Chapter 9: Loop Hole

With everyone on the Black Pearl, the pirates began moving the mast of the Interceptor. It was huge and bloody heavy! I decided to help although I don't think I did much. Bo'sun did most of the work because he was the strongest. Still, the mast was heavy. Whoever caused this to happen I will kill you!

Eventually we got the mast off the Pearl. Barbossa ordered the ship to sail some distance away but not too far. Jack was being held by Koehler and Twigg. I stood somewhat near him. The pot-bellied man and his friend with the wooden eye were tying up the crew of the Interceptor to the mast. "If any of you so much as think the word parley, I'll have your guts for garters."

Elizabeth got out of the ropes just as the Interceptor exploded. "Will." I heard her whisper. Will was on the ship? I almost cried out. The thought of my friend dead, it was almost too much to bear. Elizabeth started attacking Barbossa.

He calmly grabbed her wrists. "Welcome back, miss. You took advantage of our hospitality last time. It's all well now, you return the favor." Barbossa shoved her into a crowd of pirates. They started grabbing her hair and dress.

"Barbossa!" someone yelled. Will came up the side of the ship. I let out a breath, thankful he wasn't dead. "She goes free!"

"What's in your head, boy?" Barbossa asked.

Will jumped down from the railing and grabbed a gun. He pointed it at the captain. "She goes free." he repeated.

"You've only got one shot and we can't die." Barbossa said smugly. Will hesitated.

"Please don't do anything stupid." I heard Jack beg.

"You can't," Will started. He ran and jumped on the railing, pointing the gun to his throat. "I can." Elizabeth started to struggle.

Barbossa looked confused. "Who are you?"

"No one. He's no one." Jack said running up to Barbossa. "Distant cousin of my aunt's nephew twice removed. Lovely singing voice, though. Eunuch." I snorted. Barbossa glanced at me.

"My name is William Turner. My father is Bootstrap Bill Turner. His blood runs through my veins!" Jack walked away from Barbossa, hanging his head.

"It's a spitting image of our Bootstrap Bill, come back to haunt us!" the man with the wooden eye shouted.

"On my word you do as I say or I'll pull this trigger and my body will be lost to Davy Jones Locker." Will threatened.

"Name yer terms, Mister Turner." Barbossa said.

"Elizabeth goes free!" Will demanded.

"Yes, Will, I think he knows that one." I said. Barbossa smirked a little.

Jack was pointing to himself. I'm guessing he wanted Will to demand the return of the Black Pearl. Unfortunately for him, Will ignored the gesture. "And the crew, the crew are not to be harmed."

Barbossa looked amused. "Agreed." Will jumped down from the railing and pirates instantly grabbed him. That was when Marty noticed me. "Hey!" he shouted. "How come Jason's not tied up?" the rest of the crew turned to me. Well most of them, some of them couldn't see me because they were on the other side of the mast. Great, now my friends think that I betrayed them.

Barbossa didn't say anything and, thankfully, neither did the pirate crew. Gibbs gave me a sympathetic look. Does he know?

"Make course for the island" Barbossa told Koehler. The scarred man grinned and took the helm.

"What's the island? Isla de Muerta?" I asked.

Barbossa shook his head. "No. We have to make a small side trip before going back there." he gave me an evil grin. Jack, the monkey, shrieked in agreement.

I didn't know exactly what he was planning, but I had a guess. "Who are you marooning?" I asked grimly.

Barbossa grinned even more and put his hand, briefly, on my shoulder. "I like the way you think, son." he said that last word tentatively. Trying it out? "You'll see soon enough." he walked away after that.

The monkey leapt onto my shoulder. Great, make a scene will you. Everyone, including the cursed pirates, stared at me with wide eyes. "What are you looking at?" I snapped. They all looked away and went back to work.

I sighed and walked up to railing. The monkey seemed happy enough on my shoulder so I let him stay. I kept my eyes on the horizon, waiting for this 'island' to appear.

Soon, I saw it in the distance. As we got closer I could see it in more detail. It was definitely small with nothing but a beach and a small area filled with palm trees in the middle. I heard footsteps behind me and turned around. Barbossa had walked up to me. "Is that the island?" I asked.

