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14

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"How are you expecting us to get to Maple Cay without the use of your ship?" Erik asked. "It's quite far, you know. I don't see why we can't sail the Pearl."

"If I use my ship I'll have to let my crew know, of course. Besides, even if I didn't tell them they'd figure it out themselves if they looked out of their windows or went up on deck and saw the water moving outside. I don't want them there. Just you and I."

"How romantic," Erik retorted.

Jack ignored Erik's comment and continued. "We'll get there somehow... perhaps by hitching rides and so on?"

"Hitching rides? You mad, mad man. We'll never get there! Riding with strangers is dangerous."

"Sorry, mommy. I'll promise not to accept any of their candy, if it'll please you-- Unless it's good candy..."

They continued down the side of a busier road than they'd traveled before, watching various horse drawn carriages pass. "We need a ride now. I'm sticking my thumb out," Jack said, moving out to the road.

Erik grabbed at him. "No!" He yelled, trying to pull him away.

But it was too late and Jack's thumb had gone out, a carriage driver seeing it and stopping in front of Erik trying to clobber Jack in the open road. Erik stopped and looked up at the parked carriage driver. He stepped away from Jack, embarrassed.

Jack straightened himself out and approached the driver who sat above on the driver's perch. "Excuse me, sir. You wouldn't happen to have room for two, would you?" He asked, eyeing the carriage's empty seats.

The driver offered one curt nod at Jack. "Yes, Monsieur. Hop in," He said, a thick French accent apparent in his tone.

Jack rubbed his hands together happily and turned to Erik. "Oh, this is all so exciting!" He rejoiced, moving to the back of the carriage. He opened the door and entered the fancy vehicle's inside, planting himself on a seat. As he inspected the rich interior, Erik climbed in and sat in front of him on the opposite seat. He closed the door behind him.

The carriage immediately started up again. "Where are you headed?" The driver asked from his perch.

"Maple Cay," Jack replied.

"Ahh, Maple Cay," The man repeated. "I can take you until L'anse au Marin."

Jack turned to Erik. "Is that good?"

Erik nodded. "It's not that far from it."

"That will be fine, sir. Thank you." Jack replied to the man. The driver tipped his hat to Jack and pulled harder on the reigns he held in his hands.

To pass the time on their ride, Jack went about with counting carriages as they passed them. Erik wanted no part in this silly game and sat quietly in the carriage, staring at his shoes.

"Aw, come on man. You're not even going to admire the scenery? There's some beautiful things out here. Oh! Eighty two now!"

Erik shook his head. "No. I'm fine like this."

Jack shrugged. "Suit yourself, mate. Eighty three! Eighty four!"

Time went by... and then the carriage's flight came to a halt. The driver turned to look at Jack and Erik. "Monsieurs, we are here," he announced.

"Ah, yes. L'anse... something?"

"L'anse au Marin," Erik said calmly.

Jack leaned forward and extended a hand to the driver's. "Well, I thank you greatly, my good sir. You've been a real help."

The driver shook Jack's hand, but was not entirely focused on the action. His attention was placed more upon the strange fellow who Jack was traveling with. He seemed... very familiar. Yet the driver knew he had never seen him before. It was hard, though, judging from the top of a head. The driver had still not seen the man's face since he had found him familiar because Erik still was bent, staring down at his shoes as if they were the most interesting things he'd ever seen.

"Come on," Jack said, reaching over Erik to push open the carriage's door. He got out of the vehicle and placed his feet on the ground.

Erik lifted his head to look at Jack, then slid out from the carriage. Upon seeing the mask set on his face, the driver let out a gasp, finally realizing who his passenger had been. With the flick of his wrist, he started the horses up as quickly as he could. Erik was dismounting as the entire carriage took off from under his hands in a cloud of dust, roaring into the distance.

Erik stumbled back, regaining his balance. He looked off at the dusty trail and frowned, knowing that it was because of him that the driver had taken off in such a hurry.

"Wow, mate. What got into that guy?" Jack asked, without the slightest idea that Erik had been the reason for the man's fright. He moved to the side of the road, looking around. They were at the water's edge. Far away he could see the makings of a small island-like existence and he could only assume that it was Maple Cay. "You were right, it really is not that far away from here. Let's hitch another ride," he said, moving along the side, his thumb extended.

Several carriages passed by without so much as a thought of stopping for them. Erik was glad. He didn't like this 'hitching' business. It was no good, that driver was on to him. Everyone was on to him.

At once, a small wagon pulled by several donkeys stopped in front of Jack. Erik hid behind him, not wanting to be seen by whoever would be offering them a ride. An old man who was dressed shabbily in overalls and a straw hat, clearly a farmer's apparel, looked down at Jack from his own perch. "Where ya, headed?" He asked in a Welsh accent.

"English!" Jack cried in happiness. "Just over to Maple Cay, my good man."

"That's feasible. Climb aboard!"

Jack stepped forward, exposing Erik trying to hide in his shadow. He covered his cape over his face in a shady manner and followed Jack into the back of the makeshift wagon. The driver started up before they had managed to fasten the door back in its place. They took off with a jerk, bumping along the road. The wagon was dirty and the bottom had pieces of straw which probably were the remains of the load that had been transported before them.

