Andy
"Will, about Elizabeth…" I began, as the day started anew.
His head jerked around from the wandering waves to face me, to catch my eyes in his wondering gaze. "What of her?"
"Her name was mentioned yesterday, yet you seemed not to care or even to notice; and still you act as if…nothing. Is everything all right?"
Will turned to the ground, suddenly deciding to avoid my concerned and inquisitive eyes. He didn't speak for a while, it seemed…uncomfortable for him to say anything in response.
"Will?" I moved vigilantly nearer, but he backed away. I made a decision not to waste his and my time pursuing the question, so I turned to leave him.
After ten paces, I'd reached the crow's nest. Nearly a third of the way up it, Will spoke at last. "Wait!"
Keeping a grip with my left hand on the mast, I looked down at the man and watched as he began to scale the mast to meet me. When he and I were level, standing eye to eye, I received the answer I'd sought. "Andy…" He started, only to trail off. "Elizabeth… Elizabeth is…" It seemed difficult for him to say. I took that as a sign that Will had something important to say. What I didn't know was the volume of importance the last word of that sentence which couldn't be completed had in Will's eyes…and in his heart. "Well…" Then he gave up trying to speak again. And there was another moment's quiet.
"Take your time." I encouraged. I don't know what I expected, but silence certainly wasn't it. Why was it so problematic for him to answer? The question had been simple enough. Could it be the answer he was having trouble with, for a particular reason?
"She—she's dead, Andy. She has been for a year and a half now."
"What?" I must have heard wrong, I told myself.
"She died seventeen months ago…giving birth to our child. They both were killed."
No wonder he hadn't mentioned her since joining us. "Will, I'm so sorry." I really was. I can't explain it; I'd only just met him, yet I could feel sorry for him so easily.
"Don't be; you didn't do it."
To change the sorrowing subject, I explained what Jack and I had come up with the night before. He agreed that it was a plan that should work with little difficulty, but he, like Jack before him, questioned why we allowed Cortez to live. I told him the same thing I said to my brother. And he accepted that.
Jack
"Andy! Andy! Where the blazes are you!" I stormed across the deck, looking everywhere for my sister. But found her nowhere. She had the unusual skill of disappearing off the face—or faces, no one really knows—of the Earth at the most inconvenient, inopportune time possible. I was in panic; flailing my arms around and searching for her intensely, for The Pearl was in sight.
Will raced over from the main mast of The Dauntless and stopped before me. "Andy's up there Jack…" He pointed an unwavering finger up above our heads and at the crows nest.
"Well get her down here!"
"Sure…" Will turned and yelled, "Jack wants you down here Andy! Come on down!"
She replied. "On my way!"
From directly above me, Andy threw a rope down and proceeded to slide down it, landing gracefully…on top of me. I crumpled to the wet deck and spat seawater from my mouth. The other two laughed while Andy stood. I, on the other hand, only rolled my eyes and stood up, almost falling over in the process, failing to see the hilarity of it all.
"When I meant 'come down' Andy, I meant down the usual way…not on top of me!"
Andy stared as I picked a stray barnacle from my hair and tossed it aside with a look of genuine disgust on my face.
"So what do you need me for?" Andy inquired.
"Andy, The Black bloody Pearl is in close! We've got to get ready!"
She cocked her head slightly to one side and grinned a trivial grin. "You mean I need to get ready. You are staying here."
"Oh right mate," I responded. "Sorry."
We all stood on the deck, directing The Dauntless towards the looming mass of mist that appeared on the horizon. Isla De Muerta. A shudder ran down my spine; I had hoped never to come back to the cursed island, but there I was, heading directly toward it, as my Pearl became larger in my view.
Will pulled out the telescope and peered through it, staring at The Pearl's deck, to be sure that Cortez had not disembarked, which would cause a serious problem for us.
"D'ya see the bastard?" I asked.
Will responded not quite immediately, but in time good enough for me to stand waiting. "Yes; he's tying down the sails and preparing to drop the anchor. It seems he won't be leaving for some time yet."
"Good."
About an hour later we had anchored The Dauntless near the island and out of sight of Cortez, although we could still see him. Andy had been waiting for the minute to come when Will and I would lower the lifeboat so she could row over to The Pearl. I didn't even want to think about the fact that she would be shooting a hole in my ship; at that thought, I whimpered.
"Jack! What is it we're waiting for?" Andy called.
Without providing a direct answer, I just snapped "Wait for it!"
We sat quietly, hiding behind the railing although there was no one to hide from. But we did it anyway. I watched through the telescope as Cortez moved to the bow of The Pearl and busied himself with something.
