Chapter 9: Raise the Pearl
-
Will had managed to only catch a brief glimpse of the strange man inside the hut before the servant closed the door. It was enough for him to learn the man was hanging by the piercings over his entire body.
“Who would that be?” Gibbs asked.
Will ignored his question as well as the whimpers of discomfort made by Pintel and Ragetti and turned to face Elizabeth. She had gasped at the sight and covered her eyes before she turned around.
“Elizabeth?” He brushed his fingers against her arm. “Did he frighten you?”
“You can see his skin being stretched,” Pintel shuddered.
“Is not even humanly possible,” Ragetti closed his eyes and shook his head.
“No, it’s not that,” she lowered her hand. Her cheeks had turned crimson and not from the sun. “He was naked.” Her voice lowered to a whisper.
“Naked?” Will repeated and turned to the door. The short man was standing in front of it one more and was staring at Barbossa as the pirate shook his finger at him. “What is going on?”
“That is what I am tryin to figure out, Turner.” Barbossa said as he fumbled through more papers. “Ah here we go.” He read from another paper in the same language as before.
The servant nodded a few times before he seated himself back down on the doorstep, legs crossed, arms flexed out and eyes closed.
“Don’t ye fall asleep on me again. Answer the question.”
“He is answering the question,” Anamaria said. “I have seen a few others do what he is doing. He is meditating.”
“He is lost in deep thought?” Gibbs asked. “The man we want to see is just thinking real hard?”
“Thinkin about the pain he is in.” Ragetti said.
Anamaria rolled her eyes. “Not like that. Deep thought, where he turned his mind off from the world, just focused on his most inner thoughts and be at peace.”
Pintel furrowed his brows. “How can he be deep in thought like that?”
“Good question, and I have answer,” a creaky voice answered as the door slowly opened, nearly striking the servant in the back end before he got up and moved. “To help detach the soul from body for short time I place my body in great pain.” It was the same tall and long limbed man as before. He had the same ocher hued skin as the other civilians of the place. He had shaved his head completely bald and had a face etched with lines from age. He did not remove a single piece of metal from his body, but managed to wrap a cloth around his waist.
“That would be some serious meditation,” Gibbs said, his eyes kept averting away from the man. The others also seemed to have difficulty in trying not to stare. Cotton had closed his eyes and Marty craned his neck so it would look like he was trying to look the man in the eyes. Ragetti tried to muffle his cries and Pintel kept touching the points of his face and arms where the man had been pierced.
Will stared directly into his eyes. “You are the one who can raise a destroyed ship?”
“I have raised many vessels and homes,” the pierced man said. “I can raise this one.”
“Tia Dalma told us to seek you out,” Barbossa told him. “Gave me a map of where ta find ye and the vortex and how ta bring back Jack.”
“Tia Dalma gave you everything?” Elizabeth asked.
“Everything but a ship,” Anamaria said. She was not going to let anyone forget that the Luna Ghost was hers.
Barbossa chose to ignore her. “Gave me the maps and the instructions and a few papers on how to communicate.” He smiled at the shaman. “I guess I won’t be needin them with ye.”
The shaman nodded. “I have met Tia Dalma before.” He clasped his fingers together. “My English not strong. I try.”
“We appreciate your trying,” Will told him.
The shaman nodded at them. “Please enter.” He opened the door wide enough to be more inviting. “I am sorry for the fright. I meditate before I raise. I did not know you be here soon.”
“You don’t have to apologize,” Elizabeth said. Will had noticed she was also having a difficult time trying to stare the man in the eyes, but then again she saw more of him than he did.
“You did not know I have such a fast ship,” Anamaria said proudly.
“Best not to be dawdling,” Barbossa said before he stepped inside.
