Chapter Five
Barbossa's Truce
I could feel the tension in the air. I felt like the place we were standing was a stage, and Jack, Barbossa, Karissa, Gibbs and I were the actors. I was in the middle of the bickering pirate captains, Karissa and Gibbs off to the side. We were all staring in amazement at Barbossa, our eyes wide open.
"Y-yes," I stammered. "And- you- you've heard…"
I gazed into his cold gray eyes and found knowledge. No warmth, but knowledge and recognition; that was enough for me.
I bowed my head a little, a sign of respect from one pirate captain to another. "You have heard. About the Golden Lion?"
He repeated the gesture. That meant that I wasn't planning on killing him, and he wasn't planning on killing me. Perfect. That simplified things a little.
"Of course. Everyone has. You're famous, dear." Barbossa dropped his gaze to my pocket. "I came to help."
"Why?" I marveled cautiously. Jack grabbed my sleeve and pulled me to stand beside him.
"Because, my pretty, I was born on a Friday the thirteenth as well." Barbossa looped his arm through mine and strolled down the deck calmly. "I am willing to help in any way possible, as long as I get a fair share of Davy's famous treasure at the end."
I gulped. We hadn't been planning on stealing any treasure, but it appeared that now we were. "Of course, Hector." Barbossa was a good, strong ally to have, even if he was cold-hearted.
"Great! I will be joining you on your ship, and my crew will take my ship back to Tortuga and remain there. I do not wish for them to come." Barbossa gestured to his crew and his ship swung around.
The both of us had been talking loud enough to be heard by everyone present, so I said, "done."
"So I'm part of your crew now. Show me to my cabin, my sweet."
I escorted him under deck and through the halls to the men's cabin. I decided that, on the whole, it was best not to show him where the women's one was.
When I arose back on deck, Karissa, Nettle, and Amy, another crewmate, all ran up and hugged me.
"What are we going to do?" cried Karissa.
"Having a bunch of pirates on board and now this?" added Nettle.
"Just make it stop!" exclaimed Amy.
"I'm sorry," I declared. "But if you want to defeat Davy Jones, this is the way to go. I don't doubt Barbossa. I know he was born on a Friday the thirteenth. I just was too stupid to make the connection." And I felt stupid, like I hadn't done anything right lately. From the instant Jack and I had been swept overboard, absolute mayhem had pursued us, hunting the Ocean Pearl down.
That wasn't going to stop me. I shook my crew mates and first mate off, strode over to the wheel, where Rhona was steering, and climbed up the rope to the crow's nest, brooding in thought for a while. I decided to review everyone involved in this, except all the crew members, since that would take forever.
Me- Well, I highly doubted I was going to betray myself.
Karissa- She had been my best friend since kindergarten. She was good and loyal, and I would have been astonished if she turned on me.
Jack- A pirate, so that immediately makes you wonder. He's not that good of a man, but he's a great swordfighter. And I was still trying to work out whether he and I were friends or not.
Gibbs- His main character trait was loyalty. He was the closest thing Jack had to a friend.
Davy- The enemy.
That about summed it up. But now, I could add Barbossa into the mix.
More complications? That was the exact opposite of what we needed.
Of course, we had never gotten exactly what we needed anyway.