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Chapter 4

Jack ordered Elizabeth to stay in the room (although he knew that if she decides otherwise, no order can possibly stop her). Then, he crept up to the door and tried to hear something, anything. But there was no sound to be heard, after this single, weird pistol shot. Jack slowly opened the door, and peeked outside. Nobody. The only thing he could see, was the front door, which was slightly ajar.

He went out, and close the door behind him.

Elizabeth was not particularly happy to wait and do nothing, but somehow she did not want to disobey Jack. As soon as she realized that, however, it felt strange and surprising, as she has never had this kind of scruples before.

She sat on the bed, trying to think what it could be that they heard. But instead, she found herself thinking about Jack, about the kiss...

Elizabeth started, as the door suddenly opened. She sighed with relief, seeing that it was only Jack.

"The house is empty", he said hesitantly.

"Empty?", she asked, coming up to him. "And where is this friend of yours?"

"I've no idea, luv."

Suddenly, somebody pushed the front door, and walked into the house quite casually. It was the doctor. He smiled, noticing Elizabeth and Jack looking at him questioningly.

"I didn't wake you up, did I?", he asked shutting the door.

Jack noticed that he was covering his left arm with his right hand.

"What was this shooting all about?", asked Jack curiously.

"Oh, nothing", Philip Fairwood waived his hand dismissively. "Just a rat."

"Oh, I see..."

"You two are welcomed to join me for breakfast."

Neither of them ate much. After breakfast, it was the time to say good-bye. The doctor gave Jack some tatty books, exhausted maps, and a small wooden box.

"Watch out for yourselves. And for the rain", he said in his last words.

Elizabeth and Jack walked away, leaving the doctor's house behind.

"Ye know, Lizzie", began Jack, taking Elizabeth by the hand. "I wanted to ask you... Are ye certain that ye want to get tangled in this..."

"Jack", she interrupted him impatiently, "Quit it. And tell me what ship we are going to steal?"

"Commandeer", corrected her Jack, obviously wounded. "Commandeer a ship."

It was not only the choice of a word that hurt him, but also a vague memory of somebody who had made this mistake before. He got rid of the thought quickly.

"I'm sorry, Captain", said Elizabeth, smiling apologetically.

"It ain't enough to be sorry, luv", said Jack teasingly, drawing his hand across her face.

She looked at him half-smiling, and with her lips almost touching his, asked quietly:

"Then what would be enough?"

"It would be useful, if ye could, for example, cook. Or, at least, sew", he said matter-of-factly.

Elizabeth gave him a cold look, and turned away from him, without saying a word.

"Or, perhaps", said Jack in a reconciliatory manner, "I could accept a kiss as way of compensation."

Elizabeth turned towards him, ready to give him a witty answer of some kind, but was prevented from doing so, by an ardent kiss, which caught her off guard.

"I love you Jack", she whispered shockingly simply, when he opened his eyes, and looked at her.

Then she pulled his hand, and forced him to continue walking, as if she wanted to avoid the opportunity of hearing his answer. Then she kept talking ceaselessly, until they got to the town's center.

In town, they bought what they needed for the journey, and they were ready to go to finally find the most important thing, that is the ship which could be conveniently overtaken, when Jack decided to buy yet something, a weapon of some kind, apparently, in a store that looked somewhat dark and suspicious, so he advised Elizabeth to wait for him outside for a moment.

The sun came out from behind the clouds. Elizabeth was getting tired of waiting, even though it was not even three minutes that has passed since he was gone. Curiously enough, it occurred to her that she actually missed him. It was very disturbing not to see him. She knew he will be back soon, but when she tried to imagine how would it feel, if he should be away for a longer period of time, she found herself shuddering at the very thought.

"Elizabeth!", she suddenly heard her name spoken in a loud voice.

She smiled subconsciously, assuming that it was Jack, who called her.

But it was not him.

She looked up, and her smile vanished. What she saw, seemed so distant, and abstract to her at the moment, that she could hardly believe her eyes. She almost forgot all about it, as if it did not relate to her anymore. She wanted to say something, but could not. She was struck dumb with astonishment, and yet, with some strange naivety, she hoped that perhaps she is hallucinating.

"Elizabeth!", repeated the hallucination with an uncertain look on his face.

"Will!", Elizabeth smiled stupidly.

She felt like running, but it did not seem to be a solution. She looked around timidly, but it made her become even more gloomy, as she noticed one more person approaching. She never knew that her father can walk that fast.

"Elizabeth", said her father with visible indignation."What are you doing here? I came here, although it seemed to be the most absurd possibility... And yet... You are here! You are here indeed!", he shouted with disbelief.

She did not know which sight was worse: her father screaming and bursting with outrage, or Will standing silently and looking dreadfully dreary.

Perhaps, there was a sight even worse than the two mentioned above.

"Oh bugger."

It was the sight of Captain Jack Sparrow, coming out of the store, and suddenly facing Governor Swann and William Turner.