Chapter 8

It was hardly three hours later when I stumbled across a scene that made my blood boil. Two men scuffled drunkenly, spitting furious insults in the near darkness. Suddenly, the shorter man pinned the other up against the wall in a show of great strength and shouted clearly, "Then why didn't you tell her I was alive?!"

The other, brown hair mussed and clothes sodden, slurred back, "Why should I have? You've nothing but trouble for her and for me. Hell, you're the bloody reason the Admiral requested I retire from the Navy! If you were no longer in her life, it would make a great improvement. She would be happy again, even if I were no longer permitted to be a part of it."

"How the bloody hell was that your choice to make, Norrington?" the man I now recognized as Jack spat in return.

"I didn't make the call." James growled. "I simply agreed with Governor Swann's decision."

"You slimy—"

"Enough!" I shouted, storming my way between them.

Keeping a hand on James's chest, I elbowed Jack away from the former Commodore and placed a firm hand in the air, telling him to maintain his distance. When I spoke again, my voice was cold and coated in an icy fury. "What the hell is happening here?"

Both men kept silent, presumably recognizing the need to provide a correct answer. At last, my former suitor spoke, keeping his tone even and respectful. "Mr. Sparrow here—"

"Captain!" Jack interjected.

I shot him a glare before gesturing for James to continue. "As I was saying, Mr. Sparrow here wished to address the issue that we had not informed you of his escape from Port Royal, despite my insisting that you had addressed the issue yourself."

Pursing my lips, I nodded in understanding. "Is this true, Jack?" I queried.

"Aye, love. And I know you can handle your own—"

"Understood." I interrupted, cutting off his excuse entirely.

Looking between the two, a question emerged in my thoughts. "Jack, you've had a long-standing hatred of Mr. Norrington, correct?" He nodded. "Why hire him?

His expression appearing much like that of a fish, the pirate gaped at me, opening and closing his mouth wordlessly. "Well, you see, I—" he stammered.

"He needs me so that he can issue a new bargain and save his sorry soul from Davy Jones." James smirked, taking it upon himself to answer.

"You didn't." I stated in disbelief, turning to face him in complete and utter shock. "You bargained with Jones to obtain the Pearl?"

A look of shame crept across Jack's face and I knew I'd hit the nail on the head. Shaking my head, I stepped away from the two men and stared unseeing at the rocky waves in the ship's wake. "Bloody hell," I murmured to myself as possibilities skipped through my mind.

"Get me a map." I barked at the pirate captain. "And get me books. I want to know everything there is to know about Davy Jones. If we don't have any books, find a port and stop there. I'll get them myself." I started walking away, but turned back to face them. "Well, come along, Jack. Tell me about this plan you undoubtedly have."

The next day, I journeyed into an English trading town in the nicest clothes on the ship and with Elizabeth at my side. While stretching my legs felt nice, the ache in my muscles that accompanied it was less than pleasant. My sister and I walked in silence for the most part, but as we strolled casually into the heart of the town, she asked, "How is your recovery going? Is your arm all healed?"

I glanced down at my formerly fractured forearm, stretching out my fingers and curling them up again. "I believe so. The ship's doctor asked me to take off the sling a few days ago. Physically, I am still a bit sore, but it's certainly not the most uncomfortable I've ever been."

Elizabeth sensed the warning in my voice that told her not to pursue the subject further, so she prompted the conversation towards a different direction. "And emotionally? How are the two gentlemen?"

I told her hurriedly about the fight I'd broken up the previous evening, adding, "But me? It's still conflicting. I'm still trying to sift through all of the feelings regarding Jack and then he starts a bloody brawl with the man I almost married! He's never before shown such emotion, not even at his drunkest hour."

"It's understandable for him to be jealous and angry. Didn't you say he'd felt abandoned by you when you didn't attend the hanging?"

"Yes, I suppose he did, but it's still uncharacteristic for him to starts fight over it. The longer I spend away from him, the more he becomes a man unlike himself. Besides, it's hardly helpful that with James, I want to maintain a platonic relationship…" I trailed off.

"But platonic can be hard." my sister substituted, filling in the rest of my thought.

"Got it in one." I sighed. "It's been two days and we haven't talk to one another once. Every time I appear around a corner or walk into a room, he jumps and hurries away as if I'm the bloody plague."

A traditional-looking couple eyed me as we passed them, so I nodded apologetically at my language before ushering Elizabeth along the road.

