Chapter Five
AN- Here's Chapter five! Thank you for all the feedback and I really appreciate it! Posted on Ao3 and on Tumblr. The profiles are in my bio.
The multitude of injuries that needed to be treated left Ellie and Agnes extremely busy for most of the morning. She left the Fort with a seething Will earlier that morning. Ellie could understand his frustration for she too was sick with worry. Her mind was abuzz and unsettled. Agnes was thankfully unharmed and was rendered thunderstruck after Ellie relayed last night's events to her. After a quick breakfast, Ellie started assisting Agnes.
Ellie had just finished tying a bandage, when Will walked in.
"Ellie? A word please."
She nodded, excused herself and they walked out.
"I am going to find Elizabeth. I was told Jack Sparrow was left in his cell. He is our best chance at finding Elizabeth. Are you coming with me?" Will stated firmly.
Ellie had to agree with Will. Jack is their best chance. Something malicious was going on and Lizzie's wellbeing was paramount. Besides Jack will be freed, His outrageous schemes and plans will lead them somewhere.
It did not take long for Ellie to agree. "Alright. Give me a few minutes to talk to Agnes. Yes, you are coming with me." With that Ellie dragged Will inside. Thankfully no one was inside except for Agnes who was tidying up.
Will exchanged greetings with a beaming Agnes who was quite glad to see Will. Ellie took a deep breath, "Agnes, we are going to find Lizzie. Please don't try to convince us otherwise. Lizzie could be in grave danger."
Agnes sighed, as if she had expected it. "I won't try to stop you as I know how stubborn you both can be but just be careful. Agnes gave Ellie a knowing look, "What will I tell your Commodore when he realises you've gone off gallivanting?"
Ellie ignored the pointed look Agnes gave her and the not so subtle hint directed at her. "Just…Just tell James I have gone to find Lizzie. I've a feeling I will encounter him before" she stuttered out hesitantly.
"Now that everything's sorted out can we please get going?" came Will's slightly impatient voice.
"Not so fast, Turner. I have one more thing to take care of"
Ellie laughed at Will's puzzled look.
"You can't expect me to run around wearing this skirt now, can you?"
The duo quickly made their way to the prison. Luck was on their side as there were no guards stationed outside. Will wrenched open the door and they hurried inside. They found Jack lounging on the floor, looking relaxed and unconcerned.
"You! Sparrow!"
"Aye? Oh hello love" Jack greeted Ellie,
Ellie gave him a little grin and gave Jack a little salute.
"You are familiar with that ship, the Black Pearl? Will insisted.
"I've heard of it." Ellie noticed that Jack's expression turned serious.
"Where does it make berth?"
"Where does it make berth?" Jack repeated incredulously. "Have you not heard the stories?" Ellie listened a bit more intently. "Captain Barbossa and his crew of miscreants sail from the dreaded Isla de Muerta. It's an island that cannot be found, except…" Jack paused "..by those who already know where it is." Jack grinned at Will.
"The ship's real enough, therefore its anchorage must be a real place. Where is it?"
Oh boy! Here comes the theatrics. Ellie sighed.
Jack pretended to look uninterested. "Why ask me?"
Will gave a little sigh and replied patronisingly, "Because you are a pirate."
"Gentlemen let's stop here and get going shall we?" Ellie announced.
Both of them ignored her. Jack bit back "And you want to turn pirate yourself. Is that it?"
Will snapped and slammed his fist on the bars. "Never". Ellie touched his shoulder to tell him to calm down. He gave Ellie a resigned look and went on "They took Miss Swann."
This perked Jack's attention as he grinned at the two and sat up. "Oh. So it is that you found a girl! I see." His grin widened a bit more as he saw Will's slight blush.
"If you're intending to brave all, hasten to her rescue and so win fair lady's heart...you'll have to do it alone mate. I see no profit in it for me." Ellie could see right through Jack's ruse.
"I can get you out of here."
"How's that? The key's run off."
"I helped build these cells." Will looked at it and pointed at the hinge. "These are half-pin barrel hinges. Jack looked skeptical.
"Quit looking like that Jack. Will knows what he is doing." chided Ellie.
"With the right leverage and the proper application of strength…." Will grabbed a nearby bench with Ellie's help and wedged it onto a gap between the bars "...the door will lift free"
Jack looked at Will a bit more closely. He resembled someone he had known for a long time.
"What's your name?"
"Will Turner"
"That would be short for William, I imagine. Good, strong name. No doubt named after your father eh?"
Ellie noticed Will hesitating
"Yes.."
"Uh-huh.." Jack observed Will for a second and stood up.
