Shadows, Sails and Pirate Tales

Dette slumped on the floor of the cell, head in her hands, attempting to think of an escape plan.

“Maybe if you’d kept hold of those keys we could have gotten out!” Ana Maria spat, kicking the bench behind her once again, making Cotton, as well as his parrot, jump.

“Shut up lass,” Gibbs growled, “How was she t’know we’d be caught?”

“It is true Gibbs, if I had just hidden the keys within the cell they would never have found them!” Dette exclaimed, mentally kicking herself.

“You could have just shoved them in your dress!” Anamaria said, as if it were the most obvious of actions.

“They would’ve guessed that we got out the bleedin’ cell somehow! It ain’t your fault lass.” He scowled at Anamaria, a clear indicator for her to shut up. “You go through that gap and find the others Bernadette, we’ll follow you when we get outta here.”

“I’m not leaving you behind.” Dette said, refusing to leave the cell.

“Just leave you silly lass and help the others! You’re no good t’them here! And you’re doin’ no good sulking in the cell.” Gibbs said sternly, moving Dette towards the gap in the bars they had made earlier.

“I’ll be back for you as soon as I can,” Dette said, squeezing through the gap. “I promise!”

“Go save Jack lass!” Gibbs called out as Dette tiptoed out of the cabin. Once she was out of the cabin, Dette moved swiftly along the boat, dodging pirates by hiding in the shadows here and there. Once she reached the side of the boat, she looked over the edge and into the distance.

It was too far to swim, and far too dangerous looking at the ocean beneath her. It was raging, waves crashing in all directions, and Dette was not a very accomplished swimmer. But where were the boats? Then it dawned on her that the boats were used by Barbossa’s crew to reach the cave. How was she meant to reach a cave so far away without a boat? Surely there must be one left somewhere?

Knowing she had no choice, Dette started manoeuvring her way around the boat, checking the deck for any sign of a vessel to escape in. Then her worst fears were recognised - There was one boat. But the remainder of the crew of the Black Pearl were sitting playing cards in it. Thinking quickly on her feet, Dette tiptoed back to the crew cabins and snuck down the stairs.

“What’re y’doin’ back down here?” Gibbs asked as Dette strode in and began collecting various items from the floor.

“Given up already?” Anamaria scoffed. Biting her tongue to prevent a sharp retort, Dette continued her actions as if Anamaria had not even opened her mouth.

“I need to create a distraction.” Dette stated, casually grabbing a mop and swirling it in her hands. She was trying to make it seem like she knew what she was doing – whether or not it would trick Gibbs was another matter.

“A distraction… why, how? Actually, I don’t want t’know.” Gibbs said shaking his head. Dette sighed internally. At least she seemed confident to Gibbs, hopefully she seemed like she knew what she was doing – the worst thing she could do was make them lose all hope in her this early on.

“I need the boat of course!” Dette said, grinning at Gibbs’ bewildered face. After gathering as much as she could hold, she snuck back up the stairs and peeked out the doorway to ensure she couldn’t be seen. Once she was in the shadows, a good distance away from the crew cabin, she threw everything she had collected – a few buckets, the remainder of the broom, a mop and a broken stool – and sprinted quickly around the edge of the boat as the clatters of the items reverberated across the deck.

All but one pirate ran to the scene, a few ran down the stairs into the cabin itself and the remainder scoured the nearby area for the escapee. The last pirate sat in the wooden boat, smoking his cigarette and muttering to himself. Before he even knew Dette was there, she hit him around the head with the lifeboat paddle, which had been carelessly thrown to one side, knocking him, out of the boat. As he jumped up to yell for help, Dette pushed him backwards, knocking him over board.

He hit the water with a large splash and let out a bloodcurdling cry. No doubt the rest of the pirates will have heard that, Dette thought. She looked over her shoulder – they had indeed heard the splash and were beginning to move towards Dette.

Frantically, she began trying to lift the boat and push it overboard. She could hear the footsteps and voices of the returning pirates and began to panic. She balanced the boat’s bow against the edge of the Black Pearl, Dette began lifting and pushing with all her might, slowly wobbling the boat off of the edge.

Dette heard the shouts and the footsteps of the pirates increase as they noticed Dette and began running towards her. Knowing it was her only chance of escape, Dette launched herself into the boat, toppling both the boat, and herself, into the raging ocean.