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Far below
Jack Sparrow’s perch in the crow’s nest, the sea was a flat watered silk
surface with hardly a breath of air to disturb it. Overhead the sky was a
sullen slate grey, burnished with strange tints of copper. The air seemed to
crackle with a faint fair off scent of burning and Jack could feel the hair
on the back of his neck standing on end. Frowning thoughtfully, he lowered
his telescope and ran a hand over his bandanna covered head, feeling his
scalp prickling in unease at the scent of the approaching storm.
“Jack!” The
sharp hail coming from only a foot below him made Sparrow start in alarm and
nearly tumble from his perch.
“Go away,” he
growled back, suspecting that as usual he wasn't going to be obeyed. The
crew of the Black Pearl could be relied on to obey their Captain’s orders –
nine times out of ten anyway. But then there was William Turner, pirate
blooded blacksmith, who tended to view Jack’s commands the way a pirate
viewed the Pirate Code; as a sort of guideline. Will had been delivering a
specially commissioned sword to its new owner and Sparrow had picked him up
on the way back to Port Royal. Will hadn't been a good mood about the side
trip to Tortuga.
Panting, Will
pulled himself up to the crow’s nest and slung a long leg over the edge of
the bucket shaped nest, revealing a flash of tanned ankle beneath his short
cut breeches. Like most of the crew he had taken to going barefoot. His
shirt was open to the belt and his hair was wet from a recent dunking. “It’s
hardly any cooler up here,” he observed. “But what a view....”
Jack scowled
at him from where he had squashed himself back against the mast. There
wasn't a lot of room in the crow’s nest at the best of times and certainly
not space for two men unless they wanted to get intimately acquainted with
each other. Now, if Will had been a woman with those legs....
Sparrow shook
that thought out of his head. “Been at sea too long....” And likely to be at
sea even longer now they were becalmed.
“What?” Will
gave him a puzzled look.
“Nothing. Did
you come to discuss the view, then, mate?”
“No, I came
to discuss the fact that we’re becalmed and you’ve been hiding out up here
all day.”
“Watching for
the weather to change,” Jack said warily.
“Anamaria
said this calm isn't natural.”
“She’s a
woman, lad. What does she know? Did she send you up here?” Sparrow eyed him
suspiciously and peered over the side to check for her.
Will gave him
a level look. “It was my idea. She says you picked up something in Tortuga
that you shouldn’t have done.”
“Aye, well,
fooling around with doxies will do that for you....” Jack retorted and had
the satisfaction of seeing Will blush in embarrassment.
“That isn’t
what I meant,” Turner responded indignantly. “Anamaria thinks you bought a
box....”
“What box
would that be then?”
“You know
perfectly well what box. The one Mad Mackenzie wanted to sell you.”
“Oh....that
box.....” Jack nodded wisely. “Don’t know what she means.”
“The cursed
box....”
“Don’t know
anything about any cursed box.....”
“Oh Jack....”
Sparrow
winced slightly. He was starting to dread it when Will used that tone and
gave him a reproachful look. Surely the lad was supposed to be the one
corrupted, not him. He liked being a pirate and he hadn’t been bothered by
his conscience for a long time until Master William came along. “Look, so
we’re a bit becalmed, it won’t last. You’re not in a hurry, are you? You
sold your sword. Enjoy your last bit of freedom before you get chained to
your wench. Think of the welcome dear Lizzie will give you when you get back
late.”
“Her name’s
Elizabeth....” Will snapped, practically purring her name with the air of
the totally, helplessly in love.
Jack rolled
his eyes. “And you haven’t even graced her bed yet....” he muttered, eyeing
Will with a glint in his dark eyes that could tempt a saint to sin. “Or have
you....?”
Will went
scarlet again. “There’s no talking to you in this mood.”
“Good. Go
below then.”
Will glared
at him. “Anamaria says....”
“Here we go,”
Jack sighed. “Does dear Lizzie know you talk about Anamaria all the time?”
“Elizabeth!
And stop changing the subject. You know you’re in the wrong....”
Jack grinned,
flashing a gold tooth at him. “A pirate is never in the wrong.”
The saint in
Will was being sorely tempted to take a swing at the Captain. “The box has a
curse on it,” he hissed through gritted teeth, determined not to be
interrupted again. “No ship that has ever transported it has ever made port
again.”
“Makes you
wonder how it got to Tortuga then, doesn’t it?”
Will
hesitated, then pushed on valiantly. “By land obviously.”
“Tortuga’s an
island....”
“So help me,
if you say you don’t believe in curses....”
“Now that’d
be foolish of me considering. I know all sorts of curses, but as to this
curse....” Jack shrugged, widening his kohl rimmed eyes at Will as he tapped
ring clad fingers against his temple. “Mad Mackenzie has a sheet loose, lad.
How’d you think he got the name?”
“Too much rum
and sun perhaps?” Turner retorted sarcastically.
Jack glared
at him for that. “I wouldn’t know. But no one believes a word Mackenzie
says. He has philosophical conversations with his parrot.”
“You’re
impossible!” Will snapped in exasperation and slid over the side of the
crow’s nest, sliding rapidly into the rigging and making his way hand over
hand back to the deck.
Jack peered
after him, absently noting that his skill at sea had improved since his
first voyage with the pirate. Certain Will had made it to the deck safely,
he lifted the telescope once more to scan the distant clouds.
Peace, only
the distant murmur of the waves far below and the creak of the Black Pearl
as she oscillated gently along, barely moving at all. Jack was half asleep
as he leaned against the mast, one leg popped against the side of the crow’s
nest to brace him.
“Capt’n....”
“Curses,”
Jack spat as he jumped violently.
