Pirates of the Caribbean 03 The Pirate Chase (5 page)

CHAPTER EIGHT

For a few long moments, the crew of the Barnacle stared at Arabella in horrified fascination."Impossible," Arabella whispered, gazing at the still-glowing sword in her hand."Amazing, isn't it, how many impossible things are nonetheless true?" Jack folded his arms and studied the empty spot where LeftFoot Louis used to be."
The Sword of Cortes did this,"
Fitzwilliam said, leaving Jack to wonder why Fitz always needed to state the obvious. "You wished that justice might be done by your mother's hand, and then he disappeared."Tumen kept staring suspiciously around the mill. "Her mother is dead. So where did the pirate go?""The afterlife," Jean said, as though it were obvious. "He took the ropes with him, so he's still tied up, wherever he is. I hope he stays tied up forever, Arabella.""I killed him." Arabella tossed the Sword of Cortes to the mill floor, where it clattered against the wood, and then held her hands up to her quivering mouth. Fitzwilliam took one step toward Arabella and made an attempt to touch her shoulder, but she jerked away from him. "I killed him, just the s
ame as if I'd cut his throat."

"Oh, no, you didn't!" Jack protested. Then it occurred to him that he didn't know that, exactly. "It doesn't count if you didn't mean to kill him. It's a rule somewhere. In some sort of code or rule book somewhere. Really. I'm sure of it."Tumen looked skeptical. "I'm not sure that's true."Jack frantically waved off this objection. "Besides, Louis could still be alive!""Alive?" Arabella said. "Yes, if you consider somewhere in the afterlife alive. But it does seem like a pretty dead type of being alive to me." Arabella was now shivering violently, as though she were freezing instead of sweating in the heat of the warm Caribbean afternoon.Jean shrugged. "He could be alive. Stranger things have happened, right?" "
I don't think so," Tumen said.
"But it's possible!" Jean was grinning now. "We know these things, in Creole lands. The living and the dead aren't as separate as you think. Haven't you heard of a zombie before?"Arabella went pale. Fitzwilliam said, "If we could refrain from speaking about zombies, I think that would be best.""Not helping a bit," Jack agreed. "But I meant what I said. There is a great possibility that Left-Foot Louis is still alive.""How do you know?" Tumen asked."Because--think of what Arabella said last. Right before Louis did that spiffy vanishing thing. She said, 'May justice be done.' What does that sound like to you, eh?""Justice. You mean--the law?" Arabella sounded a little more hopeful. "The Sword might have sent him to a jail somewhere?"Jack felt e
ncouraged. In truth, he didn't
have the slightest idea where Louis had gone, and he didn't much care, either. The main thing was that Louis was gone. And the second-to-main thing was getting his first mate back into shipshape condition."Exactly. Precisely. Jail," Jack continued. "Probably dropped Left-Foot Louis right in front of the closest magistrate, just like you wanted. Not too shabby.""She also said that she wanted justice to be done by her mother's hand," Tumen reminded Jack.Arabella wilted again, and Jack scowled at Tumen."Look here--did you ever hear of the figurative sense of things?" Jack said. "Fitz here could fill you in, I am sure, what with all his correcting of people's English and such. Justice is served by her
mother's hand, symbolically."

"That's right. Must be." Arabella took a deep breath, clearly trying to convince herself that this was the truth. "Just give me a moment."Everyone kept a respectful silence--for Arabella's sake, not for the memory of the worthless Left-Foot Louis. She turned toward the corner, hugging herself, and Jack thought it wisest to leave her alone for a bit.Then Jean, having a moment to gather his thoughts and his composure, suddenly snapped, "Constance! Where is she?"That blasted cat! Jack had almost forgotten about that poor excuse for an old floor mat. "She was with me up at the church, where we ran into Left-Foot Louis in the first place."Jean flinched. "But no! He hated Constance! Tell me he did
n't hurt her. Did
he? Are you just trying to find a way to break it to me gently?"

