Ad Infinitum - Chapter 14: Diem Perdidi
They made discreet, nonchalant enquires around the docks, careful not to draw too much attention to themselves. From a grizzled old fisherman, whose deeply wrinkled face told of many hours under the hot Caribbean sun, they found out that Ana had recently left her boat, the Jolly Mon Too, in the care of her cousin Marcel, and from a young wharf rat, with skinny knees and nimble fingers, they learned that Ana used to share part of her catch with the locals, adopting the stray youngsters that hovered around the docks like a flock of hungry seagulls.
Extracting the young boy’s fingers from out of his pocket, Jack held him tightly by the wrist and said in a gravely voice, stern but not really meant to frighten, “I’ll let you keep the shillings, along with your hand, if you point out the Jolly Mon to us.”
The boy, fist clenched tightly around the meagre change he’d fished from Jack’s pocket, narrowed his eyes in suspicion. “What you want to know that for? You friends of Ana’s?”
“We’ve sailed together before,” Jack nodded, lightening his hold but not letting go. “Damn good sailor she is, I’d trust her with me life.”
Relaxing notably, the boy shrugged his narrow shoulders, while testing if Jack‘s hold would let. “It ain’t here.”
“Well, that’s less than bloody unhelpful…” Jack gripped the boy’s wrist tighter again, leaning lower to stare black demand upon him and hissed, “Dammit, boy, where is it then?”
The boy squirmed in Jack’s grip. “I don’t know! Sometimes they are gone for days.” He squirmed harder, breaching a cry, “I thought you were her friends!”
Will stepped in, landing a firm hand to Jack’s shoulder as if daring him to argue, and Jack, shooting a glance at Will, let the boy go with a disappointed sigh.
Leaving Jack to bristle in the ineffectiveness of his negotiation skills, Will pulled the kid aside and spoke in a kind, soothing voice, “We’re not looking to cause your friends any harm. We have a message from Ana to deliver, that is all.” Squatting down so he was eye level with the boy, Will fished in his pocket and held up a half crown between his thumb and index finger. At the boy’s widening eyes, Will promised, “This will be yours if you let us know the moment the Jolly Mon returns. Deal?”
Nodding eagerly, forgotten all about Jack’s hostility, the boy smiled. “Deal! Where do I find you?”
Raising a brow in question, Will looked up at Jack, who was standing there with a scowl on his face, impatiently tapping his foot on the ground. He started to reply, but was interrupted by Gibbs, who arrived on the dock breathless, face flushed as if he’d run the entire way from the tavern.
“Jack! Will! Thank the immortal gods I found you!”
Jack eyed his quartermaster with a dubious eye, as if expecting more sunken ships or other bad news. He soon found he wasn‘t entirely wrong.
“There’s talk in the Bride about a bounty on all our heads, the Pearl included.”
The boy’s eyes grew wide. “The Black Pearl?” he asked in awe. “You’re…you’re Captain Jack Sparrow?” The boy was bubbling with excitement. “Ana told me all about you!”
“Did she now?,” Jack grumbled, dubious of the sudden, bright smile upon the child’s face, but still managing to puff a bit in pride.
The boy nodded his head vigorously. “About the times she sailed with you. Says you’re the best Captain she’d ever sailed under.”
“Really?” Jack was evidently pleased with that assessment, his hand instinctively finding his sword and straightening up to an almost alarming arch. “She is obviously a woman with an astute mind.” He grinned, warming to the miniature version of a person, then asked casually, “What else did she have to say?”
Smiling enthusiastically, probably hoping that the praise delivered would result in another half a crown, the kid announced with a clear voice, “That you are crazy as a loon.”
Will could not, for the world, bite back the laugh bursting through his chest while clapping the boy on the back. “Ana is a wise woman, indeed,” he chuckled at Jack’s instantly crestfallen face. “She wouldn’t want any harm to come to the best pirate in the Caribbean, now would she?”
The boy shook his head in all seriousness, not quite sure what was happening.
Will quickly steadied himself, placed a firm hand on the lad’s shoulder and said solemnly, “So you won’t tell anyone you have seen Captain Sparrow this evening, am I correct?”
The boy placed a finger across his lips. “Not a word. Joachim’s lips are sealed!”
