Chapter 5 Tortuga

in which Jack and Elanor strike a bargain and Gibbs goes visiting

It would be fair to say that neither of them was in the best of tempers, just as it was also true that neither intended examining too closely why that might be the case. However both of them were also stood upon their dignity and being scrupulously careful not to appear to be blaming the other for the uneasy mood.

The conversation of the night before had been difficult for many reasons, not least the absence of words for some of what was involved, and the path back to their earlier fragile truce had been crawled rather than run. But in the end they had reached some form of acceptance of each other, even though caveats remained on both sides. Yet both of them knew that they hadn't shared anything close to the whole truth, the difference now was that they admitted it and accepted that each might have valid reasons for it being so. Given that neither of them expected the world to be perfect it was a workable situation - just about.

For the moment the Dawn Chaser was still anchored above the sunken treasure isle, though Elanor had no intention of diving again and Jack was still not well enough to try, despite his obvious desire to learn to do just that. The coughing fit that followed on from his first attempt to breath from a tank had persuaded him that there would be a better time to do it. There was no reason for them still be here and they would weigh anchor as soon as they could agree where they were going to go next, but that decision had opened a new source of conflict between them.

He'd slept long and deeply after their conversations and revelations of the evening before, but, as they sat over a light lunch in the galley, he still looked drained; not that his uncertain health was in any way affecting his attempts to get his own way.
"We don't need a crew, Jack. I've already told you, Ariadne is all the crew I, that is, we, need," she frowned at him and hunched an inpatient shoulder.
He looked at her steadily, knowing very well what was going on in her mind, and that in her place he would feel the same way. But that didn't change the facts,
"No luv you don't need a crew, but if we are going looking for the fountain then we do need bodies, hands and feet, to help, to watch out backs, particularly to watch our backs. Wherever the fountain might be one thing you can be sure of it won't be safe, not to get too and not to escape from. We need people, people we can trust."
He smiled slightly and shrugged a shoulder,
"Well, as much as you, that is we, can trust anyone."

She didn't look convinced and he sighed and got to his feet moving to stand behind her, she didn't look at him and he hesitated for a moment before he slowly and carefully placed one hand lightly upon her shoulder.
"Elanor, I know what you're thinking and if I stood where you do I'd be thinking the same, I admit it. This is a ship in a million, no sailor worth the name wouldn't want to sail her, and no pirate worth the name wouldn't try and take her. But I've no more desire for anyone to take her than you do."
She looked up at that and he smiled again and let his voice take on a persuasive, purring note,
"After all, it's not likely they'd leave me alive either. Now is it?"
He let go of her shoulder and stepped away from her, his eyes dropping away from hers and his expression becoming serious,
"So I'm not likely to ask you to take her anywhere where there may be danger of an attack now am I? But that doesn't change the fact that if we are going after the fountain," he raised a hand to ward off any comment she might make, "and I know you're not entirely convinced that that we should. But if we are then to get at it we may need help."

Elanor sighed again, there was something in what he said, much though it annoyed her to admit it. It was probably also true that he had no desire to see others try to take the Chaser. That didn't necessarily mean that she could trust him, or anyone else he involved in the business. However he had also been right when he said she couldn't just wait here for the doorway to open again, and she was no safer here than wherever it was he had in mind to go; they were in open sea and sooner or later another ship was going to chance upon them. When that happen she would have little choice but to defend herself, a course of action whose consequences she preferred not to think about for the moment. She nodded reluctantly,
"Very well I will accept that I cannot stay here and wait, and that I might as well spend the time I must be here in helping you find this fountain of yours." Slowly she got to her feet and faced him,
"But be in no doubt, I will not allow you, or anyone else, to try to take my ship, I would prefer not to attract attention to myself, which defending the ship most certainly would do, but I will do it if I have to do. You've seen a little of what Ariadne can do but there is a lot more." She locked eyes with the man who was so few inches away and gave a small smile. "I can do a fair bit myself too. You might be surprised."

