out of my way" snarled Anamaria.

She looked beautiful when she went fierce like that, but he preferred his guts on the inside, so trying something was not a good idea. He hauled Norrington to his feet and escorted him away from the helm.

"Why do you allow that harpy on board?" demanded Norrington, as he tenderly investigated whether his teeth had been loosened.

"She's good" Jack said simply. Anamaria had excellent hearing; if he played it right he might be able to turn her up sweet again.

"I'm sure she is, but can't you leave her ashore?"

"I meant that she's a good pirate. I'm surprise to hear a gentleman like you cast doubt on a lady's reputation." Jack snuck a quick look over his shoulder. Anamaria was still scowling at them, but the tiniest suspicion of a smile had appeared on her face.

"This from the man I twice discovered in a compromising position with my fiancee" said Norrington witheringly.

"What! No, you've got the wrong man, it must be all that sun, making you see things." Time to stroll very casually down the deck. Anamaria didn't need to hear this part, although whoever the lady was, it was a mystery to Jack. Couldn't have been that good.

"I am referring to Miss Swann" said Norrington coldly.

"Who? Oh Elizabeth. No, nothing happened there mate, I swear it."

"Nothing happened, but on two separate occasions she had mysteriously mislaid her dress."

"She must have had three petticoats on, at least. Nothing worth getting excited about, only getting her dress off! Besides, we neither of us stood a chance there mate, not with young William on the scene."

Norrington glowered, but then he had good reason, thought Jack. Just because the man had nobly stood aside and let true love have its way, it didn't mean he had to be happy about it as well.

"Norrington, can I have a word?" Jack asked quietly.

The Commodore had been standing at the prow, looking towards Tortuga. They were about an hour out and the crew were like children impatient for a treat, hardly able to contain their excitement. When Norrington looked up, Jack gestured towards his cabin.

They seated themselves at opposite sides of the table. It was eerily reminiscent of the night that Norrington had recounted the story of the Dauntless' final voyage, although sadly there was no rum this time.

"It's " Jack swallowed - this was harder than he thought it would be. "It's about the Vigilance"

The transformation that came over the man opposite was almost frightening. Jack had never seen a man so ready to commit murder, and the Commodore's eyes burned.

"Go on" said Norrington softly.

"Captain Hollowell has a hand in most of the piracy that goes on in his patrol area."

"He's a pirate?"

"No, not exactly. He knows which ships have the best cargoes, because he gets all the harbourmasters' reports. He sells that to the buccaneers, tells them when and where to hit. For twenty percent of the take, he'll arrange that the Navy is always patrolling somewhere else."

"But he's taken more pirates than any captain in the Caribbean. Ships have a better chance of sailing through his waters safe than anywhere else" said Norrington.

"Oh yes, he's taken plenty of pirates. Hanged plenty of lost fishermen too, when he couldn't get anyone else to 'make an example of'. He doesn't like to share his territory - things get very nasty if you don't play his game and there isn't a port down there that isn't full of his spies. And he keeps a very careful limit on what he takes, so as to not give the game away."

"But why attack Dauntless?"

Jack shrugged and wished he had some rum.

"I'd guess you interrupted one of his collections. He couldn't risk that you'd seen the other ship clearly and identified her as a buccaneer. Wouldn't want that story going back to the Admiralty, would he?"

"Do you deal with him?" Norrington's voice was still soft, but Jack had the sense that things would go very badly if his answer wasn't the right one.

"No mate, I swear it. I don't work for anyone" there was a patch of new planking on the starboard side of the Pearl from when he'd tried explaining that to Hollowell. They'd been lucky to get out of that one.

Apparently Norrington was satisfied with this answer and he seemed to have run out of questions. Jack watched him warily for a few moments, but the Commodore seemed lost in thought. Uneasily wondering when the resulting storm would break, Jack left the cabin and went to supervise the Pearl's arrival at Tortuga.