Disclaimer: I don't own anything except for the plot, the unfamiliar characters, yada, yada, yada….

A/N: Reviews not required, but they sure help!

A/N: Just a quick note to my reviewer "Scarlett:" I absolutely love bluegrass…especially the stuff they play on Solid Gold Sat. Night on the radio…just thought you might be interested to know. And your guess is very close…this is set in southwest Mississippi.

Chapter three, "Ye' Sure Yer A Lass?"

"Crap…what a horrible fishing trip," said Morgan.

"Aye," grumbled Jade. "Ye'd think after spending eight hours out in the middle of that lake that we'd catch at least one bass or catfish or white perch, but nooooooo. All we manage to grace ourselves with is a big old mess of them damn Jack Grennar! An' that blasted storm didn't help much, either."

Morgan shook her head in disgust. When she had gotten up that morning, the wind had been blowing gently, the sun was shining, and the temperature measured 85 degrees Fahrenheit…perfect conditions for a blowout fishing extravaganza. She had driven out to the lake to check the water level, and finding it crystal clear and the ideal height, immediately went home to phone her best friend, Jade, and ask her to come fishing. Jade had responded with an enthusiastic, "See you in forty minutes!!" and less than an hour later, the two buddies were out in the middle of the lake in a fourteen foot boat, equipped with tackle boxes, fishing poles, stringers, an ice chest, and two extra bags of Double-blade Colorado spinner baits ("Just in case they ain't hungry for worms!" Morgan had exclaimed). Both had been looking forward to coming home with a nice suntan and a whole stringer full of fish, but the weather had different plans. About two hours before, the sky had suddenly grown dark, and they had been hit by a storm. Jade frankly wondered how they hadn't managed to capsize (not that she was complaining, of course!)…the storm had been one of the worst all spring. They had gotten soaked, and had also lost their tackle boxes and ice chest. And to top it off, they hadn't caught a single fish that was worthy of the hook used to catch it. All in all, Jade and Morgan weren't in the best of moods. There was only one thing that Morgan could think of to do.

"Say, Jade, how's about going home, commandeering some food, and watching Pirates of the Caribbean?"

Jade immediately brightened.

"Agreed. Can we commandeer some rum, too?" "Why the hell not. Let's go."

The two girls were completely obsessed with the movie…they used dialogue from it in their everyday conversations, and they could repeat the script verbatim backwards and forwards. They had given each other pirate nicknames, had pirate posters in their rooms, and had even gone so far as to name their vehicles after certain ships. They dressed like pirates, talked like pirates; hell, they even looked somewhat like pirates! The only thing that differed about their total obsession was that Jade liked Jack Sparrow, and Morgan liked Will Turner. Both, however, despised Elizabeth, a fact that neither one made any effort to conceal. Any time they watched the movie, it put them in a good mood, and at the present, a good mood was exactly what they needed.

"Come on, Morgan, let's get outta here."

"Sure thing…just let me tie down this rod…….OK, weigh anchor."

"Hoist the sails!" Jade joked as she cranked up the four-wheeler. They set off down a long, narrow dirt road, still laughing and talking about pirates. They had driven about a quarter of a mile when they rounded a corner and suddenly Jade cut the gas and stopped.

"Why're you stopping?" asked Morgan curiously.

"There's a big old log across the road."

Morgan peered around Jade to look at it and let out a groan.

"That's an alligator, not a log! How the hell are we supposed to get past the thing? I didn't bring a firearm."

"Not to worry Morgan, I have my knife…"

"You are not seriously thinking about killing it with your knife???"

"Naw, I wasn't. I was actually thinking about wrestling it first!" Jade replied with a mischievous grin.

Morgan groaned again. She looked back at the alligator and noticed it hadn't even acknowledged them. In fact, it was looking up the tree! Now how weird is that?? She followed its gaze up into the branches and gasped.

"Jade!! JADE!! Look!" She pointed at a spot in the tree. Jade squinted, then her jaw dropped open.

"It can't be…NO BLOODY WAY!!"

"That is N..N..NOT who I th..th..think it is, is it??" stammered Morgan.

"Somebody slap me!"

"Will do so gladly, luv, as soon as you could possibly get that thing out of here and get us down!" said a rough, slightly slurred voice. Jade straightened and squinted harder.

