Chapter Ten

"Joanna, time to get up. They've taken Jack, and we need to start carrying out whatever plan you have to help him escape," Hawk's voice echoed groggily in Joanna's head.

The captain moaned and rolled over, keeping her eyes shut tightly.

"Let Jack go save 'imself," she grumbled.

"Joanna," Hawk frowned, sitting on the edge of the bed. "We only have a few hours before the tide changes again."

"If I open my eyes now, I'm going to die."

"The sun's about to come up! Rise and shine!" Peter's voice echoed into the cabin. "We've got a plan, and it requires the captain!"

"The captain and more rum," Theo's voice followed.

"Think you can drink some more?" Hawk asked.

"All of you are going to be the death of me," Joanna grumbled, getting off the bed and grabbing hold of the bedpost as she nearly fell over. "How am I supposed to do more drinking? I feel sick."

"A good breakfast should help you," Annette said cheerfully, carrying a plate of vegetables and meat into the room. "That and a lot of water."

Joanna mumbled something incoherent and reached out blindly for the mug of water, refusing to open her eyes. Annette helped her, giving her the mug and watching as the captain gulped all of the water down. While Joanna never would have admitted it, the water helped immensely, flushing out the alcohol in her system, and the good food forced the toxins out of her blood.

"So what's the plan?" she asked when she had finished eating and had relieved herself several times.

"You and Jack are going to challenge the Brethren Court to a drinking game," Adelinde said, entering the room. "While you do that, the rest of us are going to take care of all the surrounding guards so that you and Jack have a clear escape."

"And how are we going to get away from the Brethren Court ?" Joanna frowned.

"Jack said he'd take care of that," Theo grinned.

"Someone needs to stay with the ship to get us away as fast as possible," Joanna said, grabbing her tricorn and pulling it atop her head. "Did he take that into account?"

"He did. He said to leave Theo aboard," Hastings nodded.

"While Jack and I are in the mouth of the lion, he's going to leave you, Peter, Annette, Adelinde, and Hawk to pick everyone off? And who's planning on being in charge of that endeavor? Hawk, are you really planning on ordering such an absurd crew to finish pirates off?"

"I have quite the simple plan. It was Annette's idea, actually," Hawk said, almost sounding surprised.

"Annette?" Joanna asked, an eyebrow arched.

"Cpt. Bastian informed us that my father had a rather large reward put out for anyone who can find me and bring me back to him," Annette said quietly. "If we simply announce that Annette Taylor is on the ship and that the price for bringing him home is close to six thousand pounds, that should be enough distraction for the entire cove. I'll just start running, and with everyone's help, I should be able to get all of us back to the ship while you and Cpt. Jack make your way there. All of the pirates will be too occupied with following me to notice you leaving. You'll just have to deal with the Brethren Court , and Cpt. Jack doesn't seem to think that will be a problem."

"You're going to run all throughout the cove with a whole hoard of pirates following you?" Joanna asked.

"I disapproved of the idea, but there is no better way to distract the cove than with money," Theo sighed.

"We'll make sure she stays safe," Peter nodded. "I f we have to, we'll shoot whoever gets too close."

"I will say, that is clever, Annette. You're actually starting to think like a pirate. I'm impressed," Joanna grinned. "It will have to work."

"I thought I would stay in these breeches to help me run faster," Annette nodded. "I should stay quite safe. I think I may actually enjoy this."

"Jack left it in our hands to set up the game," Hawk said. "Any ideas how to go about doing that?"

"The Court probably already knows we can outdrink anyone," Joanna frowned.

"You might be surprised. They are the Brethren Court , the top pirate lords. They can probably all drink a good deal," Hastings shrugged. "I'll bet if there's a Frenchman, he would be up to it."

"The guy with the snuff?" Annette giggled. "That would be amusing."

"Hawk, let's go see if we can start something," Joanna sighed, moving towards the cabin door and walking out past the men. "Theo, if anyone tries to come aboard uninvited, shoot him."

"Aye, Captain," Theo saluted and then watched as Joanna and Hawk left the ship.

