I woke up instinctively at dawn the next morning. Will wasn't awake yet. Lying there in my hammock I remembered the thing I had brought in my backpack. I knew Jack would be pleased to see me wear it, so I got out of bed, put on the dress, and walked up to the deck, breathing in the fresh, morning sea air. I didn't see anyone else on deck, so I thought I might see if Jack was in his cabin. I knocked on the door and Jack asked, "Who is it?"
"It's Jane," I answered through the door.
"Oh, good. Come in, it's unlocked." I stepped into the room, and when he looked up from his table he smiled. "I haven't seen that for a while."
I smiled back, "I thought you might say that."
"I didn't know you still had that dress. Why didn't you tell me?"
"I never got the chance. Besides, I thought I might surprise you."
"And so you did. That brings back real good memories, doesn't it?"
"So it does."
"Did I ever tell you that color looks fantastic on you? Goes beautifully with your hair."
"Indeed you have told me that, many times, in fact. According to you 'the deep red of the dress goes perfectly with the copper locks and golden highlights.'"
"You sure are good at remembering what I say."
"And most of the time, I'm happy to remember it."
"I honestly didn't expect you to keep this dress."
"It's my favorite thing to wear and one of the only things to remind me of you and the Pearl, and it's one of the few dresses I actually have enjoyed wearing. Of course I'd keep it. I don't usually care for them. But then, most of them have sleeves. As you know, this one's been adjusted."
"It looks better sleeveless."
"Only you would say that."
"Hmm. How long has it been since we've stood this close on agreeable terms?" He was right. In fact, we were only a few inches apart now.
"Eight years; ever since we went our separate ways from Tortuga two years after the mutiny. That's a long time."
"Aye. So it is." He put his hands around my waist, and I put my arms around his neck. "Too long," he whispered. We closed in, our lips touching for the first time in a long time. We held the embrace for a while, but then there was a knock on the door. Jack didn't let go at first, but there was a second knock, louder, so he finally answered "Aye?"
"Are we ready to go yet, Captain?" Will's voice came through the door.
"Just about. I'll be out in a moment. Then we can eat some breakfast. You can cook Jane, since you're probably the only one here that's good at it, and you're so good at it, too."
"As they say, the way to a man's heart is through his stomach. Aye, I'll cook."
After eating, we set sail once more, and as the sun was setting, we reached Tortuga, one of the last pirate havens in the Caribbean. I had been sitting in the crow's nest for the last half hour, whittling the Pearl into a small piece of wood. As we came into the bay, Jack climbed up. "We're almost there," I said.
"I love this town."
"For the rum, right?"
"Aye, but the freedom of it, too."
"Aye, freedom. A right every man should have. Too bad different people have different definitions of that word."
"This, right now, this is freedom. What a ship really is, is freedom. To go where you want to go and no one can stop you."
"Aye."
"Come down now. We have to bring this ship into port, and little Billy can't do it alone." I followed him back down to the deck and we got the ship docked. As we walked into town, Jack started explaining to Will some things about Tortuga. "I honestly admit that the rum here is excellent. And there are no officers running about keeping things in order, so drink all the rum you want. There's no Norrington to stop you. More importantly, it is indeed a sad life that has never breathed deep the sweet, proliferous bouquet that is Tortuga, savvy? What do you think?"
Will looked around and thought for a moment, then all he could say was, "It'll linger."
"I'll tell you mate, if every town in the world were like this one, no man would ever feel unwanted." He saw a woman approach and exclaimed, "Scarlett!" The moment she was close enough, she slapped him across the face. He spun around with the force of it and said, "Not sure I deserved that." My eyebrows rose. She wouldn't have done that unless he had done something to her last time he was here. I can't say I'm not surprised. He saw another woman walk up, "Giselle!"
"Who was she?" she asked.
"What?" She, too, slapped him across the face. This time he said, "I may have deserved that."
"I think you deserved both, but being a woman myself I would more deeply understand their troubles than you."
"Oh, shut up, Jane."
It was my turn to slap him and after I did I said, "Think before you talk from now on, and that may never happen again. Besides, that's payback for you hitting me." He nodded and we moved on.
"We should escape this wretched pit as quickly as possible," Jack said now.
"I thought you loved this town, Jack," I said.
"Not at the moment."
"But the crew," Will said.
"Ah, yes," Jack continued, "Well, it just so happens that you know the man who knows the man who knows the finest sailors in all Tortuga."
We found a man, Mr. Gibbs, sleeping with some pigs, and I got a bucket of cold water. I gave it to Jack, who poured it onto the sleeping man. He woke up with a start shouting, "Curse you for breathing, you slack-jawed idiot!" He looked at Jack and me; realizing who we were he said more quietly, "Mother's love! Jack! You should know better than to wake a man when he's sleeping. It's bad luck."