“Excellent.” Will smiled at the boy and extended a hand. The kid shook it in the manner as if he were the owner of the wharf, his eyes sparkling, when Will confirmed their arrangement, “Then we have an accord?”
“Agreed!” The coins nearly burning a hole to his palm, the boy almost nodded his head off its attachments.
Tousling the lad’s hair with a friendly smile, Will got up and turned to Jack and Gibbs, stating the facts for them to deal with “Well, the bounty hunters won’t be finding the Pearl. But we will need a place to lie low until the Jolly Mon returns. Any suggestions?”
Jack, who had been speechless since Joachim’s last comment about his very own person, nodded. Glaring suspectingly at the boy, then turning his gaze to Will, Jack declared with gusto, “I know just the place. The Painted Lady.”
“A brothel?” Will gasped, giving Jack an incredulous look.
“No, a dress shop.” Jack chirped, grinning innocently enough. “Run by two of my favourite former ladies of the night. They’ll be thrilled to see us.”
Gibbs nodded eagerly. “No one will think t’ look there.”
Will slowly raised a skeptical brow, glancing a look between Gibbs and Jack, and upon finding them both being nothing short of sincere, he nodded. “Then it is agreed. We will wait there.” Leaning down to meet Joachim’s eyes, he put a reassuring hand on his shoulder. “It is imperative no one knows you have seen us here…Savvy?” At the boy’s solemn nod, Will added, “Ana is a good woman. None of us would want to disappoint her, would they?”
The lad shook his head determinately, then eyed Will warily. “Is she coming back?” Joachim’s eyes were worried. “She’s been gone an awful long time.”
Jack stepped forward and briskly clapped the boy on the back, chiming cheerfully, “She’s a little busy at the moment, but I am sure she‘ll be back at the first opportune moment.”
They quickly left the boy standing on the docks, a handsome bounty hovering over their heads while Joachim fingered the coins in his pocket, a joyful smile alighting his dirty face.
****
Pierre was bustling around his dress shop, The Painted Lady, straightening a display here, fussing over a manikin there. Whistling a cheery tune, lost in his own world, he was startled by a sudden knock on the door.
Mon Dieu! Could they not see the sign in the window? He huffed over to the door and said in a loud voice, “La boutique, it is closed.” Another persistent knock, along with a rattle of the door knob, gave him cause for alarm. Pierre grabbed the poker from the hearth and stood behind the door. Just let one of those ruffians from the town try and break into his shop!
“Oi! Pierre!”
A familiar voice on the other side of the door caused him to fling open the door with enthusiasm. “Capitaine Sparrow! What a stupendous surprise!”
Jack eyed the poker dubiously as he brushed quickly past the diminutive Frenchman, followed closely by Will and Gibbs. “You ought to be more careful, Pierre. You could poke an eye out with that thing.”
Pierre returned the tool to the hearth and laughed. “One can never be too careful in this town.” He returned, rubbing his hands in glee. “What service can I do for you, mon Capitaine?” He hurried over to a display of notions and picked up a handful of ribbons. “A pretty treat for your lady, perhaps? Or…” he smiled slyly, as he tossed the ribbons aside and picked up a white silk cravat. “Perhaps it is not an amie but ami you wish to impress, no?”
Jack sighed in exasperation. “Neither. We are looking for a place to stay for a night or two.”
Pierre sniffed. “What do I look like, an inn keeper? Are they all full?”
“We need somewhere to stay that is discrete,” Jack said, fluttering his fingers at the feminine décor. “Someplace not obvious, if you get me drift.”
“Ah! Le intrigue!” Pierre smiled. “You are hiding from someone, perhaps? A jealous husband? Wife? Both?”
Will stepped forward and held out his hand. “I do not believe we have met. I am Will Turner, and you are…?”
“Pierre Bouspeut!” The small Frenchman stood tall and shook Will’s hand, with a click of his heels. “You are a friend of Capitaine Sparrow?”
Will studied Jack, who was busy fingering something on one of the display tables and nodded. “Yes, we are friends. We seem to be in need of a place to lie low for a short while. We are willing to pay,” Will added, fishing in his pocket for some coins.
