Exorcism

Elizabeth didn’t let go of his hand when they finally continued on their way. It felt strange that of all the places they could have chosen to meet Jack’s acquaintance, it had to be this one. Her father’s house. Home – or what remained of it. The gravel drive that led up to the entrance had been well-tended when Weatherby Swann had been governor, but now, it was littered with garbage and broken off branches, the weed already lurking to reclaim its rightful place.



And she realized part of her was buried somewhere beneath it all, the part that had been a governor’s daughter, the spoiled little girl that had wandered these grounds, dreaming of a prince to come and take her away. The prince never came, but Will did and the thought of him had tasted just as sweet.



During their engagement – that wonderful summer which had flown so fast – they had walked through this wilderness, a blooming garden back then, hand in hand and …. She flinched at the thought, realizing that she was still holding Jack’s hand. Feeling caught, she blushed and withdrew it from his grip, wiping it on her waistcoat. What little self-respect she possessed told her that she should not trust this man, much less cling to him in a completely inappropriate manner.



He looked at her – almost accusatory, it seemed – but didn’t speak. Instead, he diverged from the path and walked over to one of the many statues that had once lined the driveway. Only one, the image of a woman, had survived the earthquake; she was still resting on her pedestal, bereft of one arm but with a hauntingly sad expression on her beautiful face.



Strange, Elizabeth thought, that from all the statues in their garden, only Eurydice had been spared by nature’s fury. How well she remembered the myth of Orpheus who had been so distraught by his beloved wife’s death that his sadness even caused the gods to cry. He was given the chance to take her back from the underworld, but only under the condition that he would walk in front, not looking back until they had reached the land of the living. But in his anxiety, he turned around and Eurydice disappeared again, forever lost in Hades.



Maybe this was Hades, her own personal hell and Eurydice was already there to bid her welcome. And there was no one left on earth that would come to her rescue …



Tearing herself away from the feeling of maddening solitude, Elizabeth glanced over to Jack who was staring at the statue as if he was trying to make her reveal some indefinable secret to him. When he reached out to touch the white marble, brushing lightly over Eurydice’s shoulder, she felt like an intruder, watching an intimate gesture that was not meant for her eyes to see. She turned away and proceeded, leaving Jack to his silent dialogue with the lamentable dead.



The house had been visible for quite some time now and her eyes had already taken in the destruction, but nothing could have prepared her for the shock that ran right through her when she finally reached the portal.



Columns lying around in a grotesque arrangement, some of them still intact, others broken…the remains of the stairs leading up to the main entrance … the fragments of the front-door …



Something inside her still refused to make the connection; there was no way she had known this place before, no way she’d called it home. This was just a ruin, a place long deserted and forgotten.



There had to be another Port Royal, a town still alive where another house stood in the midst of a wonderful garden. And without doubt, another Governor Swann resided there, a Governor Swann still alive and he had a daughter, another Elizabeth Swann who …



“Elizabeth!”



Somebody had taken hold of her shoulders, shaking her hard.



“Elizabeth, look at me!”



It felt like someone was trying to pull her out of this nightmare and she was grateful, giving in to the voice calling her from what appeared to be a far away place. Finally, it would be over, she would wake up in her bed and find it had only been a dream. She took a deep breath, eyes shut - but when she opened them again, there was only the horrible realization that her nightmare had become reality. There was Jack, standing right in front of her with a concerned expression on his face and there, just behind him, she could clearly make out the floor of the entrance hall. Which should have been impossible, considering that they were still standing outside the house.



And then, she finally understood what had happened, the truth crushing down on her with full force.All of a sudden, she became aware of the merciless afternoon-sun that was burning down from a sky so blue it was almost unreal, cruel and beyond her enduring. Another look at the house, a surreal vision in the shimmering heat and she found she couldn’t breathe anymore. Frantically, she started pulling on the collar of her shirt, trying to open the uppermost button but her fingers felt numb and her head too dizzy to coordinate any movement. Slowly, almost wonderingly, she realized she was going to faint, but before her legs could give away, she was pulled to another body and together, they sank to their knees.



The next thing she knew was that there were warmth and comfort surrounding her. She felt drowsy and exhausted, like she’d just returned from a long walk, but there was that quiet voice whispering incoherent words into her ear, and that hand caressing the back of her head, and somehow she knew that everything would be fine. She wanted to let go, wanted to give in to that wonderful feeling of hope and safety, when she felt something strange on her temple. A tickle...prickly, in a way. A beard.



“Jack!”



She pushed him away and jumped to her feet, knocking him over. He fell on his back, eyes wide open and with a startled expression on his face.



“So glad you’re feeling better”, he managed to say, gasping for air.



“What happened?”



He seemed to ponder on the question and she half-expected him to make some mocking remark on her fainting into his arms, but when his reply finally came, he appeared to be completely serious. “This place happened ...,” he answered resignedly, closing his eyes for a few seconds. “It’s all my fault, I shouldn’t have brought you here.”



She looked around, and though nothing had changed, she discovered she could actually bear the sight. It was as if she had distanced herself from it all while he had held her in his arms; in a strange and unusual way, he had helped her say goodbye, making her feel she was not alone in this and leaving her with the impression that for some mysterious, unfathomable reason he had shared her pain.



He was still lying on the ground, eyes closed, when she turned to face him again. And the feeling of a bond existing between them faded as abruptly as it had arisen; he was as far away as ever and suddenly it seemed ridiculous to think it could have been otherwise only a few minutes ago.



