AN (11/12): Well, I'm in the library at school, and I've finished my whole definition essay already for English. So, therefore, I'm writing this now since I have nothing better to do and no homework!
AN (11/16): Sorry it took me so long...I got sick again. Antibiotics can be evil, if they kill off the good bacteria in your body...
Chapter 19: Letters
"Cap'n," a voice said gruffly, pulling Jack out of the contemplative mood he seemed to be in a lot lately. Most of the crew explained this away by how he seemed to have been affected by the mutiny of one of his close friends. Of course, that wasn't what had been bothering Jack for the past six months. In fact, he'd forgotten about the whole thing by the morning of the next day, though he felt a small twinge of guilt for having left Rebekah behind on that spit of land. It was just a small twinge, however, so he had been able to easily drive it to the back of his mind. There was no sense in worrying about someone who'd tried to humiliate you by chasing after another man who happened to be married. In fact, whenever Jack thought of that, he felt glad he'd left the girl behind on the island. Who cares if it meant almost certain death?
As previously stated, that wasn't what was bothering Jack. It was that note with the numbers on it. Obviously the note had some coordinates to some place in the Caribbean, because of the latitude and longitude. Yet, Jack had referenced it in a map a few days after receiving it, and it had been empty sea. There was nothing in the spot. Not even a hint of an island. Jack was half tempted to sail that way and see if there really was nothing there…but had abstained from it because he figured it would be a waste of his crew's time. Besides, he had another quarter of a crew to whip into shape. If he could just stop losing people to natural disasters and man-made emergencies, he'd be able to actually accomplish something as a pirate.
The location wasn't even what was bothering Jack. So what if he had a slip of paper stuffed into his pocket that he liked to take out and stare at that had nothing to do with any sort of treasure? He didn't want to solve the mystery, really, about the numbers on the paper. What was bothering him was the handwriting on the paper. Even though it was only six characters, Jack was certain he'd seen the handwriting before. But he couldn't remember where. And that was what bothered him. That was why he was having such a hard time paying attention to anything except the inside of his mind. He needed to solve whose handwriting it was before it drove him nuts.
"Cap'n?" the voice questioned abruptly, apparently getting a bit dismayed by Jack's slow reaction time. Light blue eyes were peering at Jack curiously as he pulled himself out of his thoughts again.
"Aye?" Jack seemed both chagrinned with his slow reaction time and amused with it. "Is there some sort of problem, Hector?" It still felt odd calling the occasional lecherous man anything informal. Jack doubted he'd ever get used to it, but it would just be too unusual to revert to calling him Barbossa now.
"We're approachin' Nassau, Cap'n," Barbossa replied with a slight shrug. "No problem. I jus' wan' ye t' reconsider the whole plan." Ah…so, that was what was bothering the experienced seaman.
"We've gone o'er this before, Hector," Jack said softly, his dark eyes full of boredom. "There's no sense in us makin' an unnecessary risk, ye see. No sense in us killin' innocents if we don' 'ave t'. I'm sure tha' it will work."
"Well, Cap'n, it is a rather brilliant plan," Barbossa acquiesced, stepping back as Jack stepped forward on the bridge. "There's no denyin' tha'. Bu' I think we should do it as we always do it. It's dreadfully risky t' storm a port this new way."
"Well, if we're afraid of risky situations, we'd probably bes' no' do anythin'," Jack responded. "Come on, mate, where's yer sense of adventure? Who said tha' ye 'ave t' storm a port wiv guns blarin'?" It was a reasonable question. Pirates and rules didn't mix at all.
"Well, no one," Barbossa remarked with a slight shrug. It was apparent that he still didn't agree with the plan, but he said nothing further on the matter. Clearly he wouldn't be able to change Jack's mind. But this was folly. The town wouldn't even know they were under attack if they followed Jack's plan. Barbossa liked following the established rules of warfare, as it were. Always best to give those you were looting an idea that you were looting them. What if it turned out like the last time they'd attempted to storm Nassau? The whole crew had nearly ended up dead that time. Of course, that had been under the infamous Calico Jack...but much of the crew wondered how good a pirate Jack really was. The rumors surrounding him were almost too good to be true.
