Harry & the Pirate III: Norrington's Choice
Chapter Eleven: I Spy With My Little Eye…
Harry gave a horrified shriek and dropped the pistol, running to Jack as he got his balance and grabbed at his arm. "I haven't killed you! Jack, don't say I've killed you!"
"Well, I won't then," Jack said, sounding strained and rather stunned, but his words were nearly drowned out by the high-pitched alarms of Elizabeth and Maggie and a shout from Davis as their captive made an attempt to escape out the window. Will and Norrington rushed into the room, followed by Giles Lightfoot.
Giles let the younger men deal with the one problem, while he turned to Jack and Harry. "Have you killed him, lass?"
"Wouldn't hurt like this if it were fatal," Jack said through gritted teeth.
"Oh, Jack! I'm so sorry!" said Harry in dismay, nearly wringing her hands. "Oh, you are bleeding!"
"Of course I'm bleeding! You shot me! I suppose your brother George showed you how to use a pistol like he did a sword," her husband growled. "Damnation. That man and I are due for a reckoning some day."
"But he did not! I have never handled a pistol before. They are Weatherby's dueling pistols, and looked so beautiful…I thought they'd be useful, for intimidating our quarry you know."
Jack stared at her. "Dueling pistols!"
"Aye," said Giles, coming over with it, having retrieved it from where Harry had dropped it. "Nice one. Hair trigger on it, too!"
Jack's eyes narrowed and he snapped at his wife, "Bloody hell! It's a miracle you didn't kill someone! Me, for example!"
"Let's get your coat off, son," said Giles. "You can read her a lecture on the proper handling of firearms when we get back to the Pearl."
"A lecture! By God, if you weren't due in a month…" But what he would have done in this event remained unspoken, for Giles had pried his hand away and he groaned and swore as they helped him remove his coat.
"Your shirtsleeve's pretty much a dead loss," Giles commented, taking out a knife. He slit the linen, cutting away the sleeve to reveal a long, ragged, sluggishly bleeding wound across Jack's upper arm. "Was that a tattoo?" Giles asked, interested.
"It was!" Jack glared at his wife.
Harry flushed, guiltily. "Oh, I am so sorry. But indeed, it was an accident, Jack!"
Jack ground his teeth.
"Winged you, did she?" Norrington had come over to take a look at the wound, and sounded amused, though he managed not to smile.
"Bloody hell," Jack muttered, trying to see. "How bad is it?"
"A rather ugly flesh wound, I'm afraid, but it doesn't look too serious."
"Just bind it up then, will you? You can use that shirtsleeve."
"Jack, no!" said Harry. "It will need to be cleaned and…"
"We'll do that when we get back to the ship. We've other fish to fry at the moment. Where's that fellow that took the boys?"
"He's safety trussed," said Will, coming over with Elizabeth and Maggie, Davis following behind. "Are you all right?"
"I'll do," said Jack. "Lightfoot, you an' Davis an' Will can take the ladies back to the Pearl, if ye please. Norrington can help me with the arm, if he'll be so kind, an' then the two of us'll have a bit of conversation with our fine gentleman over there."
"But Jack…"
"Mrs. Sparrow, if you'll come with me," said Giles, his eyes twinkling as he took the lady's arm and firmly steered her toward the door before her husband could forget himself, and the fact that she was in a delicate condition.
o-o-o
As they descended the stairs to the ground floor, Harry said worriedly, "I am afraid Jack may be just a little angry with me!"
"He might be at that," Giles agreed, suppressing a chuckle. "It's not every day your wife nearly kills you with a hair-trigger dueling pistol."
"It was an accident!" she said, unhappily.
"So it was. I'm sure he'll keep that in mind when he discusses it with you later. But it's as well for your sake that you're eight months along: he can't very well do more than give you a bit of a scold."
Harry sighed, distressed even at this prospect. "Yes, I know. I said as much to the Mayor after I blackened that harlot's eye."
