Usual disclaimers, but I'm trying to find a way around it…

With thanks to dramaced, PirateAurora, Chelsey, Prolix, Kat, RandomGal, Mrs. Depp, CaptainMarySparrow, sassafras, Galleria, minasparrow, beatlechicksteph, slytheringurl, Jordan Michelle, Orlando's Hot Chick, Ally Eileen and Hilary and Linnie for editing.

…

Chapter six: 'Don't take me fer a fool, Valentine.'

'I really think we should get going now, Sir,' Tobias Hoskins implored his employer, fidgeting nervously.

'I still have things to sort out. It will take a while for that pack of dogs to make their way up here.'

'Mr. Valentine, it will take a good couple of hours to reach the hideout in the dark. We cannot delay any longer.'

'Mr. Hoskins!' he spat, looking with distain at his right hand man. 'I am well aware of how long it will take, but we have time. Now for God's sake man, do something useful and sort out supplies to take with us.'

As soon as Hoskins had left the room, Absolon Valentine gathered up some papers he had been hiding from view and threw them into the fireplace, watching with grim fascination as they burned fiercely then died down. He went to his heavy oak desk and unlocked a secret drawer, taking out more papers, which he shoved into a pocket inside his coat and a set of keys. He ran his hands along the lines of his beloved piano sadly, then shook his head to clear the melancholy and glanced out of the window as the three ships continued to batter The Nomad into the water. 'Plenty of time yet,' he thought to himself, knowing that the ships would not cease until there was as much left of The Nomad as there was of The Wanderer. 'Thank God for lookouts,' he mused, knowing that if the attack on The Wanderer had not been spotted and he had not been informed almost as soon as it had begun, he would not have had the time to make good his escape. He turned to leave the room and froze as he came face to face with a pistol.

'Goin' somewhere, Valentine?'

'I…' He looked around to see what he could use as a weapon against Jack Sparrow then staggered backwards as he was pistol whipped. 'What is it you want?' he snarled, safe in the knowledge that Toby Hoskins would be back soon.

'I want ter know what you had ter do with Jenny being kidnapped?'

'What?' he laughed, despite having the pistol pointing at his face once more. 'Why would I have had something to do with it?'

'Don't take me fer a fool, Valentine.' Jack's left fist shot out and took his victim by surprise and Valentine fell to the floor, curling up as Jack aimed kicks at him, and tried to inch away.

'Ah, look at the mighty Absolon Valentine crawling like a snake,' he taunted, kicking him hard in the groin and laughed harshly as the small man spat out some bile. Jack pressed his foot down on the stricken man's head and pushed his weight down. 'What did ya have to do with Jenny being kidnapped?' he asked again with even more menace in his voice.

'N-nothing,' Valentine gasped, wincing with pain as his head was pressed harder against the stone floor. 'P-please… I had nothing to do with it. I was trying to reach her before Boothe and Hall did.'

'To what point and purpose?'

'To find out why they wanted to trace her I didn't even know they were going to kidnap her, that's the truth,' he pleaded. 'I wanted to have a hold on you, Sparrow. You're the one bastard whose skin I've never managed to get beneath and I saw her as your weakness. I'm right as well.'

Jack took his foot off his victim's head and kicked it, then jumped on top of him, grabbing him around the throat. 'You worthless piece of scum,' he snarled, squeezing his fingers harder then lifting Valentine's head off the floor and smashing it back down. 'You are going to pay, you arsehole.' He took his pistol and pointed it at his adversary's head.

'You'll be the one paying, Sparrow,' Valentine gasped, trying to prise the fingers from around his throat. 'I will catch you and when I do you will be forced to watch as your woman is raped by every single one of my men, right down to the lowest cabin boy. Then you will watch as she is fed to the sharks whilst still alive and then and only then, will you join her in hell.'

'Not if you get to hell first I won't,' Jack sneered, squeezing on the trigger but shooting wide and crying out in pain as a shot tore through his shoulder, sending him flying off Valentine and dropping the pistol. He frantically looked around to see Tobias Hoskins discarding his spent weapon and reaching for his sword. Jack scrabbled across the floor, trying to get this his weapon but Hoskins was closing in on him'

'Jack!' John Williams called from somewhere within the house. 'Where th'hell are ya?'

