White and Black Pearls 3 - Ten Pearl Strand

Chapter One

Will woke with a start, sitting up and looking around in a panic. How long had he been asleep? Why had nobody come to wake him?! He threw his legs over the side of his bed and grabbed for his clothes, getting dressed quickly. The Flying Dutchman’s captain hopped out of his room on one foot while tugging his other boot on, and when he finally got it on he stopped beside his father. “Why did nobody wake m –” Will lifted his head then, and lost the words in his throat.

They were back in the sky again, sailing amongst the clouds rather than the open waters. His gaze flicked back down to his father immediately, and when he saw the guilty expression on Bootstrap’s face, Will’s eyes went wide. “She didn’t!” he cried out.

“She did,” Bill replied quietly. “She put us up here where it’s safe and she went in there alone, after Jack.” Before Will could yell, his father continued, “But we’re doing her more help by staying here Will. Think about it. This is a battle among gods. No, strike that, goddesses. That’s worse. Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned, you should know that by now, and those two are going to have a confrontation that will change this world forever. If you were down there you would be a liability and something more she would have to keep mind of, rather than helping with much of anything in a fight of that caliber. What we’re doing right now is the better option. We’re waiting out the fight so that when she comes back with Jack,” he omitted the part where Celeste didn’t intend to board with Jack, “we can get out of here as fast as possible on a fully prepared, manned and capable ship that can carry us far away to safety until things die down. It’s for the best.”

Will didn’t know if he was understanding or infuriated with his father, but either way he was angry that he’d been betrayed not only by her – that wasn’t so unexpected – but also by his own father who had been against all of this in the first place. “What did she say to you to change your mind?” Will pressed.

“She didn’t say a thing to manipulate me, she only voiced what I already felt,” Bill said in a mildly arguable tone, disliking the indirect accusation of being rooked. “I’ve always wished for a way to repay Jack Sparrow in some manner and this is it. Now instead of marooning him I’m going to be the one to help rescue him. Is it really so bad for you to be the hero at the end of the tale instead of the hero in the middle of the scramble? Regardless you’re still a hero.”

“It’s not about being a hero!” Will said urgently. “It’s about what’s right! Don’t you understand yet, I never cared about the glory or wanting to be in the fight, I just wanted to be able to stand up for the love and devotion that I see in her and I believe in!”

“By dying at the hands of Calypso?” Bill tossed back.

Father and son fell silent then, staring fixedly at each other and frowning in frustration at their first real fight like this.

It was Bill who broke the silence again. “It wasn’t my idea, it was hers. I hadn’t a clue until after you’d gone to your quarters Will. I agreed to it for the sakes of your wife and child, and that of my only son. Hate me if you must but please understand that I had no choice as your father but to try and steer you to the safer path. Don’t ask me to stand aside and watch you walk into the lion’s den.”

“I don’t hate you,” Will deflated. “I’m sorry I yelled. I’m upset though, very upset. Did she leave any information at least? What we’re supposed to do, where we’re supposed to go, when we’re to meet them?” He peeked over the edge of the ship again. “…How we’re supposed to get down?” he added as an afterthought.


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More to come...