Chapter Seven
That night found Joanna and her crew with more money, but no success whatsoever in finding information about Jack Sparrow's whereabouts. Everyone on the island that heard his name laughed the pirate to scorn, and Joanna got back onto the British Pride with a deep scowl on her face. She ate her dinner in a huff and then retired to the captain's cabin for the rest of the evening.
When the following morning arrived, the captain was waiting for everyone when they arrived on deck.
"We're going to Jamaica ," she called out. "I've had enough of this disappointing search for Jack, and as much as I don't care for the island, that's where we'll be sure to find out where he is."
"Why do you not like Jamaica?" Theo asked. "It is the most crowded, informative pirate port in the whole of the Caribbean. Its popularity nearly triples from Tortuga's."
"Because it's a major trading port," Joanna frowned. "Of people as well as items and information. There are no qualms there about simply grabbing some innocent bystander and selling them seconds later. It's a merciless place. Only Hastings and you are to go ashore with me. The others will have to stay with the ship. It's too dangerous for everyone."
"When can we expect to get there, Captain?" Peter asked, looking up at the perfectly clear sky and smiling at the gentle breeze that pushed the ship along.
"By this afternoon. Everyone set about your duties. Annette, it is high time we ate breakfast," Joanna ordered.
Everyone moved about their tasks, diligently and without question. It was no doubt the best crew Joanna had ever commanded, if not the smallest. The only people aboard she was uncertain about were Theo and Adelinde, but they still managed to do their duties without much complaint, and Theo never complained, he simply liked to question occasionally.
Several hours passed, finding the late hours of the afternoon. The sun was about to set, and the coast of Jamaica was not far off, aglow with hundreds of lights. Joanna was not excited to be going ashore, but she faced her upcoming feat with determination. Her eyes glared at the shoreline as she steered, preventing her from seeing the immense ship that was fast approaching them from the stern.
"Captain!" Hastings called. "Ship approaching from the stern, ma'am!"
Joanna turned her head and promptly let go of the helm.
Behind them was The Darius, the largest slave ship in all Seven Seas, and there could be no doubting that she was after the British Pride.
"What shall we do, Captain?" Peter called from the deck.
"Race them to the shore!" Joanna shouted. "Run up the sails! Be ready for gunfire!"
"Captain, she's far too fast to outdistance," Hawk said, coming to her captain's side. "You know that."
"Aye, but the difficulty for us isn't our speed, it's our ship," Joanna nodded, turning the helm. "We're flying the British flag and we have a British name. The Darius expects us to be a ship full of prospective slaves and provisions. Were we a pirate ship, we wouldn't have this trouble."
"They're running out the guns, Captain!" Theo's shout reached the helm.
"What should we do?" Annette's voice followed.
"Prepare for – "
Joanna's voice was drowned out by the sound of a cannon firing. Theo grabbed Annette and pulled her to the floor of the deck as a cannonball split through the starboard side of the ship's railing and then continued on through the port side railing. Peter and Hastings dropped down as well as another cannonball tore through the topmast.
"Surrender!" A voice called from The Darius, and Joanna let out a long sigh.
"We surrender!" she shouted. "We aren't British passengers! I am Joanna Sparrow, pirate captain, and we are trying to make berth in Jamaica!"
"Captain Joanna Sparrow, ay? And since when you give yourself such title, ay Small Bit?" A very Jamaican voice called back.
"Captain Bastian?" Joanna called back, shocked.
"One and the same, Small Bit. What be you doing on such British ship?"
The passengers of the British Pride watched as a tall, extremely muscular, dark-skinned man came to the railing of The Darius and looked down on them and their small ship. His hair was in long dreadlocks, pulled back into a ponytail, and one of his big brown eyes had been damaged in battle, now turned white from the blindness. He smiled at Joanna, showing magnificent white teeth, and then he turned and shouted, his voice echoing across the ocean.
