A Treasure And A Curse
                                            A Need To Return The Gold
  Barbossa remembered every detail of every story of the cursed gold. He knew they had to have every piece. Now he knew what the knife was for. He remembered that there was one piece of the gold left, and it was in his cabin. He put it in his pocket and back they went to Isla de Muerta.
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  As soon as the longboat reached the cave, he stepped out and ran up to the chest. He picked up the knife, placed the gold in his hand and made a small cut with the knife. He dropped the gold into the chest. He still didn't feel any different.

                                              A Treasure And A Curse
                                                 Beginning To Realize
  Barbossa sat in his cabin, and took an apple from the bowl on the table. As he took a bite, he noticed something. The apple had no flavor. He took a bite out of another apple, still no flavor. He had forgotten about the curse, so he just thought the apples had gone bad. He took the bowl of apples out onto the deck and tossed them into the sea. He put his empty bowl back on the table. He just couldn't understand how all those apples had tasted perfect yesterday, but had no flavor today.

                                             A Treasure And A Curse
                                         What They did To Bootstrap Bill
  Barbossa sat in what was now his cabin, the Captain's Cabin. He reached to take a juicy, green apple from the bowl on the table. He leaned back in his chair and put his feet on the table. His plans had all turned out perfect. He was about to take a bite out of the apple when he heard yelling out on the deck. Annoyed, he walked out to see what was wrong. By what he could tell, there had been some sort of argument between Bootstrap Bill and a few other crewmembers, and in the end, Bootstrap Bill had a black eye, and another crewmember had a swollen lip.

"What's the problem here?" Barbossa said.

"Bootstrap here, apparently doesn't think you make good decisions as Captain." Frizz said.

"Is this true?"

" I just said that it was wrong to leave Jack on that island." Bootstrap Bill said.

  After quite a bit of arguing, Barbossa made his decision. He knew that Turner was mad, and some of the crew were beginning to see his point and Barbossa feared they would attempt to do to him, what he did to Jack.

"Bring Mister Turner over here and strap him to this cannon." Barbossa said.

"Aye, Captain." Frizz said.

  It took him and three others to fight Bootstrap Bill, but eventually they were able to carry him over to the cannon. When they had strapped him to it, Barbossa walked over.

"Hope you enjoyed the trip, Mister Turner." Barbossa said, as he and Frizz pushed the cannon off into the sea.

  They all stood watching as he quickly began sinking deeper into the sea. None wanted to share his punishment, so they all kept quiet.
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© 2007 ~ JCS

Isla de Muerta
  Meanwhile, aboard the Black Pearl, Barbossa proudly took his place as captain. He was going to finish this journey and find the treasure, he didn't believe in the curse, so why should he be afraid? A few days later, they had found the Isla de Muerta , and they knew that somewhere inside was the treasure.

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  Barbossa stepped out of the longboat and what was now his crew stepped out behind him. He started walking through a long tunnel and turned around when Pintel screamed.

"What're ye screamin' about?" he said, annoyed.

"I almost stepped on a huge crab. See! There it goes!" Pintel replied.

  Barbossa rolled his eyes. He was beginning to wonder if he should have left him with Jack. Then he stopped. In front of him, there was treasure everywhere. Gold, silver, pearls, and huge chests filled with valuable cloths, and even more gold. The crew ran around looking at it all. Barbossa walked around watching them all and picked up a hat, it was dark blue with blue ostrich feathers. What kind of pirate captain didn't have a hat? He put it on and looked in a mirror close by. Now he looked like a captain. As he continued walking he saw something in the center of the cave. He remembered the tale of the cursed treasure inside the stone chest, the one Jack had talked about. He moved the lid away and looked inside. There was gold and a stone knife. Wonder what the knife's for, he thought. By now, the rest of the crew were standing around the chest too. Barbossa picked up a piece of the gold, it didn't look cursed to him. He put it in his pocket.

"Frizz, go get a sack from one of the longboats."

"Aye, Captain."

"What about the curse?" Ragetti asked.

"I don't believe in it. If you do, then don't take any of the gold." Barbossa replied.

"Hmmm, looks alright to me." Pintel said, picking up a piece and putting it in his pocket.

  By now, almost all the crew had a piece, and Frizz and Barbossa were putting the rest in a sack. Almost all the rest of the  pieces of the gold were in the sack, except for what was in their pockets. Barbossa held a piece out to the one person who hadn't yet taken a piece, Bootstrap Bill, who was still looking at the gold.

