Chapter 14: Out of the Frying Pan, Into the Fire

Ichabod's mind had barely even begun to register that fact that he was falling, when he abruptly hit the water. Falling from that height and hitting the ocean, he decided, was a lot like running into to a solid brick wall. The water was cold; a lot colder than he expected it to be, and for a moment, he started to panic, not knowing which way was up. Then, as logic quickly took hold of his mind, he opened his eyes and despite the fact that the salty Caribbean water stung greatly, glanced around. What greeted him was a multitude of bubbles swirling around his face, as well as one very large snake. The reptile in question started to swim quickly towards him, and had he not been underwater, he would've yelped in fright. As it was, the snake only gave him more incentive to find the surface. Which, seconds later, he did, gasping for breath as he tried desperately to stay afloat. As luck would have it, he was not far from shore, and a few hurried strokes of his arms later, he found himself flopped onto the sand, drained of all energy. "That's definitely not something I'd want to repeat again," he muttered to himself.

"I'd have to agree with you there, mate," came a voice off to his left. Ichabod glanced up and was surprised to see Jack sitting on the sand, emptying water out of his boots.

"Wha—how did you swim to shore so quickly?" Ichabod asked weakly, pushing himself up into a sitting position. He noted that the pirate wasn't even breathing hard, which only served to confuse him further. Jack smiled, his gold teeth glinting brightly in the sunlight.

"Mate," he drawled, "I thought you knew by now." Ichabod raised an eyebrow. "I'm Captain Jack Sparrow." The young constable frowned in response to the pirate's comment.

"That's getting quite old..."

"Regardless, it works for me and tha' is all that matters." Despite the situation they were in, Ichabod found himself grinning. He was finding Jack to be almost as stubborn as himself. The young constable glanced around, taking in their surroundings. The azure water of the Caribbean ocean lapped lazily at the white sand of the beach, and the wind began to blow gently, already drying Ichabod's soaked clothes. It was a scene of complete serenity, which was, of course, shattered by a loud burp from Jack. The constable sighed and shook his head, turning around so that he was facing the cliffs behind him.

It turned out that they hadn't strayed too far from where they had fallen, though the rocky cliff face presented a very significant problem.

"How are we going to find Will and Maccus?" Ichabod asked, after a few moments of silence. Jack sighed theatrically.

"Always one to get to the heart of the matter," he said in mock exasperation.

"I'm just trying to be realistic…" The pirate shook his head, drawing inscrutable shapes into the sand with his finger.

"No, you're jus' bein' plain obnoxious." The constable glared at him, crossing his arms. "Fine!" Jack said, rolling his eyes in annoyance. "I'll tell you how we're goin' to find Captain Eunuch and his oversized fish of a crew member." He stood up, brushing the sand from his shirt. Ichabod began to follow his lead, then stopped, glancing around himself anxiously. "What now?" Jack said, throwing his arms up in the air as the young constable began sifting through the sand.

"My coat…it's gone!"

"Well, of course it's gone! Did you really expect it to swim with you to shore? And it's not like you needed it." Jack pointed out. "You're in the bloody Caribbean, mate. The places here only have one season, and tha's summer." Ichabod stared dejectedly at the ground. What else can go wrong? He thought to himself. Instead, he said half-heartedly:

"I suppose so…"

"Tha's the spirit, mate!" Jack exclaimed cheerfully. "Now, follow me: we've got a Eunuch to find." And with that said, he turned around and started walking in the opposite direction from where the constable was sitting.

"Where are you going?" Ichabod called out after him, hurrying to catch up with the pirate's long, albeit swaggering, strides.

"I already told you," Jack said over his shoulder.

"Yes, but that doesn't explain how we're going to find him," Ichabod retorted, feeling slightly frustrated at Jack's lack of helpfulness. The pirate huffed dramatically.

"We're goin' to keep walkin' along the beach 'till we find the Flyin' Dutchman. If we don't find the Dutchman—unlikely—then the Dutchman will find us." Ichabod stopped in his tracks.

"Your plan is just to keep walking?" He asked incredulously.

"Aye!" Jack answered, amusement plain in his voice. He can't be serious…the constable thought to himself.

"What if neither action occurs? What if we don't find the ship and the ship can't find us?"

"Then we'll deal with tha' when it happens."

"…Unbelievable," Ichabod muttered, picking up his pace.

--

It was fortunate, Ichabod thought, that his white cotton shirt was so thin. The Caribbean sun was relentlessly scorching the land, and its inhabitants, below it. That, coupled with the humidity, served to make an unpleasant combination. The young constable found solace in the fact that he wasn't wearing as many layers of clothing as Jack. But the heat seemed to have no effect on the pirate. Indeed, he was still swaggering briskly down the length of the beach. Ichabod grimaced as he tripped over yet another branch that had washed ashore.

He was looking forward to returning to his own time period; where the climate was cooler, and the places were familiar. He grinned at the thought of Katrina's and young Masbath's reaction when he relayed his adventures to them—Ichabod's happiness was suddenly choked off as the events of that night came crashing down on him. He cursed himself for his stupidity. Masbath was dead, Katrina was probably beside herself with worry—and it was his fault entirely.

"Mate?" Jack's voice brought Ichabod out of his sullen thoughts. "Are you alright?" He glanced up and discovered that he had stopped walking. The pirate was staring at him, looking slightly concerned. The young constable sighed.

"I just feel as though it's my fault, and that even if I am able to get back to my own time, it won't really solve anything. In fact, it might just make the situation worse."

"What's your fault?" Jack asked, confused. Ichabod shook his head.

"The death of someone very close to me. I know that it's my fault he's g—" The rest of his reply was drowned out in the thunderous explosion of water a couple hundred yards off-shore. Both men quickly turned towards the source of the noise. Out of the ocean rose the Flying Dutchman, her timber creaking loudly, as if she was glad to be back on the surface. Jack beamed happily.
"I knew the whelp wouldn't let us down!" He ran towards the water, waving his arms about in a wild manner.

"Thanks for listening, Jack," Ichabod muttered sarcastically.

--

It took the better part of an hour for Will to paddle to shore in a rowboat, and for Jack to explain what had happened to them. Which, as the captain of the Dutchman had commented, didn't seem like much.

"What happened to the Pelegustos?" Ichabod asked, glancing around nervously.

"Maccus and I happened to make it to the Dutchman before they had a chance to catch up with us. They took one look at her and fled." Will replied, grinning.

"The Pelegustos never did tha' when they saw the Pearl…" Jack said, looking slightly put out. Will was about to reply, when he suddenly squinted, a frown quickly settling on his face.

"What is that?" He asked, pointing his finger behind the pirate. Ichabod and Jack turned around.

An odd-looking figure on horseback was galloping down the beach, a sword in its hand, headed directly towards them. Ichabod paled visibly when he realized what was off about the figure: it had no head. Jack, who had noticed the young constable's reaction, put two and two together, his eyes widening slightly in comprehension.

"It's the Horseman," Ichabod whispered faintly. "The Headless Horseman of Sleepy Hollow."

--

A/N: I wasn't dead or dying. I swear. I am SO sorry that this took so long. There's really no excuse. You guys don't deserve to be kept waiting as long as you did.

So, yes, we finally get to see the Horseman in action! (Well, at least we do in the next chapter.) I know; I must stop putting cliff-hangers in the story. But they're just so fun! XD

Anywho, please read and review! I definitely want to hear your thoughts, since this chapter was harder for me to write than the previous ones. (Writer's block death for fanfictions.)

The next chapter will be longer. I promise.