"Not All Treasure is Silver and Gold"
Chapter 8
Jack and Dani packed up their belongings and went to round up the crew very early in the morning. Dani had decided to write a very kind note expressing their gratitude for being allowed to stay at their home.
It was still dark out as the crew assembled at the docks. They had their orders to leave quickly and as quietly as possible, so no one could stop them.
Dani didn't bother to unpack her things when she put them down in her cabin. She went back to bed when Jack refused to let her help them cast off. He told her that he could get everyone else settled back in and if anyone needed help, he'd think about doing it.
So Dani didn't push it any further and climbed onto the bed. She looked at her bags as she drifted off to sleep. She'd been up late packing things, so she was more exhausted than she should be. Dani never thought that she could accumulate so many things she couldn't live without. Then again, maybe it was just hormones.
Jack, being who he was, was completely ecstatic and too excited to sleep. He loved adventures and this should prove to be the greatest. The Fountain of Youth would be his and he'd have his wife and child to share it with. So, as you could imagine, he was almost floating around the deck as he made his rounds.
It was extremely late when Jack's crew first heard the random note of music floating through the air. Even Dani heard the music and made her way, half dressed, out to the deck. Jack's happiness from the day quickly turned sour when he spotted the source of the music. A ship, lights blazing, was only a mile or so away. The Adventurer would catch up extremely quickly and Jack would see what their ship had to offer.
Jack's ship got closer and closer, and he was able to see a very recognizable Jolly Roger flag. It was the Revenge, Calico Jack Rackham's ship. Jack could finally get his revenge on the people who stole his ship and burnt it down.
"Full speed ahead! We'll row if we have to!"
"Jack, what's gotten into ye?" Mr. Gibbs asked, obviously concerned for Jack's mental state.
"That ship will be ours. The captain of that ship stole ours."
But Calico Jack's crew must have spotted the infamous black sails because a couple were attempting to rouse the rest of the crew and getting the ship to make a hasty turn into the bay on their right.
The Adventurer followed the ship but it was a disappointing sight. Calico Jack's ship had been taken by the Royal Navy. Nothing could be done now.
Jack had the ship next to Captain Barnet's ship, The Sea Hunter, and Jack's crew watched as Rackham's crew were being chained and taken as naval prisoners.
The whole lot of them, except the two women, were drunk. Anne Bonny spotted Jack and his wife standing on the deck of The Adventurer as she fought her captors all the way across the deck.
"Wait!" she shouted at Barnet, who was pushing her to the hold.
"What?" he asked back, not all that excited that she had bitten him on the hand in the process of her movement across the deck.
"Him and her…" she pointed with her shackled hands.
Barnet turned and looked at the new subject of the woman's anger.
"Well, Captain and Mrs. Sparrow, how are you on this fine evening?"
"We are well, Captain Barnet. How about yourself?"
"Not too bad. Finally got Rackham and his lasses, as you can tell."
Mary Read, Rackham's other, for lack of a better word, female was brought out to the deck by one of Barnet's men.
"Can you do me a favor?" Jack asked as the women pouted.
"What's going on?" Read shouted.
"That's what I'd like to know," Bonny added. "He's just as much a pirate as I am."
"But you don't have an official pardon from King George himself, like Captain Sparrow, his wife, and his entire crew has, do you? What is it that I can do for you Captain Sparrow?" he asked, turning his attention back to Jack.
"Add stealing our ship, The Rum, and the murder of my dearly beloved's pet cat to their list of criminal acts and see that they are prosecuted for them. Both of which were completely unprovoked."
"Unprovoked! That bloody cat was a nuisance," Bonny shouted.
"Captain Sparrow, rest well tonight knowing that they will all be taken care of."
"Thank you, Captain Barnet. Carry on," Jack bowed slightly to the man and the angry females.
Dani waved sarcastically at them as The Adventurer sailed on. Both women responded with obscenities and faces. Fighting the men who were holding them back the whole time.
As The Adventurer sailed on into the night, Dani and Jack retreated back into their cabin.
"I must say, I am slightly disappointed that I couldn't get revenge myself," Dani said.
"I know. But they will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law. Rackham has an appointment with the noose when he gets back to Kingston Harbor. Along with those two wenches."
"How many times have you almost been hanged?"
"Lost count, love."
"How do you s'pose we've been so lucky?"
"I'm not sure, love. What's with all the questions?" Jack asked.
"I don't know. Just popped into my head."
"Well, bring your head over here," he said, motioning for her to come to him.
She slowly made her way back to the other side of the cabin and let herself get wrapped in Jack's arms. Someone knocked on the door as they kissed.
"Go away!" Jack shouted as he leaned into kiss her again.
"No, Jack," she smiled as she stepped back and sat on the bed.
"All right, all right," he said. "Come in."
Mr. Gibbs entered the room. "Sorry to be interruptin' your evening, captain, but we are in need of a heading."
Both Jack and Dani reached for their compasses. Jack's pointed to Dani, once again, while Dani's was fixed in southwesterly direction. She saw the confused smile on Jack's face and motioned for him to hand over his compass; she knew that his pointed to her. Dani held both compasses and watched as both compasses pointed southwest.
"Your heading, Mr. Gibbs, is southwest," Dani smiled at the man.
He excused himself and Dani flopped back on the bed. Jack joined her and put his head next to her stomach.
"Hello in there," he said to her bellybutton.
"Jack, he can't hear you."
"He?" Jack questioned as he looked at her excitedly.
"Just a feeling," she sighed and put her head back on the pillow.
"Danielle, a boy or a girl, either would be wonderful."
"I know, Jack. I know."
Jack put his head down on her stomach and continued to whisper to the baby while Dani drifted off to sleep.
A/N: There's the 8th chapter. Please tell me what you thought of it. It would be greatly appreciated. And I am now taking suggestions for names for Jack and Dani's baby. I haven't decided what sex it's going to be, so suggestions of both male and female names would be wonderful!
And for those history buffs out there, Calico Jack Rackham, Anne Bonny and Mary Read are real pirates. They were really surprised by Captain Barnet and captured. Calico Jack and the rest of the male crewmembers were drunk while Anne and Mary were the only sober ones and the only ones who were able to fight back. I thought I would include this bit of information in case anyone really wanted to know. Anne and Mary were not hung because they were "pregnant" at the time. Mary died in prison either during childbirth or from sickness, while Anne disappeared. Anne did however see Calico Jack before he was hanged and said that "I'm sorry to see you like this Jack. But if you had fought like a man, then you needn't be hanged like a dog."