Pirates of the Caribbean 07 City of Gold (2 page)

"A jail. Placed here by pirates. Pirates. Not police or the gendarme. Pirates all dressed in black, organized like a police force. Or hadn't you noticed?" Jack leaned in, as if he were telling a great secret. "Since when, dear Fitzy, have you known pirates to be organized about anything? Or dressed in matching uniforms? They're not exactly known for their team spirit. Something very odd is going on in New Orleans."

"Apart from it being turned entirely into silver?" Fitzwilliam asked.But Jack was already not paying attention. The chief of the Pirate Guards was calling his troops to order. Jack gestured to Fitzwilliam: th
ey should be quiet and listen.

"Now, gents, Madame Minuit needs a detachment to help guard the mines...."Jack and Fitzwilliam looked at each other. Madame Minuit? Mines?"That witch is in complete control of the city now?" Jack asked."And since when does New Orleans have mines?" Fitzwilliam said."All right, you two stay and guard the prisoners," the chief announced.

"The rest of you lot come with me."The heavy tramping of many boots filed off into the distance.

"We've got t
o get out of here," Jack said.

CHAPTER FOUR

Jack had been trying to pick the lock to the cell for at least an hour.Fitzwilliam sat with his head in his hands. Even the old sailor cellmate looked
disappointed. “No
, really, just a moment now. A trick I picked up in Singapore..." Jack said, trying to sound enthusiastic. Getting frustrated, he jammed the bent piece of metal extra hard into the keyhole. It broke with an amazing
ly loud snap. Both pieces flew
outside the cell in opposite directions.Oh, bravo, Jack," Fitzwilliam said, clapping his hands. "Well done.""I don't see you with any better ideas!" Jack pointed out, frowning at him."Nice doggie," said the old sailor.Jack and Fitzwilliam turned to look.

Outside the cell, down the hall a
little way, was indeed a sandy
colo
u
red mutt. It looked more like a floor mat than a house pet, though its tail was bushy and its eyes were bright.What caught Jack's attention, though, was the ring of keys dangling from its mouth. One of which looked like it fit the lock of their jail cell.

"Nice doggie," Jack repeated, getting down on his knees. Fitzwilliam followed suit.The dog didn't budge. It tilted
its head as
if it were trying to figure out what Jack was asking for.

"Come on," Jack said, losing his patience. He stuck his hand through the bars and tried to gesture to the dog to come closer. "Come on, you mangy mutt....The dog cocked his head at him.Jack looked around the cell for something to entice the dog with. But there were no bones, not even a stick lying around. Nothing.Then an idea came to him.Before Fitzwilliam could protest, Jack whipped the nobleman's beloved pocket watch out of its fob and dangled it outside the cell.Give that back to me now, Sparrow!" Fitzwilliam demanded."Shh," Jack said, not even turning back to look at his ang
ry friend. "Here, doggie, look
at this, eh? This is a nice toy, this is. All golden and sparkly..." He bounced it and swung it enticingly. The dog's eyes followed its every move.Jack took the watch and threw it out at him, holding the end of the chain and snapping it back at the last minute like a yoyo.

"Th
at is fine Dutch craftsmanship
not to mention great sentim
ental value
you are toying with!" Fitzwilliam raged.The dog came forward a step, lifting a paw.

"Here we go, nice doggie." Jack flipped the watch out again.This time the dog couldn't resist. He pounced.Jack snapped the watch back into his right hand. With his left, he reached out and grabbed the keys.The dog barked.

"Shut i
t up, Jack!" Fitzwilliam said,
panicked. But not too panicked to grab his precious watch back.

"Do I have to do everything around here?" Jack demanded."Arf, arf," the old man in the corner coughed obligingly.

"S
hut
your trap, you
old drunk," a Pirate Guard called out.

" Thank you," Jack said, pressing his hands together and giving a little bow.

"At least someone else is pulling his weight around here."Then he pushed his hands through the bars and set about unlocking their cell with the key. The latch clicked and the door swung open."Ah, the heady stench of freedom," Jack said, taking a sniff of the close, foul air. He and Fitzwilliam stepped out. "You coming?" he asked the old s
ailor.

"Nice doggie," he answered instead, patting the ground. The dog came bounding in, wagging its tail and panting. It sat next to the old man, who began to pet it.

