Before The Dawn

Chapter XIII: Of Hearsay and Garnering Information

By FalconWing

Jack absently smoothed his moustache with his thumb and forefinger as he pondered the situation.

If what Tom had told him was correct then none of the crew, excepting Brock, felt they owed any loyalty whatsoever to Captain Clavell and were only waiting to get their share of the ransom before committing a crime somewhat more sinister than leaving to find a position on another ship. And going by the general atmosphere of the pirates and the vibes he was receiving from Dan and many of the others, it was correct.

The whole mood of the ship had changed suddenly. When he had first come aboard the other pirates had been aggressive and even covertly hostile toward him as a new member of the crew, but had been friendly enough towards one another and had displayed a certain amount of allegiance towards their captain. Now he was picking up the subtle undertones threading the tempers of the entire crew. He could feel the tension thrumming through the very fiber of the ship. He was familiar with the feeling and though this time it didn't bode ill for him, he couldn't help his instinctive misgivings for the situation he knew was brewing.

"Mutiny."

The word tasted foul in his mouth even before he realized he had spoken it aloud. He took a quick glance around, reassuring himself that no one had been within earshot.

He knew what had triggered the sudden change in the crew's mindset. Somehow it had leaked out that Clavell had ordered the timely death of three members of his own crew and rumors and suspicion spread like wildfire of a ship. That would certainly be enough to put any man tense and on edge. That would certainly be enough to make any man capable of talking rebellion.

That thought did nothing to ease Jack's uneasiness with the state of affairs. True, he didn't like Clavell at all and would only rest easier at nights for the man's absence but… he had experienced a mutiny taking place at his expense and had only lived to tell the tale due to a remarkable combination of unbelievable luck, his own genius and outside assistance.

Cavell himself seemed completely unaware of the raw emotion hanging over the ship like the unnatural fog that had at one point surrounded the Pearl. To all intents and purposes he appeared utterly oblivious of the sidelong looks that were cast in his direction every time he ventured on deck.

He was fairly certain that the inexorable revolt would not occur anytime soon, however. They wanted their fraction of the volumes of money they expected to take delivery of, in exchange for the hostages still held in captivity below. Frankly, Jack suspected that this would never happen. He had not missed Clavell's expression when he had returned to the tavern back in Tortuga to inform them of their departure. For one as perceptive as he was, the man might as well of had the words 'vexation' and 'anxiety' painted on his forehead in a bold red dye. Obviously he had expected to find some sort of message or reply waiting for him. Obviously he had expected to, but hadn't.

He knew that by this stage he was guessing a lot, but every order only served to confirm these assumptions. That they were staying near Tortuga hinted at a forthcoming return there – something that made sense if he was indeed waiting for a missive. That the crew had not yet acted implied that they were not willing to turn their backs on money they felt they deserved. Yes, he felt rather secure in his suppositions.

The only uncertainty he had was what to do now. Oh, he had a plan for when they encountered the Pearl, but time was passing quickly and they had seen neither hide nor hair of his ship. He couldn't help but wonder if they had given up on him and moved to more prosperous waters.

But his mind shied away from this pessimistic thinking and latched onto happier thoughts – he had already become far too pensive for his liking.

His crew would come for it. His ship would come for him. He knew it in his bones. They just had to find him.

He just had to be patient and wait for them.

–          –       –       –          –

Anamaria gripped the rope tight and pushed herself forwards, swinging across the chasm that separated the two ships. Her sword was in her hand even before she landed with a thump on the deck, knees bent and legs braced as she chanced a quick scan of the other vessel. Numerous jolts to either side of her heralded the arrival of the rest of the Pearl's crew.

She turned to Ladbroc. "What do ye think? I don't see anyone."

And she didn't. The deck of this merchantman was completely void of any activity, save for that caused by her own men. They at least stood in a defensive stance, warily eyeing any and all objects that could possibly be concealing the enemy. Anamaria didn't like this at all.

The ship creaked and groaned slightly as it bobbed up and down over the waves. Snapping could be heard overhead as the sails fluttered, spilling wind from the pristine white canvas. Lines lay slack; knots left half-down, abandoned prior to completion. Parts of the railing were nonexistent and the woodwork had taken a beating, having fallen victim to the brutal power of the Pearl's guns. And yet there was no sign of the crew that had so valiantly returned fire.

"They could be sittin' somewhere, jus' waitin' fer us t' come so they c'n ambush us. On th' other 'and they could be sittin' somewhere scared out o' their wits jus' hopin' we'll leave. Either way, 'tis up t' ye what we do next."

She nodded in agreement and weighed her options. The other crew had obviously been drilled on this tactic of theirs; no one could empty the deck that fast without practice. Whether that tactic was to lie in wait and waylay the attacking side, catching them by surprise, or no more than an effort to stay out of view and hope that out of sight was out of mind, she didn't know. What she did know was that her own men were in need of a good raid and a stock-up of supplies. Besides that, the ship itself had been looking a bit under the weather even before the Pearl had open fire and Anamaria couldn't help wondering if perhaps she had been in a scrape with another pirate ship – possibly even the ship that Jack was on.

The choice, however, was wrested away from her as, with an uncannily unified war cry, the aforementioned absent crew put in a tardy but remarkable appearance, charging out from below decks with swords drawn and determination in the very depths of their eyes. The Pearl's crew turned as one to meet the onrushing opposition, the rallying call of the sailors not quite drowning out the distinctive clang of metal on metal.

Anamaria parried the swing of a shabby man and took advantage of his hesitation when he recognized her for the woman she was, giving him a hearty clout over the head with the pommel of her sword.

"Aim to disarm or disable. Don't kill unless ye have to. We're here fer supplies and information, not a blood fest."

She lifted her voice to be heard over the clashing sounds of battle. She knew that her instruction wasn't necessary; these crewmembers were pirates for the freedom, the adventure and the exhilaration, and in the countless raids carried out by the Black Pearl never had they killed anyone for the sheer hell of it.

A lively looking fellow was the next to make the mistake of believing her easy prey and she dispatched him easily with a slash to occupy his sword and a swift knee where it counts. His blade clattered to the deck and she moved on. Judging by the way his face was contorting in pain and the fact that he appeared completely absorbed with clutching himself and squeaking softly, it was dubious that he was even aware of the fight ensuing around him. She strongly doubted that he would be up and about soon enough to make a difference to the outcome of this struggle.

For already the sailors were losing ground to the seasoned buccaneers that they were up against. The crew of the Pearl had had the advantage of numbers at the start, but now there were only a few left standing from the other side while as far as Anamaria could count, not one man from the Pearl had fallen – overwhelming odds for any crew let alone one of a merchant craft.

Matelot lowered his sword slightly and approached the remaining group of four sailors, standing back to back, swords raised as though in effort to ward off the advancing pirate.

Matelot opened his mouth to placate them, but one rushed forward, brandishing his weapon, a crazed look in his eyes. It was quick work for the pirate to echo Anamaria's earlier actions and cuff the lad – who was barely into manhood – letting him drop like a rock to the deck. At the sight of their mate lying crumpled at Matelot's feet, the three left behind wasted no time in dropping their arms in surrender.

Anamaria had been observing all this from a distance and she chose now to pick her way across the many unconscious sailors sprawling across the deck. She walked right up to the tallest of the three and looked him square in the eye and ran the edge of her sword lightly across his throat; a little intimidation never did anyone any harm, after all. Seeing the telltale twitch of his eyelids that gave away the restrained flinch, she sheathed her sword and spun on her heel. She strode over to the stairs leading to the quarterdeck and took a seat. Meeting his gaze again, she tilted her head, indicating for him to take a seat next to her and smiled, any trace of a threat vanished as if it had never been.

When he didn't budge she patted the step beside her. "Come on over. It's time for me and ye to have a little chat while my crew collect some badly needed provisions and carry them over to the Pearl." This last part was delivered in a raised tone so that the Pearl's men stopped listening to her and jumped to it, vanishing down into the holds of the ship where all their stored cargo would be.

The man finally came over, though he did so slowly and cautiously before sitting himself down on the step as far away from her as was humanly possible. He looked at the ground and mumbled something indecipherable.

"What was that? Speak up, man."

He glanced up again and while this time he spoke clearer, he was not much louder. Anamaria let it go and concentrated on listening instead. "I said the captains over there by the base of the mast." He nodded his head toward the middle of the ship. "It's him you should be talking to, not me."

She raised a brow. "From the looks of things, ye're captain is a bit out of it at the moment. And it doesn't take a captain to tell me what I want to know – just someone with eyes and ears, both of which ye appear to have." He didn't say anything to this so she continued. "What I need to know is have ye seen any other pirate ships in yer voyage. Now before ye answer I just want to let ye know that the battle damage to your ship earlier did not go unnoticed so there be no point in ye lying. Lying a waste of your time and mine and won't get ye anywhere."

When he looked about ready to refuse to answer she placed a very meaningful hand on the pistol sitting artlessly where it had been shoved into her waistband. His response was exactly what she had wished for. His eyes widened as he caught this silent gesture, he mouth opened and words poured out.

"It was two days ago. A ship was sighted on the horizon but nothing much was thought of it. We had been drilled in what to do in the case of a pirate attack but that seemed unlikely; they were traveling at a fair distance and didn't appear to be acting at all aggressive. Then, all of a sudden, they turned so they were broadside to us and starting firing at us. They raised the Jolly Roger and heading straight towards us.

Every now and then, they would pause in their approach and turn to throw another barrage of cannonballs at us. When they finally came alongside us, they threw over grapples and were boarding before we even managed to load our own cannons. We did what we had practiced and abandoned the decks, coming below and waiting for them to advance closer before going out and attacking. It worked and broke up their attack. One of their men was trying to reorganize them but no one was listening.

They withdrew back to their own ship and fled. It was fast (a two-masted schooner) and we had no time to stop them from getting away."

Here he stopped and stared at her, daring her to challenge what he had said.

She considered his expression before asking the most important question. "Now I'm going to give you a description and ask if saw this man. He's medium height – probably about here." She demonstrated, holding her hand slightly above her own head. "Long dark hair probably tied up, brown eyes, gold teeth, waves his hands around as he talks…"

She let her voice trail off as he started to nod his head vigorously. "Aye, I remember someone that looks like that. He walked funny. As though he was drunk…"

Now it was her turn to nod vigorously. She could have done a dance on the spot – after all their searching, they were finally getting close. "You did? Where was he? Where did you see him?" She sat forward eagerly, perfectly willing to shake the answer out of him if he took much longer to respond. His answer when it did come, however, was the last thing she expected to hear.

"He was the one in charge."

– – – – – – – – – – – – – –  – – – –

Thank you for reading. Please review and tell me what you though was good, what was bad and what needed improvement. Reviewers will be held in esteem for rest of their natural lives.

Reviewer's Thanks

Oneiriad: No, when on a pirate ship that has never even heard of the Code, it isn't is it? Thanks for your review.

Dshael: Aww, thanks for that. It's really nice to know.

Pirate Shy: Thank you so much for going back and reviewing all the chapters. It is appreciated far more than I can ever relate. So are all the tips for making sentences sound better.

LunarianPrincess: Aye, just call it author's license. Lol. Thank you for reviewing.

OpraNoodlemantra: (or should I call you Mrs Depp now, if you're married?) The nineteenth? Noooo! Your reviews will be sorely missed, but feel free to review all the chapters when you get back. Lol.

Ellenar: Oh they'll be getting out of the brig soon enough – as in, in a while. No promises though. Hehe.

Beregond'sGirl: Yes, that could work for the beta-ing. I could update every four days and send it to you on the third or something. Would that work, do you think? And thanks for pointing out the moral(e) mistake so I could change it. Hell, thanks for the whole review!!

Crazydominodragongirl: I left that one for the reader to decide. If you think he cheated then he did cheat. It's all up to what the reader thinks.

Savvyness: Thank you for your review and don't worry, I tend to read other people's reviews.

The Phantom: Thanks for that little tidbit – I'll keep it in mind. And thank you for being specific about what you like. It really helps.

Queen of the Caribbean: And yes, reviewing does count for something – it counts for everything in fact. There will be a bit more from the prisoners side soon, don't worry and I wouldn't dream of throwing objects at any reviewers even if it did take them a while to read the story.

Valk: Here's more of the Pearl, just for you. Thanks for the review.

Heldin: I think I found the whole thing ages ago but recently I've just been getting examples of ship's articles.

Eledhwen: Oooo, you'll have to wait and see, won't you? And thanks for reviewing here. While it's really cool to get them at Black Pearl Sails, here they show up on stats and they are easier to access at a later date.

MiRoRmInX: Thanks for your review. And his name is Weatherby. Is says on official PotC websites.

Love y'all…

FalconWing.