Pirates of the Caribbean 03 The Pirate Chase by Rob Kidd Read Free Book Online Page B

would take you all to realize it," Jack said. Jack smoothed the parchment out atop the lid of Francois's coffin. Sure enough, something was written on it, in ink so old that it had faded to mere scratches of sepia. "Can't quite make this out," Jack m uttered as he squinted at it. Arabella seemed distracted, "We really ought to bury Francois. Rebury him, I mean. “Wait ," Jack said holding his arm out as if he were stopping Arabella. Grinning, he added, "It'll be a lot easier to lower him down and shovel dirt over him once we have godlike power."Fitzwilliam leaned next to Jack to study the parchment for himself. "I do not believe that this is written in English.""Spanish, I could figure out," Jack said, "but it's not Spanish. That would just be too bloody convenient, wouldn't it?""It's not French or Creole, either," Jean offered. "Tumen, does this look like your tribe's language?"Tumen shook his head and said, "I have never seen anything like t his." Arabella shrugged, too. Jack studied Fitzwilliam's face. "You're not saying something, Fitz. Out with it.""Ah. Yes. Well." Fitzwilliam glanced first in one direction, then in another, as if looking for rescue that did not come. His cheeks were turning red. "I think that this is written in Latin."
    "Latin! Fitz, that's perfect!" Arabella brightened. "Ye learned Latin from your tutors! I remember when ye told us of all the languages you speak." Jack's face lit up. "Thank everything blessed and cursed that you aristos learn all those bloody dead languages!" he said.Tugging at his collar, Fitzwilliam said, "I fear I must admit that I was not always the most attentive of pupils for my Latin tutor."Constance cocked her head, as though*Fitz did, in fact, tell them he s poke Latin . Jean stroked her fur as he asked, "What is that supposed to mean?"
    "It means Fitzy here doesn't speak a word of Latin." Jack couldn't believe it. "The only useful thing you could've absorbed in your high-and-mighty education, and you didn't learn it. Absolutely brilliant."Fitzwilliam straightened up, reasserting his dignity. "I submit to you that I could scarcely have known that I would need Latin to decipher a magical scroll granting godlike power to the bearer of the Sword of Cortes.""Oh, you've no imagination at all," Jack said dismissively. “But --then--" looking bewildered, Arabella asked Fitz, "why did ye say ye spoke Latin when ye didn’t? “Jack was the one who answered her. "Some lads just can't resist showing off for the lasses. And usually it's the lads with the least to brag about." Fitz's face grew red with anger, and Jack wondered if he was about to see Fitzwilliam lose his temper again. The aristocrat's fits of rage were always fun for some sparring practice.Arabella stepped between them, clearly eager to make the peace. "Fitz, how much did you learn? Anything?"
    "A few words. Pronunciation. No more."To Jack's surprise, Arabella nodded with satisfaction. "Well, then, that's all ye need. As long as ye read it aloud correctly, the incantation should work. Ye don't have to understand what it says.""Wait," Tumen interrupted. "We would be calling forth great magical power without knowing precisely what we are doing. Don't you think this might be unwise?"
    "We've never known what we were doing before," Jack reminded him. "Why should we let that stop us now?"
    "But Tumen surely has a point," Fitzwilliam said.Jack snatched up the parchment from the coffin lid. "If you were all a bunch of scaredycats--and please feel free to take offense to that, Constance--why did you help me get the parchment in the first place? You've just lost your nerve, the lot of you. We've come this far. Let's finish. Let's use the Sword of Cortes."Slowly, Arabella nodded. Tumen sighed, but he did not say anything else. Jean nodded gamely. Fitzwilliam was the last of them to agree, but he finally cleared his throat and said, "I am ready.""I've got the Sword, and it's in its sheath," Jack said, checking at his side to make