Usual disclaimers… sob!

As promised, the first word of the chapter is…. Jack!

Chapter 19 – A Number of Surprises

Jack skirted the harbour of Road Town on Tortola, unwilling to be seen in the pirate town in case word got back to Bryn Corbin that he was alive. He sailed the stolen dory to a nearby bay, pulling the small boat up the beach. He would need fresh supplies for, despite the curse meaning that he could no longer taste or enjoy the food, a lifetime of habit was hard to break. He concealed the boat under some branches, sweeping evidence of the beaching from the sand, before crawling under the shelter of some bushes. He would wait until darkness before sneaking into town.

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Jack woke with a start, surprised to discover he had fallen asleep. He paused, hearing voices nearby, hugging the darkness.

"We'll hide up here," a voice said. "An' head t' town as soon as it is light. Most of 'em that might recognise us will be still unconscious at that hour…"

Jack grinned, recognising the voice, easing himself from his concealment. "Bloody hell, Gibbs! Yer a hard man t' find!"

Joshamee Gibbs whirled around, recognising the voice but not believing his ears. "J…. Jack?" he stuttered, his eyes searching the darkness, eventually spotting his dark form. "But…"

The other men stood beside Joshamee, equally stunned. "Captain?" Henry finally gasped. "How… you were dead… I saw…"

"Nearly dead," Jack grimaced, stepping into the thin light of the waning moon. "As yer can see, I have a slight problem…"

"You're cursed!" Joshamee spluttered, instantly recognising the skeletal form of Jack. "The coins… how?"

"I took one t' show th' children," he admitted. "Thought it would be funny t' scare Jack…" He shrugged. "Never thought it might save my life." He looked at their ship, sadly realising it was not the Black Pearl. "I take it we lost," he said bitterly. "Bessie?"

"Jem got her to safety at Port Royal," Joshamee said, clapping the now fleshed back of Jack heartily as he stepped back into the shadows. "We went to see she was all right an' gave her your compass…"

"Bessie has m' compass?" Jack gasped, relieved that it was safe.

"Aye, we thought it best to keep it an' her as far away from Corbin as we could. Th' bastard has taken over Tortuga… this is as near as we dare go…" He looked to Jack. "Do we head to Port Royal, Captain?"

Jack nodded. "I must see that Bessie an' th' children are safe… an' get m' compass. Then we can go after Corbin!"

"Are you joking?" Jem spluttered. "What hope do the eight of us have against two ships?"

"We cheat," Jack grinned, a plan already forming in his mind. "But fer that, we need th' compass!"

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They set sail the following evening, having sneaked into town to get supplies. Jack smiled darkly to himself on seeing the name of the ship, spotting his own flag atop the main mast. Bessie, he hoped, would not be the only Sparrow getting revenge on the Welshman. He nodded to Paul at the helm, surprised to see Joshamee leaving the main cabin, his belongings in his arms. "I'm no longer Captain," the older man shrugged, "so I guess th' cabin is yours." Jack ran his hand along the ship's rail, but he acknowledged to himself that it was not the same. She was a sleek ship, but needed more cannons and was no where near as fast as the Black Pearl.

"Thank yer, Gibbs," he replied, continuing his inspection of the ship, his eyes drawn ever westwards towards Jamaica and their destination – Port Royal and his wife.

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Will sat beside Elizabeth, her face pale with shock as she had stumbled against the kitchen table, sitting heavily on one of the chairs. Both of them had nearly fainted when Jack had sneaked through their kitchen door, closely followed by Joshamee and Henry. "So you'd taken a coin," he reasoned, looking up at Jack.

"Yup," he grinned, grateful to be out of the moonlight. "Never been so grateful t' be only half-dead in m' life…"

"Jack, it isn't funny!" Will chided, but Jack's grin did not falter.

"Anyway, t' more important matters than me bein' alive… where's Bessie livin'?" The three pirates had already been to the small home above the chandler's shop and had been concerned to find it destroyed. They had gone to Will and Elizabeth's house as they had no clue as to where Bessie and the children would be living in Port Royal.

"England," Elizabeth said, her voice barely a whisper as she was still stunned to see him.

"England!" Jack gasped. "Why?"

"Corbin attacked the town searching for her… a lot of people were killed. Commodore Norrington thought it would be safer for her to leave the Caribbean. He had her and the children put on the first available ship… before the town could make the connection between her and the Black Pearl," she explained.

"Was she…" he began.

"She was not hurt in the attack," Elizabeth assured him. "There had been some trouble in town the day before and Captain Groves insisted that she and the children move to his house for their own safety…"

"Is that bastard still sniffin' after her?" Henry growled, turning to Jack. "Jem told yer how he escorted her to th' bay that day…"

"Groves…" Jack muttered to himself, unsure if he should be grateful to the man or try to kill him. He did not like any man being close to his wife, other than those he trusted in his crew, but at least the naval officer had kept her safe from Bryn Corbin. He shook himself. "England!" he repeated. "D' yer know whereabouts?"

"London," Will replied. "She said that she was going to try to find your family…"

Jack shook his head wryly. "She'll get little welcome from them," he said ruefully, remembering his father with little affection. "An' she'll have no luck if she goes askin' fer th' Sparrows…" he muttered.

"I don't think she had much choice," Elizabeth said, ignoring his confession that Sparrow was not his given name. "She knew no others that she could turn to… and the Jolly Maid arrived the day after the attack."

Jack sighed, turning to Joshamee. "Looks like we've a trip t' London then," he reasoned.

"London!" Joshamee cried in alarm. "It ain't safe for us there!"

"We won't look like pirates!" Jack explained, rolling his eyes for good measure. "We hit a few ships before we leave, get ourselves a cargo, an' go as traders…"

"Oh…" Joshamee said, still unsure of Jack's plan, but if it meant getting Bessie and the children back, he would go along with anything.