I would like to give a special thanks to they call me Keeran for being the first to read my story. As for your review:

embarrassed smile creeps up on face Don't you hate it when that happens? When characters take over their own minds and don't do what you ask them to? With Norrington, I just needed him to do something that would make Wesley remember him forever. Maybe he grows up before he becomes Commadore. With Weatherby Swann, though, there actually is something in my story (coming up soon) that explains why he changes to the character we know him as in the movie.

WARNING--Coming up in this chapter: shocking will information.

Now, Chapter 6


I don't know if it was that boy's annoying story or the fact that I actually believed him that made me call to Elizabeth. However, as soon as I knew there was no hope of escape, I retorted, "I don't believe it."

"It's the truth," the boy said, so sure of himself.

"How would you know?"

"I know because I am William Turner, a pirate, and my ship is about to attack this ship."

"Yeah right, why would pirates attack a poor slave ship?"

"I'll show you!" Will exclaimed excitedly. Once again, he led me below deck—his way. This time, I succeeded with the rope. He took me over to the other side of the room. "Good morning Langston," he greeted as he stepped over a sleeping man in his way, "because it is morning now."

Finally, he came to what he was looking for. "This," he explained, pulling open a curtain to reveal a vault, "is why. When people move on boats, they move their money with them, obviously. They often times expect to be attacked by pirates, and don't want the pirates to get them and their money. So they hide the money on the poor slave ship."

"That still doesn't make you a pirate," I argued. "You could learn that just from reading stories. Where is your tattoo?"

"Don't got one. Don't need one. My whole job on the ship anyways is just to make sure people don't know I'm a pirate."

"Why are you telling me then?" I asked.

He thought for an awkward moment, then stated, "This aughtta assure you I'm a pirate: that key I gave you a minute ago…it'll open any lock you want it to, including your handcuffs."

I took the key out of my pocket and looked at it curiously as I repeated, "Why are you telling me this?" Will didn't answer again, but he did get a very embarrassed look on his face. "You like my sister?"

He nodded slightly, and I looked back to the key. Why not? What's the worst that could happen? The key wouldn't unlock my handcuffs. I figured it was worth a try, and sure enough, it did work.

Dropping the chains to the floor, I tried to hand the key back, saying, "Here. Thank you very much. I'll believe you—for now."

Will didn't take the key, though. "No, you keep it," he insisted, "I can get a new one easily."

"Thanks…I suppose." There was another short silence, before I remembered something. "Hey, since you're a pirate, have you ever heard of Jason?"

"Jason?" He questioned, wrinkling up his nose like he never had. "Jason who?"

"Jason, like the pirate." No change in expression. "He's killed like 300 bad guys." Just a blank stare. "I think I'll have to tell you about him."

So Will and I spent the rest of the night—which was really morning—telling stories about Jason, and about our lives. Somehow, we gradually made it back up on deck, where daylight crowded in on us. It was foggy, for the third day in a row. It had gotten so foggy that the ships could have been sailing in circles and we wouldn't have known. Will and I were the only two up. We were looking out into the fog when Mother tapped him on the back. He was surprised, so he jumped and screamed slightly.

"I'm sorry to disturb you two, but…" we turned to listen as she realized who I was. "Wesley! What are you doing here and where is your sister?"

"Oh, she went back to be with Father. We just decided to switch places is all, but you're never going to believe this!" I replied, making it seem less than it really was. Mother would never let me run away.

"What?" She asked, only half interested.

"Will, here, is a pirate, and he says this ship is to be attacked, by pirates!"

"You were right Wesley. I don't believe it."

Just as she said that, Will exclaimed, "Look! There she is!" He ran toward the back of the ship pointing at another that had appeared out of the fog next to us. It approached us, cannons readied. We were on a slave ship. There would be no fighting back. It was that day that I realized pirates were not just stupid people with scurvy and parrots who steal, pillage, and cuss. All of those were true—you know, otherwise Sammuel would have lied to me—but there was more to it.

