Jack, Elizabeth, Norrington and I seemed to hike for hours. The others left long lines of footprints behind them. To avoid leaving any footprints of my own, I opted to drift just above the sand, though I used up just as much energy doing so than if I had walked. Jack and I pulled ahead of Elizabeth and Norrington, though not so far ahead that we couldn't hear Elizabeth as she shouted out directions, according to the compass.
A question was nagging at the back of my mind, and I decided to take the opportunity to ask it. "Hey Jack, mind if I ask you something?"
"No Cal, not at all." He grinned, as though he knew the nickname would annoy me.
"Don't call me 'Cal,'" I said automatically, my eyes narrowing slightly. "I was just wondering if you think you'll ever get married, like Will and Elizabeth have planned."
Jack smirked. "I love marriage, it's like a wager on who will fall out of love first," he muttered airily.
I laughed. "Is that a 'no'?"
"Yes, that's a 'no,'" Jack said. "I don't particularly think there's a girl out there who can hold old Jack Sparrow's heart captive," he chuckled.
I poked him in the shoulder. "Not even a certain lady who has recently found herself onboard the Black Pearl?"
Jack grinned at me. "Why Calypso, I never knew you thought of me that way!"
"No! Not me!" I scowled and pointed over my shoulder with my thumb. "Her."
Jack gave me a look. "She's on my 'to do' list."
I rolled my eyes. "Jack…" I reprimanded, resisting the urge to gag.
"Well, given the opportune moment…" Jack shrugged.
"Do you know what Will would do to you if he found out? He is, like, the best swordsman around here."
Jack shrugged. "He's the least of my worries."
"Hmmm… sure," I muttered.
Eventually, we headed more inland and into the sand dunes above the high tide mark. Jack gave Norrington his shovel and climbed to the top of one of the dunes while Elizabeth walked down a valley between that dune and another. She held the open compass in one hand and followed the arrow, thinking hard about the chest.
"It's very close," I told Jack as I landed in the dry sand. I didn't have to worry so much about my footprints up there. "Like, right around here somewhere."
Elizabeth walked to a certain point, then stopped, turned, and went the other way as the arrow changed direction. Then she did it again, so she walked in a rough triangle. Norrington and I watched as she stopped a third time and looked at Jack. Jack was looking out across the island and didn't notice her looking at him. I bit my lip as I realised that the compass must have pointed to Jack again, or at least in his general direction.
Jack finally noticed Elizabeth looking at him. She quickly looked back at the compass and shook it. "This doesn't work," she announced, shaking her head. Then she gave up and flopped down to the sand, most likely because her feet were sore from walking. "And it certainly doesn't point to what you want most." She plopped the compass onto the sand in front of her with a defeated sigh.
Norrington wore a smirk that mocked Jack's faith in his 'broken' compass. Jack trotted down to Elizabeth. He put his hands on his knees and peered down at the compass. I followed suit and we both saw the needle spin back and fourth a few times, then stop directly at Elizabeth. "Yes, it does," Jack said. "You're sitting on it."
Elizabeth looked up at him, slightly confused. "Beg pardon?"
"Move." Jack shooed her away with his hands, as though she was nothing but an annoying little housefly. As she did so, Jack whistled to Norrington and pointed at the spot where Elizabeth had been sitting, indicating that he should start to dig. Then Jack scooped up his compass, brushed the sand off of it, and secured it to one of his belts once again.
Norrington gave Jack a dark look and planted one of the spades in the sand. Then he trudged over to the spot and started to dig with the other spade.
Elizabeth stood off to one side to wait and watch while Jack and I sat down on our sand dune. Bored, I ran my hands through the sand, focusing on the feeling of it running through my fingers, pausing every now and then to pick out the grains that got wedged under my fingernails. Beside me, Jack crossed him legs and seemed to enter a state of meditation. I smiled to myself as a slightly evil plan came to mind. I started to hum a well-known tune and soon escalated into the lyrics.
"Yo ho, yo ho, a pirates life for me," I sang under my breath. Jack cracked one kohl-covered lid open and gave me a slight smirk. I grinned.
"You're gonna have it stuck in your head now," I teased. "But if you sing it out loud, Norrington's going to hit you with the shovel, I bet."
Jack made an exaggerated show of stretching to disguise the act of hitting me in the arm to Norrington and Elizabeth. I was knocked slightly off balance and fell onto my side.
"Ow!" I yelped, half-laughing and half-complaining. "I'm gonna bruise now!"
Jack cracked his knuckles with a small self-satisfied smile, his eyes still closed.
I sat up and brushed the sand off as Jack returned to his meditative state. I knew I should let him rest in preparation for his exertions ahead, but I still felt the urge to do something else to Jack, perhaps belt out the song at the top of my lungs, when I was stopped by a sudden sensation. It felt like cold water had washed down my back and I shivered, despite the warm temperatures on the beach. I realised that Davy Jones was near, as well as Will Turner, who stowed away on The Flying Dutchman with the key to the chest. I knew the ship was going to submerge after Jones spotted Pintel and Ragetti on the beach and that the Dutchman's crew were soon to be coming on shore to retrieve the chest.
I looked at Norrington and tried to judge his progress. He was quite far along; the piles of sand next to the good-sized hole he was working on was evidence of this. However, it was hard to tell just how close he was to the chest. I decided to help him along, just to be sure they got to the chest in time. I closed my eyes and focused on it. Putting a good amount of effort behind my powers, I clasped my hands together and pictured the spade hitting the chest. About two seconds later, my efforts were rewarded by the sound of metal on wood. I grinned.
Jack opened his eyes, suddenly extremely alert. He and I got to our feet as Elizabeth walked over to the hole. Norrington pulled the spade out and tossed it aside. The four of us peered down excitedly. We all helped to brush sand off of the lid of the chest and heaved it out of the hole. Jack got up, grabbed one of the shovels and used it to break the rusty lock on the chest. He removed the broken lock and opened the lid with a creak.
