"Captain? Well, tell me. Who is it?" Pintel blurted out after a long silence.
"You will see in a moment. But let me talk to him. You just be quiet. Aye?"
Pintel nodded.
Three dinghies now reached the beach. A relatively tall man, who appeared to be the captain by virtue of his – to Sparrow's mind – too huge hat, rose and strode unflinchingly towards him. Seven of his men followed him and surrounded the two. Seven – an unnecessary exaggeration.
"It's good to see you again, Jack. I see you are still in possession of the Pearl. That could become your new record, couldn't it? The last time, for some inexplicable reason, you were only captain for three years," the man gleefully greeted Jack in a tone as if they were meeting purely by chance on this godforsaken island.
"Barbossa," Jack said monotonously.
"Are you looking for something in particular here?" Barbossa wanted to know.
"Yeah, mate. Fresh water," his counterpart replied in a bad mood.
Jack could, even if it did not suit him, describe Barbossa as being as cunning and crafty as himself. Even if he, Captain Jack Sparrow, was more brilliant and clever, they were both always out for their own advantage. And advantages for his once First Mate usually meant inevitable disadvantages for Jack himself.
Jack had a quick look at Barbossa's men and realised that they were all literally rattling their sabres.
"What are you doing in these waters, Jack? The nearest port in the direction you are heading is Port Royal. And as far as I'm aware, pirates and you in particular are not very popular there."
"My! You're right. Then I should get on board as quickly as possible and have another course set. Thank you, my lad, you have helped me a lot," with that Jack was about to turn away to leave when Barbossa called him back.
"Jack. I really don't think you're that stupid," he said and laughed spitefully.
Before Jack turned back to his nemesis, he grimaced, then smiled proudly and sheepishly at the same time.
"Oh really? You flatter me, Barbossa. So I possess your complete confidence in my intelligence, if I understand correctly. Aye?"
"More likely in your ability not to wander disoriented at sea," Barbossa replied, himself amazed at Jack's art of twisting one's own words around in one's mouth. "So what are you doing here?" now he sounded increasingly impatient and angry.
Jack thought feverishly. Why had Barbossa been following him, and why was he so desperate to know what they were doing here? Jack had to realise that at the moment he could only consider the Pearl as a reason – he couldn't think of anything else.
In any case, he wanted to get back to his ship as soon as possible. Where the hell were Mr. Cotton and Rachel anyway?
The two were just making their way through the densely grown sea of plants. Cotton, who as a gentleman was dragging all four buckets on sticks over his shoulders, was already walking a few yards ahead of Rachel. She suddenly caught sight of something shimmering reddish. Curious, she veered off the path Cotton had already left behind and walked towards it.
She saw a bird whose plumage was illuminated in the most glorious colours by scattered rays of sunlight falling through the canopy. With childlike rapture, Rachel stopped in front of it and looked at it.
Neither she nor Mr Cotton noticed that they had lost each other.
When the old man reached the sandy beach and realised that Jack and Pintel were no longer alone, he turned around looking for help. But Rachel was not behind him as expected.
Nimbly, he ran to his captain and tried to explain to him that the young woman had gone missing.
Jack sighed, looked appraisingly at Barbossa, turned from him and nodded to Cotton and Pintel. Exaggeratedly friendly, Jack whirled back to Barbossa.
"See? Fresh water! Hector, it was lovely to meet you again. But, as you have probably noticed, we have to leave. Well then. To a not-so-soon reunion."
Quickly, but without haste, Jack strode to his dinghy and as soon as he and Cotton were seated, Pintel got the boat moving.
"Where is the missus?" hissed Jack at the silent man.
Raised shoulders were not a satisfactory answer. Jack turned his upper body in all directions, but he couldn't see his Pearl anywhere. That was good.
"Drive me back to the beach, but in a place that Hector can't see. Let him think we're all back on the Pearl, then maybe I'll have my peace here from him and his imbeciles. Look for the Pearl, she's sailing around the island somewhere here. Should be just to the far west, that's where she was last. I'll catch up. Keep moving, but not too far from the island."
Cotton nodded, Pintel not letting on if he understood everything. Jack was dropped back on the beach after a few turns, and he ran in the direction where he expected Rachel to be.
Barbossa turned to his crew and announced, "He will not go back to the Pearl immediately. As far as I understood the mute's wave, there is someone else on the island. And I saw the woman in the dinghy before. Seek her out! But bring her to me alive. You can take Jack out for all I care. Although … it doesn't have to be. Somehow, I've grown to like him."