Hey everyone, sorry for the long wait. This is kind of a filler chapter but it's got some action so enjoy!
P.S. I don't own POTC blah blah blah…
Chapter 9
The Painted Eye
Jack and Rebecca stood at the Black Pearl's wheel, watching the coast of Tortuga as it drew closer. Smiling, Jack some how got the feeling of home from this strange town. Rebecca moved from his side and leapt down the stairs to join Will and Elizabeth at the bow as they pulled into the harbor and docked just off shore.
Anchoring just a little ways out, they lowered a row boat, bound Gillette and rowed a shore. On the dock, men greeted him warmly with waves of their hands and happy calls. Jack waved back, unsure as to whom they were.
"Captain Jack, you're back!" One man called merrily. He dropped the crate he was holding into the arms of another man and swaggered over to the bewildered pirate. He regarded Jack with raised eyebrows. "New look?" Jack let his eyes wander across this strange sight. The man was wearing a pair of ragged pants, pulled tight across his waist with a string. The jacket pulled taught over his wide shoulders and barrel belly barely covered the flower patterned shirt beneath. Jack nearly smiled. "Well, it suits you if you don't mind me saying." Then he spotted Will. "And this is the child of Bill, isn't it?"
Moving around Jack, the man shook Will's hand, his eyes never lingering on the two beautiful women in their midst. Jack suddenly figured out this man's orientation. "Um," He cleared his throat loudly and the floaty pirate turned, halfway through his examination of the bound Navy man. "We'll just be on our way then." Nodding, Jack saluted the stranger and tugged on Gillette's ropes, pulling the stiff young man up the dock. A fluttery voice called after them.
"Beware of Sapphire! She's on the rampage!" Jack shook his head and turned up a shadowy path that Jack knew, subconsciously, would take him into Tortuga. Will somehow got up beside him and walked steadily, watching him curiously. Jack raised an eyebrow.
"Yes, Will? I know you have something you evidently want to say to me." Will smiled slyly and Jack suddenly got what he was thinking. "No."
"Come on, Jack. How do you know?" Suddenly, a woman stepped out in front of them. Though beautiful at one time, she had seemed to shrink in the bleak air of Tortuga, no place for women. Her torn dress hung raggedly from her left shoulder, the once glistening red velvet now matted and dull. Her make up was slightly smudged but the evil leer on her face was what made Jack step back into Gillette. With out a word, her hand flashed out and smacked him across the face with such force it knocked Jack harder into Gillette who in turn rammed into Elizabeth. With a daggered glance at Rebecca, the woman took off up the path and into the sunbathed town beyond. "Never mind, too many women slap you for him to be yours."
Jack flexed his jaw for a second and then glared at Will. "That would be Sapphire." He grumbled, pulling Gillette along with far more force then was necessary. "We'll sail out as soon as we have enough supplies…bloody Norrington." Will smiled and glanced at Elizabeth whose face failed to defy emotion. She was still friends with Norrington and Jack's verbal game was probably taxing on her.
The town of Tortuga was swift and loud, babbling in his ears like some unseen brook. Glancing around, Jack pulled Gillette into the nearest shop and pushed him gently in to the corner of the small, dusty room. A woman behind the counter looked up, startled and then smiled.
"Well Jack Sparrow." She whispered, coming around the counter. Jack's eyes shifted to the baked bread on the shelves behind her and breathed deep the wonderful, warm smell. "I was beginning to think you were never coming back."
Jack watched her closely, trying to come up with her name. Her face, smiling at him in the dusty light was familiar yet he couldn't place her. Black hair, curled tightly and unnaturally, bounced perfectly around her olive face. Her smile lit up the room and sent shudders through his body. The realization that he had spent very private moments with her exhilarated and frightened him.
"Breathe my name, like you always do." She whispered, her lips brushing against his ear. Jack shivered and reached up, wrapping his hands in her soft tresses, forgetting Elizabeth, Will and Rebecca in the doorway.
"Um…" Jack whispered, biting his lip as her mouth traced the contours of his throat. "I don't remember your name…"
The woman stepped back suddenly, her brown eyes widening. Hurt and anger etched into the soft lines around her mouth and threatened to consume her beautiful face. It was amazing how she could go from an angelic being to a demon. Stepping back didn't bring him out of harm's way as her small, delicate hand snaked out and stung his face.
Trying to compose herself, she walked back behind the counter, patting her hair and then leaned across the top. Glaring into her eyes, she growled, "My husband is in the Faithful Bride. If you're looking for supplies go there, as usual and leave me be. I don't know why you tempted me so." Jack felt a twinge of guilt…a need to explain himself. He stepped forward but a light grip on his arm halted him. Elizabeth was trying to pull him back. Sighing, with one last look at the nameless woman, he grabbed Gillette and left, rubbing his cheek. There were a lot more women in Tortuga. How many more had he pissed off?
"How ironic." Rebecca said quietly outside of the bakery. "Her husband is in the Faithful Bride and yet she goes behind his back." She eyed Jack with an icy look and moved off down the street ahead of them.
The Faithful Bride, a dingy pub in the heart of town, wasn't as bustling as it would have been had night fallen. Still, the place was crowded and loud. A few fights were breaking out left and right, some whores were making love with pirates in the back and the bar tender was humming gently to himself, a song Jack definitely recognized but couldn't place.
Elizabeth smiled as the strains of the man's song filled her ears and she began chanting under her breath. Jack couldn't hear the words but his tongue longed to sing along, as if the words were fighting to break loose from his lips.
