Pirates of the Caribbean 06 Silver (6 page)

"Silverback destroyed everything, lookin
g for the gem. R
emember him screaming like a madman. Where is it?
Where’s
the silver bullet?' Then his leg and face glowed this horrible yellow. And he turned, looking right at me. My father grabbed me and pushed me out the back door and made me run away. When I looked back all I saw were flames--and Silverback still grinning. I don't know what happened to my mom and da'."His eyes were very bright with memory in the lantern light."There now, lad," Fitzwilliam said a little awkwardly.

"Go on," Jack prodded the boy."I stowed away on the first fishing vessel I could find that was headed to Barbados," Tim continued after collecting himself.

"My uncle lives there. I thought I could live with him, and together we could find my family. Maybe they were still alive. Maybe they we
re already
on their way to see him. But then we made a port of call at the mouth of the Pantano River. I left the boat for a little while--just enough time to find or steal some food. A stranger approached me. He was dressed all in rags and looked crazy, with all these dead snakes hanging around his neck. . . .Jack's eyebrows raised. He immediately recognized the description of the old man in rags. It was the same disguise Madame Minuit used when the crew confronted her in
New Orleans.

"Madame Minuit!" Jack said.The boy nodded grimly."She grabbed my arm and told my own story back to me. The gem, my home going up in flames, the fact that I was looking for my parents . . . and she told me she would help me, if I did
as she said."

"What did you do?" Fitzwilliam asked.The boy gave him a look. "A crazy 'man' with dead snakes hanging around his neck who can read your mind asks you to 'do some things for him'? What do ya think I did? I told him I would seriously think about it. And I seriously thought about turning around and running the other way."

"I'm with you there, lad," Jack said, getting the point."I waited too long to say anything, and then one of his--her--snakes came alive and bit me. As you know, a snake bite from Madame will possess you. So, I was hypnotized. From that moment on, I was under her spell," Tim finished, shrugging helplessly. "She used me to help her look first for the bronze gem, and then the amulet itself.""What a fascinating story," Jack said, pretending to stif
le a yawn. "Let me give you a
hint, though, for future storytelling
endeavours
: show, don't tell. Stick to the facts. Your silver gem became Silverback's silver gem, and you got shanghaied by Madame Minuit. That just about sums it up?"

"Excuse me for being thorough. As I'm quickly learning, that's not really par for the course around here," Tim said sarcastically.Jack held his hand up and suddenly looked serious."The one thing your story does prove is that this gem is connected to this medallion, the medallion is connected with Silverback, and Silverback is connected to Madame Minuit--how else would she have known to come for you?" Jack said. "Now," he continued, "there's only one thing left to do. . . ."He took the silver gem and fitted it i
nto the medallion.

CHAPTER TEN

If Jack was expecting a puff of smoke, a clap of thunder, or a shimmering curtain of magical sparks, he was sorely disappointed. The silver gem fit very neatly into its socket and clicked into place without a hitch. Once in, it looked like it had always been a part of the medallion.Jack picked up the medallion and tapped it ceremoniously on the table. After all, when the bronze gem had been set into the medallion, all that
was required was a light tap,
and the object that was hit would turn to metal. Like his tooth, the ship, the city of New Orleans . .
. But
this time, nothing happened.Jean, Tumen, Fitzwilliam, and Tim stared at Jack dubiously. He tapped the medallion again--a little harder this time. Still nothing happened.He looked at the medallion, puzzled, but Jack would rather be hanged than appear weak in front of Fitzwilliam and the others. "These things don't always work on the first try," he said cheerfully.Just then, the door to the cabin flew open and Captain Laura Smith stood there, glaring at them. The five boys had been too engrossed in the medallion and Tim's story to notice the end of the fight between Arabella and her mom. It was obvious that Laura hadn't won. She looke
d to be in a right foul mood.
"How dare you enter my private chambers!" she cried. "Roaming about as if the Fleur was your own . . . personal . . ." she struggled for a word. "SHIP!" she finally said. Seeing Jack fight back a smile made her even angrier. "Captain Sparrow--I want you and your crew off my ship at once!""You, Madam Captain, are just as hot headed as your daughter," Jack said with great admiration. With his left hand he swiftly and discreetly pulled the medallion off the table and slipped it into his pocket. The captain never noticed. She was too busy glowering. "And I would like to point out-- just for the logbooks, as it were--" Jack continued, "that not only will I gladly disembark your invisible ship, but I never wanted to come aboard it in the first place. You and your mutinous crew forced us--magiched us--aboard
, in fact. Against our will."