“Pah!” Pierre waved the offered coins away. “Your money is not good here. A friend of Jack’s, is a friend of Pierre’s, oui?” He pointed towards a staircase at the back of the shop. “We have several rooms above the shop, I am sure the ladies will not mind the dérangement,” he added with a wink. At Will’s nonplussed look, he hastily added, “Or, if you prefer, there is a small room in the attic which you may use.”
“That would be perfect,” Will said hastily, then arranged his tone into a more gentlemanly one. “Now, if you don’t mind, I would like to retire. It has been a long day.”
Pierre smiled. “Most certainly. I will show you the way.” He waved an airy hand around the room. “I insist you make yourself at home. I have a cellar full of the finest wine, and of course some bottles of the rum our dear captain is so fond of.”
“Coming, Jack?” Will asked, shouldering his satchel as he followed the shop keeper.
Jack snatched his head up, a guilty expression on his face as he quickly stuffed something in his pocket while fluttering a hand at Will impatiently. “Go on ahead, I know the way. I just need to have a word with Gibbs here.”
“Mister Gibbs, he is welcome to stay too, no?” Pierre said cheerfully.
Gibbs shuffled his feet. “Truth be told, this place makes me a bit nervous. I’ll just be givin’ Sally a visit, shall I?
Jack grimaced and coughed the ghost of sleazy brine off his throat. “I never could see what you saw in that one. And,” he added hastily, as Gibbs frowned threateningly, “I am sure I’ll never be lucky enough to find out,”
“Sally’s got a good heart,” Gibbs said proudly. “Not to mention her abundance of, shall we say,” He leaned closer to whisper, “Unmentionables?”
“She’s well… endowed, I give you that,” Jack grinned, drawing a figure in the air with his fingers. “Just as well you give her a visit. Not sure when Will and I will be making port again.”
Gibbs nodded, damn near clacking his heels together in his exitement. “Aye, Cap’n. Not t’ worry. Got me a new lease on life, best be making the most of it,” he said with a waggle of brows.
The two men shook hands and Gibbs, after a quick check around, slipped out into the Tortugan night.
“Now, where is that bottle of rum you mentioned?” Jack mused seductively at Pierre, yet ignoring him while heading for the stairs to join Will.
He didn’t make it to the first step when a squeal of glee stopped him in his tracks and a blur of gold came bounding down the stairs and tackled him.
“Jack! What a wonderful surprise!”
****
“I think he’s a eunuch,” Giselle said with a frown, flinging herself onto her friend’s bed with a sigh.
Scarlett raised an eyebrow but didn’t reply, just continued brushing her coppery tresses. She glanced in the mirror at Giselle, sprawled across the bed in a most unladylike fashion. She smiled, she knew that petulant look.
“A eunuch?” Scarlett returned to studying her own reflection. The years had been kind to her, to both of them, actually. Pierre’s shop had given them a new lease on life, a safe haven away from the rough and violent life of a street whore. In fact, they no longer had to resort to such work for their livelihoods, although each had maintained a favorite man or two from their past.
Poor Giselle. For all her affection for Jack Sparrow, he’d returned from the battle with the armada a changed man. There had been rumors of his death, though his flesh and blood presence belayed that. Yet, there was something different about him, as if something were haunting him.
“I’ve read about them,” Giselle said, interrupting Scarlett’s thoughts. “In one of those books Jack gave me. They used them to guard the Sultan’s harem.” She giggled. “Guess that way they wouldn’t be tempted by all them women.”
Scarlett put down her brush and turned on the stool to face her friend. “So you think, because Jack has not been tempted by you, that he is a eunuch?” She laughed at Giselle’s crest fallen face. “It’s probably something quite simple. Like another woman.”
“The Pirate King,” Giselle said, sitting up and snapping her fingers. “I knew it! That’s why he is here, Will Turner. She’s not dead!”
“Of course she is dead. You saw the broadsheets.” Scarlett said, impatiently. “There were dozens of eye witnesses.”
Giselle shook her head. “And they also claimed that Josh was dead as well, and you and me both seen him tonight, right as rain.”
Scarlett had to agree, Giselle did have a point. And that would explain where Jack had been keeping himself all these years. If he’d taken up with the Pirate King, he certainly would not have needed to visit either of them. From all she’d heard, this Elizabeth was supposed to be a real beauty.
“So why bring her husband along, if that is the case?” Scarlett argued.