"Your strange cat-sister-beastie-thing is in the pink of health," Jack said. "So far as I know," he continued. "At least she was the last time I saw her."Jean glared at Jack. "The last time you saw her?" he shouted, panicked."Calm down, calm down," Jack replied. "She ran off not long after the fighting started. As far as I know, she's somewhere between here and there. Wherever there might be," Jack said."Jack!" Jean snapped, flustered. "They were last up by the church, now we are at the mill," Fitzwilliam said, placing a hand on Jean's shoulder. "We have a path to follow, then." Fitzwilliam was speaking calmly, as if he were sure they'd find Constance easily, but also like he
didn't care
if they never saw the cat again. "Shall we take a walk toward the church? I believe fresh air might prove bracing.""All right," Arabella said, clearly gathering herself together. "Let's go."Just then, one of the pirate thugs lying on the floor sat up and looked around in a daze. "Captain!" he bellowed. "Where is our Captain, Louis? What have you lot of curs done with him?"Jack considered how best to answer this, then picked up the Sword of Cortes and smashed the hilt down on the pirate's head. The pirate fell down, unconscious again. "Right, that's taken care of," Jack said.Casually, hoping no one would take notice, Jack slipped the Sword into its sheath--uniting these two parts for the first time in a long while, making them whole again. He hal
f-expected the room to ripple
with magic, or a shower of sparks and light, or something else of a dazzling nature. Instead, the Sword fell into place like any other sword in any other sheath. Obviously, that parchment was the key piece of the puzzle. Jack would need that before he could do anything really impressive. But he still didn't know exactly what this parchment was. The crew walked up the hill under the hot afternoon sun. Nobody spoke. They were all aware, however, that they'd taken care of only three out of the many pirates aboard the Cutlass. Left-Foot Louis might be in jail, or a zombie, or whatever else the Sword of Cortes had seen fit to do with him, but there was still a whole crew of pirates who could cause a lot of trouble. Fortunately, Jack and his crew were able to make their way to the church without seeing any sign of them. As
they walked through the front
doors, Fitzwilliam broke the silence. "What were pirates doing in a church? I would wager they were not there to offer alms.""Oh, they were just doing some graverobbing," Jack replied with relish. "Digging up old bones, that sort of thing. Typical pirate happenings."Tumen made a face. "Disgusting."

"Horrible," Arabella said, shuddering.Jean grinned. "Constance!"Jean ran out the church's back door. There, atop the coffin the pirates had unearthed, lay Constance--sleeping in a sunbeam that fell along the casket lid."My beautiful sister!" Jean cuddled the cat against his chest; Constance blinked drowsily and looked as though she would much rather have been left to her nap. "You're safe, thank goodness."

"Beautiful
?" Jack
asked. “Sleeping
on a coffin?" Arabella folded her arms and looked quite cross. "Honestly, Constance. How gruesome of ye."Constance licked her ragged whiskers, unconcerned. Arabella shook her head in exasperation."Left-Foot Louis was rather interested in this here coffin." Jack said. "Specifically, the man inside the coffin, once known as Francois, may he rest in peace. After today, I mean."The crew looked over at the coffin, which Louis's men had already opened part of the way."Yuck," Jean said."What did he want with Francois's
body? “Fitzwilliam
asked."Well, even more specifically, he wanted a bit of parchment this Francois had on his person when he shuffled off to wherever it is dead people s
huffle off to,"

"This parchment. The one ye mentioned before. What's so important about it?" Arabella peered down suspiciously at the coffin and shivered at the sight of the decomposing corpse. The afternoon breeze ruffled her messy hair.Jack put his hands behind his back and rocked back and forth, smiling. "Seems to have something to do with the Sword of Cortes.""A treasure map to its location? But Louis had already found the Sword, in Stone-Eyed Sam's throne room."* Fitzwilliam gestured at the sword and sheath at Jack's side. "You already have the scabbard. Therefore, the parchment can be of no use to us. That sword at your side, Jack, it is already imbued with godlike power!"