Giles gave a bark of laughter. "What sort of adventures have you three been having here? A pack o' pretty hoydens, the lot o' you!"
Elizabeth said, with considerable amusement, "Oh, no! Lady Margaret and I have behaved in an exemplary manner! It is only my aunt who nearly brought disaster upon us."
"Elizabeth! That is most unfair!" Harry protested. "The woman insulted me, and claimed to have hit Jack! What would you?"
"Oh, aye," said Giles, sarcastically. "I daresay Jack'll be right pleased to hear you've been havin' a catfight with some strumpet."
"Well, not pleased, precisely," Harry agreed. "But he would understand! Only perhaps we shouldn't tell him, at least not right away."
"Maybe not. He'll have enough to think about with that arm of his."
"Perhaps his dealings with that villain will put him in a better mood," suggested Harry.
Maggie asked, "Do you think he and James will be able to get the information we need to find the boys?"
"Oh, I have great faith in the persuasive powers of Jack Sparrow and James Norrington, lass."
It seemed that he and Harry were both right. An hour after the party returned to the Black Pearl, Jack and James were walking up the gangplank, both wearing grimly satisfied looks.
"Ol' Ned sang right prettily, given the proper incentive," Jack said to the small crowd that had been waiting on deck for their return.
Norrington grinned crookedly at the pirate's smug reassurance, but said to Maggie, "It's true enough. The boys seem to have been handed over to a merchant vessel, owned by one Emile Tussaud of Martinique. The exchange took place just this morning, so we won't be far behind."
"That's what Mayor McCollough suspected!" Harry exclaimed.
Jack eyed her bodingly. "Aye, he said he'd seen you. Joined us at the Cat 'n' Whistle a bit ago, to make sure you weren't startin' another mill, with Giselle. Seemed right pleased I'd sent you back to the Pearl an' advised me to keep a sharp eye on you."
Harry reddened with mortification and annoyance. "He told you? And I thought him so gentlemanly!"
"He is gentlemanly!" Elizabeth asserted.
"Yes," said Margaret, in a teasing voice. "He asked us to extend his congratulations to you on your marriage, Jack. And his sympathies!"
"Did he indeed?" Jack's eyes narrowed as he fixed his thoroughly chagrined wife with an accusing glare, but there was a hint of laughter in his voice as he said, "You should've heard him a few minutes ago, when he found out who'd put a bullet through me arm! But then, if ye can't afford the public a bit of amusement, what good are you, eh? I daresay it'll be all over town by tonight."
"Oh, no!" said Harry, dismayed.
"Oh, yes, Miss Fire-eater! At least Scarlet & Giselle's sensibilities will be somewhat assuaged in the knowledge you did worse to me than they ever thought of!" He saw that she was rendered quite speechless by this observation, and he had to pull her close and kiss her. But then he said, "Don't think I've done ringin' a peal over you just because o' that. We'll continue presently, in the cabin, while you help clean up your handiwork."
o-o-o
Harry was a little subdued the next day, and so extremely solicitous of Jack that he was finally moved to take her below and show her quite unequivocally that he'd forgiven her for shooting him. The wound was painful, but not serious enough to impede most normal activity, though he did develop a slight fever by that evening and was thus confined to his cabin not only at his wife's insistence but at Giles and Norrington's as well.
"If you are going to be of use in retrieving those lads when we reach our destination you had better rest while you have the opportunity," said the Commodore. "I'm sure your charming wife will find some way to keep you tolerably entertained."
Jack chuckled, in spite of his aches. "Aye, that's one of the advantages of havin' a wife, innit? She can kill you with kindness if she misses with her dueling pistol."
He did not seem too unhappy with the situation, however, and would have considered it a rare treat to lay abed with the beautiful Mrs. Sparrow for two days if he'd not been so concerned with how the boys were faring.
