The Older Swann

Chapter 5

We got to the cave and saw the pirates pour all of the gold into the floor. We were led to the incan chest and then Barbossa started talking, "Gentlemen, the time has come! Our salvation is nigh! Our torment is near at end. For ten years we've been tested and tried, and each man jack of you  here has proved his mettle a hundred times over and a hundred times again!" The men cheered.

"Punished, we were. The lot of us - disproportionate to our crimes! Here it is." He kicked off the lid of the chest." ...the cursed treasure of Cortés himself. Every last piece that went astray, we have returned...save for this." He pointed at the medallion around my neck.

"881 we found but despaired of ever finding the last." Barbossa said. I could see something moving at the back of the cave.

"And who among us has paid the blood sacrifice owed to the heathen gods?" Asked Barbossa.

"Us!" The pirates said.

"And whose blood must yet be paid?" Barbossa asked.

" Thiers!" The pirates yelled.

"You know the first thing I'm goin' to do after the curse is lifted? Eat a whole bushel of apples." Barbossa said, picking up the knife. "Begun by blood...by blood undone." He cut a small cut on each of our hands and handed us each the medallion in turn. "That's it?" Elizabeth and I asked.

"Waste not." Barbossa stated. He dropped the medallion and everyone sat in anticipation trying to figure out if it worked. "Did it work?" One of the pirates asked." I don't feel no different." Said Ragetti, the tall skinny pirate. "How do we tell? "Asked Pintel. Barbossa sighed and grabbed one of his guns and shot Pintel straight through the heart. He went still for a second and then one of the other pirates said "You're not dead." "No. He shot me!" Pintel said.

"It didn't work." Said Ragetti.

"The curse it still upon us!" One of the other pirates said.

"You, maid! Your father, what was his name? Was your father William Turner ?" Asked Barbossa.

"No." Elizabeth almost spat at him.

"Where's his child? The child that sailed from England eight years ago, the child in whose veins flows the blood of William Turner . Where?" He hit both of us and we fell down the pile of treasure.

I woke up when Will had put his hands over our mouths and motioned for us to follow him into the water. I grabbed the medallion and did so.We followed him and he told us to grab all of the oars and to throw them each out of the boat until we got to the Interceptor. I was excited to see Norrington but instead of the British Navy I was greeted by a motley crew of men. Not more pirates. One of the men aproached and said "Welcome aboard, Miss Elizabeth and Miss Anna."

"Mr. Gibbs ?" Elizabeth and I asked. Will then climbed aboard. "Hey, boy, where be Jack ?" Gibbs asked. "Jack ? Jack Sparrow ?" Elizabeth asked. "He fell behind."  Will said leading Elizabeth away. "Keep to the code." Gibbs said. "Weigh anchor! Hoist the sails! Make quickly, divvies." The only female said.

We got into the in the Captains Cabin amd while both Elizabeth and I were bandaging our hands, well at least Elizabeth was trying to. "What sort of a man trades a man's life for a ship?" Elizabeth asked "Pirate. Here. Let me." Said Will and grabbed the bandage and helped put it on Elizabeth's hand. "Thank you." Elizabeth said. Will kept holding Elizabeth's hand and asked me, "You said you gave Barbossa my name as yours. Why? "I don't know." I answered truthfully. Elizabeth winced at that second and pulled her hand away. "I'm sorry. Blacksmith's hands - I know they're rough." Will said, but Elizabeth then said, "No...I mean yes, they are but... but don't stop." "Anna." He said. I took out the medallion, "It's yours." I said "I thought I'd lost it the day they rescued me. It was a gift from my father. He sent it to me. Why did you take it?" He said. I was just surprised he managed to fit all that information into four sentences. Elizabeth answered for both of us. "Because we were afraid that you were a pirate. That would have been awful." "It wasn't your blood they needed. It was my father's blood...my blood...the blood of a pirate." Will said. "Will, I'm so sorry, please forgive me." I said. He slammed the medallion down onto the table and I pulled Elizabeth out of the cabin.