"... we're near the Pearl, Jack... I know that we are close." William was at the wheel, his eyes closed and his face serene. "We would be able to navigate better..."
"... if Gibbs an' I were not aboard..." Jack finished the sentence. Odd that he and William were doing more of that these days, finishing each other's sentences. He was listening and concentrating on thoughts of his own...being whispered by several voices in his head... not helpful voices, by any means, only annoying ones. He closed his own eyes, hard, and shook his head. He tapped a long, slender finger to the side of his head, and frowned. "Bugger... shut it... all o' ye in there..."
William was undaunted... he was used to Jack's strangeness, by now, and usually it would produce a smile from the handsome young captain. But today, he was deep within his own mind. The Pearl was near, he just did not know how close they were, and it was difficult to say which direction the dark ship was going. As far as Will could tell, Barbossa was taking her in a zigzagging course... did he suspect that he was being followed by allies of Jack's, or was it simply an all inclusive evasive action? Since the battles At World's End, pirates everywhere were feeling the pressure. They all knew that the golden age of piracy was ending, and it was becoming increasingly difficult to stay out of the way of the authorities.
Mr. Gibbs was watching both of his friends... William was the very picture of intensity, his face arranged in a quiet composition of deep listening. Jack, on the other hand, was becoming more and more agitated, as he was fighting something inside of his own head. He kept shaking his head so hard that the beads would clatter together, a not altogether unpleasant sound, but a bit distressing knowing that it was because Jack was having yet another troubling hallucination. Finally, Gibbs reached out and put his large hands on Jack's bony shoulders, to help him shake whatever it was that was bothering him. Jack jumped slightly, and opened his kohl lined eyes to stare straight into Joshamee's worried face.
"... I want a lime. Do we have any limes, Mr. Gibbs?" Jack frowned deeply. "an' peanuts, too...I want peanuts..."
"No, Jack," Gibbs said, gently.
"No, Jack, we have no limes, or peanuts. You will just have to wait until after we take the Pearl," William answered, his eyes still closed.
Jack suddenly shook violently all over, then rubbed his eyes and looked at his companions. "Wot th' hell was I just sayin'? Damn, I hate when I do that!" He scowled and rubbed his eyes, again, flustered. "Ye'd think I was bloody mad..." he muttered.
Absently, he looked at William only to notice something different about him... a single braid on the left side of his face, resting near the golden earring in his ear ... a single, thin braid, just like Jack would wear, tied off at the bottom with a small length of royal blue ribbon... ribbon from Singapore... Elizabeth's ribbon. Jack smiled, ever so slightly.
Their reverie was interrupted by the sound of an object dropping rather lightly to the deck, directly in front of them, and down in front of the door to William's cabin. Jack turned to his companions and exclaimed, "Bloody messages delivered by a crab, now a rolled up object droppin' outta th' sky! Wot ever happened t' old fashioned bottles???"
William shot him a look, and Jack realized what he'd said, "Sorry, mate!"
Indeed, it was another piece of paper, this time tied with a bit of raw string. It was well stained, as if it had been used for another purpose and had been written upon in great haste, with whatever was at hand. The trio went down to the main deck, and William picked up the object. He looked at his two companions, and proceeded to untie the string and unroll the message. The handwriting was neat and concise, the spelling and grammar was perfect. He began to read it aloud.
I am in desperate hope that this letter will find it's way to Captain William Turner, of the spectral ship The Flying Dutchman, or Captain Jack Sparrow, formerly (and presently, to my mind) of the greatest pirate ship what has ever sailed, The Black Pearl. We have been boarded and taken, against our will, by Captain Hector Barbossa, and the members of additional crew that he secretly hired on the Caribbean Island of Tortuga. Our rightful Captain, Jack Sparrow, and our First Mate, Joshamee Gibbs, were left behind on aforementioned island, and the Black Pearl set sail for the Spanish Territories.
It was then realized by Captain (and I use that term quite loosely) Barbossa that the centre of his chart which would guide us to the treasure that we sought was missing. We have since been plundering as best as we can, hampered by the Royal Navy due to the fact that Captain Barbossa does not use the discretion that Captain Sparrow might in his choices of ships that we raid... there have been British ships among them, and we have had to use every ounce of speed that we can coax out of The Black Pearl's sails and sweeps. I will be the first to state that Hector Barbossa does not have the ability to make the Pearl fly over the waters that Captain Sparrow has, and since the ship is no longer cursed by Aztec gold, Barbossa does not have an advantage. The Pearl only responds so favorably to Captain Sparrow's hands, and his words to her.
We have been traveling across the Atlantic with great haste, in order to escape those who wish to do us harm, and are soon to be around the southern tip of Africa... toward the large island of Madagascar. Barbossa has heard of a large shipment of rubies that is about to depart for India, and has it on his mind that we should help ourselves, but I am of a mind that a mutiny will take place soon, due to many members of Captain Sparrow's loyal crew receiving the rough side of Captain Barbossa's tongue. I do not know how much more of his ungentlemanly treatment we are willing to tolerate, and even if we are outnumbered, we are almost ready to take arms and defend our ship and our honor as pirates.
Barbossa is no longer immortal... he is a man, just as we are, and we... that is, Mr. Pintel, Mr. Ragetti, Marty, Mr. Murtogg, Mr. Mullroy and myself... are of the opinion that if we can survive the Kraken and the battles At World's End, we can take back our ship and go back to find our rightful Captain, Jack Sparrow, and Joshamee Gibbs, higher powers willing. Captain Barbossa is a good pirate, to be sure, but Captain Sparrow is the most intelligent and benevolent captain that I have had the pleasure to serve under, in spite of his odd behaviour. He is the best pirate on the Seven Seas, a Pirate Lord, and does not deem it necessary to handle his crew roughly.
I pray that this message reaches Captain Turner or Captain Sparrow, as I wish to inform either or both of them of our dilemma. If we cannot enlist in the aid of either captain, we shall have to take our chances on our own. I shall send out my trusted messenger for a few hours each day, in hopes that someone might help us.
I remain, respectfully,
John Cotton
Gibbs' mouth was open in shock at this latest, strange missive that had seemingly dropped from nowhere. He looked at Jack, and his captain was seething. His smooth, dark face was passive and expressionless, save for a twitch in his mustache, but his eyes had become black as furious ink, and flashed as though they were energized with bolts of lightning. He took the missive from William's hands, and reread it... not once, but twice. He finally looked up at William, who had patiently waited for Jack's reaction... the pirate captain stared into William's eyes for a moment, then his eyes glittered with excitement, and his face softened into a sly grin. "Methinks tha' this is fortuitous information, indeed, William."
"Aye, Jack, I agree," William tilted his head much as Jack would, and also grinned. "We are closer than we thought, and hot on their trail. A 'trusted messenger', indeed!" And the three simaltaneously looked above their heads, into the rigging. Sitting on a yardarm, with his beautiful head cocked at an angle in order to observe the three men below, was a blue macaw... the parrot blinked at them, then flapped his wings and squawked, "Really bad eggs!!!"
The trio grinned at each other, then formed fists, and put them together in the center of their circle of comradeship. William growled, "Take what ye can..."
Gibbs snarled, with a gleeful smile,"...give nothin' back..."
...and Jack answered in a low voice, his eyes half closed and shining with anticipation, "... we shall take the Black Pearl!"