Jack returned the smile but he did not step away, nor drop his own eyes,
" Bravo love, I wouldn't expect anything else," he said softly, then he reached out and took her hand, holding it loosely between his own, "But there is a way, and a place where we might find whom and what we need without raising your hackles at all."
She looked down at her hand for a moment but did not comment,
He ignored the look and tilted his head slightly, his smile becoming warmer,
"I know just the man we need and where to find him."
Her eyebrows rose to her hairline,
"Oh yes? And just who, and where, do you have in mind?"
He dropped her hand and stepped away,
"His name is Gibbs, I've sailed with him many a time. I may have mentioned him, good man, good pirate."
"Good in this instance meaning..." she queried blandly.
Jack's smile became a gold-flecked grin,
"He will not try and take your ship," the smile became rueful, "in fact if he hears about this ghost of yours the problem will be getting him to stay onboard." He shook his head slightly, "powerfully superstitious man is Gibbs. Not sure which will bother him most though, a ship with a ghost or one with a woman captain."

"Gibbs? Yess you have mentioned him before. Did he not sail with Captain Swann, who was, as a recall it, a woman?"
Jack gave a short crack of laughter,
"That he did. You see why he might be wary then? Even if he were not a superstitious man, and that he most certainly is."
Elanor thought back over what he had told her of Elizabeth Swann and swallowed an unexpected giggle,
"You can reassure him that I have no desire for adventure and that I promise not to commit us to a war." She said solemnly.
He grinned again,
"Will take more than that to reassure Gibbs where a woman at sea is concerned."
"He dislikes women?" she frowned at the thought.
Jack laughed again,
"No worries about that luv for he likes them well enough, just as he likes the sea; he just doesn't like the two at one time or in the same place. Don't understand it meself but he thinks the two together bring trouble, and Gibbs is not a man for such trouble if it can be avoided." His smile softened again, "As I said he's a good man, and perfect for current needs."

He turned away and sat back down at the table pouring himself more coffee,
"You don't want to use anything from your ship on the venture, and I can see why you would not. So we need supplies." He looked at her over the top of his cup, " now that you have provided funds for us so handsomely there should be no worries about that. But you want to stay out of sight." He tapped the table with one heavily ringed finger, "and Gibbs is just the man to get us what we need without raising any suspicion.
Elanor shrugged in resignation,
"Very well. Let us find your Mr Gibbs, but I draw the line at that Jack, him and no one else."
Something flickered at the back of his eyes but she couldn't be sure what,
"Agreed" he said mildly.

"So are you sure that you know where this Mr Gibbs will be? How long is it scince you last saw him?"
He gave one of those complicated shrugs of his,
"I last saw him about two days before you and me collided."
"Which makes it more than a week ago, if he's a sailor he could be anywhere by now."
Jack shook his head, setting the trinkets in it chiming,
"No, Gibbs will stay ashore for a while. As I said he's a superstitious man he will want.. certain people to get about their usual business before he goes back to sea."
She narrowed her eyes at him,
"This sea goddess of yours?"
"Calypso? Maybe. There are others." He saw her look and hurried on, "No he'll stay a shore for a while, till his pockets are empty and there's no one else to spin a tale to for a drink."
"How long will that be?"
He shrugged again and got to his feet,
"A month or so maybe, longer perhaps. Depends on what comes his way."

"Then we might as well get under way," she crossed to the door, "can you give me a heading or do I need to ask Ariadne?"
He gave something that could only be described as a sweeping bow,
"If your ghost promises not to attack me, then I will accompany you to the helm Captain Cavendish." He wriggled his eyebrows at her; "with your gracious permission she might even condescend to let me lay hands on this fine vessel's wheel, eh?"
She found herself smiling almost against her will,
"Maybe. But Ariadne has a will of her own and she might take some time to be convinced."
The look of disappointment was a real as anything she had ever seen from him, his smile died but he just inclined his head,
"I'm a very patient man Elanor."
"I bet." The words slipped out without her meaning.
Seeing another flash of something unreadable in his face, and being suddenly sure he was about to be truly outrageous, she hurried on
"Where exactly are we going?"

He came closer, his expression all wide-eyed confidence, and his arm slid around her shoulder. A slight but mischievous smile curving his lips he dropped his voice to a confiding note,
"Have you or Ariadne ever heard of the place called Tortuga?"
She stared back at him expressionless,
"Tortuga?"
He nodded the smile widening,
"Tortuga."

