Aztecs' Curse

Chapter 9

     Out in the open sea, Jack leaned on the wheel of the Dauntless, relaxed; not much sailing to do with a following wind. Victoria, off to the side, stared up at the sky, leaning against the railing.

     Behind the woman and the pirate, Will said, "They're coming!"
     Victoria turned just in time to see the Interceptor sailing right for them. Jack, meanwhile, only grinned.

* * *

     Norrington's smaller ship quickly pulled up alongside the slow-moving Dauntless. Its decks appear empty. Grappling hooks were thrown, and sailors drew the two ships together as Norrington and his men swung across.

     "Search every cabin," Norrington called out, "every hold, down to the bilges!"
Will, Victoria, and Jack, all soaking wet, climbed out from the water, making their onto the Interceptor.
     Jack tackled the Sentry from behind, quickly covering his mouth and holding him in place, and asked, "Can you swim?" The Sentry simply struggled.
     "Maybe we should tie him, gag him, and toss him somewhere?" Victoria asked, earning a grin from Jack and a baffled expression from Will. She shrugged. "Just an idea?"
     "Look, lad, I'm just being polite, but if you don't cooperate, I think I'll need to start listening to darling Swann's ideas," Jack said to the struggling Sentry. "Can. You. Swim?" He hesitantly removed his hand from the man's mouth.
     "Of course, sir," the Sentry said. "Like a fish. I grew up summers living in Dover, with my uncle-"
     "Good," Jack interrupted, and he threw him overboard just as Will grabbed the ax he had brought with him and began cutting the ropes of the grappling hooks, freeing the Interceptor from the Dauntless.

* * *

     Norrington emerged from a gangway, and saw his other ship moving away, slamming a hand against the wall before shouting, "Sailors! Back to the Interceptor!" But the distance was already too great.
     One brave sailor tried to swing across on a rope, but fell short with a splash.
     Jack, meanwhile, waved, and shouted across the distance, "Thank you, Commodore, for getting our ship ready to make way! We'd have had a hard time by ourselves!"
     Norrington, seething, turned and began striding along the the ship. "Set topsails and clear up this mess."
     "With the wind across her stern," Gillette told him as he followed. "we won't catch them."
     "I don't need to catch them. Just get them in range of the long nines."
     Gillette looked surprised, but relayed the order. "Hands! Come about! Jackets off the cannons!" Then, he turned back to the Commodore. "We are to fire on our own ship, sir?"
     "I'd rather see her at the bottom of the sea than in the hands of a pirate," he responded, lips twisted.
     He hesitated. "But, what about-"
     "It is not Miss Swann we're firing at, Lieutenant," he snapped, looking over at him. "We'll aim low, and if she ends up in the water before we get to her, then we'll pull her out of it."
     "Very well, Commodore," he murmured.
     "Commodore," the man at the wheel said, and he turned to him, irritated. "He's disabled the rudder chain, sir."
     Norrington, now hopeless, watched as the Interceptor grew further away, lowering his head.
     "That's got to be the best pirate I've ever seen," Gillette remarked, seemingly in awe, as he gazed over the other ship.
     "So it would seem," he said, agitated, as he raised his head. He looked back at the ship, where he could just barely make out Victoria standing at the railing, and his brows furrowed in both concern and anger.

