Disclaimer: Dear fanfiction police people (or whoever actually reads these things)... No, I am not stealing the Pirates of the Caribbean characters from Disney. I only intend to borrow them, and I promise I will return them just as they are now after I'm done playing with them. There is no cause for worry. Can we get over this silly obsession of yours now? The PotC characters just aren't mine, and they never will be, savvy?

(A/N:) I know there wasn't much going on in chapter eight, but I promise this one is a LOT more interesting! ;)

The following morning, Sarah, Kristie, Robert, Will, Elizabeth, Jack and Ana all gathered on deck at dawn. By now they had arrived at the cay, and each was filled with anticipation at the prospect of rescuing Jonathan today. However, Sarah noted, the cay was much, much bigger than they had assumed- not really a cay at all, in fact, but rather an island. Everyone on deck was at least a tiny bit disappointed to find that, at least from the deck, one could see nothing but sand and trees. Kristie strolled over to the railing, examining the sandy shore while the crew lowered the longboat which would carry them ashore.

Sarah tapped her mother's shoulder from behind. When she turned around to face her, she inquired, "Who will be going ashore?" Elizabeth immediately understood the underlying meaning of the seemingly simple question. Sarah wished to know if she had regained enough trust to be allowed along on the expedition, but was assuring her that she would understand if she wished her to remain behind. "Your father and I will go ashore with Jack and Ana first, and if all goes well, you, Kristie and Robert can come along on the next trip. The island is much larger than we originally thought, so it might take a while to find Jonathan's captors." Sarah nodded pensively.

"Be careful," she implored, her deep brown eyes reminding Elizabeth so very much of Will as they stared into hers, pleading with her to return safely.

"We will," she assured her. Chuckling, she added, "You really needn't worry- your father is doing enough of that as it is, especially with this little one." She patted her slightly swollen belly, indicating the new life growing within her. A splashing noise and a call from Robin alerted them to the fact that the longboat was ready to carry the adults ashore, and Elizabeth pulled her daughter into an embrace, kissing the top of her head affectionately. "We'll be back soon," she promised.

Elizabeth climbed nimbly into the boat while Will stood by to steady her if she fell. Sarah bit back a giggle as her mother turned on her father and said, "I'm fine, honestly. For goodness sakes, Will, you can be such a worrywart." Will mumbled an apology, and Elizabeth smiled and shook her head.

"How long do ye think it's gonna be till they're back?" Kristie asked.

Sarah whirled about to face her. "And why would such a thing matter? If I recall correctly, the last time you asked that question it didn't exactly end well."

Kristie flung up her hands in exasperation. "Sorry, mate! Just a question," she said defensively.

Sarah's shoulders sagged. "I know," she admitted guiltily. "I- I guess I'm just really anxious about finding Jonny and I don't want anything to go wrong. I'm sorry," she muttered. "I know you aren't-"

"Alright, cut the fluff. Apology accepted, savvy?" Sarah rolled her eyes and turned her gaze back to the island. "So what do ye wanna do?" Kristie asked. Her friend made no reply, but eyed her warily, not particularly eager to go along with any ideas today. Kristie racked her brain for something interesting that Sarah would not reject on the spot. After a few moments of thinking, she suggested, "Wanna go up to the crow's nest and spy on 'em?"

Sarah considered this for a while, finally concluding that such an activity would do no harm, and the pair clambered up the rigging to their hideout. Kristie scrambled up to the edge as soon as she had climbed in, and stared down at the island stretched out before her. Sarah tumbled over the wall of the circular enclosure, letting out a yelp when she landed on her knee. She quickly came over to join her friend, still rubbing the sore joint. "Have you found them yet?" she asked.

Kristie pointed to a colorful dot among the trees. "That's Papa," she said. Sarah nodded. If she looked hard enough, she could tell that the clashing combination of reds, blues, browns and purples were the random assortment of clothes Jack wore. They leaned against the dark wood, following the adults with their eyes as they headed towards the jungle.

