Chapter 29
Jewel slowly awoke on the grave. She noticed a small rose growing from the ground next to it and a white rose placed on the stone. As she recalled, those were not there when she fell asleep. Especially the white rose. Although she had a few ideas as to who put it there. She smiled and walked through the town.
People were everywhere, lying around and waking up with a big hangover. Jewel noticed a man wearing a corset and giggled. She stopped in front of one building and walked inside, a large woman coming up to her.
"Little Sparrow! Come to join us at last?" she asked
"I've come to collect my father actually." Jewel replied
"Are you sure you don't want to stay? You're looking quite lovely. I'm sure with the right corset, we'd make more then a shinny penny with you around." The woman persisted. Jewel began to blush.
"Top floor." The woman said. Jewel walked up the stairs, keeping her eyes lowered. She did not liking through this building. It stank of a sickeningly sweet incense, the men were always drunk, and the women all looked down at her. As if they were ashamed of her appearance, or just thought themselves better than her, even though they were in that business. Jewel reached the top floor and knocked on a door she had visited a few times before. She knocked on it.
"I'm busy!" Giselle yelled on the other side.
"Is my dad in there with you?" Jewel yelled. There was rustling.
"Luv? Something wrong?" came her father's voice
"Aye. I thought we'd be shoving off now and sailing around the world doing pirate things and such." Jewel said
"We just got here luv. Don't tell me you've got cabin fever now." Jack said, a hint of whining in his voice.
"Can we see the Pearl, Jack?" Giselle asked
"Oh please, We've only heard tales of it." Another person, she sounded like Scarlett, asked
"Well, if you two are so adamant to see her, I guess I have no choice." Jack said. Jewel ran her hand down her face.
The both of them? At the same time? Then again, they just won a war against Davy Jones himself. But even so, Jewel shuddered
"Why am I wearing your stockings?" Jack asked. She couldn't take it.
"I'll wait for you outside." Jewel announced, running out of the building. She took in a deep breath of the mostly clean air, clearing the smell of incense out of her lungs. She leaned on a wall on the building next to the one her father was in. She did not want men to get the wrong idea. It felt like forever waiting for him. Jack eventually walked out of the building a woman in each arm, a cup in one of his hands.
"Hello Jewel, good to see you." Giselle said to her
"Have you grown? You look taller." Scarlett said
"Hey girls." Jewel smiled. Although they were what they were, they helped Jewel out in one of her harder times on the island.
"Now ladies, we shall go to the dock and climb aboard the Pearl." Jack said, leading the way.
"Uh dad? Are we taking them with us?" Jewel asked
"No, too dangerous. Twice around the island should be long enough, shouldn't it?" Jack asked, looking at the women in his arms. They giggled at him, making Jewel roll her eyes. They reached the dock and Jack began preparing the women with his charming description of the Pearl. Quite frankly, he was bragging about it.
"Granted, it tends to list to port and has on occasion been known to frighten young women, but I guarantee you will not be disappointed." he said, looking at the women and not ahead. Jewel immediately knew something was wrong.
"Dad? Look at the 'Pearl'." Jewel said. In the grand and powerful ships place was a small boat with a single black sail.
"Is that it?" Giselle asked
"The Black Pearl?" Scarlett added. Jack just stared, unable to think of anything to say at the moment.
"It's not very big." Giselle commented
"That," Jack said, pointing at the boat, "luv, is a dinghy. My vessel is magnificent, and fierce, and huge-ish, and... Gone. Why is it gone?" He looked to his daughter for an answer.
"I wasn't on board. I don't know." She said, shaking her head.
"Is that it there?" Giselle asked, pointing at a large black figure on the horizon.
"Yes, there it is... Why is it there?" Jack asked, before looking at the two women, "It's much larger up close."
"Jack, you promised to give us a ride." Scarlett whined. Jewel smacked her father's arm to get his attention.
"I was to get the first ride!" Giselle said. She pointed over to where she spotted Gibbs. Jack let go of the women to go to his daughter. They stood over Gibbs, who was clutching a burlap teddy bear, lying on a coil of rope, very much asleep. Jack turned his cup over to spill rum on Gibbs' face. The old salt woke up sputtering in surprise, and still sleepy.
"Mr. Gibbs. Any particular reason why my ship is gone?" Jack asked
"The ship? We're on the ship." Gibbs said, closing his eyes to go back to sleep. Jewel raised an eyebrow before he suddenly woke up in realization and shock.