Jack hated Nassau with a passion. Why? Well, he'd finally faced the man who'd killed his mother and married his sister in Nassau, and had been too afraid to do anything about it. What a disgrace he'd been...not even bothering to seek revenge. Surely his sister would be too far attached to Nathaniel Dennis now for Jack to kill him. Yet, he couldn't say that Commodore Dennis wasn't the target of this mission.
The plan was so simple it was scary. They'd moor the Black Pearl in the harbor like any other ship. Then the whole crew would disperse for a day and meet up near the governor's home in groups of two or three. Jack knew of an old warehouse where they could meet and plan their attack. He just wanted to take the governor hostage...and maybe accidentally kill his brother-in-law in the process. Once the governor was safely captive, he'd order his men to capture other key officials..and they'd rob the treasury. Of course, this would all be done at night, for then they'd be assured that the governor was at home. He was a man of habit. How did Jack know this? Well, from the letters he'd found from his sister a few weeks ago when he'd actually visited the general store in Tortuga.
The letters had really been quite a surprise to Jack. He'd assumed that Jodi had merely forgotten of him over the years. When he'd gone inside the general store, the shop owner had glared at him and contemptuously asked him for his name. After Jack replied, he'd received about a hundred letters from Jodi. He probably would've just thrown them away, if it hadn't been for the fact that he was incredibly bored that day.
After purchasing the new trousers in the general store (for all the tailors had been closed), Jack had wandered back to the Pearl to take a look at his "treasure" of letters. He'd arranged them all by date and had started with the oldest first, rather amused by several anecdotes in the first letter. It'd given him such a good feeling to hear from her (and to picture her face) that he'd continued reading.
What he'd learned had shocked him. First, he was an uncle a few times. Well, that hadn't been that shocking, especially since the last time he'd seen his sister she'd been expecting a baby. The feeling of yearning to see his nephews had shocked him. Of course he wouldn't act on that...or would he? He'd been shocked the most to learn that Jodi was being beaten by Nathaniel. Of course, she hadn't come right out and said that...but Jack could tell based on the very vague hints in a few of the latest letters. Apparently his brother-in-law had learned of the existence of Jack Sparrow and had made the connection that Jack was the same person he'd once invited to his home for dinner that had used his uniform to break Calico Jack out of prison. Jack wasn't sure how Nathaniel had made the connection, but then again, he didn't really realize how intelligent his brother-in-law was. The old codger was almost as good as reformed criminals at catching other criminals. He'd been able to catch Jack's mother, after all...
Anyway, the letters had also revealed that the governor was trying to make a move on Jodi. All the more reason to kill him, rather than just hold him hostage. It really wasn't that unreasonable to Jack. After all, he was planning (if at all possible) to kill his sister's husband just because the man had done his duty to society and killed a pirate. Of course, Jack had a grudge since the pirate was his mother. If he'd been a greater man when he was younger, he would've told Jodi who had killed Rosalyn and why she'd been killed. But he'd been weak. Didn't want to ruin his sister's happiness. And now his sister was being abused by the man Jack hadn't been able to face all those years ago. He should've just shot Commodore Dennis after finding his mother dying...
Needless to say, Jack didn't want to really come to Nassau. He knew that Jodi loved Nathaniel, and if she knew that he'd come to kill him..well, that wouldn't be very good. Of course, Jack really wanted nothing to do with Jodi. He just wanted to free her from that oppressive man. What she did afterwards was up to her.
Sighing as the Pearl gently stopped near the docks of Nassau, Jack wondered if he should really "accidentally" kill Commodore Dennis or not. Perhaps if he ran into him, he'd kill him...if not, he'd leave her alone. While Jack was almost positive Jodi was being abused, he could always be wrong. Not that not killing him would give the world much of a favor, mind you, but Jack couldn't bear to see Jodi so unhappy again. It'd killed a part of him to see her reaction to his mother's death all those years ago. Not that he'd really been able to notice at the time, but his sister's grief had been the final thing that drove him to alcoholism and women...not that Jack regretted that decision, of course. He always knew when to say no.
Jack frowned as he stepped onto the gangplank and out into the city. It was about noon...they had quite a bit of time to kill before tomorrow night's daring attempt at a new record of sorts. With Jack's plan...they'd sack a city without firing a single shot. It really wasn't all that remarkable of a plan, for it made the most sense. There was no point in killing the innocent over a few pence.
