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Browncoats at World’s End
Chapter 6: The plan
Tortuga
-
Malcolm smiled and sat up straight when the two men Kaylee had sent approached his desk. “Evening gentlemen. Are you looking for a crew to join?”
“That we are.” The older of the two men said. Malcolm had him pegged to be in his early forties. He was somewhat cleaner than the other men who frequented the pub, but he still had bit of grime on him, that told Mal he had spent some time at sea. Malcolm knew he shouldn’t judge. The Haven did have a basin. They couldn’t figure out how to heat up the water and had to take cold sponge baths, relying on the little soap that was in Inara’s bag. It still wasn’t like taking a full cleansing shower on Serenity and they were not able to clean their clothes either.
“What is your area of expertise’s?” Mal drummed his fingers against the surface of the table. “Cause what we could use right now is someone who can steer pretty well.”
“I have steered several ships through many storms,” the first man continued. A few dark red ringlets poked through under his hat. “I wouldn’t have made it though if it weren’t for Terrance here.” He indicated the Black man standing next to him. “He is a hell of a navigator.”
“I usually ask for references,” Mal said. His eyes were on Kaylee who was backing away from a couple men who were leering at her. He didn’t have to stand up. Zoe was already on her way over to lend Kaylee a hand. “Don’t have much in the way of time.” Well he did. It was going to take over 700 years before the delivery of Jonas’s transporter was due. “Just tell me what was the last ship you were on?”
“The Thalia,” Terrance said. He had a small scar on his chin and a thick mustache that connected to the scruff on his chin. “Been on it for about eight years. The East India Company wanted us to register under them and our captain refused.”
“Bloody bastards seized the ship and forced us to find new lines of work,” the older man said through clenched teeth before he struck his fist down on the table. He winced when the rickety legs shook. “Sorry.”
“Don’t have to be,” Mal told them. “I can relate. We are going to be far away from them.”
“How can you be certain?”
Malcolm grinned again. “Have you ever sailed to China?”
“Twice,” the man said. “But how can you be so sure they wont find us? They have influences over there.”
“Because we will be sneaky.”
“Can you sail sneaky?” Zoe asked once she and Kaylee returned.
“They will be sailing,” Mal pointed to his new crewmembers. “We’ll be sneaky.” He turned back to the older man. “What is your name?”
“Gavin, sir.”
Mal nodded. “Welcome aboard the Haven, Gavin, Terrance.” He held out his hand for both men to shake
-
“Two more of my crew are waiting for us outside,” Malcolm said to Gavin and the others as soon as they stepped outside of the Singing Conch. “And we got two more still on the boat.”
“Boat?” Gavin paused in his tracks. “I thought you said it was a ship.”
“It is a ship,” Kaylee chimed in. “She’s a good ship. A big clipper with soaring masts and beautiful sails.”
“But he said it was a boat,” Horace pointed at Mal.
“Oh that,” Kaylee chuckled. “The Cap’n calls anything that floats a boat. It’s just the way he talks.”
“Could fit a crew about a few hundred I recon,” Mal said before his gaze met with Zoë’s. The look on her face told him he had to be more careful with his words. It was a good thing Inara wasn’t around. He wouldn’t hear the end of it.
“That is another thing I noticed about you besides your clothes,” Gavin rubbed his stubble coated chin. “I can’t quite place your accents.”
“We’re from the colonies,” Zoe explained while she pointed up. “Captain Reynolds is from the Carolina’s.”
“Does everyone dress like that in the colonies?” Whistler asked.
Mal stared down at his shirt, pants and boots and ran his hands down his brown trench coat. “Most of us. Those of us who are more land bound.”
“Hey, Mal.” Jayne’s voice carried over from the alley. “You gotta see the swag I won.” The mercenary came running with heavy bags in his hands. “Lots of coinage and I even won one of them old timey pistols.”
“You need to watch what you say,” Inara wasn’t too far from behind him. She had beaten Mal to cautioning Jayne.
“And how did you do?” Malcolm asked her. “I know you couldn’t charge your full rate due to certain circumstances.”
“I charged a few pence per massage,” Inara answered. “I made more than Jayne.”
