Chapter 24:  The Hanging

 

James Norrington was dismayed by what he saw as he came from the battlements.  It was not the gallows that had been constructed with five nooses that bothered him, though perhaps they should have.  It was that the first sight he saw upon entering area was Lord Beckett lightly kissing Jacqueline on the lips.  Norrington took a deep breath to calm his sudden burst of anger towards the little man, but he could not help but think that those lips were the same he had just kissed.

Norrington moved to stand next to the couple, the place his rank unofficially required.  “Lord Beckett,” he said, nodding to him respectfully.

Norrington noted that Beckett did not return the courtesy, but merely said, “Admiral.”

Norrington turned to Jacqueline.  “Miss Sparrow.”  He took Jacqueline’s hand and briefly brought it to his lips before standing next to her, pretending now to ignore her and watch the soldiers begin to mark forward, guiding the condemned to the gallows.  Norrington could not see who the criminals were from his position, and he was not very curious either.  His mind was too focused on his loathing of Lord Beckett and his love for Beckett’s fiancé.

The drums were sounding as a man began reading the list of crimes.  They all sounded the same, as did all the crimes generally listed for pirates.  Norrington recalled how Jack Sparrow’s hanging was almost comical as his list of crimes was read.  Remembering something about Sparrow impersonating a cleric from the Church of England caused Norrington to smirk slightly.

Sparrow…the name that Norrington had once held in contempt was now almost like music to his ears, though he still felt odd when using the name to refer to Jacqueline.  Jack Sparrow must not be the man that Norrington made him out to be, if he managed to have such a daughter as Jacqueline.  Then again, that could be the mother showing through.

Norrington’s brow furrowed slightly.  The mother…Norrington glanced sideways at Jacqueline.  Jacqueline had once told him that her mother had left her father after she was born, and that she had never known her.  Had that been one of Jacqueline’s lies or had she been telling him the truth?

“May God have mercy on your soul.”

Norrington turned his attention back to the hanging.  Two men had just stepped up onto the platform.  They looked strangely familiar, but Norrington could not imagine way.  Then another pirate in shackles came into view.  He was mostly bald with some straggly hair.  Norrington’s lips parted slightly in shock as he realized that he knew the man.  He was the one who was always with…

“Ragetti,” Jacqueline breathed as the one-eyed pirate came up the steps to the gallows.

Norrington now knew why all the men at the gallows were familiar.  They were all from the Black Pearl.  As she gazed at Ragetti, Jacqueline’s eyes filled with emotion that even Norrington had rarely seen.  He felt a small pang of jealously.  He had noticed that Jacqueline and the pirate had a sort of friendship before, but he suddenly realized that perhaps it had been something more.  Strange to be jealous of a man who was about to be hung.

The emotions Jacqueline was failing to hide did not go unnoticed by Lord Beckett either, who appeared slightly puzzled.  “This ‘Ragetti’ a friend of yours, love?”

Jacqueline bit her lower lip and refused to look at Beckett.  Norrington knew what she was thinking—Beckett had been perfectly willing to have Norrington killed simply because of his relationship with Jacqueline.  Norrington shuddered to think what Beckett would have done to Ragetti upon discovering that Jacqueline cared about him.  The pirate had no rank or reputation protecting him.  Norrington grimly realized that the noose soon to be placed around the pirate’s neck was likely going to save him from an even worse fate.

The middle space of the gallows had yet to be filled.  Apparently, whoever was supposed to be up there was still futilely resisting.  Finally, a thin pirate with long blonde hair was pulled up to the gallows by two soldiers.

Norrington’s heart stopped.  No…it cannot be…

“Elizabeth…”

* * *

Elizabeth could not believe that she was about to be hung.  They could not really have been captured.  Yet they had.  The attack on the Pearl had been a complete surprise, though they should have foreseen it.  Lord Beckett, after all, had more than one ship under his command.  It only made sense that he would send others after them.  But even as she and the rest of the crew had waited for this time to come, this doom, Elizabeth had believed that everything would turn out all right.

