When Jack arrived in Shipwreck it was late, but he rowed himself ashore and went straight to his father's house. He rang, but Maggie the maid had already gone to bed. Captain Teague answered the door himself.
"Come in, boy," Teague growled when Jack appeared at his door. "What'd you find out?"
"Any chance of a drink first?" Jack begged. He really was not looking forward to this conversation.
Teague grunted and led him into the sitting room. He whistled for his dog, who trotted up with the keyring, and Teague used one of the keys to open the liquor cabinet. He found a bottle with a little rum left in it and tossed it to Jack, who thanked him with a quiet "Ta," and tipped it up.
"Learn anything useful?" Teague asked.
Jack gave him a wary glance. "Aye, and at the same time, a loud, echoing nay."
"Jack!" Elizabeth apparently heard his voice and came racing down the stairs. "You're back! Are you all right? What news?"
Agatha followed more sedately, smiling at the charming rascal in the sitting room. "Welcome back, Captain Sparrow."
"Auntie!" he greeted her with a smile and a kiss on the hand. "So good to see you again. I was quite desolate without you on my ship!"
"Me or my jewelry?" she asked, counting her rings again. She held out her hand expectantly.
Jack dropped her ring into it with a suggestive laugh. "Not as much fun as last time I took something from you, was it?"
Agatha blushed like a girl.
Teague looked on with interest. "Jacky? You been a bad boy?" he asked.
"Oh, they met in London while Jack was running away from the king's soldiers," Elizabeth explained, sitting down. Agatha sat next to her.
Teague could clearly see there was more to the story. "Jack?" he pressed.
Jack shook his head and sat down opposite the women. "No, Dad, all I did was steal her earring."
"Stole her earring?" Teague and Elizabeth both repeated at the same time. Elizabeth sounded shocked and Teague, amused.
"With his teeth," Agatha supplied primly.
Teague's loud bark of laughter blended with Elizabeth's shocked gasp. Agatha sat there with a demure smile on her lips, and Jack with a wicked one.
"That's my boy, Jacky!" Teague crowed. "Chip off the old block, he is."
"Jack!" Elizabeth exclaimed. "How could you do that? Stole from my aunt, and in such a manner!"
Agatha shook her head and patted her niece's hand. "Oh, Elizabeth, calm down, my dear. I'm sixty-five years old and my husband's been dead for fifteen years. If some handsome young rogue of a pirate swings into my carriage to nibble on my ear, I'd say it's definitely worth the price of an earring!"
Elizabeth's jaw dropped, but Jack laughed. "Must obliged for the testimonial, Auntie dear," he said.
Agatha told Jack sternly, "Although I should warn you that I won't be letting you get the other one so easily!"
"Duly noted," he said. He winked at her and said, "Also noted is that you do plan on letting me get the other one."
"Scamp!" was all she said. "Well, it's late. I trust you'll all fill me in on the salient points tomorrow? Good night, my dears." She went upstairs.
Teague, amused at being included as one of her "dears," chuckled. "She's a firecracker." He nudged his son. "Jack, my boy, I didn't know you had it in you."
Jack shrugged, snickering at Elizabeth's disgruntled expression.
Finally Elizabeth sighed and admitted, "You must have made quite an impression, as she sailed over from England shortly afterward."
Jack laughed out loud. "I do try to leave 'em wanting more," he said expansively.
"At least she didn't try to slap you," Elizabeth said, chuckling as she remembered Will's story about looking for a crew with Jack in Tortuga.
Jack shrugged. "Could be worse. Last old flame I met tried to kill me. Several times. After I'd saved her life, several times. And for that, I made 'er immortal at the Fountain of Youth," Jack mused.
Elizabeth dropped her gaze and flushed.
Teague said nothing, his dark eyes darting back and forth between them.
Elizabeth said, sounding subdued, "And yet you say you're not a good man."
"How's that, love?"
"You saved my life over and over, and then I killed you. And for that, you made me the Pirate King and saved my husband's life." She wouldn't meet his gaze. "And mine, again, when you came to get me from Flimwell."