"Ah!" Robin winced as his boot caught on a stray vine, causing a sudden pain in his ankle. After nearly an hour of exploring the island, they had yet to spot anything but trees. Jack and Will were in charge of breaking branches, leaving threads, and turning over rocks to mark where they had been, but despite their precautions, he doubted he was the only one concerned about the issue of finding their way back. However, Jack was in charge of this expedition. Who were they to question his orders? Some days they had an excuse, but today he wasn't even the slightest bit drunk. Rather, he was almost acting like a normal, rational Englishman- it was almost unnerving to see him like this. Robin paused briefly to wipe the sweat from his brow and take in his surroundings. He could hardly see the sun through the dense foliage surrounding them. The trees were filled with colorful, exotic birds whose chattering songs echoed throughout the island. Everyone felt somewhat lethargic in the thick, hot humid air, yet they plunged ahead indefinitely in search of Jonathan's captors. He brushed a stray reddish-brown lock of hair out of his eyes. His head snapped up when he heard a yelp to his left. Ragetti was slapping at his shoulder frantically. Elizabeth turned around from her place beside Will. At first she appeared concerned, but upon seeing what it was, her expression changed to one of amusement.

"I doubt it'll hurt you," she drawled. Next to him, Pintel glared at his old friend.

"Wot, are ye too much o' a wimp to take a bit 'o bird droppin's on yer sleeve?" he said with a smirk.

"I didn't know wot it was!" Ragetti shot back defensively.

"Keep movin', mates," Jack interjected, plowing ahead determinedly. He flipped open his magical compass, and began hacking away at the brush, clearing a path in the direction the arrow pointed.

Several minutes passed with nothing but the sickeningly cheerful green bombarding them from every side, with nothing to discover but more and more of the wretched undergrowth that continued to severely hinder their progress. But after about a quarter hour more, their blades found nothing more to slash through. They had come to a clearing in the forest. Everyone exchanged looks of hope mingled with foreboding. Will was the first to step forward, dubiously glancing ahead. There was a path worn in the brush, which started again about one hundred meters ahead of them, but they could not see what lay ahead because of a curve in the tunnel. Motioning for the others to follow, he advanced towards the trail. "Wait," Elizabeth called out, and he turned back to face her. "How about a few of us go ahead while the rest stay here?" she suggested, and Pintel and Ragetti immediately agreed, neither of them eager to follow the dark trail ahead. It was quickly decided that the two of them would remain in the clearing and watch for trouble while Robin accompanied the Turners and the Sparrows. As their friends traipsed off into the tunnel, Ragetti mumbled, "Tha's just not right."

"Wot?" Pintel asked in bewilderment.

Ragetti turned and pointed behind them. Merely thirty meters from where they had emerged into the clearing, there was a path similar to the one the others had just ventured into led towards the beach.

Elizabeth paused and looked upwards, automatically raising a hand to shield her eyes, but finding it unnecessary to do so, seeing as they were surrounded by lush, dense forest. The path had clearly been traveled relatively often, for they had yet to come across any kind of obstacle. Unfortunately, they also had yet to stumble upon anything of any importance, save for the path itself. Granted, they had been following the tunnel for a mere quarter mile or so, but the cramped, stuffy feeling that came from having five people in such a small space was beginning to make her head ache, and the fact that she was two months pregnant certainly did nothing to help her situation. As she resumed walking, it occurred to her that it might in fact be a very lovely place, had they not been in such a dire situation, what with a child missing and kidnappers nearby.

She wondered what the older children were doing back aboard the Pearl. Surely Kristie had stirred up some sort of mischief by now; after all, they had been gone for well over an hour at this point. What if they had secretly followed them? She felt her stomach clench at the thought, but willed herself not to think of such things. There was no way they had been foolish enough to attempt such a thing. Had they not learned their lesson well enough from their misadventures in Tortuga?