Giselle shrugged. “Well, she’s missing, ain’t she? I overheard them talking about going to find her, to rescue her.” Eyes wide with excitement, she added, “She’s been kidnapped, held for ransom, I bet you!” She nodded. “That explains it. Jack needs Will Turner’s help to find her.”
****
Extracting the young boy’s fingers from out of his pocket, Jack held him tightly by the wrist and said in a gravely voice, stern but not really meant to frighten, “I’ll let you keep the shillings, along with your hand, if you point out the Jolly Mon to us.”
The boy, fist clenched tightly around the meagre change he’d fished from Jack’s pocket, narrowed his eyes in suspicion. “What you want to know that for? You friends of Ana’s?”
“We’ve sailed together before,” Jack nodded, lightening his hold but not letting go. “Damn good sailor she is, I’d trust her with me life.”
Relaxing notably, the boy shrugged his narrow shoulders, while testing if Jack‘s hold would let. “It ain’t here.”
“Well, that’s less than bloody unhelpful…” Jack gripped the boy’s wrist tighter again, leaning lower to stare black demand upon him and hissed, “Dammit, boy, where is it then?”
The boy squirmed in Jack’s grip. “I don’t know! Sometimes they are gone for days.” He squirmed harder, breaching a cry, “I thought you were her friends!”
Will stepped in, landing a firm hand to Jack’s shoulder as if daring him to argue, and Jack, shooting a glance at Will, let the boy go with a disappointed sigh.
Leaving Jack to bristle in the ineffectiveness of his negotiation skills, Will pulled the kid aside and spoke in a kind, soothing voice, “We’re not looking to cause your friends any harm. We have a message from Ana to deliver, that is all.” Squatting down so he was eye level with the boy, Will fished in his pocket and held up a half crown between his thumb and index finger. At the boy’s widening eyes, Will promised, “This will be yours if you let us know the moment the Jolly Mon returns. Deal?”
Nodding eagerly, forgotten all about Jack’s hostility, the boy smiled. “Deal! Where do I find you?”
Raising a brow in question, Will looked up at Jack, who was standing there with a scowl on his face, impatiently tapping his foot on the ground. He started to reply, but was interrupted by Gibbs, who arrived on the dock breathless, face flushed as if he’d run the entire way from the tavern.
“Jack! Will! Thank the immortal gods I found you!”
Jack eyed his quartermaster with a dubious eye, as if expecting more sunken ships or other bad news. He soon found he wasn‘t entirely wrong.
“There’s talk in the Bride about a bounty on all our heads, the Pearl included.”
The boy’s eyes grew wide. “The Black Pearl?” he asked in awe. “You’re…you’re Captain Jack Sparrow?” The boy was bubbling with excitement. “Ana told me all about you!”
“Did she now?,” Jack grumbled, dubious of the sudden, bright smile upon the child’s face, but still managing to puff a bit in pride.
The boy nodded his head vigorously. “About the times she sailed with you. Says you’re the best Captain she’d ever sailed under.”
“Really?” Jack was evidently pleased with that assessment, his hand instinctively finding his sword and straightening up to an almost alarming arch. “She is obviously a woman with an astute mind.” He grinned, warming to the miniature version of a person, then asked casually, “What else did she have to say?”
Smiling enthusiastically, probably hoping that the praise delivered would result in another half a crown, the kid announced with a clear voice, “That you are crazy as a loon.”
Will could not, for the world, bite back the laugh bursting through his chest while clapping the boy on the back. “Ana is a wise woman, indeed,” he chuckled at Jack’s instantly crestfallen face. “She wouldn’t want any harm to come to the best pirate in the Caribbean, now would she?”
The boy shook his head in all seriousness, not quite sure what was happening.
Will quickly steadied himself, placed a firm hand on the lad’s shoulder and said solemnly, “So you won’t tell anyone you have seen Captain Sparrow this evening, am I correct?”
The boy placed a finger across his lips. “Not a word. Joachim’s lips are sealed!”
“Excellent.” Will smiled at the boy and extended a hand. The kid shook it in the manner as if he were the owner of the wharf, his eyes sparkling, when Will confirmed their arrangement, “Then we have an accord?”
“Agreed!” The coins nearly burning a hole to his palm, the boy almost nodded his head off its attachments.
