Chapter 5: Ill Luck and Bad News

"Poisoned?" 'Umniya asked sleepily bewildered. "How? Why are you here?"

"A man wanted to be sure we did what he wants. So he poisoned us and now we're 'ere doin' what he wants so that he'll give us the antidote so that we can go on and do what we want," Jack explained in a rush. He earned a reproachful look from Barbossa and a perplexed one from 'Umniya.

"What the captain means is that we have to get something that Alamgir has," Barbossa explained. "It's a jeweled, golden statue of a falcon about yeah tall." Barbossa held his hands about a foot apart.

"The falcon?" 'Umniya asked. "He doesn't have it anymore."

"What?" the pirates asked in unison.

"He gave it to a man in exchange for new French cannons for his ship," the woman said.

"What man?" Barbossa asked.

"He's a merchant. Wealthy. He owns a small estate half a days ride from the city to the south." 'Umniya paused in thought. "I think his name is Tamir Wahib."

"A day's travel just to get there and back," Jack grumbled.

"Aye," Barbossa agreed. "Still. It leaves us four days to get back to Sir Kaspar."

"But we don't know anything about this bugger's estate." Jack found a chair and slumped into it. "We'll have to spend some time just looking for a way in and then hunting around."

"And there's nothing to say that he won't have sold the damned thing or traded it." Barbossa continued the line of thought.

"I don't think he would have traded it," 'Umniya said. "He's been wanting it for at least a year. Alamgir made a deal with him for the cannons and it has taken Tamir this long to collect them."

Jack's eyes slid to the woman. "A year you say?"

"Yes," She replied.

"Hector," said Jack. "Could be that someone else wanted the falcon. Maybe that's how our knight found out about the bird."

"It might explain why he gave us so little time to get the thing back to him." Barbossa nodded. "This Tamir might be sending it off to one of Sir Kaspar's rivals."

"Which means we need to act fast," said Jack and then spun as a noise from the outer room alerted him to danger. 'Umniya began screaming in Arabic as she scrambled to the far side of the bed. Jack spun to face her in confusion and Barbossa stood staring at her with his hand on his sword hilt. The door to the bedchamber was kicked open and big men with muskets leveled entered the room. The pirates froze where they stood.

"Well this is a fine mess," Jack grumbled. They had been taken from 'Umniya's room and dragged down to the vaults below the house to await Alamgir's return. Their weapons were gone and now they were locked inside a cell that stank of old human waste and rotting straw.

"I never thought the girl would betray us," Barbossa growled.

"Aye." Jack spat into the corner. "She's lookin' out for herself. Can't blame the lass for that really."

"What do we do now, captain?" Aaftab Aanetra asked from his spot against the wall.

"What happened to the other man?" Barbossa asked.

"Omar?" Aaftab asked. "They killed him. Then they put a gun to my head."

"And you told them where we were." Jack gave the Arab a hard look.

"No, captain!" Aaftab said vehemently. "They didn't even ask me. They just looked up at the window and a couple of them ran off. The others dragged me down here. They brought you a while later."

"Hey!" came a voice from a cell across the narrow hall. "You're white men."

"For all the good it'll do us. Yeah," Jack replied. "Who're you?"

"Me? I'm Pintel. Me mate's Ragetti." Jack could see a vague shadow of a man behind the bars of the cell. "Who are you?"

"Captain Jack Sparrow."

"Captain? What ship?" There was a note of distrust in the man's voice.

"The Black Pearl, mate." Jack watched the man turn to whisper something over his shoulder.

"Are you going to escape?" Pintel asked after a moment.

"Naturally," said Jack. "We only stayed here this long to make the guards relax and get over confident."

"Really?" There was surprise in Pintel's voice this time.

Jack rolled his eyes and looked to Barbossa. Barbossa shook his head and growled something under his breath.

"How long you been here mate?" Jack asked finally.

"Not exactly sure." Pintel's voice came back.

"I fink i's been two weeks maybe." This voice came from the darker shadows of the cell. It sounded like a young man's voice. "We been diggin'. Got a stone out the wall this mo'nin'."

"An' how long did that take ye?" Barbossa asked.

"Five days I fink," Ragetti's voice answered. "But we got another one what's loose."

"Oh good," Jack said in a tone that was flat and dry. "Another year or two and you'll be free."

"See!" Ragetti said sounding pleased. "I tol' you it wasn't a waste o' time."

Just then the sound of footsteps came from the direction of the stairs that lead up to the main house. The light of a lantern swayed as someone approached. Wrapped in veils and accompanied by the big eunuch Barbossa had clubbed 'Umniya came around the corner. All eyes went to her.

"I have to get you out of here," she said as she produced a key. "Alamgir's ship has come into the harbor. He will be here any minute."