"Who shot upon our Little Sparrow? You will repair the captain's ship! Captain Joanna, have you and your crew had dinner yet?"
"Not yet," Joanna grinned. "But, from what I recall, you have a horrific cook."
The captain laughed and shook his head.
"A marvelous memory, Small Bit. I'm afraid it is true."
"I have a cook of my own, however, who would be willing to serve us, were we to come aboard your vessel," Joanna called back. "She's quite the chef."
Annette only looked a little uncomfortable with that as she stood up, holding Theo's hand as he helped her.
"Come aboard, then. Your ship be fixed while we eat," Captain Bastian nodded. Some of his sailors threw ropes down to the British Pride, and Joanna stepped away from the helm.
"You trust him enough to leave the ship?" Hawk whispered to her.
"Aye. He's a good friend," Joanna nodded. "He'll see to it that the ship stays safe."
Hawk said nothing more, but grabbed one of the ropes and let the pirates from the other ship pull her up. Joanna came up next to her and was immediately offered a hand by Captain Bastian.
"So good to be seeing you again, Captain Joanna," Bastian smiled, and looked to his side to see a little boy, almost a miniature version of himself, blinking up at Joanna. "Joanna, this be my son, Darius."
Joanna nodded to the boy and then followed the captain towards the hold.
"What be you here for, Small Bit?" Bastian asked, watching as his men opened the hold to the lower decks.
"To find Jack. I hope that you can help me."
"You don't have pirates aboard with you," Bastian frowned. "Be your mates causing you trouble?"
"Only one concerns me," Joanna said easily. "That one there," she said, gesturing towards Theo as he climbed over the railing and gave Annette a hand again. "He challenges me. Not enough to be dangerous, but enough to trouble me."
Bastian's eyes darkened as he looked at Theo, and he nodded.
"Darius," he spoke to his son, "bring Captain Joanna and her mates down into the dining room."
"Aye, Captain!" the boy called and saluted before he led the way.
A proud smile remained on Bastian's face as he watched his son and guests disappear into the hold.
He stepped into line behind Theo and stayed close to the man as he and the others walked down several staircases and then moved into a dark hallway towards the dining room.
Theo knew he was being followed closely, but he was still somewhat surprised when a muscular hand grabbed him by the back of his neck and dragged him into the shadows. He was spun around then, and he could barely make out the face of the ship's captain, for his face was dark, and they were in darkness.
The man began to speak in French, and Theo answered accordingly.
"What be you doing about these parts, Admiral Theodore Groves?"
"I am on a mission to protect one of the British Pride's charges, sir," Theo said quietly, and the crush on his throat was loosened. "I mean no harm to her passengers."
"The East India Trading Company is not welcome in this spit of the ocean," Bastian frowned.
"I am here by direct permission of the king, sir. I have nothing to do with the East India Trading Company. My goal is to protect Miss Annette Taylor and perhaps find information about the pirates that will defend innocent peoples from the East India Trading Company. After Lord Cutler Beckett's reign of horror, I have been installed in his place, by the king, to protect those who are innocent. I have no desire to turn Cpt. Sparrow, nor her comrades, nor anyone else over to the king unless I find a valid reason to do so."
"If you were any other scum of the British Empire, I would kill you without thought, however," Bastian spoke, letting go of Theo's neck and lowering his voice, "I owe you a great debt."
"A great debt, sir?" Theo asked, rubbing his neck.
"You saved my son from Beckett's noose," Bastian said softly. "He was being taken to the gallows, to follow his mother and two sisters, but you saw and saved him. I would to God you had been there for my Anista and my daughters."
"I am sorry to have been too late. I would have saved them if I could," Theo said gently. "I am here to do good, not harm. Miss Taylor is more of a personal matter, but I am here to see what I can do for the innocent persons amongst the pirates."
"What consider you to be innocent?" Bastian asked.