"Mister Turner, we don't have all day, so if ye could make up your mind, it would be nice for the rest of us." Barbossa said.

  Bootstrap knew what he really meant was, "Hurry up or we'll leave you on that island.", so he put it in his pocket. They all started out to the longboats and returned to the Pearl. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
© 2007 ~ JCS

                                           A Treasure And A Curse
                                              Jack's Nightmare
    Jack woke himself up screaming. What caused that nightmare he didn't know, but it sure was awful. Then he looked around. Apparently, it wasn't just a nightmare, it was reality.

                                       A Treasure And A Curse
                                 "We Get Rid Of Him."

                                     A Treasure And A Curse
                                       Second Day At Sea
     On their second morning at sea, everyone was getting along better, or at least most of everyone. Ragetti still feared the tall pirate who threatened to nail his eye in place. Barbossa was plotting something, but Jack couldn't quite guess what. Bootstrap Bill was hard at work and Pintel had stopped pouting over his loss though he still firmly believed it was Crookedfinger's right thumb, not left finger. The day was starting out wonderfully.

                                           A Treasure And A Curse
                                       Barbossa's Plans
    Barbossa stood at the wheel, going in whatever direction Jack said. Barbossa would much rather have switched places with Jack. This brought Barbossa to remember his dream of being a captain. He wondered how many members of the crew would rather have him as captain than Jack. Pintel and Ragetti would probably pick either one, Bootstrap Bill seemed more loyal to Jack than Barbossa, and the rest, well, either way, they seemed loyal enough to obey their captain, whoever it may be. Barbossa grinned just thinking about being captain. He thought about his plan, and while he did, he took a bite out of a juicy green apple, his favorite fruit.
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© 2007 ~ JCS

                                   A Treasure And A Curse
                                           Eye See You

    Pintel and Ragetti were chasing Ragetti's wooden eye, which was always falling out and rolling away, and the fact that it was wooden didn't make it the least bit comfortable. Moving past pirates carrying crates and rolling barrels, and hoping nobody would throw it into the sea as a cruel joke, Ragetti crawled along the deck helplessly. A tall, mean-looking pirate stopped it with his foot and looked at Ragetti.

"I could fix this for ye, I'll just need a hammer and a nail." he said.

"No, thank you sir. I'm fine with it falling out and rolling around like that." Ragetti replied, a little frightened by the threat, and picked up his eye and put it back in place.

"Ya know, when we find the treasure, you could by a glass eye, that'll fit." Pintel said, trying to cheer up his friend.

"That would be nice. This one splinters terribly." Ragetti said, rubbing his eye.

"Rubbing it doesn't help any. It just makes it worse." Pintel said.

"I know." Ragetti replied.
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© 2007 ~ JCS

                                   A Treasure And A Curse
                            The Captain's Own Troubles
    Something was definitely not right. Jack knew it. By now he should have seen an island, but there had been nothing. He glanced at his compass, but the needle still pointed in the same direction. The thought of his compass being broken upset him, but he knew it had to work. It just had to. Otherwise, he knew what would happen. He'd cause them all to die of thirst and hunger, or worse (at least Jack thought so), the crew would make someone else captain. He wouldn't let that happen. He'd gone through too much trouble to get the Black Pearl, and nobody was going to take it from him. After telling Barbossa what direction to go in, Jack went to his cabin.

    Jack looked at all the maps he had of the Caribbean, and then he looked at his compass. He barely had any idea where they were other than miles from land, Tortuga being the nearest that he knew of. Then he remembered that he was on the lookout for land, so he ran back out onto the deck. He looked out to sea and he saw something through his spyglass. Could it be? Was it? It was! Land! Jack gave the orders to go to the island to get supplies. He watched as most of the crew went to get supplies. Then he sighed.

"I knew we weren't lost." he said.
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© 2007 ~ JCS

                                                 A Treasure And A Curse
                                     "What I Left"
    Bootstrap Bill stood looking out to sea. He was thinking. He didn't notice Jack walking up beside him. Jack looked out to sea, looked at Bootstrap, and then back out to sea. He could tell that Bootstrap had alot on his mind. After a few minutes of just being silent, Bootstrap sighed.

