The first time they returned to New Flimwell after the governor's pardon, Gibbs went ashore with Jack and Elizabeth. They made their way directly to the inn, which was one of the few buildings left standing after Angelica's attack. As they walked, they could hear whispers rising up around them from the remaining settlers.
"Mrs Turner! Look, it's Mrs Turner!"
"Where's her baby?"
"Who's she with?"
"D'ye suppose he be Mister Turner?"
Jack stumbled when he heard this, but Elizabeth just patted his arm and walked on. He shrugged and they continued to the inn, where, of course, Thomas Hound, Sr. was sitting and drinking.
He sat just inside the door, and he glanced up as they entered. "Oh, look," he sneered. "It's Mrs Turner, the pirate whore. It should come as no surprise that she lived through the attack, eh, lads?" He looked to the right and left, expecting the few other pub patrons who were there so early to agree with him.
None of them did. Jack gave the man a stern look. "You'd best beg the lady's pardon, dog," he advised darkly.
"Or what?" Hound sneered. "And the name's Hound."
"The name is going to be 'mud' if my lady doesn't hear an apology out of you in pretty short order," Jack warned.
"Lady!" Hound snickered. "All I see is a pirate whore!"
Elizabeth sighed. "Just ignore him, Jack," she said.
Jack looked at her in amazement. "Honestly? You want me to ignore this malodorous lump of dung who just called my wife a whore?"
"'The respect of fools is worthless,'" she quoted. "Let's just not forget why we're here."
"We've plenty of time for that, love. But I can always make time for this as well." As quickly as he spoke, Jack pulled out his pistol, flipped it, and clipped Hound under the jaw with the butt.
Hound went over backwards and measured his length on the floor. Jack flipped his pistol back and shoved it back into his sash with a satisfied look.
"Uh, Jack," Gibbs said quietly, a note of warning in his voice. He looked pointedly around to where three of the other patrons were beginning to approach with a menacing air.
Jack looked around. In the gloom of the pub, the three of them were back-lit by the doorway as the afternoon sunshine streamed in, but they couldn't see very well to see who was approaching them. "Three against three," he muttered. He raised his voice. "Good day to ye, gentlemen!" he greeted with his usual devil-may-care ebullience. "Any of you know where I can find the mayor of this settlement?"
"That be me," called the landlord from behind the bar. "Who be askin'?"
One of the other men suddenly stopped closing in on them. "Jack? Be that you? And Gibbs?"
"Aye," Jack and Gibbs answered together. They moved out of the light so they could see.
"Ah, Terry!" Jack greeted. "And Beau! How are you?" Jack shook hands cordially with two of the pirates that he had resettled to Flimwell weeks ago.
"Doin' grandly," Terry assured him. "Didn't recognize you without all the hair. 'Ere, Ben!" he called to the landlord. "This here's Jack Sparrow!"
"Well, well, well, Captain!" cried the landlord. "Welcome back to Flimwell! Didn't recognize you at first! And who's yer companion—well, bless me!" he exclaimed. "Is that Mrs Turner?"
"Yes," Elizabeth replied.
At the same time, Jack said proudly, "Not anymore."
"Eh?" asked the landlord, startled.
"May as well tell 'em," Jack told Elizabeth quietly. "It'll be all over town in ten minutes anyway."
"As you like," Elizabeth replied with a shrug and a bit of a blush.
"In that case, allow me to introduce Messrs Therrien and Boisvert? Informally known as Terry and Beau. Mr Quimby I believe you know." He handed the landlord a leather folder from his pocket. "This is for you, sir," he said. "Gentlemen, my wife, Elizabeth Sparrow."
"Wife?" Quimby said in shock.
"Wife? Jacky, you're married?" Terry asked in amazement.
Grinning proudly, Jack nodded.
"But I thought she was dead!" the innkeeper said. "Beggin' your pardon, Mrs… Sparrow, but the captain here had told us you hadn't survived the attack. An' we thought ye was married to a Mr Turner. That is," he cast a disparaging glance at Hound, still laid out on the floor, "Most of us did."
"Aye," Jack said, pulling a long face. "Alas, my good friend Will—I didn't learn until just a few months ago that his ship went down last year and he didn't survive it."
Elizabeth covered her smile at Jack's twisting the truth to make it sound normal. She cleared her throat. "Jack came and saved my life when my baby and I were dying of the fever, a week before the attack," she explained.
"And the rest, I'm assuming, is simply the natural progression of things?" the mayor asked with a knowing smile.
Jack grinned and nodded.