And yet something in the corners of her mind nagged at her, pointing out that only this morning, Sarah had watched her mother, who was with child, tramp off into the great unknown without a second thought. How must her actions have influenced her daughter? Had her bold actions caused Sarah to question the need to stay behind, to wonder if it would truly be all that bad to follow behind? She wanted to tell Will of her troubled thoughts, because she knew he was more likely than her to see both sides of things in situations such as this. She opened her mouth to speak, but stopped herself before the words escaped her lips. He was worried enough as it was; it would be unfair to further weigh him down with her own troubled thoughts. Though she knew he would not want her to worry, she didn't wish for him to be troubled, either, so she simply kept walking.

As it turned out, however, Elizabeth needn't have worried. The children had indeed learned from their mistake, and were content to remain on the ship. Sarah and Kristie had played several rounds of liar's dice- Kristie won five games, Sarah won two- and were now headed down to the galley to fetch some breakfast. Neither had thought to grab any food when they woke up. Who had time to eat when there was so much going on? By this time, though, both girls were quite hungry. As they arrived in the galley, they noticed Jacob kneeling before his little trunk, locking it securely. He seemed not to notice their presence, and they watched curiously. As he was standing up, he turned back suddenly, as though something had just caught his eye. He reached down behind his trunk and plucked something up off the floor, then brought it to his face to examine it more closely. He was still staring at it as he turned towards them to leave the room. Upon seeing Sarah and Kristie standing there, he jumped, startled to find that he was not alone. "Good day," Sarah greeted him cheerfully. "We were just coming down to fetch some breakfast. Would you like to join us?" Kristie stared incredulously at her friend. When had she learned to act so nonchalant when caught? She couldn't help but smile. She had taught her well.

"Th-thank you, but no," he stuttered. "Uh- have you... Have you seen this before?" He held up a mangled hairpin.

Kristie leaned in closer, examining the object in question with great interest. "Sorry, can't say as I 'ave," she said apologetically.

"It's all right," he said quickly. "I-I was just wondering. Thanks anyways."

"Anytime," Kristie said gallantly, and they parted ways.

A few minutes later, the pair sat together on the same stairway Sarah had the day before, munching contentedly at their biscuits. "That was close," Sarah remarked.

"Wot?" Kristie asked through a mouthful of biscuit.

"Don't talk with your mouth full."

Kristie swallowed the bite, then asked her question again, with more than a hint of exasperation in her voice.

"We're lucky Jacob didn't notice that that hairpin was bent into the same shape as his key," Sarah said wryly. Her friend shrugged, obviously not too worried about whether she was fortunate in this respect or not. Sarah sighed. "It's been nearly two hours since they went ashore," she commented.

Kristie nodded. "What do ye wanna do?" She didn't even give the poor girl time to answer before her face lit up and she sat straighter. "We could fence," she suggested.

Sarah ruminated on the possibility for a moment. Out of the corner of her eye she noticed Kristie's anxious expression and found it quite amusing. "All right," she consented. A huge grin spread across her companion's face.

"Go git yer sword," she ordered.

"What about yours?"

Kristie patted the weapon at her side. "Got it."

Sarah sauntered towards the hatch to retrieve her own blade. Though the Sparrow twins occasionally had been permitted to borrow and use their father's sword, Sarah had not been allowed to use anything but a wooden replica without careful supervision until she turned ten. Now that she finally had a weapon of her own, she had vowed to keep it immaculate and well cared for as long as she possibly could. Therefore, unless it was needed, she kept it in her cabin.

As she passed the galley, something caught her eye. She hesitated, then walked quietly back towards the half-open door. She tucked a wayward curl behind her ear and peered into the dimly-lit room. Indeed, something- no, someone- was in there. The first thought to invade her mind was of Jacob. Was it him again? She had to know. She shed her heavy boots, leaving them a few feet away from the door. As quietly as possible, she tiptoed to the entrance. It occurred to her that she had done this sort of thing more in this past week than in all her life leading up to it. Her suspicions were quickly confirmed when she saw Jacob bent over the tiny chest, rifling through its contents in search of some unknown object. Her brow furrowed in confusion. Hadn't he just been in here a few moments before? Shaking her head to rid herself of such thoughts, she walked towards her boots. If he had something he needed in there, who was she to stop him? It was his own personal business, and she had no right to meddle. After all, Kristie would be waiting for her.