Jack marched dramatically past her, making a great show of climbing up the ladder through the hatch. Jean, Tumen, Tim, and Fitzwilliam followed suit, also with exaggerated care.Captain Smith just growled and followed them closely, as if she were afraid they would steal something on the way out. Jack considered taking one of the semi-preserved fish that sat in a barrel on deck, just to make a point. But he figured it wouldn't smell very good in his pocket.Jean and Tumen rushed about the deck, untying the lines that held the Barnacle to the side of the Fleur. Tim watched them carefully and helped where he could. Arabella just stood defiantly.

Her arms were crossed and her eyes were like loaded cannons. On second thought, maybe neither mother
nor daughter won that fight.
A gull cried overhead and Jack grinned, taking a big gulp of air. This little hiccup in his adventure was almost over.

Soon the Barnacle would be sailing on its own again, back to the Yucatan. And after that . . . well, just about anywhere they pleased. The ocean was his.Captain Laura Smith watched their preparations to leave while discussing her own plans with Mr. Reece.With a sudden burst of maturity, Jack decided he would be big about things. For good or ill, Laura was Arabella's mother. Even if she was a blasted pirate. Without her, the Barnacle would not have a first mate.Feeling very charitable, Jack approached Captain Laura Smith, and gave her a fancy bow. Then he put out his hand. Looking at him suspiciously, the captain took it.

Very ni
ce to make your acquaintance,
Captain Smith," he said gallantly. "Perhaps we shall see each other again someday about the Caribbean."Though he sorely hoped not.It was obvious that Arabella's mother was thinking the same thing.

"Likewise," she lied."So," Jack said casually, looking from Laura to Mr. Reece, "what did you finally decide to do about your mutinous crew?"

"One by one, they will be brought before the captain and asked to swear allegiance," Mr. Reece said. "Those who don't will be immediately thrown overboard."Jack laughed, then looked at Laura to see if this was at all a joke. He gulped when he saw the severe look in her eyes. She was dead serious. In this respect, at least, the mother and daughter were different. For all her bluster, A
rabella would never have been
so cold about hurting people, even pirates.Jean, Tumen, Fitzwilliam, and Tim (and Constance) took their leave and boarded the Barnacle. Jack saluted and followed suit, leaving Arabella alone to say her final good byes to her mother.

"So you have chosen to leave," her mother said grimly. "We were just reunited, and now you're going off with that insane captain and crew of yours."Arabella shrugged. "I need some time to think about this. About you. I wish things could be different, but seeing you suddenly alive . . . knowing you were alive all these years ... as a pirate ... I'm angry, and confused . . . and hurt . . . and confused. I don't know what to tell you."

"Then let me make things a little easier for you," her mother offered, her smile softening.
Then she nodded to Mr. Reece.
The first mate lunged forward and unsheathed his cutlass. With a sharp crack he brought it down on the last line that tied the Barnacle to the Fleur.

"No!" Jack cried out.The Barnacle began to drift away. Within moments, the Fleur, with its magical sails unfurled, began to grow hazy and dim. In less than a minute, it was completely
invisible.Arabella was gone.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

The crew of the Barnacle watched in bewilderment as they drifted from where the Fleur de la Mort once was. By squinting a little, Jack could just make out the water parting and the foam rising from where the ship should have been. It was heading north."Well," Jean said, speaking for everyone, "what shall we do now?""We should go back to Tumen's village and return the medallion to his great-grand-fath
er," Jean pointed out. But he
really didn't like the idea of Arabella being hauled off by her pirate mother."That would be the most reasonable course of action," Fitzwilliam agreed. "We made a promise. We owe a debt.""Reasonable? Ha!" Jack laughed. "What we do next is incredibly obvious: we sail to New Orleans as well!"Everyone looked at him
questioningly. “Everything
is converging there," Jack pointed out. "Arabella, Silverback and Louis, Madame Minuit, who is after the medallion and knows everything about it--""Are you mad?" Fitzwilliam demanded. "Does finding out the true power of the medallion mean so much to you that you're willing to break a promise to Tumen?""It's not about the medallion, Lord Dolton Pennywhipple the Third. Did you not hear the fir
st part of what I said?" Jack
growled, rounding on Fitzwilliam. "Or do you want us just to abandon our first mate?"Jack then turned to Tumen. "I have no intention of breaking any promise. We will return to your village. But if we don't go after Arabella now, we may never get her back. Unless you can think of some other way of tracking an invisible ship around the Caribbean. Savvy?"