As the time passed Jack watched as the island, which was Maple Cay, grow and grow before his eyes. When the driver stopped and announced that this was 'Maple Cay', Jack excitedly bid his thanks and pulled Erik, who was wrapped in his cloak, from the wagon in a hurry. He turned to wave to the nice farmer as he sped off, none the wiser of Erik unlike how the French driver had been. Perhaps it was because he had covered himself in his cape, perhaps it was because he was English and they were not as familiar with Paris's Phantom.

Erik let the cape come away from his face as they walked off through the wooded territory to the end of the land, where the water began. Jack placed a hand over his eyes to shield the afternoon sun as he peered ahead at the hunk of land, Maple Cay.

"There's no direct attachment, is there?" Jack asked, already knowing what the response would be and dreading it.

"No," Erik confirmed.

"Bloody hell. We'll have to hitch a boat ride now. And I have a feeling that it's going to be much more complicated than hitching a carriage ride."

He spotted a small dock along the shoreline and started off to it, Erik following reluctantly. He saw a man tying up a small rowboat to the dock along with several others that were already tied there. As he was about to approach him, he suddenly stopped, putting a hand out to stop Erik as well.

"What are you doing?" Erik asked Jack as he saw the man disappear after finishing with the tying of his boat. "Now he's gone and you can't ask him."

"We don't need to ask and put this man through the... uh... worry of lending out his boat and not getting it back. We'll just spare him said worry by using it under his nose. What he doesn't know won't hurt him."

"But, Jack. That's stealing!"

"No it's not, it's borrowing. There's a difference. You'll see."

Erik frowned as Jack walked down the dock's length and picked out one of the boats. He began untying the rope from its holding spot. When the boat was free, he led it over to the shore where Erik stood and nudged his head in his direction. "Get in."

Erik got in, even though he was against the whole idea. Jack jumped in after him and the boat began floating slowly away from the shoreline. Jack bent down, rummaging underneath the boat's seats. He grabbed the paddles and handed one to Erik. "Please tell me you know how to use one of these."

Erik grabbed it away from Jack angrily and placed its end in the water. "Of course I do! I used to have a boat once myself, you know."

Jack inserted his paddle into the water as well and they began rowing. "Alright, alright, Good! Don't go off on me! How was I supposed to know that?"

Erik growled and did not reply, focusing on rowing the small boat. It brought back vast memories of his opera lair and when he used to row through the lake to get to his home. For some reason the rowing seemed to calm him and put him in a state of tranquility. He glance over at Jack and for a moment saw his lovely Christine sitting next to him, smiling as she watched her tutor row.

"Why are you looking at me like that? Huh?" Jack asked curiously, breaking Erik from his thoughts. He shook them off, feeling confused.

"No reason," he replied in a small voice.

Their conversation was interrupted when the boat banged into the island and slid up on shore, startling both men. Nevertheless, they placed the paddles back under the seats and hopped out of the boat, fastening it to a nearby tree with the cord that had tied it to the dock.

They began up the sandy plain, Jack inspecting it for any sign of a large gap. When they had been around the island several times and had come up with nothing, they stopped. Jack tilted his head downwards, thinking.

"What did that old man tell you?" Erik asked.

"He said he was fishing here one day and a large ship came. Then the sands went all flying around and a hole formed. The ship disappeared into the hole, he approached it and jumped in. And that was their secret headquarters."

Erik nodded, now thinking about the situation in great detail, himself. "Ah, I see. Well, I'm the master of secret passage usage. I know all the little tricks. It shouldn't be too hard. I'm sure their techniques are not even as advanced as mine in the least," Erik boasted, pacing around on the sands. "The man told you he had been fishing?"

"Yes."

"Then it would have to be located on the east side of the island."

"Since when do you know anything about fishing?"

"Never doubt my knowledge, Mr. Sparrow. For underestimating the Phantom will bring great tragedy."

Jack raised his eyebrow. "I'll make a note of that..."

"Follow me," Erik said simply, beginning off in the island's eastern direction. They stood on the east side, right next to the water. "And he said that he had seen a ship?"

"Yes, but I highly doubt that we'll see that ship right now."

"Ah, don't be too sure of everything," Erik replied, smiling at Jack.

Jack looked at him as though he were mad. "What do you mean?"

"I mean look ahead."

Jack turned his head to look ahead. He couldn't believe his eyes! He was seeing the largest ship he'd ever seen in his life! James had not been exaggerating when he'd said that this group had things nobody had every laid their eyes upon.

"I don't understand..." Jack began, watching the ship in a daze as it moved over to the left and passed over the sands. The wind shifted and carried the sand into the air. It swirled in a frenzy around the island and Erik and Jack.

"We can't stay here!" Erik yelled over the high winds. He covered himself in his cape, as he had in the Welsh man's carriage, then proceeded to cover Jack in his own cape. He pulled Jack by the hand away from the water, heading in the direction of the large ship. An opening began forming between the sands, just as Jack had said the old man had told him, and the ship moved in its direction, slipping underneath in seconds.

"Hurry!" He yelled, pulling Jack. They ran against the forceful winds, finally reaching the hole. "Are you ready?" He asked, looking at Jack through a small opening he had left with his cape so he could see. Jack looked back at him from his own opening and nodded. "We go now, then!" He yelled over the roaring wind and sand. "Hold on tight!" He said, placing a fierce grip upon Jack's hand.

Just as the hole was shrinking into nothingness, Erik jumped, pulling Jack. They fell through a long, dark path and hit the ground. Jack saw the rock that James had told him he'd hid behind all those years ago. He nodded his head towards the rock, Erik understanding, and they hid behind, frightened to death of what would happen next.