Read Pirates of the Caribbean 04 The Sword of Cortes for Free Online

that Jack had never seen before."Well, I have no choice. There are things I need to do with it."
    "The waves say it has done things already. Have those things not been enough?" Tia Dalma asked.Jack was silent for a moment, thinking about all the things the Sword had done. It was supposed to have been his greatest treasure. It was supposed to have granted him freedom. And yet all it had accomplished was alienating him from his crew and enslaving him to the will of Cortes."Look, I'm here because Morveren, Aquila, and Aquala sent me," Jack said. "They gave you something that was not theirs to give--being that it was actua lly mine--and I want it back." Tia Dalma sighed, walked over to a shelf, and lifted a small bottle containing a greenish liquid. She filled a bowl with water and placed a drop of the green stuff into the bowl.
    She stared into the bowl briefly and then turned to Jack."It is so," she said, standing up and walking toward the rear of the shack. Presumably to retrieve the eye, Jack thought."The one you left has been looking for you," Tia Dalma said while she gracefully searched her canisters and containers."Oh, everyone's looking for me, love," Jack winked."But it is not all of them that you want to avoid--and the one I speak of is one who you do."
    "Can't you ever just sta te something clear and concise like?" Jack asked.Tia Dal ma smiled. "Just be warned him came here looking for you. Him wants him ring back."Jack gasped. Now he knew who she was talking about. And it was someone Jack really did not want to see. In fact, it was someone he had been running from for a while. Talking about it was giving him a knot in his stomach. He once again decided to change the subject, though he knew Tia Dalma would eventually turn the conversation back to a difficult topic of some sort or other.
    "So, this mate I'm sailing with says you turned his sister into a cat. Is it true?" Jack asked."You sail with a powerful crew, Jack Sparrow," Tia Dalma said, clearly evading Jack's question. "Do they know you are here?""I've not e ven told them I know you. Kept it quiet, actually even pretended on a few occasions that I didn't know you," Jack said."Wise. But they have proven worthy. They will convene here soon," Tia Dalma said. To Jack it seemed this was both a request and a statement of fact.
    "Yes, yes, of course. Now, where is my Stone-Eyed Sam-eye-stone-thing?" Jack asked, growing impatient."You know I demand payment," Tia Dalma said, smiling widely and staring at the Sword. "Even for this stone, which you say is yours.""You want this here thing?" Jack asked, motioning to the Sword. "No, no, no, you don't want this. It's rather useless. Hardly works.""I will accept no other payment," Tia Dalma said, crossing her arms.
    "There is a minor complication," Jack said. "I need it to save the crew you want to so badly meet."Tia Dalma was clearly becoming annoyed. She walked to her table and slammed a bucket of crab claws down on it.
    "Sorry, love, not very hungry right now," Jack said.Tia Dalma shot Jack a warning glance and poured the claws onto the tabletop. She arranged them in different configurations. Jack knew then that she was reading a message in them. Once she had received a satisfying answer, Tia Dalma sighed. She walked back to Jack and handed him the stone eye.
    "You will give me fair payment," she said, "when you have done all you set out to do and learned all you were meant to learn. This I cannot interfere with. This stone holds great power--greater even than that of the Swor d. But its power is not easily unlocked. The stone itself is locked. It is a prison cell far smaller than any you have ever known."Jack's head was reeling and, as he often did, Jack looked at Tia Dalma as if she were crazy. In truth, he knew she was anything but. She just spoke in a way that needed to be decoded."You will need these." She handed Jack two beads, one white and one red. "When you are ready to unleash the power of this eye and only at that