Wild Waters (7 page)

“N
o!” Jocard shouted. “Don’t hurt her!” He took a step forward, and a wall of swords and spears clattered into place to stop him. Fuming, Jocard clenched his fists. “You won’t get away with this,” he growled at Samuel.

“Won’t I?” Samuel said, caressing Sarah’s cheek with the flat of his dagger blade. “Drop your sword, big man.”

Jocard gritted his teeth.

“King Samuel orders you to drop it,” Samuel said harshly, pressing the knife into her neck. Sarah let out a small groan of pain.

“All right!” Jocard said. His sword hit the flagstones and a pair of guards snatched it away. Jocard held up his hands, palm out. “She is not your problem, Samuel. She’s done nothing wrong. Let her go.”

“Your friends, too,” Samuel said, glaring at Diego, Carolina, Jean, and Barbossa, all lined up behind Jocard. “Disarm.”

“I drop my sword for no man—or woman,” Barbossa snarled.

“Would you like to watch her die?” Samuel asked Jocard, gripping Sarah’s shoulder tightly.

“Do it,” Jocard said to Barbossa in a low voice. “I am the captain here. I am telling you to drop your sword.”

Barbossa’s face twitched in a grimace of rage, but as the other three dropped their swords, he slowly bent over and placed his on the ground as well.

“Good,” Samuel said with an insincere smile. “Now we can talk.”

“First let her go,” Jocard said. “She’s not even a pirate. She’s innocent in all this.”

“Oh,” Samuel said with a tsk-tsk-ing noise. “How sweet. And how wrong. Isn’t that adorable, Sarah? He thinks you’re innocent.”

Sarah laughed as Samuel let her go. “Pirates always underestimate women,” she said, winking at Jocard. She turned and sauntered down the length of the room, settling herself on the throne at the far end. She kicked one leg over the side and grinned at the surrounded pirates. “They don’t do their research very well, either,” she pointed out. “It’s as if they had no idea at all that you have a half-sister, Samuel.”

“You betrayed us,” Jocard growled at her, fury darkening his face. “You were lying to me the whole time.”

“State the obvious, why don’t you?” Sarah said with a yawn. “Oh, hello, Kitty. I missed you very much, yes I did.” She leaned over and patted the sleek leopard that was rubbing its head against the side of the throne. It let out a rumbling purr, and Carolina and Diego both shuddered.

“You look familiar,” Samuel said to Jocard, tapping his fingers together. He strolled forward and walked in a circle around the pirate captain, looking him up and down. “Does King Samuel know you from somewhere?”

“Of course you wouldn’t remember,” Jocard said. “You’ve stolen so many lives. One family—one young boy—that means nothing to you. It probably took but a minute of your time, and you haven’t thought about them again since.”

“Ah,” Samuel said. “That explains this foolhardy attack. Revenge, is it? Listen, if I had to explain myself to every ignorant child I’ve sold into slavery, I’d never have time for anything else. That’s the way the world works. I’m a pirate, you know. I’ll take my money however I can get it.”

“A true pirate still has some honor,” Jocard said. “And a man who calls himself a king should have more care for his subjects.”

Samuel paused in front of Jocard, raising his eyebrows. But before he could speak, Jocard spat in his face.

The guards in the room lunged forward as one, but Samuel raised his hand calmly to stop them.

“No, we’re not going to kill him,” Samuel announced, wiping his face with the corner of his leopard-skin robe. “There’s obviously only one perfect punishment for this man—and that is to go back where he came from. I bet I can get a lot of money for you.” He glanced over the pirates behind Jocard. “And you,” he said, pointing to Diego. His gaze landed on Barbossa. “You, not so much.”

Jocard started to chuckle. “You really think you’ve won,” he said, shaking his head. “You have no idea.”

Samuel turned to stare at him. “No idea about what?”

“No idea who else is in the fort with us.” Jocard looked Samuel straight in the eye. “That’s right. Captain Jack Sparrow.”