Will waved to them, and I thought I could see a couple waving back. I started waving too, very excitedly, but Mother grabbed my arm ordering, "Don't Wesley. Don't encourage them."

It wasn't long before all the passengers on our ship were on deck. Everyone looked so helpless because there was nothing that they could do. After a short period of tension, the pirates shot the first round, blowing a large hole in our ship. I screamed with joy. Nothing could be more perfect.

The man in charge on the ship had no ideas whatsoever. After all, this wasn't a war ship or anything. His only suggestion was to run to the far side of the ship in hopes the hole would come out of the water, and we wouldn't sink. No one else knew any better, so everyone mobbed away. In the mess of it all, I searched for Will, but he had disappeared, and I didn't know where to.

"Look out!" One lady shouted. Everyone else screamed. The pirates were charging across to our ship! They even fought some brave men who dared to stand against them.

Then, from behind me, I heard my mother scream, "Let me go!" I quickly turned around. A pirate had swept down on a rope, grabbed her, and was swinging her back to his pirate ship. I started after him, but before I had even taken two steps, another swinging pirate grabbed me from out of nowhere.

It was amazing the difference between the two ships. The pirates were so much more organized. The man who was holding me dropped me perfectly into a triangle of three pirates—probably just a precaution in case they catch someone who tries to fight back, like Mother. I just stood there letting them handcuff me all over again, but Mother was making a fuss about it all.

"Get your dirty hands off me you freaks!" She shouted. At first, I just watched her because it was amusing, but then, I realized she was serious. I thought about what I could do to help. It didn't seem logical that a seven year old boy could help a full grown woman escape, especially when one of the pirates grabbed my arm and began leading me away. But I was almost eight. Now if I could only remember that word. What was it that Sammuel told me? I asked myself. That word you're supposed to say…It starts with a 'p.' Think.

"Parley!" I called out.

Everyone stopped on a dime. The pirate taking me away, the people messing with Mother, the pirates fighting on the other ship, and even the wind stopped blowing.

"What did you say?" A fourty-something year old man asked eerily after a long pause.

"Parley," I repeated, suddenly embarrassed and shy. "Mother, please say parley."

"I refuse to lower myself to the level of a pirate," she replied with disgust.

"Mother, please," I begged. The man got angry, and he began to get an evil frown because he knew he had to take me to the captain.

"Come on," the man commanded, grabbing me by the ear. He began to lead me off but paused by Mother. "So are you going to say it or not?"

My eyes begged her to. His eyes were just annoyed. This wasn't supposed to happen, especially with seven year old boys.

"Fine…parley."

"You're coming with me then," he said, pulling her along as well, but by the arm. He walked us to the captain's room. "Capt'n, we've a couple parley-ers among us," he announced. At that he left.

"Thank you Barbossa," the captain replied as his door slammed shut. The captain then mumbled to himself, "Bloody grumpy first mates." He was sitting in a large chair with one of his legs thrown over an arm rest. He was one large, but not too big, very dirty, male pirate with some sort of disgusting hair. Sound a bit familiar?

Well it didn't to me, until my mother cocked her head and asked, "Jack?"

"Myra!" He exclaimed in response. Jumping from the chair, he hugged her, and she let him.

"Mother?" I interrupted, very confused.

"Oh, Wesley," she remembered, turning to me but still holding Jack's hand, "this is a friend of mine."

"You? A pirate friend?"

"Jack Sparrow, captain of the Black Pearl," he introduced himself and reached out one dirty hand to shake mine.

"But that's impossible!" I exclaimed instead of shaking his back. "The Pearl doesn't exist. She's just a story."

"If it were impossible, then how could you be standing here I wonder?" He questioned. I smiled, big. He noticed how thrilled I was, so he squatted down and continued, "And you know she's been waitin' fer a sailor just like yerself."

I would love that SOooo much. My father would hate it, which could be why I thought I would love it. And Sammuel made it seem like so much fun. I glanced up at Mother to see what she thought, and I immediately had to look back to the floor. She would never let that happen; I could tell.