"That Emile Tussaud's turned into a right bastard, if reports don't lie. Still, I've not heard that he's a taste for lads. He's done this to lure me to the island, although why he'd go to this much trouble to do it is anyone's guess."
"Maybe it was his harpsichord!" Harry suggested.
"Maybe the Vaillant was his ship!" Will said.
"Do you know, Maggie?" asked Elizabeth.
Lady Margaret, who was seated next to Norrington at the big table where they were all in the midst of dinner, picked up her glass of wine and said, "I'm afraid not. Due to my dreadful bout of seasickness I only dined with him twice, and that near the beginning of the voyage. He did not mention the owner at all on either occasion."
"You are doing remarkably well on this voyage!" observed Norrington, smiling at her.
She returned the smile, coloring slightly. "Yes, and I am not sure why. Perhaps it is Anatole's cooking, or simply being on a different ship. I felt quite well on the Bonny Lass, too, except during the storm, but I thought that was because of my overriding concern for the boys. I am still concerned, of course, but…the thing is, I feel all will be well, now that you all are here to see to it."
Jack frowned moodily at his own wine glass, rolling the stem between his thumb and fingers. "We'll get 'em back, and without creatin' too much of a stir, I'm hoping. It'd be best if we could catch that ship they're on, but I've a feeling they've enough of a start on us that we won't succeed in that. Still, we'll try. You've been keepin' the sails trimmed, Will?"
"Yes. James has been giving helpful suggestions, as well."
"Aye, he's a fine sailor," Jack admitted, with a crooked grin. "Who'd have thought it of the Commodore, eh?"
"I did not spring fully formed from the naval academy, pirate," Norrington said, with amused hauteur.
"Like Venus, but with brocade and wig!" Jack chuckled, along with the others, including Norrington. Then he said, "No, I'm well aware you've the skill to back the title. I'm finding it eases me mind considerably to be able to count you an ally, rather than an enemy."
"May it transpire that it always be so," said Giles Lightfoot, raising his glass in a toast. The rest of the company joined him, and the clink of glasses and the glow of camaraderie lifted everyone's spirits.
After dinner they all went up on deck to look at the stars and the beauty of the sea as they sailed southeast, the breeze fresh and constant, filling the black sails and laying a white-foamed wake at their back. Giles, Elizabeth, and Will went below, where the scraping of a fiddle told of revelry amongst the Black Pearl's crew, but James and Maggie found a secluded step on which to perch, within sight of Jack and Harry, who wandered toward the prow of the great ship, their arms about one another.
"My friend is a fortunate woman," smiled Maggie.
James shook his head. "Dame fortune beams most extravagantly on the both of them. I've never seen the like, in truth."
"Did you really mean to hang him?"
James hesitated a moment before saying in a low voice, "The rope was 'round his neck and the lever thrown. If it hadn't been for Turner's cleverly thrown sword we'd not be sitting here now."
Maggie shuddered, as with cold, and drew her shawl more closely about her. "Yes, but…what I mean is, did you really think it necessary to rid the world of Jack Sparrow?"
James said, "No. At least…insomuch as he was a pirate, I saw it as my duty to do so, under the law. Yet, even then, I saw him as something more than that. It is well nigh impossible I would think to ignore him as a man, even on short acquaintance, and by the conclusion of that first strange adventure I was well aware that he was a most unusual one. But I felt my hands were tied. Indeed, if it were not for the Governor's valid, if nebulous reasoning I would have done my best to carry out the sentence, in spite of my personal qualms. I have never been so grateful for the interference of a government official!"
Maggie smiled. "And now?"
James looked at the pair standing at the prow. Sparrow was bent toward his wife, his ornament bedecked hair momentarily providing a curtain shutting out the world. "I couldn't do it," James said, simply. He looked at Maggie. "But there are those that would."
"Perhaps it need never come to that," Maggie said.