A few minutes? Christ, the blazing afternoon sun had already gone down considerably and it couldn’t be long until sunset. How long had they been here?



And then, she suddenly remembered their reason for visiting this place.



“Jack, what about that man? Where is he?”



“Here, as I told you. So if you still want to meet him ….” There was a trace of reluctance in his voice while he spoke, still on his back, almost as if he was pretending to be asleep.



“Of course I do! If this man will take me to Kingston … if there’s only the slightest chance he will, I want to meet him.”



“So be it.” And with that, he got to his feet and walked over to her. “Sit down”, he said, gesturing towards one of the broken columns lying on the ground like the fingers of a fallen giant.



“No”, she replied fiercely, “I’ll come with you!” There was no way she would stay here on her own, waiting for him to return.



“What? I am not going anywhere, luv.” And with that, he took a seat himself and looked at her invitingly.



“You mean we should sit here and wait?” Oh, now she was really getting annoyed by his trying behaviour. “If that man came out on his own, he would have had plenty of time to do so. We have to look for him! At least that’s what I am going to do!”



She turned on her heels and climbed onto the remains of the portal, stepping over the towering debris and into the entrance hall. It was cool and shadowy in there, almost like she remembered it. Only the floor was no longer clean-swept and shiny but dusty and littered with rubble and broken furniture. The stairs that led up to the first floor seemed to be still intact, as was the large fireplace and – oddly enough – the crossed swords that hung above the mantle.



Elizabeth had to pause for a moment, taking a deep breath and telling herself that nothing of this mattered anymore. The only thing she needed to do was find this man; after that, there would be no reason whatsoever for her to ever return to this place.



“Hello?” she shouted into the hall, a little hesitantly perhaps for fear part of the ceiling might come crashing down. But no one replied.



“Hello, is anyone in here?” More forcefully this time, but still to no avail.



“I don’t want to interrupt your endeavours, Lizzie, but I fear you’re only wasting your time,” Jack shouted from outside. He was still sitting on the column and it didn’t seem as if he was going to be much of a help. But he could at least tell her where she would find his friend or whatever this man was to him …



So she went out again, crossed her arms and planted herself in front of him.



“Jack, I want you to tell me where I can find him! Immediately!”



But the aggressive tone in her voice yielded nothing, forcing her to resort to well-tried means of persuasion. Drawing her sword, she put the blade to his throat, and hissed: “Where is he?”



Jack, however, didn’t seem to be impressed. He lowered his eyes and looked first at the blade, then at Elizabeth, before his face was overtaken by an amused grin.



“Lizzie, I know dear William has been a bad influence, but I’d have expected you to think a little more … practically. Even if I decided not to tell you and you killed me – where’s the use in it? With me dead, you’ll never learn his whereabouts.”



“The use in it is that I have the satisfaction you died from my hands!” And it was not until the words had escaped her lips that she realized what she had just said.



“Odd,” Jack replied dryly, his grin fading. “I thought you already had that.”



Feeling embarrassed, Elizabeth lowered her sword and put it back into the sheath.



“Jack, I …,” she began, but he held up his hand to silence her.



“I know,” he said quietly. “No need to discuss that now. And if you’re a good girl and sit down, I promise I’ll tell you everything you need to know.”



When she finally gave in and sat down beside him, she couldn’t help but think he looked – well, relieved. He had been reluctant to talk about this man from the day he had announced they were going to see him. They had been looking for a possibility to get her to Kingston which was not that easy, considering that Beckett had been made new governor and put a veritable price on her head, let alone Jack’s. It was impossible to just walk into the city and get her a safe passage to England, even the attempt would have led to their imprisonment or, more likely, to their public execution.



And then, all of a sudden, Jack had pretended he knew a man who would do everything that lay in his power to get her out if she only went to see him in Port Royal. He never said how he knew this and Elizabeth did not ask him. What Jack Sparrow did not choose to tell himself was unquestionably a lie – which was also true for half of the stories he told on his own accord.



But given the fact he actually existed, this man could be her only chance and she had decided to take the risk, despite her misgivings for every piece of information coming from a pirate.



And now it seemed as if her fears proved to be justified. Something about this plan was decidedly not working out and she wanted to find out what it was, even if this meant she had to look for the truth in a story she expected to be full of lies and humbug.



“Will you promise to listen to me and NOT interrupt my story, no matter how little of it you are willing to believe?”



Well, if he was admitting in advance that she would not believe a word of it, she probably couldn’t expect it to be of any use at all. And honestly, she had no intention to stay here any longer, listening to some fairy-tale.



“Really, Jack, I think we should leave. This is getting us nowhere …”



“You know … I know that I tend to be rather … economical when it comes to the truth. But this time – and if it’s only for once, I assure you that I …,” he paused and she saw that he was in some kind of dilemma, “ … let’s say I didn’t lie. Savvy?”



He looked at her pleadingly and she found herself wondering if his talent as an actor had suddenly increased, for she was actually close to believing him.



“I promise that you will meet someone who’ll take you to Kingston, right here and today. But first you have to listen to what I’ve got to tell you. You will understand everything – well, almost, but I just can’t let you see him before you haven’t heard his story. Then you’ll see why I wouldn’t call him my friend … and you may judge for yourself.”



There was a long moment of silence between them and then, finally, Elizabeth nodded reluctantly. “Okay”, she said quietly, “I’ll give it a try.”



“Well, so let’s see how to begin this …”