"We have to get out of here before they reach their rendezvous," Marti said, twiddling a hair pin in the lock, but to no avail.
"Nice goin' statin' the obvious there Marti," Mort said, glumly.
"At least she's bloody tryin' somethin'." Clay objected, "She's not given up yet, like you seem to have done." Marti gave him a strange look, and carried on picking the lock.
"What exactly do you plan to do once you escape?" Victoria asked them. "Leap madly to your ship, only to be over powered again? That would be foolish."
"Then what to you suggest we do?" Ana asked her.
"I suggest, that we formulate a plan, that preferably does not result in our deaths."
"You don't say." Clay said. Ana Maria stepped up,
"She's right. We can't just escape and expect to run free. We'd be dead before we even got to the Pearl."
"Then what can we do?" Elizabeth asked.
"What about Jack?" Will said, "Perhaps he's still on the Pearl, perhaps he just wasn't caught." Ana, Marti and Gibbs looked at each other. "What?" Will asked them.
"Well, knowin' Jack like we does," Gibbs said, "it's just… well, he'd have pulled some crazy stunt by now if he were goin' t'." Marti increased her torture of the lock, distracting herself from the conversation.
"We just have to accept that perhaps… perhaps Captain Sparrow…"
"Fell behind." Will answered for her. There was silence, until Marti spoke,
"To hell with that." She said, her voice shaking, "He's on that bloody island, with that English girl, probly havin' the time of his life. That's right. The time of his life."
In fact, Jack was fast asleep. As was Rosaline. The pair of them were still hidden in the trees, and both asleep. Jack was laid on his side, still with his shirt off, as it was covered in blood. Rosaline was curled up against a tree, with Jack's head just on her knee. Jack was sleeping soundly, snoring slightly, but Rosaline did not seem to be. She was muttering something in her sleep, and moving her head as if trying to get away from something, or some one. The movement gradually shook Jack awake. He opened his eyes, and became aware of Rosaline saying something. By now, her voice had gotten louder, and he could hear her saying no in her sleep. He pulled himself up and put his hand on her shoulder,
"Roz, wake up," He said, quietly. He shook her slightly, "Roz," Rosaline shot up gasping for air, fresh tears glistening in her eyes. Her eyes were glazed over, as if she was seeing something completely different to what was really there,
"No," She said, "No!" Jack took hold of her and shook her hard.
"Roz!" He yelled at her. Her eyes refocused and she seemed to realise where she was.
"Jack?" She looked into his eyes for a moment, but then stood up and walked swiftly through the forest, out onto the beach. Jack sighed. Just when he thought he was beginning to understand her. He saw her sit down near the waters edge, with her head in her hands. He contemplated leaving her there for a while, but thought the better of it. He stood up and decided right there and then that he was going to get to the bottom of this. He made his way over the beach to where she was sat.
He sat down next to her, and cleared his throat to make it certain to her that he was there.
"So are y' goin' t' be tellin' me what that was about?" Rosaline shook her head, and a tear ran down her cheek. Jack sighed, "I'd really like it if you would." He said, "Please." Rosaline lost control of the tears and began to cry.
"I don't understand why you are so kind to me." She said, "You're a pirate."
"I'm captain Jack Sparrow, luv," He said, "Not just any old pirate." But the attempt at humour was lost on Rosaline.
"Well, I've met plenty of those." She said, "Pirates come in all forms, and with different approaches. How do I know you aren't just waiting for the right moment…"
"Because you just pulled a bullet out of me that would have killed me if you hadn't." Jack said, "A pirate will always keep his word, and I give my word that I'm not waiting to do anything other than find out what's wrong with you." Jack looked her in the eye, but she looked away, "I know you believe me Roz." He said, "I just don' think you want to." Rosaline looked at him with red eyes and he knew he was right. "Come on luv, just tell me what it is."
"There isn't anything you can do about it." She said, "So what's the point?"
"The point is that I want t' know," Jack said, "An' I don't want t' see you goin' through this on your own." He leaned closer to her and said, "There's also the fact that I'm more sober than I've bin in a long time… So somethin' I say might actually make sense for once." That did it, and despite herself, Rosaline laughed. Jack grinned, "That's better," He said, "Now, answer me this. What was y' dreamin' about?" Rosaline stopped laughing. Jack regretted this, but knew that if she didn't get it out into the open it would haunt her forever.
"I always have that dream," She said, quietly, "Whenever I sleep. It's… it's about something that happened to me… five years ago."
"Would it have anythin' t' do wi' why you can't stand the sight of pirates?" Jack asked her. Rosaline nodded, pulling herself together before she spoke again.
"When I was sixteen… my father… he took me on a voyage to France. One the way, our ship was attacked by… by pirates…" Suddenly Jack found the cogs in his brain turning as he put the information together. Rosaline carried on. "One of them… his name was Briggs… I don't know his first name… he… he…" Rosaline's voice was shaking so much that she couldn't say anything else. She collapsed in sobs and Jack put his arm around her shoulders. She leant into his chest and held onto his shoulder. "I screamed, and I cried as loud as I could, but no one came," She sobbed, "No one helped me," Jack wrapped his free arm around her waist and held her tightly as she let go of her pain. He smoothed down her hair soothingly,
"How did your lot get off the pirate ship?" He asked her,
"The navy had been searching… they took the ship and the crew back to England, but they were intercepted… the crew escaped… he escaped." She buried her head in Jack's chest,
"And you've always been afraid of pirate ships because of it." Jack said, "That, and we're all fearsome, black hearted scoundrels of course." Rosaline felt that she didn't need to worry for the first time in her life for five years. She felt safe. "If I ever see that bastard, I'll rip his heart out." Jack said, angrily,
"With what?" Rosaline found Jack's violent thoughts quite amusing in the given situation.
"With a fork."
"A fork?" Rosaline giggled,
"Must be a painful way to die, I should think." Jack said, "Could be intrestin'."
A nice little chunk of piratey goodness there for ya! Three chapters up, dear me!
Yet there are no reviews? This is terrible!
Will Jack and Roz get rescued? Will the crew ever make it out of the brig? Tune in next time for another exciting instalment of the forgotten curse!
Savvy Z