Close Encounters of the Fictional Kind
Chapter 44: Pirates Ahoy!
Marie and Elise found themselves a few days later sitting on a picnic bench in Fort Charles in Port Royal, Jamaica. It was their day off while doing a four page article about the old Fort, its history with pirates, the present tourists, and its future. The girls were glad to be taking a day to do nothing but sit in the sun and drink authentic Jamaican rum. However it was still early in the day and they hadn't started on the rum yet. Marie had pointed out that it was five o'clock somewhere and therefore they should drink, but Elise had shot her down. While it was their day off, they still had to plan out what they had to do during the rest of their stay in the Caribbean. Elise promised her photographer that they would definitely be going out on the town later that evening.
They were just about done making a list of places they needed to go and people they should talk to when a woman in her mid to late sixties sat down beside them. "Hello, ladies," she gave them a small smile. She looked rather spry for her age, but her loose cream colored top and ankle-length skirt with red, yellow, and pale orange stripes hid it for the most part. It was the easy way she sank onto the bench and lounged against the sun bleached wood that gave her away. "Hello?" Elise replied back.
"I see you're visitors to Port Royal. How long are you staying with us?"
"Only a couple of days," Elise answered. "Are you a local of Port Royal?"
The woman chuckled. "Indeed I am," she answered. "My several times great granddad and grandma settled here back in the golden age of pirates. The family has stayed here ever since, with a few exceptions."
"Wow! That's impressive," Marie chimed in.
"How'd you like to see Port Royal from a native's perspective?" she asked.
Elise glanced over to Marie who shrugged. "Actually that would be great! We're here doing a piece for a journal on the Fort, but we could definitely use some input on surrounding Port Royal," Elise accepted.
The woman nodded, but then seemed to straighten as she realized something. "I do apologize, I haven't introduced myself. Name's Turner… Joyce Turner."
"Pleased to meet you, Joyce," Elise reached out to shake the woman's hand. "So when would you like to start the tour? We have the rest of today off, but we have appointments to meet with the head of tourism and the curator of the Fort Charles museum tomorrow."
"Won't learn nothing from them," Joyce waved a hand in the air. "Nothing of import anyway," she murmured. "But how about we start this evening. 'Round six? Any good islander will tell you to stay out of the sun until then," she said leaning forward to stand up.
"Sure, where at?" Elise asked.
Joyce seemed to consider then smiled. "How about The Deck? It's a bar just off Trafalgar Road."
Elise and Marie agreed and the three women split up. The two younger women proceeded to enjoy the rest of their day off by snorkeling. The rented some equipment and wetsuits and found a tour guide who was happy to show them a couple of shallow shipwrecks just off the coast. Even though they couldn't actually go in the wrecks, it was still an amazing experience. Elise thought for sure she'd seen a skeleton in one of the wrecks, but Marie pointed out that any bones probably would've been eaten or worn away. However both girls were fascinated by the colorful fish and occasional shark they got to see.
Six o'clock came quickly though and the two women found themselves rushing to reach The Deck on time. Their taxi pulled up to the bar and grill just past the hour. It was a simple place with plastic chairs and tables sitting on a wooden plank floor. The bar sat in the middle of the room and TVs hung from the ceiling, but they were turned off in favor of listening to a live band playing in the corner. Joyce Turner waved them over to a table on the other side of the room. She was seated with a man in his late thirties. He was dressed casually in a loose pair of belted black jeans, an untucked red button down with the sleeves half rolled up, and a sun-faded blue bandana tied around his forehead holding back medium length dark brown hair. A goatee framed his smile as he stood to greet the two women.
"Hi, name's Jack," he said in a smooth voice as he held out a hand.
Marie and Elise introduced themselves and shook his hand before sitting. "Evening, girls," Joyce greeted them as well. "This here is my uncle, Jack."
"Uncle?" Elise furrowed her eyebrows as she looked over at Jack again. "But he looks like he could be your son."
Joyce smirked. "Not everything is what it seems, but you two already know that don't you?"
"What do you mean?" Marie asked. Elise could see her hand reaching for her pepper spray in her purse below the table.
"Told you they wouldn't believe you," Jack murmured.
"Give it a minute," Joyce chided him. She turned back to the girls. "You two aren't what you seem either, are you? Seen a few things that some people might not believe?"
"How…?" Elise started to ask, but Marie interrupted her with, "Who are you, and what do you want?"
Joyce chuckled while Jack rolled his eyes and crossed his tattooed arms. That was when Elise saw it. A tattoo of a sparrow on Jack's forearm and a faint pink P seared into his skin just above the leather cuff wrapped around his wrist. Her eyes widened as she suddenly understood what was going on. "Are you Jack Sparrow?"
"There should be a Captain in there somewhere," he grumbled, but was grinning as well. Marie stopped her glaring for a moment to look at what Elise had seen as well. "And you," Elise turned to look at Joyce. "How did you know we were… different?"
Joyce chuckled again. "Different is one word for what we are."
