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Chapter 6: A Cry for Help
Colonel Edwards' caution about Captain Hawthorne proved to be entirely accurate and the next morning Will was taken ashore again, amid a sprinkle of rain, this time to an extensive cluster of buildings.
It appeared to be a military compound of some type but the men manhandling Will wouldn't slow the fast pace Hawthorne had set. They only stopped at the very center of the enclosure where a single tree stood.
The tree had been stripped of branches and in some places the bark as well. Two rusty but thick metal loops and two round cuffs protruded from the sides around ten inches above Will's eye level.
"Here, Turner, is where I will make you regret every insubordination on board the Waking Power. Here you will know the true meaning of thirst and hunger. Here you will feel cold and heat as you never felt it before." Hawthorne looked as if he was enjoying this far too much.
Every tendon, ligament, and muscle in Will's body was screaming at him to fight the hands pulling at him. Raw dread formed a corkscrew in his belly as his hands were wrenched above him and enclosed in the metal rings.
Hawthorne clamped a leather gloved hand in Will's dark hair and used the tendrils as a handle to pull the younger man's head around so that it was facing him. "I can be civil, Turner. All you need do is apologize for your rebelliousness and I will consider revoking the sentence."
Will's gaze was so frosty it could have caused anyone to shudder at the overpowering fury.
"Stubborn to the last I see." Hawthorne grinned devilishly and slammed Will's head into the tree.
While stars blinded Will's gaze, Hawthorne stepped away and faced the group of men now surrounding the tree.
"Leave him there until tomorrow afternoon. He is to have no water or food. If anyone has any reason why he should not be punished, take it up with the Colonel." Then Hawthorne stalked away in nearly tangible cloud of triumph whilst Will prepared himself for a long night.
When the light begins to fade,
And shadows fall across the sea,
One bright star in the evening sky,
Your love's light leads me on my way.
The Soft Goodbye
Celtic Woman
Wind poured across Elizabeth's face as she stood at the Pearl's railing, drinking in the pure horizon and the clear, azure waters. The scene was the meaning of tranquil.
Yet deep in her heart lay unease. She was trapped a good few days behind Will. In the many quiet spells on the voyage she had tracked out the passage they likely would have taken sixteen or seventeen days with pleasant weather.
She had been on the high seas for a fortnight. Will would be just over two days ahead of her, possibly three.
A heavy sigh plunged from her lips and she turned, laying her back over the rail and placing her elbows on the wood behind her.
While the view behind her was serene and relaxing the prospect before her was ominous and dark with black clouds billowing above.
"Jack?" She questioned softly.
"Knew you couldn't resist me." The pirate captain gazed over at her from where he was tapping at his compass.
A quick eye-roll was the only response to his comment. "Those clouds…they won't be a problem, will they?"
For once Jack was eerily serious. "The sea is a strange and fickle mistress, love. Not even I know all of her aspects." His almost coal black eyes fell on the waters beginning to churn and crash about.
Elizabeth followed his gaze and watched in amazement as the liquid spun and twirled in an unending dance. It was hauntingly beautiful and strangely chilling.
The water was so cold here. Not even the salty wind whipping her hair about her face was warm. Its icy touch probed at the fringes of her leather overcoat and seemed to suck the heat away.
One thing was certain to Elizabeth. A storm was brewing both on the waters and in her heart.
Weary.
Will Turner was so weary of everything. Dawn was starting to show her colors across the dark sky but even that did not cheer him. In fact it lowered his spirits. For it showed him how much longer he would stand here for all the soldiers to see and be able to taunt.
His wrists ached and smarted fiercely in the iron restraints, letting him know they were through with the punishment. With glazed eyes he glanced over the landscape, counting the houses, people, chimneys, anything.
Two armed men in uniform stood feet away, snoozing under a particularly large tree with leaves the size of Will's palm.
One thing that never ceased to amaze Will was the difference between Port Royal and Boston. Here the air was thinner, if possible, and the landscape drier and less colorful. But the scents were stronger and more pungent while in Port Royal they were soft and taunting.
He was indeed worn down and tired. He had resolved long ago, however, that he would never show it. Not to Colonel Edwards. Not to Captain Hawthorne. Not to the people watching over him now.
And as for tracking down Jack. No. He couldn't.
Yes, the pirate had nearly traded him in for a ship but something was oddly endearing about the eccentric man who insisted on being called a captain. He had a mysterious air about him…maybe that was it.
Or maybe it was the sea. Jack brought adventure and the sea.
Will let his eyes drift close, let his head rest on the wood, and could almost taste the sea spray on his tongue and the cool breeze flying across his skin. Yes, that was it.
Pirating was in his blood, true enough but that could be ignored. It was the call of the sea that he was finding harder to blot out from his mind. Elizabeth had once asked him about his yearning for the sea. He had firmly assured her that he would never leave her but if ever he had the chance to go to sea with her…
The burning in his muscles brought him back to reality and out of the thoughts he was allowing to consume him. He shifted slightly and saw that the sun had risen high in the pale blue sky.
His two guards had been replaced and they eyed him warily. "Hey, you! Stop squirming or I'll report you!" One snarled.
Will's stare became hard-edged and he clenched his jaw, forbidding any retorts to fall free. It had been an arduous night but it was going to an even more grueling day.
Elizabeth's fears about the weather proved to be true as icy rain fell in sheets from the jet black sky. It should have been around mid-day but angry, billowing clouds hid the sun and azure sky beyond.
A sudden lurch in the Pearl's path caused her to fly into a pile of crates. "Jack!" she spluttered, one hand on the child moving within her and the other shoving her hair back from her line of sight, all the while wondering why he had not given the order for the sails to be pulled in. "Jack!"
He didn't answer, wholly focused on his compass and navigating his ship through the storm.
"Jack, shouldn't we-" another wave of cold water rushed past her, slicing away her breath and her words along with it.
She grasped at the sodden wood and managed to cling to the mizzenmast. A slippery rope was thrown in her direction and a brisk order, made choppy by the wind, to secure herself to the ship.
Scrambling on her hands and knees around the deck she gathered up with line and stumbled back to the mizzenmast. With teeth chattering, she fumbled with the coarse rope, managing to get it tied to the mast and around her waist.
She was still trying to get the knot finished off when a particularly harsh wall of sea water crashed across her.
In a moment she was off her feet and being shoved forward. The hard water flung her towards the gaping ocean and away from safety on board the Pearl. She flailed and felt a scream leave her throat.
Nothing, however, halted her progress toward open sea. She hit the water hard and slid beneath the churning waves like lead.
Struggling madly, she kicked and beat towards what she thought was up. It was all so dark. Something slammed into her leg and spasms took her when she tried to kick.
This can't be happening. Not now, not here, she thought in horror until another obsidian shape flew down past her on its path to Davy Jones' Locker.
Down… wait. Adrenaline rushed through her veins even as her lungs burned from lack of air. She beat at the liquid, forcing her way up.
She had to live. She had to conquer this, for the baby, for Will.
Just when she thought she could survive no longer the water ended and she burst out into the raging storm. Yet who would see her in all this fury of water?
Another scream ripped through her as a wave came down upon her. But the cry for aid was not for Jack or anyone near her.
It was for Will.
TBC...