"I'd better not," I answered.

Jack stood back up and said to my mother, "You know this means I shall have to put you in the prison. It's required by the code."

"You're not required to do anything by the code," Mother shot back. "'Tis only a guideline."

"How did you know that?"

"Wesley told me."

Jack looked at me, proud that I would know so much. "And yet ye'd ban him from his dream?...Surely, if he knew that much, he'd also tell ye that it's a guideline that is strongly enforced, and a guideline that if followed could make me a lot of money. If he's not a pirate, you're not making me money. When you don't make me money, I have no use fer you, which means I want ye out of me way, or in the jail," Jack explained as he flirtatiously put her in handcuffs.

"Is that what our whole relationship is based upon? Money?" Mother asked. "In that case, I'd rather rot in prison."

"As ye wish, m'Lady." He walked to the door and whispered something to a very well built, black man. "I really wish I didn't have to do this," he told me, taking off his hat in salute as the black man led Mother and I away. The man led us across the ship, below deck, and into a jail cell.

"Mother," I started as soon as he had left, "what was that about?"

"I don't want to talk about it," she replied, sitting down on a pile of excess wood in the corner. She was disgusted by it, but still had to sit.

"But Mother. You lied to me. He was at your engagement party, wasn't he?"

"I really don't want to talk about it."

"But Mo—" She gave me the evil look. "All right," I conceded rolling my eyes. I leaned against the wall and slid to the floor. If she needed quiet to think about the last insane week, I could give it to her. We just sat there in silence, completely bored, until I remembered that I had a key.

I pulled the key out of my pocket and set my mind to unlocking myself. After probably a minute, I'd succeeded. As I stood up, Mother looked over and noticed me.

"What are you doing?" She questioned suspiciously.

"I'm going to ask Jack if he was at your party," I replied as I opened the door with the key, walked out, and locked Mother back in. She glared, and I smiled, loving Will's gift more and more every second. I wasn't really going to ask him; I just wanted out of there.

I walked out one entrance as a bunch of pirates brought down their collection of prisoners in another. I made it out just in time to not be noticed and to be able to sit on the edge of the ship for at least a couple minutes. It became where I went whenever I needed to think, just sitting there, staring at the endless ocean.

And of course, it didn't take long for a pirate to notice me and tell Jack. "Hey kid. Whatcha doin' out 'ere?" Is what the sentence Jack said sounded like to me. Perhaps the speech would be a bit difficult for me to get used to.

"I can't spend the rest of my life in the same room as my mother," I responded. "Especially not the way she's been acting this week."

"That is certainly understandable. In fact, that is the only reason you two are in jail. I have no chance of ever reasoning with you as long as she's around. She's like," he made some weird hand gesture that frightened me. "Anyhow, we're alone now." He straddled over the edge to sit with me. "Tell me, what do ye really think of the title Wesley 'the Pirate' Swann?"

I thought I'd sound really smart and quote the bible at him, replacing the word Christian with pirate. "You know that in a short time, you would persuade me to become a pirate." He didn't seem to recognize the quote, so I finished, "So don't try. My mother would never let me."

"That reasoning is so…" more gesturing, "backwards. Your mother doesn't have to know."

"Not know! Have you ever had a Mother? They always know. And how would I even hide something like that?"

He looked at my hands. He hadn't noticed before that I had gotten my hands unchained before too, and I don't think he liked it.

"Who let you go?" He demanded.

"Me," I answered.

"Without the keys?...Now that's the thing that makes a person a perfect pirate, but ye're not one yet. An' ye'll never be one if ye don't even know how to follow our rules."

"I'll never be one anyway, and I do have the key."

"You do! And yet ye got out by yerself? Someone gave them to you. Who gave them to you?" He seemed a bit confused. I didn't know then, but he didn't know about the special key. He was instead referring to the set of keys hanging across the hall from the cells.