"We?" Marie echoed. "You mean you're an Erudite too?"
The older woman nodded. "Haven't seen someone so strong within the Erudite community in a long time. Grandkids have potential, but it isn't quite strong enough yet."
"Why didn't you tell us before?" Elise asked.
"Would you have believed me? I figured I needed Jack here to prove it, so I waited till tonight."
"But wait… he's not really your uncle, is he?" Marie asked.
"No," Joyce shook her head. "But we all call him that, much to Grandma Elizabeth's displeasure."
"Elizabeth? Like Elizabeth and Will Turner?" Elise asked connecting a few dots.
Joyce nodded.
"Whoa, hold up," Marie held up her hands. "First, I need a drink. Second, how the hell is any of this possible?" She looked at Jack, "You should've died like three hundred years ago or something!"
Jack shrugged. "Just woke up one morning and noticed I wasn't aging. Figured it mighta had something to do with Calypso, but haven't seen the blasted woman in years. Not much more to it than that."
"And you've just hung around the Caribbean the whole time?"
He rolled his eyes. "Of course not. Do I look like a bloody idiot? Traveled for a bit. Sailed for a while, but pirates ain't what they used to be, savvy? I come back here and see Elizabeth and Will's progeny every so often. Port Royal is just another port," he shrugged.
"Okay, so how about Will and Elizabeth?" Marie asked.
"Will's been managing the ferry to bring souls to the other side. Elizabeth joined him after their kids were old enough to get along on their own."
"And their 24 hours of time on dry land is tomorrow," Joyce added. "Figured you ladies might want to meet 'em?"
"Yeah we want to meet them!" Elise was practically bouncing up and down in her seat.
Marie nodded and took a sip of her rum and coke. "So going back to you being an Erudite," she said as she set her glass down. "You said there was a community. So there's more of us?"
"Of course there are. Just not very many, and the newer generation doesn't always have someone to train them or let them know what's going on, like you girls I'm guessing?"
"Yeah," Elise nodded. "We had no idea until we started meeting strange supposedly fictional people in college."
Joyce nodded. "That's usually when the genes activate."
Elise nodded, "So how do we find others? How did you find us?"
"There's a kind of aura evident around Erudites. I can teach you how to sense it, but you still have to be kind of close for it to work."
Marie leaned forward at this, "How long would it take?"
"Before you leave Port Royal," Joyce shrugged.
The two girls grinned. "Let's do it," Marie agreed for them both.
oOoOoOo
Marie and Elise spent the morning of the next day interviewing the head of tourism at Port Royal and taking a tour of the fort, learning some of the history along the way. However that afternoon they joined the Turner family reunion. There were about twenty-five people total including several children. Aside from Jack, Joyce was one of the oldest in the group. She introduced the girls to everyone including the two younger children who showed Erudite potential. Will and Elizabeth, while surprised at the newcomers, were welcoming and eager to hear how everyone was doing and meet the children who had been born since their last visit ten years ago.
The Turner family reunion was a party to beat all. It was held down on the beach just south east of the fort, where shelters had been set up and enough food and drink to accommodate a small army. Elise and Marie were a little hesitant at first, feeling like intruders to the family event. However, Joyce assured them that they were welcome. The Turner family celebrated Erudites, and even though Marie and Elise weren't Turners, they were Erudites, meaning it wasn't long before they were out dancing in the sand with some of the other younger Turners. Both had a turn dancing with Jack Sparrow, and they both did a couple shots of rum with him too. However Jack wandered off eventually to mingle with Will and Elizabeth.
By the end of the day, Marie and Elise had learned the secret to sensing other Erudites. Marie was a little better at it than Elise was, but they both felt pretty good about their abilities. They had also made several new friends within the Turner family. They promised to keep in touch and if they were in the neighborhood to drop in. When they finally got back to the hotel very late that night, Elise was ready to flop down and sleep on top of the covers of her bed. Marie on the other hand was moving stiffly and sat gently on the end of her bed. "Can you hand me the aloe vera from my bag?" she asked.
Elise grumbled but did as asked. It wasn't until that moment that she noticed how very red Marie was. "Good lord, Marie," she said. "You look like a lobster!"
The younger woman glared at her friend. "Gosh… thanks. Just because I don't have as much melanin as you do…"
"Sorry!" Elise apologized quickly. "But hey, look on the brightside," she grinned. "I won't lose you at the airport tomorrow!"
Marie made to swat at her, but Elise jumped back onto her bed laughing.
Author's Note: Queenoftheslayers and I would like to take a moment to say that while we like and appreciate Johnny Depp's work, we stand with Amber Heard in the recent events. The name-calling and shaming she has gone through because everyone refuses to believe that their "beloved Johnny" would ever hurt someone is unjust and unfair. She did everything right by having witnesses and proof, but she's still called a liar. Mr. Depp... you've disappointed us fans, but more importantly, you've hurt and betrayed someone who loved you, and that is unforgivable.