Chapter Five

Jack very cautiously tiptoed towards the chest of drawers. When his face was inches away from the TV, he stopped. He stared at the television in wonder. When he saw an older pirate make his way across the old rickety deck of an ancient ship, he reached out and touched the screen.

"Aye, aye Cap'n!" the crew shouted.

Jack jumped back so far he fell back onto the bed. The shout from the pirate crew along with the shock he'd received from the electricity was so startling, several minutes later his heart was still beating frantically. He very slowly stood from the bed again and walked towards the TV again. The captain on the screen was treating a lady with disrespect and Jack did not like it.

"Hey!" he shouted. Jack grew irritated that the pirate was ignoring him so he shouted a bit louder. "Hey, you there! Stop that! S' not nice to take a lass against her wishes."

The pirate seemed to have heard Jack for he released the girl and went about his business. The girl sat down and cowered in a corner. Jack frowned and stepped even closer to the TV, the brightness of it burning his eyes, but he didn't seem to notice; he was intent on helping the girl.

"You all right luv?" He asked.

He reached out to touch her shoulder gently, and was once again shocked. He jumped again, but this time was not as surprised. He was although surprised that he did not feel the silky material of the girl's dress. Instead all he felt was a hard surface, like a wall. He stepped back to study the box before him. He sat down on the edge of the bed contemplating how the girl along with the rest of the world Jack knew was trapped inside the television. Or rather how he was trapped outside of the television.

Hearing only silence from within the guest bedroom, the children began to whisper.

"What do you think he's doing in there?" Marie asked her older brother.

"Duh! He's talking to someone!" Brian said.

"But who-there's no one in there except him."

"I don't know! Maybe he's calling someone…"

"Do pirates know how to use the telephone?" Marie asked.

"I don't know…I don't think that they have telephones on ships…"

"But Jenny says that when her Mommy and Daddy went on a boat for vacation, they called her every night."

"That's because they have cell phones. Pirates don't have cell phones." Brian said knowledgably.

"How do you know that? I thought this is the first pirate you've ever met."

"Well-my teacher Miss Grayson says that pirates lived a long time ago and that cell phones are not as old as pirates."

"How old do you think he is?" Marie asked curiously pressing her ear to the door.

"I don't know-maybe a hundred and forty?"

Marie's eyes grew wide as she heard footsteps behind the door. "He's coming!"

They'd been sitting on the floor in front of the door, and they scrambled to their feet as fast as they could. Just as they stood, the door before them opened and there stood the pirate in all his glory-wearing blue jeans and a solid black t-shirt. His hair was wild about his shoulders and his trinkets were tinkling as his hair swayed from his movements. He looked down at the fearful children and smiled broadly.

"Actually…I'm only 33."

Marie's breath hitched as she bit back her tears. She didn't know why she was so frightened of the pirate-he looked quite harmless (especially in blue jeans), but nonetheless, she was frightened of him. She quickly turned and dashed down the stairs. Brian stood there a split second longer staring at the pirate in his new attire, then he followed his younger sister downstairs. Jack chuckled as they departed, then he decided he would follow as well. He needed to talk to Tom about the 'box' and how he was to get into it and back to the Pearl.

He followed his nose to the kitchen, the smell of sweets wafting through the air. He wasn't sure how to open the door-there was no doorknob. Very gently he pushed at the door, and watched, as it swung open. He jumped back in surprise as it continued swinging past the doorway towards him. Once it had swung back into the kitchen, he quickly slid in before the door swung back into the living room. He looked around and smiled at the Wakefields who were surrounding a tray of cookies. He walked surely towards them with his swaying gait.

He moved his hands making gestures as he spoke. "What've ye got here? Smells wonderful luv."

Kate's face flushed a light pink upon seeing Jack's body clad in snug fitting jeans and a t-shirt. "Oh it's nothing really, just sugar cookies. Kids, why don't you take these to the table and decorate them?" She said placing her hands on Marie and Brian's shoulders pushing them towards the table.

She grabbed a plate of freshly baked cookies in various Christmas shapes, and the tubes of red, green, and white frosting. As she got the children situated, she looked over her shoulder at her husband and Jack. Tom was showing him the next batch of cookies, which were still in the oven.

"See how they're still pretty white? That means they're not done. Once they start to turn a golden brown, then we know they're done. If you pull them out too soon, they won't be cooked, they will be doughy and squishy." Tom was explaining.

Jack looked at the cookies quizzically. Then before Tom could stop him, his hand was in the oven touching one of them. Jack immediately pulled his hand out yelping in pain. He stuck his fingers in his mouth looking like a child. Kate had rushed over having seen Jack's hand heading towards the oven. She quickly pulled his hand from his mouth and dried it with a dishrag. Then she got some aloe vera gel and gently rubbed it into his blistering fingertips.

Jack looked deep into her blue eyes. "Thank you luv…" He said it softly.

Tom cleared his throat, breaking their intimate eye contact. "I-um-forgot to mention that the oven tends to be hot when it is baking cookies…"