Chapter 9
Bright and early, Grace was up and followed Jack and Will to the docks where Gibbs had men for a crew lined up waiting for Jake's approval.
"Feast your eyes, Captain. All of them, faithful hands before the mast, every man worth his salt and crazy to boot!"
Grace and Will looked down the ragtag group of men with much less optimism than Gibbs.
"So this is your able-bodied crew?" Will asked skeptically.
Jack did not answer and began his way down the line of men until he stopped in front of one with a parrot perched on his shoulder.
"You, sailor!"
"Cotton, sir," Gibbs told him.
"Mr. Cotton, do you have the courage and fortitude to follow orders and stay true in the face of danger and almost certain death? Mr. Cotton! Answer man!"
Gibbs quickly stepped up. "He's a mute, sir. Poor devil had his tongue cut out . . ." The man opened his mouth revealing the gruesome sight of his missing tongue. Grace, Will, and Jack grimaced. ". . . so he trained the parrot to talk for him. No one's yet figured how."
Jack turned to go on his way, but paused. "Mr. Cotton's . . . parrot. Same question."
"Wind in the sails! Wind in the sails!" the parrot squawked.
"Mostly, we figure, that means yes," Gibbs told them.
"Of course it does." Jack turned to Will. "Satisfied?"
"Well, you've proved they're mad," Will answered.
"How do you know they'll be able to face these cursed pirates of yours?" Grace asked. "You don't even know them."
"I barely know you and I let you stay," Jack replied.
"True," Grace acknowledged.
A voice from further down the line caught their attention.
"And what's the benefit for us?"
Jack frowned walked slowly up to a sailor whose hat hid their face. Jack carefully lifted the brim of the hat and then pulled it off. Grace and Will were very surprised to see that the sailor was a woman.
Jack smiled. "Anamaria."
The smile was wiped right off his face when he was slapped harder than he'd been slapped by either Scarlett or Giselle.
"I suppose you didn't deserve that one either," Will said.
"No, that one I deserved."
"You stole my boat!" Anamaria said angrily.
Jack turned back to her. "Actually—"
She slapped him again and Grace covered her mouth in an attempt to keep from laughing.
"Borrowed," Jack continued quickly. "Borrowed without permission, but with every intention of bringing it back to you."
"But you didn't!" Anamaria shouted and Grace wondered if she was going to slap him again.
"You'll get another one," Jack told her.
Anamaria pointed her finger in his face. "I will."
"A better one," Will added suddenly.
"A better one!" Jack echoed with a grin.
"That one." Will pointed at the Interceptor.
Jack spun around. "What one?!"
Giggling, Grace pointed to the Interceptor.
"That one?!" Jack was furious, but he knew talking it back would make Anamaria even angrier. "Aye, that one! What say you?"
"Aye!" Anamaria shouted and the rest of the crew mimicked her. They picked up their supplies and turned towards the Interceptor. Gibbs hurried up to Jack.
"No, no, no, no, no, it's frightful bad luck to bring a woman aboard, sir."
Grace frowned at him. "Since when?"
"Since always. Everyone knows it," Gibbs replied.
"That's nothing, but a silly superstition," Grace told him.
"It is not. I knew a captain once who let a woman aboard his ship and that very day it sank. Every man drowned."
"How did it sink?"
"Ran into some rocks."
"Had the captain been drinking?"
"Well, uh, yes, but that's not the point." Gibbs looked at Jack. "You can't possibly be considerin' this captain. You know it's bad luck."
"I think it would be worse luck not to take them," Jack replied thinking of the fit Anamaria would throw if he told her she couldn't come. Add Grace to the mix and he didn't think he'd have a very good chance of coming out alive.
Within an hour they had set sail. Jack was at the wheel with his eyes practically glued to his compass. Gibbs and Anamaria oversaw the crew and Grace did what she could, watching closely to learn more. She was fascinated by the workings of the ship.
A few hours after leaving Tortuga, a storm broke and rain and waves pummeled the ship. Grace did what she was told as well as she was able, but she had a hard time just trying to stay on her feet as the waves crashed over the deck. Running over to help Gibbs and Will tie down a line, she heard Will ask Gibbs, "How can we sail to an island that nobody can find with a compass that doesn't work?"
"It doesn't work?" Grace shouted over the wind.
"Aye, the compass doesn't point north but we're not trying to find north, are we?"
Grace and Will looked at each other through the rain and Gibbs hurried up to Jack.
"We should drop canvas, sir."
"She can hold a bit longer," Jack told him.
"What's in your head that's put you in such a fine mood, Captain?"
Jack grinned as lightening flashed. "We're catching up."
