Chapter 8: The Other Pirate Ship
Evy's days became very busy. With a pirate crew's appetite to tend to, she was occupied completely. Peggy seemed to get used to her quickly, giving Evy the impression that he'd really been in need of help. He limped slowly about as the crew impatiently waited to be fed, though they didn't push him too hard because he was liable to take a swing at them with his walking stick. The loud smack of a wood tended to be an everyday occurrence in the galley.
Most of the time, Evy made him sit down with the others while she fixed him a plate and set it down in front of him. He'd smile at her, making each and every line in his brown face fold, bend, and crease. It had been a little frightening at first to see his five, crooked teeth smiling at her—it looked more like a contorted scowl. The old sailor probably hadn't smiled much in his day.
She was getting fonder of him as the days passed and she didn't miss some of the kindly looks he sent her way. He'd even taught her a song that she often sang to herself as she cooked.
"We kidnap and ravage and don't give a hoot. Drink up me hearties, yo ho! Yo ho! Yo ho! A pirate's life for me….."
The yearning for their home in Nassau was surprisingly not there. It had been a shock of course to suddenly climb on board a ship full of pirates, but she felt oddly settled. She was feeling at home aboard the Pearl; one other thing she hated Jack for. He'd been right. Again. Bloody pirate.
Evy would never admit to anything, especially not to Jack, but she was happy. If it weren't for her duties, she'd probably be pining for her home, but as it was, she looked forward to rising with the sun and feeding the crew. Her mother appeared to like it as much, but wouldn't admit to anything either, but they often shared smiles throughout the day, though her mother's was still a bit sad. Emerson, of course, was no longer a man searching for his life. He'd found it at sea, so he had said one morning after she and her mother had finished cleaning the galley.
Her mother's face stiffened, but she smiled nevertheless. "I suppose then," she said, voice a touch strained, "that when this is all over, you'll be staying aboard the Pearl?"
Emerson looked away guiltily, but his voice didn't waver when he spoke. "If Captain Sparrow will have me."
"There are worse things I suppose," she said, "Though at the moment, I can't think of any."
Emerson laughed. "Well, pirates are not exactly respected citizens of the community, but they're not all murdering buccaneers."
"Just thieves," Evy added. "Marauding fiends, liars, drunks..."
"Yeah, you'd know all about a drunken pirate wouldn't you?" he asked, raising his eyebrows knowingly.
Evy gaped at her brother's twinkling eyes. "No, I'm afraid I don't," she said snootily, avoiding her mother's suspicious glance.
"Ah, well. My mistake then," he said casually, drifting away from them.
"What was all that about?" demanded Mum.
Evy was already proven to be a bad liar in her mother's presence so there was no point in attempting it. Her cheeks burned with embarrassment, however, at the thought of revealing everything to her mother.
"Evy, what did he mean about Jack?"
"Jack kissed me," she said, hiding her face behind her hair.
"That so?"
"I can't imagine how Em knew. He must have been on deck," she said idly.
"Care to tell me anything else?" she asked keenly.
"There is nothing else," she insisted. "Just a kiss caused by rum."
"Is there any other kiss when it comes to Jack?" she smirked.
"No, he obviously doesn't know another way," she grated, noting the cynicism in her own tone and wondering how it had gotten there so fast.
"Well, if you expect nothing else of Jack, then why are you upset?" she pressed.
"Because I—" Evy broke off.
"What?" Mum prompted expectantly.
"Well..." she began, nervously tapping her fingers against her thigh. "It was because he was drunk."
Mum smiled understandingly. "You would rather something other than rum made him kiss you."
Evy shrugged, not willing to relent to that out loud. Mum snickered.
"I don't see what's so funny," she said, offended.
"I'm sorry, sweetheart. You're right, but I know how you feel. I married a pirate, remember? If a woman knows how fickle they can be, then I am that woman."
"Was Dad horrible with all that pirate business?"
"He didn't treat me like a common wench of Tortuga, if that's what you mean."
"That's something, isn't it?"
"Yes, but Evy dear, Jack is...different."
"Too different," she agreed. "He doesn't care about anything except this ship. Or his blasted rum," she added.
