Captives were ordered to remain silent for the remainder of the voyage. That afternoon I saw land ahead. Land that I recognized, and dreaded. When we got as close as we could, we let go the anchor and a plank was put out off the starboard rail. Elizabeth was untied and the pirates drew their swords, surrounding her and forcing her toward the plank. "Go, poppet, go!" they shouted, "Walk the plank!"
Will shouted, "Barbossa you lying bastard! You swore she go free!"
"Don't dare impugn me honor, boy! I agreed she go free, but it was you who failed to specify when or where. Though it does seem a shame to lose something so fine, don't it lads? So I'll be having that dress back, before you go."
She took it off and threw it at him saying, "Goes with your black heart."
"Ooh, it's still warm," he said, throwing it to the rest of the crew.
"Off you go! Come on!" Pintel shouted.
The first mate shouted, "Too long!" and kicked the plank so it shook and forced her to jump off.
Then they pushed Jack forward and I felt my head spinning. He said to Barbossa, "I'd really hoped we were past all this."
"Jack, Jack. Did you not notice? That be the same little island we made you governor over on our last little trip."
"I did notice."
"Perhaps you'll be able to conjure up another miraculous escape, but I doubt it." He drew his sword and pointed it at Jack. "Off you go."
"Last time you left me a pistol with one shot."
"By the powers, you're right. Where be Jack's pistol? Bring it forward."
"Seeing as there's two of us, a gentleman would give us a pair of pistols."
"It'll be one pistol as before. You can be the gentleman and shoot the lady, and starve to death yourself." He threw the pistol into the water and Jack dived after it. I was getting light-headed and a little dizzy. My head was pounding and my heart was beating faster than normal. Barbossa turned to me and said, "And to make sure he doesn't escape, let's get rid of his most likely rescuer, too. Your turn, Jane."
"Shouldn't I get a pistol, too?" I asked, though not really expecting one.
"Did you not hear? It'll be one pistol, that's final. Off you go."
I walked onto the plank, which was a lot more wobbly than I imagined. Well, there was nothing for it, so I dived right in to get it over with. The dress was heavy when wet, but I was used to that and I'm a strong swimmer. I swam to shore just as Jack was saying, "That's the second time I've had to watch that man sail away with my ship." He saw me swim up and said, "You too?"
"They were afraid I might try to rescue you if I wasn't dead myself."
"Not without reason, love."
"I know."
"Besides, I'm sure you couldn't have trusted me all alone on an island with another woman."
"I couldn't trust you, but I could trust her." Elizabeth grinned at the last remark, then walked away along the beach.
Jack took off his boots and vest and let them sit to dry. Then he sat down and started inspecting his pistol. About ten minutes later, Elizabeth approached from the other direction. She saw her footsteps in the sand leading all the way around the island. Jack said, "It's really not all that big is it?" I couldn't be sure if he meant the bullet or the island, but I think it was the latter.
"If you're going to shoot me then please do so without delay," she said.
"Is there a problem between us, Miss Swann?" Jack asked.
"You were going to tell Barbossa about Will in exchange for a ship."
"We could use a ship. The fact is, I was going to not tell Barbossa about bloody Will in exchange for a ship because as long as he didn't know about bloody Will, I had something to bargain with. Which now no one has, thanks to bloody stupid Will."
"Oh," She said.
"Oh," Jack repeated as he stood up and tucked the pistol in his belt.
"He still risked his life to save ours."
"Ah!" Jack shouted. He walked away toward the trees.
"So we have to do something to rescue him!"
"Off you go, then. Let me know how that turns out."
I stood up and followed after them. Elizabeth continued arguing, "But you were marooned on this island before weren't you? So we can escape in the same way you did then."
"To what point and purpose, young missy? The Black Pearl is gone. Unless you have a rudder and a lot of sails in that bodice. Unlikely. Young Mr. Turner will be dead long before you can reach him." Jack approached a tree and knocked on it, then started walking with huge steps as though trying to find something on the ground.
"But you're Captain Jack Sparrow."
"Does that prove anything?" I asked. Jack stopped walking in his funny manner and hopped a little in place. The ground beneath him appeared to be wobbling.
She continued, "You vanished from under the ice of seven agents of the East India Company. You sacked Nassau Port without even firing a shot. Are you the pirate I've read about or not? How did you escape last time?"
"Last time, I was here a grand total of three days, all right? Last time, the rumrunners used this island as a cache," Jack opened up a wooden door set in the ground. He stepped down and started looking around a bit. "They came by and I was able to barter a passage off. From the looks of things, they've long been out of business. Probably have your bloody friend Norrington to thank for that." Jack stepped out holding three bottles of rum and handed one to me.
"So that's it, then? That's the secret grand adventure of the infamous Jack Sparrow? You spent three days lying on a beach drinking rum?"
