Free Day of the Shadow by Rob Kidd

carefully manicured eyebrows. “You mean,” he said, firing his pistol into the crowd, “how did I get him to help moi ?”
    “Uh…really?” Jean said.
    “Sure,” Jack said. Then he turned his head toward his other shoulder, so only Jean could hear him, and added, “Not really.”
    “I had comrades to free!” Chevalle shouted, firing again. Jean realized the two French pirates behind the Pirate Lord had escaped from one of the cells in his corridor. “Jacques agreed to this detour so he could be of assistance.” Chevalle narrowed his eyes. “Of course, he neglected to mention that his own crew was also locked up here.”
    “A fortuitous coincidence,” Jack said, waving one hand dismissively while the other was busy dueling an angry French guard.
    Jean knew better. Nothing was a coincidence when Jack Sparrow was involved.
    “We have to get back to the Pearl !” Jack cried. He booted the guard in the chest, sending him splashing into a water trough. “The Shadow Lord is ahead of us, Jean! He got to Chevalle first! We must beat him to the next Pirate Lord!”
    Jean felt a momentary disappointment. Had Jack only come back for them because he needed someone to sail the Pearl so he could chase the Shadow Lord? And then he thought about what Jack had said, and his skin crawled. How had the Shadow Lord anticipated their next move? He glanced over at Catastrophe Shane, who was flailing about in such a violent and apparently purposeless manner that none of the guards would go anywhere near him. What if Jean’s spy theory was correct?
    Should they leave Catastrophe Shane in Marseille?
    He turned to tell Jack his theory, but Jack was already sprinting through the gate. “Come on!” he shouted back to his crew.
    The pirates bolted after him. Guards staggered to their feet as the courtyard cleared. Some of the petty criminals were still there, nabbing watches and coins from the pockets of the unconscious men lying on the cobblestones.
    The captain of the guard shouted for reinforcements. He left some of his men to round up the lesser criminals, and then he set off at a run with the rest of his squadron. He could not let the pirates get away! The Spanish nobleman had been very clear about that. He’d left in search of his daughter, but he’d promised to return for the sentencing and executions…and if the cells were empty of pirates when he did, the captain of the guard knew it would be a very bad day for everyone involved—most especially him.
    Jack couldn’t help laughing at the sight of Chevalle sprinting along in his peculiar fancy shoes. But when Chevalle shot him a dirty look, Jack managed to look innocent, as if he’d been laughing at something else altogether.
    He led the way as they all sprinted through the streets. It was the middle of the night, so hardly anyone was out, and most of the windows were dark. Jack could remember the way to the dock from the last time he’d escaped that particular prison. And whenever he wasn’t sure, he followed his nose. The smell of the sea, and more distinctively, the smell of many, many barrels of fish grew stronger and stronger as they ran toward the port.
    Finally, they burst out of the narrow winding streets and found themselves at the dock. Jack didn’t even slow down. His boots pounded on the wood as he leaped onto the wharf where he had left his beloved ship.
    “Jack, stop!” Jean shouted.
    “Jack!” Billy called. “Wait!”
    Jack refused to wait. He had already been away from his ship for too long. He missed the Pearl with every bit of his soul. Only a few more steps and he’d be on board again…a few more steps, and the thing that gave him his freedom would be under his feet once more.…
    Jack skidded to a stop. He’d reached the end of the wharf. But that couldn’t be right.
    He jogged backward, studying the gangplanks that he had raced past, wondering how he had missed the Pearl in the dark. Not that gangplank…no…certainly not…
    The moon