“J
ust misunderstood, aren’t you?” Jack said, handing the gorilla another banana. “Really quite a friendly, er…man-beast-ape-thingie, you are.” He was sitting on the edge of the table, swinging his legs. On the floor beside him, the gorilla was contentedly munching on all the fruit Jack had been able to find.

Jack leaned over and prodded Benedict’s prone body with the tip of his sword. He widened his kohl-lined eyes when Benedict still didn’t move.

“Nope,” he said to the gorilla. “Still out. Good punch you’ve got on you there.” He tipped back his hat. “Well, I can’t leave until he wakes up to hear my dramatic exit line. I’ve been working on it for weeks. You want to hear it?”

“AAOURRAAGRRAARRRGH,” said the gorilla, snatching another banana from Jack’s hand.

“Maybe later then,” Jack said pleasantly. “No hurry.”

“W
ell, if he’s going to rescue us, I hope he hurries up and does it soon,” Jean muttered as Samuel’s pirates started binding their wrists.

CRASH!

All the pirates in the throne room jumped.

“What was that?” Samuel demanded.

CLATTER! CRASH! BANG! CRASH! CRASH! CRASH!

“It’s coming from the stairs!” shouted one of the guards.

“King Samuel knows that, you brainless fool!” Samuel yelled. “What
is
it?”

Whatever it was, it was making an almighty crashing noise, like horses riding through a field of metal. And it was coming closer and closer and getting louder and louder. Pirates began backing away from the stairs.

“No!” Samuel shouted. “Be ready for it! Stand firm!”

Glancing at each other nervously, the guards drew their weapons and pointed them at the stairs.

Diego and Carolina exchanged a puzzled look. If this was Jack coming to rescue them, he was being
really
unsubtle about it.

The noise came closer…and closer.…

S
uddenly something charged around the corner of the stairs and burst into the throne room. It shot past them so quickly, the guards only had time to yell with surprise and fall over backwards. One of them fired his pistol into the ceiling, and a baboon shrieked angrily from the rafters.

“HIIII-YOOOOOOOO, Stripey!” bellowed the intruder—well, one of the intruders.

“It’s Catastrophe Shane!” Carolina gasped.

“
What
is he
riding
?” asked Jean.

Catastrophe Shane, Jack’s most incompetent crew member, was waving a pistol in the air with one hand and using the other to clutch the mane of the strangest horse Diego had ever seen. It was a bit smaller than a normal horse, and it was covered head-to-hoof in black-and-white stripes. It brayed loudly as it galloped around the throne room, bucking and jumping. It kicked two guards in the gut before the others got smart and hustled out of its way.

“I think it’s a
zebra
,” Carolina said, astonished. “I read about them, but I thought they were imaginary, like unicorns and hippos.”

“Seize him!” King Samuel shouted, but the room was in chaos. Pirates fired their pistols into the air, which only made the zebra more enraged. It dashed wildly from side to side, nearly trampling guards as it went. Catastrophe Shane hung on for dear life, hollering with alarm.

“Heh-heh-heh.” Carolina heard a familiar chuckle behind her, and then she felt the ropes around her wrists suddenly slacken and fall away. She whipped around and saw Grandmama slicing through Diego’s bonds with a dagger.

“Never fails,” said the old lady pirate. “The distraction trick. Samuel just fell for it twice in a row, didn’t he? Hee-hee, this is the most fun I’ve had in centuries! Guess how many pirates I skewered on my way up here!”

“I don’t want to know,” Jean said quickly.

“And I was right about her, wasn’t I?” Grandmama said, poking her dagger in Sarah’s direction. Samuel’s half-sister was standing on the throne, scowling down at the chaos with her hands on her hips. “Knew she looked too much like that hag Teresa. Must be her daughter. You should have let me drown her.”

“Agreed,” said Barbossa, snatching up his sword as soon as he was free. “Now I’m going to teach her a lesson.”

“Not if I get there first!” Grandmama crowed. She launched herself at the crowd of guards surging around the throne, and Barbossa chased after her.

Diego, Carolina, and Jean grabbed their swords, too, and began to fight their way over to Samuel and Jocard. Unfortunately, the Pirate Lord saw them coming and grabbed Jocard, using him as a shield, with his pistol digging into the small of Jocard’s back.

