Curse of the Cruise Ship
Chapter Six
Isla de Muerta
Wendystwin and Eternal Silver Flame would like to dedicate this chapter to Steve Irwin and his family. Already the world seems a bit less bright. Our prayers be with ye, mate.
ESF's Author's Note: Does anyone else just adore the way Orlando Bloom says "couple"? I think it's awesome! Also, homemade brownies for anyone who can pick out the Harry Potter (movie) quote, and anyone who reviews get two. So, you could get three brownies out of this. How can you pass that up, right?
You're all quite lucky I've already got this whole thing written, as I'm having a terrible time trying to work on my other stories. School is an absolute nightmare. Three weeks into my first year at college, and already I'm sick of the workload.
RHrWilLizKataangPrincess2010: I will check out your story. Look for my review, which will be under my pen name (which is Eternal Silver Flame, if you've forgotten).
Fae's Fiyero: Mortal, am I? That's what you think! Mua-ha-ha!
I have been told that wendystwin is drowning in a sea of homework. So, it's difficult to say when you'll hear from her again. I hope it's soon. I miss her.
"Dead men tell no tales."
Melody shivered slightly. They were passing through the ship graveyard, near the entrance to the cave of Isla de Muerta. When she looked into the water, she could see hammerhead sharks swimming around the ship, and the dark shapes that were sunken ships. Jack was up at the helm, watched closely by Cotton, consulting his compass and steering carefully.
"Puts a chill in the bones how many honest sailors have been claimed by this passage," said Gibbs. After a few moments, he turned away from the unfortunate ships and headed for the port side.
"How is it that Jack came by that compass?" Will asked, following him. Melody decided to listen in on the story, and she knew Wendy would do the same. They both rather enjoyed the tale, and Jack had failed to tell them about it that night in Port Royal.
Gibbs began tightening a line. "Not a lot's known about Jack Sparrow fore he showed up in Tortuga with a mind to go after the treasure of the Isla de Muerta. That was before I'd met him. Back when he was captain of the Black Pearl." He pulled out his flask of what Melody assumed to be rum and took a swig.
Will faced him. "What?" Gibbs choked on the rum, probably realizing he'd said too much. Will looked at Jack. "He failed to mention that."
"Well, he plays things closer to the vest now." Gibbs turned to watch Jack as well. "And a hard-learned lesson it was. See, three days out in the venture, the first mate comes to him and says everything's an equal share. That should mean the location of the treasure, too. So, Jack gives up the bearings." Gibbs lowered his voice a bit, and Melody and Wendy moved closer to them, pretending to be intrigued by Gibbs story-telling ability. Which, now that Melody thought about it, wasn't nearly as good as Tia Dalma's. "That night, there was a mutiny. They marooned Jack on an island and left him to die. But not before he'd gone mad with the heat."
"Ah," said Will. "So that's the reason for all the..." He trailed off and did a rather good impression of Jack.
Melody couldn't help but giggle a bit. The men stared at she and Wendy as if just realizing they were there.
Melody blushed a bit. "Sorry. Please continue, Mr. Gibbs."
"Well," he continued, "reason's got nothin' to do with it." Gibbs kneeled on the deck, and Will and the girls did the same. "Now, Will, ladies, when a pirate's marooned, he's given a pistol with a single shot. One shot. Well, that won't do much good huntin' or to be rescued. But after three weeks of a starvin' belly and thirst, that pistol'll start to look real friendly." He put two fingers to his temple, and Will understood the message. "But Jack, he escaped the island, and he still has that single shot. Oh, won't use it though, save on one man. His mutinous first mate."
"Barbossa," said Wendy quietly. Melody gave her a look, wondering why she had decided to steal Will's line.
"Aye," Gibbs nodded.
Will thought for a moment, then asked, "How did Jack get off the island?"
"Well," said Gibbs excitedly, as if this was his favorite part of the story (and it probably was), "I'll tell ye. He waded out into the shallows, and he waited there three days and three nights, till all manner of sea creatures 'came acclimated to his presence. And on the fourth morning, he roped 'imself a couple of sea turtles, lashed 'em together and made a raft." Will and Gibbs stared at each other, Will looking quite disbelieving.
"He roped a couple of sea turtles?" said Will finally.
"Aye, sea turtles."
After a few more seconds, Wendy decided to steal Will's line once again, and said, "What did he use for rope?"