"I didn't mean different in a bad way. Just different."
"Maybe, but he was still acting solely on the effects of intoxication," she spat, eying said pirate evilly. Jack was too busy yelling orders to notice her.
"There's always next time," Mum reminded her.
"There won't be a next time. I'm not letting that swine near my lips again."
Mum laughed heartily. "Oh, the irony!"
"Why?" she asked uneasily.
"I said something very similar about your father."
Evy looked sharply at her mother. "Why on earth did you marry him, then?"
"Because I loved him of course," she said reasonably. "And, well...I let him kiss me again. Those blue eyes were hard to resist."
"Just because Jack happens to have striking eyes doesn't mean anything."
"Oh? So you have noticed? I was beginning to think you never would."
"Yes, he is eye-catching. You mentioned that already."
"Well?"
"Well…he's not hideous—exactly," she admitted reluctantly. "But what exactly is the point of this?"
She smiled knowingly. "I think you like Jack. You do complain about him all the time."
Evy shrugged uncomfortably. "I wouldn't say it was like. I've just gotten used to him, is all."
"Isn't it strange how similar our situations are?"
"I don't see anything similar about them," she said, folding her arms stubbornly.
"All joking aside, Evy," she went on, "He is a pirate and far from being a saint, but he is a good man. He could have chosen to let your father swing from the gallows, but he chose to help him because they are friends."
Try as she might, Evy didn't really hate Jack. He'd come a long way to save her father's life. Jack acted as though he was the very definition of miscreant, but why then, did he save her father's life unless there was some good in him?
"Thought you said I'd be in for a world of trouble if I gave my heart away to a pirate."
"Not just a pirate, any man for that matter, but pirates tend to make life interesting."
"Well it's a good thing I'm not interested."
Later that night, Evy should have realized that the conversation with her mother was the beginning of one disaster after another. As she was preparing the food, shouts carried through the door from the deck above.
"Eh?" cried Peggy. "What be the un'oly racket?"
Not one second later, something rammed into the hull, pitching the ship forward, launching Evy and Peggy across the room. Both cried out in pain as their bodies slammed into the hard wall. The ship violently shook, wood creaking under the strain. Neither of them dared move until it was safe to do so.
"Peggy, what's big enough in the ocean to do that?"
Emerson caught the flailing rope that had come loose and tightened it fast. He wiggled it to make sure it was tight enough and then pulled again just to satisfy himself.
"We're getting close," he whispered to himself.
Rain had only just stopped falling, but the clouds remained. Moonlight had left them nearly an hour ago and taken the stars with it. Crew members about him whispered nervously to each other. Some tightened their grips on the guns at their belts. The reason for their fearful eyes was all too clear.
The sails of the Black Pearl gave one last flutter before coming to a still. There was no wind to rustle the heavy black canvas, but the ship moved onward, guided by the mysterious waters in which they'd just arrived.
Without help from the stars and moon, there was no way to know if the island was near. Emerson looked over his shoulder to Jack. The captain stood at his wheel, eyes fixed to the bow, steady and looking ready for what the darkness brought.
"Does anyone else 'ere tha'?" said a crewmember, eyes wildly searching the sky.
Emerson did hear it. Hundreds of whispering voices weaved through the air, echoing together in an eerie cacophony. Try as he might, he couldn't understand what the voices were saying. The crew shouted in fear, ducking their heads as though expecting to be attacked from the air. One man fired his pistol straight up, the misty fog splitting apart as the bullet collided with the thin air, but the whispering didn't cease.
The ship suddenly pitched forward, tossing them headfirst toward the bow. The breath knocked out of him, Emerson grunted with pain as the back of his head collided with the wood. The ship crashed back down against the water, drenching them all in the dark, salty water.
A great roar from beneath the waves silenced all the men, and then a mad rush to follow Jack ensued as he ran to look over the side. Emerson shoved his way through the crowd just as a long scaly black body that seemed to go on forever, disappeared back from whence it came.
Gibbs smacked the rail hard. "Didn't I say it? Didn't I say it, Jack? 'aving women aboard a ship is the worst kind o' luck there is!"