"There are pirates, the ruthless ones without hearts and with black souls, who would kill, steal, and ravage without thought, and there are those who do so to try and survive. I would ask, good sir, what the business of this ship is? I had heard The Darius is a great slave ship."
"Indeed it is," Bastian chuckled, leading Theo towards the dining room. "It be a ship full of slaves, and those be the same men and women that keep her afloat and call her home."
Theo smiled and shook the man's hand.
"I wish you the best of luck," he said, and then walked into the dining room, letting Bastian have his turn at being stunned.
"Darius, would you show Miss Annette to the galley? She is to assist the cook in preparing our meal," Bastian said, putting a hand on his son's head.
"Aye, Captain," the child said and then took Annette's arm. "This way, ma'am."
"What is she to prepare?" Joanna asked, sitting in between Adelinde and Hawk, who were across the table from Hastings and Peter.
"Fish. Theo, I want you to go help," Bastian said, and he winked at Theo as he moved past him to follow Annette. "Small Bit," he addressed Joanna when Theo had disappeared, "you can trust that man. I would suggest, if he tell you to do something, you think strongly on the matter. He has seen a bit of the sea, and he means no harm. He saved my greatest treasure, my son, and for that alone, he is trustworthy."
"Really?" Joanna asked, an eyebrow arched.
"How be Bourbon?" Bastian asked, changing the subject. "He still as big a maker of trouble as ever?"
Joanna grinned when the captain pet the falcon, the only other human allowed to do so, seeing as he had helped Joanna care for him after she rescued him from the market in Singapore.
"Still the same," Joanna nodded.
Annette found herself in a huge galley full of flopping, writhing fish. She wanted to put her hand to her nose, to quell the smell somewhat, but she refrained from doing so and instead turned her attention to the cook, a huge man holding an amazing butcher knife.
"Captain said to bring in the new cook," Darius said, not minding the fish at all.
"The new cook?" the man snorted, looking Annette up and down in a way that wasn't at all friendly.
"Only to help," Annette said quickly, uncomfortable even when Theo was standing right there.
"Fine then, pretty hands, start scaling," the cook ordered.
"He's name's Cook Ogre," Darius whispered to Annette with a giggle. "Captain named him so."
"I'm afraid I don't much know how to scale fish," Annette smiled at the boy's giggle.
"I'll show you," Theo said. "It isn't too difficult."
"You're just about as dandy as she is," Cook Ogre snorted.
"I resent that, sir," Theo said, grinning good-naturedly at Annette.
"Can't even scale one, and you certainly can't top me at it. You look like you haven't ever been on the sea as it tis," the good grumbled.
Theo smiled, somewhat smugly it must be admitted, and then grabbed one of the knives, brandished it, and pulled one of the flopping fish towards him.
"You start like so," he told Annette, and showed her, within three minutes, how to properly scale and cut the fish. He then handed the meat to her, and trying her best not to look disgusted, Annette brought it over to one of the pans that was cooking over immense stoves.
Cook Ogre grumbled some more to himself but then left the two alone to work. Annette cut her hands several times on the scales, but she pressed on, taking care of the fish and adding multiple spices and flavors into the cooking pieces.
Up in the dining room, Joanna smiled when she could smell the spices drifting up from the kitchen.
"It smells better already," Bastian said, sitting at the head of the table. "You say you be out here for Cpt. Jack, ay?"
"Aye," Joanna nodded. "Adelinde here requires a debt to be paid from him, and with all the strange happenings with Captain Savage going on, I need to find him."
"Captain Savage, ay?" Bastian asked, suddenly solemn. "That man know some sort of Black Magic."
"I don't' know anything about him," Joanna frowned, leaning forward on the table. "What do you know?"
