Author's Note: Here is the eighth chapter!

Chapter Eight

The next day passed in much the same fashion as the previous one. The only difference came a late in the evening when from the crows nest there came the call of "Land! It's Port Royal, Captain!"

"Right", Jack said, "Head for the cave."

"What cave?" Norrington, who was starting to sweat, said anxiously.

"Calm down Commodore, there's a hidden cave among a bunch of coral a little distance away, and we can row to Port Royal from there. No one will find the Black Pearl or ye."

"You better be right Sparrow" Norrington said.

"Captain Sparrow," Jack corrected automatically, "and I am right." After Jack saw that his ship was safely hidden and was not at all visible, he got into a rowboat and started rowing toward the dock.

He had decided he would go alone. It took Jack about fifteen minutes to row to the dock. When he got there it was deserted as Jack had figured it would be. As it was later in the evening Jack had expected everyone to be off drinking and having fun.

He tied his boat up and started walking, the only place he knew to look for Will was in the blacksmith shop, where he figured he was probably still hard at work. When Jack got there he took a peek in the window and found he was indeed right. He could just make out Will pounding away on some piece of metal.

Jack quietly went around the back and picked the lock of the door, and then he stealthily entered. Once inside he crept up behind Will and watched him for a minute before he said, "Still hard at work whelp?"

Will jumped about a foot in the air and whipped around, reaching for his sword. "Jack!" he exclaimed in shock when he saw who his visitor was. "What are you doing here?"

"Good to see ye to William" Jack said with a grin.

Will seemed unable to make a coherent sound; finally he managed to say, "How did you get in? Both the doors are locked."

"Son, I'm Captain Jack Sparrow, savvy? Doors don't mean much to me", then he started looking warily around the shop.

"What's wrong?" Will asked, spotting how he was staring around him.

"Well, last time I was here, I was hit over the head with a glass bottle. I'm just trying to prevent it from happening again."

"Oh no, you don't have to worry about that, Mr. Brown died a few months ago. The shop is mine now." Will said.

"Ah well good for ye! Bad for Brown though" Jack said.

"Listen Jack, how did you get here? Where is your ship and your crew?"

"They're safe, I just decided it was time to visit me old mates" Jack said with a grin. "Speaking of which, where is Elizabeth?"

"Oh, she's at her house, did you know we are engaged now?" Will said eagerly.

"Good for ye whelp, ye must have wooed here after all", Jack said with another grin.

"She's going to be surprised to see you, speaking of which, how long are you planning on staying?" Will asked anxiously, "You could get caught and this time if they try to hang you Commodore Norrington is not here to let you off."

"Actually Will, that's part of the reason I came" Jack said seriously, "I've heard of what happened to Norrington. Can ye get Elizabeth 'cause I have some questions."

"What kind of questions do you have?" Will asked curiously.

"Plenty of them, so can ye get Elizabeth?" Jack said somewhat impatiently.

Will nodded and said he could, then he told Jack that he should probably stay in the shop as it would not be good at all for him to be seen in the streets of Port Royal. Jack agreed to this and once Will had left he settled down near the donkey, who eyed him warily and inched away.

Jack took a bottle of rum from his coat pocket, and took a swig. He sighed; he hadn't realized how much he had missed Will and Elizabeth until he had seen Will again. Luckily for Jack he didn't have too much time to wait to see Elizabeth too. He heard the door opening and Elizabeth entered looking around. "Jack! I wasn't sure whether to believe Will or not when he said you were here!" Elizabeth exclaimed when she spotted him.

"'Ello luv" Jack said with a grin.

"You didn't lose the Black Pearl again did you?" Elizabeth asked.

"No one's ever takin' the Pearl from me again" Jack said, his face darkening for a moment. "The Pearl is hidden, safe and sound."

"Oh, good, I was worried for a moment there" Elizabeth said, relieved. "How have you been Jack?"

"Life's good, enjoyin' me freedom, and of course the Black Pearl." Jack said.

"Jack, Will says you have questions about James?" Elizabeth said, getting right down to the point.

"Aye, but first I want to know if you two believe what they say he did?" Jack asked.

"No we don't. We think it is a disgrace that anyone would think the Commodore capable of rape" Will said furiously.

Elizabeth nodded in agreement and said, "I'm just glad he was able to escape."

"What do you think Jack?" Will asked curiously.

"Well whelp, it's just like I told the Commodore, I don't think he even likes bending the law, let alone breaking it to pieces with a crime as heavy as rape." Jack replied.

Will and Elizabeth just stared at him for a moment until Elizabeth finally said, "Just like you told him? You've seen James?"

"Aye" Jack said with a sly grin, "he's aboard the Black Pearl as we speak."