Chapter 6: Captain Sparrow Sails Again

Chapter 6: Captain Sparrow Sails Again

Jack sat in a corner of a crowded bar in Tortuga. His feet were on a table and his Compass was in his hand.

Gibbs was finding Jack’s ninety-nine souls. He promised an exciting life on the Black Pearl to a line of hopeful sailors. Because they were in Tortuga, every man was old and sick.

“I have one arm and a bad leg,” an old sailor told Gibbs.

“We can use you,” Gibbs replied.

After a few more interviews, he walked over to Jack.

“How many?” Jack asked, looking up.

“With those four?” Gibbs said unhappily. “We have four.” Gibbs was worried. “I don’t want anything to happen to me,” he added quickly.

“I’m not making any promises,” Jack said. He didn’t like promises.

“Make a new plan, Jack. And don’t use that Compass. We all know that it hasn’t worked for a long time.”

Jack looked angrily at Gibbs.

“What’s your story?” Gibbs asked the next sailor. The man was drunk and unshaven, but his eyes were clear.

“My story?” the man replied. “It’s the same as your story. I wanted to catch a well-known pirate. I followed him across the seven oceans. I lost my ship, my job, my life.”

Gibbs looked more closely at the man. “Commodore?” he asked. Was this really Commodore Norrington, the man who followed Jack and the Pearl to Isla de Muerta?

“I’m not a commodore now,” Norrington answered. He threw his bottle down onto the table. “So, can I join your ship?”

Gibbs was too surprised to answer. The silence made Norrington angry.

“So, can I work for Captain Jack Sparrow?” he shouted. Then he turned to Jack and pulled out his gun. “Or shall I kill you now?”

On his way out of the door, Jack stopped and smiled quickly.

“You can join us, friend!”

Norrington didn’t put his gun down.

“Sorry,” he said. “But I really want to shoot you…”

“Calm down, soldier,” a man said, and held Norrington’s arm. “That’s our captain.”

Norrington’s gunshot just missed the man. Jack’s new sailors jumped up and started to fight. Other pirates joined the fight. Chairs fell to the floor and bottles were broken.

“We’ll leave now,” Jack said quietly to Gibbs.

He walked carefully through the fight, unhurt. He picked up a hat from the floor and put it on his head. It was too small.

“It’s hard to find a good hat these days,” he said to himself.

He and Gibbs walked quietly away.

Norrington had a sword in his hand now. “Fight, then. You, you, you!” he shouted drunkenly. Then someone hit him over the head with a bottle and he fell to the floor.

Elizabeth stood over him, dressed in her sailors clothes.

“I just wanted to hit him,” she shouted to the pirates. “Now throw him out of the bar and we’ll have a drink!” Then, as the pirates shouted their agreement, she looked carefully at the man on the floor. “I don’t believe it!” she said quietly. “James Norrington. What has the world done to you?”

She helped him to his feet and they walked slowly toward the port. Suddenly, they were standing in front of Jack.

“Captain Sparrow,” Elizabeth said to him.

Jack looked at her, but didn’t know her in her sailor’s clothes. “Do you want to join my ship, boy?” he said. “Welcome!”

“I want to find the man I love,” Elizabeth replied. “William Turner.

“Elizabeth?” Jack said, looking at her carefully. “You don’t look good in those clothes, you know.”

“Jack,” Elizabeth said, “I know that Will followed you. Where is he?”

“I’m really sorry, but Will has joined Davy Jones’s ship.”

“Davy Jones,” Elizabeth repeated.

“Oh, please,” Norrington laughed. “The captain of the Flying Dutchman? A ship that takes dead men from this world to the next

“Correct!” Jack said. He looked closely at Norrington. “I know you! Commodore! You look terrible, friend. Why are you here?”

“I joined your ship,” Norrington replied.

“Jack,” Elizabeth said, “I want to find Will.”

Jack pulled his black beard. “Are you sure?” he asked. “Is that what you really want?”

“Of course,” Elizabeth answered. “Do you know how I can save him?”

“Well,” Jack began slowly, “there is a chest. A chest of unknown size. Jones will do anything to keep that chest. The chest can save Will.”

“How can we find it?” Elizabeth asked.

Jack placed the Compass in her hand. “With this. This Compass will point to the thing that you want most in this world.”

“Jack, is the story about the chest true?” Elizabeth asked.

“Every word is true, love. You want to find Davy Jones’s chest, don’t you?”

“I want to save Will,” Elizabeth agreed.

Jack opened the Compass in her hand and looked at it. He turned to Gibbs.

“We go that way!” he shouted, and pointed toward the ocean.