"Welcome to the Caribbean, love."
"So, is there any truth to the other stories?"
"Truth?" Jack asked. He pulled up his sleeves to show a pirate brand, the sparrow tattoo, and a scar shaped like veins, then he pushed over the collar to show two of what looked like scars from bullets, "No truth at all." He sat down again, "We still have a month, maybe more. Keep a weather eye open for passing ships, and if there are chances, look lively."
"What about Will?" she asked, "We have to do something."
"Your absolutely right," Jack said. He rolled a bottle of rum down the sand the short distance to her feet. He picked up the last bottle and said, "Here's luck to you Will Turner." He drank and Elizabeth picked up the bottle and sat down next to us.
"Drink up me hearties, yo, ho."
"What was that, Elizabeth?"
"That's Miss Swann. Nothing. Just a song I learnt as a child when I actually thought it would be exciting to meet a pirate."
"Let's hear it."
"No," she said.
"Come on, we've got the time, let's have it," he insisted.
"No! I'll have to have a lot more to drink."
"How much more?" he asked.
She took another sip, "Maybe half a bottle."
"I think I know part of that song," I said, "I've heard it once before, but I never heard it again, so the only words I remembered were, 'Yo ho, yo ho, a pirate's life for me,' and 'Drink up me hearties, yo ho.'"
"It's one of the most famous pirate drinking songs in the Caribbean. I'm surprised two pirates like yourselves don't know it."
"You want to teach us the words before we sing it?" I asked.
"That seems a good idea. What do you say, Elizabeth?" Jack said.
"Well, between each verse you say 'Yo ho, yo ho, a pirate's life for me."
"All right, easy enough. What are the words to the verses, then?"
"'We pillage, we plunder, we rifle and loot. Drink up me hearties, yo ho. We kidnap and ravage and don't give a hoot. Drink up me hearties, yo ho.'"
"We pillage we plunder, we rifle and loot. Definitely pirates," I said.
Jack repeated, "We pillage, we plunder, we rifle and loot. Drink up me hearties, yo ho. We kidnap and ravage and don't give a hoot. Drink up me hearties yo ho. Aye, got it."
Elizabeth took another sip of rum, and I took a swig. She said, "All right, I guess you're fast learners. You want the next verse?"
"Aye," I answered.
She took a swig. "We extort, we pilfer, we filch and sack. Drink up me hearties, yo ho. Maraud and embezzle and even high-jack. Drink up me hearties, yo ho."
We continued in this manner; Elizabeth spoke the words, we repeated them, she said the next verse. Pretty soon she showed us the tune. The sun was beginning to set, so we made a fire. A really big one. By the time it was dark we had all had three-quarters of a bottle and I found myself skipping in circles around the fire, as were Jack and Elizabeth, stubbing our toes on conk shells, and we were all singing at the top of our lungs and probably really out of key and tune, "Yo ho, yo ho, a pirate's life for me! We're rascals, scoundrels, villains, and knaves! Drink up me hearties, yo ho! We're devils, we're black sheep, we're really bad eggs! Drink up me hearties yo ho! Yo ho, yo—ouch!—a pirate's life for me!"
"I love this song!" Jack exclaimed. We danced and spun around in circles and laughed. "Really bad eggs! Ooh," Jack fell down onto the sand and pulled us down to sit next to him. "When I get the Pearl back, I'm gonna teach it to the whole crew. And we'll sing it all the time!"
"And you will be positively the most fearsome pirate in the Spanish Main," Elizabeth added.
"Not just the Spanish Main, love. The entire ocean. The entire world. Wherever we want to go, we go. That's what a ship is, you know. It's not just a keel and a hull and a deck and sails. That's what a ship needs. But what a ship is, what the Black Pearl really is, is freedom."
"Jack, it most be really terrible for you to be trapped on this island," Elizabeth said.
"Oh, yes. But the company is infinitely better than last time, I think. With the both of you here, it's infinitely better. The scenery has definitely improved."
"Mr. Sparrow," Elizabeth said.
"Mm-hmm?" he asked.
"I'm not entirely sure I've had enough rum to allow that kind of talk."
"I've had plenty," I added.
Jack pointed at Elizabeth, "I know exactly what you mean, love." He twisted up the corners of his moustache.
"To freedom," Elizabeth held up her bottle.
"To the Black Pearl," Jack said. We held up our bottles and drank. Jack downed his entire last quarter, but Elizabeth appeared to be done drinking. I just took another swig and stared at the waves. Jack fell asleep really fast and he snored for a little while, then stopped. I drank my last bit of rum and lied down in the sand next to him. Elizabeth got up and put some more wood on the fire, but I fell asleep right after that, so I didn't know what she did next.