Sinking with the Titanic, Rose ends up on a ship with the pirate Jack Sparrow and a sea goddess' diamond heart. When she tries to free the cursed Will Turner things get complicated, but falling for a dishonest pirate on rum withdrawal is an even wor...
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It took another two weeks before the elusive trader finally returned to Tortuga. In the end, Rose and the others decided to take turns staying at the inn or aboard the Barnacle, either the men or the women – that way they only needed to rent one room, and with just two people aboard, the fishing boat did not feel crowded.
When they at last met him, the trader turned out to be a very short, wiry Spaniard, sporting a huge mustache. To their disappointment he had no more silver swords than anyone else.
"Silver is too soft for swords, Señor Sparrow." He shook his head as if Jack was daft.
"Spare me the lecture," he growled. "You got it or no?"
"No."
"Damn."
Meanwhile, Rose curiously examined the trader's shop. It was crammed with interesting objects; jewelry and trinkets of all sizes and colors, teeth that looked like shark teeth (but some seemed suspiciously human too) and skeleton parts that Rose hoped came from animals. On a row of glass shelves were an assortment of bottles with hand scribbled labels, containing ordinary spices like cinnamon, black pepper and ground ginger, but also bizarre stuff such as crocodile dung, bull testicles, powdered mummy, virgin's blood, leopard spots, ladybug wings, dried mouse droppings, the ninth life of a curious cat, colloidal silver, pregnant women's urine, stuck noses and beetle peels.
Jack leaned over Rose's shoulder to pick up a bottle. "What are bull testicles for?" he asked the trader.
"An aphrodisiac, Señor. Makes your first mate stand at attention for hours. Want to buy?"
"Nah. Got no need for that. When I'm done, the ladies usually are too worn out to have the energy for another round." He winked at Rose.
Rose felt her cheeks heat up and went to a shelf further away, feigning great interest in a porcelain shepherdess with a chipped hat while she tried hard not to picture being worn out in bed by Jack Sparrow.
"You're disgusting," said Elizabeth.
"And you're jealous."
"Am not!" She scowled at him. "The only complaint I have with my man is I can't be with him for another ten years."
"Look at this," interrupted Gibbs from a wooden crate in a dusty corner. "Silver ingots!"
"You're getting old, Gibbs. Your memory's failing. It's a silver sword we need, savvy?"
"No, but you don't think clearly, Jack. We can bring these to a smith and have him forge us a sword!"
"Brilliant!" Elizabeth beamed at him.
They purchased the silver bars with gold from Rose's purse – which was becoming alarmingly light – and left the shop with a new purpose.
