Thicker Than Water – Chapter Five – Bad Rum and Good Storytelling

Jack hurried up and down the docks of Tortuga. He checked the back of every ship, reading the names, praying that The Bounty hadn't made port yet. He breathed a sigh of relief as he read the last boat's name: The Piper.

"Jack!"

Jack jumped at the sound of his name.

"How are ye, mate?"

Jack turned. "Gibbs!" He said, excited to finally see an old friend.

"You look good, Jack." Gibbs said.

"As do you, Gibbs. A little grayer, though, I won't lie."

Gibbs laughed and then became serious. "Listen, I have a message for you. From Captain Blackmore."

Jack's smile disappeared, "He was here!" Jack said in a panic.

Gibbs shifted awkwardly. "Well, no. Blackmore told a member of his crew, who wrote a letter that was sent on a ship to La Gonave, which was transferred to a ship to Tortuga, which was opened and read by me, who is hereby repeating it to you."

Jack stared blankly at Gibbs, "That sounds like something I would say, mate." Jack took a deep breath. "So what did the letter that you read, transported to Tortuga from La Gonave, written by a member of Blackmore's crew but originally stated by Blackmore himself, in retrospect, say?"

Gibbs sighed, "He said that he's going to need you to hold the map for another two years. Sorry for any inconvenience."

Jack smiled and clapped his hands together, "Finally something is going right." Jack started walking off the docks. Gibbs followed him.

"Jack, I thought you wanted to be rid of that map."

"I am rid of that bloody map." Jack waved his hand, "Passed it off first chance I got. I was planning on giving myself a month, at least, to track down the girl I gave it to before Blackmore shows his ugly face to take it back." Jack stopped in front of his favorite tavern, The Faithful Bride. "But now," He said happily, "I have one year and eleven months to kill. Let's you and I have a drink to catch up. Shall we?" Jack held open the door for Gibbs.

The rest of the night was filled with good rum and bad storytelling.

…Or was it bad rum and good storytelling?

At any rate, Jack decided to stay in Tortuga a while. He would have to keep a low profile, though. He didn't want Dawn, wherever she was, to find him.

But then one day Jack just couldn't resist when a small sailboat came into Tortuga's harbor. His last boat, The Tortoise, had been stolen. No idea why. It wasn't a very good boat.

This new boat, called the Jolly Mon, was quite a lovely boat. It was tiny, but definitely not weak. He was sure it could get through any storm.

Jack walked over to it greedily. He looked around for people watching him, and was about to step onto it when—whack! Jack fell backwards, pain throbbing through his head.

"Wha—?" He tried to say. A woman with olive skin appeared over him, blocking the sun from his view. She was holding a long wooden plank.

"I leave my boat for one minute—one minute—and some pirate tries to—Jack?" The woman looked at Jack's face and then her frown deepened. She whacked him again—right in the stomach.

"Oof! AnaMaria—wait—I can—ouch!" Jack tried to get up, but was knocked back down with a blow to the shoulders.

"You stupid—whack!—idiotic—whack!—piece of—whack!"

"ANAMARIA!" Jack shouted. AnaMaria stopped hitting him, an angry scowl upon her face. "Would you please tell me what the bloody hell it is that I did this time?"

"Oh, nothing." She said simply.

Jack looked at her like she was a complete lunatic.

"It's for even considering that fact that you could get away with stealing my boat."

Jack worked himself into a sitting position and stared at AnaMaria. "First, love, had I known it was your boat, I would have asked you first. Or at least shouted to you I was borrowing it as I sailed away."

AnaMaria raised her plank, about to whack Jack again. Jack held up his hand. "A joke! It was a joke." He said, and gave her a nervous smile. AnaMaria scowled at him and left the plank raised in the air. She nodded her head as if to say, "Go on…"

"Secondly, I can get away with stealing any boat—I'm Captain Jack Sparrow!" Jack laughed but quickly stopped when he saw that AnaMaria was still scowling. He hurriedly got up, as AnaMaria took another swing at him.

"Another joke! It was another—joke!" He said, ducking as AnaMaria aimed for his head.

After a few more beatings from AnaMaria, she was finally satisfied that Jack had learned his lesson. That is, until the next day when she went to clean The Jolly Mon and found it missing from the port.

As it turns out, The Jolly Mon can't get through any storm. Jack hadn't even gotten past Jamaica when a brutal storm hit, causing a giant hole in the side of the boat. Jack was forced to somehow guide The Jolly Mon safely to Port Royal, the closest port he could find, while it sunk along the way.

Now if you'd like to know the rest of Jack's story for the next year or so, I suggest you watch the movies.