Thirty minutes later, Joanna had no idea how she and Hawk had done it. They had somehow managed to set up a challenge with the Brethren Court . Apparently, the pirates were in need of a little entertainment and some gambling, and so they were willing to bet Captain Teague against Joanna and Jack. Captain Teague himself had not been there, so Joanna doubted that there really would be any challenge, but all the same, she had agreed to return to the cove at 5:30 sharp for the duel. And she, for the first time in a very long time, was nervous. If both she and Jack were exceptional drinkers, and Teague was their father, then there was probably no way in all the Seven Seas that they'd be able to best him at a drinking game.

Jack hadn't been too hopeful about the challenge either, hearing that Teague would be involved. He went into a rave about how women were always bad luck and how it was very unsophisticated and unrefined to challenge one's father to a drinking game. And then he had started talking to his shoulders again, and he completely forgot that Joanna was even standing there as he went into near hysterics mumbling nonsense to his shoulders.

Joanna paced back and forth atop the British Pride, catching snatches of the conversations going on around her as she moved.

"I promise you, she'll be fine," Peter's voice said cheerfully as he watched Annette braid her hair.

"You can promise that, but it doesn't mean anything," Theo whispered back. "We don't need to lose any of our crew, and I am worried about the captains as well. Cpt. Sparrow is very clever, and I'm not worried at all about him, I suppose, but Cpt. Joanna is young and small, and I'm afraid she might get hurt."

"Jack is the one who has the plan to get them out of the cove, and I'm sure it will work," Adelinde piped up. "It better," she added.

"We need a second plan, in case this one fails," Joanna spoke up, and her crew turned to acknowledge her.

"I don't think there is any other plan we can use unless the first one backfires," Theo said knowledgeably. "We'll just have to see what happens. Do you need anything before we all go our separate ways? Is there anything we can do for you?"

"I would say give me a mug of rum," Joanna smiled slightly, "but that is hardly what I need right now. No, there's nothing I need."

"We'll keep an eye out for you and Cpt. Jack," Hastings said. "Would it be acceptable if Peter and I go ashore? We need to look around and see precisely what sort of people we are going to be dealing with."

"Go on," Joanna said, waving them away.

"I am certain things will work out for the best, Captain. They always do," Annette said softly from Joanna's side. "It's all just one big adventure."

"But where will the adventure end, I wonder?"

"With all of us, including Jack, safely aboard the British Pride, sailing out to safety."

"How can you be so certain of this?" Joanna frowned. "You know so little about pirates or fleeing for your life."

"Because in the short time I've known you, I've come to believe that you are a talented pirate who can escape from anything. From what I know of your brother, he is the same way," Annette shrugged, turning and walking away. "I have faith in both of you."

"For one so naïve, you have so much trust," Joanna sighed.

That evening found Joanna and Jack inside the ship of the Brethren Court , sitting side by side at a round table with all the other pirate lords and their guards standing around them. Captain Teague was nowhere to be found.

"This is a splendid beginning," Jack whispered to his sister, his breath smelling entirely of rum. "Whose brilliant idea was this?"

"One of your shoulders', I'm sure," Joanna scowled.

"My shoulders?" Jack frowned. "Did no one send for Captain Teague?"

"Teague is never in a hurry to get anywhere," Cpt. Vallenueva sniffed.

"He said he would come," Cpt. Jocard rumbled.

"If he doesn't arrive in the next two minutes, he'll owe myself and my comrade a handsome sum of money, say three hundred pounds each," Jack mused.

"Don't rush me, boy."

Jack visibly shrank back as Cpt. Teague entered the room, a guitar in one hand and a bag of coins in the other. He walked over to the table and sat down gracefully, like a cat, across from Jack and Joanna. His coal-darkened eyes moved from his son to the woman next to him, and he smiled slightly, almost looking like he wasn't smiling at all.

"How nice it is to have a flock of birds altogether at one table," he said, referring to Joanna's pirate flag as well as his and Jack's tattoos. "Are the two of you challenging me together, or are you each fighting for your own?"

"It would hardly be fair to go against you together," Joanna spoke up bravely.

"I think it'd hardly be fair to do otherwise," Teague rasped. "What are the stakes?"

"I'm willing to give you the British Pride, her crew, and everything aboard, should Cpt. Sparrow and I fail," Joanna said, and a light immediately appeared in Teague's eyes.

He knew. She could see it just from that mysterious sparkle. The pirate lord knew fully well that this wasn't about winning a drinking game, it was about her and Jack escaping. And he wasn't going to make that easy.