"Not just the wenches," said another, "But we be in cursed waters! Evil spirits and creatures of the deep be upon us."
"We're doomed!"
"Probably," Jack agreed, still staring at the water. "But there is a light at the end of the tunnel, gentlemen."
"'eaven?" asked one hopefully.
"Gold of course," answered Jack, as though surprised the man didn't know the obvious answer.
Though Emerson was listening to the men as they talked, he'd been watching the darkness that lay ahead of the bow. There was something strange about the horizon. It whipped about like the sail of a ship. His eyes widened as what indeed was a sail blew straight up to reveal sharp, craggy rocks.
Emerson ran straight for the helm, leaping up the stairs and yanked the wheel starboard, once again tossing the crew across the deck. The Pearl missed the rocks by mere inches. The reason for the oddity of the horizon's appearance was made clear.
The remainder of a ship's sails lay shredded across the rocks along with debris that littered the water. They'd found the island and the other pirate ship. The skull and crossbones flag floated in the lonely water, fallen and tattered, the only evidence that it had ever flown aboard a ship.
Jack looked over his shoulder to the Pearl, which was anchored a good distance from the island. He'd taken a handful of his crew aboard a skiff to scout the island for survivors. The uneasiness had started once he'd left the ship behind. He kept glancing at his most prized possession, but then remembered the treasure that lay ahead.
Not too far down the beach, young Dawes was showing his sister the basics of loading and firing a pistol. The little monster had decided to tag along with her brother in search of the treasure. Evy was starting to remind Jack of Will Turner. The lad too, had hated pirates with a deep seated passion, but in the end, changed his mind. She'd despised everything about pirates, it seemed, and until having spent numerous time with them— something Jack took all the credit for. Evy had decided to accompany them, claiming she was looking out for her brother's well-being, but Jack wasn't the greatest pirate for nothing. Treasure was enough to wet anyone's appetite to go searching for it.
The island was vast, covered in dense groves of palm trees and monstrous rock cliffs the size of mountains. It would take weeks to comb the island thoroughly, weeks they didn't have. The only sensible solution would be to split up and search.
"Aye, Cap'n. That be a good plan," agreed Gibbs. "Just so's I don't end up with the woman."
Evy scowled back at the pirate.
"I wouldn't dream of dealing you the 'and of misfortune, Mr. Gibbs," Jack assured, grinning at her as he spoke. "Therefore, I will make the sacrifice for the good of the crew and pair meself with the lady."
"Now hold on—" she started.
"I'll go with you too, Captain," offered Emerson, effectively shutting his sister up.
"I s'pose that'll do," she conceded, throwing Jack a dirty look.
"Right, then. Mr. Cotton, you're with Gibbs. Emerson and the lady are with me. When you find the treasure, fire a shot into the air and we'll meet you there."
The pirates split up, each man eager for the search, but wary of the alien surroundings. Jack grinned at his pair.
"Shall we?" He placed his arm around Evy and pulled her along. "What will you do with your share of the treasure, darling?"
Evy stared at his arm with disgust, but she held her tongue. "I don't know. I haven't thought that far ahead."
Jack frowned. He'd been hoping to get a rise out of her. She'd been keeping her distance from him since that kiss and controlling that blasted temper. Yes, he remembered everything. Their conversation and her tears and that bloody good kiss. He'd been unable to stop thinking about that kiss. Evy had been wandering around his mind and it was really starting to annoy. A lot about Evy was annoying. Foremost, that mouth—though she did kiss very well with it—had been unusually quiet. In fact, she hadn't said one word to him. Why couldn't she follow their usual routine of shouting? Typical of a woman to change things up on a man just when he was getting used to everything.
"What about you, Jack? What will you waste all that treasure on?"
"Actually, I was thinking of starting me own 'arem. That way I wouldn't 'ave to drop you in some foreign country you're not used to. You could be best friends with this pirate sheik for life, savvy?"
Behind them, Emerson snickered. For a moment, and it was barely that long, she looked him in the eye. Jack was a little startled to see no anger, but something akin to disappointment. The openness in her eyes disappeared behind windows of long black lashes as she lowered her face.