"Huh," Jack said, narrowing his eyes. Then he lifted one foot dramatically to indicate t
heir exit.
Jack and Fitzwilliam made their way quietly through the twilight city. Darkness had begun to pool in the streets and at corners.... The street lamps had all turned into silver. A thin rain drizzled down, making everything
greyer
. Fortunately, it was easy to see the soaring silver steeple of the tallest church in the city and navigate by that
.It was completely dark by the time they made it to the church. Jack and Fitzwilliam went around to the back, through the churchyard.

On the far side, pas
t old graves
and un
pruned trees, was the much older looking chapel. The two boys hurried down the steps, looking over their shoulders to see if they were being followed.In the dank chapel, a cheery little fire crackled, and the rest of Jack's crew--Jean, Tumen, and Tim, sat around it. Constance, Jean's sister who had been turned into a cat, was stretched out luxuriously, cleaning her paws.

"We're back," Jack said dramatically.

"Mon Dieu!" Jean exclaimed, seeing the crab tattoo on Fitzwilliam.

"What has happened to your neck?"

"It is...ah...a long story..." Fitzwilliam said, rubbing the place where Tia Dalma had touched him."It looks like black magic," Tumen said.

"So you saw your strange friend, then, Jack?"

"Yes, but b
etter than that. We found this
Jack swung around an old chair with a tattered velvet seat and sat on it backward. He pulled the gold gem out of his pocket. It gleamed in the firelight.Tumen's black eyes went even darker with disappointment. The people of Tumen's village had warned against the use of the amulet and its power."I thought you said you were not interested in magical things anymore, Jack," he said quietly.

"Yes...well..." Jack mumbled. "Aren't you the least bit curious about what it does?""No," Tumen said promptly.

"Do not put it in the medallion, Jack." Tumen said, warningly, "Remember what my grandfather said about the Sun-and-Stars medallion. It is very powerful...but also very dangerous.""And, what about you three?" Fitzwilliam asked, c
hanging the subject.

"Have you
had any luck finding Arabella, or her mother?"

"Ah, no," Jean said quickly."There's been no sightings of the pirate queen," Tim added, tossing a pebble into the fire.

"Or the Fleur de la Morte."

"She's probably kept it invisible. No point raising the alarm when you're on the run and trying to get the jump on two other notorious pirates," Jack said, a little grouchily.

"And she's not really so much a pirate queen, as an annoying captain...."

"We did hear un rumeur about LeftFoot and Silverback," Jean added.

"They have been seen with the higher-ups in the Pirate Guard police force."

"You fellas hear that?" Tim asked. He cocked his head to listen."Boots," Tumen said, frowni
ng. "On the pavement outside."

"The police!" Jack said, leaping up. He shoved the golden stone back into his pocket.There is a window out the back," Jean said.Tumen stamped out the fire. The five boys and Constance, clambered over old statues and columns to the dark back of the chapel, where a small metal grate covered a window. Jack slipped his knife around the edge and neatly popped it out. They all crawled out into the deserted, overgrown back corner of the churchyard. It probably would have been quite pretty and peaceful in daylight, with its vines, wildflowers, and leafy trees. But it was night, they were trying to run away from the bad guys, and it was raining even harder than before. And the ten-foot ornate iron fence at the back with the spiky points was not so much decorative as it was a per
fect obstacle to their escape.

"What do we do now, Jack?" Fitzwilliam whispered, and he wasn't being his usual sarcastic self. The police were closing in on the chapel. If they found the remains of the fire in there, they would know someone else was in the area....Jack looked around. Rain poured down on his face, dragging the hair into his eyes. At least it was a little less wet under...

"The trees!" he realized. "Everyone, up into the trees!"Without questioning him, everyone immediately chose a tree and climbed up it.They made it up just in time. The Pirate Guards were splashing through the puddles toward them, waving their torches around."Tis nothing here, Cap'n," one of them said."Well, someone reported something. You lot smell smoke
?" A familiar voice said.

Jack
and Fitzwilliam looked at each other--it was the chief of police, the big guy who had first caught them and locked them up.And then Fitzwilliam felt a sneeze coming on. The nobleman's eyes went wide with effort, and he pushed his finger under his nose, trying to stop it. It didn't work.The sneeze was extremely loud and extremely ungentlemanly, as though he had been saving it up for years. Fitzwilliam immediately slapped his hands over his mouth and nose, but it was too late.

"Here, now! What were that noise?" the police chief demanded, raising his torch up into the tree. The fire leaped and caught at some of the lower leaves. They hissed and sizzled in the heat of the flames. "There's somebody up there! Lefty, climb up th
at tree and see what's amiss!"

