White and Black Pearls 3 - Ten Pearl Strand

Chapter Eighteen

It wasn’t any sort of official ceremony, not by far; it appeared as though Calypso had spent most of her time ‘preparing’ just trying to clean the body up so that it looked nice, and fashioning a rough funeral pyre out of driftwood and felled trees in the very middle of the island.

Everyone stood around in silence for the first dragging minutes before one of the Dutchmen’s crew spoke up. “She said what she meant, and she meant what she said,” Bootstrap Bill said quietly.

“She was a hellion,” Calypso nodded. “She left the same way she came to be.”

“Even though it didn’t always turn out well, she always tried her best to make right with those she cared for,” Will finally managed to pinch out, still having a hard time of this as he stared at the lifeless body atop the pyre and Jack standing in front of it, his back to all of them. He couldn’t even walk over and comfort Jack; he was stuck standing in a basin filled with water brought from the Pearl.

“Her stare could freeze the breath in your lungs but her kiss was always gentle,” Davy murmured. “It might have rained and hailed but there was always a warm welcome of sun that followed to dry you off again.”

“She was unpredictable and difficult,” Jack said quietly, his voice raw. “She made things hard yet it always felt better when she was close. She was my wife.” He tipped the frosted glass bottle in his hand, pouring out the rum onto the base of the pyre in wet splashes.

Calypso stepped forward then, and offered the torch to Jack. Slowly he lowered it, and as it touched the alcohol soaked wood it lit up immediately. The tinder stuffed in the base of the pyre went up with tall flames and thick smoke, but as the wood caught and the tinder went out, the flames became stronger and spread higher and higher.

Jack stood there lifelessly, his shoulders sagging and the bottle hanging between his fingers, as he watched the flames lick at her pale skin and hair, climbing up onto her clothes and causing her to disappear, so that only a faint black figure was left visible in the heart of the roaring fire. The heat of it made the others back away some but Jack didn’t move as he stared at the blaze, deafened by its roar and blinded by its light. Any tears that fell were scorched off his face as he stood there, until Calypso pulled him back forcefully to keep Jack from getting burnt.

While the hours drifted by, slowly the gathered people began to disassemble, until only Calypso and Jack were left standing before the fire as it slowed. The final charcoals of remaining wood flickered with the occasional small flame, and they all glowed brightly with heat, but the fire was out, and the great pyre’s only remaining evidence was the huge black burnt mark in the middle of the island and the charcoal bits that crumbled when touched.

As night settled and the gathered stood on the beach sans Jack Sparrow, the captains and leaders looked amongst each other.

“We can’t just leave him here,” Will pointed out. “None of you are seriously considering this.”

“I agree,” Barbossa nodded. “But he said he refused to set foot on the Pearl as long as she isn’t alive to be its namesake.”

“He can’t come with me on the Dutchman,” Will ground out. “He can’t travel where I travel, he can’t go where I go.”

Barbossa shook his head. “Then we be at a stand-still.”

“Why don’t we just rename the Black Pearl?” Pintel piped up. “Then there’s no worry about bein on a ship with her as the namesake, she’ll have a new name and a new namesake.” Barbossa’s glare shut him up quickly enough. “Or not,” he waffled.

“Look,” Will insisted. “One way or another we all agree that Jack can’t be left on this island, right?” All nodded. “Right. And no matter what, there’s no way he can come with me on my ship, right?” Again, nods. “So that doesn’t leave any other choice. Whether he likes it or not he’ll go with you on the Black Pearl, Barbossa, along with Calypso and Jones.”

He didn’t like this, not at all. Barbossa wanted nothing more to do with Jack now that the man was just a hollow shell, and he doubly didn’t want to be the one throwing Jack into the ship’s brig for his own good while they made sail. So, he decided to stall while he tried to come up with a plan. “Why don’t we stay one more night and sleep on it before making final decisions,” he suggested amicably.

“Fine,” Will agreed. “Tonight, and that’s it. Tomorrow we sail.”

Everyone seemed satisfied enough with that. They parted ways to go to their own beds, leaving Jack alone in the forest of palms with his burnt black patch of land.


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