Captain of His Heart

Chapter Fourteen

      The two hid behind the same chests and piles of gold they did last time. The scene before her was the same as last time, except Will stood in Elizabeth's place.

      "No reason to fret. A prick of the finger, a drop of blood." Barbossa spoke to Will, who hovered over the open chest.

      "No mistakes this time. He's only half-Turner. We spill it all!" She couldn't pinpoint which crew member yelled. Barbossa smirked.

      "Guess there is reason to fret." Jack waved his hand, and he advanced into the crowd. She followed close behind him as Jack muttered,

      "Beg your pardon." They pushed past the undead crew.

      "Begun by blood. By blood...Jack!" Jack broke through the crowd, and stepped up. Jacqueline stood only a foot behind him.

       "It's not possible." Not probable, you mean.

      "Not probable." Jack said, and she smiled to herself. We're back to thinking the same things again I see. 

      "Where's Elizabeth?" Oh, dear. Of course that's Will's first question.

      "Safe, like I promised. She's set to marry Norrington like she promised, and you get to die for her like you promised. So we're all men of our word, except for Elizabeth, who is in fact, a woman." Jacqueline listened intently to Jack, although it didn't seem to matter. Nobody had given her any recognition. 

      "Shut up! You're next." Barbossa's eyes slid to her.

      "Ah, Jacqueline. Still following Jack like a lost puppy. You're after him." She snarled, and took a step forward. A hand rested on her arm, and she became still. She glanced at Jack, who gazed at her with concern. She peeled her stare away.

      "You don't want to be doing that." Barbossa shook his head at Jack.

      "No, I think I do." She crossed her arms, and spoke for the first time. 

      "Your funeral." The captain of the Pearl glanced at the two, before sighing in defeat.

      "Why wouldn't I want to be doing that?" Jack and her shared a glance, and she motioned with her hand for him to speak.

      "The HMS Dauntless, pride of the Royal Navy, is floating just offshore waiting for you. But hear me out, mate. Order your men to row out to the Dauntless, they do what they do best, Robert's your uncle, Fanny's your aunt, there you are with two ships. The makings of your own fleet. You'll take the grandest as your flagship and who's to argue?" She took a minute to process his words, important meaning strung behind nonsense.

      "What of the Black Pearl?" Barbossa didn't seem too convinced.

      "Name me captain, I'll sail under your colors and give you ten percent of me plunder and you get to introduce yourself as Commodore Barbossa. Savvy?" Barbossa considered Jack's words, or at least he appeared to.

      "And in exchange you want me to not kill the whelp." She risked a quick glance at Will, who glared at Jack.

      "No, no, by all means, kill the whelp. Wait to lift the curse at the opportune moment. For instance..." Jack dug his hand into the chest, scooping up some of the coins. "After you've killed Norrington's men. Every..." he dropped a coin, "last..." another coin. "One." He slid the last piece under his sleeve. She hoped Will noticed.

      "You've been planning this ever since you learned my name!" Will exclaimed, and she couldn't decipher whether he was faking or if he actually believed it true.