Disclaimer: I don't own POTC. Or LJS.

Chapter 53: Cracking the Pirate's Code

Camille cried, along with Gretchen and Priscilla. But not because she was scared; she cried over Jack Sparrow. The man had caused her a great deal of pain, not only physically but mentally. And it was nobody's fault but her own. Jack had told her from the very beginning that he was an apathetic, conniving pirate. It hadn't been his fault she had fallen so hard for him. No, it was her own. But she still hated Jack for using her.

They sat in that cell for days before the one legged pirate came down again. He looked maniacally at the four unfortunate young people. None of them made any effort to move when he entered, except of course, for Camille.

Long John snorted. "Still as bold as ever, Quartermaine," he jeered, poking at her with his crutch through the bars.

She pushed it away. "What do you want? And you haven't been keeping your end of the bargain either, we've gone two days without food."

"My dear, I would hardly call two days starving. You and I seem to have very different perceptions of that word."

"So it would seem."

"The ship will be weighin' anchor very shortly. You have any last wishes you'd like me leave unfulfilled?"

"That doesn't even make sense," she retorted angrily. "And it is going to be you who is lying on your back, looking up at us when this is over," she said bravely. Thank God for those metal bars, though. She could certainly talk big, but just like her first conversation with Jack she had been scared stupid.

As Long John left the brig muttering things like "wretched woman" under his breath, she slumped down against the side of the wall. Jack. The very sound of his name made her want to wretch. I guess this is why I haven't read any stories about women falling in love with pirates, she thought bitterly. He had…talked to her; about his childhood, about his past, his adventures at sea. And he was interesting. Plus he'd been-well, he'd feigned interest in her. She couldn't help but sob softly again.

Little Priscilla snuggled up against her, trying to comfort her. "I'm sorry, Miss Camille," she said.

"Thank you, darling," Camille choked. Neither Gretchen nor Gabriel said a thing. They didn't want to ask the burning question: What had gone on between Camille and Jack?

Camille quit crying after a bit, and began adjusting her position in the cell. "Ouch!" she cried as something jabbed her in the side.

Gabriel glanced over. "What is it?"

Camille sighed, pulling out the poetry of William Wordsworth. "It's this damned book," she said, tossing it aside. When she did, a small piece of parchment flew out.

The four grabbed at it, unfolding it carefully and reading it silently:

4/6

For Camille

The days wer simply wonderful,

and the nights in between,

stroking your cheek

burying my face in your hair, and

Losing all connekshion with the outside world,

and the memery of the constant hunger within

queled

By your beauty

your grace

your simlicity

These things would phail to catch the eye of the common man

But I see

that you stand right out

Right out agains a sea of wrongs

Washing, turning

against the tide of lonliness

that resedes

Gretchen finished reading first. "Well, the man's got a good heart. I'm afraid I can't say the same about his education, though. Just look at all those grammatical errors!" she pointed out.

"I think it's romantic," Priscilla said. "Besides, he can't be expected to spell every little world correctly, can he?"

Camille poured over the piece of parchment. It was without a doubt Jack's handwriting. But he was certainly a fairly well-educated man. She'd seen letters written by him before. "This is a code," she realized out loud. "All of the mistakes mean something," she continued. She looked around. "If only we had something to write with."

"Here's something!" announced Gabriel, revealing his pocketknife that he had hidden away when they had boarded the ship. "Go on, I'll carve it into the wood."

Camille, Gretchen, and Priscilla all put their heads together and found the mistakes, telling Gabriel the correct letters to carve.

"The first one is an 'e'. He left it off the end of 'were'."

"And the way that he spelled 'connection'. It should read 'c' and then 't'."

"Don't forget the 'o' in 'memory'!"

"'Quelled'. Shouldn't that have another 'l' in it?"

"'By your…simlicity'? He must have meant 'simplicity'. Put the letter 'p' up there."

"'Fail' should be with an 'f', not 'ph'."

"He's left off the 't' at the end of 'against'."

"And he skipped over the first 'e' in 'loneliness'."

"The last letter should be 'c', because he spelled 'recedes' wrong."

"Is that it?" Gabriel asked, carving out the last of the letters.

"I'm fairly certain," Camille said, looking the poem over twice more. "But what does it spell?"

But the letters didn't spell out a word. All that was carved into the wood before them were the letters in the order that they had been given to Gabriel.

ECTOLPFTEC

Gretchen sighed. "They must be scrambled. This could take a very long time."

"Well, it's not like we have much of a choice," Camille said. Her mind was already trying to make sense of the letters. But nothing came to mind. They were all baffled until Priscilla piped up.

"Look, it says that he wrote this poem in April. Was it for your birthday, Miss Camille?" she asked curiously.

Camille looked at the date scribbled in the top right hand corner of the parchment. It read "4/6". Her eyes widened. "Of course, it's so simple!" she exclaimed. "Four and six. The first word has four letters to it and the other has six!" she said.

Now that they knew it was two words instead of just one, their hope had been restored. Finally… "I've got it!" Gretchen announced triumphantly. "Unscrambled, the letters say 'Left Pocket'."

Only Camille and Gabriel wore trousers, and they both reached in at the same time. Camille brought out a set of keys, dumbfounded. They were the keys to the cells.

The rest cheered, but her heart sank. Jack had truly cared about her. He had been trying to protect her the whole time, giving her this chance to escape. But it was too late now. "I'm not going," she said shortly, killing the small celebration.

"But Camille, you must," Gabriel insisted. He unlocked the cell and stood up. "Look, we're free! We can take a lifeboat to shore, we can escape from Long John and Sparrow!"

"And what good would that do us? We'll still be on the same island as them," Camille insisted, not budging from her position in the cell.

"But we'll be alive. Please Miss Camille, come with us," Priscilla begged.

She shook her head. "I can't."

Gabriel looked at her sadly. "Camille, if this is about Jack…"

"No, it's not about him. This is about my mother. She died protecting that Gate, and I'm not going to run away now. It's my responsibility to get that key and guard the treasure."

Gretchen looked at Camille, finally understanding. She got back in the cell, and sat next to Camille. "I'm staying as well."

Camille looked up. "What? Gretchen, no. It's far too dangerous."

Gretchen looked back at them all stubbornly. "I'm in no more danger than you are," she stated.

"No, Gretchen come with us," Gabriel pleaded. "With one bloodline, the Gate can't be opened anyhow."

"He's right. I'll be fine. Now go," Camille said.

But Gretchen shook her head. "No, my mother was involved as well. Besides, I'm the oldest now, I've got to protect my siblings." She hugged Gabriel and Priscilla. "Now I want both of you to get into one of the lifeboats and row as fast as you can until you get to shore."

"Whatever you see or hear, don't make your presence know to anyone," Camille added. "I'll see to it that you see your sister again, I swear it," Camille said bravely. "Hurry, before somebody sees that you're out."

It took a lot of convincing, but finally Gabriel and Priscilla agreed to get into a lifeboat as Gretchen and Camille lowered them noiselessly into the water. There was a thick curtain of fog beginning to set, so it wasn't long until the little boat disappeared.

Camille shoved the ring of keys back into her pocket, putting her arm around Gretchen. "That was a very brave thing you did. And it's going to count for something, when the time comes," she said solemnly. She dropped the deciphered code into the water, for she had already memorized the words.

There was really no reason for them to go back to brig, since they were now on that pirate ship willingly. They both sat down on deck, and Gretchen was finally able to ask Camille about her and Jack. Camille took a deep breath, and was able to tell her the whole story. There were many times when the two of them would simply burst out laughing, but when it ended they were both holding each other, crying.