"Something bothering you, Mister Turner?" Jack asked.

"Thinking about what I left." Bootstrap replied.

"If you don't mind me asking, what did you leave?"

"My wife, Belle, and young son William. I left them to be a pirate."

"Do they know you're a pirate, or do they think that make your living as a sailor?" Jack asked.

"They think I'm just a sailor, trying to make a living." Bootstrap said. Jack could hear the guilt in his voice.

"So is that why you joined this venture? To send them something to use to buy what they need, I mean."

"Partly, I guess. I really don't know."

    Jack was about to say something, but Bootstrap had already walked away. Jack knew it was best not to say anything more.
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© 2007 ~ JCS

         A treasure And A Curse
            Left Or Right?

    Meanwhile, Pintel and his friend, a one-eyed pirate named Ragetti, had overheard all of the conversation.

This story is a prequel for POTC:COTBP. This was the second story I wrote. Hope you like it.
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                                    A Treasure And A Curse
                                      A Storm And A Crew
   Lightning flashed, rain fell and strong winds blew, and Jack Sparrow was trying to sail through it all. He was looking for a crew. A crew that would go with him to find a treasure hidden to all but those who already knew where it was, and he knew just how to find it. But before he could do that, he had to have a crew, a brave crew at that, because of the where the treasure was. "Tortuga" a famous pirate port, was where Jack was going to start searching. BOOM! The storm raged as the Black Pearl swayed from side to side, being tossed by the waves. Finally, Jack could see lights from the windows in Tortuga. Soon he would find his crew.

Chapter 8
                               Captain Jack And The Treasure Of Captian Crookedfinger
                                                   Back Aboard The Black Pearl

    You can imagine how miserable Bill and his men were on the trip back to the Black Pearl. They were locked in the brig, which had been repaired since it was last occupied. The members of the crew who had been on the island were telling Anamaria, Cotton, and the rest on the ship of their adventure.

    Jack stood looking at the island as they sailed away, and then walked below to the brig. Surprisingly to Bill, Jack was smiling. Jack stood in the middle between the cells and looked at them all.

"Gents," he began, "This is the day you will always remember as the day that you almost shot and squashed Captain Jack Sparrow!" ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
© 2007 ~ JCS
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This is the final chapter of "Captain Jack And the Treasure Of Captain Crookedfinger". I'll probably start posting another story soon. Later! ~ Baby Girl

Chapter 7
                                 Captain Jack And The Treasure Of Captain Crookedfinger
                                                Discussion In The Treasure Room

    Jack was standing inside the treasure room, and couldn't believe what he saw. Treasure chests everywhere jewelry, gold cups, fancy silks, long strands of pearls, and gold. Everywhere was something valuable. He looked at his crew, and by the look on their faces, he knew they were as amazed as he was.

"Take your share, Gents, and then we try to make our leave before Bill finds us." Jack said.

"Aye!" said the crew in agreement.

    Jack walked over to the largest treasure chest in the room and found that it had a lock so rusty, that he could have hit it with his knife and it would fall off. He was about to do so when a pistol fired, and broke the lock, missing Jack by just inches. He turned to see Bill and his men standing there, swords and pistols in hand. Jack had noticed that when the pistol fired, dirt fell from the ceiling and walls of the cave.

"I don't think you'll want to be doing that again, mate." Jack said to Bill. "How did you find us anyway?"

"I'll fire another shot if I want. You left the door open and we walked right in." was Bill's reply with a grin.

    His sword was now right at Jack's throat, and the crew was being threatened as well. Jack remembered the key, which he had tucked behind his red bandanna and was hidden well by his hat. He carefully stood up, avoiding Bill's blade. Thinking quickly for a plan, he smiled. Pushing the blade away, and stepping back, he looked into the treasure chest and saw treasures that had to have come from all over the world. He turned to Bill.

"Tell ye what, I give you the key, let you have the treasure, and you let us go free. Savvy?" he said.

"Now Jack, if I were to do that, how could I trust you not to shoot me on the way out? You see, you're a hard man to predict, and I'm not gonna risk it."

"Bill, honestly, I wouldn't want to do that, and turn out like you. I've got more honesty in me, even though most look at me as a dishonest man." was Jack's reply.

