Eighteen

Jack

"What is Vane trying to accomplish here?" Jack whispered to Tobias out of the corner of his mouth as they all got to their feet.

"I don't know, but I would guess he's trying to get his ship back," Tobias murmured.

Vane beamed at them. "Indeed," he said. "I'm taking back what's mine and putting things right at long last."

Jack's eyes darted around frantically, looking for Bonn, and he found her—yay!—but she was gagged and tied to a chair just behind Vane.

Boo. She must be one of the things Vane had decided to "put right."

But, to look on the bright side, she was still on board, and not at the bottom of the ocean. At least Vane hadn't already made her walk the plank because she was a woman who dared to be a pirate. She was alive.

She looked, well, pissed off. But Jack hoped that this time she was angry at Vane, and not Jack.

Mary drew herself up to her full height, her hand resting lightly on her cutlass. "So you want to vote again, Vane? Is that it? Well, then, go ahead. Make your case." She looked around at her crew.

It was hard to know, thought Jack, looking around at them himself, what they were thinking.

"I was just reminding the men of all the good times we had together, when I was captain," Vane said. "The adventures we enjoyed. The ships we took. The treasure we plundered. Those were the days, weren't they, lads? You were paid with more than bananas then."

"Hey, I quite liked that spicy banana-zucchini ball we had a few nights ago," Quint said. "Bananas ain't all bad, really."

"In any case, the banana thing happened on your watch," Tobias pointed out. "Technically speaking."

"Perhaps," Vane said coolly, "but what have you gained since then? I don't see a lot of treasure to be had around here. Having a rough time of it, are you?"

"We'll get treasure," Mary said stiffly.

Would they, though? Jack wondered. Everywhere they'd looked so far held no significant treasure (outside of one pretty necklace). And the "get kicked by the boot" thing hadn't worked.

"Some hypothetical treasure you're chasing, no doubt," Vane sniffed. "Let me guess. You're searching for Blackbeard's treasure." He scoffed. "I knew Blackbeard, and he loved nothing more than to spend whatever capital he had on women and wine. He probably died without a penny to his name. If you vote for me to be your captain again, I'll give each of you two hundred pieces of eight, right now."

Behind the gag, Bonn uttered something indecipherable (but obviously rude) and one of Vane's men elbowed her sharply in the ribs.

Jack's fists clenched at his sides. He might finally be willing to do some violence. The intensity of the feeling surprised him. He just really, really wanted to make that man suffer right now.

Mary scoffed. "My men won't be bribed. Not by you."

"Won't they?" Vane nodded to another of his men, who dragged forward a heavy chest. "Better to have a bit of cash now than imaginary money later. And this is merely a taste of my booty."

Jack stifled a laugh. His booty. But then Vane's man opened the chest. It was full of gold coins.

There were definitely a thousand pieces of eight in there, Jack surmised. It was very shiny.

"So that's my argument," Vane concluded. "Reinstate me as your captain, and you'll be rich men. Who's with me?"

No one spoke. (The speech sounded good, dear reader, but let's remember that two hundred pieces of eight was the equivalent of about $2,500 in today's cash. Which was nice, sure. But didn't exactly make a man rich. But think of how many bananas one could buy with that much money.)

"So I am officially calling a vote now," Vane said a little more loudly. "Every man who wishes for me, Charles Vane, to captain the Ranger again, raise your hand or hook."

No one did. Not one of Mary's men abandoned her.

"See?" Mary's eyes were alight with triumph. "No one wants you back."

"Let me put this a different way," Vane said, ignoring her. "If you don't choose to join my crew again, here's what will happen."

He nodded to one of his men, who lit a flare that shot up into the sky and popped loudly overhead.

Then, from around the entrance to the bay, came, not one, not two, but six other ships—big ships, ships with cannons, ships flying the British flag.

"Whose are those?" Jack asked. "Also, why are they familiar?" Then he blanched, because he realized why. "Oh no! Barnet?"