***

Gibbs had heard that Barbossa had been looking for him and decided it would be better not to be found. Given the state of his pockets, near empty, he decided to take the opportunity to visit a lady of his acquaintance, a lady who just happened to live some miles from the port. Barbossa could be cunning and persistent but he was not a patient man, and when he didn't find his prey quickly he was likely to give up and put back to sea in a rage. Gibbs did not want to be going with him.

With Jack gone Gibbs was feeling a little lost, it had been more than two years since he had last been truly alone and he found that he weathered it less well than he recalled doing so in the past. A man could only stay drunk as long as he had pennies in his pocket and his would soon run out. He knew he should invest some time in revisiting and rebuilding his web of contacts, look for opportunities to glean a coin or two, but with Barbossa sniffing around he could not risk being seen around the port. So instead he filled his flask, pushed a bottle into both pockets, and then set off in the early hours to make the four-hour walk to the cluster of farmsteads that were his preferred bolthole when his dockside troubles got too pressing.

He had arrived with the sun and by breakfast time was past he had his feet under Polly's table, a full belly and the unspoken promise of a bed to share. All that a man could wish for when the sea was not calling, and for the moment he was shutting his ears to that particular siren's song.

The day had been hot and steamy and he had not objected to spending much of it under the trees clearing the tangled undergrowth to make way for more grazing, Polly had a nice sideline in raising goats for the ships that used the free port. As the evening drew in he made himself useful repairing the floor of the still room that had provided a large part of her income since her husband's death, the smell of the herbs and potions she produced there seeming strange after the salt tang of the sea. As dusk deepened into night he sat at her table, her son and daughter at each side of him and talked and laughed and drank then talked again. Polly's children were grown, their father had been gone many a year and they had long since become accustomed to their mothers 'arrangements'; there was no awkwardness between them and, as long as he treated their mother well, he was welcome. If he ever treated her in any other way he would probably be lost to a shallow grave in the tangled undergrowth that bordered their field, but having no desire to treat Polly anything other than well he had no fear of them. He was fond of Polly and should any other man treat her harshly he would probably help them with the burial.

"So why be Barbossa looking for ye?" she asked as she passed him a bottle of the liquor she brewed in her other stillroom.
Gibbs gave a sharp laugh,
"I'd warrant it's not me he be looking for, I be just a means to an end in Barbossa's mind. Mark my words it's Jack he'll be looking for."
"Jack Sparrow?" Polly's girl asked him. "He's not be seen here for a while."
Her brother frowned at her,
"And how would you be knowing that Sal? What's Jack Sparrow to an honest girl like you that you should know his comings and goings?"
Sal cast her brother a saucy sister smile,
"When Jack Sparrow's around everyone girl know it, honest or not. 'Tis impossible not to know when he's in Tortuga Ben, for the place fairly buzzes with rumours of his doings. Every fishwife and tavern maid is agog with stories of seeing him and with scandalous stories of the terrible things he's getting up to."

Gibbs frowned at her,
"Now lass, if anyone tells you stories of him seeking the beds of honest girls then they are having ye on. Jack's one for an easy life and he steers clear of unnecessary trouble if he can. I don't deny he's had to run from the occasional husband but he's not got the inclination for courting the trouble brought by bedding an honest lass," he gave her a knowing smile, "nor rarely the time, if the truth be told."
Polly laughed,
"It's true they say he has a powerful way with the ladies, but whores be easier on a man's pocket in the long run and, from what you've said of him Josh, I doubt he has the taste for domesticity nor a gift for constancy."
"Oh Jack's a wild spirit that be true, but he's a good man in his way."
"Just a pirate." Ben said.
Gibbs shot him an unusually stern look,
"Aye he's that, but so are most men on this rock, and fair number of women too. Jack rarely means the harm he does, and if he isn't bowed down by grief with it when he learns of it, well the world is a hard place Ben, and Jack Sparrow has seen a mite more of that than many." Gibbs shifted uneasily in his chair, "nor does being an honest man, or an honourable man, mean that you can't inflict as much hurt as any pirate if life pushes in certain ways."