* * *

     "When I was a lad, living in England," Will said as he sharpened a sword, speaking mostly to Jack, though Victoria was listening keenly, "my mother raised me by herself. After she died, I came out here, looking for my father."
     "Is that so?" Jack asked, not seeming all that interested.
     "My father," Will said as he stood, turning towards Jack as he walked around him, "Bill Turner?" He kept pace with Jack, though Victoria lingered back somewhat as she watched the two. "It was only after you learned my name that you agreed to help." He had a point, Victoria had to give him that--which was a part of why she had been so suspicious of Jack. "Since that's what I wanted, I didn't press the matter. Victoria is an intelligent woman of sorts, so she no doubt felt the same for the matter." When Jack said nothing, kneeling down and tightening a rope, he said, "I'm not a simpleton, Jack. You knew my father."
     Jack, with a sigh, straightened and turned to face Will with a nod. "I knew him." Victoria stirred, impressed, having had thought he would come up with some impeccable lie. "Probably one of the few who knew him as William Turner. Everyone else called him 'Bootstrap' or 'Bootstrap Bill'." He turned and hopped down to the wheel.
     Will exchanged a confused expression with Victoria before saying, "Bootstrap?"
     "Good man," Jack said, attention on the wheel. "Good pirate." That, naturally, earned a stare from Will.
     Victoria found herself not all that surprised, quickly turning away before Will could see her knowing expression as the medallion that her sister had taken off of Will when they were children crossed her mind, resting the flat of her palms on the railing before casually turning her attention to the bandage on her forearm.
     "I swear," Jack continued, "you look just like him."
     "It's not true," Victoria heard Will say defensively. "He was a merchant sailor. A good, respectable man who obeyed the law."
     "He was a bloody pirate," Jack insisted, sounding rather annoyed, "a scallywag."
     "My father," Will said, the unmistakable sound of a sword being drawn following, and Victoria turned to see the blade pointed at Jack, "was not a pirate!"
     "Will," Victoria snapped, though she couldn't blame him, starting for the two men.
     Jack's hand lifted, stopping Victoria, as he stared at her before lifting his gaze up somewhat and then past her, keeping his back to Will, hands still on the wheel. "Put it away, son. It's not worth you getting beat again."
     "You didn't beat me," Will said, somber. "You ignored the rules of engagement." His voice grew more threatening, as did his eyes. "In a fair fight, I'd kill you."
     This time, Jack turned to face him, though his hands remained on the wheel. "That's not incentive for me to fight fair, is it?" Suddenly, he turned as he yanked the wheel as far as he could to the right, and Victoria had just enough time to cry out as a mast went heading straight for Will.
     Will, spotting it just in time, began to duck, only to get smacked in the chest by it, sword dropping, and he grabbed a hold of it as it continued to swing before stopping, leaving him dangling above the waters below.
     "Will!" Victoria exclaimed, running up to where he had last been, leaning over the railing and stretching for him. But, he was too far. Behind her, she heard the sound of a blade scraping the ship, and turned just in time to see Jack picking up Will's sword, to which she decided to remain where she was, though it didn't keep her from shooting him a glare. "Stop this." Her eyes flickered to the wheel.
     "Stay right where you are, darling," Jack said to her, blade pointed right at her, though his eyes flickered to Will, who was hanging not far behind her. "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. For instance," he went back to the wheel, putting one hand on it, and though he kept a hold of the sword it was no longer pointed at Victoria, who visibly relaxed, though the woman remained cautious as she eyed him wearily, "you can accept that your father was a pirate and a good man, or you can't. But pirate is in your blood, boy, so you'll have to square with that someday. Now me, for example, I can let you drown, but I can't bring this ship into Tortuga all by me onesies--woman, or no woman with me." He winked at Victoria, who was somewhat impressed with his words, and only looked furthermore amused when she scoffed before he looked back at Will. "Savvy? So." He whipped forward, snagging Victoria by her wrist, surprising her, and whirled her around so her back was pinned against his chest as he stepped back to the wheel and spun it far to the left, bringing Will back over the ship, where he dropped onto the deck, though before he could get up, Jack pointed the sword at him, and Victoria prepared to grab his arm. "Can you sail under the command of a pirate?" Much to Victoria's surprise, he flipped the sword, catching it by the end of the blade, hilt held out to Will, who eyed it suspiciously. "Or can you not?"
     Will, after staring at the sword for a moment, finally grabbed it before looking up at the couple in front of him, brows raising. "Tortuga?"
     Jack looked down at Victoria, who was still pinned against him, his arm snaked around her waist, and he gave her something of an excited smile before looking down at Will. "Tortuga." Then, he let her go.
     "You could've just told me to move," Victoria said as she brushed herself off absently, stepping away from him and helping Will to his feet, referring to when she had been pulled out of the way of the mast.
     Turning back towards her, and giving her another wink, the pirate said, "That wouldn't have been as fun."