Tousling the lad’s hair with a friendly smile, Will got up and turned to Jack and Gibbs, stating the facts for them to deal with “Well, the bounty hunters won’t be finding the Pearl. But we will need a place to lie low until the Jolly Mon returns. Any suggestions?”
Jack, who had been speechless since Joachim’s last comment about his very own person, nodded. Glaring suspectingly at the boy, then turning his gaze to Will, Jack declared with gusto, “I know just the place. The Painted Lady.”
“A brothel?” Will gasped, giving Jack an incredulous look.
“No, a dress shop.” Jack chirped, grinning innocently enough. “Run by two of my favourite former ladies of the night. They’ll be thrilled to see us.”
Gibbs nodded eagerly. “No one will think t’ look there.”
Will slowly raised a skeptical brow, glancing a look between Gibbs and Jack, and upon finding them both being nothing short of sincere, he nodded. “Then it is agreed. We will wait there.” Leaning down to meet Joachim’s eyes, he put a reassuring hand on his shoulder. “It is imperative no one knows you have seen us here…Savvy?” At the boy’s solemn nod, Will added, “Ana is a good woman. None of us would want to disappoint her, would they?”
The lad shook his head determinately, then eyed Will warily. “Is she coming back?” Joachim’s eyes were worried. “She’s been gone an awful long time.”
Jack stepped forward and briskly clapped the boy on the back, chiming cheerfully, “She’s a little busy at the moment, but I am sure she‘ll be back at the first opportune moment.”
They quickly left the boy standing on the docks, a handsome bounty hovering over their heads while Joachim fingered the coins in his pocket, a joyful smile alighting his dirty face.
****
Pierre was bustling around his dress shop, The Painted Lady, straightening a display here, fussing over a manikin there. Whistling a cheery tune, lost in his own world, he was startled by a sudden knock on the door.
Mon Dieu! Could they not see the sign in the window? He huffed over to the door and said in a loud voice, “La boutique, it is closed.” Another persistent knock, along with a rattle of the door knob, gave him cause for alarm. Pierre grabbed the poker from the hearth and stood behind the door. Just let one of those ruffians from the town try and break into his shop!
“Oi! Pierre!”
A familiar voice on the other side of the door caused him to fling open the door with enthusiasm. “Capitaine Sparrow! What a stupendous surprise!”
Jack eyed the poker dubiously as he brushed quickly past the diminutive Frenchman, followed closely by Will and Gibbs. “You ought to be more careful, Pierre. You could poke an eye out with that thing.”
Pierre returned the tool to the hearth and laughed. “One can never be too careful in this town.” He returned, rubbing his hands in glee. “What service can I do for you, mon Capitaine?” He hurried over to a display of notions and picked up a handful of ribbons. “A pretty treat for your lady, perhaps? Or…” he smiled slyly, as he tossed the ribbons aside and picked up a white silk cravat. “Perhaps it is not an amie but ami you wish to impress, no?”
Jack sighed in exasperation. “Neither. We are looking for a place to stay for a night or two.”
Pierre sniffed. “What do I look like, an inn keeper? Are they all full?”
“We need somewhere to stay that is discrete,” Jack said, fluttering his fingers at the feminine décor. “Someplace not obvious, if you get me drift.”
“Ah! Le intrigue!” Pierre smiled. “You are hiding from someone, perhaps? A jealous husband? Wife? Both?”
Will stepped forward and held out his hand. “I do not believe we have met. I am Will Turner, and you are…?”
“Pierre Bouspeut!” The small Frenchman stood tall and shook Will’s hand, with a click of his heels. “You are a friend of Capitaine Sparrow?”
Will studied Jack, who was busy fingering something on one of the display tables and nodded. “Yes, we are friends. We seem to be in need of a place to lie low for a short while. We are willing to pay,” Will added, fishing in his pocket for some coins.
“Pah!” Pierre waved the offered coins away. “Your money is not good here. A friend of Jack’s, is a friend of Pierre’s, oui?” He pointed towards a staircase at the back of the shop. “We have several rooms above the shop, I am sure the ladies will not mind the dérangement,” he added with a wink. At Will’s nonplussed look, he hastily added, “Or, if you prefer, there is a small room in the attic which you may use.”