Inside, the chest was filled with bundles of old letters and other papers tied together. There was even a withered bouquet. It gave off a strong sense of old, sad love. The type of love that is overpowering, even after it's lost. No wonder Davy Jones couldn't handle it. Not for the first time, I wondered who that woman was that Jones fell in love with, and if she knew just how much it had hurt him.
I noticed Norrington look at the letters, which I assumed to be love letters, a little sadly. He too was a man who had lost the woman he loved, only she was right there with us still.
He and Elizabeth dropped to their knees on either side of Jack beside the chest. Elizabeth took out one of the letters and began to read it as Jack hunted through the rest of them. Just underneath the layer of paper was a smaller black chest that was interracially decorated, a true work of art. Even so, I felt a slight shiver go up my spine. Sometimes beautiful objects can hide dangerous and powerful things, and this was one such case.
Jack lifted up the smaller chest and rested it on the rim of the larger one. I bit my lip slightly.
"That's it. That's the chest with Davy Jones' heart," I said softly.
The same thought was going through the others' heads. All together, we held our breath, leaned in and pressed our ears to the chest. Sure enough, a sound was heard coming from within.
Lub-dub…lub-dub…
Elizabeth pulled back, surprised. "It's real," she said, amazed.
Norrington was also amazed, and not just by the heart. He looked at Jack with a slight smile. "You actually were telling the truth."
"I do that quite a lot, yet people are always surprised," Jack said simply.
I smirked. "Maybe if you didn't elaborate on the truth so much, more people would believe you, Jack."
"With good reason!" a familiar voice shouted.
The four of us looked up and saw a wet and slightly breathless William Turner standing there before us. Elizabeth's eyes went wide.
"Will!" she gasped, getting to her feet. She ran up to him and they embraced as Norrington, Jack and I also stood up. "You're all right! Thank God! I came to find you!" Elizabeth gushed to her fiancé. The two of them kissed deeply, much to the discomfort of Norrington.
Jack looked at me, extremely confused and suspicious. He had one major question going through his mind, and I wasn't going to answer it. I just shrugged at him.
Jack addressed his question to Will. "How did you get here?"
"Sea turtles, mate," Will answered. I smiled in amusement. "A pair of them strapped to my feet."
Jack smirked at the inside joke. "Not so easy, is it?"
"But I do owe you thanks, Jack," Will said.
Jack frowned. "You do?"
"After you tricked me onto that ship to square your debt with Jones…"
"What?" Elizabeth demanded angrily of Jack.
"What?" Jack squeaked, afraid of where this conversation was going.
"… I was reunited with my father," Will continued.
"Oh, well… you're welcome, then," Jack said. He had the vain hope that all was forgiven now, but I wasn't going to count on it.
Elizabeth parted from Will's arms and stormed up to Jack, outraged. "Everything you said to me, every word was a lie!" she spat, going red in the face. Jack hesitated for only a small moment, pretending to think her question over before he nodded.
"Pretty much," Jack admitted. I shook my head with a "tsk!" Jack shrugged at Elizabeth. "Time and tide, love."
We heard the sound of a short blade unsheathing. We looked to the chest and saw Will drop to his knees in front of it. He was holding the knife I knew he had gotten from Bootstrap in one hand and the key to the chest in the other.
"Oi! What are you doing?" Jack demanded sharply.
Will rotated the chest so the lock was facing him as he got ready to unlock it. "I'm going to kill Jones," he replied.
Jack unsheathed his sword and pointed it at Will. "Can't let you do that, William," he said simply. His tone held a warning twinge to it. Will looked at Jack's blade before raising his gaze up to the pirate himself. "'Cause if Jones is dead, who's to call his terrible beastie off the hunt, eh?" Jack rationalized.
Every muscle in my body had gone taut when Jack pulled his sword out. I knew the fur was going to fly any minute, and I had to be ready. There was a long silence before Will slowly got to his feet and put the knife back in his belt.
"Now, if you please," Jack said, holding his hand out to Will. "The key."
Will took a slight side step that brought him just close enough to Elizabeth so that he could grab her sword. The blade was out before anyone could stop him. Elizabeth jumped behind Will as he pointed the sword at Sparrow. "I keep the promises I make, Jack," Will said, the same amount of deadly seriousness in his voice. "I intend to free my father. I hope you're here to see it."
The sound of a third blade unsheathing rang in the air. This time it came from Norrington as he pointed his deadly blade at Will. "I can't let you do that either. So sorry."
"Funny, you don't sound sorry," I muttered.
Jack grinned at Norrington and let his blade drop slightly. "I knew you'd warm up to me eventually."
Jack tried to take a step towards Norrington, but stopped short as the ex-commodore suddenly pointed his sword at Jack. At the same time, Will's sword changed directions to point at Norrington. Jack looked from one man to the other and pointed his sword once again at Will, completing the triangle, though his movement seemed like more of a hesitant afterthought, if anything.
"Lord Beckett desires the contents of that chest," Norrington reminded us. "I deliver it, I get my life back."
"Ah, the dark side of ambition," Jack observed.
"Oh, I prefer to see it as the promise of redemption," Norrington said.
Three equally stubborn men, all desperate to get the same thing for his own perfectly good reason, and all of them armed with very sharp swords. Though their skills with these swords varied, each man was still good enough not to consider backing down. I swallowed. This was not a good situation, though I had to admit it was a very exciting one.
You could have cut the tension in the air, and it wasn't too much longer before Norrington did just that. He swiped at Will, who blocked the blow. Then the three men were off and engaged in a three-way sword fight that wouldn't soon be forgotten.