"Yes, it's true," Vane said, a dangerous glint in his eye. "Those ships you see out there are under the command of Jonathan Barnet. You're familiar with him, are you? Anyway, they will arrive shortly, and Barnet and his soldiers will kill some of you and imprison the rest. Then they will take you back to Port Royal, where you will be tried and hanged as a pirate. So in that scenario it's quite simple. You will die."

Even Mary looked unsettled by the idea.

"Or, alternatively, you could elect me as captain again," Vane continued. "Barnet and I have a very special understanding, and he will let you all go free as long as you pledge your allegiance to me and sign a silly little pardon thing later. So if that's what you choose to do, you will live."

Bonn said something again that was muffled by the gag.

"You're in league with Barnet?" Mary spat out—which is probably what Bonn had just said. "You're a traitor, Vane."

"I'm an opportunist," Vane said. "As all pirates must be." He turned to address the men again. "You can choose which of these paths you wish to walk. But you must choose. And you must do it quickly."

"He's right," Tobias said tensely. "Barnet's nearly on us."

Jack glanced past the stern, where, indeed, the six large ships were closing in fast (wow, at maybe even seven miles an hour). He gulped. He didn't doubt that they would hang if Barnet caught them. Or they'd die fighting, like Blackbeard. Dread bloomed in his stomach. He didn't want to die. He also didn't want to fight. (Except that one bloke who'd just manhandled Bonn.) He wondered vaguely where he'd put his frying pan.

"Now let's try this again," Vane said. "What do you say? Who votes for me and gets to live?"

Slowly, keeping their eyes downcast, about a third of the crew started to raise their hands. It wasn't enough for Vane to be captain again, not by the rules of piracy, which said he needed more than half the crew to vote for him, but maybe with the Barnet factor, Jack thought, it didn't matter.

Suddenly Bonn jumped to her feet, the ropes she'd sawed through dropping to the deck behind her. She wrenched the gag from her mouth.

"Don't let him bully you, lads!" she yelled. "He's full of empty promises, that one. Do you really think that Jonathan Barnet—the infamous pirate hater—will just let you all go, easy as that? I say we fight!" She tossed her hair back and drew her cutlass, which gleamed in the moonlight. "Are we men or are we pirates?"

Jack's breath caught. She was glorious.

" You are neither, lass," Vane said coolly. He turned his attention back to Mary. "And, Mary Read, wanting to be a man and a pirate doesn't make it so." His lips curled into a sneer. "I should have known you were nothing but a conniving woman, set on rising above your proper station."

"I've no desire to be a man," Mary retorted. "But I am a pirate. And I am still the captain of this ship!" She turned to the other men. "We can fight. We can win!"

The crew looked... doubtful. Afraid. They'd been hearing scary stories about Jonathan Barnet for months now. He'd killed Blackbeard, after all. He'd nearly killed them, just last week.

"But we can try to run first, right?" Jack asked tremulously. "Avoid violence if we can?"

He really wished he had another storm potion. Something very bad was about to happen, he could feel it in his swim bladder. Everyone on the ship seemed poised for action. Mary went ahead and drew her own cutlass, her eyes fixed on Vane. Jack knew she'd fight him now if she had to, and then she'd fight Barnet.

But she didn't get the chance, because right then, without missing a beat, Vane lifted the pistol in his hand and fired it. Not at Mary—the musket ball whizzed by her, barely missing.

But at Tobias.

He fell to the deck and didn't move.

Then, when they were all standing there, frozen, Vane reached into his belt and drew out a second pistol. And fired at Jack.

He didn't realize what had happened at first. He heard the shot and felt something hit him, like he'd been whacked by a big stick, but he couldn't have said where. There was no pain, but after a moment he felt an intense prickling, and then he looked down at himself and saw blood pouring out of a hole in his thigh.

"Oh... ship," he said softly, before he dropped to the deck like a rag doll. "I'm shot."

"I know, I know. Where?" Bonn slid to her knees beside him. So maybe she wasn't still mad at him. Which was the silver lining in this terrible situation.

"My pants! And my beautiful leg!" He gestured down at the hole. There was so much blood that he wondered if he would change into a Mer. But blood was thicker than water, apparently, because he remained a gravely injured human being.