Anamaria’s
lovely dark face appeared over the edge of the crow’s nest as she pulled
herself up into the rigging.
“Arh, me
lovely, come a little closer....” Sparrow gave her a friendly leer and edged
back against the mast, wriggling his fingers in invitation. There was
definitely room for his first mate to get comfortable in the nest with him.
Anamaria
ignored him as usual. “Will says you’re lying. You do have da box. He wants
to search your cabin for it.”
“What box?”
Jack repeated his denial warily. He was starting to fret about the way Will
could see through him.
“Da one you
bought off Mad Mackenzie.”
“My word as a
pirate, love, I bought nothing off him,” Jack assured her with a flourish of
his hands.
Anamaria
frowned. “Then you won't mind if I help him search your cabin, will you?”
“Now, that’s
invasion of privacy....”
“So?
Pirates?”
Sparrow
glared at her. “Don’t you trust me?” he said mournfully.
Anamaria
smiled at him sweetly. “Isn't that what you said when you took me boat?”
Jack winced.
“Look, we’re becalmed. It happens. Doesn't mean it’s got anything to do with
some hypothetical curse on a box which I didn’t buy...”
“I’ll go and
help him.”
“Anamaria,
love....” Jack spread his hands wide in appeal as he leaned over the edge of
the crow’s nest as she started down.
“Don’t you
love me. And your kohl’s starting to run....”
* * *
“This feels
wrong....” Will said uncertainly as he hesitated in the doorway of Jack’s
cabin. Anamaria gave him an impatient push in the back and shoved him
inside. “Maybe Jack was telling us the truth....”
“Da man
doesn't know what de truth is.” Anamaria snapped as she shot a speculative
look around the cabin and headed for the large sea trunk under the window.
“Are you going to help me or not?”
“Isn't this
mutiny or something?”
“Pirates
share everything. It’s only mutiny if we didn't tell him first.”
“Even so....”
Will muttered, reluctantly shifting aside a velvet drape to peer behind it.
“Besides,
we’re becalmed and I know it’s got something to do with de box. Ooh, will
you look at this.....” Anamaria held up a coat of fine red velvet with a
silk lining and silver embroidery. “Captain’s a dandy....” She laughed,
holding it up against her slim body.
“And your box
is too big to be fitting in those pockets, me love,” Jack said darkly from
the doorway. “Were you planning on getting your hands on me drawers as well?
Or was it a bit of pick-pocketing you were after?”
Anamaria
flushed and hastily dropped the coat back in the trunk. “I was looking for
the box,” she told him.
“I thought
you said you didn't have the box. So why did you come down?” Turner wanted
to know.
“Couldn’t
have Lizzie hearing about you two shutting yourself away in my cabin without
a chaperone, could I? I’d never hear the last of you getting debauched
before she’s had a chance to do it herself.”
Will went
bright red as Anamaria glanced at him and laughed. “He’s too much a
gentleman, Jack. Now where’s de box?”
“No box,”
Sparrow said flatly, sweeping them both a bow before he flounced over to the
trunk and frowned at Anamaria. “Now, would you be kind enough as to get out
of me cabin? I fancy a nap.”
Anamaria
glared at him but stomped out, pushing past him. Will followed her more
slowly and paused in the doorway, jumping as Jack slammed the lid of the
trunk down.
“I'm sorry,
Jack,” he mumbled uncomfortably. “Anamaria insisted we looked....”
“You’re going
to have to learn to say no to woman, mate. Now would be a good time to learn
before Lizzie gets her chains on you.”
“She’s called
Elizabeth!” Will snapped and stalked out, slamming the door behind him.
Jack sat down
slowly on his bunk, staring at the windows that looked out from the stern of
the pirate ship. The storm clouds were growing thicker and more sullen with
every breath, seeming to stalk the slow moving vessel. Sinking slowly onto
his back, Jack crossed one leg over the other and stared thoughtfully at the
roof of his cabin. “Oh, Mack, me old mate, what have you got me into this
time....”
* * *
The storm had
hit with a vengeance, blasting the hapless ship with violent winds that set
her to tossing and quivering helplessly, heeling before the vicious gusts
that tore through her rigging and whipped the sea into a frenzy. Rain
lashed at her and turned the waves into a frothing maelstrom that no one who
fell overboard would have stood a chance of surviving.
Sparrow
emerged from his cabin before it hit, timing with uncanny instinct the
moment the storm would reach the ship. Now he clung to the wheel, clothes
sodden from sea spume and rain, face running with water that he had to
constantly scrub from his face with one soaking wet sleeve so he could see.
He kept her bows aimed firmly into the current, keeping her head up as the
winds threatened to tear down her mast and shred her canvas to scraps.
Will clawed
his way along the deck, clinging to anything that presented a handhold until
he could reach the pirate captain. “Jack!” he screamed above the raging
wind.
“I sent you
below with the others!” Sparrow had sent his entire crew below, knowing
there was nothing they could do on deck except drown.
“We have to
do something!”
“Any
suggestions would be welcome!” Sparrow screamed back, then paused to spit
out a bit of seaweed that had somehow managed to slap accurately into his
mouth.
“We’re going
to be wrecked!”
“Nah! We’ll
be swamped long before we hit anything!”
Will shook
his head, flinging stands of wet hair out of face. “We have to give up the
box before this wind tears us apart!”
Jack eyed him
narrowly, squinting through the stinging rain. “You were complaining about
being becalmed a while ago!”
Clinging to
the bucking wheel with him, Will shook his head frantically. “Don’t you see?
For all the wind, we’re not moving! “
Jack didn't
answer. He was well aware of the unnatural nature of the winds tearing at
his ship and it unnerved him. Not that he was going to admit it
though. No chance that he was going to admit to the young blacksmith that he
might possibly, by some weird chance, have been, well not wrong, but
mistaken about the box perhaps....