"No, it is not. Not yet," Jack s
aid flatly.
The Barnacle's crew looked confused.Jack continued, "Seems that this parchment has the ability to unlock the true-- the full--power of the Sword of Cortes.""Oh, no." Arabella shook her head, as if she were really thinking about this for the very first time. "Jack, that sword's power is already huge. It's already dangerous."

"Very true. So how could the parchment make it any worse?" Smiling hopefully, Jack gestured toward the coffin."I agree with Arabella," Tumen said, stepping back to put distance between him and Jack. "The Sword has hurt many people. It should not hurt
anymore
."

"Don't look at me." Jean clutched Constance tighter. "I don't care one way or the other about the Sword, but messing with that dead body in there? Yuck! Not for me."To Jack's
surprise, Fitzwilliam stepped
forward. "Jack is right. We must obtain the
parchment. “Everyone
stared at him. Jack was the first to find his voice. "Although I am of course surprised and delighted to hear you making sense for once, Fitzy--what on earth has brought you around to my side?"

"Let us consider this closely," Fitzwilliam said, speaking to everyone but Jack. "If LeftFoot Louis knew the parchment was here, chances are that others do as well. Anyone who later finds this parchment will then come after the Sword--and after those who possess it. In other words, they will come after us. But if this grave is dug up again in the future, and if those who do it do not find the parchment because we have taken it, they will think the stories to be untrue. They will not come after the Sword, they will not come
after us, and we will remain
safe. At the very least, this parchment must be retrieved and safely hidden."Arabella wasn't convinced. She was wringing her hands together, nervous and uneasy. "We could drop the Sword off the side of the Barnacle. In fact, we should. Let it fall to the bottom of the sea, where it belongs.""Oh, yes, 'where it belongs'--with Davy Jones, the Sirens and the merfolk, and who knows what else?" Jack said. "We know now the sea is no safer a place than the land."The crew nodded in agreement.Jack decided it might be time to add his perspective, too. "Besides, after all we've been through--Bell, aren't you just a little curious?" She raised an eyebrow, studying him. "All those sailors' tales you've listened to. All the legends you drank in while the pirates were gulp
ing their ale at the Faithfull
Bride. Don't you want to know if they're true? Aren't you ready to see for yourself? And, think for a moment, all of you, of the type of freedom such power would bestow upon us."Arabella hesitated--and then she and Jack shared a deliciously happy smile. "Well then, I gather it's as good a day as any to become a grave robber," she said.After a moment, Jean and Tumen nodded their consent as well.It took both Fitzwilliam and Jack to remove the rest of the coffin lid. The iron hinges had rusted right off, though most of the wood was still heavy and strong. Finally, Fitzwilliam put his shoulder into it, and the lid swung all the way back. Francois's skeleton was dressed in regal clothing. His dusty gray skull grinned at the crew. Tumen shuddered, an
d Fitzwilliam winced from the
mo
u
ldy smell. Even Jack didn't like the look of the
thing. And
there, in the pocket of the skeleton's elegant
waistcoat;
Jack found the parchm
ent they'd been seeking.

CHAPTER NINE

"What have we here?" Jack whispered, leaning over Francois's remains. Carefully, he tugged the parchment from the skeleton's coat. The sheet fluttered free, and Arabella quickly pushed the lid of the coffin shut again."The parchment," Jean whispered. "It unlocks the godlike power of the Sword?"

"So they say." Jack grinned."Now you have the parchment. Do you have godlike
power already?" Tumen asked.
Jack considered this for a moment. "Don't think so." He put his hand on the Sword. "No tingling, no humming, nothing special." He looked up at the sunny sky and made a swirling gesture with his hand as if he were trying to stir up clouds, but no rain began to fall. "Nope. Definitely not godlike."

"Perhaps merely possessing the parchment is not enough," Fitzwilliam pointed out. "Perhaps there is some sort of magic spell or incantation written upon it."

