Chapter 6

Three armed Navy guards stormed through the front doors of the mansion, muskets loaded and at the ready. Within seconds, the group had raced up the main stairs and came to a halt in front of Will and Elizabeth's door. Immediately, Governor Swann made his way to him.

"I demand to know what exactly do you think you're doing!"

"Stand back, Governor," the commander of the group cautioned. "We have reason to believe that Jack Sparrow has snuck inside the mansion."

"And what makes you think that he's in my daughter and son-in-law's room?"

"Well, they have assisted Sparrow in the past, haven't they? So it would be apparent that he may be trying to persuade them to join him on one of his crusades."

The commander then stepped forward and firmly knocked a couple of times on the door. "Mr. Turner? Mrs. Turner?"

The pronouncement was met with silence. The commander repeated his actions once more before becoming increasingly impatient. After a few moments, the commander finally gave in and broke down the locked door with the help of the butt of his musket. The door caved in upon impact and sent splintered wood flying in every direction. The troops clamored inside and glanced around; no sign of Jack, Will, or Elizabeth. Checking for reassurance, the commander crossed over to the window and glanced outside.

Jack, Will, And Elizabeth were outside and racing away, with Jack's pistol in his hand. The commander turned toward his men.

"Sparrow's escaping with both Turners! Follow me!"

He raced back outside, each of his men following close in his wake.

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Outside, Jack, Will, and Elizabeth ran around to the back of the mansion, where the carriages were located.

"You planning on stealing a carriage," Will asked.

"Borrow. Pirate term."

Jack made his way toward the driver of the closest carriage. When he was close enough, Jack raised his pistol.

"Normally I wouldn't...wait, of course I would. So sorry, mate."

The driver raised his hands and retreated. Jack grinned and motioned for Will and Elizabeth to get in. Elizabeth jumped inside while both Will and Jack made for the reins.

"Don't think so, mate. I'm the more qualified driver between you and me. Get inside with your bonnie lass."

Will opened his mouth to argue but was cut off by the group of Navy guards barreling outside towards them. Will decided to leave it up to Jack and leapt inside with Elizabeth while Jack jumped into the driver's seat. Jack gripped both reins in his fingers and ushered the horses forward. The carriage immediately sped away down the pathway. Seeing this, a few of the guards caught on and clambered inside the remaining carriage, giving chase.

As both carriages raced down into the streets of Port Royal, Jack glanced behind him, seeing their opponents slowly gaining on them.

"Bugger!"

He whipped the horses some more, desperate to gain more distance between the troops. From behind, two guards leaned outside from their positions inside the carriage, took aim with their muskets, and fired. The shots rang uncomfortably close to Jack.

"No shooting," he protested.

He picked up his pistol from beside him, and fired off his shot behind him without even bothering to look. Getting a sudden idea, he forced the horses to make a sudden, sharp turn onto a sidestreet within the city. The action caused the carriage to lean dauntingly close to the ground, but nonetheless, it regained its footing. Just then, Will poked his head outside.

"Are you trying to kill us," he proclaimed.

"Course not! Now just do the best you can at staying calm and trusting me!"

Will turned his head to see the Navy carriage still behind them. "They're still coming," he warned Jack.

"Persistent little pests aren't they?"

Will leaned back inside. "Don't we have anything useful in here," he asked Elizabeth. But Elizabeth was already one step ahead of him, already searching for a tool of use. By fate, it seemed, she came across one. A wooden box. She opened it, revealing a pistol; something that came in handy if looters ever converged on them.

"Worth a shot," Will shrugged.

He removed the weapon from its holding place, pulled back the hammer, and leaned back outside.

"Don't shoot a guard," Elizabeth called out to him.

"I'm not," Will reassured her. Just as Will was taking careful aim, a wheel hit a bump in the road, causing Will to shoot upwards too high. Jack turned to look.

"Was that you," he asked.

Will nodded.