He nodded. "Bring out the plank and lower the anchor!" he ordered. That seemed to put the crew in a good mood. They brought out a long wooden plank from below. I swallowed my fear. The monkey, who was still on my shoulder, wrapped his tail around my neck. In my mind it was meant to comfort me, but then again maybe the monkey just wanted to remind me that he was there.

The plank was laid out on deck so most of it hung out over the water. I moved away to stand next to the mast. My friends gave me hard looks but they didn't say anything.

The pirates pushed Elizabeth forward onto the plank. Many of the crew crowded around to watch. A lot of them were yelling stuff like: "Go on, go on!" and "Walk the plank!" Barbossa stood in the middle of the crowd laughing maniacally. Man, he's crazy. Wait, I laugh like that sometimes. Dang it!

Will began to struggle. "Barbossa, you lying bastard! You swore she'd go free!"

"Don't dare impugn me honor, boy!" Barbossa said. "I agreed she'd go free. It was you who failed to specify when or where." he started laughing again. A couple of pirates gagged will and pulled him away.

"Heh, loop hole." I muttered a bit too loudly. The tied up crew glared at me. "Sorry." Our attention was turned back to Barbossa.

"Though it does seem such a shame to lose something so fine, don't it lads?" Barbossa asked, mockingly. "So I'll be having that dress back before you go." he finished walking up to Elizabeth with his hand outstretched.

Elizabeth fumed and began to take off the red dress. I almost looked away, blushing slightly, but then saw she had a nightgown on underneath. "Goes with your black heart." she spat, throwing the dress to the captain.

Barbossa caught it and held it up to his face. "Ooh, it's still warm." He said, throwing it to the pirates.

"I thought you couldn't feel anything because of the curse." I said loudly. Barbossa glared at me. Those cold blue eyes nearly froze my soul, but I held my gaze. I was used to it because whenever I looked in a mirror those same eyes stared right back at me. When Barbossa turned away I smirked in triumph.

Elizabeth was facing the water at the edge of the plank. She looked back at Will. Bo'sun got impatient. "Too long." with that he stepped on the plank causing it to wobble. Elizabeth fell off and hit the water with a splash.

The pirates started laughing. I rushed to the railing to make sure that Elizabeth was all right. She was steadily swimming towards the island. I turned to meet Will's gaze and nodded. He nodded back his thanks.

Looking back at the plank I saw Jack was being brought up through the crowd. He was laughing but it looked forced. When he stepped onto the plank he stopped. "I really rather hoped we were passed all this." Jack said, turning to Barbossa.

"Jack, Jack." Barbossa said, putting his arm around Jack's shoulders. "Did you not notice? That be the same little island we made you governor of on our last little trip."

Jack glanced at the island. "I did notice."

"Perhaps you'll be able to conjure up another miraculous escape, but I doubt it." Barbossa drew his sword and pointed it at Jack. "Off ya go."

"Last time you left me a pistol with one shot."

"By the powers yer right. Where be Jack's pistol? Bring it forth." one of the pirates held it out for him. Barbossa took Jack's pistol in hand.

"Seeing as there's two of us a gentleman would offer a pair of pistols." Jack said.

"It'll be one pistol as before and you can be the gentleman and shoot the lady, and starve to death yourself." Barbossa tossed Jack's pistol into the ocean. Jack dived after it.

Again, I stared over the railing to try and catch sight of Jack. He came up moments later and began to swim to the island. I sighed a breath of relief and turned back to the deck.

The pirates were weighing anchor and getting ready to set sail. The crew of the Interceptor was taken to the brig along with Will. I just stood on deck, feeling guilty, with a monkey on my shoulder.

Barbossa was at the helm setting a course so I had no one to talk to. Not that talking to Barbossa was on a list of my favorite things to do, I just needed to do something. I don't like standing around doing nothing. The monkey began to play with my hair. "Stop that." I muttered. He ignored me, not that the bloody rascal could understand me. "Get off, Jack." I said and gestured towards the deck. He shrieked and leapt off my shoulder.

Making up my mind, I made a decision, I would go down to the brig and explain everything to my friends. Hopefully they would understand. If they didn't then who knows what I'll do. Maybe I would try and get along with the cursed pirates. I smirked at the thought. Yeah right, those bloody gits either hate me or don't trust me. I sighed and started towards the stairs.

Sorry it was a short chapter. I tried to make it longer. I promise that I'll write again soon. Until then, reviews are nice.