THE ROAD TO REDEMPTION

Jack Sparrow winced as felt the tip of the cutlass pierce the flesh around his ribcage. It was not the first time he had found himself on the wrong end of a sword and he was sure it would not be the last. But this was a new and rather frightening situation. The sword in question was being held by one Linus Silverwater, a name that could send a shiver down the spine of the hardiest pirate. Silverwater was known throughout the Caribbean as the blood thirstiest and most ruthless individual to ever sully the name pirate. Jack had heard horror stories about this man but this was the first time he had encountered him. If not for what he had heard Jack would have found him comical, the man was dressed like a French dandy. His clothing was a mass of ruffles and buckles complete with a powdered wig atop his head and a silk handkerchief dangling from his other hand. But his eyes, his eyes were terrifying.

Lizzie struggled in the grip of the stinking bosun of The Redemption. His stench was overpowering, a combination of sweat, rum, gunpowder and very, very old dirt. His filthy hand was clasped over Elizabeth's mouth and his other hand roamed at will. He ran his hand through her silky hair, down her velvety cheek and over her slight curves, clearly delighted at finding a woman on board The Black Pearl.

Elizabeth held Jack's gaze, her fear for his life escalating her own terror. The man holding the sword pressed to his side followed Jack's line of sight and turned to Elizabeth. She gasped when she caught his eyes. It reminded her of when she was a child on the London docks just before sailing to Jamaica. She had been waiting to board the ship shivering in the cold foggy morning when she heard a commotion at the other end of the dock. Suddenly two uniformed constables burst into view out of the fog clutching a third man. The third man was dressed in ragged clothing, his hair and beard a wild tangle, when he turned suddenly and locked eyes with the small girl in front of him. Elizabeth had felt her breath catch in her throat, she knew she was gazing at pure evil. She now saw that same evil in the pale grey eyes of the man that had leapt aboard the Pearl with the grace of a dancer.

'Well, well what do we have here?' he purred his voice silky, 'why Captain Sparrow you have been keeping a rather delicious secret haven't you?'

Elizabeth shivered at the blatant lust in the man's voice. Jack changed position drawing his attention back to him and away from Elizabeth.

'You don't want her,' Jack commented, 'been had by every man aboard the Pearl, probably crawling with disease.'

Elizabeth glared for a moment then realizing what Jack was doing she pressed herself backwards against the bosun. She almost laughed when he flinched away, it was quite comical this disgusting creature fearing he could catch something from her.

'Well I'll just have to take you then won't I?' Silverwater commented.

Elizabeth gasped dragging Silverwater's attention back to her. He nodded at two of his men who had been standing near the rail their guns trained on The Pearl's crew. They came forward and pulling Jack's arms behind him they clasped his wrists in shackles. Elizabeth had a flash of memory of the last time she had seen Jack in shackles. When she had sent him to his death with a kiss. In fact things were still somewhat tense between them after almost a year. Even though he had asked her to join his crew and she often felt his eyes on her. Silverwater approached her slowly in a strange mincing step he smiled when he was near her. Elizabeth forced herself not to gag at his nearness. His stench was worse than the bosun's, instead of just poor hygiene, she was smelling layer after layer of cologne, the sweet cloying scent made her eyes sting. He moved to brush a hand down her cheek then pulled his hand back remembering Jack's comment;

'Never mind my dear I am sure there are enough men left here to take your mind off Captain Sparrow.'

He turned and walked back to his men who were pulling a longboat up the side of the ship. Silverwater approached him again and pulled open Jack's coat smiling when he found what he was looking for. He pulled the ancient map from Jack's pocket, the map that led the way to the Fountain of Youth.

To be continued…