"It's said him is the holder of the Key to the Dead. He was, that is, until the right was taken from him, and now the key is safely hidden with someone else, which is why Savage has gone on the rampage. That key gave him the power between the world of the dead and ours. He had control over every evil being that was on his or her way from Davy Jones's Locker to the immense blackness and fire beyond. No one knows why the key was taken, or even if it was taken from him by one more powerful, or it was simply stolen. A key with such power would be quite a prize if someone stole it. It brings the evil dead back to life to serve whomever calls them from the depths. Savage has mysterious powers because of that gift he was given, the gift of the key. No one seems to know for sure what those powers are. As for Captain Jack Sparrow," Bastian smiled, breaking the solemnity that had suddenly fallen upon the room, "him is easy enough to find. He is at Shipwreck Cove."
"What is he doing there? He would hate it there," Hawk frowned.
"It's completely enclosed; a regular prison," Adelinde agreed.
"You may recall the story of William Turner, turned into the new Davy Jones, and his wonderful bride, the King of the Pirates, Elizabeth Swann?" Bastian asked, still grinning.
"I recall," Joanna nodded.
"When Elizabeth married William, she forfeited her claim to the kingship. She bestowed that position on Jack. Now, good old Jack wouldn't want to be responsible with such a title, no? So he wished to escape, to find the Fountain of Youth, but the pirate lords caught up with him. He is being held prisoner in the Cove."
"That's simply awful!" Peter exclaimed, and then closed his mouth and bowed his head when everyone looked at him.
"We have to free him," Hastings agreed quietly.
"The first thing to do is get to him. My crew and I are sailing in that direction. We will bring you there," Bastian said. "We can't bring you into the Cove, but we can take you as far as the entrance. It will take several days."
"We accept your invitation," Joanna said, and then turned her head towards the door when there was a knock on it.
"Come in!" Bastian called.
The door opened, and in walked Annette and Theo with large platters of fish and steamed vegetables.
"Dinner has arrived," Annette spoke, placing her two platters down on the immense table and then stepping back and wiping her filthy hands on the front of an apron she wore. "I hope you find it satisfactory."
"There is quite the reward being offered for bringing you back home," Bastian said, putting some fish onto his plate.
"I'm sure of it," Annette said quietly.
"We have no desire to bring her back. She makes a fine cook, and she keeps the ship spotless," Joanna said.
"Darius," Bastian said fondly as his son moved to him.
"Sir?"
"Tell some of the women to prepare two large baths, each in a separate room, for our notable cooks. Theo and Miss Annette are in need of a good scrub."
Such a look of relief appeared on Annette's face that the captain couldn't help but laugh.
"Not all pirates are filthy, Miss Annette," he grinned.
Bastian joked with Joanna about buying Annette off of her, after the meal was finished and he wasn't just satisfied, but wishing he had more room in his stomach for more food. That hadn't happened for him in quite some time, and he was delighted with the meal.
Once Theo and Annette were finished with their baths, they returned to the British Pride where the rest of the crew was preparing for the night. Joanna had no intentions of steering at all this evening, for Bastian had had his men connect a line from The Darius to the British Pride so that there was no need at all to steer. The crew was in excellent hands, as Joanna trusted Bastian completely. She was shocked, however, to find that after having grabbed an apple from the galley and returned to the captain's cabin, Hastings was standing by the door.
"What are you doing here?" Joanna demanded. "Go below and sleep in your bed in the hold."
"If I might speak, captain," Hastings saluted, and Joanna sighed.
"What?"
"I know you trust this captain on the other ship, but his crew may not all be entirely honorable. I wish to sleep here tonight, to see to it that no harm befalls you and Miss Hawk."
Suspicion flickered through Joanna's mind, but she was trying to at least somewhat trust her crew, and so she nodded.
"Very well. I'll leave Bourbon out here to keep you company," she added, deciding not to trust Hastings too much.
The sailor nodded and made a bed for himself on the floor outside the door.
In the hold, Peter did the same for Adelinde's door, and after walking Annette to her room, Theo wrapped a blanket around himself and stayed outside of her door.
There was nothing wrong with being too careful.