The Waiting Room
~ Chapter Seven
Dead Men Tell No Tales
“Damn
the wench!” Jack spat, spinning back to the bar as he
clenched his
empty glass. “I knew she be one to keep a sharp eye on, but I
never
thought she’d be one to steal a man’s
monkey!” All eyes were on
the Captain as he slumped forward over the bar.
Jack suddenly
bolted upright as he realized he was being watched. He cleared his
throat and thrust forth his chest, then without a word, marched
himself (well, there may have been a bit of a wobble) to the exit
door.
He turned the knob, but it refused to budge. He tried a
little harder. The knob stayed locked. Without provocation, Jack
began to pull on the door handle, each try becoming more and more
intense as he tried to open the door that was the only way out of the
room.
Again, he stopped, turning fast on his heel to face
Barrie, then slowly, calculating, walked towards the newcomer. As he
did, Barrie began to creep backwards, afraid of what the pirate had
in mind for him.
Jack raised a finger towards him, one eye
squinted in the Scotsman’s direction.
“That...” Jack
shouted out, “that was a wonderful trick! Making me think I
was
free to go…that I would be the next one out of this
God-forsaken
rat hole. Well, let me enlightened you dear Master
Barrie…dead men
tell no tales.”
Sparrow was close to Barrie, who now was
pinned, almost sitting, on Mort’s desk.
Mort tried to push
the man’s derrière off his desk but had no
success.
“I
can assure you my dear man,” Barrie tried to save himself,
“that
it is no trick. I heard him. I heard him say he signed papers for
you.”
Sparrow leaned back for a better look at the
frightened man. Lord, the man was akin to that bloody Inspector
Crane. He watched as Barrie continually nodded his head, an attempt
to convince Jack that he would indeed be the next to be called out of
the room.
“So, you know now, what this room be about?”
Jack stepped back from Barrie. “You know that
this,” he swept his
hand, gesturing around the room, “ that this is inside his
head.
That we are stuck here, discarded like chum over the side of a ship,
because HE,” at this word Jack pointed upwards,
“because HE has
no more use for us. He sends us here, to be forgotten, never to be
seen or heard from again.”
“That’s not entirely true, “
Ichabod interjected. “ there have been on several occasions
that...”
“Stop blowing holes in my theories!” Jack turned
and
screamed venomously at Crane. The young Inspector hiccuped a yelp,
then turned to rejoin Dean who never looked up from his books.
Jack returned his attention to Barrie. He narrowed his eyes
then relaxed his face concluding perhaps that the man was telling the
truth.
He turned and began to walk away but quickly spun back
to Barrie, his filthy, bony finger pointing at him.
“I just
want to say for the record, I have always liked you.” Then
raised
and waved his arms as he returned to the bar.
“Drink up, me
mateys! Let us celebrate my upcoming freedom and that I can hunt down
the vixen who stole my monkey!”