RETURN TO THE BLACK PEARL

Um, yeah, Raberba girl, you're right about the "interest" and "wasn't." When I asked Crazy Cousin Adam about, he said that he only ran it through spell-check anyways. Slacker. ;) But we still love you, Crazy Cousin Adam! Even though you won't wear a kilt. :(

CAST OF THOUSANDS: For enough money, we'll wear kilts.

ME: And there's our disturbing image for today, folks!

CAST OF THOUSANDS: Hey...she actually insulted us! That's not right! That's not supposed to happen! It's supposed to be the other way around!

ME: Yeah, that's right! I got you!

CAST OF THOUSANDS: You know it's really sad when you finally win a battle with your mind.

ME: You're in my mind?!?!

CAST OF THOUSANDS: And there's our disturbing image for today.


Chapter Five, A Wretched Hive of Scum and Villainy, Continued For No Apparent Reason

Anamaria was a woman on a mission.

Currently, her mission was to try to drink one large, hulking man into the dust.

She drained her mug of rum in one gulp and slammed it down victoriously on the filthy table with a bang. Her rival was a half a second slower.

Most of the people crowding the tavern groaned and cursed, digging mournfully in their purses, while a select few roared "huzzahs" and collected the majority's money with eager fingers.

Anamaria trailed her ragged sleeve across her mouth as she briskly collected her own earnings. She had won quite a bit already tonight, and her purse felt much better with shillings, crowns, and doubloons spilling out of it.

The tavern emptied quickly, leaving Anamaria alone to count her money. As she swept the last coin back into her purse, a shadow fell over her and a slightly raspy voice said, "Buy ye a drink, friend?"

Anamaria looked up, annoyed at the interruption, and when she saw the face of her interrupter, her annoyance grew. She shook her head and sighed. "Do ye know what 'no' means?" she asked pointedly.

"Aye," said the seedy-looking pirate who stood over her, grinning cheerfully with yellowed, cracked teeth.

"Then apply it to the situation and leave," she suggested.

"That hurts." The seedy-looking pirate clutched his chest. "That really does, mate."

"I'm not your mate," Anamaria said tartly.

"Not for the lack o' me tryin'," he said. He spit a wad of tobacco that narrowly missed the bartender, who sent the seedy-looking pirate a decidedly evil look. "Anyways, I'm here on business," he added.

"I don't do that kind of business," Anamaria said dryly.

"I didn't have that kind of business in mind," he said reproachfully. "Well, it may have crossed me mind, but I didn't intend to act on it. I heard ye've been asking around for a buyer for a gem of...precious value."

"Ye wouldn't know value if it shot you in the head," suggested Anamaria, but her eyes attention was caught. She had indeed asked around, though she had never imagined that this would be the person to come knocking.

The seedy-looking pirate leaned in close, so that his greasy dark hair touched the bandana wrapped in Anamaria's hair. "Let's see it," he said eagerly.

She shot him a condescending look. "Before we see it, let's see some silver." He held out her hand pointedly.

He sighed regretfully and dug out some coins. He slapped them in Anamaria's waiting palm.

"There'd better be more where that came from," she warned as the coins disappeared into her purse. "A whole lot more."

She reached hesitantly into a pocket inside her worn, tattered frock coat, suddenly reluctant to bring out the black pearl. But that's just daft, she told herself sharply. This was part of her plan. She would sell the black pearl and buy a ship—between the price of the pearl and the money she'd earned tonight, she'd have just enough to cover it—but for some reason, she didn't want to give it up. Daft, she reminded herself, and forced herself to pull the black pearl out of its hiding place.

The seedy-looking pirate's sunken eyes grew grotesquely round as they greedily took in the pearl. He reached out a trembling hand for it. Anamaria smiled in response and pulled her pistol out of her belt, cocked it and pointed it at him.

He looked regretful as he looked at the pistol. "Not taking any chances, are we?" he said reproachfully.

"None at all," she agreed as she handed the pearl over.

He picked it up reverently and held it close before his beady eyes. Anamaria was abruptly reminded of the way the black pearl glittered; that was the look in the seedy-looking pirate's eyes. Bottomless eyes. There was no end to them; you could look into them forever and never see the end.

"How much?" he breathed, and Anamaria held her breath as she named an exorbant figure, one she was certain he couldn't afford. This was the tricky part, the bartering. She felt faint with shock when he nodded immediately in agreement.

"When do ye want the money?" he asked, fingering his purse. Anamaria vaguely wondered where he would get the rest of the money.

"Tomorrow," Anamaria said reluctantly. She didn't want to lose the black pearl so soon, but that was that; she'd found a buyer, and she couldn't afford to pass up this opportunity. At least she'd have one more night with it. Maybe this time, it would give up its secrets to her.

"Tomorrow, then," said the seedy-looking pirate, giving the pearl one last lingering look as he left that might have actually been aimed at Anamaria, but she didn't notice.

She rolled the pearl around in her hands, feeling suddenly guilty. She wondered absently why she hadn't told Jack about the pearl or her plans to leave him. She rolled her eyes. Jack was hardly trustworthy, but she sincerely doubted that he would have stolen the black pearl from her. Captain Jack Sparrow didn't cheat his friends. At least not badly.

But he would feel hurt when Anamaria abruptly quit and left him, leaving him with the vacant position of first mate and fewer friends around that he could trust. He'd never really gotten over the mutiny, and Anamaria had learned to tread lightly where Jack's trust in her was concerned.

Her mind shifted back to the seedy-looking pirate. She hadn't expected to see him tonight. Actually, she hadn't expected to see him ever again. She'd thought that he'd dropped off the face of the earth. Wishful thinking, she supposed.

Anamaria pressed the cool surface of the pearl to her suddenly hot cheek. Would she give it up to him tomorrow? She had to. She needed the money. Could she give it up to him?

She didn't know.


Uh, yeah, ya know, review, dudes. And if you like Star Wars, go R&R a little song parody I wrote entitled "Lookin' For Love (In Alderaan Places)." (raises wine glass, though it's not filled with any sort of alcoholic beverage because the author is not old enough to drink) Here's to updates!

Uh, yeah, ya know, review, dudes. And if you like , go R&R a little song parody I wrote entitled "Lookin' For Love (In Alderaan Places)." (raises glass, though it's not filled with any sort of alcoholic beverage because the author is not old enough to drink) Here's to updates!

CAST OF THOUSANDS: (raises glasses) Here's hoping we see one in the next hundred years!

EDIT: Hey, just correcting some formatting problems I had. Look for an update after Thanksgiving! I'll be at my grandmothers that week, so I'll have plenty of time to get a chapter written. There's nothing else to do there, anyway. Hopefully you'll get the entire chapter when I post.  And what's with the freaky new format for the QuickEdit?!?!