“Jack!
Please...” Will caught at his arm and gave him a pleading look. “She
can’t take much more!”
“You think I
don’t know that!” Sparrow looked around him wildly, hearing the agonising
shrieks and moans of his tormented ship.
“If there’s
anything you can do, if the box is here....”
“You honestly
think throwing it overboard is going to do any good?”
“Then you do
have it!”
“Sod it....”
Jack growled bitterly. Blasted cunning young puppy.....
Will however
didn't look triumphant, merely relieved as if Jack had somehow given him
back hope that had been torn to shreds by the winds. “Where is it?”
“Where you
won’t find it!” Jack answered, ducking as a flying fish was hurled past his
ear at a rate of knots.
Overhead, the
spars creaked violently and a rope snapped, flailing the air like a whip.
Jack stared up into the ink black darkness, seeing the electrical snapping
of hellish red lights around the masthead. He could feel the icy chill of
the winds biting into his bare hands, chewing through to his bones....
Will suddenly
dived to his knees, yanking Jack down with him as a solid pulley block went
crashing past them to shatter against the rail. The blacksmith’s eyes were
wide, his jaw clenched tight as he fought his own fright...
Jack had to
admit to feeling a mite nervous himself.... He was used to bad weather, but
the sea actually seemed to be aiming things at him,,,,
He had seen
strange lights playing over ships before, knew what they foretold. Some
called the eerie greenish flickers that danced over the spars, ghosts. Jack
didn't know what they were, but he knew he had never seen anything like the
hellish lights that made the mast look as it was on fire...
Taking
a deep breath, he clawed his way back up the wheel, dragging Turner up with
him. “Help me tie off the wheel!” he bellowed into his ear. “I’ll
get the box....”
* * *
Bracing
himself for a second against the table with his hip, Jack caught his balance
and then set the box down. It was a small box, no more than the size of a
small tea caddy, made from a dark polished wood and with a silver lock set
in it. In fact, Will was half convinced it was a tea caddy.
“That’s it?”
“Aye, that’s
it,” Jack said sourly. “Not much to look at, is it?”
“No...” Will
admitted dubiously.
“Hardly looks
cursed at all....”
“No....” Will
agreed even more dubiously.
“That’s
because it isn’t!” Sparrow exploded in frustration.
Will lifted
his head and gave him a hurt look. “You said you didn't have it.”
“I said I
hadn't bought it.”
Turner glared
at him. “You lied....”
“Not exactly.
More sort of evaded telling you everything. I didn’t buy it. I only
agreed to take it to Port Royal for Mack. He promised me the box wasn't
cursed or I’d never have touched it....”
“Oh Jack....”
Turner groaned. “How could you?”
Sparrow’s
eyes glinted with glee. “He paid me well for it.”
“And I
suppose the gold got in the way of your common sense...”
“I never
mentioned gold,” Jack protested hastily, but Will wasn’t listening.
“...because
otherwise you’d never have listened to a man no one believes a word of?”
“Ah.....well,
me and Mack go back a long way. I trust him.”
“Please,
don’t say anything about the pirate code,” Will moaned. “Maybe he told you
the box was cursed, but what about the contents?”
Sparrow
glared at him and fished out a length of fine chain he wore beneath his sea
damp shirt. “Look, ‘tis nothing but a few gems he wants to sell to a certain
man in Port Royal. Being as Mackenzie’s a mite noticeable what with the
parrot and all...”
“And you’re
not?”
“....he asked
me to attend to it for him.”
“And you
promised to take him all the profits the same way he told you the box wasn’t
cursed?” Will waved an eloquent hand at the ceiling where the sea crashed
noisily across the upper deck. His eyes widened. “You weren’t going to ask
me to get involved in this were you?”
Screwing up
his nose in disgust and muttering under his breath, Jack shoved the key into
the lock and gave it a brisk turn. A bright glitter greeted him as he
cracked open the lid. “There, see? Gems....”
“Gems can be
cursed....” Will said briskly, leaning forward to peer into the box.
Shaped of
black crystal, the hollow eyes of a perfectly carved skull stared back at
him, winking with the glitter of blue fire in their depths. Turner recoiled,
bumping into an equally startled Sparrow.
“Well, now,
that’s interesting....” Jack murmured as he recovered from his surprise and
leaned forward to peer at the skull. “What’s this then? Black diamond
maybe?”
Grabbing his
shoulder, Will pulled him back. “Don’t touch it!”
“Why? Not
scared are you?”
“Yes!
Listen!”
“Listen to
what?” Jack sniffed. “There’s nothing.....”
He stopped,
head cocked as he listened intently. The tremendous noise of the waves had
stopped, the creaking of the ship had faded into a gentle languorous murmur
and the roar of the wind had dropped to a peaceful sigh....
“Oh....”
Will was
already leaping for the door, bounding off out of the cabin and out onto the
deck. With an uneasy glance at the silently staring skull, Jack raced after
him and scrambled after the younger man into a thick as carded wool fog. He
walked into Turner who jumped a foot and nearly punched him before he
recognised the pirate captain and grabbed hold of his arm instead. The two
of them stood close together, feeling the damp chill of the pallid fog
licking their skin. The sound of the wind was like something breathing out
in the unseen mists....
Jack was the
first to move, prowling towards the rail, cursing as he tripped over a stray
bucket. He peered over, staring down at the water that lay glass smooth and
grey green beneath their keel.
“Are we
aground?” Will worried, coming up beside him.