-
James Norrington surveyed the work of the serving women as they set the table in his cabin for breakfast. They had laid out a fresh linen tablecloth upon the surface before they brought the food served on silver platters. They were most likely not real silver, but he did not care. He had been informed of such a meal and guessed which covered dish carried which food. There were oat cakes cooked on the griddle and were to be covered by the butter, also brought out in a silver dish, or from the various jars of jam and what appeared to have been a small honey pot. A large bowl like dish would have had the chopped fruit mixture, cooked in a cider and the last large dish contained the meat from one of the hogs the Intrepid carried in its cargo. After sleeping with such beasts and having them soil his clothes and ruin his wig, eating their meat felt like a form of revenge.
James nodded when the women were finished. After they brought out the dishes, teapot, sugar bowl, cream pitcher and cups they had set the places for two people. If the presence of River disturbed the officers and passengers then it would be better if she ate with him in his cabin.
“We should be finished within the hour,” James told them. “You are dismissed.”
“Yes sir,” one of the bonnet-wearing women nodded demurely before she and the others have left the room.
“Miss Tam,” he called to the door that separated the main room from the room that contained the bed, basin and chamber pot. “Breakfast is served. I am certain you did not get much to eat last night.”
Last night was a rough night indeed. After River woke up from her nightmare and they talked he had another difficult time trying to convince her to go back to sleep. He even allowed her to sleep in his bed and gave her a glass of sherry to help calm her down. She eventually did go back to sleep.
James managed to get enough rest on the sofa and woke up before six bells. He convinced River to leave the other room long enough for him to bathe and dress before he allowed her to bathe.
“They were scraps,” River said as she left the bedroom. She had donned only her gown and left the coat and even her boots. “Crusts of bread, peelings from fruit and vegetables. They did not stay long, not as long as food on the Haven and I couldn’t flush.”
“I am certain this will be much more pleasing and not make you sick.” He pulled out a chair for her. “Sit here.” He waited until she sat down before he pushed her in and joined her on the other side of the table. “Do you take your tea with cream or sugar or both?”
“The cream is un processed,” She stared at the cream pitcher. “There is no pasteurization. It is fresh, it has to be because there is nothing to keep it cold.”
“It is goat’s milk,” James raised his own nose. “I’m not really fond of it myself. How much sugar would you like.”
“Inara gave me one. Sweet and not too sweet.”
“One it is,” he placed a single cube into her cup before he poured the tea and handed it over to her before he served himself. “Tell me about Inara.” He decided to open with questions about her before asking more about her dreams.
“You think she is like Scarlett and the other courtesans on Tortuga. She is not. She chooses you. She may date and not sleep, she entertains with music, tea ceremonies and incense. Her tea tastes like peppermint.”
James nodded. River’s ship travels with its own courtesan, but the description River gave painted this woman as something more. “I am certain you travel with an assortment of intriguing folk.” He noticed the way she was looking at the platters. “If you want me to help serve then don’t be afraid to ask.”
She stared into his eyes. “You want me to go first because you are a gentleman.” She removed the cover from the oatcakes. “Some of these have a perfect diameter despite the fact they are not actually round but elliptical. Their radius is divided by pi. A planet like earth’s radius would equal pi to the-“ she paused when she noticed James was staring at her. “My food should not be explained by math today.” She carefully removed three cakes from the stack, using a fork and knife, one at a time.
James merely nodded. River was smart enough to memorize the order of naval ranks it was apparent she knew of many mathematical equations. Who educated her? He had only been to Boston once and that was before he was promoted to commodore. He didn’t remember seeing great teachers take on women as students.
“Let us talk about a different matter,” he suggested while River ladled some of the fruit on her plate. “Although your oatcakes may taste a bit bland and dry without butter and something sweet. There is honey and strawberry, grape and apple jam.”
“I like apple.” River placed a little butter on top of her stack and several spoons of the apple jam.
“I prefer honey to those flavors, although I am quite fond of marmalade.” He waited until she took a slice of meat before he served himself. “Miss Tam, would you like to talk about your dream last night.”