"Well, Mr. Turner, I've changed me mind. If you spring me from this cell, I swear, on pain of death, I shall take you to the Black Pearl, and your bonny lass. Do we have an accord?"
Will looked at Jack's outstretched hand. He took it and the both shook hands.
"Agreed."
"Agreed. Get me out."
Ellie grinned at the two and helped Will. Together they heaved at the door until the hinge fell off and the cell door fell with a loud crash.
"Hurry! Someone will have heard that."
"Not without my effects"
"I'll check whether the coast is clear" With that Ellie raced up the stairs and opened the door. She peeked out. Surprisingly, the pathway leading to the docks was devoid of guards. They made their way out as quickly as possible. Very soon they came across the docks and Jack observed the area.
"We're going to steal the ship? Will looked at the Dauntless. "That ship?" He looked at Jack in alarm.
"Commandeer" Ellie answered.
"We're going to commandeer that ship," Jack pointed at the Interceptor.
"It's the nautical term, Will," Ellie pointed it out to him.
Jack turned to the both of them. "One question about your business, boy, or there's no use going." He looked at the two very intently. "This girl…how far are you both willing to go to save her?"
"I'd die for her," Will replied firmly.
"Lizzie is one of my best friends and my sister except by blood. I'll do whatever it takes Jack." Elli solemnly replied.
Jack nodded. He knew she was not jesting.
"Oh good. No worries then."
Jack took Ellie aside for a quick word. "How good is your control? Has it improved from all these years?" inquired Jack in a low voice.
"It is better but I am not sure for how long I can control it." came Ellie's hushed reply.
Jack nodded at her and the three quickly made their way to the beach where Jack quickly lifted an upturned boat and gestured for them to crawl in. Jack took one end of the rowboat, Will on the other and Ellie took the center and they crouched down quietly and waited till a contingent of soldiers passed through
"Hurry now! Move!"
The three began to move with the boat. It was a miracle no one had noticed this. As they moved further away from the beach, Ellie could feel the water go up to her waist. She began to take deep breaths and tried her very best to calm herself. They had now moved into deeper waters. Ellie could see sunlight glinting in the depths. She could hear Will say that this is either madness or brilliance. Jack pointed out how remarkably well those two traits coincide. Ellie could not help laughing out loud. Jack looked at her over his shoulder and gave her a reproaching look as if to tell her to not to lose focus. Ellie could feel instinct trying to take over but her control over it was a tad stronger. After a few minutes, they stopped and Ellie assumed they had reached the Dauntless. They released the boat and swam to the surface. Ellie could feel her control slipping but before anything drastic happened Jack hauled her up to the rudder where she could just about stand on a ridge. One false step would send her tumbling back into the water. She let out a sigh of relief. That was too close.
With a lot of near misses and lots slipping they managed to climb aboard the Dauntless. All thanks to Will as he conveniently albeit unknowingly stepped on a crab trap. They quietly made their way through the upper deck and onto the main deck with Jack drawing his pistol and Will drawing his sword. Ellie saw Lieutenant Gillette along with a few sailors and soldiers. Ellie stood to the side as she refused to draw her weapons on the people she knew and saw on a daily basis.
"Everyone stay calm! We're taking over the ship." Jack announced.
Gillette and the others looked shocked.
"Aye! Avast!"
Ellie let out a laugh. The poor boy! Jack gave him a pointed look and looked back at the sailors, who were letting out hearty laughs.
"The ship cannot be crewed by two men…" Gillette gave a start. "….Miss Eleanor? What are you doing with them?"
Ellie gave a shrug.
"You'll never make it out of bay" assured Gillette, looking smug.
"Son…" Jack paused, took a step forward and pointed his pistol at Gillette. "...I'm Captain Jack Sparrow. Savvy?"
They were forced onto a rowing boat by Jack and Will. Ellie spoke to Gillette. "Please tell the Commodore that I am doing this for a reason, Gillette." Gillette looked at her dumbstruck. With that they were lowered down.
Moments later, Ellie could hear Gillette bellowing at the top of his voice, alerting everyone. She ignored it and went to help Will and Jack. There was work to be done.
James was looking up on the supply list when he heard Theodore calling out to him. He could hear Gillette shouting at the top of his voice from a boat alerting them that the Dauntless was taken and that Sparrow, Turner and Eleanor were on board. Shocked, he quickly grabbed his spyglass and focused on the Dauntless. He could clearly see Jack and Will. Moving his spyglass a bit up he noticed Eleanor on top of a mast handling the rigging. What was Eleanor doing with them? He was too shocked to think. Taking a few moments he composed himself.
