Chapter 3

Elizabeth woke with a start. Slowly she opened her eyes and at once a whirlwind of images was spinning front of her. She got so dizzy that she had to close her eyes again, afraid that she would loose her balance. Where was she anyways? And what had wakened her? She felt a swaying of some sort and heard things topple over. 'Thank god I'm laying down' she thought. 'I would not be able to stand up one moment in this turmoil!' Elizabeth cautiously opened her eyes once more and looked around. She was in what seemed to be a cell - the iron bars all too clearly demonstrated that. But if this was a prison, it was certainly better than the ones in Port Royal. There was a bed, and even a small window in the left corner. Apparently she was not left to die. Staggering and clutching her torn skirt she got up and quickly clasped a hand to her head! Everything started spinning and she felt a bruised lump on her head. 'Where did I get that from?' she wondered, but the next moment she found herself in a heap on the floor again. The swaying was just too much. She slowly got up again, now warily clinging to one of the iron bars. Slowly she made her way to the window and a little scream of surprise escaped her mouth.

As far as her eyes could reach there was water. Only endless amounts of water, and extremely stormy water too! 'However did I get on a ship?' she wondered and tried to remember what had happened the previous day. She looked down and saw her clothes - they seemed expensive, but were now dirty and frayed. As her head started to become dizzy again, Elizabeth quickly sat down on the bed. She tried reliving the past days again, but none would do. She just couldn't remember.

'Ok' she thought. 'I might as well start with something easy... like… my name. Good. What's my name again?' She gasped in horror as she realized that she did not even know that! Who was she? Looking at her clothes she assumed to come from a rich family, but was she married? Did she have siblings? What about her parents? Nervously Elizabeth started pacing the cell. This couldn't be, had she really lost her memory? Did she not even know her own identity? As much as she tried, she could not remember a single thing, and frustrated she gave up and sat on the bed, her head buried in her hands, trying to stifle the tears she could feel rising up inside her. She felt so alone and helpless! Wasn't anyone going to rush to her rescue and clear this mess up? Tell her that this was all a misunderstanding; fill her in on her past? Just as she was thinking this the door creaked. Her head shot up at once and she found herself staring into the face of a dirty looking man who's smile revealed a row of rotten teeth. She fearfully drew back, not knowing who this man was and what he was doing there. The man came closer to her, a sneering grin on his face. Elizabeth clutched tightly at the bedpost.

"Who…who are you?" , she stammered. And a bit more strong: "What are you doing here? Leave me alone!"

"Now now poppet, there's no reason t'be upset. It's just ole Ragetti, and there be no point in pretending ye don't know me…we've met before, haven't we, Poppet…!

What was this man talking about? 'He obviously knows me' Elizabeth thought and considered whether to tell him she'd lost her memory or not. But before she had the chance, Ragetti slammed a dirty tray in front of her and left, careful to lock the door behind him.

Jack Sparrow's dark kohl-lined eyes were narrowed to slits that stared at the thin line of the horizon - the Captain was clearly concentrated. The crew had not dared to talk to him for the last hours - he had seemed too angry, too agitated. But Jack Sparrow wasn't angry. He was shocked and feared for Elizabeth's life. But most of all, he felt guilty. Why did he have to get drunk so desperately? If he had stayed with Elizabeth instead she wouldn't be in the hands of these barbarians now. Bloody rum, it really was a vile drink! Remembering her words, he clenched his fist and almost lost control over the helm. He would have to concentrate on the Black Pearl now: she had been through a lot of storms, but this was certainly one of the worst. Jack Sparrow glanced over to Will, who was just staring into the waves of murky water.

"Will!" he called over the thundering of the waves. "Yer absolutely no use at all to Liz if ye jus' stand there. Get to work, Anamaria will have something for ye to do!"

Will stared at Jack with a hurt expression and turned away. Rolling his eyes at Will's sulking, Jack grabbed him on the shoulders.

"Don't make the mistake of thinking you're the only one here who cares for Elizabeth", he hissed.

Will gasped. He had been told those exact words before - Norrington had heatedly assured him of the same thing him when Elizabeth got kidnapped the first time. And Norrington had been in love with Elizabeth then…

Will narrowed his eyes and looked closely at Jack. Why was he behaving this way? Shaking his head slowly, Will turned away abruptly, heading for the galley.

Jack went back to the helm and gazed into the open sea. Suddenly he blinked - what was that over there, just barely showing where the sky and the sea met? Did his eyes trick him or were these sails?

"Gibbs, over here!" At once, Gibbs hurried toward him.

"Where's yer glass?"

Quickly Jack took the binoculars from Gibbs, who pulled it out of his vest pocket.

"What is it Captain?" he asked eagerly. "Are ye seeing something?"

Jack set down the glass.

"Aye" he said simply.

He had seen something - the blood-red sails of the Arrow.