'In here!' he cried, curling his fingers around the butt of the weapon and dragging it towards himself.

'Kill him Hoskins, kill the shite.'

Toby Hoskins instead replaced the sword in its scabbard and helped his employer up. 'Mr. Valentine, we have to go now,' he urged, pulling him towards the window and picking up a chair and smashing the glass. The two men looked around as Pete and John appeared in the doorway then Hoskins helped his employer through before jumping out of it himself, narrowing avoiding being hit by a pistol shot.

'Jack!' They ran to their captain who was still lying on the floor, blood seeping through his shirt.

'Captain Sparrow,' Pete Symmods worried, too afraid to touch him.

'Get th'bastards,' Jack croaked, clutching at the shot wound on his shoulder. 'Get Valentine an' Hoskins. Kill them.'

'But… Cap'n…'

'Do it!' he shouted, wincing with pain.

The two men ran to the window and jumped out, looking around frantically for any sign of Absolon Valentine and his assistant, but there was none. They spilt up and one went left, the other went right but the two men seemed to have vanished from the face of the earth.

Jack listened to the sounds of rioting in the town and hoped that he would be able to make it back to The Black Pearl safely. He tried standing but spasms of pain shot through his body and he felt weak and dizzy through loss of blood. He gingerly tore his shirt open and felt around the back of his shoulder, flinching as he felt a hole where the shot had come out the other side. Jack sagged back against a table leg, wishing he had the strength to get up and go over to the cupboad where Valentine kept his alcohol. He desperately needed something to dull the pain.

…

'Pete!' John Williams called to his mate at the other end of an alley. 'Any sign?'

'No, none what so bloody ever,' he cursed, pulling a face. 'Jammy bastards.' He walked along the alley to rejoin with Pete Symmonds and they made their way towards Valentine's mansion, avoiding where possible, the rioting and fights that seemed to have taken over the whole town.

'Bugger!' John swore, looking up at the house on the hill. 'It's on fire.'

The two large men moved with a speed neither of them knew they possessed as they ran up the hill and through the iron gates which were now hanging by their hinges. They looked in alarm as fire raged through the open front door and ran around to the window in which they had jumped from, groaning as they remembered it was some ten feet from the ground.

'Here, I'll give ya a leg up.' Pete cupped his hands together and hoisted the ship's cook up towards the window then as soon as John disappeared through it, he ran around the back, hoping that was not alight as well.

'Cap'n!' John Williams coughed as the room had rapidly filled with smoke. 'Jack, where th'hell are you?' he called, blinking his stinging eyes.

'Here,' a small voice croaked from nearby and he moved quickly towards it, squatting down as he saw the dark outline of a figure slumped on the floor.

'Come on, time ter go.' He carefully picked his captain up, ignoring the yelp of pain from him and felt his way around the room, wishing he had taken more notice of where everything was before.

The smoke got thicker and John started to worry that they were not going to make it out. He felt a breeze and noticed that the smoke in front of him seemed to be swirling around and realised that it must be coming from the open window. He carefully put Jack down when they reached it and leaned out, taking large gulps of clean air.

'Pete!' he yelled. 'Pete, come back here.'

'Bloody hell John, it's like hell in there,' he gasped as he came running back around the building.

'You'll have ter catch th'Captain. He's in a bad way.'

'Give him here then.'

John picked the stricken man back up and carefully lowered him out of the window, leaning out as far as he could without overbalancing. He let go of Jack's wrists and prayed that Pete would catch him, breathing a huge sigh of relief when he did. He could hear the crackling of flames getting closer and decided it was time he went as well and dropped to the ground, looking ruefully at his companion as he carried Jack in his arms around the house and along the drive, largely unnoticed by the marauding pirates intent on destroying the residence of the man who had held sway over so many of them.

…

Authors notes:

Some of you seem to be confusing Tortola with Tortuga. Tortola is the captain of what is now the British Virgin Islands, which was also a pirate haven.

For those who might think 'shite' is too modern, it is in fact the oldest Anglo Saxon swearword in Britain (according to another site I found!)