“No, we’d
have known it if we hit a shoal.” Turning, Jack peered up at the mast,
studying the ghostly shape of the lower spars. Scowling, he started to peel
out of his wet full skirted jacket. “I’d best go up and have a look from
the crow’s nest, see what I can see.”
“You want me
to do it?”
“No, go look
below. See where the others are. They should be on deck by now....”
* * *
It was a long
climb up the mast, picking his way slowly from barely glimpsed rigging to
spar to mast. Each handhold was slick and greasy to the touch and several
times as he slipped, fright leapt through him as he scrambled precariously
upwards. But he wouldn’t have sent Will aloft. His sea legs he might have
found, but the young blacksmith was nowhere near skilled enough for this
climb. Jack had seen more experienced men fall from the mast in better
weather than this and he had no wish to be washing bits of Will Turner from
the decks.
Finally he
swung one leg over the edge of the crow’s nest and collapsed gratefully
inside. Once he had caught his breath, he dragged himself to his feet and
peered out into the gloom. From the height of the mast, the fog was indeed
thinner as he had hoped. But still all he could see was the empty sea with
barely a ripple of movement in sight.
“Jack!”
Will’s voice sounded faint and far away, muffled by the fog.
“There’s
nothing to see, mate!” Jack called back.
“There’s no
one on board but us either!”
“What?” Jack
nearly fell out of the crow’s nest and made a hastily grab at a rope
handhold, winding his fingers into a firm grip. His stomach churned uneasily
for he couldn’t see the ship below let alone young Turner.
“I said,
there’s no one else on board! Everyone’s gone.”
“That can’t
be! There’s nowhere for them to go.”
“Tell them
that! Please, Jack, come down and look for yourself....”
Will sounded
scared and Jack bit his lip, looking out again into the eerie fog that
rippled and swirled around the ship in a way that no natural fog would do.
Was it his imagination or could he see faces in that mist?
“Jack,
please?!”
The lad was
definitely scared and Jack was not naturally a cruel man. “All right, lad,
hold your sail. I'm coming...”
A crackle
from overhead made him look up, focusing on the wan greenish light that
played fitfully around the masthead.
The mournful
cry that echoed out of the fog made him jump in fright and he clutched at
the mast, looking round wildly as it seemed to go on and on, screaming in
anguish as if the ship was having her heart torn out....
When it
finally faded away, the silence seemed even louder.
No bird had
made that terrible sound....
There was a
tremendous crash from below, the surging gush of water struck by great force
and the whole ship lurched and dipped, nearly throwing Jack from his perch
as she wallowed to starboard
Clawing his
way out of the bottom of the nest where he had been thrown and favouring his
wrist where it had twisted against the rope, Jack once more peered deckwards.
If the Black Pearl listed much more she would swamp....
“Will! What’s
going on down there?! Are you all right?!”
There was no
answer but the return of that dreadful sobbing scream that snatched Jack’s
voice away in dry mouthed terror....
The ship
lurched again, bobbing upwards with a surge that once more nearly threw Jack
from the nest.
A huge splash
sounded somewhere off to starboard and when he looked he thought he saw a
thick grey black eel like something vanishing into the waves.....
“Will?!”
His own alarm alarming him, Jack slung one leg over the side of the nest and
grabbed for the ropes, sliding agilely hand over hand downwards as fast as
he could to get to the deck....
Will felt his
skin crawl as he crept down the ladder into the muffled silence below decks.
Shreds of mist wriggled even here, sliding away as he walked past them and
making him shiver with their cold clammy touch. Anamaria’s cabin was empty
when he checked, but thinking she would be with the crew, he picked his way
down the gangway to the galley. It too was empty; tankards left half full on
the galley table, a plate of stew half empty, a handful of playing pieces
left on a board....
Feeling more
and more uneasy Will crept onwards, venturing into the hold where the crew’s
hammocks swung gently like some spider’s giant cocoons.
On the ladder
down to the brig and the bilge, he hesitated, aware of the smell before and
feeling only a rising dread at the thought of going down into the darkness.
Down there only the thin width of the ship’s planning separated him from the
depths of the ocean....
“Ahoy! Is
anyone there?” he started to call, lifting his voice urgently. “This isn't
funny....”
No one
answered him. Only the lonely creak of a ship abandoned....
The confines
below decks was suddenly too much and he fled back to the upper decks,
needing open air. Racing up onto the deck, he got thick fog that smelled
vaguely of rotting seaweed rather than the ocean.
Stumbling
over to the mast, he clutched at the solid security of the wood and peered
upwards into the fog, hailing the Captain. To his relief, Sparrow answered
promptly but sounded unconvinced by Turner’s tale of the missing crew. Still
he agreed to come down and Will started to relax a fraction, only to freeze
in horror at the terrible cry that ripped through the fog and made him
shudder to his bones.
For one
terrifying moment he thought Jack had slipped and at any second would tumble
out of the fog....
Then
something slammed into the side of the ship, tossing the startled blacksmith
from his feet as she dipped violently towards the side. Will slid across the
deck, scrabbling frantically for a handhold....
A grey black
eel like something snaked through the air, questing across the deck, groping
with snake like hunger...
Will grabbed
a rope and clung to it, curling up into a tight ball as the tentacle twisted
across the deck leaving a slimy path across the fog wet decks. It groped
towards him, seeming to sense where he was....A spiky tentacle tip touched
his foot, started to slither over bare flesh to curl about his ankle....
Turner
grabbed for a marlinspike and without thinking, drove it into the tentacle
with all his strength, pinning it to the deck’’.
The tentacle
convulsed, ripped free and recoiled as the ear sundering scream rang out
once more....
And the Black
Pearl leapt upwards, shedding the weight that had heeled her over in the
water and sending Will slithering back the other way to slam into the mast
with bone bruising force.....