"Rash…too rash. That is, without doubt, the worst pirate I have ever seen."
James sighed and made his way to the Interceptor. Things have become quite complicated.
"Here they come."
Ellie looked around. The Interceptor was gaining on them. Jack smiled.
"Now Mr. Turner and Lady Eleanor, we hide and wait for that perfect opportunity."
They hurried to the back of the upper deck and ducked out of sight. A few moments later, Ellie could hear the ship being boarded and James's voice telling them to search every inch of the ship. Ellie winced a bit, hearing his voice. He sounded extremely angry.
Jack nodded at them and grabbed a rope. Will and Ellie did the same and they swung out onto the Interceptor. Will immediately began to chop off the ropes of the grappling hooks connecting the Interceptor to the Dauntless. Almost immediately they started moving. It's no wonder James preferred this to the Dauntless. She is magnificent! Ellie mused fondly. Her musings were rudely interrupted by the loud splash caused by the falling of the gangplank. All of a sudden a sailor swung out towards them, missed and fell in with a splash.
"I am so sorry sir" Ellie called out to the frazzled sailor.
Jack removed his hat and addressed the startled looking Commodore quite jovially, he clearly enjoyed doing it. "Thank you, Commodore, for getting us ready to make way. We'd have had a hard time of it by ourselves."
"Jack?" Ellie called out, looking a bit annoyed.
"Yes love?"
"Shut up…" Jack's annoying grin widened a bit further.
The soldiers on board began raining fire on the Interceptor but none managed to make its mark.
Ellie looked at James. He had managed to school his expressions except for his clenched jaw. Ellie felt a bit guilty. She called out to him, "Extremely sorry about all of this James but this had to be done." She did not linger as she quickly made her way to the main deck to help Will once more with the rigging. This was their best chance at finding Elizabeth and Ellie sincerely hoped James would understand her reasons.
The Interceptor sailed on quite smoothly. Ellie stood along at the front close to the figurehead, enjoying the wind whipping through her now loose hair. How she missed this feeling. She stayed there for a few minutes observing the ocean and taking in the tranquility.
She eventually made it to the main deck where Will was sharpening his sword with a whetstone. She made a mental note to borrow it from him to sharpen her own cutlass. Better to be prepared.
"When I was a lad, living in England, my mother raised me by herself." Will began, catching Ellie's and Jack's attention. "After she died, I came out here, looking for my father." Ellie felt a pang of sadness. She too had never really known her real mother and father. She only knew them through the stories that had been told to her about them when she was a little girl. She has since treasured them in her memory.
"Is that so? Ellie take the wheel please." Jack went down to the main deck.
She gleefully skipped up the stairs to the wheel and steadied it.
Will continued, "My father, Bill Turner? At the jail, it was only after you learned my name that you agreed to help. Since that's what I wanted, I didn't press the matter. I'm not a simpleton Jack. You knew my father."
Jack turned to Will. "I knew him. Probably one of the few who knew him as William Turner. Everyone else just called him 'Bootstrap' or 'Bootstrap Bill' "
"Bootstrap?" was Will's puzzled reply.
"Good man. Good Pirate. I swear you look just like him."
Will looked agitated. "It's not true. He was a merchant sailor, A good respectable man who obeyed the law."
Jack rolled his eyes and turned around to face Will. "He was a bloody pirate, a scallywag."
"My father was not a pirate!" Will insisted again and drew out his sword.
"Put it away son. It's not worth you getting beat again. Ellie, give me the wheel for a minute."
Ellie moved aside and Jack took hold of the wheel. Let these two handle it out.
"You didn't beat me." answered an indignant Will. "You ignored the rules of engagement. In a fair fight, I'd kill you"
"That's not much incentive for me to fight fair, is it?"
Jack turned the wheel around and without warning a sail boom came hurtling towards them. Ellie ducked down in the nick of time but unfortunately she lost her balance and landed on the deck with a thud. Will was not so fortunate as it slammed onto his chest, sweeping him off the ship leaving him to dangle above the water.
"Jack?! Come on!"
Jack picked up Will's sword. "Now as long as you're just hanging there, pay attention. The only rules that really matter are these: What a man can do, and what a man can't do…" Jack took the wheel, "For instance, you can accept that your father was a pirate and a good man, or you can't. Pirate is in your blood, boy, so someday you'll have to square with that someday..." Jack told a disgruntled Will. "Now, me, for example. I could let you drown but I can't bring this ship into Tortuga without you eh? Defeats the purpose of our agreement. Savvy?
It was a good thing Ellie did not get up straight away because the same sail boom came rushing back as soon as Jack turned the wheel the opposite direction, dropping Will onto the deck. Jack held out Will's sword. "Can you sail under the command of a pirate? Or can you not?"