"Go Andy! In the boat!" I commanded.
Will and I shoved her and the boat off The Dauntless' edge, letting it dangle by two ropes alone. Will began to lower his side in time with me to keep the boat level, and so that the little dinghy was plopped into the water with barely a splash. Andy took up the oars in her hands and looked back at us while Will pulled up the ropes which no longer served purpose. My sister gave me a nod, signaling that our plan was a go.
Will and I watched as she rowed away, winding around the outcroppings of rocks that jutted off the island like huge teeth. We waited until she was barely visible in the mist before racing to the bow and wrestling each other for the telescope. Somehow, Will won it.
He gazed through the glass for some time, not telling me a single thing that went on. I was pacing behind him, nervous and edgy when I asked, "Will! What in the name of…something…is going on out there!"
"Nothing yet, she reaching The Pearl just now…" That was all the response I was granted.
Again silence fell, making me feel even tenser than before until, at last, Will spoke again.
"She's tied her boat to The Pearl and is beginning to scale the side of the ship to get on board."
With that, I hurled myself on top of Will and tackled him onto the deck. The next few seconds were filled with struggle for the brass instrument which had formerly been in his hands. He cried aloud in surprise and pain as I grappled with him once again for control of the telescope; I wrenched it free of my shipmate's grasp and laughed quietly in triumph. But it was short lived.
"Jack, Give that back!" Will grabbed hold of the shiny brass contraption and twisted it in my hands, making them hot. I barred my teeth and growled like a protective dog. He stared at me and finally let go. As I stood, he tripped me and snatched the telescope from my hands as I fell.
"Not fair…" I whined.
Will smirked at me when I rolled over and flung myself to my feet, looking sad and downtrodden. I sighed and began to, again, pace.
"Jack! She's got Cortez at sword-point now. He's talking to her. I can't tell…she's responding, I think…"
A single gunshot interrupted his briefing, burst suddenly, echoing through the silent moors of mist that hung thick in the air. I snapped my head around and listened for something else to happen…but nothing else did…until…
Will called me. "Jack, Cortez has a pistol; he's loading it!"
"What about Andy?"
"She's already turned her back. She's climbing back to the dinghy now."
No—she had to be warned. I couldn't let her get hurt…or worse. I opened my mouth to cry out to her, but Will put a hand over it to stop the words.
Will insisted. "We cannot betray out location. Let Andy handle it. She can take care of herself."
I had to be silent; he was right, though I feared still for the life of my only sister. I felt it was my job to protect her, though she'd always done that herself without any assistance from me.
Will had let the hand grasping my telescope drop to his side as he waited for something to happen. He squinted across he waters and through the fog and seemed to forget the slim spy-glass.
That is when I took it for myself. I snatched it from him when I still could and held it to one eye. Into view came my sister. She was carefully rowing back, seemingly unharmed, though it was difficult for one to tell through such a heavy blanket of mist.
Abruptly, and without warning, another shot rang out; one not fired by my sister's pistol…Cortez had fired it, and had hit the small rowboat that contained Andy, blasting a perfect circle in the bottom of it. Water began to fill it and Cortez shot again, aiming for Andrea.
She however, had dove into the dark water. That was the last I saw of her for a while, but I knew she was a fair swimmer, even in the bitterest temperatures of the seas.
The former member of my crew (Cortez) continuously—and quite aimlessly—shot at the water, obviously in hope of hitting Andy.
But my sister surfaced no more than five yards from The Dauntless' rear end. She gasped in fresh air when she came up, and continued on the rest of the way swimming above water, breathing heavily.
"She did it Jack!"
"Ha ha!" I cried. "I knew she would!"
Will and I threw ourselves at each other and embraced. But then I realized what I was doing. We let go of each other hastily, looks of plain revulsion on our faces. I shuddered as Will shook his head and looked at the ground, suddenly seeming to find the floorboards very interesting.
"Sorry, mate." I said.
Will kept his eyes lowered in embarrassment and muttered, "Don't worry about it."
At the same time, the pair of looked up at the other and ordered. "Don't tell Andy about this!" Then we burst out laughing at the craziness of the entire affair and turned to begin walking out to meet Andy.
A shout questioned "Don't tell me what?" apparently having heard.
Will and I stopped in our tracks, looked at each other, and began to laugh again.
"Nothing." I insisted, reaching the back rail and glancing down to see my sister making her way up to us on the main deck. Then I found the telescope still in my hand and decided to put it to some use. With it, I watched The Pearl behind Andy for a while, but saw no movement on the deck.