Determined Love of the Sparrow (Sequel to Sparrow's Love)

Visiting Tia Dalma - Chapter 5

Chapter 5

“Do not worry Jack the chil’ is fine” I heard a voice with a strong Jamaican accent tell Jack. I open my eyes and I see a eccentric woman gazing down at me while she dabs my head with a damp cloth. I look down and see Jack and Will sitting either side of me holding each of my hands. I see the crew sitting behind Will all of them had a worried expression on their faces. I gave them all a reassuring smile. I tried to sit up but soon gave up after having Will and Jack tell me to lye back down.

“Thanks a lot Tia Dalma” Will says and hands me a drink, she just nods and turns to Jack.

“Jack Sparrow” She says while moving closer to him. Jack takes one step back for every move towards him she made. It looked like they were dancing.

“Tia Dalma” Jack greets her while taking another step back and almost knocks his head on a jar full of eyeballs. I need to get out of here this is just too disturbing.

“I always knowed the wind was going to blow you back to me one day” Tia Dalma said to Jack. She then turned and points at Will. “You. You have a touch a' destiny about you. William. Turner.” How does she know his name? I look at Will and see that he is thinking the same as me.

“You know me?” Will asks and Tia Dalma smiles and leans in close.

“You want to know me” She tells Will and leans in dangerously close to his lips.

“There'll be no knowing here” Jack intervenes between them “We've come for help and we're not leaving without it. I thought I knew you” Jack says as he pulls Tia away from Will. I move and sit next to Will who then puts his arm around me and pulls me close while giving me a kiss on my forehead. His is Will’s way of telling me that he is pleased I am fine.

“Not so well as I'd hoped. Come” Tia Dalma says while heading to the back. Jack motions us over with him, he grabs my waist and pulls me to him for support I suppose.

“What service may I do ya? You know I demand payment” Tia Dalma says while moving behind a table.

“I brought payment” Jack says and motions for Gibbs to bring the payment forward. Jack pulls the cover off and shows us the monkey. “Look...” Jack shoots the monkey “an undead monkey. Top that!” He tells Tia with a smile while handing the monkey over to her. Tia Dalma then lets the monkey out of its cage and it runs out of the room. I look and see Gibbs almost in tears.

“No. You've no idea how long it took us to catch that.” Gibbs tells her.

“The payment is fair” Tia Dalma says and sits down at her table.

“We're looking for this.And what it opens” Will tells Tia while showing her the picture of a key that Jack gave him.

“The compass you bartered from me, it cannot lead you to this?” Tia Dalma asks Jack while looking at him curiously. Probably wondering why it isn’t walking.

“Maybe. Why?” Jack tells her.

“Aah. Jack Sparrow does not know what he wants. Or do you know but are loath to claim it as your own. Your key go to a chest. And it is what lay inside the chest you seek. Don't it?” Tia asks and Jack glances at me before looking back at Tia Dalma.

“What is inside?” Gibbs asks.

“Gold? Jewels? Unclaimed properties of valuable nature?” Pintel asks.

“Nothing bad, I hope” Raggetti says quietly. He is such a coward.

“You know of Davy Jones, yes? A man of the sea. A great sailor. Until he run afoul of that which vex all men” I watch Jack and see him put something in his pocket when no one is looking. I move and stand next to him and put my hand in his to stop him from doing it again.

“What vexes all men?” Will asks Tia Dalma.

“What indeed” She says while teasingly touches Will’s hand. I try and contain my laughter at the look on his face when she does.

“The sea?” Gibbs asks.

“Sums” Pintel says. He really is a idiot.

“The dichotomy of good and evil” Raggetti says which earns him a shocked look from Gibbs and Pintel.

“A woman” I say while looking at Tia Dalma. She smiles at me and nods.

“A woman. He fell in love” She tells us with a soft smile.

“No no no no, I heard it was the sea he fell in love with” Gibbs says while looking at Tia Dalma.

“Same story, different version and all are true. See it was a woman as changing, and harsh and untamable as the sea. He never stopped loving her. But the pain it caused him was too much to live with. But not enough to cause him to die” She says while stalking around the room looking all the men in the eye daring them to disagree with her. When she looks at me she just smiles.

“What exactly did he put into the chest?” Will asks. He sounds scared to even ask the question.

“Him heart” She tells him while putting a hand on her chest.

“Literally or figuratively?” Ragetti asked.

“He couldn't live, putting his heart in a chest. Could he?” Pintel asked looking scared.

“It was not worth feeling what small, fleeting joy life brings. And so, him carved out him heart, lock it down in a chest, and hide the chest from the world. The key he keep with him at all times” Tia Dalma tells them.

“You knew this” Will says accusingly to Jack.

“I did not. I didn't know where the key was. But now we do. So, all that's left is to climb aboard the Flying Dutchman, grab the key, you go back to Port Royal and save your bonnie lass, aye?” He tells Will.

“Jack you were trying to set him up?” I ask him while taking a step back towards Will. I watch as Tia walks up to Jack and demands to see his hand.

“Let me see your hand” She tells him. Jack walks up and offers his hand but she pulls the other one up and unwraps the bandage Jack has on it. I lean in and see a large black spot on his palm.

 “The black spot!” Gibbs says and dusts himself off and then spins then spits on the ground once he has made a full circle. I just watch in amusement.

Pintel and Ragetti follow Gibbs’ actions.

“My eyesight's as good as ever, just so you know” Jack tells everyone. Probably annoyed that everyone has said what it is. Tia Dalma walks away and rummages around in the back of the hut. Jack steals another of her trinkets while she isn’t looking. I look up as she returns with a large jar of dirt in her hands.

“Davy Jones cannot make port. Cannot step on land but once every ten years. Land is where you will be safe, Jack Sparrow, and so you will carry land with you” Tia Dalma says to Jack while offering the dirt to him. He takes it and looks at it for a while.

“Dirt. This is a jar of dirt” He tells her.

“Yes” She tells him.

“Is the... jar of dirt going to help?” Jack asks her. I look on in amusement.

“If you don't want it, give it back” She says and reaches towards him.

 “No.” He tells her and clutches the Jar of dirt close to his chest.

“Then it helps” She says and walks away from him.

“It seems... we have a need to find the Flying Dutchman” Will says with a worried look on his face. I know that he is scared about the future but I also know he will do anything to ensure Elizabeth is safe.

The crew head back to the boat but Tia Dalma grabs my hand and pulls me back towards her so my hand is pulled away from Jack’s. He looks at me and stops walking so he can hear what Tia Dalma is saying to me. She pulls me closer and puts a hand on my stomach and says to me.

“A touch of destiny”

I look towards Jack and walk away from Tia. We head to the ship and soon we are out in open waters.