Andy
I was to be 'first mate' on board The Dauntless, and Will the crew…according to Jack. Well, I was fine for the job given me, but Will had some trouble being lookout and swabbing the decks at the same time, so I gave him some help, occasionally. When he was on deck, I was in the 'nest, keeping watch over the waters. The Pearl was definitely out there, but barely a speck in the distance by telescope. We kept close watch and followed 'er day and night. We couldn't lose The Pearl. She was our freedom.
"Where d'ya think he's takin' her?" Jack asked me on the day our second week at sea began.
With some thought, I suddenly realized where it was heading. "Where would anyone with The Pearl take her, Jack?"
His head snapped around to face me. "No!"
"Yes. That's the direction he's headed."
"He can't know where the island is, can 'e? Everyone's searched, but we're the only ones who ever found Isla DeMuerta, Andy."
"How sure of that are you?"
With a questioning look, and a moment's pause looking up toward the sky, Jack answered, making indescribable and undecipherable hand gestures. "Almost certain." Then he changed his mind abruptly. "Well…Pretty sure"
I frowned. That wasn't what I'd expected to hear at all.
At my reaction to his words, Jack spoke again. "You see, the fact is…I'm pretty…not certain. We, uh, didn't really take any precautions to prevent others from entering the cave." The last words were stuttered and spoken quickly, since he knew the words were not ones I wished to hear.
Perfect. This is going well. I thought. Now we get to go to Isla DeMuerta and fight some man who's been made immortal since he stole Aztec gold coins from the stone crate and is cursed in the moonlight until he breaks the curse like all the other stupid bastards who wasted years of their lives doing the exact same…Just perfect. "Why did you do nothing?" I insistently inquired of him.
"Uh…" He tried to think of an excuse, but had no time to compose a good one. "Forgot?"
"'Forgot' is not good enough an excuse for this! How could you have forgotten, Jack?"
He flinched and a frown lingered at the corners of his lips. "Well, I'd just lost my crew…in fact, they'd left me on The Pearl, leaving me with nothing but a name, a blacksmith, and a governor's daughter. Hell, I was remotely put out at the time, Andy!" His temper rose visibly and I was in neither a position or mood for a fight.
"All right. I'm sorry, I just…don't want to lose 'er, Jack."
He heaved a deep sigh and stepped toward me. "I know." He sympathized. "Neither do I."