Fathoms Below: Captain Jack Sparrow

Chapter 2: Not the one I'd have chosen.

Just before I reached the blacksmith shop, an elderly widow that lived in town, Mrs Adeline Beckett, stopped me to ask how I was coping after my 'scare' today, having apparently heard the news from her son, Jonathan. I told her that I was doing fine and that I was walking to clear my head, to which she informed me that 'the brutish pirate' had been captured.

"He's in the cells at Fort Charles?" I asked, trying not to sound too interested in the matter, holding my shawl close to me as the wind picked up significantly.
"Yes dear, awaiting his time in the gallows tomorrow, so don't you be worrying anymore." She said with a motherly tone as she patted my hand, before walking away and carrying on home through the cobbled street.
I turned to look at the entrance to Will's workplace but couldn't bring myself to enter, knowing there was something much more desperate at hand. I wasn't sure what made me feel like I needed to see the pirate, but I couldn't stop my feet as I made my way hastily towards the jail at the fort.

I hung low, hiding behind a barrel beside the staircase to the guardhouse, waiting for the guard to leave his post so that I could sneak past him. When no opportunity came, I considered walking away and returning home, after all nightfall was quickly creeping in and the mysterious wind was only increasing in velocity and foreboding. but the thought of the Captain hanging before I could talk to him made my stomach knot.

I decided I needed to do something drastic and saw a large boulder not too far away from me. I lifted it with difficulty and carried it to the staircase, keeping as low as I could in order to hide within the shadows. With as much force as I could muster, I threw the small boulder into the harbour as far out as possible, causing a large splash into the water below.
Keeping low to the staircase, I watched as the officer shot his head around to see the disturbance and to my good fortune, his curiosity plagued him enough to leave his post to investigate over by the waters edge.

It was now or never. I ran as quickly and as quietly as I could around the other side of the building, getting through the threshold of the cells and descending the stairs quickly, before the guard had even returned to his post.

Once down there I paused to catch my breathe, taking in the view (and the foul stench) of the lower cells. I couldn't immediately spot the captain, but instead saw some other men huddled in a cell at the bottom trying to summon the dog holding the keys.

Upon seeing me, they wolf-whistled and called out for me to let them out, amongst other things. I carried on looking, ignoring the desperate men in the end cell and spotted the pirate sitting on the ledge of his cell, his hat laid low on his head.

Now or never, I thought.
"Captain Sparrow?" I said, hoping my voice came out as strong as intended. He looked up calmly, hat tipping back as his eyes widened slightly in recognition.

"Ahh Miss Swann was it? Miss me already?" He smirked proudly, his demeanour confident as he looked at me, his gold teeth illuminated by the oil lamps mounted on the wall. I rolled my eyes slightly, moving forward to his cell and running my hand over the cold metal of the cell hinge.

"I heard you were here," I stated, looking around the bare cell.
"Come to rescue me then eh?" His smirk widened, if possible, as he gazed over. I played his game and gave him a sickening smile back, my eyes squinting dangerously at him.

"Not quite, Pirate. I wanted to thank you for what you did today." His eyebrows raised again upon hearing this, seeming to be at a loss for words for a moment.
"And which part of today, pray tell, are you speaking of love?" I had to force myself not to roll my eyes at him again for my apparent new pet name.
"For saving Elizabeth. You were the only man in town stupid enough to jump in." He snickered at that for a moment, his eyes softening.
He nodded gently, "aye well, your sister's safe now."
"Cousin," I interjected, correcting him.
"Cousin," he repeated, "didn't think ya looked alike." Before I could reply, a noise from outside shocked me, making me flinch and look towards the window in his cell.
The captain apparently heard it too, jumping to his feet and peering out the barred window. Shots rang out, first slowly with aim before the frequency of the shots increased.