James shook his head, although he smiled. "Perhaps not. But Jack Sparrow is not the kind to take the safest route home. And now Harry's fate is bound up with his."
"They will need their friends, maybe, in future."
"Maybe. And, if so, for better or worse I shall be counted among their number."
Maggie looked at him. "You are a good man, James."
He shrugged, slightly. "No better or worse than most."
She shook her head. "If you truly think that, then you are a great fool," she said, and drew him down to kiss him.
o-o-o
It was five days before the Pearl drew within sight of Martinique. The weather had been favorable, and the ship had made good time, but somehow they were unable to catch more than a distant glimpse of the Fleur de Mer, though the Pearl sported all the canvas she could in the effort.
"A few more hours an' we'd have had 'em," said Jack, collapsing the spyglass and stowing it away in his pocket. "Now they're too close to Fort-de-France. We'll have to do this another way. A bit o' stealth an' all. Unfortunately, they'll know I'm coming, for if I've seen them they've likely been able to see us!"
"Jack! You will go alone?" exclaimed Harry, fearfully.
"He will not," Norrington said, before Jack could reply. "I shall accompany him."
Jack drew himself up. "Oh, you will, will you? An' what makes you think so? I'd a mind to leave you here to help keep an eye on the Pearl. The boys're my problem to deal with, Commodore."
"And the French are mine, Captain. Will and Gibbs are perfectly capable of taking care of the Black Pearl. You, on the other hand, are at present in the employ of the crown, and require rather more looking after in this instance than the ship. Or don't you trust me enough to do my job?"
Jack opened his mouth. Closed it. Then shook his finger at the Commodore, and said, "All right. But remember: I'm in charge. Savvy?"
Norrington smirked. "Of course, Captain."
"Just so we're clear on that point."
"Clear as glass."
"All right, then."
"All right."
o-o-o
The Black Pearl would hover off the coast, out of harm's way, coming in toward shore at dawn each day to watch for a signal from the two men. After rather anxious goodbyes had been said, Jack and James rowed a mile to shore in the jollyboat, secreting it in a little cove a few miles from Fort-de-France, Martinique's principal town. They made their way slowly up over the hills in the moonlight. The vegetation was heavy enough to impede their progress, though not as dense as in the north of the island, around Mount Pelee, where Jack knew it to be thick jungle. "Tussaud's house is a bloody fortress in itself," Jack told Norrington. "I was here once, years ago, an' got meself invited to dinner. Tussaud thought I was a fellow merchant. Had a right splendid time: good food, the best wines, an' the opportunity to lift a few expensive trinkets between courses. Played cards with 'im, too, after."
"How foolish of him," Norrington said, drily.
"Aye," Jack agreed, "But he was younger then. Likely a bit warier, now."
"One would hope he has not grown too wary, however, if the boys have been taken there."
"That's like to be a problem, sure enough. But I'm hoping we'll be able to find a back way in."
"We are neither of us precisely inconspicuous, however."
"Speak for yourself, Commodore. Anyway, it's only your height an' your voice they'll notice, since you're wigless and dressed in a civilian's clothes. Just keep your head down an' let me do the talking."
"They speak French, don't they?"
"Aye, and they'll notice an English accent within a few words so be quiet, savvy?"
"How do you know you speak the language better than I?" demanded Norrington.
Jack replied in French, to the effect that only a complete idiot wouldn't recognize James for an English Commodore the second he opened his mouth, so he'd better resign himself to keeping it shut, and he could consider that an order.
James sighed. "Oh, very well."
"Once we come up over that next rise we should be able to see something. Come on!"
There was a faint light of dawn in the sky as Jack led the way with some difficulty up to the top of a long, steep hill, thick with scratchy brush and a few trees. He pulled himself up to the top by gripping a convenient branch, and extended a hand to help Norrington up beside him. And then, looking out over the town that lay sloping down before them to the enormous bay, the two stared in gathering surprise and trepidation at the sight that met their eyes.
