I was sitting on the stairs leading to the upper deck, listening to Will talk about his childhood. I never knew much about Will as a child, only that my sister and I had found him floating in the ocean on the voyage from England when I was fifteen. It had been hours since we had commandeered the Interceptor, and were sailing calmly against the smooth water.
"When I was a lad living in England," Will said, sharpening a sword, "my mother raised me by herself. After she died, I came out here, looking for my father."
"Is that so?" Jack replied, not really interested at all.
"My father, Will Turner. At the jail, it was only after you learned my name that you agreed to help. Since that was what I wanted, I didn't press the matter." Will said, "I'm not a simpleton, Jack. You knew my father." I followed the two of them up the small stairs and up onto the upper deck.
"I knew 'im. Probably one of the few that knew him as William Turner. Everyone else just called him Bootstrap or Bootstrap Bill." Jack said. Bootstrap? What a strange nickname, I wondered why everyone called him that.
"Bootstrap?" I asked.
"Good man. Good pirate. I swear you look just like him." Jack carried on to Will, steering the ship. I gasped. Pirate, Will's father was a pirate? But then that explained the pirate medallion that Elizabeth found on him as a boy.
"It's not true." Will said, angrily. "He was a merchant sailor. A good, respectable man who obeyed the law."
"He was a bloody pirate, a scallywag." Jack answered, rolling his eyes, clearly annoyed. I was sorry for Will but I had to agree with Jack. His father was a pirate. But I didn't say anything, he'd be so upset. Will took out his sword.
"My father was not a pirate."
"Put it away, son, it's not worth you getting beat again." Jack said, calmly.
"You didn't beat me, you ignored the rules of engagement. In a fair fight, I'd killed you." Will retorted. So that's what happened yesterday in the Blacksmiths.
"Then that's not much incentive for me to fight fair, then, is it?" Jack swung the wheel around so one of the sails connected with Will, swinging him out, hanging over the sea. I gasped and looked urgently and Jack who ignored me.
"Now, as long as you're just hanging there, pay attention. The only rules that really matter are these ― what a man can do and what a man can't do." Jack said. "For instance, you can accept that your father was a pirate and a good man or you can't. But pirate is in your blood, boy, so you'll have to square with that someday. Now, me for example, I can let you drown but I can't bring this ship into Tortuga with only her." Jack gave a quick gesture in my direction. I started to protest but Jack held up his hand to stop me. "Savvy. So…" He swung Will back on board and pointed a sword at him, "can you sail under the command of a pirate?" Jack flipped the sword around, offering it to Will, who was lying on the deck flat on his back. "Or can you not?" Will took the sword and asked.
"Tortuga?" Jack grinned at him, showing off his golden teeth.
"Tortuga."
After a couple of sleepless nights, we arrived in Tortuga, a town on the edge of a small island. We leave the Interceptor in the harbour and walk into the crowded streets. There were large woman flirting with ugly men who were lying under rum barrels with their mouths open wide. People ran around with guns shooting in random directions and drunk men broke empty rum bottles on other people's heads knocking them out. It was chaos. I'd never seen such an uncivilised and unhygienic place before.
"More importantly, it is indeed a sad life that has never breathed deep this sweet, proliferous bouquet that is Tortuga. What do you think?" Jack questioned.
"It'll linger." Will answered as I pulled a face.
"I'll tell you, if every town in the world were like this one, no man or woman would ever feel unwanted." Jack lead us through the streets until a women with deep red curly hair and who was painted in makeup walked up to Jack.
"Scarlett!" He greeted. She slapped him on the cheek. "Not sure I deserved that." He said to us as I held back a smirk. Another woman then came up, she too was coated in makeup but had blonde curls instead of red. "Giselle!"
"Who was she? Who is she?!" Giselle asked, glaring at me.
"What?" Jack said, uncertainly, then she slapped him on the other cheek and walked away.
"I may of deserved that." We walked onwards till we came across a sty with three pigs and a muddy man sleeping in it. Jack threw a bucket of water on the man and he sat up and yelled.
"Curse you for breathing, you slack-jawed idiot!" He was dressed in dirt-covered rags and ad small beady eyes. I seemed to remember him from somewhere. But where?
"Mother's love! Jack!" The man greeted, when he noticed who it was. "You should know better than to wake a man when he's sleeping.'S bad luck." He put the knife away.
"Ah, fortunately I know how to counter it." Jack said and knelt down on the dirt. "The man who did the waking buys, the man who did the sleeping, a drink. The man who was sleeping drinks it while listening to a proposition from the man who did the waking." I was rather confused by the time Jack had finished talking and by the look on his face so did the other man, but soon he'd figured out what he'd said and replied.
"Aye, that'll about do it." The man stood up and Will threw another bucket of water on him.
"Blast! I'm already awake!"
"That was for the smell," Will said. The man stopped looking annoyed and shrugged as if he was agreeing. We walked to a tavern named the 'Captains Daughter'. It was worse inside than the streets of Tortuga if that was even possible. Men and women alike danced drunkenly around, throwing rum all over the floor, making other slip and not get back up. Broken glass was scattered everywhere and wooden tables were packed with inappropriate people. Jack gestured for the pig man to sit down at a spare table in the far corner while he looked around cautiously and muttered to Will and I.