"Is that really your decision, Jack?" Fitzwilliam demanded. "Arabella is finally reunited with her mother, who she has missed all these years. Understandably, she is quite confused right now . . . but she may choose to stay with her, once she gets her feelings sorted out.""Which is fine" Jack said, throwing his arms up in the air, "if we knew Arabella happily chose to go along with her mum. But that stubborn wo
man-pirate stole her. You all
heard Arabella--she wanted to stay with us! And the way they were fighting didn't make it sound as though they were going to make up any time soon. If we rescue Arabella and she chooses of her own free will to stay with that wretched captain, then she can go."Jean, Tumen, and Tim nodded thoughtfully at this.

At some point, each had had his whole life determined by someone else's choice. All three of them felt very strongly about Arabella's freedom to choose her own life."'Her own free will?" Fitzwilliam asked. "She is just a teenager. Now that her mother is back in the picture, should it not be Laura Smith who has the final say on where her daughter lives and with whom?""Oh, I'm sorry, I completely forgot" Jack said with great sarcasm. "You're absolutely right, Fit
zwilliam P. Dalton the Third.
Although, come to think of it, I'm pretty certain Fitzwilliam P. Dalton the Second probably wouldn't want his precious heir sailing around the Caribbean with the fugitive Jack Sparrow aboard the mighty Barnacle"Fugitive?" Tumen whispered to Jean. "I thought he told Arabella he wa
s a stowaway."
Jean shrugged. It was a mystery, but somehow not surprising coming from their mysterious and dramatic captain."You know I'm right," Jack prodded the nobleman's son.Fitzwilliam turned beet red."I think you're supposed to say touche," Jack said generously, with a little bow."So, perhaps you have a point," the aristocrat ad
mitted through gritted teeth.
Jack grinned. He loved winning.Jean frowned, noticing something.

The way the bright sunlight reflected off of Jack's teeth. He leaned forward to get a better look.Jack was surprised by this. "What's the matter, then--spinach in me teeth, mate?""Ecoutez--look at this," Jean said, tapping Tumen on the shoulder.Tumen stuck his face into Jack's as well. He frowned.Intrigued, Tim and Fitzwilliam joined in, coming way too close for Jack's comfort. But when Constance jumped up onto Jean's shoulder and also peered down, breathing her terrible, catty breath in his face, he decided he'd had enough."Ah, mind stepping out of my personal space? Thank you," Jack said ne
rvously, trying to back away.
But Jean grabbed him on one side and Tumen on the other."Here, this will help," Fitzwilliam said, reaching into his jacket. He pulled out a little pocket mirror, a slightly concave one. He carefully held it over his head, turning it to focus the rays of the sun onto Jack's teeth. Jean and Tumen held their captain tightly, not letting him look away.

"This is mutiny," Jack said, but with his mouth forced open it sounded like issss issss oootinny."Oui Jean said, ignoring him. "It's silver."

"What?" Jack demanded, shaking himself loose. Tumen and Jean let him go. Fitzwilliam handed him the mirror.

"Your tooth. The bronze one," Fitzwilliam explained. "It is now silver."Jack took the mirror and pointed it at his mouth, pul
ling his lips back. They were
right. The dull goldish tooth was now a mercury-shiny silver one. He ran his tongue over it. Yep, tasted like silver, too."Well, I'll be," Jack said thoughtfully. "I wonder if that means that--"Whatever he thought, it was interrupted by another set of blank, astonished faces from his crew. They weren't looking at him, though. They were looking over his shoulder.