Read Pirates of the Caribbean 03 The Pirate Chase for Free Online Page B

away from him. "I killed him, just the s ame as if I'd cut his throat."
    "Oh, no, you didn't!" Jack protested. Then it occurred to him that he didn't know that, exactly. "It doesn't count if you didn't mean to kill him. It's a rule somewhere. In some sort of code or rule book somewhere. Really. I'm sure of it."Tumen looked skeptical. "I'm not sure that's true."Jack frantically waved off this objection. "Besides, Louis could still be alive!""Alive?" Arabella said. "Yes, if you consider somewhere in the afterlife alive. But it does seem like a pretty dead type of being alive to me." Arabella was now shivering violently, as though she were freezing instead of sweating in the heat of the warm Caribbean afternoon.Jean shrugged. "He could be alive. Stranger things have happened, right?" " I don't think so," Tumen said. "But it's possible!" Jean was grinning now. "We know these things, in Creole lands. The living and the dead aren't as separate as you think. Haven't you heard of a zombie before?"Arabella went pale. Fitzwilliam said, "If we could refrain from speaking about zombies, I think that would be best.""Not helping a bit," Jack agreed. "But I meant what I said. There is a great possibility that Left-Foot Louis is still alive.""How do you know?" Tumen asked."Because--think of what Arabella said last. Right before Louis did that spiffy vanishing thing. She said, 'May justice be done.' What does that sound like to you, eh?""Justice. You mean--the law?" Arabella sounded a little more hopeful. "The Sword might have sent him to a jail somewhere?"Jack felt e ncouraged. In truth, he didn't have the slightest idea where Louis had gone, and he didn't much care, either. The main thing was that Louis was gone. And the second-to-main thing was getting his first mate back into shipshape condition."Exactly. Precisely. Jail," Jack continued. "Probably dropped Left-Foot Louis right in front of the closest magistrate, just like you wanted. Not too shabby.""She also said that she wanted justice to be done by her mother's hand," Tumen reminded Jack.Arabella wilted again, and Jack scowled at Tumen."Look here--did you ever hear of the figurative sense of things?" Jack said. "Fitz here could fill you in, I am sure, what with all his correcting of people's English and such. Justice is served by her mother's hand, symbolically."
    "That's right. Must be." Arabella took a deep breath, clearly trying to convince herself that this was the truth. "Just give me a moment."Everyone kept a respectful silence--for Arabella's sake, not for the memory of the worthless Left-Foot Louis. She turned toward the corner, hugging herself, and Jack thought it wisest to leave her alone for a bit.Then Jean, having a moment to gather his thoughts and his composure, suddenly snapped, "Constance! Where is she?"That blasted cat! Jack had almost forgotten about that poor excuse for an old floor mat. "She was with me up at the church, where we ran into Left-Foot Louis in the first place."Jean flinched. "But no! He hated Constance! Tell me he did n't hurt her. Did he? Are you just trying to find a way to break it to me gently?"
    "Your strange cat-sister-beastie-thing is in the pink of health," Jack said. "So far as I know," he continued. "At least she was the last time I saw her."Jean glared at Jack. "The last time you saw her?" he shouted, panicked."Calm down, calm down," Jack replied. "She ran off not long after the fighting started. As far as I know, she's somewhere between here and there. Wherever there might be," Jack said."Jack!" Jean snapped, flustered. "They were last up by the church, now we are at the mill," Fitzwilliam said, placing a hand on Jean's shoulder. "We have a path to follow, then." Fitzwilliam was speaking calmly, as if he were sure they'd find Constance easily, but also like he didn't care if they never saw the cat again. "Shall we take a walk toward the church? I believe fresh air might prove bracing.""All right," Arabella said, clearly gathering herself