"Before I'm willing to gamble my wages of five hundred pounds," Teague spoke, turning his head to look to Cpt. Jocard and Cpt. Vallenueva, "I'd like to see if it's even worth my time. These two will go first."

"That's not right. Jack and I will both be intoxicated before we even start to drink against you," Joanna frowned.

"I'm good with it," Jack said casually, putting his hands behind his head.

"Jack!" Joanna hissed.

"What? I love rum! The more the merrier! Let's have at it!" Jack exclaimed.

"You really were half baked out in the sun," Joanna growled as glasses were placed on the table and were immediately filled with rum.

Vallenueva shot her a smug look as he sat down across from her, and Jocard grinned good-naturedly as amber liquid was poured into the glasses in front of them.

"I put in three hundred Spanish doubloons," the French lord spoke.

"And I'll add four hundred pounds," Jocard nodded.

"We'll wager seven hundred pounds," Jack said nonchalantly, watching as bags of money were placed on the table. "I'm assuming you've brought plenty of the bounty," he added, putting a hand on the back of Joanna's neck in a rather flippant manner. "Didn't you, love?"

"Oh, far more than that," she frowned.

"Let the drinking begin!" Jocard called, and the pirates started drinking.

Somehow, in between drinking and waiting for more glasses to be filled, Jack kept the money moving. He took Hawk's place for Joanna, taking bids and gathering money on the table as he drank. All of the pirates surrounding them were gambling away all of their loot, most of them betting on Jocard. Joanna didn't pay attention to anything but drinking. She didn't count the glasses of rum, accurately assuming that there were others doing that, but focused entirely on drinking. She gulped down one glass after the next, watching as Vallenueva somehow managed to daintily down one shot after another without so much as blinking. Jack was thoroughly enjoying himself, she could tell, and she was almost mad at him for it.

Fifteen minutes passed, and the room was getting very blurry, but Joanna pressed on. The wagers intensified with every glass that was downed, and no one showed any signs of backing down. When Jocard finally slammed his hand on the table in surrender, everyone finished the glasses they had been drinking from, and the drinking stopped.

"Ha! The girl and I win by half a glass!" Jack declared, gesturing to the small glass he was holding that was only halfway full.

"You don't win unless you drink the whole glass!" Vallenueva declared. "You thief!"

"Ah ha! Half a glass counts!" Jack insisted. "We're a full half glass ahead of you!"

"It doesn't play that way, Sparrow," Jocard scowled.

"Oh really? You mean to say I divulged half a glass of rum for positively no reason?" Jack frowned, sitting back easily. "Because, really, as you can see, half the rum is now gone, which means I certainly consumed it, and seeing as how that's one half glass short of what you have, that therefore declares me, myself, and I, as well as Cpt. Joanna, to be the winners. There's really no way you can argue with it. Even if the glass is half full, according to your tainted logic, to me it is half empty, which therefore means I drank more. Now argue with that! Ha!"

"The rules are you drink all the rum in the glass!" Jocard shouted, standing up and slamming both fists on the table.

"I did! I drank all the rum in half the glass!" Jack declared, getting drunkenly to his feet.

"Liar!" Vallenueva shouted.

"Daisy!" Jack yelled back.

"Thief!"

"Snuff sniffer!"

Vallenueva drew a gun, and Jack grabbed Joanna's shoulder as everyone in the room started pulling out their weapons.

"Do you dare defy the French?" Mistress Ching called. "That's an insult to them!"

"I like the French! They invented parlay and parsley!" Jack shouted. "And those ridiculous little black mole spot things they plant upon their face and deem as beautiful!"

Vallenueva fired his weapon just as Jack pulled Joanna to the floor.

"Time to leave, love," he grinned as the air was riddled with bullets and shouting. All the other pirates were already exceptionally drunk, and so the room immediately became filled with smoke and gunfire as the intoxicated people took aim at everyone.

Jack was able to walk outside quite easily, and he and Joanna stepped out into an immense wall of fog.

"Oh, nice," Joanna said, grabbing his arm as they quickly made way to the British Pride.