Elizabeth blushed and started to babble a little. "Yes, well… he's been our friend for years, and it seemed like the right thing to do, what with my being widowed with a baby and all."
"Quite right, too," Quimby approved. He winked at Jack, who looked smug.
"And then we heard about the attack on New Flimwell, and he was able to track down and punish the perpetrator," Elizabeth went on.
"The woman with the black hair and the big hat?" Quimby asked.
"Aye," Jack replied. "Her name was Angelica Teach. Actual, living daughter of Blackbeard, she was."
"Really?" Quimby exclaimed, face alight with interest.
"Aye, really," Jack said. He shot Elizabeth a fond look and went on, "But it was our beloved Pirate King here who fought the wench to a standstill and clapped her in irons so we could arrange for her deportation."
"Deportation?"
"Aye, and imprisonment in a convent back in Spain," Gibbs put in. "She'll not be bothering us again—no, nor her six Spanish warships neither, after the trouncing we give 'em!"
"Six Spanish warships?" asked Beau skeptically.
"Six, and thereby hangs a tale," Jack said. "But tellin' it is thirsty work. Be happy to do it, as long as someone'll buy an honest pirate and his lady a drink! Oh, and his first mate, too," he added, to Gibbs' great relief.
Boivert bought the first round, and Terry the second, and Mayor Quimby gave them the third round on the house. Elizabeth and Jack started out telling a judiciously edited version, but Gibbs soon broke in and took over.
The other two pirates crowded around them at the bar and listened avidly as the first mate told the story. One by one, other villagers joined them—two of them stopping only long enough to drag Hound's unconscious body out of the way as though they were used to doing it. More and more settlers joined them, until they were sure the entire village was crowded into the tiny pub.
Gibbs was in his glory. A natural storyteller at the best of times, he'd had the true account of events from Elizabeth and Jack, and was now proceeding to embellish it wildly as he told it to the villagers.
A few times Elizabeth tried to interrupt and correct him, but Jack stopped her. "Let him tell it," he told her quietly. "He's doing fine."
Elizabeth listened to Gibbs tell how Jack and his father, the Keeper of the Code, kidnapped Elizabeth right off the ship of Death himself. They spit in the eye of the sea goddess, which enraged her so that she chased after them with a magical silver knife! The three of them were able to escape, but not before she made a wild lunge and cut off all of Jack's hair with the knife.
Gibbs had the whole town hanging on his every word. Every so often one of the villagers would gape at Jack or Elizabeth, open-mouthed. They returned enigmatic smiles.
"And what's more," Gibbs finished, "After Jack and his father rescued Mrs Turner, as was, they discovered the longboat didn't have no oars! So what did they do? They roped a giant sea turtle to tow 'em to shore!"
"And then Mrs Turner suddenly became Mrs Sparrow?" asked one of the villagers skeptically. "How did that happen? Seems awful sudden."
"Why, that was Death's doing," Gibbs replied glibly. "So impressed was he by their devotion, each of 'em willin' to die for the other, and him knowin' Mr Turner to be long dead, he had a change of heart and showed up on the Black Pearl on our way to Port Royale. Brought along a clergyman to marry them, and Death even give away the bride hisself!"
Gibbs retired, red-faced with pleasure at the ooohs and aaahs his storytelling engendered. To his surprise, Jack bought his next round for him.
"Thank you, Jack!" he said.
"'Tis nothing," Jack replied. "You earned it. Telling that many lies at once must be thirsty work!"
"Aye, so 'tis," Gibbs agreed complacently, with nary a blush, tipping up his tankard.
During the storytelling, Mr Quimby had been reading the letter that Jack had brought him from Governor Anderson. He looked up with a smile. "Pardoned?" he exclaimed. "Captain Sparrow, allow me to congratulate you, sir!" He read the letter aloud.
Mr Benjamin Quimby
Mayor
New Flimwell, Hispaniola
Dear Sir:
This informs you that full pardon from piracy and other unlawfulness has been granted to Captain Jack Sparrow, in gratitude for his courageous and humanitarian acts on behalf of the settlement of New Flimwell, as well as employment with me to provide continued material assistance, goods, and transportation to that settlement for the purposes of reconstruction and growth.
Yours in sincerity,
Mark Anderson
Governor
Port Royale, Jamaica
"Material assistance? What sort?" asked Therrian.
"You, for one," Jack answered with a smile. "And Beau, and Harris, and the others from Shipwreck, along with the tools and equipment. The governor told me he is prepared to overlook any past crimes of Flimwell's new settlers—you lot—as long as they abide by the laws from this point onward, and are prepared to help defend the settlement from any future attacks."
