Chapter Three

Spitting out salty ocean water, Jessie surfaced. Directly in front of her, she saw the familiar-looking skeletal bodies of three long dead pirate men, hung there as a warning to every flesh-and-bone man who dared call himself pirate.

Wait a minute. Pirate skeletons?

"What the..." Jessie didn't get a chance to finish because above the sound of wave hitting rock, she heard a shout.

"A little early for a swim, aye?"

Turning in the water wasn't an easy task. Her blue jeans were soaked through to the bathing suit bottom underneath and they were wearing her down. She struggled to stay afloat.

And conscious. Jessie struggled to remain conscious when she saw a very familiar, dreadlocked pirate, skin tanned and weathered from years of being out in the sun, coming towards her in the little boat named Jolly Mon.

"Oh. My. God." Jessie breathed as she kicked arms and legs to keep her head above water.

"Need a little help, lass?" He handed her a rope, which she gladly accepted, and pulled her aboard.

Wide-eyed, Jessie stared up at him from her spot in the bottom of the boat. Her breath caught in her throat as she fumbled out the words, "You're Jack Sparrow!"

"Captain. Captain Jack Sparrow." Jack grumbled, wondering why it was so hard to remember the 'Captain' in his name. He had a bota, after all.

Jessie stood up and faced the pirate captain. Mouth agape, eyes wide, her intentness made Jack back up a step. Jessie walked forward, poking him in the chest, the arm, the shoulder as she mumbled, "Are you real?"

Jack reached up with one hand and caught both of her wrists in his grasp. "As real as you can get, luv. Care to explain to good ole' Jack what's got ya so..." He gestured wildly with his free hand and imitated Jessie, eyes wide and mouth open.

He called me luv! After that particularly wondrous thought, Jessie's throat locked up. Looking down, she noticed for seemingly the first time that Jack held her wrists in his hand. She struggled to breath as she thought: He's touching me! He's touching me! He's touching me!

When Jack didn't get an answer other than another gaping stare, he glanced away from Jessie at looked at his surroundings. He noticed the little boat, quickly filling with water, and sighed. "Oh, bugger."

Much to Jessie's disappointment, he released her wrists and began working on the rather useless task of emptying the boat of the water. He stopped to remove his hat and give the dead pirates a respectful salute before continuing the routine of scooping up, throwing out.

Jessie was still staring at him, positive she was dreaming. She must have hit her head or something. Or maybe she was so obsessed with Pirates that it was taking over her brain...

Jack paused in his bailing to catch Jessie staring at him.

"Like what you see?" He challenged.

Jessie blinked hard; but her mouth wasn't working so she couldn't speak.

Jack sighed, "Well, don't just stand there, girl, grab a cup and start bailin'"

Jack's words brought her back to reality -if you call having Jack Sparrow two feet in front og you reality- and she shook her head. It helped clear her mind a little; not much, but at least she could move her arms and legs.

Working alongside Jack,Jessie was on auto pilot. Her mind was stuck on one thought: Jack is two feet away from me! Two feet away! She wasn't sure what the heck had happened; nor did she dwell on it. It wasn't her fault her mind wasn't working; how would you feel if your arm was inches away from Jack Sparrow's?

Jack straightened up from the bending position he had previously been in. He glanced around at the small amount of water that was quickly rising. He was afraid that even with two people, the boat was still going to be lost to Davy Jones' locker.When his gaze once again landed his strange little helper, he seemed for the first time to take a look at her appearance. "What are you wearing."

Jessie stopped bailing and threw down the cup. Straightening, she looked down at her water-soaked jeans and t-shirt. To her, they looked completely normal, just darkened in color from being wet. But she could see what Jack found her appearance rather odd. After all, she was 300 years in the past.

"Oh my God!" Jessie screamed frantically, standing up so quickly she made the Jolly Man wobble. The panic had been delayed in arrival but now it hit Jessie with full force. She was three hundred years in the past! Whether or not it was a dream wasn't her worry right now. Because, if for some scary reason she was in the past, what the heck was she going to do? She had to find Amber!

Amber. Guilt that she hadn't thought about her friend sooner rushed through her veins. If she was right, and she wasn't crazy, then she'd been placed three hundred years into the past. Amber was with her so...She must be here somewhere.

Jack had watched Jessie's minor outbreak warily. Now, he backed away from the frantic girl in strange clothing. He eyed her skeptically and mumbled, "Maybe it's best you go back in the water..."