Jack answered, "Ah, fortunately, I know how to counter it. The man who did the waking buys the man who was sleeping a drink. The man who was sleeping drinks while listening to a proposition from the man who did the waking."
"Aye, that'll about do it," he said. Will, now holding the bucket, splashed the remaining water all over him. "Blast! I'm already awake!" he shouted.
"That was for the smell." Gibbs shrugged in agreement, and then all four of us walked to the pub to counter the bad luck just gotten.
We found a table and Jack went to buy the drinks, handing one to each of us. Will was standing next to a post near our table and Jack said something to him that I couldn't hear over the fighting, but I assumed was something along the lines of, "Watch out."
Jack sat down and handed each of us our drinks and Gibbs said, "Now, what's the nature of this venture of yourn?"
"I'm going after the Black Pearl." Mr. Gibbs almost choked. "I know where it's going to be, and I'm gonna take it."
"Jack, it's a fool's errand. You know better than me the tales of the Black Pearl."
"That's why I know what Barbossa is up to. All I need is a crew."
"From what I've heard of Barbossa, he's not a man to suffer fools, nor strike a bargain with one."
"Well, then I'd say it's a very good thing I'm not a fool, then, aye?"
"Prove me wrong. What makes you think Barbossa will give his ship to you?"
"Let's just say it's a matter of leverage." Jack nodded his head toward Will. Gibbs shrugged, not quite understanding what Jack was doing. Jack jerked his head in Will's direction a few more times, then, finally, Gibbs looked over at him.
"The kid?" he asked.
"That is the child of Bootstrap Bill Turner. His only child. Savvy?" Jack said.
"Is he now? 'Leverage,' says you. 'I think I 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. Take what you can."
"And give nothing back!" We hit our mugs together, took a nice, big swig, and put it back down on the table to show an agreement.
Suddenly, Will kicked over a table, drew his sword, and swung it around at all the other people in the tavern. "Kid's bit of a stick, isn't he?" Gibbs said.
"You've no idea."
We slept on the ship that night, and the next morning when we walked onto the dock we were greeted by Mr. Gibbs where our new crew was lined up. Gibbs said, "Feast your eyes, Captain. All of them faithful hands before the mast. Every man worth his salt. And crazy to boot."
"So this is your able-bodied crew?" Will asked.
"You sailor!" Jack said to a man with a salt and pepper-colored beard and a parrot on his left shoulder.
Gibbs answered for him, "Cotton, sir."
"Mr. Cotton, do you have the courage and fortitude to follow orders and stay true in the face of danger and almost certain death?" Mr. Cotton didn't answer. "Mr. Cotton! Answer man!"
Gibbs answered, "He's a mute, sir. Poor devil had his tongue cut out." Cotton opened his mouth and you could see he did not, in fact, have a tongue. "So he trained the parrot to talk for him. No one's yet figured how."
"Mr. Cotton's parrot…same question."
It squawked and said, "Wind in the sails! Wind in the sails!"
"Mostly we figure that means 'yes.'"
"Of course it does," he turned to Will, "Satisfied?"
"Well, you've proved they're mad," he answered.
A woman's voice said from a bit further down the row, "And what's the benefit for us?" Her hat was covering most of her face, and as Jack approached he reluctantly took it off, then when he saw her he said, "Anamaria." She slapped him across the face instantly.
Will said, "I suppose you didn't deserve that one, either."
"No, that one I deserved," Jack answered.
The woman nodded and said, "You stole my boat."
"Actually…" She slapped him again.
When he turned around from the force he gasped. Apparently she had slapped him very hard. He turned back around and continued, "Borrowed. Borrowed without permission. But with every intention, I'm bringing it back to you."
"But you didn't!"
"You'll get another one!"
"I will," she shook her finger at him, pointing it at him like a pistol.
"A better one," Will pitched in.
"A better one!" Jack agreed, smiling.
"That one!" Will pointed at the Interceptor.
"What one?" Jack asked. Will pointed his head at it. "That one?" Will nodded and Jack faced Anamaria again and said, "Aye, that one. What say you?"
"Aye!" everyone shouted.
The parrot squawked, "Anchors aweigh!"
Gibbs came up to Jack and said, "No, no, no, no, it's frightful bad luck to bring a woman aboard, sir."
"It would be far worse not to have her."
"I think that's a lousy superstition," I said.
"Two women, Jack? That's even worse."
Jack frowned at him, "Like Jane said, it's a lousy superstition."
We got on the ship and set sail. We hit a storm after a few hours and water began pouring on deck. Everyone was soaking wet; there was lightning and the boat rocked so much it was difficult to stay standing for more than a second. I came up to Jack and said, "We should drop canvas, sir!"
"She can hold a bit longer!"
"What's put you in such a fine mood, Captain?"
"We're catching up," he answered as the lightning lit up his face, making it glow for a split-second. He sure wanted that ship back.