And yet she felt as though she was being pulled back, drawn towards the room and he who was in it by some invisible force.

She returned to the galley.

Though she continued to berate herself as she did so, she couldn't help herself. Holding her breath, she crept back, peering between the door and the wall first to ascertain that he had his back to the door, and looked around the door. What she witnessed there turned everything she thought she knew about the boy upside down, inside out and backwards.

After what seemed like an eternity, the tunnel came to an end, and Will stepped out into the brilliant midday sunshine. He squinted in the sudden bright light, looking around and seeing what they had arrived at. Elizabeth came to stand beside him. "Where are we now?" she asked, not speaking to anyone in particular.

"'Ow would I know?" Jack muttered under his breath. He stood a few feet ahead of Will, scanning their surroundings. Indeed, it was a curious place. Shortly before the forest began again there were seven or eight makeshift cottages. Most were built using raw materials, with palm leaves being the best protection they could offer, but one was significantly larger and more prestigious than the others. In fact, it could nearly pass as a relatively respectable little home in a town such as Port Royal, or at the very least, in Tortuga.

"What do we do from here?" Robin asked.

"You can stay here and watch for any danger," Will said decisively. "I guess we'll have a look around."

Elizabeth took a deep breath. The journey here had been more taxing on her than it had on any of the others, seeing as she carried another human being within her- a small one, but a human nonetheless. "That one's our best bet," she declared, indicating the larger dwelling with a nod of her head. She looked back at their companions to see what they thought of this. Ana wore a determined, unwavering expression on her face as she stared straight ahead at the building. Robin appeared somewhat tentative, but nonetheless willing to proceed. When she looked back towards the building a few moments later, Jack had already begun striding towards the house. She walked off after him, and the others quickly followed suit. Upon reaching the door, Will, who had somehow ended up there first, rapped loudly on the wooden boards. When there was no response, he knocked again, more insistently this time. Still there was no answer. Elizabeth pushed past Jack and tried to turn the handle. Finding it unlocked, she slowly pushed the door open, revealing an unlit front room. As it swung slowly open, the hinges emitted an abrasive creaking sound. As Will stepped onto the threshold, he found that it was far cooler inside than outside. On the way here, he might have appreciated a few moments' reprieve from the sweltering heat, but within the little house it only served to send a chill down his spine.

Anamaria reached out and ran a finger over the top of a wooden table. "Someone's been 'ere recently," she announced, holding up her forefinger. "No dust." Suddenly, they heard a faint noise from somewhere beyond the dark hallway, and all four snapped to attention. Jack, Will and Elizabeth instinctively reached for their swords, and Ana grabbed a pistol from her belt. They each let out a breath they hadn't realized they were holding when a mangy grey tomcat emerged from the shadows. Without saying another word, Ana began to advance into the darkness. Even the thought of such a thing made her stomach clench, but she would do anything to save Jonathan.

(A/N) *cue epic soundtrack* Double cliffie! Muahaha! :D

So I realized after writing this that it has no diary entries- hope you don't mind. It's also kind of short, but I don't want to drag it out unless it's necessary because that makes it seem forced and boring. I'm gonna call it space-efficient. :P

Coming up next: Will, Elizabeth, Jack and Ana explore the hut/house, and we get to find out what Sarah sees in the galley. Robert and Robin get to know each other, for a.. erm... unique reason.

This is completely random, but you know how we always use "a" before a word beginning with a consonant and "an" before a word beginning with a vowel? "Unique" is unique in that respect. (worst joke-ish statement ever, I know.) Now that will haunt the dark corners of your mind into the lonely shadows of the night. Heh.. heh... right. Shutting up now.

Adios, mi amigos!