“She had a line that went around the corner,” Jayne said. “A few guys tried to get a little fresh with her. I threatened to introduce them to Vera.”
“Some guys were getting a little fresh?” Malcolm blinked and folded his arms across his chest. “What did I warn you?”
“I was near Jayne the whole time,” Inara answered in a low voice. “And I had their balls in a vice grip before he kicked them in the back of the head.”
“Well we are all here,” Kaylee stepped in between them. “Everyone this is Jayne and Inara.” She paused when she tried to think of what to say next. “Jayne is our weapon expert and Inara is our culture expert.”
“He’s also a gunner?” Gusty pointed to Jayne.
“Hand held weapons,” Mal told her. “Doesn’t know much in handling cannons. Could use a teacher.”
“Didn’t introduce them yet,” Kaylee’s voice was growing giddier by the second. “Gusty is our gunner for the cannons. Gavin will steer,” she pointed at each new member of the crew. “Terrance will navigate, Hooky is our cook, Whistler will help me with repairs and both Horace and Jarvis are jacks of all trades.”
“Is she always like this?” Terrance pointed towards her.
Mal nodded. “She is always this cheerful. She radiates so much sunshine and sugar you will turn crimson and have you teeth fall out by just looking at her.” He nearly bit his tongue when he said that. He didn’t want to offend any of his new crew and he new most of them did not care too much about dental hygiene.
“I like Miss Frye,” Jarvis said. “Her pleasant attitude uplifts my spirits.”
“That won’t last,” Jayne grunted.
“Miss Frye does have that affect on a lot of people,” Malcolm said. “Don’t get too attached to her, son. Her heart is already bonded with our doctor. He and his sister are waiting for us.” He motioned for everyone to head to the docks. He paused when Gavin and the others didn’t move.
“We cannot leave,” Horace said. “A trip this big, we will need supplies.”
“Yeah,” Malcolm sighed through his teeth and patted his pants pockets. “Good thing I hired them.”
“Don’t have to worry about spending too much, Captain,” Gavin gave Mal a good pat on the back. “We’ll all chip in.”
-
Will sat next to Elizabeth at one of the dining tables. His eyes were not on her, although they should be. He barely even glanced at her and he knew how uncomfortable it made her. She confessed that she sealed Jack’s fate when she handcuffed the pirate to his ship. She knew he knew about the kiss. He could have at least looked at her, show her a smile.
He would have looked at her more, but his focus was on the man who ordered the meeting. Barbossa stood in front of them. A bottle of wine was in his hand and his undead monkey was perched on his shoulder, staring at them all.
“You probably want to know why I called of ye here,” Barbossa said after a few minutes.
“I want to know what your plan is,” Anamaria gripped the cracked wood table and leaned over. “You have us going across the world when you haven’t even explained how and why we are getting Jack back. I agreed to let you use my ship, my Luna Ghost. I want to know why we are putting my ship at risk and made you captain for this expedition.”
“He’s captain because he knows where we are going,” Ragetti said.
Pintel shook his head. “That’s not why. It’s because he knows what he is doing.”
“That’s what I said.”
“No you didn’t, you said because he knows where he is going.” Pintel said.
“He knows where we are going because he knows what he is doing.” Ragetti pointed at Pintel. “That is what I said.”
“You only said he knows where he is going not both.”
“I said it without using any words.”
“Enough,” Anamaria shouted. Her hands were clenched into fists.
“He knows what he is doing but we don’t,” Marty said. He had to kneel on the bench so that he could stare the others in the eye. “That is what Anamaria is talking about. How do we trust the Luna Ghost in his hands when we don’t even know what he is talking about?”
“That is why we are having this meeting,” Will said. His eyes had left Barbossa ad shifted to the other members of Jack’s crew, past Gibbs, Cotton and his parrot, Marty, Pintel, Ragetti, Anamaria and several new faces, Will hadn’t seen before. “He told me his going to let everyone know.”
“The boy is correct,” Barbossa said. “Now I know you have been wondering how it is we are going to get ole Jack back from the dead.”
“With things that are dear to Jack,” Ragetti said. “Like you have already said.”