* * *
“Will? Will,
lad, wake up....”
The burning
taste of rum dribbling between his lips brought Turner choking and
spluttering back to life, avoiding the flask Sparrow held to his mouth.
“Ah, good,
you’re alive then,” Jack said with cheerful humour. “I was starting to think
I’d be throwing you over the side....”
Will glared
at him as he struggled into a sitting position and gingerly felt the back of
his head. Squinting slightly, he peered at the mast beside him and then
turned back to the Captain. “What happened?”
Taking a
mouthful of the rum, Jack slapped the stopper back into the flask and tucked
it away inside his shirt. “You hit your head.”
“I know I hit
my head! What happened before that? What was that thing?”
“Thing?” Jack
eyed him cautiously.
“That, that
thing. With the tentacles! It grabbed me. Didn’t you hear it scream?”
“When it
grabbed you?” Jack asked interestedly.
“Before that!
Then when I stabbed it....”
“Wasn’t you
that screamed then?”
“Jack!”
Exploding in exasperation, Will flailed his way to his feet, noting the hand
Jack casually tucked under his arm barely long enough to steady him. He led
the way across the deck, aware that the fog seemed to have lightened a
little.
The
marlinspike was where he had left it, still driven into the wooden decking
that had splintered where the creature had pulled free of it.
“There?
See?!”
Jack folded
his arms, eyeing the spike. “You’ve been damaging my ship, Master Turner,”
he observed sourly, then crouched lithely to examine the spike and the
shreds of grey black skin and scraps of reddish grey flesh still secured to
the deck by it. Worrying the marlinspike free, he held it up and examined
the shreds carefully, sniffing them gingerly. “Looks like sharkskin,” he
observed. “But it don’t smell like shark and the flesh is the wrong colour
for it.”
“Aren’t you
going to taste it too?” Will asked sarcastically.
Jack cocked
his head to one side and brought the flesh to his lips, then laughed at
Turner’s horrified expression and shook his head. “I'm not of a mind to be
poisoned!”
Will pulled a
face in exasperation and crouched beside him. “What is it then? A sea
monster?” he suggested tentatively.
Jack looked
at him slowly, then lifted his head and gazed out into the fog. Out there in
the mists something moved and water slapped, vibrating along the hull of the
ship. “There’s some as would say there’s no such thing as sea monsters,” he
said softly.
“And some as
would say Captain Jack Sparrow’s fought two before breakfast.”
Jack grinned
engagingly at him, brown eyes sparkling with amusement. “Ah now, that would
be an exaggeration seeing as there was only the one of them.”
Will grimaced
in exasperation. Half the time he never knew whether to take Sparrow’s words
for truth or lie. Too often he had thought he lied, only to be proved wrong.
Jack was a lot more than he seemed and far more than an average pirate.
Sparrow
unfolded himself and ambled over to the side with a lazy stride. The smooth
polished top rail was scarred and splintered where something had torn into
it. “Ah....” he said thoughtfully as he patted the rail gently.
“Ah?” Will
prompted, peering over his shoulder at the scars and reluctant to come any
closer to the water than he had to.
“Aye,
ah.....”
“You have to
be the most exasperating man alive!” Turner spat. “What is it?”
“Sea
monster...”
“Jack!”
“Kraken,
maybe a giant squid, but a kraken I’d say.”
“There’s no
such thing!”
Jack cocked
his head to one side, gazing mildly at the younger man. “You’re the one who
mentioned sea monsters.”
“Yes, but,
but.....”
“You know
anything else with long tentacles that could half sink a ship by merely
giving her an affectionate cuddle?”
Will ran both
hands through his hair and winced as a bruise protested. “What about the
crew?” he said desperately. “Where’d they go? Where’d this fog come from?
What has this got to do with the box?”
“Good
questions all of them. You’re sure the crew’s missing?”
“Vanished
completely.”
Jack sniffed
and handed him the marlinspike. “Best go take a look then....” he said
easily and ambled off towards the hatch.
Flinging
aside the marlinspike with a disgusted look, Will raced after him, unwilling
to be left alone on deck with nothing but the fog....
* * *
“Are you
serious? You’ve really seen a kraken?” Will gazed at Sparrow wide eyed as he
followed the pirate along the companionway.
“Aye. Would I
lie to you?” Jack said soberly.
“Yes.”
Sparrow gave
him a slow look and a rueful little grin quirked his lips. “Aye, so I would.
But not this time. I saw a kraken true enough. It was a small one. Got
itself beached....Oddest looking creature I ever did see. Tentacles as long
as a ship with suckers the size of soup plates full of claws. Beak like a
parrot but razor sharp and big as a cave....Must have had quite an
appetite....”
“So you
didn't fight it before breakfast?”
Jack grinned.
“Beached itself in terror on hearing that I was in its waters no doubt.”
Will snorted,
but the tale had lifted his spirits and he looked around the ship’s galley
as they entered with less trepidation than he had felt before. “Where’d you
think they’ve gone?” he asked uneasily however.
“Ah now,
maybe we should be asking where we’ve gone?”
“What?”
“A
philosophical point, lad, savvy? Maybe we were killed and this is...what
comes after....”
Turner stared
at him. “But that thing attacked me, I know it did....”
“Demon....”
Jack said succinctly.
“It wasn’t a
demon!”
“How do you
know? You ever seen one?”
“No! And
don't go telling me you have! Jack! You’re not taking this seriously. What
if the, the kraken comes back? It could sink the ship.”