In the meantime, Annette had most of the cove chasing after her. Her long legs and clear mind kept her a safe distance ahead of the pirates, but they were beginning to think more coherently, and some of them, she knew were well in front of her, ready to block her flight. Guns were firing all over the place, and the woman could only pray that the fog would help her move in and out of any traps without being noticed.

She turned a corner and found herself falling into Jack Sparrow, who quickly righted her and grabbed her hand.

"No time to dally, love," he said, both to Annette and Joanna. "There is the brink. Once we get to the edge of the dock, jump. We'll have to swim a bit."

"Where are Hawk and the others?" Joanna demanded as they neared the water.

"Already in the water swimming. I told them to go on ahead and I'd catch up," Annette gasped, breathing heavily. "Tally ho!"

She jumped off the edge of the dock, landing with a splash in the water. There was a ship moving, not too far ahead, and the whole deck was aglow with lights. Joanna could just make out Hawk's form, being pulled out of the water and hoisted onto the deck, as she plunged into the water after Annette. Jack followed right behind, and all three of them moved hastily towards the British Pride. The enraged pirates of the cove were firing wildly, some of them even jumping in the water to follow after the escapees.

"Ye can't escape, Jack!" one of the pirate lords shouted from his ship high above the water. "We'll catch ye!"

Jack grinned as he grabbed a lone sail rope and was pulled up towards the British Pride's deck.

"Gentlemen!" he called, falling onto the deck and then standing up hurriedly. "This is the day that you will always remember as the day…"

"We don't have time for this!" Adelinde shouted from the helm. "They're coming after us in ships, Sparrow! Close the trap and keep it locked!"

Jack closed his mouth with a pout and moved towards the helm.

"I'll be taking my place then," he announced, walking up the steps.

"Oh no!" Joanna laughed. "It's my ship, and therefore I shall captain it."

"And you owe me, Jack! You've been hiding away for too long, and I want my pay!" Adelinde added to the dilemma.

Theo ignored them and sailed the ship towards the Devil's Throat, squinting to see through the fog. Cannons fired in the near distance, and a cannonball shot right through one of the sails.

"Jack, I did not rescue you just for you to take over my ship!" Joanna shouted over the gunfire.

"Hold on!" Theo ordered as the ship entered a swell and was rushed at full speed into Devil's Throat.

"And I wasn't rescued just to play first mate or passenger!" Jack shouted over the roaring rapids that flung the ship along.

Theo clenched his teeth and used the full might of his upper body to turn the helm, avoiding one rocky, threatening wall. He winced when he heard one of the pirate ships behind them crash against the wall and splinter into firewood. Everyone aboard the British Pride clung tightly to the ship, except for Joanna and Jack, who continued arguing over who would man the ship.

Theo voiced prayers aloud as he sailed in the pitch black of the cavern, barely avoiding crags and jutting rocks. His whole body ached as he sailed, and when finally the British Pride was thrust out of the cavern and onto the open ocean, he let out a long sigh of relief and rested against the helm, sweat trickling from his brow and down his shirt. He had never felt so weary in all his life, and he turned to the arguing captains with a sigh.

"We're back on the ocean," he announced. "I think we should begin our regular shifts. Peter, I believe, is on duty now."

Peter took the helm, and Annette called from her place at the railing, "Let's get something to eat!"

It was late in the night when Theo went back on the deck for his shift. He nodded to Peter, who promptly went into the hold to get some sleep, and then checked the course of the ship. They were moving in a northeast direction, at the orders of Jack, who was longing to go to Tortuga to gather more supplies, or so he said. Everything was peaceful now, and Theo sucked in a deep breath when he put his hands to the helm.

Every star was shining tonight, and he looked up. A shadow on the crow's nest caught his attention, and he turned his full attention to that location. He could see Annette up there, still in her breeches, sitting in the nest and letting her legs dangle over the edge of it. He could also see two wet lines dripping down her cheeks, and he frowned. He left the helm for a moment, knowing that the ship would stay on course for the time being, and then made his ascent to the crow's nest.

"Good evening," he spoke when he arrived at the top.

Annette hurriedly wiped away her tears as he took a seat next to her.

"Good evening," she returned the greeting.

"It's a bit late, isn't it?"

Annette smiled sadly and shook her head.

"Were I home, I would have been up this late," she said. "Tonight I was to be announced as engaged to Admiral Groves. My father wanted to hold a spectacular ball at the governor's home for the occasion. He even had chosen a gown for me. He was so excited about it all, and I fled and ruined his excitement."

