Chapter 5: The Return of Captain Jack Sparrow

Captain Jack Sparrow led the way up the cramped stone-lined passageway, torch in one hand, cutlass in the other. Behind him followed Pintel and Ragetti. "Mates, do you know what this is?"

Pintel looked around anxiously. He didn't like this place. The walls were too close; the ceiling was too low; patches of slime on the floor made it too slippery. It smelled funny.

Ragetti guessed, "A tunnel?"

"Yes it's a tunnel," sighed Jack. "But what kind of tunnel?"

"There are different kinds?"

"It's an escape tunnel, savvy? If the main house is every under attack by, say, pirates, the governor and his family can sneak down this tunnel and get away."

Pintel chuckled evilly. "It ain't helpin' 'em against pirates tonight, is it Captain?"

Ragetti was puzzled. "If it's an escape tunnel, then why is the lock on the door at the end on the outside and not on the inside?"

"I don't know the answer to everything, mate."

The passageway led up and up and up. It was never very steep, but it was very long indeed. But then, it was a very long way back up to the governor's house.

They finally arrived at a small, wooden room which marked the end of the tunnel. Jack slid open a panel and peered through. One the other side was the governor's personal library. It was empty and dark. Music and laughter filtered in from the party in the rooms beyond.

"You two stay here. You're not dressed for a fancy dress ball. I'll be back to fetch you once I get the loot. Savvy?"

Pintel gave him a harsh look. "See that you do, Captain. The men is gettin' anxious."

Jack opened the wall, which turned out to be the back of a bookcase, stepped into the darkness of the library and closed the bookcase behind him. There was an internal window in the library, which looked into the ballroom. The pirate captain stood in the shadows and watched the wealthiest citizens of Petit-Goâve dance and drink and chat and laugh and munch on those silly, little hors-d'oeuvre thingies.

Suzanne de Xanillèe, covered in glistening rubies, was the most beautiful of them all.

Captain Jack Sparrow was captivated by her. He felt as if they had known each other all their lives. For example, he knew that if she had that many rubies, she must have an equal number of diamonds, of emeralds, of sapphires, and probably of jade, just all kinds of jewels. His heart beat faster.

It would have been a waste of time to sweet talk her out of her clothes so that he could steal them and her rubies. What he really wanted was her jewelry box, containing all the gems which she wasn't wearing right now. That box would be in her bedroom, which would be somewhere upstairs. And it would be unguarded.

Jack hurried to the library's writing desk. There he found paper, quill, ink and a bud vase. On the paper, he penned a hurried love note, signed it "Jack," and stole the flower out of the bud vase. He took the note with the flower and ducked through a secondary door of the library.

It took him into the pantry, where he came face-to-face with the head butler. "Oh."

The butler fixed a cold eye upon him. "May I help you, monsieur?" The question had daggers in it.

"Yes, yes you may," responded Jack, pressing the note and flower into the man's wrinkled hands. "It's a matter of life and death, savvy? Can you please take these up to Mademoiselle Susanne's room?"

"Well, monsieur, I don't think-"

"Please, please, please, s'il vous plaît?"

"I guess, I guess it will be all right." He took a few steps and then turned back. "Monsieur, do you realize that you are dripping wet?"

"Yes. Yes, I went swimming in the fountain." Jack pointed over his shoulder.

"Mon Dieu, not that fountain!"

"Why? What's the matter with that fountain?"

"Uh monsieur, sometimes some of the lower servants, well, sometimes they are lazy. They do not wish to walk all the way to the outhouse, and so they use that fountain to- Pardonnez moi, monsieur." The butler hurried off on his errand.

Jack returned to the library, and in its deep shadows he watched the butler ascend the stairs up to the mezzanine level, pause briefly to sneak a peek at the note, smile (he was French after all), and then pick up his step as he ascended another set of stairs up to the topmost level. A walkway up there looked down upon the mezzanine, and ornate doorways lined the far side. The head butler went to one of them, reached up above the doorjamb, took down a hidden key, unlocked the door, and carried the note and flower inside.

Jack hurried back into the pantry. He found an assistant chef there. "Which way to the back staircase?" he asked, assuming there must be one.

The assistant chef threw a casual thumb over one shoulder. "It's in the back," he replied.