“A good
broadside will discourage it,” Sparrow mused as he fished into his pocket
and took out the compass that was never far from his side. Popping open its
cover, he gazed at it thoughtfully and watched its needle spin ineffectively
around the dial, worrying him with its lack of decision. Finally, it
settled, quivering but pointing over his shoulder towards the stern of the
ship and the Captain’s cabin. He closed it gently and tucked it away again,
looking up into Will’s worried brown eyes. “Shall we go see what the box is
doing, lad?” he suggested quietly. “It would seem it has more to do with
this than we might think....”
* * *
The box was
exactly where they had left it, sitting in the middle of the table with the
black skull staring at them, the twin points of light deep in its sockets
glowing with the same unnatural blue eyes. The greyish light through the
windows that made up the stern of the ship and the captain’s cabin lent a
slick oily shimmer to its sleek crystal surface.
“I think it’s
staring at us,” Will whispered as he and Sparrow hesitated in the doorway.
“Hasn’t much
option, has it? Not having eyelids and all....” Jack whispered back.
Turner turned
his head and gave him an incredulous look. “You.......”
“Yes?”
Sparrow grinned.
“Never mind.
What do you do now?” Will said through gritted teeth.
“Me?”
“You’re the
captain as you’re so fond of reminding me.”
“And as such
I can order you to do something about it.”
“And I can
remind you that I don't have to do what you won’t do yourself.”
“Who says?”
“Pirate
code.”
“Guidelines,”
Jack sniffed, but he looked annoyed.
Will waited
to see what he would do next, eyeing him hopefully. Sparrow however merely
folded his arms and leaned negligently against the doorframe, crossing his
long legs at the ankles.
“It’s your
fault...” Turner prompted.
Jack quirked
an eyebrow at him. “Since when?”
“You’re the
one who opened the box....”
“At your
prompting.”
“But you
brought it on board. And as captain it’s your responsibility,”
Sparrow
rolled his eyes. “What did I do to deserve being landed with a conscience?”
he muttered darkly. “It’s a sour thing for a pirate to have.”
Will flashed
a grin at him. “Having a conscience is what got you marooned by Barbossa, so
you can’t blame me for it....” he reminded him.
“But you
didn't have to go and polish it now, did you?” Jack snorted irritably. “What
do you expect me to do anyway? I don’t know what this curse is. Do you?”
Nibbling his
lower lip, Will leaned against the door frame on his side, unconsciously
copying Jack’s pose. “Well, it started when you brought the box on
board....”
“Not until we
got well out to sea it didn’t. And the weather calmed down when we opened
it....”
“But the crew
disappeared and we got attacked by the kraken,” Will slid an uncomfortable
look at the captain. “Maybe if you put it back the crew would come back....”
“And we’d be
back to being on the verge of sinking? Not good....” Sparrow’s expression
was unreadable as he studied the skull; eyelids or not he was half sure it
was winking at him. But it might have been the motion of the ship making the
light shift across it.
“We have to
do something.”
“Do we?”
“We’re going
nowhere fast and how long can we survive adrift at sea with a kraken after
us?”
Jack half
shrugged. “For all we know we can sail all the way to Tortuga if we want.”
“You don’t
believe that any more than I do.”
“We could
raise the sails and find out.”
“And abandon
the crew?”
“Those that
fall behind....”
“Jack.....”
Will murmured reproachfully.
Sparrow
scowled at him. “All right, all right, it was only a thought.....”
“Didn’t
Mackenzie tell you anything about the box?”
“Other than
that there was no curse? No. What did Anamaria tell you about it?”
“That no ship
that ever carried it ever made port....” Will said gloomily.
“Can’t
believe all you hear,” Jack pointed out. “One at least must have.”
“Or maybe it
was thrown overboard before it could sink them....?” Will suggested,
brightening up.
A slow grin
spread over Sparrow’s face. “Now there’s an idea,” he smirked, but
the smile faded uncertainly. “But will it bring the crew back?”
“Oh....”
Turner slumped in disappointment.
“They
could be safer than we are,” Jack murmured. “I think....” He looked at
the skull slowly, frowning at it. “It wanted to be at sea or it wouldn't
have let us sail,” he said carefully. “And it singled us out from the crew.
Why?”
“We let it
out of the box. We’re the ones who saw it first.”
“Maybe. A
cursed skull, but cursed to do what?” Jack wondered, shaking his head.
“Where did
Mackenzie get it from?”
“He said
Barbossa sold it to him. Maybe that’s why he thought there was no curse.
Maybe one curse cancels another out....”
“Or it was
lying in wait until it got what it wanted?” Will said nervously, licking dry
lips. “They weren’t exactly....alive.....after all.”
Jack gave him
a critical look. “So what does it want?” he said softly and stirred,
standing away from the door frame to amble over the table and glare down at
the skull. “Well?” he demanded impatiently. “What is it you want from
us?”
“Do you
expect it to answer?” Turner asked dryly, but he had followed Jack and stood
close to his shoulder, staring at the skull as if defying it to move.
Jack turned
his head slightly to eye him, a faint smile playing around his lips as he
studied the nervous look on his face. He could almost see his tension
increasing as he leaned slightly towards him and whispered in his ear, “Boo!”
Will jumped a
foot and shot backwards, grabbing for his sword as Sparrow laughed. “That
wasn't funny!”
“Oh, yes it
was!” Jack chortled back, suddenly feeling better.
Will’s eyes
had rounded however and he pointed past Jack at the skull, a flicker of
panic crossing his face.
“You don’t
catch me out that way,” Sparrow snorted, then hesitated, wondering where the
ghostly blue shimmer playing over Turner’s face was coming from. Very, very
slowly, he turned his head to look over his shoulder....
The skull was
glowing vibrantly as if lit from within by an intense blue black fire....