"Apples and oranges, love," he said, leaning forward to catch her eye. "Your killing me wasn't personal; you did what you had to do to save everyone else, and then you came back to get me out of Davy Jones' Locker. You were also the only one smart enough to know what we had to do to get the East India company off our backs. I don't blame you for it, not anymore.
"Angelica, on the other hand, is a conniving bitch who press-ganged me onto Blackbeard's ship, lied to me every step of the way, repaid me with attempted murder every time I saved her life, and tried to sacrifice me to save her father. When he was going to kill her to save himself, I turned the tables on them so now she blames me for his death. She's alive and eternally young, and is mad at me for not allowing her evil old dad to save himself at her expense."
Jack was obviously still bitter. He shook his head. "You're nothing like that, darling."
"She sounds like a pirate," Elizabeth said.
Teague cleared his throat and they both jumped, having forgotten he was there. "No decent father, even a pirate, would sacrifice his child to save himself," he stated. "Ever."
Jack nodded. "'S what I told her. That's really heinous, innit?"
"I've seen some awfully heartless pirates," Elizabeth argued.
Jack shook his head. "Love, you're one of the best ones I've seen. Eh, Dad?"
"'Struth. She's a natural."
"But it's one thing to pillage a fat merchantman, and another thing for you to expect little Jake to die so you could continue living." Elizabeth blanched, and he nodded grimly. "That's what I'm talking about."
"I see your point, but..." Elizabeth lifted her chin and changed the subject. "Want to tell me why we're talking about your miserable love life in the first place?"
Jack grimaced and waved his fingers nervously. "Because she's the one who sacked and burned New Flimwell. I'm sure of it."
Teague started to laugh, a creaky, rusty sort of noise. "You really do have the most appalling taste in women!"
Jack ignored him.
Elizabeth asked, "Why would she do that?"
"Trying to get back at me, I think."
"Yes, but you've no connection with New Flimwell except for visiting me and Jacob, and you don't come that often. How would she even know?"
Teague cleared his throat. "To an outsider who isn't familiar with the epic romance between the governor's daughter and the Flying Dutchman's captain... there could be some confusion. Ye do have Jack visiting regular-like," Teague pointed out. "An' ye do have a little dark-haired, dark-eyed son."
"Oh!" Elizabeth said, finally getting it. She sighed. "She wouldn't necessarily know that Jack only visits me as a friend." She went into deep thought.
"Not that I wouldn't claim the tyke if I had got him," Jack said, "But if I had, I'd prefer to have some memory of the getting, if you know what I mean. Ouch!"
Elizabeth had kicked him. "Shut it," she ordered. "I'm thinking."
They couldn't come up with a plan that night, and it was already late. Teague and Elizabeth said goodnight and went to bed. At Teague's invitation, Jack headed upstairs to the room his father kept for him, but started thinking about Angelica's sacking New Flimwell, and couldn't get to sleep. He ended up back downstairs in the library for much of the night, reading and scratching the dog's ears. Around 4:00 AM he finally went back up and went to sleep.
Pirates*of*the*Caribbean*Pirates*of*the*Caribbean*Pirates*of*the*Caribbean*Pirates*of*the*Caribbean*Pirates*of*the*Caribbean*
Note: Jack's line "Aye, and at the same time, a loud, echoing nay," is paraphrased from Geoffrey Chaucer's line in "A Knight's Tale" "Yes, and at the same time a resounding no."
Also, there is a blooper in this chapter that I caught, but found too funny not to share. This is it: Teague grunted and led him into the sitting room. He whistled for his dog, who showed up with the keyring, and used one of the keys to open the liquor cabinet. He found a bottle with a little rum left in it and tossed it to Jack, who thanked him and tipped it up.
Take it as a little lesson on pronoun-antecedent agreement. The pronoun always refers to the last noun mentioned. Therefore, when I say "he" in the last sentence and "who" in the middle one-guess what? It's referring to the dog. Yessirree, I want a dog like that! All I have to do is whistle for him and he'll come running, unlock my liquor cabinet, rummage through for the best stuff, and offer it to my guests for me.
Even English teachers make mistakes sometimes, but our mistakes usually end up being "teachable moments." So learn from my error and always make sure your pronouns are pointing to the right nouns!