Two soldiers were practically dragging her to her place on the gallows.  She had planned to walk up the steps with her head held high, but somehow it was drastically different to actually be in chains and marching up to the gallows than she had imagined.  She felt fear—she was going to die.  This time, Will could not save her—he did not even know that Elizabeth was in danger.  Jack could not come to her aid—he was locked up and guarded somewhere in the prison cells below.  And James…

“James?”  The name escaped her lips as her eyes fell on a tall man standing at the back of the crowd.  James was in full uniform, complete with a white wig—the perfect officer, waiting to watch the pirate scum get what they deserved.  Elizabeth glared at him.  She did not want to believe that James was working for Lord Beckett again, but any hopeful thought vanished as Elizabeth saw him standing there beside her.

Elizabeth had probably never loathed Robin more than now.  She did not care if the pirate was bonded by some sort of “Blood Oath.”  From what Elizabeth had gleaned from her conversation with Mr. Gibbs, those in the Blood Oath only had to remain loyal to each other—if Robin had wanted to, she could have gotten James and herself out of Beckett’s grasp.  But she had not even tried.

But she did a small voice in the back of Elizabeth’s mind countered.

“Are we working for him anymore?”  Robin arched an eyebrow.

James started at the pirate for a moment before responding.  “It depends…do you want to?”

“Work for him?  No, I don’t.”

“Neither do I.”

So then why was Robin on Beckett’s arm?  Elizabeth’s eyes fell on the only person Elizabeth hated more than Robin—Lord Cutler Beckett.  The small man appeared overly pleased with himself as both James and Robin turned to him in shock as they saw Elizabeth and the others on the gallows.  At least they would feel guilty, as little good that would do for the crew of the Black Pearl.

“Jacqueline…”  Elizabeth glanced at the pirate who had spoken.  Ragetti was gazing at Robin.  Elizabeth’s eyes narrowed slightly in confusion as a noose was placed about Ragetti’s neck.  The name rang a bell, but Elizabeth had never heard the name applied to Robin before.  Why did she know that name?  She tried to shrug it off, thinking that she probably met some rich aristocrat’s daughter at one point in her life with that name, but the face that Ragetti was calling Robin that made her search her memory.  She knew that name.

The hangman placed the noose about Elizabeth’s neck.  She watched James turn back to look at her, appearing utterly horrified.  Robin looked at her as well, and then turned her eyes to Ragetti.  She seemed sincerely sad.  Elizabeth glanced at Ragetti, who took a deep breath as Robin looked at him.  He lifted his chin slightly as though to show that he did not fear death.

Robin slipped her arm from Beckett’s and turned to leave.  Beckett caught her by the wrist, and Elizabeth saw Robin wince as though in pain as she turned to face Beckett again.  The two spoke quietly, with Robin shaking her head a lot and glancing up at the people on the gallows.  Finally, Beckett nodded slightly, said something else, and then lifted Robin’s chin and kissed her gently.

Elizabeth’s eyes widened.  The two people she despised most in the entire world were romantically involved with each other?  But surely neither of them was capable of experiencing decent human emotions.  Glancing once again at Ragetti, Elizabeth saw that his eyes were pained as he watched the two.  It seemed that he really cared for Robin, despite her treachery.  Turning back to the ruthless couple, Elizabeth saw Robin walking away, leaving a smug Beckett behind as well as an obviously distressed James.

Robin slowed to a stop and turned back, looking once again at Ragetti.  Her eyes swept over the five at the gallows, then fell to James, who glanced behind him as though sensing her gaze.  Robin gave a slight shake of her head, and then looked at Lord Beckett’s back.  The sadness in her eyes faded, and was replaced by intense anger and hate.  She turned away and appeared to tear something from her hand.  She held whatever it was in a clenched fist for a moment before slowly opening her hand and letting a small object fall from it.

The ring clinked quietly as it hit the ground.