Timeless Pearls (POTC 5)

Chapter 5: Journey to Posidon's Trident

Back on the Dying Gull, the crew began bounding Henry and Carina to the mast with rope. Jack decided to take them because Carina had the map, and Henry begged to come because he wants to save his father from the Dutchman's curse.

Gibbs and Jack were talking amongst themselves as I stood near the taffrail of the ship, content to finally have a heading and go on another adventure again. But the Dying Gull hasn't seen the sea in God knows how long... it would be a miracle if he didn't sink.

I leaned to Jack and said, "Jack, don't take this the wrong way, but I have almost no faith in you."

Jack glared at me as he ordered, "cut the shard!" Scrum swung his knife right by Carina's head, cutting a rope that held a net full of rocks.

"Scrum, you're going to kill somebody with that merde aim you've got!" I scolded.

I could hear wood clanking, so I hesitantly peered over the side of our little ship and saw the little wooden logs that were holding the ship begin to fall like dominos.

"Prepare to drown!" Gibbs shouted.

Jack, pleased with himself, walked up to the wheel on the helm with unwarranted confidence. The ship began to roll into the water while Jack looked back at the sea, chuckling. I held onto the railing of the ship and planned an escape route in my head: jump over and start swimming to shore.

"Me dear beloved crew, finally, today is..." a rope caught along the rudder, and yanked the Dying Gull in its place. We all went flying, landing on our faces at the abrupt stop. I grunted as I looked up and blew strands of my hair out of my eyes.

Jack pulled himself up and pressed himself up against the wheel. "Something's gone wrong." The rope suddenly snapped under the tension and jarred the ship forward, causing us to fly backward. Luckily, I was still on the ground so I was not dramatically affected by the jolt. The Dying Gull picked up momentum, landed in the water, and stayed afloat.

Everyone stood up and waited for a second before Marty shouted, "she floats!" And everyone started cheering.

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We had a longboat that bumped along the hull of the ship as we sailed through the open water under the hot Caribbean sun. I looked at it longingly from time to time, giving myself the option that I could board it and row myself away at anytime.

Jack spoke to the us at the helm, going through a little book that Carina referred to as the map. His eyebrows disappeared behind his bandanna as he flipped carelessly through the pages. I could see words written on it, along with drawings of the constellations of stars but Jack was thumbing through the pages too quickly for me to read.

"There's nothing on here," Jack groaned.

I plucked the book from Jack's hands and flipped to the first few pages and read the words quickly. I revealed, "it's a diary."

"A what?" He asked with a high pitched voice.

"A diary. To write down your thoughts," I explained.

"Reading and writing..." Jack huffed, "you two really are witches."

"You really have to stop calling her that, it upsets her," I said.

"Aye, Jack, not the best to call a lady in these times," Gibbs agreed with me. He has really grown since the first time I met him.

Jack grabbed the book back and meandered down the steps. The rest of us followed Jack down to the mast where he held out the book and he waved it in front of Carina. "There is no map in this map."