“That would be perfect,” Will said hastily, then arranged his tone into a more gentlemanly one. “Now, if you don’t mind, I would like to retire. It has been a long day.”
Pierre smiled. “Most certainly. I will show you the way.” He waved an airy hand around the room. “I insist you make yourself at home. I have a cellar full of the finest wine, and of course some bottles of the rum our dear captain is so fond of.”
“Coming, Jack?” Will asked, shouldering his satchel as he followed the shop keeper.
Jack snatched his head up, a guilty expression on his face as he quickly stuffed something in his pocket while fluttering a hand at Will impatiently. “Go on ahead, I know the way. I just need to have a word with Gibbs here.”
“Mister Gibbs, he is welcome to stay too, no?” Pierre said cheerfully.
Gibbs shuffled his feet. “Truth be told, this place makes me a bit nervous. I’ll just be givin’ Sally a visit, shall I?
Jack grimaced and coughed the ghost of sleazy brine off his throat. “I never could see what you saw in that one. And,” he added hastily, as Gibbs frowned threateningly, “I am sure I’ll never be lucky enough to find out,”
“Sally’s got a good heart,” Gibbs said proudly. “Not to mention her abundance of, shall we say,” He leaned closer to whisper, “Unmentionables?”
“She’s well… endowed, I give you that,” Jack grinned, drawing a figure in the air with his fingers. “Just as well you give her a visit. Not sure when Will and I will be making port again.”
Gibbs nodded, damn near clacking his heels together in his exitement. “Aye, Cap’n. Not t’ worry. Got me a new lease on life, best be making the most of it,” he said with a waggle of brows.
The two men shook hands and Gibbs, after a quick check around, slipped out into the Tortugan night.
“Now, where is that bottle of rum you mentioned?” Jack mused seductively at Pierre, yet ignoring him while heading for the stairs to join Will.
He didn’t make it to the first step when a squeal of glee stopped him in his tracks and a blur of gold came bounding down the stairs and tackled him.
“Jack! What a wonderful surprise!”
****
“I think he’s a eunuch,” Giselle said with a frown, flinging herself onto her friend’s bed with a sigh.
Scarlett raised an eyebrow but didn’t reply, just continued brushing her coppery tresses. She glanced in the mirror at Giselle, sprawled across the bed in a most unladylike fashion. She smiled, she knew that petulant look.
“A eunuch?” Scarlett returned to studying her own reflection. The years had been kind to her, to both of them, actually. Pierre’s shop had given them a new lease on life, a safe haven away from the rough and violent life of a street whore. In fact, they no longer had to resort to such work for their livelihoods, although each had maintained a favorite man or two from their past.
Poor Giselle. For all her affection for Jack Sparrow, he’d returned from the battle with the armada a changed man. There had been rumors of his death, though his flesh and blood presence belayed that. Yet, there was something different about him, as if something were haunting him.
“I’ve read about them,” Giselle said, interrupting Scarlett’s thoughts. “In one of those books Jack gave me. They used them to guard the Sultan’s harem.” She giggled. “Guess that way they wouldn’t be tempted by all them women.”
Scarlett put down her brush and turned on the stool to face her friend. “So you think, because Jack has not been tempted by you, that he is a eunuch?” She laughed at Giselle’s crest fallen face. “It’s probably something quite simple. Like another woman.”
“The Pirate King,” Giselle said, sitting up and snapping her fingers. “I knew it! That’s why he is here, Will Turner. She’s not dead!”
“Of course she is dead. You saw the broadsheets.” Scarlett said, impatiently. “There were dozens of eye witnesses.”
Giselle shook her head. “And they also claimed that Josh was dead as well, and you and me both seen him tonight, right as rain.”
Scarlett had to agree, Giselle did have a point. And that would explain where Jack had been keeping himself all these years. If he’d taken up with the Pirate King, he certainly would not have needed to visit either of them. From all she’d heard, this Elizabeth was supposed to be a real beauty.
“So why bring her husband along, if that is the case?” Scarlett argued.
Giselle shrugged. “Well, she’s missing, ain’t she? I overheard them talking about going to find her, to rescue her.” Eyes wide with excitement, she added, “She’s been kidnapped, held for ransom, I bet you!” She nodded. “That explains it. Jack needs Will Turner’s help to find her.”
****