Ch.32 Will and Jack

Will got out of the rowboat and onto the dock with urgency. The sailor in the rowboat began rowing back to the ship.

Will walked down the dock to the mainland without a backward glance. He thought about Josephine. Then a thought struck him—it was his fault! He had told her a messed up story, so she didn't know the truth, placing herself in mortal danger. He groaned. Having now arrived at the bar, he paused. Jack, please be here, he thought. He stepped through the doors...

Jack jumped out of the packed rowboat and onto the dock. He leisurely strolled through the town, and eventually arrived at the bar. He walked inside and went up to the bar. He slammed some money down on the table, and was immediately served with the house brew. Taking a deep breath, he downed the entire thing in one gulp. His glass was immediately refilled. This he took and went over to a table in the corner.

A few minutes, later, his men started coming in. Cambury, also came in a few minutes after everyone else and sat down by Jack.

"Enjoying yourself?" Cambury asked.

Jack nodded and then took up his glass again, this time finishing it. He set it down on the table with a bang. "Wonderful stuff. Must have some more." Leaving his hat by Cambury, he walked up and got another drink and then returned to the table. By now his men had come to the table. Jack sat down and nursed his rum. He drank part of it and then set the glass down. He heard to bar door open and turned to look who had come in. He sat up straight.

"Will!" Jack called and waved.

Will saw him. "Jack, Thank God you're here!"

"My God, Will! What are you doing here? I've got so much to tell you, i..." He trailed off at the look on Will's face.

The look was enough to make a drunken man sober, which is what happened to Jack.

Cambury slipped out of the room.

Jack, pushing aside his drink, stood up and walked towards Will. "What are you doing here? What's wrong?" concern evident in his voice.

Will shook his head and sat down, his face lined with wrinkles of age that shouldn't be there. Will opened his mouth speak.

"It's Josephine," Will said.

"Josephine? Who's Josephine?" Jack asked puzzled.

"Josephine, my sister, she's been kidnapped!" Will said, raising his voice in irritation.

"You have a sister?" Jack asked.

"You--," Will trailed off. Then it dawned on him. Jack didn't know her as Josephine.

"What if I were to say, Jaclyn Madelin?" Will said, more of a statement than a question.

The color drained out of Jack's face. "No," he whispered.

Will, noticing this looked at him differently. "You liked her?"

Jack, now in a squatting position, said softly, "I loved her."

Will swallowed. "Oh God," he said. "That makes this even harder."

"When was she kidnapped?" Jack asked, his face full of dread.

"Not kidnapped, but more went willing and unaware, yesterday evening. The who will kill you more than the when."

"Who?" Jack asked.

"Barbosa," Will said.

Jack looked up shocked, then his face drifted into a grimace. "I knew, somehow."

"The why will kill you more than the who."

Jack closed his eyes, then opened them. "Why?"

"Can't you guess?" Will asked, looking even sadder.

Jack shook his head, then stopped as realization dawned on him. "To get revenge on me," Jack said slowly. "How do you know?"

"I got a letter from her."

"How do you know it wasn't Barbosa?"

"It wasn't."

"I don't believe you."

"You should."

"Well, I don't."

Jack walked over to the table and picked up his hat. He put it on top of his head and then turned to leave, when he noticed a white sheet of paper sitting right where his hat had been siting.

He picked it up and read:

"Hello Jack.

Having fun on my ship? Well, trust me your time on it is short-lived, especially now. I know something that might interest you. I have on my ship, right now, a young woman. Her name is Josephine Turner. Sound familiar? It should. I am taking her, Jack, and going to Isla de Muerta, and I'm going to kill her, unless, you show up within three days of getting this letter. If you don't, I send her down the same way I sent down her father—tied to a canon. Ironic isn't it? I hope, for her sake, you get this. See you soon.

Barbosa,

Captain of the Black Pearl"

Jack after reading it, scrunched it together in his hands, then tore it in half. He looked over at Will.

"Let's go," he said to him.

"Where?" Will asked.

"To get Josephine," Jack replied.