"Jack, the ship is gone!" Gibbs said, pulling himself up.
"Really?" Jack asked, a smile slapped onto his face. He heard a screech and went to Giselle and Scarlett fight, stopping their fight as it was getting ugly.
"Ladies, will you please shut it!" Jack said to them, the smile gone. "Listen to me," He looked at Giselle, "Yes, I lied to you." He turned to Scarlett, "No, I don't love you." He looked to Giselle, "Of course it makes you look fat!" To Scarlett. "I've never been to Brussels." To Giselle. "It is pronounced eg-ree-gious." To Scarlett. "And by the way, no, I've never actually met Pisaro, but I love his pies." He glanced at all four girls who had various degrees of surprise and shock on their faces, "And all of this pales into utter insignificance in light of the fact that my ship is, once again, gone. Savvy?" Jewel covered her mouth to hide her shocked expression. The two women glanced at each other, before slapping Jack. The Captain then spun around and slapped Gibbs. He was surprised at first before he nodded his head in resignation. The two leaned forward as Giselle and Scarlett began to walk away.
"Take what you can." Gibbs said
"Give nothing back." Jack said. The two bumped their fists before Gibbs went after the women.
"So tell me ladies, what do you know of sea turtles?" he said, holding his arms out. Jewel chuckled.
"Dad, that was," Jewel started, before laughing once more.
"Well luv, are you coming with me?" he asked
"And leave you to fend for yourself? I think not." Jewel said, jumping into the boat.
"But first," Jack said leaning forward to whisper, "I need you to pick up a few things from the Pearl. Your bottomless bag for starters, but also, I hid something in my cabin..." Jewel nodded, listening carefully to her father's requests. It all seemed so easy. Not to be a bad thing though. She could use easy.
"Got it luv?" he asked
"Aye dad." Jewel said before ship-jumping to the Pearl. She appeared in her cabin where her bag was. She grabbed everything and stuffed it into the void of her bottomless bag. Her coats, her dresses, her violin, and her mirror. She slung it over her shoulder and appeared in one of the lower decks, where food and supplies were stored. She grabbed everything she could and stuffed it all into her bag. Then she appeared in her father's cabin, looking under his cot. She reached for a rolled up something, tossing it into her bag as well.
She walked out and decided to say her farewells. She climbed up the stairs to the helm where most of her friends were gathered, Barbossa included. She climbed up behind him, nobody noticing her yet.
"It would make us feel a whole lot better concerning our fortunes if we could see that item you mentioned." Pintel said
"On the charts." Marty added. The bunch all made noises of agreement.
"With our own eyes." Pintel said
"To ease our burden of guilt, so to speak." Ragetti added in.
"Aye." Barbossa said, grabbing the rolled up charts. Jewel pulled out the rolled up thing she picked up, the back matching the charts exactly. A smirk began to form when she realized what her father did.
"Feast your eyes on this, mateys." Barbossa said, "There's more than one way to live forever. Gents, ladies, I give you the Fountain of Youth!" He quickly unfurled the charts on the table. Everybody looked down at the charts with shocked expressions. Barbossa held the charts up. A great big hole was cut out of it.
"Sparrow!" Barbossa hissed
"SparrowS, Barbo. Plural." Jewel said. He turned around, still looking through the hole. She smiled and held up the stolen charts.
"It's been fun sailing with you, but it wouldn't work out. Bye, Barbo." Jewel said kindly before vanishing off the ship and sitting down in the dinghy. Jewel was raising a black flag. The skull had a string of beads like him, a red sparrow on the upper corner of it.
"... A pirate's life for me." He sang to himself. Jewel held out the charts to him.
"Thank you." he said, unrolling it. Jewel leaned forward on her knees.
"Dad. Barbo men-... Barbossa mentioned something about the Fountain of Youth." she said, "It it real?" Jack moved the dials until it matched up to show a picture of Florida with an X on it. Next to that was a picture of two cups with the words 'Agua de Vida' written over them on a ribbon.
"You tell me, luv." he said with a smirk.
"We have our heading." Jewel asked. Jack's smile fell. He pulled out his compass. Jewel moved to sit next to him to watch it. The needle spun once or twice before stopping to point behind them. Jack reached beneath his seat and pulled out a bottle of rum, uncorking it with his teeth. The needle moved around, before pointing ahead of them. They smiled, up at the horizon.
"Drink up, me hearties, yo ho." The two sang, sailing off into the sunset.