Weaving like a drunkard, Jack wandered aimlessly throughout Nassau. His legs led him to the warehouse he planned on using. Looking around anxiously, Jack glanced the place over again. It would work. So well, in fact, that Jack planned on switching the maneuver around a bit. His whole crew wouldn't have to storm the governor's mansion...he could probably do it himself. Of course, Jack wouldn't do it with just himself...he'd bring along someone he could trust to watch his back. Not like Nipperkin, Ragetti or Pintel. They'd probably get frightened and shoot Jack in the back accidentally. No, he'd take someone like Bootstrap or Barbossa or both with him into the governor's household.
Smiling slightly, Jack gently touched the loose board in front of the warehouse door. This was almost too perfect...surely something would go wrong, right? Everything goes wrong at some point. But he'd planned for every situation...it would work perfectly.
Turning his attention from the warehouse, Jack glanced at the governor's house. How could someone be so pompous that they had such a large home near so many poor slums? Honestly...Jack hated the injustices of the world. Nothing ever seemed to work out for the underdog. Of course, Jack was a pirate. It just seemed a bit excessive to him that the large home be for a widower. What would you do with a house so large?
Whistling some old sailing tune, Jack meandered his way closer to the wrought-iron gates of the mansion. The pristine lawns, no doubt pruned by a very experienced slave, seemed to be glaring at Jack. Each blade seemed to be able to sense what sort of mischief he was going to bring about on the sedate household.
"Stop lookin' a' me like tha'," Jack said with a frown. Of course the grass couldn't answer back. It really wasn't glaring at him. But he hated this feeling before he did something new and sinful for the first time. Made him want to drink himself to oblivion. Of course that wouldn't work, though. If he got drunk, he wouldn't be able to concentrate tomorrow night when it counted.
The grass still seemed to glare at Jack as his gaze shifted up the sloping driveway to the house. Jack was pretty sure that the house resembled the governor, based on Jodi's letters. He was overly ornate in an attempt to hide his ugly face, like the garish ivory house with the large pillars trying to hide the fact that it had once been a measly one room cabin. Jack could tell that, even with his inexperienced eye, the house had only recently been made to look ancient. Most of the vines creeping up the sides of the yellowed house were painted on. Why would a man be that vain? And who really cared if the house looked old or not? It was built in such a way that it mocked all the castles in Europe, having a false turret in one corner. Disgusting how some people used their wealth.
Pirates never used their money they stole from the wealthy for such outlandish things. They helped the economy by spending their money in establishments that needed it (taverns and brothels) rather than on fancy clothes or homes. Even pirate captains freely distributed their wealth, only keeping their ships in working order. That's why pirates had to continually steal...to keep the economy going.
Alteng: Yes, Barbossa does get a major brownie point for saving the Pearl. Have no fear, however, he will end up mutinying in the end. First I've got to put in a bunch of stuff I've been planning for almost a year now...there's a bit of foreshadowing in this chapter.
I know I wish I could type in my sleep...of course, that might make my writing even more odd... Anyway, thanks for the review! I'm glad you had the opportunity to finally catch up...
And the coordinates are to a treasure...just one you're not expecting...
To answer your review from the previous chapter...well, Bootstrap claims he knew nothing about Matthew's plan. It was to make Jack more wary...though, he'll probably fall back to his old ways...like an old dog, he is...
sunkist3208: You couldn't have had the tacos and enchiladas and then left a review? Dunno what's gotten into you, Whitney. A mere paragraph...anyway, I'm glad that you un-confused yourself...
Laura: It isn't your fault I was sick...don't worry about it, Laura. Of course the emerald is important. Besides, the girl who...erm...made Meagan leave Jack had emerald eyes...as did something in the prologue...
Jack: Well, I'll eventually say whose handwriting it is....I'm sure it won't really be that much of a shock. Not like the whole flashback thing...
Daisy: Barbossa has to be nice. Jack has to trust him, after all. He's just a rather good actor or something...been in the business of underhandedness for a while, ya see? When are you going to update again? Oh, and this time you get a LOTR poster...
Aliana Archer: I know...I was rather astounded to learn that they didn't have pockets back then either...seems to me a reasonable invention...but, you can't change the past. Thanks for leaving a review...and I'm glad I didn't confuse you. I like confusing myself...and the paper will eventually be explained. I suggest that you pay special attention to one of the earliest chapters...
Since you were the first to review, you get a loverly replica of the compass that doesn't point north...