“Don’t come any closer!” he shouted. The three pirates from the
Pearl
clattered to a halt. “Stay back!”

“No, don’t worry about me!” Jocard called, struggling. “Samuel must be stopped. Even if it means my death!”

“Well, that part can certainly be arranged,” Samuel snarled, taking a step back. He glanced around at his pirates. Some of them were cowering behind the throne, hiding from the zebra. Others were doing battle with Grandmama and Barbossa, but from the wild, delighted look on Grandmama’s face, it was pretty clear who was winning. And that wasn’t counting the pirates who had already been knocked out and lay around the room, tripping up their fellow crew members as they fought.

“Look what you’ve done to my pirates. You’ll pay for this,” Samuel said, backing away toward the stairs. His strong arm was locked around Jocard’s neck, dragging him along. Samuel paused at the top of the stairs, glaring at Diego, Carolina, and Jean.

“This isn’t over,” he growled. “I’ll call my men back from the ships—and this time, there will be no second chances for you. I don’t care how much I could have gotten for your sorry carcasses. You’ll all die…except for this one. I’m taking this man with me.”

“Oh, no you’re not,” a voice piped up behind him. An enormous bronze vase crashed into the back of Samuel’s head.

The Pirate Lord’s eyes went wide and then slowly drooped shut as he slumped to the floor. Jocard felt Samuel’s arm slip free. He jumped away, grabbed Samuel’s pistol where it had fallen, and turned to thank his rescuer.

“Marcella?” he said, astonished.

“
Marcella
?!” Diego, Carolina, and Jean cried in unison.

Jean’s cousin stood at the top of the stairs. She tossed her hair and smiled triumphantly. “Who, me, saving the day? Why, yes, I am. Thank you for noticing.” She lifted her chin and looked down her nose at Jocard. “Not that you deserved saving or anything. Stupid pirate captain, falling for a scheming wench like that.” Marcella glared at Sarah, who was being sullenly escorted off the throne by Grandmama and Barbossa.

All around the room, Samuel’s pirates were lying where they had fallen, either groaning in agony or unconscious. Catastrophe Shane had finally calmed down the zebra. The two of them were standing in a corner, and the zebra was munching placidly on the edge of a woven wall hanging.

“Got your traitor for you,” Grandmama said to Jocard, shoving Sarah at him. The Portuguese woman scowled at all of them.

“I always knew she was evil,” Marcella said. “Plus she has stupid hair.”

“You’ll be sorry for this when Samuel wakes up,” Sarah said as Jean tied her hands tightly behind her.

“I have a feeling no one will be more sorry than Samuel when he wakes up,” Jocard said. “You gave him quite a whack, Marcella.”

Marcella preened. “If you want, I could do the same thing to her,” she offered, nodding at Sarah.

“That won’t be necessary,” Jocard said, hiding a smile.

Suddenly they heard footsteps on the stairs. Someone else was running up to the throne room! Everyone drew their swords. There were still plenty of King Samuel’s pirates around…and who knew how many were coming to fight them right now.

J
ack skidded to a stop when he saw all the swords pointed at him.

“I say,” he said, “that’s not very friendly, is it?”

“Jack!” Carolina cried. “You’re alive!”

“Oh, fabulous,” Barbossa muttered.

“Don’t sound so surprised,” Jack said with a bow, flourishing his hat. “I’m remarkably hard to kill. Which is not an invitation to try,” he added quickly.

Diego sheathed his sword and offered his hand to help Jack jump over Samuel’s prone body. Jack peered down at Samuel with an alarmed expression. “Had a bit too much rum, has he?” he said in a loud whisper to Diego.

“Actually,
I
defeated him,” Marcella announced smugly.

“Blimey, and I thought she couldn’t get any more insufferable,” Jack said, rolling his eyes. “Hang on…why is that one all tied up?” He waved his hand at Sarah.

Diego told Jack the whole story as they tied up the rest of Samuel’s pirates. But when Jack tried to tell his own story, nobody believed him.