"Well a lot of good that did. Hey, while I have your attention, see if there's any alcoholic beverages in there."

Will disappeared yet again inside the carriage, knowing full well that there indeed was a bottle of vintage wine the Governor always kept inside this particular carriage. He found it and then handed it over to Jack, humoring him. Jack gratefully seized the bottle while still navigating his way through the city streets. He then uncorked it and took a long swig.

"Ah, just what I needed!"

It was then that all three adventurers noticed that the other carriage had somehow caught up with them and was currently racing alongside them. Jack merely tucked his bottle beside him, concentrating on the two more important tasks at hand.

A Navy guard swung his musket at Jack, attempting to knock him from his position. Jack dodged the attack with amazing agility and caught the musket in his head. He then brought it full-force into the guard's face.

"That's gonna hurt later."

With the musket still in hand, Jack plunged it against the madly spinning wheel of the Navy's carriage. The action caused the wheel to break apart and the carriage to suddenly spiral out of control. Soon, the carriage went flying through the air momentarily and ultimately fell to the ground, breaking apart upon impact. Jack gazed at the musket with a small sense of fear and tossed it away. He then called out behind his back: "Alas, my comrades, you will always remember this as the day that you almost caught Captain Jack –" (the carriage then lurched forward suddenly) "Sparrow," Jack muttered, his moment of pride defeated.

"I can't believe you just did that," Elizabeth shouted, poking her head outside.

"Me neither," Jack admitted.

With the trouble eliminated, Jack slowed the carriage down to a reasonable pace. And at the moment, they happened to come to a halt in front of the docks. Jack leaped down from his perch and went to open the carriage door for his friends.

"The wine was excellent, the carriage suited my needs perfectly, remind me to send your father a note," he said to Elizabeth, who rolled her eyes.

"Where's your means of transportation," Will questioned.

Jack pointed toward the longboat. "Right in front of you, mate. Now, get inside before we meet any more problems."

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Minutes later, the longboat reached the Pearl and the trio climbed up on deck.

"Welcome back, William. Elizabeth," Gibbs greeted the couple.

"Good to see you again," James added.

"Same here," Will smiled.

"How's marriage been treating you," asked Gibbs.

"No time for idle chit-chat, I'm afraid," Jack piped up as he climbed aboard. "We have important matters to attend to."

"Right you are, Cap'n," said Gibbs.

'Weigh anchor," Jack commanded.

As the order was carried out, Will and Elizabeth approached Jack. "I trust we have a heading?"

"Absolutely," Jack said, pulling out his compass. "Make way for...Northeast."

"Aye," a shipmate chimed out.

Jack put away his little trinket and merrily turned to Will and Elizabeth. I'd get comfortable if I were you. This may be quite a long voyage."

"Are we sailing directly to the Triangle without any stops?"

"Not quite. We have a required visit we need to make with Tia Dalma first, and then we'll be on our way."

"Why Tia Dalma," asked Elizabeth.

"Because, luv, the Bermuda Triangle is the result of the hard work of goddesses, and we're bound to run into some supernatural forces of nature, savvy?"

Elizabeth shrugged.

"Jack," Will began, "is there anything else we should know about?" He gave Jack a stern stare.

"Well...there is one aspect of the story I neglected to mention."

"And that would be?"

"There's a cursed, shape-shifting pirate crew that's bound to protect the treasure by Bermuda Triangle law." Jack hesitated for a moment before continuing on. "How much do you know about Edward Teach, otherwise known as Blackbeard?"

Both Will and Elizabeth gave Jack a look. "He guards the treasure," Elizabeth asked.

"Fraid so, luv."

"What have we gotten ourselves into," Will asked rhetorically.

"I've been asking myself that for the past few days," Jack said before waltzing away. Will then turned to face Elizabeth.

"Always good to be in the company of Captain Jack Sparrow," he said sarcastically.

They both gazed up at Jack, who was currently standing at the helm, staring regally once again out at the sea.