Disclaimer: I don't own POTC. Chapter title is and Aerosmith song.
Chapter 38: Same Old Song and Dance
A pounding sounded at the door, interrupting her perfect sleep. It was Will, and he would not stop. "Camille!" He shouted. "Camille, are you in there?"
She moaned and lifted her head off the pillow. "Yes, William what is it?" she asked in an annoyed tone.
"Are you decent? May I enter?" he asked, sounding a bit calmer.
She sat up, shuffling the covers off. "Yes," she said, running her hand through her tangled hair. She moaned again and rubbed her eyes as Will burst in.
"Jack is missing," he announced.
"What? William, that's impossible. He's in the brig. And he's not strong enough to break free by any means," she explained tiredly.
"We've searched the entire ship, he is not anywhere to be found," Will said sternly.
She got out of bed and reached for a hairbrush, but could see Will's expression in the mirror as she did so. She put the brush down, still facing the mirror. "You think that I have something to do with this, don't you?" she asked, spinning around to face him. "I don't know anything about this, Will," she protested. "But we have got to find him quickly."
"Camille, what is this about?"
She pushed passed him and exited the room. "I've already explained it to you this is all Long John's doing," she said, hurrying down to the brig. To her relief, the crutch was still in the corner where she'd kicked it. But as she looked around, the thing that caught her curiosity was Jack's empty cell. She looked at it, putting her hands on her hips.
"It was locked and everything when Gillette and I came down here this morning. I don't see any way he could have escaped without being caught," Will said, following Camille in.
"Well, what did you expect? He is Captain Jack Sparrow after all," Camille said, not really believing it herself. She was really impressed. Getting out of jail cells was easy, but getting past the Navy was not.
"What's this?" As she turned around, she was Will bending over, about to pick up the crutch.
"NO!" she shouted. Will straightened up immediately, surprised at her strong objection. "You can't touch that. It's Silver. His soul resides in that crutch somehow."
"But how-"
"None of us know, Will. But I think that it may be part of this curse. And besides, he's after you."
"Me?" Will asked. "Why would Long John want anything to do with me?"
She carefully gripped it with her dress, making sure to wrap it. "I sort of promised him that I would let you be his host if he let Jack go free."
"You…you what?"
"Well, it was obviously a lie to make him release Jack. But he's going to be after you, at least this wretched thing is. I think I'd be careful."
"You told him that you would hand me over to him?" Will said incredulously, still stuck on the idea.
"William, please lower your voice. I'm still a bit tired from everything. We need to get rid of this crutch." She began ascending the steps back into the main part of the ship with Will following her, demanding an explanation. But by now she was pretty much deaf to anything he had to say. "Men," she muttered.
She stood at the bow of it, looking over into the waves. They were at Port Barranquilla, but she saw no sign at all of The Pearl. Looking into the water, she hesitated. Dropping the crutch in right here could have some very serious repercussions. Perhaps she should simply hide it away somewhere until she had the opportunity to burn it.
She wasn't worried about Jack or the others. It was highly probable that Jack was with the others by now, and even if he wasn't they were with Ana and Gabriel. What Camille didn't know was what to do now, especially since she was stuck with the entire damned Navy and Will, who was very insistent on this being too dangerous for her.
The men were getting ready to raise the gangplank and go ashore. Gillette came over to them, nodding. "Good work, Mr. Turner, very good work. We will have this pirate hanged in the just systems of Port Royale in no time at all. And good morning to you, Miss Quartermaine," he said, reaching for her hand.
She pulled away from him. "I need to go change," she excused herself. The clothes that she had on at this point were filthy, but the only other clothes on that vessel were fancy dresses. She was able to manage to squeeze into one without putting on a corset, but she felt like her breasts would pop out of it any minute.
As she made her way back on deck, men were already leaving the ship. She watched them carefully, observing all of the directions they went out in. The way they did their search, Jack would be aware of their presence in no time at all.
Will stood on deck, waiting for her. He had his hands folded behind his back, and was looking out to the port. He looked very composed, and it was hard for her to believe that he had once been a wreck over a year ago.
"How is Cadence doing?" Camille asked, again practicing her British accent.
Will looked at her. "I miss her, Camille. I want to return to the estate as soon as I possibly can."
She nodded. "I can understand that. I want to get this over and done with, as well. And to do that, we must find the others."
Will nodded. "All right," he said, and she could tell that he had been thinking about it and was now able to make a calmer decision. "Shall we outwit Gillette yet again?"
Camille nodded. "He's the least of my worries," she said, tightening her grip on the bag that she held with the crutch in it. "Right now we've just got to get rid of this thing."
Will nodded, and the two of them descended the gangplank, making there way inconspicuously among the sailors of Port Barranquilla. They made their way to the edge of the dock where a young boy was standing. As soon as they came close enough, he got to his feet and ran up to them. "Carry your bags, sir?" he asked anxiously.