On to Chapter Twelve
Harry gave a horrified shriek and dropped the pistol, running to Jack as he got his balance and grabbed at his arm. "I haven't killed you! Jack, don't say I've killed you!"
"Well, I won't then," Jack said, sounding strained and rather stunned, but his words were nearly drowned out by the high-pitched alarms of Elizabeth and Maggie and a shout from Davis as their captive made an attempt to escape out the window. Will and Norrington rushed into the room, followed by Giles Lightfoot.
Giles let the younger men deal with the one problem, while he turned to Jack and Harry. "Have you killed him, lass?"
"Wouldn't hurt like this if it were fatal," Jack said through gritted teeth.
"Oh, Jack! I'm so sorry!" said Harry in dismay, nearly wringing her hands. "Oh, you are bleeding!"
"Of course I'm bleeding! You shot me! I suppose your brother George showed you how to use a pistol like he did a sword," her husband growled. "Damnation. That man and I are due for a reckoning some day."
"But he did not! I have never handled a pistol before. They are Weatherby's dueling pistols, and looked so beautiful…I thought they'd be useful, for intimidating our quarry you know."
Jack stared at her. "Dueling pistols!"
"Aye," said Giles, coming over with it, having retrieved it from where Harry had dropped it. "Nice one. Hair trigger on it, too!"
Jack's eyes narrowed and he snapped at his wife, "Bloody hell! It's a miracle you didn't kill someone! Me, for example!"
"Let's get your coat off, son," said Giles. "You can read her a lecture on the proper handling of firearms when we get back to the Pearl."
"A lecture! By God, if you weren't due in a month…" But what he would have done in this event remained unspoken, for Giles had pried his hand away and he groaned and swore as they helped him remove his coat.
"Your shirtsleeve's pretty much a dead loss," Giles commented, taking out a knife. He slit the linen, cutting away the sleeve to reveal a long, ragged, sluggishly bleeding wound across Jack's upper arm. "Was that a tattoo?" Giles asked, interested.
"It was!" Jack glared at his wife.
Harry flushed, guiltily. "Oh, I am so sorry. But indeed, it was an accident, Jack!"
Jack ground his teeth.
"Winged you, did she?" Norrington had come over to take a look at the wound, and sounded amused, though he managed not to smile.
"Bloody hell," Jack muttered, trying to see. "How bad is it?"
"A rather ugly flesh wound, I'm afraid, but it doesn't look too serious."
"Just bind it up then, will you? You can use that shirtsleeve."
"Jack, no!" said Harry. "It will need to be cleaned and…"
"We'll do that when we get back to the ship. We've other fish to fry at the moment. Where's that fellow that took the boys?"
"He's safety trussed," said Will, coming over with Elizabeth and Maggie, Davis following behind. "Are you all right?"
"I'll do," said Jack. "Lightfoot, you an' Davis an' Will can take the ladies back to the Pearl, if ye please. Norrington can help me with the arm, if he'll be so kind, an' then the two of us'll have a bit of conversation with our fine gentleman over there."
"But Jack…"
"Mrs. Sparrow, if you'll come with me," said Giles, his eyes twinkling as he took the lady's arm and firmly steered her toward the door before her husband could forget himself, and the fact that she was in a delicate condition.
o-o-o
As they descended the stairs to the ground floor, Harry said worriedly, "I am afraid Jack may be just a little angry with me!"
"He might be at that," Giles agreed, suppressing a chuckle. "It's not every day your wife nearly kills you with a hair-trigger dueling pistol."
"It was an accident!" she said, unhappily.
"So it was. I'm sure he'll keep that in mind when he discusses it with you later. But it's as well for your sake that you're eight months along: he can't very well do more than give you a bit of a scold."
Harry sighed, distressed even at this prospect. "Yes, I know. I said as much to the Mayor after I blackened that harlot's eye."