Barbossa nodded. “Aye, I have said that. There is a little complication.”
“What kind of complication?” Anamaria asked. Will noticed the fire in her eyes. It was the same fire that was in Elizabeth’s eyes when Beckett first arrested them. Barbossa had better be careful if he didn’t want to feel Ana’s wrath.
“Ask yerselves this question. What are some of Jack’s favorite things? What is the thing that is the most dear to him?”
“The sea itself,” Gibbs said. “He always said his first love was the sea.”
“Rum?” Pintel suggested.
“Isn’t that most dear to all pirates?” Will asked.
“It’s the Black Pearl,” Elizabeth said. Will finally turned to face her and wished he had done so sooner. “He loved his ship.”
“Aye,” Gibbs nodded solemnly. “He loved the Pearl more than the sea.”
“He also loved rum,” Pintel said.
“All love rum,” Cotton’s parrot squawked.
“I thought he also loved freedom,” Ragetti cocked his head to the side. “You couldn’t pin him down or make him do anything for anybody, never could be tamed, that Jack.”
Will just stared at him for a full minute. From the silence in the room he could tell the others were also staring at the one eyed man.
“That may be true,” Anamaria nodded. “But you cannot bottle freedom. It is not something you can hold in your hand.”
“Like rum,” Pintel added.
“Will you stop with the rum,” Elizabeth snapped before she faced Barbossa. “We know we need the Black Pearl to save Jack, but how are we going to get the ship back?”
“That is where we need to make our first stop,” Barbossa said. “We will speak with a man who can help us bring her back. All of ye have ridden aboard her before?” Nearly everyone nodded and voiced an agreement. “We are what is needed to raise the Pearl.”
“And then we take a piece of the Pearl and use it to save Jack?” Gibbs asked.
“That is one thing,” Barbossa reached up to pet the monkey on his shoulder. “There is also the rum.”
Pintel smacked his fingers against his palm. “I knew there was going to be rum.”
“Not just any rum,” Barbossa stared at the bottle of wine in his hands. “The kind of rum that Jack would choose over this wine.”
“That doesn’t make it any more special,” Elizabeth said. “Jack would always choose rum over wine.”
Gibbs shook his head. “Not quite true. There is a certain ladder of alcohol for Jack. Rum is higher than beer, but not as high as some fine wines.”
“And this is the best rum,” Barbossa went on. “Made from the richest sugar cane and been in the barrel so long it is almost black as the sky on a cloudy night. Néctar Oscuro is what it is called, contains a whisper of honey and cinnamon.” He noticed the moist and wistful glances of the crew. “And the very looks ye are giving me is the reason why I have it hidden. Jack had a bottle hidden himself and I took the liberty of tasting it after the mutiny.” He paused to chuckle. “I only managed to have one taste before the curse and afterwards I drank it down not knowing I wouldn’t have been able to enjoy the taste.”
“And you wasted it,” Marty shook his head.
“We have a bottle of unique rum and we will have a piece of the Pearl,” Will said. “Is that all we need?”
Barbossa raised a finger. “We need a sacrifice from all the crew.”
“A blood sacrifice?” Ragetti asked.
Barbossa shook his head. “This sacrifice is also known as the concern of many. It is a sacrifice of emotion, a clear sacrifice from yer heart and soul and I don’t mean heart and soul literally.”
Will wasn’t sure what Barbossa meant and searched the rest of the crew, trying to see if they had thought of it.
“Tears,” Elizabeth said. “He needs our tears.”
“Aye,” the once cursed captain nodded. “I have an empty bottle just fer that. Or I will.” He uncorked the bottle and took a long sip from it.
_
Tortuga
When Malcolm heard they were going to get supplies he had pictured items such as rope, wood stain, and gunpowder. They did purchase the above but Hooky also insisted on purchasing a couple of goats and several chickens. Well it wasn’t the first time his crew traveled with livestock on their ship and he did enjoy seeing Jayne’s face when he found out he had to carry a goat.
“Nice chicken,” Kaylee tried to pat the hen she carried. “Please don’t peck my eye out.”
“Captain,” Horace called out. The tall man carried the other goat. “We need to wait for Jarvis.”
