Loving Sparrows: Deal with the Devil (Book Two)

Chapter Five: Her

Chapter Five: Her

Maria's POV:

We loaded into the long boats and rowed down a river. The sun was blocked out by tall overgrown trees. Crickets and insects chirped in the distance. I heard a bird call. The entire place seemed uneasily erie. "Why is Jack afraid of the open ocean?" Will asked. "Well if you believe such things. There's a beast that does the bidding of Davy Jones. A fearsome creature with tentacles that suction your face clean off. And drag an entire ship to the crushing Darkness. The Kraken." Gibbs said. Everyone shifted uneasily. "They say the stench of its breath is ooh. Imagine the last thing you know on God's green earth is the roar of the Kraken, and the reeking odor of a thousand corpses. If you believe in such things." Gibbs said.

Pintel and Ragetti looked mortified. I was feeling a bit nervous now to be out in open water anytime soon. When night fell fireflies scattered the air as we pulled up to an old shack. "No worries lads Tia Dalma and I go way back. Thick as thieves. Nigh insuperable we are. Were. Have been. Before." Jack said. "I'll watch ye back." Gibbs ensured. "Its me front I'm worried about. Mind the boat." Jack said. We passed the honor to cotton who couldn't say a word against it. I climbed the ladder and saw Tia Dalma sitting Will down. "You know I demand payment." She said. I walked in as the undead monkey was revealed. "Look!" Jack said. He shot the monkey making it screech. "An undead monkey! Top that!" Jack said. He set the cage on her desk. She opened the cage and the monkey ran into the other room. "No! You have no idea how long it took us to catch that." Gibbs said.

"The payment is fair." Tia Dalma said."We're looking for this." Will said putting the cloth on the table. "And what it goes to." "The compass you bartered from me. It cannot lead you to dis?" Tia Dalma asked. "Maybe. Why?" Jack said setting a rather familiar hat down. "Ayeee....Jack Sparrow does not know what he wants. Or...do know, but are loathe to claim it's your own. Your key go to a chest. It is what lay inside the chest you seek, don't it." Tia Dalma said. Jack blew a feather hanging from a string out of his face. "What is inside?" Gibbs asked. "Gold? Jewels? Unclaimed properties of valuable nature?" Pintel guessed. "Nothing bad I hope." Ragetti said staring at a jar of eye balls."You know of....Davy Jones, yes? A man of de sea. A great sailor. Until he ran afoul of dat vexes all men." Tia Dalma said.

"What vexes all men?" Will asked. Tia Dalma touched his hand. "What indeed" she said. "The sea?" Gibbs guessed. "Sums?" Pintel guessed. "Dichotomy of good and evil?" Ragetti asked. We all looked at him strange. "A woman" Jack said annoyed. This time I looked at him strange. He saw me staring at him and smirked. He gave me a wink. I turned back to Tia Dalma. "A woman he fell in love." She said. "No, no, no, no I heard it was the sea he fell in love with." Gibbs said. "Same story different version, and all are true. See it was a woman. As changing and harsh and untamable as the sea. He never stopped loving her. But the pain it caused 'im was too much for 'im to live wid. But not enough to cause 'im to die." She said. "What exactly did he put in the chest?" Will asked. "Him heart" she said placing her own hand over her heart. "Literally or figuratively?" Ragetti asked. "He couldn't literally put his heart in a chest. Could he?" Pintel asked raising an eyebrow.

"It was not worth feeling small fleeting joy life brings. And so he carved out 'im heart, locked it away in the chest and hide the chest from de world. De key.... He keeps wid him at all times." She finished. Will began to blame Jack for something, but I wasn't listening. I could feel Tia Dalma's eyes on me. Jack turned to leave. "Let me see ya hand." Tia Dalma said standing. Jack showed his right hand. She shot him a look. He rolled his eyes and gave her his left. She unwrapped the cloth. What was under the cloth made Gibbs gasp, "The black spot!" Gibbs patted his chest three times spun around and spat on the ground. Ragetti and Pintel followed his Example. "My eyesight just as good as ever just so ya know." he said. Tia Dalma disappeared in the back for a moment. She came back with a jar of dirt. "Davy Jones cannot make port. Cannot step on land but once every ten years. Land is where you are safe Jack Sparrow and so you will carry land wid you." She handed him the jar. I stifled a laugh.