The bar tender looked up as he rapped on the bar top and growled angrily when he recognized him. "Oh it's you. Damn you Sparrow." Jack's brow furrowed but he stayed silent, wanting to know why he was being damned. "You are your damn song. If you're thinking of leading the whole bar in a cor…cora…"
"Chorus?" Jack offered helpfully. The barman waved a hand at him in dismissal.
"Yes, that. If you intend to lead the men in that song again, don't. It's been stuck in my head for three weeks now…Yo Ho,Yo Ho."
Jack leaned on the bar top and opened his mouth to ask for the woman's husband's name but he realized he didn't know it. "Ah…um…" Squinting, he suddenly got an idea. "I promise I won't sing if you correctly answer some questions about me." The man raised an eyebrow and gulped, looking worried. "Question the first. What is my full name?" The man looked visibly relieved.
"Captain Jack Sparrow…the Captain as or more important then 'Jack'." Jack nodded, smiling.
"Question the second. Who do I usually get my supplies from?" The man's eyes shifted through the bar to a man sitting beneath a lovely woman with red hair and a red dress. Jack's eyes shifted as well and he made an ecstatic 'ah'. "Thank you."
The man glanced up as Jack approached and smiled, showing mossy teeth. "Jack." He said, shifting the woman off of him. The woman pursed her lips and watched Jack with anticipation but he wasn't sure why. Handing Gillette off to the Black Smith, Jack took a seat across the table and smiled. "What can I do for you?"
"I need supplies." Jack said simply. The man grinned and took a sip from a tankard at his side.
"I need money, Jack. You know I can't work for free." Jack sighed and glanced at the woman who was still watching him.
"How about keeping my lips sealed on your little love affair?" He asked, looking back to his business associate. The other man smiled.
"How many times do we have to go through this, huh? You are always saying, "Megan, give me this, Megan give me that. And I am always saying I need cash. No money, no deal. My wife knows about Scarlet." Jack eyed the woman for a second and then turned back to Megan.
"So no accord?" Megan shook his head. "Fine. I'll take my business else where." Slowly Jack stood and reached out, grabbing Megan's tankard and drinking deeply. Rum slipped down his throat, burning his mouth but feeling better then breathing. Licking his lips, he went to set the rum down but Megan grabbed his wrist.
"I think you and I can come to an agreement. Come to my home tonight and we'll get what you need." Jack grinned and twisted his wrist away from his grip. As he straightened, Scarlet's hand flew out and smacked him across the face.
"That was for ignoring me and not getting mad when I was with another man." She screamed. "I thought you loved me." Confused, Jack wobbled away with Elizabeth's hand on the small of his back.
In the middle of no where, Anamaria stoked the fire as it crackled and faces grew sparking in its depths. They smiled at her wicked and cruel, calling for her to come forward and join them.
"Ana," Gibbs growled and plopped down heavily next to her. "Macks is still gone, Cotton is getting sick and the men are hungry." He stared at her as though she could change this. Anamaria sighed and looked around. The men were huddled around their own little fires, talking quietly. Many speculated on their dwindling numbers and the loss of their captain, who all though invincible. Jack…where was he.
"Help, some one help me!" A voice called from the dark trees. Everyone jumped up and rushed over to Conry who was helping a bloody Macks walk. The man was covered in blood, deep gashes, like claw marks marred his tanned face and shredded his shirt and pants. Sweat prickled on his forehead and threatened to wash him away.
They settled the injured man under a palm tree and Gibbs began taking stock of his injuries. Anamaria gasped as the full weight of what they saw hit them. Black bruises marred the brown skin beneath and white puss leaked from his wounds.
"Get light over here." Gibbs yelled. Marty rushed forward with a make shift torch and held it up so they could all see. Gibbs slowly lifted the lifeless man's eye lids and saw the rings around the colored part were tinged blue and glowed. The pupil was no longer round but triangled. With a hissing breath, Macks blinked Gibb's fingers away and growled.
To My Reviewers:
Stickbug: I already replied to you so you know the deal. LOL. Keep reading and I hope you still like it.
Linwe Elendil No, I've never seen the show Monk, sorry, maybe I should just so I know what you mean. Anyway, I know what you mean by proof reading, I really should but usually it's just hard enough to find time to write and I have about 5 other stories I have to keep going on, because I bit off more then I could chew. LOL. Anyway, thanks for the review and I hope you keep enjoying this story.
DarkoBender The singing ladies will be, in my mind, a really big deal. We'll see what's up with them, I have to start adding more clues. LOL.
blackmagic365: Um, yes, Eulogy for an angel will be updated soon. Chapter nine will hopefully be put up tomorrow but that depends on how far I get on my English essay. Until that's done, I won't be writing anything. We'll see if Jack and Lydia are still alive...keep an eye out for it.
alexwacrap: Awe, you almost forgot my little story? Sniff. Oh well. No offence was taken to your sense of humor. When you've lived in my family for as long as I have, you get to see all sides of humor so…LOL. Thank you for your review, it made me glow with pride.
williz Thanks a lot. The sirens? Well that's very interesting…we'll see.
forceflow46: Awe, thank you so much. Hearing you…reading you…saying things like that about my writing makes it all worth while. You're the best and expect an email update from me tonight…or yesterday or what ever, depending on when you get the email.
Elessar-Lover: Thanks! And here's your update.
TO ANYONE I MAY HAVE MISSED OR WHO ISN'T REVIEWING, THANK YOU ALL!