“A hideous man-beast?” Jean said. “With black fur? Jack, are you sure
you
didn’t have a bit too much rum?”

“Not in the least,” Jack said, drawing himself up tall. “Well, only a jot. Barely a swig. My monstrous friend quite liked it, too, and I couldn’t let him drink alone, could I? I think it might have been banana flavored.” He hiccupped and looked thoughtful. “Yes, definitely banana flavored.”

“A likely story,” Barbossa sneered. “Battling monsters in the basement while we’re up here doing all the hard work.”

“See here!” Jack cried, looking injured. “If you don’t believe me, just wait until you see old Benedict lying down there in the kitchens. He
still
hasn’t woken up, can you believe it? I had to waste my fabulous dramatic exit line on an unconscious man. But I was running out of fruit, so it was really time to go before old beastie got restless again.”

“You’re sure it was Benedict Huntington?” Carolina asked. “Here? How did he knew we’d be here?”

Jack frowned. “That
is
a good question,” he said, scratching his head. “Do you want to hear it?”

“Hear what?” said Diego.

“My dramatic exit line!” Jack cried. “Aren’t you listening? Never fear, Huntington, for you will always look back and remember this remarkable day as that exact day when you
very nearly
captured the most famous of pirates, Jack Sparrow!”

He flung out his arms dramatically and paused as if waiting for applause. After a moment, when nothing happened, he dropped his arms and looked at his friends appraisingly.

“No?” he said. “Too much? Still needs work, doesn’t it? I had a feeling it did.”

Barbossa rolled his eyes and stomped off down the stairs to gather the rest of their crew.

Jack hopped over to Jocard, who was removing an old rusty-looking tobacco cutter from Samuel’s belt. It looked worthless, but Jack knew it was Samuel’s special piece of eight. It was what identified him as a Pirate Lord.

“It suits you, mate,” Jack said, clapping Jocard on the back.

“Jack,” Jocard said, standing up. “So glad you finally showed up to help.”

“Well, I do what I can,” Jack said modestly. “I guess this means you’re Pirate Lord of the Atlantic Ocean now.”

Jocard straightened his shoulders, and a broad smile slowly spread across his face. “I gather I am.”

Jack waved his hands around. “So all this—this huge fort, all this treasure, all these lovely beasties—it’s all yours.”

Jocard shook his head. “No, that is not what I want. I just got my freedom, Jack Sparrow. I don’t want to lose it again so soon by trapping myself inside cold stone walls. I want to be out on the seas on my ship, living like a true pirate. Speaking of which—men, signal the
Ranger
! We’re taking the short route back to Libertalia!”

His pirates cheered heartily. No one wanted to spend another night with the Madagascar rain-forest mosquitoes.

“Finally another Pirate Lord who sees things the way I do!” Jack said, shaking Jocard’s hand with gusto. That was exactly how he felt about the freedom of the open seas and life aboard his ship. “So…incidentally…while we’re liberating King Samuel of his gold sparklies…” He peered inquisitively down at the former Pirate Lord.

Jocard smiled. “I suppose this is what you’re looking for?” He held up a vial of Shadow Gold on a leather strap. “It was around his neck.”

“Well, it might be,” Jack said casually, eyeing the Shadow Gold with a hungry expression.

“I’m not sure
you’ve
earned it,” Jocard said, “but your pirates certainly have. So here you go.” He tossed the vial to Jack.

“Well, that was delightfully easy,” Jack said as he caught it.

“Easy!” Jean protested, waving his arms around at the wreckage of the throne room and the bumps and bruises on all the pirates.

“Well, it’s all relative, mate,” Jack said with a charming grin.

As his friend turned away, shaking his head in outrage, Jack slipped the vial into his coat pocket with trembling hands. He hadn’t told anyone about the nightmares that had plagued him the night before. But once he drank this vial, he’d have at least a few days of blessed relief from the shadow-sickness, hopefully more. And then he only needed two more vials, and he’d be cured!

Don’t drink the last vial, Jack.…

Jean’s prophetic words rang in his head. What if they were true?

What if he drank the last vial…and someone else died for it?