She shook her head. “There are things you know and many that happens after you know.”
“Please Miss Tam. It might help your sleeping ailment.”
“Sleeping is not my ailment. What is my ailment was what they gave me after they took a piece of me.”
He breathed deeply. He should have known better. The subject was too difficult. “I am only keeping you here because I want to help you. Would you like to be with the other passengers?”
She shook her head and frowned. “I won’t let you disappear.”
“I won’t disappear.” He placed a bit of butter on top of his cakes. “Did you dream that I disappeared?” Now they were getting somewhere. “That didn’t make you scream, did it?”
“No,” she slowly brought the cup to her mouth, sniffed the liquid and then sipped it.
“Try to explain your dream. We’ll stop if it reaches a point where it is too difficult.”
She set the cup down. “I was in a classroom on a planet named Osiris in the year 2513 where they discussed your disappearances amongst many others who also vanished and no one was able to find them, or know why. I walked outside and I was back at this time, at the docks where there were a lot of ships and they told me they didn’t give me this dream.” She paused. “I was on sand, on a beach and fake pirates were being chased by Reavers. Those that kept running were eaten and those who lied down were not, but then a new kind of Reavers showed up. They did not bleed but had life growing on them, fish with legs. One was a shark and another stepped before me. He was an elder god.” Her hands trembled as her face scrunched up.
“River-I mean Miss Tam I am sorry,” The first part of the dream was very imaginative. A classroom on a planet in the far future? The docks and the sand were influenced by memories, but the fish men at the end were something that not many have seen, and what did she mean by elder god? “We will not discuss such matters further until you are ready.”
“What do you want to talk about?”
“Whatever it is that comes to your mind, perhaps your brother, or your captain, or about your ship, Serenity. That is a beautiful name for a ship.” He used his fork and knife to cut off a bite-sized piece of meat before he looked up at her. The smile she gave him made him want to smile on his own.
-
Will wasn’t sure what he would have expected to see inside the Shaman’s hut. He thought it would have looked and smelled more like the inside of a Tia Dalma’s hut. Inside was just as humid and there was a hint of the sour and musty odor that had accompanied Tia’s place but there were a lot more herbs and spices. In fact he couldn’t pinpoint the exact fragrance for the exotic plants. On top of that the short servant was walking around and lighting sticks that were being held up by slender pieces of wood, adding more strange smells. It was enough to make Will dizzy.
Elizabeth had noticed his reaction. “Will, are you feeling all right?”
Will nodded. “Just those strange sticks.” He pointed to the nearest stick, his eyes were on the glowing heat as it traveled down and left the scented smoke in its wake.
The short servant grunted and motioned to the candles he was lighting.
“He wants us to help light them,” Gibbs guessed and grabbed one of the already lit candles to use to light some of the others.
“I wonder if this will work?” Elizabeth said.
“Are you having doubts?” Will asked her.
“Are you?”
“Many have doubts,” the shaman returned dressed in robes and carrying a large metal pot. He had removed most of the metal from his skin, save for those in his ears. “This will take minutes to prepare. You can help with mats.”
The mats in question were made out of dry grass and rolled up. Everyone who had sailed aboard the Black Pearl was to select a matt, untie the bindings and unroll them.
“The drink is ready,” the shaman called out.
“I could use one,” Pintel said.
“It’s not that type of drink,” Anamaria told him.
Barbossa nodded. “Aye, it be a strange brew, make yer head all funny and not in the same way as rum.”
“All must drink,” the shaman called out. The servant went into the room. “All who are on the ship.”
The monkey made a strange chittering sound before he moved from one of Barbossa’s shoulder’s to the other.
“Aye, Jack. It would be the brew for ye as well.” Barbossa reached up to pet the monkey’s head. “And that bird.” He pointed to Cotton’s parrot.
The parrot bobbed his head. “Drink up my hearties.”
