Chapter 11
Quietly they rowed into the silent, black cave. Will was in the front of the boat holding a lantern and he and Grace looked around uneasily. They hadn't gone far when the light lit up a skeleton lying on a ledge with a sword stuck in its back.
"What code is Gibbs to keep to if the worst should happen?" Will asked in uncertainty.
Grace was wondering the same thing, but wasn't sure if she really wanted to know.
"Pirates' Code," Jack answered. "Any man that falls behind is left behind."
"I guess we'd better not fall behind then," Grace murmured.
Will made a face at Jack. "No heroes amongst thieves, eh?"
"You know, for having such a bleak outlook on pirates you're well on your way to becoming one," Jack said. "You sprung a man from jail, commandeered a ship of the Fleet, sailed with a buccaneer crew out of Tortuga . . ."
His words faded away as Grace lost herself in her thoughts. It was obvious how much Will loved Elizabeth by all he had done to save her. I wish he could love me like that. She started daydreaming about it for a moment, but snapped back to reality when they reached their destination and Jack and Will started to leave the boat.
"I am not obsessed with treasure," Will said in protest to one of Jack's earlier comments.
Jack seemed to either not hear or ignore him as he led the way through a large, dark tunnel. Ahead they heard voices and Jack stopped and peered over a ledge.
"Not all treasure is silver and gold, mate," Jack told Will with a smirk.
Grace and Will stepped closer to have a look. Before them was a vast cavern filled with every kind of treasure they could imagine. However, there wasn't only treasure. A whole crew of pirates was gathered around a mound of gold. On top was a carved stone chest and standing behind it were Barbossa and Elizabeth. Will said her name in alarm and moved to climb over the ledge, but Jack pulled him back down.
"Not yet. We wait for the opportune moment."
Jack turned and walked past them. Will glared at him and followed.
"When's that? When it's of greatest profit to you?"
Jack paused and turned back to Will. "May I ask you something? Have I ever given you reason not to trust me? Do us a favor; I know it's difficult for you, but please stay here and try not to do anything . . . stupid." He looked at Grace. "That goes for you too."
Without another word, he scampered off. Grace and Will stood silently for a few moments. Then Will suddenly hurried back in the direction of the boat. Grace quickly followed him. He picked up one of the oars they'd left in the boat and turned to her.
"Are you on my side?" Will asked.
"Yes," Grace answered without hesitation.
"Jack wants to use me as his leverage."
"I know. I heard what he said in Tortuga."
"I won't be anyone's leverage," Will declared. "Will you help me?"
Grace nodded.
"Take all the oars from their boats." Will pointed to all the boats lined up in the water not far from theirs that Grace noticed for the first time. "I'm going to get Elizabeth and we'll go back to the Interceptor."
Grace nodded again and Will quickly walked off and disappeared where Jack had. What if he gets caught? was the first question in Grace's mind. Barbossa would kill him. She tried not to think about it and ran over to the other boats knowing she couldn't waste time. Grace gathered up as many of the oars as she could carry and brought them back to their boat. She took several trips back and forth, the pile of oars in their boat growing fast. A few minutes later, she was on her way back to the boat with the last arm full of oars when she heard shouting. Grace looked up to see Will and Elizabeth suddenly appear. She dropped the oars into the boat and quickly got in. Elizabeth jumped in next and then Will. Picking up the oars, he rowed out of the cave.
From the back of the boat, Grace watched for Barbossa's men, her hand rested on the hilt of her sword. When they immerged from the dark cave, Grace breathed a sigh of relief. It didn't seem that the pirates were going to catch them. She turned and found her eyes on Elizabeth who was watching her intently. After a few seconds, Grace began to squirm uncomfortably. She didn't like the way Elizabeth was watching her.
"Who are you?" Elizabeth asked finally.
"Grace Morgan," Grace answered simply.
"She offered to help rescue you," Will told Elizabeth.
"Oh, well, thank you," Elizabeth said, but she didn't sound very sincere.
The way she still stared made Grace very uncomfortable. Maybe she thinks I'm competition, Grace thought. Why else would she dislike me when she doesn't even know me? Right then, Grace's memory of possibly disliking Elizabeth was confirmed. She did dislike her.
"Where do you come from, Miss Morgan?" Elizabeth asked suddenly.
Grace hesitated. "A home I ran away from."
She hoped Elizabeth wouldn't ask her anything else. When they finally reached the Interceptor, Grace was very relieved. Quickly, she helped Will throw all of the pirates' oars into the water and then the three of them climbed aboard.
"Not more pirates," Elizabeth said when she saw the crew gathered around.
Grace couldn't help rolling her eyes. Well, isn't this better than being with Barbossa? I'd be a little grateful to them for helping you.
"Welcome aboard, Miss Elizabeth," Gibbs said stepping forward.
"Mr. Gibbs," Elizabeth replied in surprise.
Gibbs looked over them and frowned.
"Hey, boy, where be Jack?" he asked Will.
"Jack? Jack Sparrow?" Elizabeth said in disgust.
"He fell behind," Will answered and moved to take Elizabeth below deck.
The crew was silent as they let the news sink in. Then Anamaria began giving orders and they moved quickly to leave the island. Grace stayed where she was at the rail feeling a bit down. She felt kind of bad about leaving Jack in the hands of Barbossa and now that they had rescued Elizabeth, Will's time would be occupied by her. Grace was more or less alone or at least that's how she felt.
With a sigh, she walked to the back of the ship and went down one of the hatches. Below deck she wandered aimlessly, wondering for the first time what she was going to do once this adventure was over. Would she wake up back at home or was she here for good?
Without meaning to, Grace ended up walking into the same cabin where Will and Elizabeth were sitting at a small table. When they didn't notice her, she backed into the shadows. Will was gently bandaging a cut on Elizabeth's hand. They looked at each other and suddenly leaned forward to kiss. Grace looked away, her heart pounding. She felt even worse than before. She only looked up again when she heard Elizabeth say, "It's yours." She handed Will a gold medallion on a chain.
"I thought I'd lost it the day they rescued me," Will said looking at the medallion with a slight smile. "It was a gift from my father. He sent it to me." He looked up at Elizabeth. "Why did you take it?"
"Because I was afraid that you were a pirate. That would have been awful," Elizabeth replied.
"It wasn't your blood they needed," Will realized. "It was my father's blood . . . my blood . . . the blood of a pirate."
"Will, I'm so sorry, please forgive me."
Will slammed the medallion down on the table. After a brief moment, Elizabeth got up and quickly climbed the ladder leading out of the cabin. Waiting a few moments, Grace quietly left her hiding place and slowly approached Will. Hearing her coming, he glanced up, but didn't say anything. Grace sat down in the chair Elizabeth had previously occupied. She glanced at the medallion.
"I didn't mean to overhear, but just because your father was a pirate doesn't make you one," Grace said. "My father was not a pirate, but if you knew him you'd probably think he was just about as bad. You can give me your own opinion, but I don't think I'm anything like that."
Will looked up and slowly smiled at her. "No, you're not."
Grace returned the smile. She would have loved to go on talking to him, but an unusual amount of commotion on deck caught their attention and they got up to see what it was.