"OH MY GOSH! It is him! How the bloody hell did he here?!?!?!"

Another voice came from behind the tree trunk, and at this Morgan was convinced she had finally lost it.

"Well, we don't rightly know the answer to that one, but it would be nice to get out of this tree!" said the new voice. It sounded a bit annoyed.

"Will? Jack?" asked Jade and Morgan in bewilderment.

"Aye, that be us, luv. How'd ye know who we were? Don't recall telling ya'," said Jack.

By now Jade had partial control of herself, and was regaining her wit. She didn't know how they had gotten here, but now that she was over the initial shock, she was beginning to get a good feeling about this. She decided to have some fun.

"Well, who hasn't heard of the infamous Captain Jack Sparrow?" she asked coyly while trying not to laugh. She had to bite hard on her lip when she saw Jack flush with pride.

"Yes, yes, Jack, plenty of time for that later," said Will. "Umm, Miss, you couldn't by any chance hurry up and take care of that thing?" He nodded pointedly down at the alligator, who by now was glaring at the new intruders.

"Wha……oh! Oh, yeah, sure," said Jade. She jumped off the four-wheeler and got out her knife. Morgan groaned for the third time and shook her head.

"Don't let it bite off your head. Remember Jade, any man who falls behind is left behind!" Jack gave Morgan a quizzical look when she said this.

" 'Ow do you know about the Code?" he asked curiously.

"No matter right now," said Jade. She was excited at the prospect of showing off in front of Jack. She got out her other knife, and held them in front of her.

"Now, damn it, bring it on!" she yelled at the gator, and without warning, sprinted right at it. Jack, Will, and Morgan watched as she jumped and did a somersault in the air. She came down directly on its back, and they flinched at the sound it made. Nobody watched the next few minutes….all they knew was that Jade was cussing that alligator with every word in the book and then some, and that gator was doing his best to cuss her back. Even Jack was surprised at the words she used. Morgan peeked through her fingers and saw a big cloud of dirt. Clods of mud were flying everywhere. The gator was in a fury, snapping, twisting, and thrashing, and Jade was right there with him, just as mad as he. They did a particularly wild thrash and tumbled right off into the water. Water and mud went in all directions. Then the gator went into a death roll, and it seemed for a minute like he had won. However, all that did was make Jade even madder.

"GO TO HELL, BASTARD!!!!" she screamed, and when it rolled again, she jumped out of the way and plunged both knives straight into the top of it's head. The alligator roared, and blood started streaming; it twitched, then quit moving all together.

Jade got up off of it. She was breathing hard, and was muddy and sopping wet. Her lip was cut; scratches covered her head to toe, but she was grinning triumphantly and had a sparkle in her eyes. She retrieved her knives from the animal's head wiped them clean.

"S' OK now…you can come down," she called to Will and Jack. They gingerly came down out of the tree, trying their best not to touch any more poison ivy. When they got back on the ground, Will was weaving just as bad as Jack, but his voice ("Thankfully," thought Morgan) was the same smooth, soft voice she remembered from the movie.

"Thanks for helping get us down from there," said Will gratefully. His mood was much improved now that the alligator was no longer stalking them.

Jade replied casually, "Oh, it was nothing. Glad to do it." Morgan looked at her like she was crazy, then burst out laughing. Jack swaggered up to Jade. He peered at her closely.

"Ye' sure yer a lass?? Ye' don't fight like one, and ye' sure as 'ell don't talk like one. I even picked up a few new words!"

Jade, Morgan, and Will all laughed at that.

"Aye, Jack, I'm a lass" she replied, chuckling. "My name's Jade, as you know, and this is Morgan."

"Will Turner, and this is, as you know, Jack Sparrow."

"Captain, Captain, Jack Sparrow," corrected Jack.

"Nice to meet ya'. I take it you don't have a place to stay, do you?" asked Morgan.

"Nope, we don't even know how we got here," Will confirmed.

Jade asked "Well, why don't y'all come stay with us for a while?"

Jack brightened. "Ye' don' mind?"

"Not at all," assured Morgan.

Will and Jack smiled at them.

"Thank you, we will."

For those of you that don't know, "Jack Grennar" is the popular nickname of a common trash fish found in most southern lakes, streams, and ponds.