Gibbs turned to Wendy, opened his mouth to answer, but then closed it again when he realized he didn't know. He then noticed Jack, who was standing behind Melody and Wendy. He had obviously heard the last bit of the conversation, as he took it upon himself to answer Wendy's stolen question.
"Human hair," he said. "From my back." Melody wrinkled her nose. No matter how many times she'd heard this particular line, it always succeeded in grossing her out just a bit, as she hated the idea of back hair. "Let go the anchor!" he ordered the crew.
"Lower the anchor, aye!" chorused the pirates, and hurried to the task.
"Young Mr. Turner and I are to go ashore."
They stood. Melody made to go help the crew with the anchor, but Wendy hesitated, watching Jack and Will almost enviously. Seeing this, Melody pulled her sister away from them.
"We can't, Wendy," she told her quietly, and began to lead her toward the rest of the crew.
"Misses Parks!"
They turned back to Gibbs. Behind him, Jack and Will were climbing down to the longboat that had been lowered into the water.
"Yes, Mr. Gibbs?" said Wendy.
"There's not much else for you to do at the moment, so head up to the crow's nest and watch for their return."
Melody bowed her head slightly in acknowledgement. "Yes sir."
The girls climbed the rigging up to the crow's nest, where they had a good view of the entrance to the cave.
"Why can't we go with them?" Wendy asked, quietly enough so that their voices didn't carry down to the crew.
"Two reasons," said Melody, keeping her voice quiet as well. "One, that is SO Mary-Sue, even though we already are quite a bit."
Annoyed, Wendy rolled her eyes. "I hate that bloody term."
Melody laughed a bit. "Don't we all?"
"And the second reason?"
"We wouldn't be any help to them at all, and you know that. Jack would probably want us to stay put with Will. And Will might even hit us over the head with the oar as well."
Wendy shook her head. "No, Will's too much of a gentleman to hit a lady, even one he thinks is a pirate."
Melody nodded. "True." Wendy's eyes suddenly went wide. "What's wrong?"
Wendy lowered her voice even more. "What if Will didn't hear the leverage thing?" Melody only looked confused. "Remember in Tortuga, when we were teasing Will about Elizabeth?" She nodded. "Will was supposed to be eavesdropping on Jack and Gibbs!"
"Oh," said Melody. Then, realizing the implications of this, she said, "Oh!"
They sat together in a worried silence for a moment.
"Maybe he'll still hit him," said Wendy finally. "I mean, he still doesn't completely trust Jack, right?"
Melody nodded; that sounded reasonable. Then she remembered. "Hey, why did you take Will's lines?"
Wendy shrugged. "I dunno. I wanted to say something, but I couldn't think of anything else to say. Why?"
"Well, those were okay, but you need to be careful about which ones you take. We go around talking about stuff we're not supposed to know if we lost our memories."
She nodded. "Okay." She looked out toward the cave entrance. "Look, here they come!" she exclaimed, pointing.
Melody looked out and saw a longboat approaching the Interceptor. Someone was leaving a trail of oars behind while the other rowed. There were only two people in the boat, so either they had failed to rescue Elizabeth, or Will had hit Jack with the oar.
"Mr. Gibbs!" Melody called as she and Wendy climbed down the rigging. "They're coming!"
Every one gathered around the ladder that led up the side of the ship, just as the boat reached them.
Melody tried not to scowl as Elizabeth sort of collapsed on deck, soaking wet and wearing Barbossa's wine-colored dress. When she saw the crew staring at her, she froze. "Not more pirates."
"Welcome aboard, Miss Elizabeth," said Gibbs, stepping forward.
She recognized him instantly. "Mr. Gibbs?"
He smiled slightly at her, and then looked to Will as he appeared behind Elizabeth. "Hey, boy, where be Jack?"
Elizabeth looked at Will. "Jack?" she asked. "Jack Sparrow?"
Will looked at her for a moment, then gave Gibbs a look. "He fell behind."
As Will led Elizabeth below deck to tend to her cut, the crew looked around at each other, shocked. Wendy and Melody shared a relieved look.
Everyone looked to Gibbs for instructions. "Keep to the code," said Gibbs finally.
"Weigh anchor!" ordered Anamaria. "Hoist the sails! Make quick, divvies!"
As everyone hurried to obey her, Melody turned to her sister. "Still got your gun?" she asked, not wanting to be overheard.
Wendy sighed and nodded, looking back at the island as the Interceptor began to move. "We're in for a bumpy ride."