Jack leaped
away from the table as if it had scalded him and collided with Will in the
hatchway. For a second they clung to each other, then Sparrow pulled himself
together and wrenched free, turning to face the skull again.
“I don’t know
what you’re bloody up to,” he snarled. “But I'm not having it! You’re not
having me, Will, my crew or my ship!”
“Maybe you
shouldn’t provoke it,” Will whispered, catching at his arm.
“Maybe it
should stop provoking me!” Jack yelled indignantly. “I haven’t done anything
to it! I'm innocent!” he could feel Will’s eyes boring into him and waved
one hand wildly. “Well, innocent of this anyway! But if you, it, whatever
you are, don’t stop glowing right now I'm going to carve you into little
bits and sell them....”
“Throw them
overboard?”
“Overboard?”
“Yes.”
“Throw them
overboard!”
Jack’s
threats didn't seem to impress the skull. If anything the glow grew brighter
and brighter, painfully dazzling their eyes until both men were forced to
look away.
Swearing
under his breath, Jack grabbed Turner’s arm and towed him out of the cabin,
slamming the door shut violently behind him.
The glow
pierced through the gap beneath the door, casting an eerie shimmer over
their feet. Mist eddied with it, swirling slowly and forming icy little
fingers that licked at cloth and skin in a chill wind....
Will and Jack
retreated hastily. At the steps they paused to watch the mist slowly rolling
along the deck after them.
“I think you
annoyed it,” Will murmured.
Jack snorted.
“Good!” he spat irritably, frowning at the mist. “Where’d I leave me
jacket?”
“You’re
worried about your jacket now?”
“No, I'm
cold!” Sparrow exploded sarcastically and gave him an exasperated look
before he turned to bound towards the mast. With a nervous glance at the
mist, Will followed him, glad to be back in the open air even if it was
thick with the bands of grey fog drifting across the ship.
Sparrow had
found his jacket and was busily going through the assortment of bits and
pieces in the voluminous pockets. Spare pistol balls, a power flask, a red
garter ribbon that made Jack smile in wicked reminiscence and finally a
packet of papers that he pounced on with glee.
“Ah hah!” he
yelped, sitting down cross legged on the deck to slice off the sealing wax
with his knife.
“Ah hah?”
Curious, Will crouched beside him.
“Mackenzie
gave me these to take to Port Royal for him. To go with the box they were. I
thought nothing of it. Mack’s turned merchant on me. True, he’s not very
good at it, but he makes the effort and I like to help him out....”
“You’re
serious, aren’t you?” Will said in surprise. “You really were going to do as
he asked and take the profits back to him.”
“We made a
bargain. We shook on it.....The scurvy sea rat that he is! He double crossed
me this time!”
“Never trust
a pirate?” Will murmured sweetly.
Jack gave him
a fierce glare. “Like I said, he turned merchant. I should have known
better...” He shook his head, staring at the papers in his hand. There was a
lost look in his eyes, a hurt look....
“Maybe he
didn't know, Jack,” Turner offered consolingly. He didn't want to see Jack
thinking his friend had betrayed him. It made him ache inside for the loss.
He wished suddenly to see Elizabeth again, to hold her..... Desperately, he
shook the feeling off. “If Barbossa sold it to him, you can wager he
wouldn't have told him.”
“No....” Jack
lifted his head slightly and shrugged a little, then started to unfold the
papers. “A map....” he said quietly, smoothing the crumpled parchment across
his knees.
A chill
shivered through the blacksmith and Will shifted round to sit closer,
suddenly lonely and wanting to be close enough to sit with his shoulder
touching that of the older man. The light contact made him feel less
despondent about their plight. “Anywhere you recognise?”
“No.” A dark
glitter sparkled in Jack’s eyes. “It’s not a treasure map if that’s what
you’re thinking, lad. Pirates don’t make treasure maps despite the stories.”
“Don’t
they?” Will was genuinely interested.
“Loot gets
shared out and as soon as we get it, we spend it. You only get maps in
books.”
“What this
then?” Will teased.
“A puzzle.
You know what these squiggles are?” Jack stabbed a finger at the parchment.
“No....”
“Aztec,” Jack
said grimly. “That’s what, they are! MacKenzie’s lumbered us with another
Aztec bloody curse. I reckon this is a map of where the blasted thing was
found by them, them....concubines!”
“I think you
mean conquistadors, Jack,” Will suggested with a weak grin. “You’re getting
a bit excited....”
Sparrow gave
him a sharp look, then suddenly let his grin sparkle out from hiding.
“You’re right, lad.” The smile wavered, fading as he gazed thoughtfully at
Will and realised how close he was. “You feel it too?”
“Feel what?”
“A cold
sadness, loneliness.....”
Turner
nibbled his bottom lip uncertainly. “I was thinking of Elizabeth....I
thought you were....upset about MacKenzie betraying you and that made it
worse....”
“More of the
curse. Never had no problems with melancholia before....A good swig of rum
soon fixes it.....Want some?” Jack fished out his flask.
“Any excuse
for a drink?”
“Don’t need
an excuse,” Jack snorted as he took a brisk swig and offered Will the flask
again.
Will took it
and sipped, then handed it back hastily.
“Put hairs on
your chest....”
“I don’t
think Elizabeth would like hairs on my chest....”
“Well, there
certainly aren’t any on hers....” Jack cackled. “And I've probably seen more
of it than you have. What with stripping off her corset and all....”
“Jack....”
Will began with a snarl, then caught himself. Sparrow was no more than
being his usual annoying, taunting, provocative self. Elizabeth had chosen
him, blacksmith Will Turner over several other better choices. He had
nothing to fear from anyone else. She loved him....