    Bill, who had been angered by that, grabbed another pistol and shot at Jack, who yet again moved just in time. More dirt fell. By now, Gibbs, Marty, and the crew had noticed Jack's plan. Bill's men had moved their pistols and swords slightly, to where they were farther away, and the crew was watching Jack closely for a signal. Bill grabbed a pistol from another pirate standing nearby, looked at Jack and grinned.

"I've missed ye twice, I won't miss ye this time." he said and when the pistol fired, Jack and his crew ran for the exit.

    This time, the cave had started to fall in on itself and quickly too. Bill and his men weren't far behind Jack and his crew. They were all out side just as the rock wall was caving in too. When they reached the beach, Bill had his sword at Jack's throat again, and wasn't going to let him go. But just in time, another pirate pushed Bill to the ground and Jack's crew started fighting with bill's men. In the end, Bill and his men surrendered, had all their weapons taken, were tied up by Jack and his men, and were put into the longboats to be taken back to the Pearl, and were to be locked in the brig.

"Good job Gents." Jack said.
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© 2007 ~ JCS

Chapter 6
                               Captain Jack And The Treasure Of Captain Crookedfinger
                                                         Back With Bill

    Meanwhile, Bill and his "crew", had seen the whole thing. Bill had been hiding behind a bush as Jack came running up to the rock wall. He had witnessed the finding of they key, and was rethinking his plan. His first plan was to beat Jack to the treasure, (but that plan had failed), and he was going to get as much of the treasure as he could, then steal the longboats and the Black Pearl. The plan he now had was to wait until all of Jack's crew were inside the cave, follow behind at a safe distance fight for the treasure, and then take the longboats and the Pearl. The rest thought it was an even better plan than the first.

    So they waited and fortunately for them, Jack had left the door open so he would know how to get out of the cave. Bill stayed close enough to see the glow of the torch but far back enough so as not to be seen. They could hear Jack and the crew talking, and were thinking of how they were going to attack.One member of Bill's "crew" had the idea to wait until Jack was in the the treasure room, and then take the treasure. Everyone agreed.

"Men," Bill said. "Hide 'til ye see me signal, then follow close behind."
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© 2007 ~ JCS

Chapter 5

                           Captain Jack And The Treasure Of Captain Crookedfinger
                                                The Finding Of The Key
    Hours later, they were still walking and had found nothing. Jack knew they'd passed the same tree at least twice. But the needle of his compass never moved. Frustrated and confused, Jack stopped and stared at his compass. He could hear the crew mumbling behind him. Gibbs was trying to keep them quiet, but every attempt was failing. Finally, Jack sat down. Then the needle moved. He looked to see it was pointing to the tree he was leaning on. He bent down, took out his knife, loosened up some dirt, and started digging with his hands. To his surprise, he found a small box. The lock was rusted, so he used his knife to open it. Inside was a key, on the end of a chain. He looked at it, and was about to put it on, when he looked up to find he was staring at a sword. 

"Sorry captain, but I only came along to find the key so I could look for the treasrue meself." Bill said, grinning. "I would've told ye, but then I coulnd't have gotten the key."

    He grabbed the key and went running, followed by a few pirates who had the same idea that Bill had. Jack was shocked at first, but then mumbled to himself, "Pirates!". Gibbs and Marty and what was left of Jack' "loyal" crew, went after them, but Jack wasn't far behind. He knew he had to reach the treasure before Bill did, but it was going to be hard. His compass started spinning, and finally stopped. Jack was running to find what he was looking for and stopped in front of a huge rock wall. Then he saw something strange in front of him. There was a hole in the rock, a keyhole from the look of it. When Jack stepped closer, he saw sunlight reflecting off something in a patch of grass. He picked it up. It was a key. This one looked to be older than the last. He put it into the keyhole just as Gibbs and the crew caught up with him. Suddenly, a door that had been made to blend in with the rock opened, revealing a dark cave. He stepped inside, grabbed the key, and then the crew walked inside too. "Maybe this key will be of more use, maybe the key I found earlier was a trick to distract anyone from finding the real one." Jack thought.

"Gents," Jack said with a smile that showed his gold teeth. "I believe we found where the treasure is."