"Rachelle, he knows why the relationship ended and that it was his fault, but it doesn't mean it didn't break his heart."

"I know," I murmured. "I know because I feel the same."

Elizabeth squeezed my arm gently, but I brushed her off and huffed, "It doesn't mean he needs to avoid me and go off getting into fights with Jack."

She just nodded, keeping her thoughts to herself as she pointed out a storefront. "Is that a bookstore? Shall we see what's there?"

I obliged, eager for a distraction from the conversation, and pushed open the door. A bell chimed somewhere as I took in the musty smell of the small shop. A middle-aged woman hurried out from a back room to welcome us in. "Hello, ladies," she smiled warmly. "How can I help you?"

"I'm looking for some books about nautical myths and legends. Would any of your books cover anything in that realm?" I asked, stepping forward.

As she searched through the shelves, I browsed a few rows of books myself, allowing my eyes to scan the titles and a smile to cross my face as I recognized some of them. I had just reached up for one when the shopkeeper returned.

"I've found two at the moment. This one here is just under two decades old, so it may not have the information you're searching for, but it's worth a look. The other was published not three years ago. It's a comprehensive text of the legends most sailors would believe and fear."

I took the second volume into my hands, flipping gently through the pages and landing on an illustration of a familiar creature. "The Kraken," the woman murmured. "You're heard of it?"

"Something like that." I answered, my eyes skimming the text on the opposite page and catching the name Davy Jones multiple times.

"Wonderful. I'll definitely take this one. May I see the other?"

"Certainly, dear. It looks like an old journal, but some of the things mentioned are quite mythical indeed."

Nodding thoughtful, I browsed the diary very briefly. Nothing caught my eye, but a gut feeling told me to purchase this tome as well. "I'd like to purchase this as well."

With a grin, the woman gestured us to a table in the rear corner of the shop where I paid the gold due to her. "Thank you so much for your help today." I smiled graciously. "I appreciated it very much."

"You're very welcome, dear. Come back any time."

I turned to leave, but Elizabeth seemed hesitant and indecisive as she followed. "Excuse me," she called to the woman, turning back around. "I'm terribly sorry, but I'm a bit confused."

The woman paused, furrowing her eyebrows. "What's wrong, dear?"

"Why are you alone here running the shop? Shouldn't your husband be here and you at home?"

My heart seized in my chest in utter panic. I should have expected my sister's traditionalistic upbringing to emerge. "Lizzie," I hissed. "Enough."

Yet unexpectedly, the matronly woman just beamed. "If I had a single piece of gold for each time I hear that question, I could be a queen." she mused. "In answer to your inquiry, dear, I must admit that I've always lived alone here. It gives me great joy to challenge these people in town and their classic views. By now, I believe most of them are used to my presence here, even if business tends to be on the slower side."

The smile that wiped the terror from my face also eased the anxiety in my chest, and I was pleased to see Elizabeth looking slightly abashed. Taking her arm in mine, I bid the shopkeeper a good day and began the trek back to the ship.

Upon our arrival back to the ship, I retired to my cabin to begin reading. I poured over the two tomes for hours, scarcely noting that the afternoon shifted into nightfall. The first, the large volume of mythology, allowed me to review all that I knew of sea-farers legends and provided me further with in-depth knowledge of their origin and particulars. Apparently, an island called Isla de Cruces was the resting place for Davy Jones' disembodied heart.

When I turned to the other, the journal, there seemed to be no instant mention of anything in the supernatural realm. It was just someone's log of their voyages on the seas. There were no stories about a Kraken or mermaid or ghost, and not once did the sailor mention Davy Jones. He just droned on about the wrecked ships they encountered and the new crew members their ship obtained in the process. Even more useless was the sailor's desperate wish that his captain had not wronged a particular woman and left her behind to bubble with righteous fury.

Scowling, I slammed the cover closed and turned instead to the maps Gibbs had provided for me to study. As I browsed, an island caught my eye. Although it was the isle Jack had said was our destination, something on the map struck me as utterly wrong. Flipping back to the large tome I'd first studied, I found a map nearly identical to the one before me. However, when I pinpointed the island labeled as Isla de Cruces, I found myself looking at two different isles.

"Oh, good God." I murmured, my face ashen.

Immediately, I rose from my chair, allowing it to clatter to the floor as I stormed on deck. "Out of my way, Mr. Cotton!" I barked, ordering the night's helmsman off duty as I took the wheel and redirected our course.