Bonn's face was suddenly close to his, her worried green eyes framed by charming golden lashes.

"I love you, Bonn," he whispered, reaching to touch her hair with a bloodstained hand. "Even if I'm sea foam, I will love you. It was all worth it."

"Stop talking nonsense," she barked. "If you die on me, I'll kill you myself."

He made a noise that was meant to be a laugh, but it came out like a whimper.

"That doesn't make sense," he said. "Nothing humans do makes sense."

"We must stop the bleeding!" She fussed with his leg, tightening something around it, and then tore at her shirt to serve as a bandage, pressing it down hard on his thigh. He cried out as a great wave of pain crashed over him at last. His leg was on fire!

"Water!" he begged. "Put me out."

Mary appeared beside Bonn suddenly, her face very pale under her tan. "Water! We need to get him into the water! If his tail forms, it will heal the wound, I think. It's worth a try, anyway."

Each girl grabbed him under the arms and began to drag him painfully toward the rail of the ship. "Is Tobias all right?" he asked Mary, but she didn't answer. Then they were blocked by Vane and a couple of other men with cutlasses.

"You're not going anywhere," Vane rasped.

Great Waters, the man's voice was annoying.

"You need a lozenge," Jack said weakly. He was losing so much blood. He was most likely dying, he realized, right this minute. He glanced around wildly, looking again for Tobias, but the spot on the deck where his friend had fallen was now empty.

Mary struggled to her feet, picked up her cutlass, and faced the crew.

"We can't run from this," she said. In the time she'd been seeing to Jack, Barnet's ships must surely be nearly on them now, although Jack couldn't see them. "So we must fight."

"Surrender!" came the disembodied voice of Captain Barnet from the other ship as it slid up alongside the Ranger . "If you lay down your arms now, I promise you will be shown mercy."

"Ha!" said Bonn. "What a crock! Don't listen to him, lads!"

"Hanging—that's another way to die," Jack rambled deliriously. "That's what they'll do if they catch us, right? They won't truly show mercy, because Jonathan Barnet has sworn to bring death to all pirates? And we're all still pirates, aren't we?"

"That's right, Jack," Mary affirmed. "And I, for one, would rather die like a pirate, with a sword in my hand and a curse on my lips, then see myself imprisoned and hanged!" She raised her cutlass in the air. "Who's with me?"

She was awfully brave, Jack thought.

"You have salt, Mary," he said. "I've always thought so."

"Shut up, Jack," his cousin said tenderly. "I've got to fight now." She gave a fierce battle cry as a group of Barnet's soldiers swung aboard the Ranger from the rigging.

Most of the Ranger 's men turned to fight as well. But a few of the men (those who had voted for Vane earlier, it must be noted) retreated, slinking below, away from the action.

"Where do you think yer going?" Bonn bellowed after them. "Get back here, ye sniveling dogs!" She pulled out one of her pistols and leveled it at another of the crew. "Vane! Stay and fight, or I'll kill ye meself."

Vane—for all his big, raspy talk before—shrugged and bolted away toward the Conspicuous .

Bonn fired the pistol at his retreating back, or at least she tried to. The pistol misfired. She screamed in rage, clobbered one of the attacking soldiers with the butt of the faulty pistol, and hurled it overboard. "Come at me, then!" she yelled, and cut and slashed and spun and parried and whirled.

"Be careful, my love," Jack panted, but there was no denying that she was brilliant. It was like she'd been born to pirate. Oh, she must be so pleased with herself.

But though she held her own for several minutes, they were quickly overwhelmed by the sheer number of Barnet's soldiers. It was one woman against twenty men, and even Bonn could not prevail against such odds.

"Behind you, Bonn!" Jack cried as the circle of soldiers closed around her. "Watch out!"

Bonn took a swing with her cutlass that brought down two of the soldiers, but two more of them grabbed her arms from behind. They took her sword and pistols. She tried to bite them, scratch them, even kick them in the tender bits, but then they promptly tied her up and gagged her again. Which was really going to piss her off.

"Unhand her!" Jack protested, but he never found out what happened after that, because that's when he passed out.