"You say that you fled. How so?" Theo asked gently.

"I was afraid."

"Afraid of whom? Your father? Being married?"

"Of Admiral Groves," Annette whispered. "I didn't know him, Theo, and yet I was to marry him. I had heard how he was a good man, but that didn't mean anything to me. I was informed by many sources that his first love was the sea. I decided to run away to the sea, to see if perhaps it was as wonderful as he made it seem, that way, if we never came to love each other, we could at least share a love for the ocean. But I had a feeling overcome me, just a short while ago, when I was running, that is bothering me greatly."

He remained silent, waiting for her to continue.

"I have been told before by many women how they have jealousy when a man they love courts someone else or has a love for something that is far greater than they. I had never understood it until I had time to think. I came out here to see my competition, Theo. I was to be competing for Admiral Groves' affection, don't you see? He had a love for the ocean, and so I came out to see if I could overcome that and have a bigger place in his heart. But I can't compete. How can a woman compete with the ocean? The ocean is so beautiful and free, and no matter whether she is angry or happy, she is beautiful. She appeals to humans in a way that no other source can. How can I hope to ever compare to that?" Her voice choked, and she buried her face in her arm, not wanting him to see her tears. "How can I ever mean more to him than the ocean does?"

Admiral Theodore Groves of his majesty's navy and the East India Trading Company had never been more touched in his life, nor had he ever felt more blessed. This woman, so young and innocent, was far more concerned about pleasing her husband than she was about being happy. She was willing to come out on some wild adventure to try and find a solution to winning his heart, not simply to be rebellious and escape her father's wishes. That wasn't her attempt at all. She planned on going home as soon as she could, now that she had her answer. And she must have been so afraid that she could never take the place of the ocean in her future husband's heart. Ah, but she was wrong. He cared for the ocean dearly, but the ocean wasn't a soul. It wasn't something that could love in return, and so while Theo enjoyed the sea for its beauty and freedom, it in no way appealed to him as much as the woman at his side did.

"I think, Miss Taylor, that any man would be a fool could he not see the treasure you are and hold you dearer to him than the ocean."

"That's very kind of you," Annette sniffed, moving her face away from her arm again. "But I don't know how true that is."

"I think the admiral will adore you."

She didn't speak, but gazed out at the ocean, letting her tears dry against her face. Theo observed her quietly, not saying anything at all, and he stretched out his legs and stretched his neck before getting to his feet and speaking.

"I must return to the helm," he said quietly, "but before I leave, would you care to dance? I know you must miss your father tonight, thinking of how he was going to have that celebration for you, so perhaps I can comfort you somewhat with a dance?"

"That would be quite nice," Annette whispered, and she let him help her to her feet.

"I fear our dance floor is to be quite small, and our walls confined," Theo smiled gently as he drew her close to him. He realized then that she was still wet from her swim hours earlier, and she shivered as he wrapped his arms around her and drew her closer to his body heat. "You should have changed, my lady," he whispered against her ear. "You'll catch your death of cold."

"I hadn't much time," Annette said so softly that he could barely hear her. "Food had to be served."

He began to sway her gently, simply rocking her back and forth in his arms, keeping her close as the crow's nest offered little space. He wondered how she would react if he were to tell her what his mission was here and how very close she was to the man she was engaged to marry. Would she be more afraid? Would she resent him? She didn't seem like the kind of woman to reject someone because of the truth, but no, there was no reason to tell her now.

She was falling asleep in his arms, holding his shirt in her hands, warming beneath his touch.

"Miss Annette?"

She looked up into his face, and for a moment, he was lost. The starlight was playing with her eyes, and the wet drops of sea water in her hair were glistening beneath the moon. Her eyes were half closed with sleepiness, and Theo was unable to speak a word.

"Aye?" Annette asked wearily, her eyes studying his, noting how they had darkened slightly.

"The hour is late, my lady," he said, clearing his throat. "It would be best for you to get in some dry clothes and get to sleep."

"You are right," she said, sounding barely awake. "I am sorry to have disturbed you."

"You did not disturb me at all," he answered, watching as she pulled back and made her way down to the deck. "Not at all," he whispered as she disappeared into the hold.