"So why does Barbossa think that you would know where Jack Sparrow is?"
Polly stepped in to smooth any awkwardness that the comment might bring; her foresight in such matters was one reason her found her so comfortable to be with.
"Well truth be that I've been crewing with Jack on the Black Pearl, with Barbossa too." He rolled his eyes, "can you imagine one ship with those two vying for captain?"
He looked at the wall,
"Three years and more it be, and we've been some strange places I tell 'ee, places I never thought or sought to see in this life. But that's over now. We made port a week ago and Jack was one of the last to come ashore, wouldn't go until I returned to the Pearl." He shot Polly a serious look, "knew Barbossa too well did Jack. Even so I don't think he expected him to do what he did, not given that he's been behaving strangely these last weeks, most unlike himself. Though the truth probably be that Jack didn't expect the crew to go along with it, not given Barbossa's past."
"Go along with what?" Ben said.
Gibbs buried his nose in his tankard,
"Stole the Pearl again, while Jack was ashore. Spiked my drink he did, then dumped me on the quay and sailed away. Was near at the horizon before Jack found out."

"But why would he change his mind and come back looking for him," Sal asked.
Gibbs smiled at her baffled look,
"Jack be Jack that's why." He shook his head sadly, "Takes little on trust now does Jack, learned the hard way, hard enough never to forget. Certainly not where Barbossa be concerned. Knowing him I expect Jack took something ashore with him, something to give him some bargaining with Barbossa should he need it."
"Barbossa's come looking for it then?" Polly asked and frowned when he nodded, "then you did right to put yourself out of his way." She shook her head, "Jack Sparrow might be a pirate but Barbossa? Well he's a bad man, truly bad."
Ben leant across the table,
"But I heard Barbossa was dead, Sparrow caught up with him and shot him."
"Aye." Polly nodded, "I heard much the same. But then I heard that Barbossa was cursed too, so who can tell?"

Gibbs looked at the faces around him, and for the first time in many years wondered if the story should be told. But as the night wore on, and his belly rumbled its comfort at him, and the liquor flowed that caution seemed less important somehow. It turned into a long evening.

Finally, as they all prepared for sleep, he wandered out to stare at the starsl. For a time he let himself wonder about Miss Elizabeth, Mrs Turner now, about young Will sailing somewhere beyond the map, and the Commodore lost long before the final sword thrust. As he turned to go indoors and back to the comforts of shore he wondered where Jack was now.

***

The Chaser was heading towards Tortuga with scanners at full stretch. Avoiding the more familiar routes Aridane was drawing on every advantage they had to avoid the hazards that made these waters unfrequented and to keep them from being seen; but Elanor was still uneasy, the closer they got the harder it would be to stay so. The one saving grace was that Tortuga had only the single port but a coastline with many bays; that the one port was free port meant that few of these coves were ever used.

Jack was on deck, where he spent most of his time. He had spent the morning checking her list of suggested requirements, demanding to know why she wanted each item, then doubling the quantity and adding others. He seemed more at ease now, maybe because the fever had retreated and his strength showed some sign of returning. Whatever it was the gilded smile came more readily and there was a gradual relaxation of his posture that suggested he was finding his equilibrium again. He'd even accepted the lack of rum, though she had a feeling that he had plans to change that situation when they reached Tortuga.

But she still had the nagging doubts about how he would react if they were faced with danger. She had taken her concerns to the only one she could ask, Ariadne.

"So what do you think, will he survive it? Coming back from this locker that is?" she paced the control room as they talked.
Ariadne sounded as if she would have sighed had that been possible.
"I have no way of determining that. The psychology of those returning from the dead via the medium of tipping up a sailing ship is an unexplored and neglected area of research."
Elanor turned and stared at the control panel, sometimes Aridane still took her by surprise,
"True, so there isn't much in the data banks, But extrapolate from what you have, I'll accept the uncertainty of any conclusions," she said with a smile.
"Very well. For someone who has had a series of what, in our time, we would consider traumatic experiences he appears to be in remarkably good condition, both physically and mentally. This may be because both his personality and the culture of this time and place is less introspective or self centred that our own. By this I mean that he is less likely than someone of our time to consider himself a victim of life or events, he will simply accept them for what they were and not ask himself much in the way of whys. However his experiences in this, I suppose we must call it, hell will have long-term effects on him. Certainly he seems to be more afraid of returning there than anything else."
Elanor nodded,
"I agree and that's what make me uncertain of him. I mean I'm one hundred percent behind him on discretion being the better part of valour, but there are times when running away is not an immediate option. What will he do then? It's obvious that he has a real fear of returning to there, even if he doesn't fear death as such. Will he run away or will he stand and fight when he shouldn't just to prove something to himself? Either one could be pretty fatal for all of us."