Giles gave a bark of laughter. "What sort of adventures have you three been having here? A pack o' pretty hoydens, the lot o' you!"
Elizabeth said, with considerable amusement, "Oh, no! Lady Margaret and I have behaved in an exemplary manner! It is only my aunt who nearly brought disaster upon us."
"Elizabeth! That is most unfair!" Harry protested. "The woman insulted me, and claimed to have hit Jack! What would you?"
"Oh, aye," said Giles, sarcastically. "I daresay Jack'll be right pleased to hear you've been havin' a catfight with some strumpet."
"Well, not pleased, precisely," Harry agreed. "But he would understand! Only perhaps we shouldn't tell him, at least not right away."
"Maybe not. He'll have enough to think about with that arm of his."
"Perhaps his dealings with that villain will put him in a better mood," suggested Harry.
Maggie asked, "Do you think he and James will be able to get the information we need to find the boys?"
"Oh, I have great faith in the persuasive powers of Jack Sparrow and James Norrington, lass."
It seemed that he and Harry were both right. An hour after the party returned to the Black Pearl, Jack and James were walking up the gangplank, both wearing grimly satisfied looks.
"Ol' Ned sang right prettily, given the proper incentive," Jack said to the small crowd that had been waiting on deck for their return.
Norrington grinned crookedly at the pirate's smug reassurance, but said to Maggie, "It's true enough. The boys seem to have been handed over to a merchant vessel, owned by one Emile Tussaud of Martinique. The exchange took place just this morning, so we won't be far behind."
"That's what Mayor McCollough suspected!" Harry exclaimed.
Jack eyed her bodingly. "Aye, he said he'd seen you. Joined us at the Cat 'n' Whistle a bit ago, to make sure you weren't startin' another mill, with Giselle. Seemed right pleased I'd sent you back to the Pearl an' advised me to keep a sharp eye on you."
Harry reddened with mortification and annoyance. "He told you? And I thought him so gentlemanly!"
"He is gentlemanly!" Elizabeth asserted.
"Yes," said Margaret, in a teasing voice. "He asked us to extend his congratulations to you on your marriage, Jack. And his sympathies!"
"Did he indeed?" Jack's eyes narrowed as he fixed his thoroughly chagrined wife with an accusing glare, but there was a hint of laughter in his voice as he said, "You should've heard him a few minutes ago, when he found out who'd put a bullet through me arm! But then, if ye can't afford the public a bit of amusement, what good are you, eh? I daresay it'll be all over town by tonight."
"Oh, no!" said Harry, dismayed.
"Oh, yes, Miss Fire-eater! At least Scarlet & Giselle's sensibilities will be somewhat assuaged in the knowledge you did worse to me than they ever thought of!" He saw that she was rendered quite speechless by this observation, and he had to pull her close and kiss her. But then he said, "Don't think I've done ringin' a peal over you just because o' that. We'll continue presently, in the cabin, while you help clean up your handiwork."
o-o-o
Harry was a little subdued the next day, and so extremely solicitous of Jack that he was finally moved to take her below and show her quite unequivocally that he'd forgiven her for shooting him. The wound was painful, but not serious enough to impede most normal activity, though he did develop a slight fever by that evening and was thus confined to his cabin not only at his wife's insistence but at Giles and Norrington's as well.
"If you are going to be of use in retrieving those lads when we reach our destination you had better rest while you have the opportunity," said the Commodore. "I'm sure your charming wife will find some way to keep you tolerably entertained."
Jack chuckled, in spite of his aches. "Aye, that's one of the advantages of havin' a wife, innit? She can kill you with kindness if she misses with her dueling pistol."
He did not seem too unhappy with the situation, however, and would have considered it a rare treat to lay abed with the beautiful Mrs. Sparrow for two days if he'd not been so concerned with how the boys were faring.