"Will did. Why? Is there a problem with that?"

"Yes," was all he said. Then, we walked on in silence.

When we got back below deck, he looked up at the wall and saw that the keys were still in their original place—high above my head. He just put my handcuffs back on and locked me back in the cell.

Before he closed the door, however, he commanded, "Myra, I need to speak to you in private."

She came out; Jack closed the door and unlocked her hands. The other prisoners were mumbling among themselves about what was going on.

As soon as they got on deck, Mother asked, "How is this private?"

They started walking as Jack explained, "Nobody's up here. Right after any huge raid everybody goes into a room down below to divide up the spoil. They'll be there for hours arguing over who gets the ring and who gets the cup."

Mother laughed slightly. Then, they both stopped. While Jack was talking, they had started holding hands. They both pulled away.

"So what did you want to tell me about?" Mother asked after a second of quiet.

"Wesley."

"Was he bothering you? If he was, I'm sorry. I could have told him we met at the party."

"No," Jack stopped Mother and faced her. "It's not that."

"Don't even bring up pirates Jack. It's not going to happen." She realized that was what he was going to talk about and walked right past him."

"That's not something you can stop, Myra," Jack warned catching up with her.

"Why not?"

"If something is meant to happen, it will."

"I don't believe in destiny Jack."

"It's not destiny, Myra; it's life."

"Prove it, then. How do everybody's dreams always come true?" She turned to the edge and looked over the ocean, frustrated.

Jack walked up behind her and grabbed her around the waist. Referring to the ocean, he whispered, "You want adventure don't you?"

"Of course, Jack. Doesn't everybody?" Mother turned to face Jack.

"And you like me, don't ye?"

"I never said that!" Mother joked.

"So why exactly do ye think I keep showing up in yer life? We're bound to be together. It's the same with Wesley. Everything is pointing him in this direction. And even if ye could stop it this time, pirates are going to keep popping up all his life."

"Well let me delay it as much as possible, then." She got out of Jack's grip. After a long pause, Mother continued, "I only want him to grow up civilized, to realize not everyone is like his father."

"Myra—" Jack began, trying to think of something encouraging to say, but then he saw Will's father—Bootstrap—along with the rest of the pirates. "Would you excuse me for a moment? I need to speak to someone. It shall only take a moment."

"Go on," Mother agreed. She was trying not to cry and would enjoy a few seconds alone.

"Bootstrap," Jack called, catching up to him. "I need to speak to you."

"'Bout what?" Bootstrap asked.

"In my room." They slipped into Jack's office and shut the door.

"This is important, isn't it?" Bootstrap realized.

"Your son is causing trouble again."

"What did he do this time?"

"Releasing prisoners…still. Now the kid he let go this time…is all right. I like 'im, but I can't keep hiding this from the rest of the crew. If they find out, someone'll get hurt."

"Of course, Sir. I'll take care of it, Sir."

"Bill…there's just ye an' me in here. You don't have to be so…formal." Jack patted his back and walked toward the door. "And, it doesn't have to be immediate, just soon, savvy?"

"Don't worry Jack. I'll take care of it."

"You always do."

At that, Jack walked back out to Mother. As soon as she saw him, she threw her arm around his neck and bawled, "I can't do it anymore. I can't even keep Wesley in his cell, for heaven's sake, much less stop him from becoming a pirate!"

Jack smiled; she couldn't see him, but he was happy. That was the exact response he had hoped for. He had to act consoling, though, so he rubbed her back gently.

"It's all right Myra," he comforted, "Don't cry. We'll bring him up respectably."

Meanwhile, back in the prison, I had been trying to sleep. All of a sudden, Will came out from a room at the end of the hall. He stopped in front of my cell, shocked to see me still in there.

"Wesley, what are you doing?" He asked. "I thought by now you'd be out of here. Did you forget about the key?"

"No Will—" I started.

He interrupted, though. "Here, let me get you out." He reached up for the keys Jack had been talking about.

