Chapter 9: Betrayal

They slipped through the disguised bookcase door into the small wooden room beyond. Pintel plucked the torch out of its wall holder and cried, "This way!"

"Belay that, mate!" snapped Jack. He turned and pinned Suzanne to the wall. "Okay Miss Governor's daughter, it's now time you earned your keep, savvy? Where is the colony's hidden treasury?"

"The what?"
"The hidden treasury! You know, that special stash of gold and silver which your father uses to pay the colony's expenses."

"But there, there isn't any," she stammered.

"Don't lie to me!"

"I'm not. We're a small colony, a poor colony. The few francs that are collected in taxes are immediately stolen by my father to pay tribute to Père Nuit or to buy me jewels."

"Then we go to Plan B, luv. Where are your jewels?"

She slapped his face. "Don't even think about stealing my jewels!"

"I can think about stealing them if I want to," Jack said defensively. "It's a free country."

Pintel stuck his face into hers. "If this is such a poor colony, why does the governor has such a splendid mansion?"

Suzanne shook her head. "He built this before I was born, back when he wasn't buying jewels for me and before Père Nuit ever showed up."

Elizabeth slipped into the conversation. "Let me explain what's going on," she said soothingly. "A pirate crew selects its captain based upon the amount of plunder he brings in. Well lately, Jack's been on a bit of a dry streak. There's talk of replacing him. Very serious talk."

"But he's a legend!"

"He's a legend who hasn't been bringing in any money. He dares not return from this mission empty handed. The crew will mutiny."

"What if he had a treasure map? Would that do?"

Pintel asked, "A treasure map to what?"

"Buried treasure," said Suzanne. "Gold, silver, jewels, those kinds of things."

Jack nodded his head. "Those kinds of things are very nice kinds of things. So, just where is this treasure map?"

She went to one of the walls and pushed a knothole. The walled clicked, and a small section swung away. Inside the now-revealed compartment were a scroll of parchment, two ornate chests (one the size of a footstool, the other the size of a melon) and a ruby tiara sitting on top of the larger chest. She took the scroll and handed it to Jack.

The scroll unrolled and proved to be the map of an island. It featured a dotted line which led a winding course to a large letter "X." To one side were written instructions explaining how to get to the "X." And beside the "X" were written the words: "Dig here."

Jack said, "It's a treasure map, all right."

Will noted, "There's a problem. There's nothing to identify the island. There's no labeling, no latitude and longitude laid out, no nothing."

Jack looked at Suzanne, who shrugged helplessly. "Sorry."

He looked sadly at the map, at Suzanne, at the map, at the two chests in the wall compartment, and at the map again. Then he took out the tiara, set it on her head, and handed her the small chest. He motioned for Pintel and Ragetti to take the larger chest.

"I'm leaving you here, luv, because I must have your jewels," he told her. "I need to bring my crew something of immense value, or I'll lose my ship. A map to nowhere simply doesn't cut it."

"So, you're betraying me?"

"Betraying and abandoning," he admitted. Then with a shrug, he explained: "Pirate."