She moved away from him, vaguely saying, "I count the days."
Deep in the jungles of the island, Tarrington waited with the four remaining crewmembers of the wrecked pirate ship, including Captain Strongman. As far as he knew, three days had gone by, but without the sun to pinpoint his location, Tarrington wasn't sure. The sun tended to switch positions on this island when he least expected it. Not that he could even see the sky.
The expanse of blue was currently concealed by a cage of bamboo covered in jungle greenery. Shafts of sunlight had managed to break through, reminding him that the sun still rose and set. But barely a breath later, the light cut off. The sun had moved again, as it had been doing several times an hour. After three days of this oddity, Tarrington still hadn't got used to it.
There were a lot of things that confused a man whose beliefs were rooted in the logical. Yet he had seen the giant sea creature attack the ship, coiling its massive body over the hull and crushing it with little effort. Most of the crew went down with the sinking vessel. Others were devoured by jaws full of razor sharp teeth the length of sabers.
Tarrington floated in the water, waiting for the turn that never came. The ocean stretched into an endless blue canvas, but he blinked and there was suddenly a colossal island right in front of him, materializing out of nothing. In the distance, the few remaining crewmembers swam toward the beach.
As survival training was a necessary branch of every soldier's life, he'd taken charge. That idiot Strongman had found it necessary to offer his expertise as well. He'd thrown a tantrum worthy of a four-year-old.
"That was my ship sunk! But I'm still captain and I'm in charge of this crew!" he said angrily, stamping his foot in the damp sand.
"All right, then. What do you propose we do about our current misfortune?" he asked, thoroughly enjoying the little man's bulging eyes.
"Well, I...ahem," he cleared his throat nervously, "We should, I suppose..." Strongman snapped his jaw shut and drew himself up, attempting to show dignity. "As captain, it is my duty to accept advice from my crewmembers if they've got any useful ideas."
"Very well, then," he said, bowing his head graciously. "First, we need to make a shelter and then gather everything that appears edible, as our food supply is now gone."
"What of the treasure?"
"We'll leave at dawn tomorrow."
For all their intentions to leave at dawn, they never got the chance. The position of the sun made it impossible to gauge when dawn would break. Just as he'd guessed it was nearing noon, the light dimmed, as though night were about to fall. The sun now hung in the western sky.
"Impossible," he murmured to himself.
"You'll get used to it," said a voice from behind.
He whipped around to find a spear in his face. They were surrounded by a ring of torches and glinting spears. Their faces were hidden behind veils. Dark eyes glared back at them so viciously that Tarrington expected to have a spear in chest before long.
"Does the sun often move?" he asked politely, hoping to keep diplomacy with the attackers.
"You were not given permission to speak, slave," said one silkily, "If you wish to keep your entrails tonight, then I suggest you shut up."
Bound and gagged, Tarrington and pirates were roughly pushed through the trees and if one fell, they did not stop to help him up. He was dragged the rest of the way. Before he could attempt diplomacy again, all five of them were pushed into a pit.
After three days, they were still sitting in the pit. Presumably, their kidnappers were deciding what to do with them. Footsteps passed by occasionally, but no word was spoken and no food was dropped down to them. After being food deprived for three days, Tarrington had had enough. Just as he was about to open his mouth, their cage door was open and one more joined the ranks. A man.
He too, was bound by the hands. He was young and sported a bloody nose, but didn't look injured otherwise. As he sat up and looked around, his eyebrows rose.
"Hello," he said conversationally, "Name's Emerson. Been here long?"
"Three days," answered Tarrington. "No food, no water. Our captors are brutish fiends."
"Savages more like," said Captain Strongman.
"I think they're worse than that," he said, chuckling.
"These savages 'ave starved us for three days, threatened to cut out our entrails and 'aven't said what our crime is," said the captain. "What could be worse than that?"
"A tribe of ruthless women who starved you for three days and threatened disembowelment."
"They're women?" Tarrington asked in astonishment.
"Yep," the young lad confirmed, wiping his nose with his sleeve.
"See what you mean by worse," said the captain, glancing fearfully at their bamboo roof.