"That Emile Tussaud's turned into a right bastard, if reports don't lie. Still, I've not heard that he's a taste for lads. He's done this to lure me to the island, although why he'd go to this much trouble to do it is anyone's guess."
"Maybe it was his harpsichord!" Harry suggested.
"Maybe the Vaillant was his ship!" Will said.
"Do you know, Maggie?" asked Elizabeth.
Lady Margaret, who was seated next to Norrington at the big table where they were all in the midst of dinner, picked up her glass of wine and said, "I'm afraid not. Due to my dreadful bout of seasickness I only dined with him twice, and that near the beginning of the voyage. He did not mention the owner at all on either occasion."
"You are doing remarkably well on this voyage!" observed Norrington, smiling at her.
She returned the smile, coloring slightly. "Yes, and I am not sure why. Perhaps it is Anatole's cooking, or simply being on a different ship. I felt quite well on the Bonny Lass, too, except during the storm, but I thought that was because of my overriding concern for the boys. I am still concerned, of course, but…the thing is, I feel all will be well, now that you all are here to see to it."
Jack frowned moodily at his own wine glass, rolling the stem between his thumb and fingers. "We'll get 'em back, and without creatin' too much of a stir, I'm hoping. It'd be best if we could catch that ship they're on, but I've a feeling they've enough of a start on us that we won't succeed in that. Still, we'll try. You've been keepin' the sails trimmed, Will?"
"Yes. James has been giving helpful suggestions, as well."
"Aye, he's a fine sailor," Jack admitted, with a crooked grin. "Who'd have thought it of the Commodore, eh?"
"I did not spring fully formed from the naval academy, pirate," Norrington said, with amused hauteur.
"Like Venus, but with brocade and wig!" Jack chuckled, along with the others, including Norrington. Then he said, "No, I'm well aware you've the skill to back the title. I'm finding it eases me mind considerably to be able to count you an ally, rather than an enemy."
"May it transpire that it always be so," said Giles Lightfoot, raising his glass in a toast. The rest of the company joined him, and the clink of glasses and the glow of camaraderie lifted everyone's spirits.
After dinner they all went up on deck to look at the stars and the beauty of the sea as they sailed southeast, the breeze fresh and constant, filling the black sails and laying a white-foamed wake at their back. Giles, Elizabeth, and Will went below, where the scraping of a fiddle told of revelry amongst the Black Pearl's crew, but James and Maggie found a secluded step on which to perch, within sight of Jack and Harry, who wandered toward the prow of the great ship, their arms about one another.
"My friend is a fortunate woman," smiled Maggie.
James shook his head. "Dame fortune beams most extravagantly on the both of them. I've never seen the like, in truth."
"Did you really mean to hang him?"
James hesitated a moment before saying in a low voice, "The rope was 'round his neck and the lever thrown. If it hadn't been for Turner's cleverly thrown sword we'd not be sitting here now."
Maggie shuddered, as with cold, and drew her shawl more closely about her. "Yes, but…what I mean is, did you really think it necessary to rid the world of Jack Sparrow?"
James said, "No. At least…insomuch as he was a pirate, I saw it as my duty to do so, under the law. Yet, even then, I saw him as something more than that. It is well nigh impossible I would think to ignore him as a man, even on short acquaintance, and by the conclusion of that first strange adventure I was well aware that he was a most unusual one. But I felt my hands were tied. Indeed, if it were not for the Governor's valid, if nebulous reasoning I would have done my best to carry out the sentence, in spite of my personal qualms. I have never been so grateful for the interference of a government official!"
Maggie smiled. "And now?"
James looked at the pair standing at the prow. Sparrow was bent toward his wife, his ornament bedecked hair momentarily providing a curtain shutting out the world. "I couldn't do it," James said, simply. He looked at Maggie. "But there are those that would."
"Perhaps it need never come to that," Maggie said.
James shook his head, although he smiled. "Perhaps not. But Jack Sparrow is not the kind to take the safest route home. And now Harry's fate is bound up with his."