"Did he? That's right nice of him," said one of the others.
"Sounds as if you'll be spending plenty of time here," Quimby said, folding up the letter again. "I'll post this in the square, Captain, just so there's no confusion. Will you be staying on board your ship, then, or shall I make up a room or two upstairs?"
"Upstairs for tonight, please, Mr Quimby," Elizabeth requested. "Probably for quite a while, until we can get my house rebuilt on the hill."
"Oh, ah… as to that, Mrs Tur—Mrs Sparrow, there isn't much left of it."
"All the same, I want to rebuild it," Elizabeth said, determinedly. "It looks as if we'll be dividing our time between here and Port Royale, so we'll need a house in both places. Did—" she hesitated, looking away. Then she swallowed hard. "Did anyone survive the attack who can build a house?"
Quimby shook his head. "Nay, but Mr Harris, one of the pirates from Shipwreck, is a right good carpenter. He might be here, in fact." He peered through the crowd. "Oi! Harry, you in here?"
An answering yell sounded from the back, and a huge, muscle-bound, middle-aged man came pushing through the crowd. He greeted Jack with a painful handclasp, and reached out and ruffled Jack's hair with a laugh.
"Haven't seen it like that since ye were a youth!" he said.
Jack gave him a dirty look as he smoothed out his short hair again. "I'll thank ye to remember that I'm no longer a youth," he said sternly.
Harris laughed boisterously. "To me you'll always be little Jacky Sparrow, Teague's boy."
Jack glared up at him. "Harry, we didn't even meet until I was 19!"
Harris stood next to him and gave a pointed look between the two of them. "And ye haven't grown much since, have ye?" He topped Jack by several inches, and his broad, muscular frame was easily twice Jack's width.
Gibbs looked away to hide his smile and Elizabeth hid her chuckle behind her hand, but the sound escaped and drew Harris' attention.
"Who's this gorgeous creature, then?" he asked, nudging Jack.
Jack casually introduced them. "Harris, Elizabeth Sparrow. My wife."
"How do you do, Mr Harris?" Elizabeth said quite properly.
"I'm downright amazed, Mrs Sparrow, thank you. How the hell—pardon me, ma'am—did little Jacky end up married? And not only married, but married to a lady as pretty and refined as you?"
"Oh," Elizabeth told him, deadpan, "Well, last year I killed him and brought him back from Davy Jones' Locker, and this year I fell ill and he had to drag me naked out of my house and down to the sea to wash the vomit and shite off me. After that, I'd say it was pretty much inevitable."
Harris' jaw dropped, and Jack and Gibbs both let out a shout of laughter.
Harris sputtered in shock, but Elizabeth went on smoothly. "As it happens, my illness came only a week before the pirate attack, and my house didn't survive. We'd like to speak with you about rebuilding it for us."
Once Harris recovered from his astonishment over the vulgarity of Elizabeth's words and her ladylike delivery of them, he started to smile. "You'll have to tell me the story someday, ma'am," he said, "And yes, I'd be glad to rebuild your house. Just tell me what you want and where, and once I'm finished the church I'll get right to it."
"There's going to be a church?" Elizabeth asked, pleased. "We didn't have one before!"
"Aye, now all we need's a minister to fill the pulpit," Harris said.
"Might be able to help supply that, too," Jack told him. He asked Elizabeth, "Think Philip would like it here?"
"Quite possibly. It's not missionary work, but pirates are just as heathen as the natives of darkest Africa!" she laughed.
"Oi!" Jack, Gibbs, and Harris all protested together.
Elizabeth stared them down, and after a moment they all started looking sheepish.
"Aye, so we are," Gibbs finally agreed, giving in.
It was not until the following day that news of Mrs Turner's miraculous return in the company of a pardoned pirate made the rounds among the younger set. The young people of the town had not been spared in the attack; only a few were left, among whom young Tommy Hound was the eldest at fourteen.
Jack and Elizabeth were having their breakfast downstairs in the common room, when suddenly the door burst open and Tommy ran in. Eyes accustomed to the bright sun outside, he stood blinking for a moment until they adjusted. Elizabeth recognized him.
"Tommy!" she called. She pushed her chair back and stood up.
He turned and saw her. He stood frozen for an instant in shock, and then ran straight at her, directly into her arms.
"Th' sa' yrlive!" he cried, his voice muffled in her shoulder.
"What was that, son?" Jack asked, looking up at Elizabeth in surprise.