"Keep a sharp eye." He then went to sit down with the other man. I leaned against a wooden pole that was near Jack's table, unsure of what to do. A lanky man with a stubbled beard and ear-length dirty hair drifted up to me.
"Hello, beautiful." He murmured to me.
"Excuse me?" I said, shocked.
"How 'bout we go and have a cosy get together, ey?" I nearly choked with disgust. I glared at him,
"I don't think so." I spat before moving far away. Now I understood what Jack said about keeping out a sharp eye. Will, also seemed to be having trouble getting away from a fat and ugly women who had taken a fancy to him. Then I heard Jack and the man talking in hoarse whispers.
"Prove me wrong. What makes ye think Barbossa will give up his ship to you?" The man asked.
"Let's just say it's a matter of leverage, eh?" Jack answered, tilting his head towards Will. Leverage? Will? What was Jack up to? It didn't sound good. I listened in closer.
"The kid?" He said. Jack nodded,
"That is the child of Bootstrap Bill Turner. His only child, savvy?"
"Is he now?" The man observed, "'Leverage', says you 'I think a feel a change in the wind,' says I. I'll find us a crew. There's bound to be some sailors on this rock crazy as you."
"One can only hope." Jack replied, "Take what you can…"
"Give nothing back." The other man finished, they banged their tankards together and took a big gulp before slamming them back down on the table. As they got up, I looked away, pretending to be fascinated with a piece of shattered glass on the floor. Jack, the man, Will and I left the tavern and headed into the lantern-lit night.
"Feast your eyes, Captain." Gibbs said. Yes, it was Gibbs, I found that out when Jack was talking about him last night to us, explaining how he'd get us a good crew. I was rather surprised when I found out who the old man really was, but I did remember him from somewhere. He just looked different in mud rags instead of a sailor's uniform in which I last saw him in eight years ago. "All of them, faithful hands before the mast, every man worth his salt." Then he added, "And crazy to boot." I glanced over at Will who looked less than impressed at the line of about seven dirty pirates.
"So this is your able-bodied crew?" He scoffed, Jack walked along the line of sailors until he reached a man with a purple bandana, a scruffy short beard and a bluish, yellow parrot sitting on his shoulder.
"You sailor!" He yelled.
"Cotton, sir." Gibbs told him.
"Mr. Cotton," Jack continued, "... Do you have the courage and fortitude to follow orders and stay true in the face of danger and almost certain death?" I gulped at the last part. I knew I was willing to die for Elizabeth but that doesn't mean I wasn't scared to do it. When Cotton didn't answer Jack shouted,
"Mr. Cotton! Answer, man!"
"He's a mute, sir." Gibbs explained. "Poor devil had his tongue cut out, so he trained the bird to talk for him. No-one's yet figured how." Mr. Cotton poked out his stub of a tongue, I turned away, disgusted.
"That's gross." I muttered to Jack, who nodded in agreement.
"Mr. Cotton's … Parrot" Jack said, uncomfortably. "Same question."
"Wind in the sails! Wind in the sails!" The Parrot squawked in answer.
"Mostly, we figure, that means 'yes'." Gibbs translated.
"'O course it does." Jack said and turned to Will. "Satisfied?"
"Well, you've proved they're mad." Was all Will said.
"And what's the benefit for us?" A female voice spoke out. I was surprised, there were only supposed to be male sailors on board. It seemed by the looks on their faces that everyone else was too. Jack walked over to the sailor who had just spoken and took off her sailors hat, revealing a dark skinned women. She had long black hair that matched her eyes.
"Anamaria!" Jack exclaimed, the woman smacked his cheek. I held back a laugh, women sure seemed had it in for Jack.
"I suppose you didn't deserve that one either?" I asked, teasingly.
"No, that one I deserved." He replied,
"You stole my boat!" Anamaria accused loudly.
"Actually ―" Jack protested only to get another slap on the face. "... borrowed. Borrowed without permission. But with every intention of bringing it back to you." Borrowed without permission? That sounded an awful lot like stealing to me.
"But you didn't!" She yelled,
"You'll get another one." Jack said, Anamaria pointed a finger at him
"I will."
"A better one." Will butted in.
"A better one!" Jack agreed.
"That one." Will said and pointed to the Interceptor.
"What one? That one?!" Jack said urgently and glared at Will, who gave him a pointed look. "Aye, that one. What say you?" The crew shouted 'aye!' in agreement.
"Anchors aweigh." Cotton's bird screeched as the crew walked towards the ship.
"No, no, no, no, no, it's frightful bad luck to have a woman on board, sir, let alone two." Gibbs warned. He sounded a bit too superstitious to me.
"It's be far worse not to have them." Jack said, then walked over to the Interceptor with the crew. What exactly did Jack mean by that? It'll be far worse not to have them? I waved the thought away and followed them on deck and readied to set sail.