CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE: IT WAS INEVITABLE

Morning came all too soon. The prison had been heavily guarded to ensure there was no breakout, and the Turners were watched closely. Elizabeth arranged for her maid to watch Johnny and Maddy while she and Will went to Jack's hanging, hoping for a miracle.

The governor slept little that night, tossing and turning, debating on whether to go to his daughter or not. He finally did at six o'clock, only to find her missing. An alarm went up fifteen minutes later.

Jack, however, had no knowledge that his wife was missing, he was only preparing for his day. He had been sentenced to hanging before, three other times, as a matter of fact, but this one was different. So many precautions were taken against his escape, that hanging looked inevitable. And this time, he would be leaving a wife and child.

"Ready, Sparrow?" the jailer asked, swinging a ring of keys on the other side of the bars.

Jack looked out the window, seeing people begin to gather in the gallows to witness. Then, he looked back to the jailer and stood.

In the gallows, Elizabeth and Will were surrounded with guards to ensure they tried nothing. The governor stood next to the Commodore as people milled about.

Soon, the crowd parted to allow the carriage that carried the prisoner through. Jack was bound by the hands and legs as he stared out into the crowd. He saw no one he recognized, until Will and Liz came into view. He sighed in relief to see Sunni nowhere. The governor had honored his request. The last thing Sunni needed was to see her husband hung.

On the platform, Jack began listening to his list of crimes while he stood next to the executioner.

On the outside of the city, Sunni was pushing her horse as fast as it would go without driving it lame. Beside her, another horse galloped. Pushing a strand of loose blond hair out of her face, she glanced at the sun and prayed they wouldn't be too late.

". . . By order under the crown, you will be hung from the neck this day until dead." The noose was being placed around Jack's neck and tightened. The drums were beating faster and faster and faster . . .

"STOP! STOP THIS INSTANT!" a distant voice cried out. The crowd milled about, wondering where the voice had come from. Jack squinted past the crowd and saw Sunni jump off a horse she had been riding. "You can't hang this man!" she was crying.

Jack stared in wonder. "Elizabeth, Elizabeth, look!" he cried. "She's running!"

Jack watched as Sunni's legs stretched out, carrying her through the crowd with a speed he hadn't seen in her since before she was pregnant.

"Caitlyn!" Governor Swann cried out as she made her way onto the platform. "Get her down from there!"

"You cannot hang Jack Sparrow for the crimes mentioned!" Sunni cried out over the crowd. They quieted down and listened. "Jack Sparrow is being hung for raping me and impregnating me. I hold right here in my hand, a marriage certificate signed by one Jack Sparrow and Caitlyn Marie Swann on the date September 28, 1742, more than a full year ago!"

The crowd murmured in surprise; the governor was stunned into silence.

"It could be a fake," the executioner pointed out, making for the lever to hang Jack.

Sunni pulled sword from her belt. "You move another inch, an' I'll slice your throat, savvy?"

Jack smiled. His Sunni was back. Her fire, her spirit, it was all back.

"I'm afraid it's no fake," an older voice said. The man who had been riding with Sunni was climbing onto the platform as well. "My name is Father John Joseph Weismeier. I married these two on that morning; the certificate is not fake. It has the seal of the Governor of Port Royal, Weatherby Swann, himself."

The crowd let out a collective cry of surprise. The Governor blanched.

Sunni quickly removed the noose from Jack's neck and cut the ropes binding his hands and feet. Then, she slid the cutlass into Jack's sheath. And finally, she kissed him. Elizabeth and Will were the first to cheer for them, and the rest of the crowd soon followed. Jack gently stroked her cheek, and wrapped an arm around her waist, drinking in the woman he thought he wouldn't see until judgment day.

Commodore Norrington turned to the Governor, raising an eyebrow in question. The governor opened and closed his mouth several times, not knowing what to do.

"Father!" Elizabeth's voice called out strongly. "I demand this man being given a full pardon!"

"Aye!" Will seconded her.

Jack turned to his wife as they stood on the platform, and then motioned for them to get off the ghastly platform. He jumped down first and turned to catch her when she jumped. Together, with Sunni tucked safely under Jack's protective arm, they sauntered to the Governor. Once they were near enough, Sunni reached out and handed her father the certificate of marriage. "You have nothing to charge against my husband," she told him, returning to the sanctuary of Jack's arm.

The Governor looked from the piece of parchment to the couple several times. Finally, he cleared his throat. "You . . . you love my daughter, Mr. Sparrow?"

For this one time, Jack let the title slide. "I love her," was all Jack answered.

Governor Swann turned to Sunni. "And you? You love him?"

"I love him more than words can describe, Father," Sunni answered, a bit more articulate than Jack.

The governor sighed. "Commodore, the charges against this man shall be dropped. He is not to be bothered until his ship returns and he leaves Port Royal."

"I'm going with him, Father," Sunni told him. "I will leave with him on the Black Pearl."

The governor cleared his throat. "Very well." With no more words, he turned to leave. Before he disappeared from sight, he turned back and addressed his youngest daughter, "But you will return occasionally? For a visit?"

A slow smile formed on Sunni's lips. "Of course, Dad."