"They will need their friends, maybe, in future."
"Maybe. And, if so, for better or worse I shall be counted among their number."
Maggie looked at him. "You are a good man, James."
He shrugged, slightly. "No better or worse than most."
She shook her head. "If you truly think that, then you are a great fool," she said, and drew him down to kiss him.
o-o-o
It was five days before the Pearl drew within sight of Martinique. The weather had been favorable, and the ship had made good time, but somehow they were unable to catch more than a distant glimpse of the Fleur de Mer, though the Pearl sported all the canvas she could in the effort.
"A few more hours an' we'd have had 'em," said Jack, collapsing the spyglass and stowing it away in his pocket. "Now they're too close to Fort-de-France. We'll have to do this another way. A bit o' stealth an' all. Unfortunately, they'll know I'm coming, for if I've seen them they've likely been able to see us!"
"Jack! You will go alone?" exclaimed Harry, fearfully.
"He will not," Norrington said, before Jack could reply. "I shall accompany him."
Jack drew himself up. "Oh, you will, will you? An' what makes you think so? I'd a mind to leave you here to help keep an eye on the Pearl. The boys're my problem to deal with, Commodore."
"And the French are mine, Captain. Will and Gibbs are perfectly capable of taking care of the Black Pearl. You, on the other hand, are at present in the employ of the crown, and require rather more looking after in this instance than the ship. Or don't you trust me enough to do my job?"
Jack opened his mouth. Closed it. Then shook his finger at the Commodore, and said, "All right. But remember: I'm in charge. Savvy?"
Norrington smirked. "Of course, Captain."
"Just so we're clear on that point."
"Clear as glass."
"All right, then."
"All right."
o-o-o
The Black Pearl would hover off the coast, out of harm's way, coming in toward shore at dawn each day to watch for a signal from the two men. After rather anxious goodbyes had been said, Jack and James rowed a mile to shore in the jollyboat, secreting it in a little cove a few miles from Fort-de-France, Martinique's principal town. They made their way slowly up over the hills in the moonlight. The vegetation was heavy enough to impede their progress, though not as dense as in the north of the island, around Mount Pelee, where Jack knew it to be thick jungle. "Tussaud's house is a bloody fortress in itself," Jack told Norrington. "I was here once, years ago, an' got meself invited to dinner. Tussaud thought I was a fellow merchant. Had a right splendid time: good food, the best wines, an' the opportunity to lift a few expensive trinkets between courses. Played cards with 'im, too, after."
"How foolish of him," Norrington said, drily.
"Aye," Jack agreed, "But he was younger then. Likely a bit warier, now."
"One would hope he has not grown too wary, however, if the boys have been taken there."
"That's like to be a problem, sure enough. But I'm hoping we'll be able to find a back way in."
"We are neither of us precisely inconspicuous, however."
"Speak for yourself, Commodore. Anyway, it's only your height an' your voice they'll notice, since you're wigless and dressed in a civilian's clothes. Just keep your head down an' let me do the talking."
"They speak French, don't they?"
"Aye, and they'll notice an English accent within a few words so be quiet, savvy?"
"How do you know you speak the language better than I?" demanded Norrington.
Jack replied in French, to the effect that only a complete idiot wouldn't recognize James for an English Commodore the second he opened his mouth, so he'd better resign himself to keeping it shut, and he could consider that an order.
James sighed. "Oh, very well."
"Once we come up over that next rise we should be able to see something. Come on!"
There was a faint light of dawn in the sky as Jack led the way with some difficulty up to the top of a long, steep hill, thick with scratchy brush and a few trees. He pulled himself up to the top by gripping a convenient branch, and extended a hand to help Norrington up beside him. And then, looking out over the town that lay sloping down before them to the enormous bay, the two stared in gathering surprise and trepidation at the sight that met their eyes.
On to Chapter Twelve