Chapter 11
Dreams

"Thomas!" Cassandra called down the hall with a laugh. She hurried down the hallway of the small home. "Where are you?" She squealed when he jumped out at her, wrapping an arm around her waist. She dropped the laundry that had been freshly folded and giggled.

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A young girl raced through the darkened streets of Nottingham, her dark hair long as it cascaded down her back. She was only 14. The small pay she had earned was tucked in her pocket as she rushed past the slurred threats that whispered from the shadows

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Thomas stood and faced a youthful looking Brigand. "I am aware that you've had contact with pirates in regards to this treasure," Brigand said, his voice low and gravelly.

"Sir, I was attempting to obtain information regarding this fictitious treasure. I believed that if I could prove to you that it didn't exist, you wouldn't insist on dragging the entire crew on a death mission. No one has ever returned with anything that proves its existence. What makes you think that it's not some figment of an old pirate's imagination?"

"Sparrow."

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Jack tipped back in his chair, bringing the bottle to his lips, some running down his chin as he was already drunken and about to pass out.

"You know," he said, "it just doesn't fit, this whole thing doesn't fit together. Genevieve needed a reason to go on board the Ruby. She doesn't know what happened to her father. He could've been eaten by a shark rather than murdered."

"You'd be surprised what a crew will do to a man if he's in a position of rebellion," Xander said, his words not even slurred because he had only been sipping his drink. Jack was a guzzler.

"Trust me, I wouldn't," Jack said darkly, his eyes glinting in the candlelight as he held the bottle up to examine what was left of the dark liquid.

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Gen sat up in bed, her breath catching in her throat. "Sparrow."

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The next morning...

"Rise and shine," Xander said as he kicked Jack's legs off the table.

Jack stumbled and fell to the floor, grumbling about something under his breath, but never opened his eyes.

"Come on, we got a treasure to search for."

At that, Jack's eyes popped open comically and he scrambled up, tripping over the fallen chair and cursing under his breath as he glared at Xander.

"What the hell time is it?" he growled.

"Late enough," Xander said, "now come on, we have a treasure to find."

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Genevieve groaned as she heard pounding at the door. She had shoved the desk of Sparrow's in front of it to keep him out. Growling low in her throat, she crawled out of bed and across the floor, dragging the blankets from the bed with her.

It took her a few moments to push the desk back, but she finally heaved to door open and gaped at Jack and Xander.

"It is early. What do you want?"

Jack dipped low and scooped her over his shoulder, the blankets dragging on the floor as he carried her.

"Put me down Sparrow, or I swear I'll kill you."

Jack just laughed and continued. "Payback for me rum."

"Ah, you're just a bit touchy about it, eh?"

"If you drank it all, I'll just toss you over to the sharks."

"Put me down and I'll show you where I hid it."

"Where you hid-?" he stopped, his face reddening for a second until he saw Xander grinning at them both.

"What the bloody hell are you laughing at?"

"Well, as a matter of fact, I'm laughing at the two of you. You certainly make quite a picture."

"Sparrow put me down and I'll help you kill him," Gen said, trying to shove the hair out of her face to glare at Xander.

"You think this is funny? The girl stole my bloody rum!" Jack said, pulling Xander up by the collar with one hand while he balance Gen, then he stopped, his color leveling out as he calmed down. "Why don't you go secure the rowboat Xan, because if I kill this girl, I don't want any witnesses."

"Certainly," Xander said, laughing as he walked away.

"Sparrow, put me down, honestly, where am I gonna go?"

"To the island with Xander and I."

"What! What the hell do you think you're doing? I thought you were going to take me back to Port Royal. You said you would." She wriggled in his grasp and he almost dropped her to the deck.

"And I take orders from girls so well," Jack said dryly, "I don't remember promising anything."

"Why do I have to go?"

"Because I don't trust you on the ship alone with my men."

"What," she said, "scared I'll sail off without you?"

"No, I just want to make sure you're still alive when I get back," he said with a smirk.