"No Will—"

"Don't you want out?"

"Yes, but—"

"Your mom won't let you?" Would he just stop interrupting me?

"No, Will, stop. I have been out. It was great, but I got caught. You're already in trouble for it. Jack told me not to do it anymore, so I won't."

"You spoke to the captain?" Will asked, a bit surprised.

"Yes, and he made it sound very bad if I didn't obey."

"Oh, nonsense. If the captain spoke to you, it means he wants you to be a pirate!"

"So?" I knew that already.

"Jack would never hurt a prospective pirate. And anyhow, it's not like he'll find out," he said, unlocking the door.

I couldn't resist. Sitting in the cell was no fun, so I walked out. I once again fumbled with trying to unlock my hands. Will laughed for a while, and then he just did it for me.

"So, what are we going to do?" I inquired.

"I dunno," he shrugged, "talk."

I sat down on the floor. "Just sitting here is no better than just sitting in there."

"I know," he admitted. A moment later he pulled a small bag from his pocket and dumped two balls out of it. Moving them around in his hand, he continued, "I'll think of something."

I sat there, watching the two balls move around in his hand. Will started whistling.

"What are those?" I questioned after a while.

"What? These?" He held the balls out. One was black, designed after the pirate's flag, and the other was white, not designed at all. "Watch!" He exclaimed, his eyes lighting up as he threw one forcefully against the floor.

Once it hit the floor, it went crazy! It bounced up and hit the ceiling; it bounced against the walls. I had to duck so it wouldn't hit me. The people in one jail cell parted to let it through. Then, Will just caught it.

"Wow! How does that work? Can I try?"

"Sure." He handed me the white one.

My first try wasn't a success. It came back and hit me in the face, but it wasn't too long before I was just as good as Will at catching them. We played for a few minutes. The last time, I had to jump to keep the ball from going into a jail cell. I caught it in the nick of time and landed perfectly.

As I walked back to will, he clapped a little and said, "Good job! Now, are you ready for the next one? Okay. One…two…three!"

We both threw ours, and I chased after mine in the direction of the entrance. Right as I made it to the entrance, a pirate came in. I ran into him, and he caught the ball. I looked up at him, and he looked down at me. He was the same man who had swung me onto the ship.

"William," he called angrily across the room, and walking right past me. "How many times do I have to tell you to not let the prisoners out? Captain Sparrow has noticed it and is very displeased. He can't give you anymore chances because if the crew finds out, there will be a mutiny. Do you understand? He has no choice but to punish you…" That last part began to fade off because the pirate had grabbed Will and walked out the other entrance. I decided to follow at a safe distance. By the time I started to pick up on the conversation again, I had already missed most of the explanation.

"You have to leave this ship immediately," he commanded, taking the bag from Will and stuffing the balls back in. "There's a ship not too far ahead of us. Go to Port Royal on it, and stay there. Take this," he pulled a large piece of gold from his pocket with a pirate sign on it.

"Why?" Will asked, looking at it a little strangely.

"It's a gift from your father. Keep it so that one day he'll be able to find you with it." He grabbed on of those wooden plate things for Will to sit on. "Now take this and go."

Will looked so confused, but he obeyed anyway. I stood there at a distance watching as Will floated away and realized this was kind of my fault.

After a moment, the pirate muttered to himself, "Crap, I'm late for another bloody meeting."

"What'd you have to do that for?" I asked purposefully getting in his way.

"Do what?" He demanded sounding aggravated.

"Will didn't deserve that! He didn't let me out anyway; I let myself out. And who cares if this isn't the first time, you still had no right to be enforcing punishment without the…" pause to think of a big word, "consent of the captain." That made me feel really smart.

"Well boy, not only was I under order by the captain to do this, but even more so, I'm William's father. I had every right to punish him."

"Not if he didn't do anything wrong."

"Well that you'll have to take up with the captain," he concluded, walking toward Jack's room.

"Fine. That's what I'll do," I decided, following him.