A Pirate Guard officer came over. He looked a little dubious about scaling the slick bark in the rain, but steeled himself and stepped a foot up...At that moment, Constance came yowling out of the nearby tree. She staggered in front of the Pirate Guard, hissing and coughing. The rain had matted down her already disgusting hair. With her tail bristling and fur standing on end, she looked more like a monster than a cat.

"What in the Seven Seas is that? the police chief gasped. Constance continued to cough and hack...finally throwing up a giant hairball, which landed an inch away from his boots."Yuck," said Lefty, somewhat uncharacteristically for a pirate. But, it really was disgusting."That'll put me off me grog for a fortnight," the chi
ef said.

"Well, I guess that's
what the noise was--it's really rainin' cats and dogs, ain't it?"

The police chief laughed.The other Pirate Guard laughed along. It sounded very forced.

"Come on, lads," the chief said, "I've had enough of this business tonight. You lot go back to the station house. I've got to get my report on the state of the mines in to Madame Minuit. And the third division hasn't repor
ted in yet!" His brow furrowed.

"They'll be
dancing
' if I don't hear from them before I have to see her!
”

The Pirate Guards scattered--probably to the closest tavern, if Jack knew pirates. Which he did. The Police Chief took one more long look around the churchyard. Then he gave a disgusted look at Constance, shook his head, and strolled off.The moment he was out of sight, Jack leaped to th
e ground, landing as if he had
been falling out of trees his whole life.

"Quick, we've got to follow him!" he hissed.Tumen, Jean, and Tim leaped nimbly out of their hiding spots. Fitzwilliam landed elegantly.

"Good job, Constance!" Jean cooed, picking up the cat.

"You saved us all!"

Jean gave Jack a look."All right, all right, good job," Jack said grudgingly. "The cat has made a contribution. Well done, etcetera. Now, we have to follow that Pirate Guard!"

"But why?" Jean asked, still scratching Constance under the neck. "How will that help us?"

"Because," Jack said patiently, "he is going to report to Madame Minuit. Besides all the various revenges some of us would like to take
on Madame Minuit--"

Tim nodded
vigorously at this--she will also lead us to Silverback and Left-Foot Louis, and, as we know--that's where Arabella's fierce mommy is headed!"The three other boys stood there blinking, not understanding the connection.

Even Constance seemed confused.Jack sighed. "How else would the Madame have known to go after our Tim Hawk here? Silverback somehow knew his family had the Silver Bullet and thought they might have some clue about the location of the amulet itself. And unless the entire Caribbean also somehow knows this, it would be an extremely strange coincidence indeed for both him and Madame Minuit to be interested in the amulet and our Tim Hawk, don't you think?"Not to mention the fact that you've already said
Silverback and Left-Foot Louis
were seen with the Pirate Guard muckety-mucks. And when we find them, chasing Silverback and our old friend Left-Foot will be the irate Captain Laura Smith, wanting her revenge on the mutineers. And with Captain Smith will be her daughter and our first mate, Arabella. So in order to find and rescue our friend--Arabella, if you
haven't been paying attention
we have to follow this police chief to Madame Minuit.Jack looked each on
e of them in the eye. “Savvy”

CHAPTER FIVE

Following the chief of the Pirate Guards, the crew of the Barnacle tiptoed around street corners, slunk in the darkest shadows, and hid in convenient doorways. Avoiding New Orleans's new police cost them a lot of time and almost made them lose their target. Bad weather made it even more difficult. In the rain, the silver streets were far slipperier than stone ones. They passed a young woman also having trouble keeping her balance on hi
gh-heeled shoes while hurrying
along, keeping her hood down in the rain. The chief of police touched his hat and smiled as he passed her.Fitzwilliam also tipped his hat, and Jean gave a little bow, but Jack just frowned.

"Where are your manners, Jack?" Fitzwilliam demanded as soon as the woman was out of sight.

"A better question would be: why didn't that big lug arrest her? Or demand her papers? There's a curfew, remember?"No one had an answer, except Jean.

"Maybe it's all right for ladies, non? he said innocently.They pressed on...and came to a fork. In the rain and the darkness, it was impossible to see more than a dozen feet in front of themselves. The police chief could have gone down either of the two streets that lay before
the crew.

"All right, we'll split up, then," Jack decided.

"Whoever finds him first will send a runner back the other way. Just please, please, please try to watch your footing on this metal pavement. Now, Jean, Tumen, Tim--you take the left. Fitzy, you and I will go right."

"My name is Fitzwilliam," the nobleman hissed.

"Oh, petty details, Fitzdalton..." Jack responded.Jack and Fitzwilliam headed down a street that was little more than a back alley. Piles of rubbish overflowed into the street and a line of laundry hung low across the way wet from the rain.Suddenly, Jack shoved his arm across Fitzwilliam's chest and forced the nobleman back against a silver stone wall. Before the other boy could
utter a protest, Jack put his
finger up to his mouth to shush him. Then he pointed.Just ahead, at the next street corner, were four Pirate Guards, changing shifts."How do we get past them?" Fitzwilliam asked.

"The curfew..."Jack looked around, eyeing some damp sheets hanging woefully from the closest clothes line."I h
ave an idea..." he said.
Meanwhile Jean, Tumen, and Tim weren't having much better luck. They had only made it a couple blocks before running into a pair of Pirate Guards. Worse, they were on a dead-end street with no doorways to escape through.

"Here! You lot! You got papers?" the pirate on the right bellowed. He was fat and held two pist
ols. His partner was whip-thin
and looked mean.

"It's after curfew, you know!"

The three boys looked at each other. There was no way they could take the two better-armed pirates in a straight fight.

Souple eske ou pale kreyol? Jean asked, thinking quickly.The two Pirate Guards looked at him blankly."You, there," the larger pirate gestured at Tumen.

"What did he say?"

"Matyox chawe. Xa majun Kar roma yiyawaj," the Mayan boy responded innocently.The pirate rounded on Tim.

"You look normal enough. Where are your papers?"Tim gulped.

"... Ooomhy," he finally said.It was the first nonsense
word that came into his head.

"Ooomby goomby gamma do. Dooooo!"

He waved his hands around to show that he was seriously trying to tell them something.All three sailors stared blankly at the guards.

"Bloody foreigners," the pirate said. He pushed his face into theirs and shouted, as if that would help them understand.

"YOU NEED TO GET YOUR PAPERS. PAPERS? Lucky for you, I can't be bothered with mush-headed foreigners tonight. Just passed the chief--new orders. Be on your way, now, and don't let me catch you again!"His partner just snarled.The two pirates hobbled off into the rain.

"Mush-headed foreigners?" Tumen asked mildly. "I suppose their people came from this continent originally?"

"Did you hear that, about the chief?" Jean pointed out.

"We've got to t
ell Jack; he's gone this way!"

"You stay here. I was the racing champion of Reading back in Britain. I'll be back sooner than you can make it to the end of
this here alley," Tim said.
Meanwhile, down the other road, two oddly familiar--and kind of ugly--ladies minced their way along, swathed from head to foot in soaking-wet pastel rain cloaks.

Rain cloaks that looked suspiciously like sheets.

"This is never going to work, Jack," the one in pink said dejectedly.

"Just follow my lead, Fitzy," the other replied, pulling an improvised chartreuse hood down lower. There were now just two Pirate Guards at the street corner. Jack and Fitzwilliam tiptoed up to them, swaying their hips. Jack let out a hi
gh-pitched squeal of laughter.

"Good evening, boys," Jack said, batting his eyelashes at the guards."Evening, ma'am," a guard replied, tipping his hat.

"Awful night for a lass like you to be out, eh?" another guard said admiringly.A little bit too admiringly."We're just on our way...to a, yes, a... knitting circle," Jack said, keeping his voice high and trying to step away.

"You know the sort, where you crochet and afghanee, and, well, you know how it is, can't be late."

"Aw, just stay a few minutes," the policeman said.

"Our shift gets so lonely...." He waggled his eyebrows and made kissy lips.

The situation was getting out of hand. Jack had no idea what to do.Fortunately, Tim ran up just at that moment. He stopped, struck dumb
at the weird scene before him.

"Oh, there you are, my boy," Jack said immediately, seeing an escape.

"Naughty thing, running away from mamma like that!"

"Er...aye...bad me..." Tim said, his wide eyes shocked, more than a little freaked out.

"Come on then, lad, let's get you back home. There is a curfew, you know. Good night, officers! Keep up the good work!" Jack said in his high-pitched voice, waving his hand in the air delicately."Thank you, Timothy," Jack said in his regular voice.

"You've just saved me from the terrible fate of becoming Mrs. Big Ugly Police Guard."

"No worries," Tim said, still sizing Jack and Fitz up, even as they removed their makeshift ladies' clothing. What had he gotte
n himself into with this crew?

"Of all the humiliating..." Fitzwilliam shouted, pulling off and throwing aside the bright sheet
he had been wearing.

"Actually,
I thought you looked rather fetching," Jack said with a wink and a grin.

Tim filled the two boys in on the chief's whereabouts, and once they were reunited with Jean and Tumen, the five hurried to catch up to the police chief. He led them straight to a huge town hall. More Pirate Guards. There was no way the crew could march right in.

"Around back," Jack suggested.The rear of the building was definitely more promising. Although the door was locked, just under the roof was one window with its shutters open; someone had forgotten to close it against the rain. Leading up to it almost like a ladder was a
thick growth of
ivy on a trellis. In the blink of a mangy cat's eye, the five boys were scuttling up it.Once inside the building, they found themselves in a small room off a long hall. At the far end was a narrow staircase. Sneaking down one flight they came out on a balcony that looked over the main ceremonial hall.But it wasn't a ceremony that was taking place in the hall. Instead, it was where Madame Minuit had decided to set up shop.She was wearing her stunning black-and-red dress and beautiful beaded hairnet. She sat in a fancy carved chair that seemed to be serving
as a throne, flanked by a half
dozen Pirate Guards. Before her was the chief of police, reporting in."...mining is going quite well, Cap
tai
n, I mean, Madame, he grinned, embarrassed.She smiled b
enignly. Madame was definitely
pleased with his report. Obviously, Jack thought. If she weren't pleased, she would have had her pet snakes attack the man before now."Excellent," she said, smiling. "In only a few months the entire city shall be mined and shipped to Europe and the colonies. Good riddance!"Jack and his friends all looked at each other. New Orleans itself was the mine!"Madame Minuit, your next appointment is here," an attendant said softly, clicking his heels."Send them in," she responded carelessly, waving her hand like a queen.Jack rolled his eyes and imitated her, waving his own hand.Then,

Left-Foot Louis and Silverback entered the room, grinning like two very self-s
atisfied cats.
"It seems to be a summit of the vilest pirates in the Caribbean!" Fitzwilliam said in a whisper.It looked bad, Jack had to agree. It was the five of them against the snake queen, the incredibly burly and scary police chief, the crystal-legged pirate-wizard, Silverback, and his friend, Left-Foot--who was basically a several-hundred-pound berserker.The odds weren't good at all.Jack leaned over the rail, scoping out the entire room and trying to come up with an alternate plan for getting rid of all the baddies at once.The balustrade creaked loudly under his weight. Fitzwilliam and the others looked at him in horror. Part of the old wooden railing then broke off and landed right at Madame Minuit's feet
.Jack smiled weakly and waved.

CHAPTER SIX

Madame Minuit's mouth hung wide and slack with amazement.The other pirates also looked up, their eyes murderous."GET THEM! Madame Minuit screeched, finally finding her voice.None of the pirates needed to be told twice.

"Run?" Fitzwilliam asked, by now used to their standard "Plan B."

"Run," Jack agreed, tired of the fact that this64was now their standard "Plan B. Someday, he wouldn't have to run from anyone. Someday he would have his own ship and sail the seas freely and not fear a single soul....The five boys ran back the way they had come, up the stairs and down the hall to the office whose window they had climbed through. But a heavy wind must have blown in--the door to the office had banged shut and was now securely locked.

"What now?" Tumen asked, suspecting he knew the answer.

"Go down fighting?" Jack suggested bravely.

"Who's going down?" Jean demanded, grinning and drawing his sword.

"Let's get these mauvais types! Vive Nouvelle Orleans Vive le Barnacle!"Mates. Let's go, meet 'em head on!" Jack s
aid, drawing his silver sword.

Everyone looked surprised when Jack and his friends burst through the double doors of the great hall."Come to meet your fate, oui? Madame Minuit said, grinning with sparkling white teeth. "So be it. Attack!"Left-Foot Louis, with a knife in each hand, made immediately for Jean and Tumen. He wasn't skilled the way Fitzwilliam was in two-handed fighting...but he was big. And fast. And strong. And joined by two other Pirate Guards.Tumen took the left side of him, Jean the right. Constance paced this way and that, hissing and spitting as though she very much wanted to join the fight."En garde!" Jean shouted.Meanwhile, Madame Minuit curled her hands like cla
ws. Lightning flashed outside.