"Of course there's an incantation written upon it. I was just waiting to see how long it would take you all to realize it," Jack
said. Jack
smoothed the parchment out atop the lid of Francois's coffin. Sure enough, something was written on it, in ink so old that it had faded to mere scratches of sepia. "Can't quite make this out," Jack m
uttered as he squinted at it.
Arabella seemed distracted, "We really ought
to bury Francois. Rebury him, I mean. “Wait
," Jack said holding his arm out as if he were stopping Arabella. Grinning, he added, "It'll be a lot easier to lower him down and shovel dirt over him once we have godlike power."Fitzwilliam leaned next to Jack to study the parchment for himself. "I do not believe that this is written in English.""Spanish, I could figure out," Jack said, "but it's not Spanish. That would just be too bloody convenient, wouldn't it?""It's not French or Creole, either," Jean offered. "Tumen, does this look like your tribe's language?"Tumen shook his head and said, "I have never seen anything like t
his." Arabella shrugged, too.
Jack studied Fitzwilliam's face. "You're not saying something, Fitz. Out with it.""Ah. Yes. Well." Fitzwilliam glanced first in one direction, then in another, as if looking for rescue that did not come. His cheeks were turning red. "I think that this is written in Latin."

"Latin! Fitz, that's perfect!" Arabella brightened. "Ye learned Latin from your tutors! I remember when ye told us of
all the languages you speak."
Jack's face lit up. "Thank everything blessed and cursed that you aristos learn all those bloody dead languages!" he said.Tugging at his collar, Fitzwilliam said, "I fear I must admit that I was not always the most attentive of pupils for my Latin tutor."Constance cocked her head, as though*Fitz did, in fact, tell them he s
poke Latin
. Jean stroked her fur as he asked, "What is that supposed to mean?"

"It means Fitzy here doesn't speak a word of Latin." Jack couldn't believe it. "The only useful thing you could've absorbed in your high-and-mighty education, and you didn't learn it. Absolutely brilliant."Fitzwilliam straightened up, reasserting his dignity. "I submit to you that I could scarcely have known that I would need Latin to decipher a magical scroll granting godlike power to the bearer of the Sword of Cortes.""Oh, you've no imagination at all," Jack said
dismissively. “But
--then--" looking bewildered, Arabella asked Fitz, "why did ye say ye spoke Latin when ye
didn’t? “Jack
was the one who answered her. "Some lads just
can't resist showing off for
the lasses. And usually it's the lads with the least to brag about." Fitz's face grew red with anger, and Jack wondered if he was about to see Fitzwilliam lose his temper again. The aristocrat's fits of rage were always fun for some sparring practice.Arabella stepped between them, clearly eager to make the peace. "Fitz, how much did you learn? Anything?"

"A few words. Pronunciation. No more."To Jack's surprise, Arabella nodded with satisfaction. "Well, then, that's all ye need. As long as ye read it aloud correctly, the incantation should work. Ye don't have to understand what it says.""Wait," Tumen interrupted. "We would be calling forth great magical power without knowing precisely what we are doing. Don't you think this might be unwise?"

"We've never known what
we were doing
before," Jack reminded him. "Why should we let that stop us now?"

"But Tumen surely has a point," Fitzwilliam said.Jack snatched up the parchment from the coffin lid. "If you were all a bunch of scaredycats--and please feel free to take offense to that, Constance--why did you help me get the parchment in the first place? You've just lost your nerve, the lot of you. We've come this far. Let's finish. Let's use the Sword of Cortes."Slowly, Arabella nodded. Tumen sighed, but he did not say anything else. Jean nodded gamely. Fitzwilliam was the last of them to agree, but he finally cleared his throat and said, "I am ready.""I've got the Sword, and it's in its sheath," Jack said, checking at his side to make sure nothing magical had happened to ei
ther
item, but they were right there where they belonged and seemed as normal as ever. "I should be holding the parchment, too. You read it off, Fitz, and I'll repeat after you. Got it?""Aye, 'Captain,'" Fitzwilliam said, saluting dramatically and leaning over Jack's shoulder.The breeze stirred everyone's hair. The empty town of Puerto San Judas had never sounded as silent as it did that moment. Even the birds seemed to have stopped singing. Everybody crowded closer to Jack and Fitzwilliam as Fitzwilliam began to read aloud: