The sun had risen more properly now, although the day was still young. Jack had climbed up onto the top of the mast. He stood there as if he was on a stately thirty-gunner instead of on a meek little stolen boat. The wind was whipping the pirate's hair around violently, giving the impression that Jack had sprouted a wild mane. I was standing on the mast beside him, my long red hair performing similar tricks in the wind. I breathed in deep the salty Caribbean air and couldn't help but smile. I was ready for this adventure.
I knew where we were headed: Port Royal, Jamaica. It was a busy town that held a fairly strong navy base and was in the business of trading everything from sugar to slaves. Jack also knew all this. He had formed a plan and (unnecessarily) filled me in on it. He was gong to leave the smaller boat there, commandeer a larger ship, sail back to Tortuga, pick up a crew, and head off again to wherever he fancied, mainly to find treasure and the Black Pearl.
What Jack didn't know was that the rag that was stuffed into the hole in the bottom of the boat had somehow become dislodged and water was now seeping in. I looked down and noticed the steady flood begin to fill up the boat. "Um, Captain, I think we have a problem," I said pointing down.
Jack swore under his breath and grabbing a rope, splashed down onto the watery deck. He found a bucket to bail the water out, and I jumped down to help him.
We didn't get very far into bailing before Jack stopped. He had noticed something off the port side. I looked up and saw it too. Three skeletons dressed in old, ragged clothes were dangling from hangman's nooses under a rock formation above the sea on the coast. We both could tell that these poor devils had been in the same profession that Jack was in. There was one empty noose and a wooden sign that read "Pirates Ye Be Warned." The threat was clear. Port Royal was a dangerous place to be if you were a gentleman of fortune.
As a sign of respect, Jack removed his hat exposing the red bandanna wrapped tightly around his head and he and I saluted the corpses. Neither of us said a word, but we shared a glance that spoke volumes. Jack realized that if he wasn't careful in this town, he could end up on that empty noose. If the situation had been different, I think that Jack would have avoided this port entirely, but the amount of water now in the boat left us with no choice. We had to dock in Port Royal.
We abandoned our plans of bailing and climbed back up onto the top of the mast. I subtlety used my powers to give the rapidly sinking vessel enough momentum to keep moving. I looked over at Jack; his unconcerned eyes were on the town that we were quickly and steadily approaching. "Annamaria's going to be very upset that she's not getting her boat back," I said. I could feel the boat sinking lover and lower as we moved along.
"I'll get her another one," Jack responded. He didn't bother asking how I knew about Annamaria or how I knew this was her boat.
As we drifted closer to the docks, I couldn't help but notice that we, or rather Jack, was receiving some very curious stares from the other sailors loading cargo onto their boats and ships. If Jack noticed all the attention he was getting, he didn't show it. By now, our boat had sunk all the way up to half way up the sail, and still the pirate and I stood high, dry, and proud on either side of the flag that was perched on the mast. I guided the rapidly sinking boat up to the nearest dock and Jack and I stepped off without even getting our feet wet. It was a perfect landing.
Without breaking our stride, we casually marched towards shore. I walked right through the harbormaster as he strolled along in the opposite direction. Jack brushed past him, ignoring him completely. Again, if Jack noticed me walk right through the other man, he didn't show it. I smiled to myself.
Just before we reached the end of our dock, we heard a shout from behind us. "Hold up there, you!" Again, without breaking our stride we pivoted around to face the voice. It was the harbormaster. I was expecting him to stop us, and I think Jack almost was too. We walked back towards the boat. The harbormaster and his young, black assistant met us in the middle.
"It's a shilling to tie up you boat at the dock," the pompous man explained. We all looked back at the boat. It had sunk fully up to the top of the sail.
"Yeah, like we could tie that up," I thought with a suppressed giggle.
"And I shall need to know your name," the harbormaster continued.
"What do you say to three shillings," Jack said, rummaging briefly in a pocket and placing three silver coins onto the harbormaster's open logbook. "And we forget the name?"
The harbormaster eyed Jack, considering the offer. His assistant raised an eyebrow at us. I raised one back. "Welcome to Port Royal, Mr. Smith," the harbormaster said, snapping his book shut. Jack put his palms together in a mock prayer for thanks and the two parties turned our backs on each other and went our separate ways.
Jack paused at the intersection of where the end of out dock met the middle of a larger dock. The harbormaster's station was there, complete with quills, ink, and money purse. Jack picked up the purse, shook it lightly and hearing the jingle of coins inside, pocketed it. He winked at me as we continued our way towards shore. I winked back.
"Pirate," I whispered. Jack smirked.