Ariadne was quiet for a moment, reviewing the voice log no doubt; so far Jack had not realised that just as Ariadne could see everywhere so could she hear everywhere. She didnt like to think what his reaction might be when he did.
"If he can be believed, and on balance I think that more of what he has told you was truth than you might at first expect, he has faced many instances of possible death since his return to life, and more than one instance of hand to hand combat. His experiences of this locker do not appear to have been any problem for him on those occasions, and there is no reason to expect any further event to be any different."
"Hmmm, you may be right. In fact I hope you are." Elanor thought for a moment, "So you think he tells more of the truth than I have assumed? That might be useful to know. I'll see what else I can get out of him as opportunity presents itself."
"That would be wise, the more information I have about him the better I can assess his likely behaviour."
Elanor had laughed at that,
"I'm not convinced even another eighteenth century pirate would have much success at that. I think that keeping people off balance is one of his weapons, and that he deploys it as well as any sword."
"You may well be right, but what would keep his fellows off balance and what will keep us off balance may not be the same."
"We can only hope."

She had returned to the deck to find Jack lounging at the helm, watching the play of lights on the control screens with serious eyes. No doubt his fingers were itching to touch, but his wariness of Ariadne held him back. She moved to stand at his shoulder, carefully blocking his escape to the deck,
"So how do you propose we find this man of yours without being seen?" she asked
He smiled and shook his head slightly the beads clinking as he did so,
"I told you love, Gibbs is reliable. I know where he'll be and he'll be easy enough to find."
"So you say, but that still doesn't explain how you plan to get to him without being seen."

Jack stared at her for a long moment and then shrugged,
"I told you Tortuga harbour isn't the only possible anchor point on the island. There is a small bay about five miles round the coast, nothing there to interest anyone but the couple of farmsteads." He smiled wryly, "nothing in them to attract pirates so nobody ever visits. Since smugglers and other bad eggs anchor openly in the harbour there is no cause for anyone to use the bay. The cliffs are not an easy climb but they can be climbed, if you know the right route."
"And you know the right route?"
"Let us say I have found it to be to my benefit to be familiar with them in the past."
Now it was her turn to smile,
"When being chased by creditors perhaps?"
He gave a hurt look,
"I can't imagine why you might think that luv," then he looked down at the deck and smiled slyly, " but it's true that I have had reason not to be seen by a husband or two in the past."
She threw back her head and laughed,
"I bet! More than two I wouldn't be surprised."

His smile became an unabashed grin,
"Ah well, 'tis the lonely nature of a pirates life, when love eludes you a man must do what he can. "
Her own smile showed her disbelief,
"Love Jack? I'm surprised that the word doesn't burn your tongue. Somehow I doubt that it's love that you've looked for in this Tortuga."
He sighed noisily and the smile faded to be replaced by a look composed equally of sorrow and reflection, a look that set her palms itching to slap his face. She settled for raising her brows at him. Catching her look he let his eyes slid away from hers and he sighed deeply,
"'Tis true that love does not come high on the shopping list of the ladies of Tortuga. Their interest being more financial than faithful, if you take my meaning, and a wise man does not expect them to go against their natures."
He smiled again,
"But we digress. It's safe enough if we go by night. You can anchor in the bay, I'll row over, shimmy up the cliff and make my way to Gibbs. I'll bring him back and row out to you, we can be on our way before the sun comes up without the ship ever being seen. Savvy?"

Eleanor stared at him for a long moment then shrugged,
"Very well, but why do I get the feeling that something is going to go wrong?"