Will took his sword. "Tortuga?"
Ellie groaned. Her memories of Tortuga were not that fond but she would tough it out.
"Tortuga." Jack grinned.
The trio reached the Island of Tortuga at dusk. Jack and Ellie had plenty to talk to as they met after a very long time. She was immediately told off by Jack when he noticed the bruises and the cut Ellie had sustained the night before. They easily fell into the conversation and bantering that they lost track of time until Will hollered at them to tell them they had reached Tortuga.
Ellie tried to look inconspicuous as possible as she did not want to attract unwanted attention. She tied her hair into a tight bun and put on a hat she had found below deck. She strapped her now sharpened cutlass, buckled her handy medical pouch and made sure her pistol had enough shots and gunpowder.
"You don't look intimidating at all, love. You look like a gangly boy that has yet to reach the cusps of youth"
"At least I look like a boy. That's what I've been aiming for. You remember the last time I was here, don't you Jack?" Realisation dawned on Jack's face and he doubled down laughing. "Yes that's the exact reason I want to disguise myself" shot out an exasperated Ellie.
"It has been a long time...and I get it. Your type is the prim and proper officers of the Royal Navy eh? Specifically a certain Commodore who seems quite taken with you."
"Aye! I second that." Will sided with Jack and they both grinned at her.
"Oh look! We have reached the port. Time to get going. Make haste gentlemen!" Ellie evaded them. Why is everyone so intent on pointing that out? She thought in exasperation.
They eventually reached the docks and made their way towards the town. Tortuga was a haven for chaos. People were screaming at the top of their voices, fights were breaking out right in the middle of the streets, pistols were being fired left and right, livestock running amok, people drinking rum straight from the barrel and all kinds of undesirable things taking place which cannot be told in polite conversation. Ellie's eyes widened when she saw a man being dragged by a carriage. Good Lord!
"More importantly, it is indeed a sad life that has never breathed deep the sweet, proliferous bouquet that is Tortuga. Savvy?"
"I definitely did not miss it." Ellie grumbled quietly.
"What do you think?" Jack inquired, gesturing his arm towards the sheer chaos unfolding out before him.
Will looked doubtful and a tad disgusted. Ellie did not bother hiding her disgust when she saw a man literally bathed in rum drinking from two tankards.
"It'll linger," was his doubtful answer.
"I'll tell you, mate, if every town in the world were like this one, no man would ever feel unwanted."
Ellie saw a red haired woman making her way towards them with a murderous look on her face. Looks like good ol' Jackie is in trouble, she smugly thought. Jack noticed her and swaggered along with a joyful exclamation, "Scarlett!", only to be given a painful slap which sent his head turning. Ellie covered her mouth to stifle a snigger.
Jack looked shocked. "Not sure I deserved that."
Another blonde-haired woman walked towards them. Ellie sure was enjoying this little debacle. Jack was still reeling from the slap. "Giselle!" Ellie saw that Jack was positively afraid.
"Who was she?" she inquired.
"What?" was Jack's pitiful reply. No sooner had he uttered this, Jack was slapped once more.
"I may have deserved that."
Ellie was trying her best to control her chortling.
After a few minutes of walking they reached a pig sty. Inside they found a man sleeping alongside some pigs. Ellie gave a start and her eyes widened in recognition. Was that Joshamee Gibbs? The grumpy superstitious sailor who had arrived at Port Royal with James, Lizzie and Governor Swann? Jack picked up a pail of water and threw it at the man.
Mr. Gibbs and the pigs were startled awake. He did not look pleased.
"Curse you for breathing, you slack-jawed idiot!"
Jack smiled at him and recognition dawned upon Mr. Gibbs's face.
"Mother's Love! Jack!" He sobered up a bit. "You should know better than to wake a man when he's sleepin'. It's bad luck."
"Fortunately, I know how to counter it. The man who did the waking buys the man who was sleeping a drink, and the man who was sleeping drinks it while listening to a proposition from the man who did the waking,"
That would mean going to The Faithful Bride. Ellie gulped down her apprehension.
Mr. Gibbs grinned at Jack. "Aye, that'll about do it." Jack lent him a hand and pulled him up to his feet. Almost immediately, Will threw the rest of the water on Mr. Gibbs.
"Blast! I'm already awake" he exclaimed angrily.
"That was for the smell." Will calmly replied.
Mr. Gibbs shrugged it off.
AN- I enjoyed writing this I hope I did not mess anything up. Let me know what you all think about this. Reviews, Favourites and Follows are welcome.