A PIRATES TREASURE

Disclaimer:- POTC belongs to the Disney Corporation along with it's characters. I have no claim to any of their work and make no money out of my stories. I have introduced some characters that belong to me to fit with the story.

A Pirates Treasure

Chapter 17

Jack had an uneasy feeling that something was wrong. It had dogged him for days, maybe longer, lurking in the swirling mists of his sub-conscious mind, briefly breaking the surface only to sink back to the unyielding depths. The more he struggled to unravel the mystery, the murkier it became, until, frustratingly, it vanished altogether only to return briefly at a later time.

Giving up the unequal struggle, he resolved to be vigilant, to use his intuition, wait for his mind to spit forth the thought and seize it with both hands. Until that time he would get on with returning Elizabeth to full fitness. Since her discovery aboard The Pearl he had had little time to think of anything else, almost as if what had passed before was from another life that was no longer important.

But, he mused, it had been worth it.

Elizabeth was now making great strides in her recovery. It had been a relief to them both when she had finally been strong enough to leave her bed, at first just sitting in a chair for brief periods before returning to it, but, thankfully becoming strong enough within days to be up and about, albeit slowly and carefully, needing constant watching in case she did something incredibly stupid, believing her strength to be greater than it was. It really was exhausting looking after her! Jack had gained a healthy respect for all women who ran entire households, tended children and ageing relatives with ne'r a complaint. He couldn't wait to get both Elizabeth and himself back out to sea with some resemblance of normality to his life.

Currently, they were both in the parlour, slumped in armchairs either side of the fire, dozing, having consumed a healthy evening meal and Jack could feel his eyes growing heavier with each passing second.

"Jack?" Elizabeth said drowsily, "Where did you hide the map?"

The effect on Jack was immediate. His eyes sprang wide open before closing briefly in disbelief. A gasp issued forth from his open mouth as he shot upwards in the armchair, every muscle suddenly tense, every nerve ending stirring to life as finally, his memory able to focus with clarity on the image that had been evading him for so long.

'The map! The bloody map!' his mind screamed at him. How on God's earth had he managed to forget it?

Cursing himself, he suddenly bolted from the chair, a windmill of arms, legs, scarves and flying braids, shot out of the room and disappeared from view only to return moments later, skidding to a halt, his frockcoat clutched in his hand. Frantically, he searched through it, muttering continuously to himself, finding nothing but empty pockets. Throwing it down to the floor, his eyes anxiously flicked about the room then bringing himself to his full height he extended his arm, pointed his index finger in the air accompanying this with a loud "Ahrrr!" before once more sprinting for the door. His footfalls could be heard thundering up the stairs before all went silent for a moment.

Meanwhile, Elizabeth sat in her chair, puzzled, and watched the intermittent activity playing out around her. Suddenly, the sound of pounding footsteps could be heard in the room above accompanied by heavy bangs and knocks as, quite obviously drawers and trunks were opened and slammed shut.

Sighing, she slowly stood and walked out of the room to the foot of the stairs. "Jack? Jack! What on earth is going on?" she called up the stairs.

The noise ceased.

"Err…nothing!" came the reply.

"Jack Sparrow! If you don't come down here immediately and tell me what's going on, then there'll be trouble!"

"Err…in a minute…" Jack answered, both panic and tumult evident in his voice.

"Now, Jack!" snapped Elizabeth.

Mere moments later, a slightly dishevelled and obviously defeated figure appeared at the top of the flight of stairs. Shoulders slumped Jack skulked down the stairs, every nuisance of his body showing reluctance, like a child who knows they've done something wrong and now has to own up to it.

On reaching her, he hung his head, refusing to meet her gaze.

"Well…I'm waiting…"

"Err…"

"Jack! For God's sake. Tell me what's wrong." Elizabeth said, becoming more and more worried at Jack's reluctance to tell her anything. "Now!" she shouted.

Jack's whole body jerked. Slowly, he raised his head and looked into her face. "Lizzie…darlin'…err...the map…um…well…err…well it's gone!" he finally finished in a rush, immediately bringing both hands up to protect himself.

"Gone?" Elizabeth asked quietly. "What do you mean gone?"

Jack looked puzzled. "Well…yer see…tis not where I think I left it...at least…that is…I think I left it there…but I might 'ave left it s'where diff'rent…in which case, it's not gone, it might…jus' b' missin…or…lost…fer a bit…" Jack's explanation petered out and he cringed slightly.

"Have you been drinking?" asked Elizabeth, valiantly trying to work through Jack's somewhat confusing statement.

"No! Maybe if I had this would all make sense!" he replied.

"So…" she stated, ticking off points on her fingers as she went, "One. The map may or may not have gone. Two. We have no idea if it is in the house or not. Three and four. We don't know if it has been stolen, and if so, by whom. Five. If stolen, we don't know when the event happened. Am I correct?"

"Yep." Jack said, nodding his head in agreement. "That's about it!"

Sighing deeply, Elizabeth covered her face with her hands. "Oh, Jack! What are we going to do now?"

"Don't worry, luv." said Jack brightening up. "I have a plan…!"

JEJEJEJEJEJE

Well, there we are. Only Jack could get into such a mess. What's his plan? Will the map ever be found? Another update soon!

Now review…PLEASE!!! (Pleads) :