Chapter 13
Grace winced when she was shoved hard up against the Black Pearl's mainmast. Two pirates name Pintel and Ragetti started circling her and the crew, wrapping a rope around them.
"If any of you as much as thinks the word parley, I'll have your guts for garters," Pintel warned, pointing a pistol in their faces, but Grace's eyes were fixed on the wreck of the Interceptor. He can't have drowned, she kept trying to tell herself.
Suddenly, Elizabeth slipped under the rope. At that very moment, there was a huge explosion as pieces of the Interceptor flew hundreds of feet into the air. Grace's heart nearly stopped and tears stung her eyes. Will! She barely noticed Elizabeth running at Barbossa until she started screaming after Barbossa had pushed her into the hands of the other pirates. Overwhelmed and undeniably afraid to being powerless against these pirates, Grace couldn't help herself. As Ragetti walked passed she kicked him in the shin, letting out some of her anger and fear. He jumped back with a yelp and hopped around holding his leg. Barbossa walked up to them and leaned close to Grace.
"Yer a spirited one, ain't ya, missy?" He said with a grin. "I look forward to getting' to know ya."
Grace's blood ran cold, Elizabeth's screams making it worse. Suddenly, a voice rang out and Grace's heart skipped a beat.
"Barbossa!"
The pirate captain spun around and Grace saw Will standing on the railing. He's alive! Relief swept through Grace that almost made her feel weak.
Will jumped down from the railing and grabbed a pistol that he pointed at Barbossa.
"Elizabeth and Grace go free!"
Barbossa frowned. "What's in your head, boy?"
"Elizabeth and Grace go free," he repeated firmly.
Barbossa strode over to him until the pistol was only a few inches from his face.
"You've only got one shot, and we can't die," Barbossa reminded him with a smirk.
Will glanced towards the crew and Grace heard Jack beg quietly, "Please don't do anything stupid."
Will looked back to Barbossa. "You can't . . . " He turned and jumped back onto the railing. Grace's breath caught when he placed the pistol under his chin. "I can."
Barbossa looked at him like he was crazy. "Who are you?"
Jack suddenly dashed over in front of Barbossa, talking quickly. "No one. He's no one. A distant cousin of my aunt's nephew twice removed. Lovely singing voice, though. Eunuch."
Grace rolled her eyes. Shut up, Jack.
"My name is Will Turner. My father was Bootstrap Bill Turner. His blood runs in my veins," Will said.
Jack hung his head and slowly walked back over to his captors. Grace narrowed her eyes at him when he glanced at her knowing he was just acting in his own interest.
"He's the spitting image of ol' Bootstrap Bill come back to haunt us," Ragetti said, pointing at Will.
"On my word do as I say, or I'll pull this trigger and be lost to Davy Jones' Locker," Will warned.
"Name your terms, Mr. Turner," Barbossa said.
"Elizabeth and Grace go free," Will replied for a third time.
"Yes, we know that one, anything else?"
Jack caught Grace's attention by pointing at himself with a smile. Will glanced at him and added, "And the crew . . . the crew are not to be harmed."
Grace watched Jack's face fall.
Barbossa stepped closer to Will and grinned revealing his rotting teeth. "Agreed."
The pirates pulled Will down from the rail and tied his hands.
"Men, take everyone but the two lasses, Mr. Turner, and the annoying little sparrow, down to the brig," Barbossa ordered. "We have a quick stop to make."
The way he said it filled Grace with dread. She didn't trust him in the least bit and even if he released her and Elizabeth, he still had every intention of killing Will.
Grace, Will, Elizabeth, and Jack were surrounded by pirates pointing pistols and cutlasses in their faces. Not even Jack could find a way out of this one. A little while later, Barbossa gave orders to drop anchor. Off in the distance was a tiny little island. Grace heard Jack mumbling something under his breath when he saw it.
"Men, bring out the plank!" Barbossa shouted.
The men hooted and quickly stretched a plank out from the side of the Black Pearl. He's throwing us off here, Grace thought panicked. How would they ever get off that tiny piece of land sitting right in the middle of the ocean? One of the pirates grabbed Elizabeth and pushed her onto the plank. Will struggled furiously against the pirates, pulling away from them and the gag they had in his mouth.
"Barbossa, you lying bastard! You swore they'd go free!"
Barbossa glared at him. "Don't dare impugn me honor, boy! I agreed they'd go free, but it was you who failed to specify when or where."
The pirates pulled Will back and put the gag back into his mouth. Barbossa turned back to Elizabeth on the plank. "Though it does seem a shame to lose something so fine, don't it lads?"
"Aye!" the pirates agreed eagerly.
"So I'll be having that dress back before you go," Barbossa told Elizabeth.
Elizabeth glared at him and began taking off the dress. Standing on the plank in only her nightgown, she tossed the dress to Barbossa. "It goes with your black heart."
Barbossa put the dress to his face. "Ooh, it's still warm."
The pirates laughed evilly and Elizabeth walked to the end of the plank. She glanced back at Will.
"Too long!" the bo'sun shouted and he stomped on the plank.
Elizabeth lost her balance and fell into the sea. The pirates laughed and Jack was dragged over to the plank next. He quickly turned to Barbossa, frantically trying to save himself.
"I'd really rather hoped we were past all this," he said.
Barbossa put his arm around Jack, talking like they were old friends. "Jack. Jack. Did ya not notice? That be the same little island that we made you governor of on our last little trip."
"I did noticed," Jack replied.
"Perhaps you'll be able to conjure up another miraculous escape, but I doubt it." Barbossa pulled out his sword a pointed it in Jack's face. "Off you go."
"Last time, you left me a pistol with one shot," Jack spoke quickly.
"By the powers, you're right. Were be Jack's pistol? Bring it forward." One of the pirates handed it to Barbossa.
"Seeing as there's three of us, a gentleman would give us each a pistol," Jack said.
"It'll be one pistol as before, and you can be the gentleman and let the ladies fight over the pistol and starve to death yourself."
Jack made a face, but didn't have a chance to argue. Barbossa tossed Jack's belongings into the sea and he dove in after them. Finally, Grace was pushed onto the plank.
"A shame we didn't get to know ya, Miss Grace," Barbossa said mockingly. "What can you give us to remember you by?"
Glaring at him, Grace pulled the gag out of her mouth, balled it up, and threw it at Barbossa's chest. "You can have that."
Grace looked meaningfully at Will and locked eyes with him for a moment. One of the pirates then thrust a sword towards her and she stepped off the edge of the plank, plunging into the water. She surfaced quickly and saw Jack and Elizabeth several yards away. Looking up at the Black Pearl once, Grace started swimming hard in the direction of her two island companions, one of which she'd never want to be stranded on the same island with.
By the time they finally reached the beach of the island, Grace was exhausted. She had never swum so far in her life. Clutching his belongings, Jack looked back at the Pearl as it sailed away.
"That's the second time I've had to watch that man sail away with my ship," he said regretfully.
"And Will is on that ship and if someone doesn't help him, Barbossa is going to kill him," Grace replied. "His life is more important than a ship."
Neither Jack nor Elizabeth spoke. Instead, Elizabeth began walking down the beach and Jack started pulling off some of his wet clothes, laying them on the beach to dry. Grace through her hands up in frustration and walked over to the edge of the palm trees. Grudgingly following Jack's example, she took off her wet waistcoat and water filled boots and laid them out in the sun. With a sigh, she sat down in the shade, watching Jack as he proceeded to take the ammunition out of his pistol for the powder to dry.