“Aye, Will,
she does....” Jack said softly, startling Will into looking up at him and
blushing as he realised he had spoken aloud. “You’re a lucky lad to have a
woman like that. I envy you that if not the shackles she’ll put on you.”
“I’m looking
forward to it!”
“Kinky.”
“Not like
that! I mean.....Oh, you know what I mean!”
“Aye, so I
do,” Jack chuckled, clearly feeling better enough to turn to examining the
other papers. “Ah....” he said softly as a slim volume slid out of the
packet into his hand. “We appear to have a journal....” With Will peering
over his shoulder, he started to read. “So,” he said after a few moments.
“They got lumbered with it same as we did. Some idiot historian bought it
and wanted to ship it home....”
“On the
Barracuda?” Will said after a moment. “I know that name....”
“Aye, you
should. Norrington was after the ship that attacked her. The historian
kicked up a big fuss when she turned up in port without his precious cargo.”
Turner
considered this. “Wouldn't happen to have anything to do with the particular
ship we happen to be on right now, would it?”
“Bad things
happen to cursed ships,” Jack mused. “Barbossa appears to have been one of
them. That must be how he got hold of the skull. Probably thought it might
help him with the curse. By the way, even if this here journal does tell of
the curse, Mack wouldn't know about it.”
“What was to
stop him reading it too?”
Jack smiled
mirthlessly. “Mack can’t read, but he won’t admit it unless he has to. He
wouldn't have been interested enough in this to get anyone to read it to
him.” He flicked over a few more pages of the book, idly studying a page
here and there. “Hmmh......look at this, lad.”
“It would
seem we’re not the only ones who suffered from melancholia,” Will said
quietly as he read the passage Sparrow indicated. “It must be the
curse then. If the Barracuda’s crew was uneasy too....”
“But none of
them disappeared,” Jack commented thoughtfully.
“Maybe
Barbossa got to them first.”
“Could be,”
Jack agreed quietly as he frowned. “These waters were Barbossa’s favourite
haunts. The crew of the Barracuda might have been lucky at that.”
“To have been
attacked by the Black Pearl?”
“To have
survived being attacked by Barbossa. And if getting the skull off the ship
broke the curse all we have to do is chuck it overboard,” Sparrow corrected.
He shivered as a gust of cold wind blasted suddenly around them, setting the
jacket draped across his knees to flapping. Curious, Jack looked up at the
mast head, a semi invisible tree groping upwards through the fog. His dark
eyes widened as the fog was pulled this way and that, twisting into new
leering shapes in the half darkness. “Interesting....”
“What is?”
Will followed his gaze upwards but could see nothing.
“Can’t you
see them?” Jack shot a sharp look at him.
“See what?”
“The faces,
so many faces....”
“No, I...”
Will paused, feeling a sensation of dread crawling across his skin as the
blank canvas of the fog started to resolve itself into contorted screaming
faces. They spun around the ship, a vast wall of faces leering down at them,
silently jeering and mocking them....
“Like a crowd
watching a hanging....” Jack said bitterly.
The scream
erupted out of the fog, rising and falling with an eerie screech that torn
metal and rending wood, like the sound of a ship breaking her heart on the
shoals....
Jack
shuddered and pressed his hands to the smooth wood of the mast behind him,
feeling a quiver run through his ship. “Easy, girl, easy.....I’m here....”
he whispered in instinctive comfort.
“Jack! Look!”
Turner bounded to his feet, pointing out into the fog as a dark vast shape
loomed up like a nightmare.
A tentacle
lashed out of the gloom, a razor edged whip to take the skin from a man’s
body....
Jack kicked
Will’s feet from under him and grabbed the blacksmith, rolling away into the
shelter of the deck hatch as the tentacle’s lash slammed into the deck where
Will had stood. It groped for them, probing and thrashing then whipped back
over the side with the quickness of a snake.
“You bloody
idiot! You don’t have to stand up to get its attention!” Sparrow growled at
Will in exasperation, tempted to smack the blacksmith round the ear but
certain Turner would only hit him back.
The kraken
screamed again and in response the ghostly faces in the fog screamed and
gibbered, cheering it on....
The ship
shuddered and bucked, clutched at from below, her timbers creaking as the
kraken seized her. Tentacles swarmed over her sides, worming their way
across the decks in a writhing vampiric hunger for flesh and blood....
A barbed tip
smashed through the hatch cover, showering the men with splinters and shards
of wood.
Jack moved
first, slithering frantically away from the hatch as Will scrambled after
him.
A second
later and the tentacles burst upwards through the deck where they had been
flailing wildly in search of them before ripping free of the hatch in
disappointment and withdrawing over the side.
“Stop
attacking my ship!” Sparrow yelled in outrage, scrambling to his feet.
Drawing his sword, he laid into the nearest tentacle, hacking it in two.
Greyish red blood burst from the severed tentacle, pouring across the deck
as the horrible scream deafened them and the remains of the tentacle
retreated. “Oh, no you don’t!” Jack sped after it, determined to get in a
few more blows before it escaped him.
“Jack!” Will
screamed as he lunged after him, but he wasn’t quite quick enough to catch
up as a new tentacle exploded out of the fog, lashing towards the pirate
captain with terrifying speed. It caught Sparrow across the back, lifted him
off the feet and sent him hurtling across the deck to crash into the steps
leading to the forecastle. The tentacle went after him, barbed point aimed
like a marlinspike at its victim.
“No!” Turner
caught up before it could spear the captain. As the tentacle reared up to
lunge, Will slashed out, slicing the barbed tip off so that it was a bloody
club that slammed into the deck as Jack rolled groggily aside.
The kraken
screamed, its tentacles beating the fog to cream and the waves to froth that
boiled up over the sides of the trapped ship.
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