Part 8

Notes: An attempt to do a movie-style montage. I wish I was making a film….

Elizabeth lifted her skirts to climb over the railing into the long boat, revealing her square-toed boots. (Regetti's heels hadn't fit her.) Jack and Will stood on the deck, watching her. "She looks good," Jack remarked.

"Too good," Will agreed.

"Well. May the best man win." Jack hurried over the rail to sit next to Elizabeth.

"Hey!"

"I've devised a plan," Elizabeth said as they were rowing to shore. She took Jack's old compass from her pocket. "Right now the idea of what we want is too vague. We need specifics on this man--what he looks like, how he acts--so I can get a clear enough picture in my head to set a course to him."

"That's a good plan," Jack agreed. "I didn't know you still had that thing."

"It was yours Jack. I could never part with it." She caught Will glaring. "Oh, Don't look at me like that. My sword is the one you made me as a wedding present."

"The wedding that never happened." Will looked at Jack.

On shore, Jack decided it would be best to split up. "Elizabeth and I will check the pubs, Will, you go to all the whore houses and see what can be learned of Ely the Gent."

"I'm not leaving you alone with Elizabeth. Besides, you are more familiar with the whores than I am."

"Exactly. They wont talk to me."

Elizabeth rolled her eyes. "Jack, you visit the pubs. Will, you to the whores. I'm going to search for the rest of my crew, and question the ppl in the streets."

"Not alone, not dressed like that," Will insisted.

"I'll take Mary with me. Go."

The bartender at the Scalawag: "Aye, Ely the Gent. I know 'im. Good lookin' chap, blond hair. Tips well. A right Gentleman he is."

Scarlet: "If you see that Ely the Gent, you tell him to come see me. He knows how to do it, that's for sure. Has an enormous…."

Jim One Eye: "I didn't say nothing' 'bout you to anyone, Captn' ma'am. I ain't interested in coming back to the Pearl though. That Regetti fellow made fun of me eye patch. You look awful pretty in that dress, Captn.' "

Stumpy the Beggar: "You thinks I was always like this? Nay. T'was Ely the Gent that's done it to me. I wish he'd kilt me."

Deirdre the Soiled: "I don't do no more business wit the Gent. 'E's not a man you wants to be dealing wit. Tall, dark an' 'andsome, but none o' the other girls want anything to do wit 'im, so he comes to Deirdre. And I tells 'im I want gold, and 'e agrees, an' gives me real coin. So I lets him do as he pleases. Not that I could 'ave stopped 'im." She starts to lift up her skirt. "I lets you see the scars for a pence."

Apple seller at the market: "I met him on one or two occasions miss. Nice chap. The two of thee look a lot alike. Aye, you could be the same person."

The pig boy at the Kinsmen Inn: "We used to have a few sheep too. That was before Ely the Gent came in all drunk a few months ago. I didn't know animals could scream."

What have you got?" Jack asked when they met together in the street.

"My crew is loyal," Elizabeth said, "except…no one's seen Seamus since he left the Pearl."

"I've got descriptions of two very different men," Will said. "And neither of them appear to be Elizabeth."

"I would hope not, unless our Miss Elizabeth is even more interesting than I thought. I got three descriptions. One of Elizabeth, one of a tall dark man, and one of a fair one. And the stories are just as varied as the men. There are too many Ely the Gents running around this town."

"You all say Ely the Gent?" A young woman holding a baby approached them. "What news do you have? I haven't seen him in months, and he promised me he would bring me money for our son." Her voice was high, nervous. "Tell me, do you have news of the Governor's Heart?"

Jack and Will both stared at Elizabeth. "Been keeping a secret from us, luv?"

"Oh, bugger off the both of you!" She approached the girl, her heart sinking. "Your Ely? He was a kind man with a warm smile who liked to laugh?"

"Aye. And he is the most beautiful man, with--"

"Blond hair and blue eyes," Elizabeth finished. She looked at the baby, and saw Kim's face staring back at her. "I'm sorry. The Heart was in a storm, Ki--Ely didn't make it. He's dead."

The girl looked at her, wide-eyed. She couldn't have been more than seventeen. "No. It's not possible."

Elizabeth reached into the pocket of her skirt, bypassing the compass and feeling for the silver watch. "Here. This was his." She pushed the watch into the girl's shaking hand. "And take these too." There were a few coins in her pocket. "I know they aren't much…he was a good man."

"You weren't…I mean, I know he was very popular among the womenfolk."

"Just a friend. My name's…Kim. I used to sail on the Heart."

"Patricia. And this here is Ely Junior. He's really gone?"

Elizabeth nodded. "I'm afraid so. But he died--he died trying to protect me. A good man," she said again.

She turned back to Jack and Will. "So your first mate is the one we're looking for," Will said. "And he's already dead."

"No," Elizabeth replied. "It's the other one. The dark one. I think we have enough information for the compass to get a bearing on him. Back to the ship, boys. We have a murderer to catch."

She moved quickly in the direction of the dock, Will and Jack following behind. "Since when did she start giving the orders?" Will complained.

"Just shut up and do as your told," Jack replied with a grin.

Will looked back at the girl with the baby, staring at the watch in her hand as tears streamed down her face. This Kim fellow , he thought. It's a good thing he's dead. That girl could have been Elizabeth.