Extra love for our faithful readers (:waves at godgirl9:) this time: an extra long chapter with
extra action! And more extras too! ;-P

"… and then they made him their chief."

Will nodded slowly as Lijah ended her story. One of the savages was tending to her wound, and others were bringing what could only be called offerings to her and Jack. The older captain was sitting in the chair on the raised dais, looking extremely happy with himself.

"So Jack has been here before and been set as some sort of godly chief," Will said. Lijah nodded eagerly. "I guess that explains why they all suddenly stopped fighting and fell to their knees." Lijah nodded again, then winced a bit as the brave mask faltered. "And it explains why you two are getting the royal treatment." More nodding, more carefully now, as Lijah's face was a stiff mask of pirates-don't-cry determination.

"But it doesn't explain," Will almost roared, "why Doll and I are in a cage!"

Jack finally managed to look away from all the attention he was getting from the men and women doing their very best to service him. He got off his chair – or throne – and swaggered over to the small cage that held Will and Doll. The crew were sitting on the ground nearby, jittery and suspicious.

"Anything wrong with the accommodation, me young captain and not-so-young deckswabber?"

Will's arm shot through the bars and tried to grab Jack by his shirt, but one of the savages promptly stood in front of his "chief".

"Wouldn't want to be doin' that, lad," Jack warned. "They can be a bit testy." He barked a few odd-sounding phrases to the guard, who stepped aside, glaring at Will.

"You speak their language?" Will asked incredulously.

"Enough to get by," Jack shrugged. One of the women by the throne called something, and Jack replied, bringing the whole group to giggles. "Enough to get by very well," he grinned.

"So get us out of here!"

"Now, now. Patience, whelp. Didn't I teach you anything about waiting for the opportune moment?"

"And when exactly is that?" Will said, gritting his teeth. Jack tapped his chin thoughtfully.

"Preferably before the human sacrifice at midnight," he stated before he sauntered back to his throne.

Will's objections drowned out in the cheer from the crows as Jack joined them again. He looked down and saw Doll and Lijah chatting happily through the bars, Doll apologising profusely for the stabbing while admiring the finished bandage-like cover the savage had put on it.

"How can you take this so calmly?" he finally asked. He had expected his fragile daughter to faint from all that had happened, but she was looking as if she had never done anything but escape being a human sacrifice.

"Because Jack is here," Doll said firmly. "So that means we'll escape."

"Especially," Lijah piped in, "as long as the three of us take care of the escape plans."

ooo

"And that, lads and lasses, is the plan. Any questions?"

Jack stood up; erasing the figures he'd made in the sand, and looked at the crew expectantly. Most of the heads were nodding and talking excitedly among themselves, but a few still seemed unsure. Only one seemed downright ill, but the captain took no notice of it, he was too busy contemplating the coming night's events.

They had decided that the best approach would be some kind of a 'diversionary manoeuvre', and to quietly slip out of the camp while the 'savages'' attention was elsewhere. At this point Rowan pointed out that they were going to need on heck of a diversion to gain the attention of the whole tribe, and Jack, who had never been a man of moderation, suggested that a couple of random huts on fire would surely keep them occupied. Will had been outraged by the idea, but faced with the choice of either going with the plan, or staying around for 'supper', he'd fallen silent. Doll, on the other hand, was anything but quiet. She squirmed around in the cage uneasily, looking like she couldn't decide on which man she wanted to agree with. It was a terribly exciting adventure, but at the same time, it was also just terrible. But at last she put her mind at rest with the assurance that they would be able to re-build the village in no time. And besides, it wasn't like they were going to freeze, was it? Will shot Jack a dirty look, but didn't push the subject. There would be plenty of time for that when they came back to the ship.

Delila looked around the gathering, a feeling of dread gnawing on the inside of her stomach. It felt a bit like she'd imagined swallowing a live crab would be like. When Jack's idea about using fire had come up, a chill had ran down her spine, and she'd suddenly felt cold, even in the blazing, afternoon-sun. She hated fire, and for as long as she could remember, it had scared her witless.