“I thought he was with you?” Malcolm pointed to him.
“He said he needed to buy something at the hat store.”
“Why does he need a hat?” Malcolm asked.
“Captain Reynolds!” The teenager ran up to them. “Captain Reynolds I have something for you.”
“For me?” Malcolm blinked. “Wait. You went to the hat store to get me a hat?”
Jarvis nodded. “Every captain needs his hat.” He handed a dark tri corner hat over to Malcolm.
“Why thanks son,” Malcolm examined it. It felt like it was made out of real cow leather with a fine cloth lining. It even had a bright green feather at the side. He turned to his original crew and placed the hat on his head. “How do I look?”
“You look nice,” Kaylee said.
“Congratulations, sir,” Zoe deadpanned before she stepped close enough to Mal he could hear her whisper. “You officially blend in with the time period now.”
Mal stepped back and turned to the youth. “Thank you son, it’s a right nice sort of gift.”
“Are we almost there?” Jayne asked, speaking of the docks. “I don’t like the way it’s looking at me. Kinda like the girl. Makes me think it’s reading my mind.”
“Jayne,” Mal snapped at him.
“Is that is first name?” Terrance leaned over to Mal. “I thought it might be his last name since it is a girl’s name.”
“It’s his first,” Mal answered. “Best not to joke about it, besides he spells it differently, has a y, makes it all manly.”
Terrance’s eyes widened before he glanced over to Jayne. “Oh its like some of those names they use in France.”
“Yeah, sumthin like that.”
It was only a few more minutes before they reached the wooden piers of the docks. Most of the new crew wanted to know what the Haven was like. Mal mentioned she was a bit old but faithful, but it was Kaylee who gushed about the ship and how much she loved it.
Mal’s good nature dissolved when saw Simon racing down the docks, heading straight for them. “What is going on? I thought I told you and your sister to stay with the ship.”
“River,” Simon paused to catch his breath.
“What happened?” Kaylee asked. “Where is she?”
Simon closed his eyes. “That’s it. I don’t know. She left the ship when I was on a lower deck and now she is gone.”
-
Chapter 6: The plan
Tortuga
-
Malcolm smiled and sat up straight when the two men Kaylee had sent approached his desk. “Evening gentlemen. Are you looking for a crew to join?”
“That we are.” The older of the two men said. Malcolm had him pegged to be in his early forties. He was somewhat cleaner than the other men who frequented the pub, but he still had bit of grime on him, that told Mal he had spent some time at sea. Malcolm knew he shouldn’t judge. The Haven did have a basin. They couldn’t figure out how to heat up the water and had to take cold sponge baths, relying on the little soap that was in Inara’s bag. It still wasn’t like taking a full cleansing shower on Serenity and they were not able to clean their clothes either.
“What is your area of expertise’s?” Mal drummed his fingers against the surface of the table. “Cause what we could use right now is someone who can steer pretty well.”
“I have steered several ships through many storms,” the first man continued. A few dark red ringlets poked through under his hat. “I wouldn’t have made it though if it weren’t for Terrance here.” He indicated the Black man standing next to him. “He is a hell of a navigator.”
“I usually ask for references,” Mal said. His eyes were on Kaylee who was backing away from a couple men who were leering at her. He didn’t have to stand up. Zoe was already on her way over to lend Kaylee a hand. “Don’t have much in the way of time.” Well he did. It was going to take over 700 years before the delivery of Jonas’s transporter was due. “Just tell me what was the last ship you were on?”
“The Thalia,” Terrance said. He had a small scar on his chin and a thick mustache that connected to the scruff on his chin. “Been on it for about eight years. The East India Company wanted us to register under them and our captain refused.”
“Bloody bastards seized the ship and forced us to find new lines of work,” the older man said through clenched teeth before he struck his fist down on the table. He winced when the rickety legs shook. “Sorry.”
“Don’t have to be,” Mal told them. “I can relate. We are going to be far away from them.”
“How can you be certain?”
Malcolm grinned again. “Have you ever sailed to China?”
“Twice,” the man said. “But how can you be so sure they wont find us? They have influences over there.”
“Because we will be sneaky.”