The servant returned with a tray carrying several mugs. He walked around the room and paused by the crew who had been aboard the Pearl before.
“What about them?” Will pointed to those who were never on the Black Pearl after he and Elizabeth have taken their mugs.
“They will be offered a different drink.”
The servant picked up on the troubled tone from Will’s voice. As soon as he had served the last pirate he set down the tray and remove a pair of slender daggers from his belt. He encircled the group, looking like he would attack any of them if they as so much made a sudden move.
The heady fragrances had overpowered the scent of the brew and Will was thankful they did when he had taken his first sip. If it smelled as bad as it had tasted he would have vomited on the spot. He heard gags from Elizabeth as she forced down her drink before he finished his.
“Triton’s mercy,” Gibbs gagged after he finished. “For once I envy the monkey and Cotton.”
The mute pirate shrugged before he brought the edge of the mug closer to his parrot and tilted it. The bird dipped his beak into the cup, brought his head back and shuddered.
“What do we do now?” Will asked. The damn fragrance was making him even dizzier, unless that was the drink.
“Lie down on your mats,” the shaman instructed.
He didn’t have to repeat himself. Will felt too weak to stand and lowered himself to his mat. He didn’t even look to see if Elizabeth was about to collapse on hers.
“Close your eyes and remember your first time on the Black Pearl.”
Will felt his mind continued to swim as he lowered his eyelids and tried to remember. The first time he was with Jack on a ship, the ship was the Interceptor and the second time was on the Dauntless. No, that wasn’t right. He was prisoner of Barbossa and kept in the brig of the Pearl. He did not want to remember that, but he had to. That was the first actual time he was on the ship. He escaped the sinking Interceptor
The first time he was on the Black Pearl as a member of the crew was when he and the crew were running away from the cannibals. The image was clear to him as the day he lived it. He could feel the wood of the ship, remembered walking on its deck, holding the ropes and feeling the sea spray against his skin.
The second vision was after they left Isle Cruces. They were fighting the Kraken and he was giving orders. He could hear the sound of cannon fire and the being hoisted up by the barrels containing the last gunpowder and rum. The last vision was of the Pearl sinking beneath the waves.
“See it, feel it, want it,” the shaman said. “You want the Black Pearl back. Your spiritual essence is still with her. It is not the sails and rudder that keep her afloat and moving. Its you, the crew.”
Will wanted to see that ship again. He wanted Jack Sparrow returned. He needed the ship to return Jack Sparrow to the world of the living. He needed Jack’s help in retrieving the heart to help free his father.
“Awake,” the shaman called out. “For she has risen.”
Will sat up and was surprised the drowsy feeling had left him. “That was it?”
“How do we know you succeeded?” Marty asked.
“You will not know until you see for yourselves,” he raised a finger. “Make sure the ship’s heart is not harmed or all effort shall be wasted and ship return to bottom of sea.”
“To the carriages lads,” Barbossa commanded. “And lasses.”
-
The carriage ride back to the docs seemed to have taken longer than going to the hut, even though the horses were running faster. Will kept sticking head out the window, to search for the Black Pearl amongst the other ships of the sea.
“Do you see it?” Elizabeth asked him
“No I don’t,” Will did see the Luna Ghost and, he wasn’t sure what he was looking at. “I think I see another ship right next to it.”
“You think you see it?” Elizabeth asked as the carriages pulled to a halt. “Are you not certain?”
Will stepped out the carriage as soon as it pulled up to the pier the Luna Ghost was stationed at and ran out. The next slip over was the Black Pearl, but it was transparent, like a ghost.
“What is wrong with it?” Elizabeth asked as she and the others caught up with him. They watched as the ship became solid for a few seconds before it faded out again.
“Bloody Shaman cheated us out,” Anamaria said.
Barbossa shook his head. “The ship is missing its heart.”
“It’s heart?” Will asked.
“We have one week to sail to the vortex, bring back Jack and return.”