"Are you okay?" a soft voice murmured in Delila's ear, making her jump slightly. She didn't turn around, there was no need. She knew who the voice belonged too.

"I'm fine. Just… you know."

There was no need for Delila to explain any further; Rolf was one of the few other who knew about her fear of flames. She had informed him of her phobia years ago, insisting that it was necessary for the captain and first mate to be totally honest with each other. There could be no secrets between them, especially not ones that were potentially damaging to the rest of the crew, and not to mention the ship. He patted her back soothingly.

"Don't worry about it, captain. You just stay here with captain Turner, and let the other's take care of the arson. We'll be on our way in no time. Now rest, it's still a few hours left of daylight."

She rubbed her arms carefully, watching the retreating back of her first mate. She fervently hoped that everything would go smoothly, the last thing they needed right now was a delay. Besides, the sooner it was over, the better. All she wanted right now was to get back to 'freedom'.

ooo

Curled up in her corner of the cage, Doll was starting to feel really tired of everything. It was just… too much. The bickering between Jack and her father, the whole adventure, it was too much. Even Lijah had abandoned her in favour of Rolf. She didn't even have the energy to be scared anymore, she just wanted to get up and hit something until it broke. And then hit it some more, and then jump on it.

But look at the bright side, she thought sarcastically. I get to watch a whole village burn to the ground!

"Hello?" Doll spun around in her sitting position as she heard a whispering voice behind her. She suddenly looked eye to eye with a kneeling man – one of the savages! He quickly raised a finger to his lips and hushed her. "Not afraid! You Jack-friend?"

"Uh-um-I…" Doll stammered, looking around. No one seemed to pay attention to her, but her father's presence in the other end of the cage calmed her down. She looked at the savage, who was smiling in what she hoped was a friendly way. It was a bit hard to tell with all those tattoos around his mouth.

"I-I'm Jack's friend… I guess," she answered, whispering so Will wouldn't hear her. He probably wouldn't approve of her talking to the man. There were a lot of things he didn't approve of. At the moment, Doll really couldn't care less.

The savage held out a hand through the sprinkles, sort of stiffly, like it wasn't a gesture he was used to. "Umbhugu-ogi 'd-buh."

Doll took his hand gingerly. "Barbarella Dolores Biskaya Turner. But you can call me Doll."

"Doll?" The name seemed to fit the guttural language perfectly.

"Yes! Doll. And you're… Umbu…?"

"Umbhugu-ogi 'd-buh."

Doll tried a few more times, making the man laugh and herself giggle helplessly, covering her mouth with her hand to keep it down.

"Can I call you… Ogi?

"Ogi," he nodded.

"So, um… you speak English?"

"Jack teach, last time."

"So you're a friend of his too?" Ogi nodded eagerly. "So… why do they want to… you know…" She nodded towards the crowd – there was a party developing now, and a bit away from the others, a man with many tattoos was sharpening a knife, occasionally glaring at Jack. Ogi's smile disappeared, and Doll swallowed nervously.

"Not good, killing Jack-friends," he said. "It is…" He said a word that Doll thought sounded like "choctor". He repeated it a few times, gesturing to the man with the knife.

"Jack said, wi-choctor."

"Choc… oh, witch doctor! He's the one saying that we have to die?" Ogi nodded. "But you don't want that, right?" Carefully shaking head; he was obviously afraid of the man. "Then help us! Please!"

Ogi shook his head vigorously. "He will kill… kill all, Jack, Ogi, all!"

"Then go with us!" Doll hissed. "Come with us on the ship, we can escape, all of us!" Ogi was almost invisible in the shadows; night had fallen without them noticing it.

"Doll!" The girl turned fearfully towards her father, who had discovered the secret. "Get away from there!"

"But Dad…"

Suddenly, they heard screaming. At the other end of the village, flames were dancing in the dusk, already devouring a small hut.

Doll turned towards Ogi with a pleading whisper: "Help us!"


Would you trust him? Or, the question is, would anyone but Doll trust him?
She really is more than a little naïve, poor girl. Rolf is going to have his hands full
with scared girls, isn't he?