“Can you sail sneaky?” Zoe asked once she and Kaylee returned.
“They will be sailing,” Mal pointed to his new crewmembers. “We’ll be sneaky.” He turned back to the older man. “What is your name?”
“Gavin, sir.”
Mal nodded. “Welcome aboard the Haven, Gavin, Terrance.” He held out his hand for both men to shake
-
“Two more of my crew are waiting for us outside,” Malcolm said to Gavin and the others as soon as they stepped outside of the Singing Conch. “And we got two more still on the boat.”
“Boat?” Gavin paused in his tracks. “I thought you said it was a ship.”
“It is a ship,” Kaylee chimed in. “She’s a good ship. A big clipper with soaring masts and beautiful sails.”
“But he said it was a boat,” Horace pointed at Mal.
“Oh that,” Kaylee chuckled. “The Cap’n calls anything that floats a boat. It’s just the way he talks.”
“Could fit a crew about a few hundred I recon,” Mal said before his gaze met with Zoë’s. The look on her face told him he had to be more careful with his words. It was a good thing Inara wasn’t around. He wouldn’t hear the end of it.
“That is another thing I noticed about you besides your clothes,” Gavin rubbed his stubble coated chin. “I can’t quite place your accents.”
“We’re from the colonies,” Zoe explained while she pointed up. “Captain Reynolds is from the Carolina’s.”
“Does everyone dress like that in the colonies?” Whistler asked.
Mal stared down at his shirt, pants and boots and ran his hands down his brown trench coat. “Most of us. Those of us who are more land bound.”
“Hey, Mal.” Jayne’s voice carried over from the alley. “You gotta see the swag I won.” The mercenary came running with heavy bags in his hands. “Lots of coinage and I even won one of them old timey pistols.”
“You need to watch what you say,” Inara wasn’t too far from behind him. She had beaten Mal to cautioning Jayne.
“And how did you do?” Malcolm asked her. “I know you couldn’t charge your full rate due to certain circumstances.”
“I charged a few pence per massage,” Inara answered. “I made more than Jayne.”
“She had a line that went around the corner,” Jayne said. “A few guys tried to get a little fresh with her. I threatened to introduce them to Vera.”
“Some guys were getting a little fresh?” Malcolm blinked and folded his arms across his chest. “What did I warn you?”
“I was near Jayne the whole time,” Inara answered in a low voice. “And I had their balls in a vice grip before he kicked them in the back of the head.”
“Well we are all here,” Kaylee stepped in between them. “Everyone this is Jayne and Inara.” She paused when she tried to think of what to say next. “Jayne is our weapon expert and Inara is our culture expert.”
“He’s also a gunner?” Gusty pointed to Jayne.
“Hand held weapons,” Mal told her. “Doesn’t know much in handling cannons. Could use a teacher.”
“Didn’t introduce them yet,” Kaylee’s voice was growing giddier by the second. “Gusty is our gunner for the cannons. Gavin will steer,” she pointed at each new member of the crew. “Terrance will navigate, Hooky is our cook, Whistler will help me with repairs and both Horace and Jarvis are jacks of all trades.”
“Is she always like this?” Terrance pointed towards her.
Mal nodded. “She is always this cheerful. She radiates so much sunshine and sugar you will turn crimson and have you teeth fall out by just looking at her.” He nearly bit his tongue when he said that. He didn’t want to offend any of his new crew and he new most of them did not care too much about dental hygiene.
“I like Miss Frye,” Jarvis said. “Her pleasant attitude uplifts my spirits.”
“That won’t last,” Jayne grunted.
“Miss Frye does have that affect on a lot of people,” Malcolm said. “Don’t get too attached to her, son. Her heart is already bonded with our doctor. He and his sister are waiting for us.” He motioned for everyone to head to the docks. He paused when Gavin and the others didn’t move.
“We cannot leave,” Horace said. “A trip this big, we will need supplies.”
“Yeah,” Malcolm sighed through his teeth and patted his pants pockets. “Good thing I hired them.”
“Don’t have to worry about spending too much, Captain,” Gavin gave Mal a good pat on the back. “We’ll all chip in.”
