Annette Lavesseur, daughter of legendary French pirate, Olivier Levasseur, accidentally joins Captain Jack Sparrow and William Turner on their quest to save Elizabeth Swann and help get the Black Pearl back under Jack's reign. She has to get used to...
The night was compiled of arguing about who got to sleep in the Captain's Cabin on the Interceptor, and who had to sleep on the open deck. Will took my side of allowing me the cabin and the bed, because I'm a woman. I played the woman card so hard because I did not want to sleep on the harsh deck in the open air. Jack finally gave up, and I was probably the only one who slept soundly.
The next morning, we met on the rotting docks of Tortuga in the blazing sun. Waiting for us was a group of misfits, standing in a raggedy line-up that Gibbs assembled during the night. I would not be surprised if barnacles were growing out of their skin.
Gibbs smiled proudly, "feast your eyes, Cap'n. All of 'em, faithful hands before the mast. Every man worth his salt and crazy to boot."
They were not the fearsome bunch that Jack was obviously hoping for. I was quite underwhelmed myself, but from my understanding we are just chasing after a simple pirate so I did not understand why Jack expected the best of the best. Jack drunkenly warned me about the dangers last night, but any pirate venture comes with a considerable amount of risk. Will spoke up, "so this is your able-bodied crew?"
The three of us followed Jack's footslog footsteps as he walked in front of the new crew members, studying them as the hot sun was beating down on us already.
I said to Jack in a low voice, "let's assume that you are a dishonest man, Jack."
Jack snickered and said, "assume away."
"How will you get these men to come with us on this death march?" I asked. I was exaggerating, of course. There was nothing special about a pirate trying to get his ship back.
His mumbled to me, "I'll give fair warning." Jack suddenly stopped at an older man, with a beautiful blue parrot perched on his shoulder. "You, sailor!"
"Cotton, sir," Gibbs presented.
Jack took a step forward to the man. Cotton had an untamed white beard with his hair covered in a tight purple scarf to protect his scalp from the sun. His skin was leathery and dark, with scraps for clothes.
"He found a bird guy," I stated.
"Mr. Cotton," Jack said in his face, "do you have the courage and fortitude to follow orders and stay true in the face of danger and almost certain death?"
I stitched my eyebrows together and peered at Jack. Was this really going to be a death sentence? I had a strong opinion about that statement. I was not willing to die for whatever destination this journey was going to lead us to.
Jack only gave Cotton a couple seconds before shouting through his teeth, "Mr. Cotton! Answer, man."
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Mr. Gibbs stepped forward to intervene, "he's a mute, sir. Poor devil had his tongue cut out."
Cotton opened his mouth to reveal his lack of a tongue, and Jack grimaced and stuck his tongue out in horror. My lips flexed are the thought of losing my own tongue and imagining the pain that Cotton went though while this punishment was carried out.