    After walking inside, Jack found a torch, but the problem they now had was lighting it. Jack found a broken bottle, and cleaned a shard the best he could, and caused it to reflect sunlight. The torch was lit! Then they began their venture into the cave.
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© 2007 ~ JCS

Chapter 4                       

                       Captain Jack And The Treasure Of Captain Crookedfinger
                                    Jack Tells Of Captain Crookedfinger Nick

    "This is the tale of Captain Crookedfinger Nick, as I've always heard it. Some say he was born with a crooked finger on his left hand, some say it was caused by an injury when he was young. Most folks started to make fun of him when he got older. When they'd gone too far, he would be very mad, and would usually let them off with a warning. Occasionally, a fight would get started, but never lasted long since Nick's opponent would surrender before anyone was hurt. So when someone said the name 'Crookedfinger Nick', it was very rare that they meant it as a joke, Nick began to use this to his advantage. He became a pirate about the time he was twenty years old, and was one of the most feared captains to ever sail the seas. He had attacked so many ships (other pirates included), that he had become so rich, that his ship couldn't hold anymore. So he found this island and buried his treasure here. The thing is though, the island isn't that hard to find, its looking for the treasure itself that has cost so many brave men (and some women) their lives. Or if they didn't die, they went mad searching for it. Which neither will happen to anyone that comes with me to find this treasure."

"How do you know this for sure?" Marty asked.

"I wouldn't let that happen. But anyone here who wants to return to the ship, let them leave now." Jack said.

    A few pirates left, but most stayed loyal to their captain. Jack was proud. He told them all to make sure their swords could be grabbed in case they needed them. The crew looked at him, a little worried, but he assured them with a nod that it was just to make sure they were prepared. Jack took out his compass, smiled, and turned to face his crew.

"Ready men?" Jack asked. "Alright then, let's begin."
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© 2007 ~ JCS

Chapter 3

                            Captain Jack And The Treasure Of Captain Crookedfinger    
                                           "Exactly What We're Looking For"                                              

"Captain Sparrow!" Anamaria said. "Looks like land ahead, is that what we're lookin' for?"

"That's exactly what we're lookin' for!" Jack said smiling. "Yep, that's exactly what we're lookin' for."

    A little while later, Jack, Gibbs, and a few others were sitting in longboats on their way to shore. When they were all out of the boats, and everyone was waiting for Jack to  tell them what direction to go, a slghlty impatient pirate named Bill walked up to Jack.

"Captain," he began. You haven't said why we're here, where we are, or anything else helpful. So WHERE ARE WE AND WHY ARE WE HERE!?!"

    Jack turned around to face his crew. "Is that how the rest of you feel too?" he asked.

"Uhhh..." was the response from the majority. Gibbs stepped forward.

"Cap'n, not tryin' to be disrespectful, honestly, but I'd like to know the answer to both questions." he said.

"Well, I'll tell you where we are. We are standing on the shore of 'Crookedfinger's Island'. If anyone here does not now understand why we're here, then let him speak." was Jack's reply.

"Um, I've heard somethin' about Crookedfinger, but nothing about this island." Bill said.

"Alright then, I'll tell ye the tale." Jack said.

    He sat down on a nearby rock, closed his eyes as if he were trying to remember something, and sighed. Then he began his story.
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© 2007 ~ JCS

Chapter 2

                      Captain Jack and The Treasure of Captain Crookedfinger

                                              Caught In A Storm
                                           BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
    Jack awoke to the loud sound of thunder. So loud, it seemed like it was right at the window of his cabin. Sleepily, he grabbed his dark blue coat and his hat, and put them on quickly as he ran out onto the deck. The Pearl was swaying from side to side from the strong winds and forceful waves and Jack had to struggle to keep his balance as he walked up the steps to the wheel. Gibbs was standing at the wheel struggling to navigate through the storm.

"Mister Gibbs, how long has this storm been going on?" Jack had to yell because of the thunder and sound of heavy rain.

"A few hours at least, Cap'n. I don't know how you and a few of the others slept through it that long!" Gibbs yelled back.

"You should've told me earlier, I would've taken over." Jack replied. He already knew it would be a long day.

    After another hour or so, the wind died down and the rain lightened up, and Jack told Gibbs and the crew who had helped through most of the storm to go get some rest, and that he and the others would take over. Jack hadn't been awake that long and he was already exhausted. He eventually had Gibbs and Anamaria wake up the few sleeping crewmembers below deck.

    After giving out orders to the crew and making sure no damage was done, they set sail. Jack smiled. "We may arrive late tomorrow.", he thought. They were very close.
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© ~2007 JCS