-
Will sat next to Elizabeth at one of the dining tables. His eyes were not on her, although they should be. He barely even glanced at her and he knew how uncomfortable it made her. She confessed that she sealed Jack’s fate when she handcuffed the pirate to his ship. She knew he knew about the kiss. He could have at least looked at her, show her a smile.
He would have looked at her more, but his focus was on the man who ordered the meeting. Barbossa stood in front of them. A bottle of wine was in his hand and his undead monkey was perched on his shoulder, staring at them all.
“You probably want to know why I called of ye here,” Barbossa said after a few minutes.
“I want to know what your plan is,” Anamaria gripped the cracked wood table and leaned over. “You have us going across the world when you haven’t even explained how and why we are getting Jack back. I agreed to let you use my ship, my Luna Ghost. I want to know why we are putting my ship at risk and made you captain for this expedition.”
“He’s captain because he knows where we are going,” Ragetti said.
Pintel shook his head. “That’s not why. It’s because he knows what he is doing.”
“That’s what I said.”
“No you didn’t, you said because he knows where he is going.” Pintel said.
“He knows where we are going because he knows what he is doing.” Ragetti pointed at Pintel. “That is what I said.”
“You only said he knows where he is going not both.”
“I said it without using any words.”
“Enough,” Anamaria shouted. Her hands were clenched into fists.
“He knows what he is doing but we don’t,” Marty said. He had to kneel on the bench so that he could stare the others in the eye. “That is what Anamaria is talking about. How do we trust the Luna Ghost in his hands when we don’t even know what he is talking about?”
“That is why we are having this meeting,” Will said. His eyes had left Barbossa ad shifted to the other members of Jack’s crew, past Gibbs, Cotton and his parrot, Marty, Pintel, Ragetti, Anamaria and several new faces, Will hadn’t seen before. “He told me his going to let everyone know.”
“The boy is correct,” Barbossa said. “Now I know you have been wondering how it is we are going to get ole Jack back from the dead.”
“With things that are dear to Jack,” Ragetti said. “Like you have already said.”
Barbossa nodded. “Aye, I have said that. There is a little complication.”
“What kind of complication?” Anamaria asked. Will noticed the fire in her eyes. It was the same fire that was in Elizabeth’s eyes when Beckett first arrested them. Barbossa had better be careful if he didn’t want to feel Ana’s wrath.
“Ask yerselves this question. What are some of Jack’s favorite things? What is the thing that is the most dear to him?”
“The sea itself,” Gibbs said. “He always said his first love was the sea.”
“Rum?” Pintel suggested.
“Isn’t that most dear to all pirates?” Will asked.
“It’s the Black Pearl,” Elizabeth said. Will finally turned to face her and wished he had done so sooner. “He loved his ship.”
“Aye,” Gibbs nodded solemnly. “He loved the Pearl more than the sea.”
“He also loved rum,” Pintel said.
“All love rum,” Cotton’s parrot squawked.
“I thought he also loved freedom,” Ragetti cocked his head to the side. “You couldn’t pin him down or make him do anything for anybody, never could be tamed, that Jack.”
Will just stared at him for a full minute. From the silence in the room he could tell the others were also staring at the one eyed man.
“That may be true,” Anamaria nodded. “But you cannot bottle freedom. It is not something you can hold in your hand.”
“Like rum,” Pintel added.
“Will you stop with the rum,” Elizabeth snapped before she faced Barbossa. “We know we need the Black Pearl to save Jack, but how are we going to get the ship back?”
“That is where we need to make our first stop,” Barbossa said. “We will speak with a man who can help us bring her back. All of ye have ridden aboard her before?” Nearly everyone nodded and voiced an agreement. “We are what is needed to raise the Pearl.”
“And then we take a piece of the Pearl and use it to save Jack?” Gibbs asked.
“That is one thing,” Barbossa reached up to pet the monkey on his shoulder. “There is also the rum.”
Pintel smacked his fingers against his palm. “I knew there was going to be rum.”
“Not just any rum,” Barbossa stared at the bottle of wine in his hands. “The kind of rum that Jack would choose over this wine.”