He raised his head. "They said ye're alive! Mrs Turner! I thought ye'd been killed in the attack, ma'am!"
Elizabeth hugged him. "No, Tommy, I'm fine!" she soothed. "Here, why don't you sit down with us for a bit, hmm?"
The boy reluctantly let go of her and sat down, eyes glued to her face.
"Tommy, I'm glad you found me. I've been wanting to talk to you, to tell you how sorry I was to hear about your mother," Elizabeth said gently. "She was a lovely woman, and a good friend. I was very sad when Captain Sparrow here told me she'd been killed. I want you to know that we found the pirate responsible, blew her ship out from under her, and sent her back to her home country to to be imprisoned for the remainder of her mortal life. Your mother's death has been avenged. Captain Sparrow and I saw to it personally."
Tommy's eyes closed, and a couple of tears squeezed out and slipped down his face. "Thank ye, ma'am," he said hoarsely.
Elizabeth and Jack were silent until the boy had regained his composure. He opened his eyes and furtively wiped his cheeks, and then looked at Jack. "Captain Sparrow?" he asked. "You helped me move the rafter from my door right after the attack. And then you brought Mr Harris and the others here to help us rebuild. That was you, was it not, sir?"
"Aye, lad, that was me."
"I thought so. Meant to thank you for your help, sir. The whole town's indebted to you."
Jack shrugged. "Was on me way here anyway. T'others just wanted to tag along." He leaned over and said in a playfully confidential tone, "Just don't tell the governor that! He'd take back me pardon!"
The boy giggled. "No, sir," he promised. He looked back at Elizabeth. "My mum said you and your baby were awful sick, ma'am. Did he make it, little Jacob?"
"Yes, he did, Tommy," Elizabeth told him, smiling. "He's staying with my aunt in Port Royale right now. Captain Sparrow came in time and saved both our lives, and sailed away with us right before the pirate attack. I only wish we had known about it beforehand. Others might have been saved as well," she added sadly.
"Mrs Turner," Tommy began awkwardly. "Not meaning to pry, ma'am, but they said... well, they said that ye're not Mrs Turner no more."
"No more she is," Jack said with a smile. At the teenager's bewildered look, Jack explained in his own inimitable way. "Mr Turner bein' a friend of mine, I looked in on his lady whilst he was at sea, not knowin' that Mr Turner had met his end at the hands of Davy Jones a year ago, so when your mum wrote me about Mrs Turner bein' ill, I sailed over and found Mrs Turner and young Master Jake awful close to death, and your mum sayin' that no one was willin' to look after 'em for fear of catching what they had, I took 'em both on board my ship and had my ship's doctor fix 'em up, after which we sailed back here a week later, which was when we learned of the pirate attack, and it wasn't long after that that we heard of Mr Turner's sad demise while we were tryin' to track down the attacker, and sometime during the course of finding the attacker, fighting off her and her ships, and sending her back where she came from, Mrs Turner agreed to marry me."
Elizabeth looked at Jack, shaking her head in wonder. "I can't believe you fit all that into one sentence!" she marveled.
Tommy giggled. "So did you, Mrs Turner? Did you marry Captain Sparrow?"
"Last week, yes."
"So you're Mrs Sparrow now?"
Elizabeth smiled. "Among other things. We seem to have a surfeit of names between us, don't we, Jack?"
Jack shrugged. "They don't go bad, love, nor will they be wasted. We'll always have a ready stash of aliases if we need 'em!" He winked at Tommy, who was grinning and watching him with a light of hero-worship in his eyes.
"And what about you, young Tommy?" Jack asked. "How are you keeping, son?"
"Well, I miss my mum, of course."
"Of course," Elizabeth agreed quietly.
"But it isn't all bad now. Me dad got me a 'prenticeship with Mr Harris, he did. So now I'm not living with me dad no more, and Mr Harris is teaching me carpentry!"
"Ye like it then?" Jack asked. "Harris is a bit of a hard-nose."
"Aye, sir. I like it fine. Mr Harris treats me better than my dad did, if you'll pardon my saying so."
"Glad to hear it, Tommy." Elizabeth smiled and gave him another quick hug. "Mr Harris is going to be rebuilding my house on the hill, you know. We'll probably see you up there quite a bit!"
"Yes, ma'am. Uh, Mrs T-er, Sparrow? Captain, sir?"
"Yes?" they both replied.
"When you have the time, I'd love to hear the story about what happened to the woman who attacked us here."
Jack grinned. "I'll have to introduce you to my mate, Mr Gibbs, son. He's the one you'll want to hear your stories from, mark my words!"