“That doesn’t make it any more special,” Elizabeth said. “Jack would always choose rum over wine.”
Gibbs shook his head. “Not quite true. There is a certain ladder of alcohol for Jack. Rum is higher than beer, but not as high as some fine wines.”
“And this is the best rum,” Barbossa went on. “Made from the richest sugar cane and been in the barrel so long it is almost black as the sky on a cloudy night. Néctar Oscuro is what it is called, contains a whisper of honey and cinnamon.” He noticed the moist and wistful glances of the crew. “And the very looks ye are giving me is the reason why I have it hidden. Jack had a bottle hidden himself and I took the liberty of tasting it after the mutiny.” He paused to chuckle. “I only managed to have one taste before the curse and afterwards I drank it down not knowing I wouldn’t have been able to enjoy the taste.”
“And you wasted it,” Marty shook his head.
“We have a bottle of unique rum and we will have a piece of the Pearl,” Will said. “Is that all we need?”
Barbossa raised a finger. “We need a sacrifice from all the crew.”
“A blood sacrifice?” Ragetti asked.
Barbossa shook his head. “This sacrifice is also known as the concern of many. It is a sacrifice of emotion, a clear sacrifice from yer heart and soul and I don’t mean heart and soul literally.”
Will wasn’t sure what Barbossa meant and searched the rest of the crew, trying to see if they had thought of it.
“Tears,” Elizabeth said. “He needs our tears.”
“Aye,” the once cursed captain nodded. “I have an empty bottle just fer that. Or I will.” He uncorked the bottle and took a long sip from it.
_
Tortuga
When Malcolm heard they were going to get supplies he had pictured items such as rope, wood stain, and gunpowder. They did purchase the above but Hooky also insisted on purchasing a couple of goats and several chickens. Well it wasn’t the first time his crew traveled with livestock on their ship and he did enjoy seeing Jayne’s face when he found out he had to carry a goat.
“Nice chicken,” Kaylee tried to pat the hen she carried. “Please don’t peck my eye out.”
“Captain,” Horace called out. The tall man carried the other goat. “We need to wait for Jarvis.”
“I thought he was with you?” Malcolm pointed to him.
“He said he needed to buy something at the hat store.”
“Why does he need a hat?” Malcolm asked.
“Captain Reynolds!” The teenager ran up to them. “Captain Reynolds I have something for you.”
“For me?” Malcolm blinked. “Wait. You went to the hat store to get me a hat?”
Jarvis nodded. “Every captain needs his hat.” He handed a dark tri corner hat over to Malcolm.
“Why thanks son,” Malcolm examined it. It felt like it was made out of real cow leather with a fine cloth lining. It even had a bright green feather at the side. He turned to his original crew and placed the hat on his head. “How do I look?”
“You look nice,” Kaylee said.
“Congratulations, sir,” Zoe deadpanned before she stepped close enough to Mal he could hear her whisper. “You officially blend in with the time period now.”
Mal stepped back and turned to the youth. “Thank you son, it’s a right nice sort of gift.”
“Are we almost there?” Jayne asked, speaking of the docks. “I don’t like the way it’s looking at me. Kinda like the girl. Makes me think it’s reading my mind.”
“Jayne,” Mal snapped at him.
“Is that is first name?” Terrance leaned over to Mal. “I thought it might be his last name since it is a girl’s name.”
“It’s his first,” Mal answered. “Best not to joke about it, besides he spells it differently, has a y, makes it all manly.”
Terrance’s eyes widened before he glanced over to Jayne. “Oh its like some of those names they use in France.”
“Yeah, sumthin like that.”
It was only a few more minutes before they reached the wooden piers of the docks. Most of the new crew wanted to know what the Haven was like. Mal mentioned she was a bit old but faithful, but it was Kaylee who gushed about the ship and how much she loved it.
Mal’s good nature dissolved when saw Simon racing down the docks, heading straight for them. “What is going on? I thought I told you and your sister to stay with the ship.”
“River,” Simon paused to catch his breath.
“What happened?” Kaylee asked. “Where is she?”
Simon closed his eyes. “That’s it. I don’t know. She left the ship when I was on a lower deck and now she is gone.”
-
