Pirates of the Caribbean: The Price of Freedom

gray of the rocks, to breathe a sigh of relief. Good, it’s still there. Now if
the passage is still clear.…
Shifting more rocks brought his secret entrance into view. It was a
portion of an old hatch that he’d wedged in there, to block the hole he’d
discovered in the otherwise collapsed passageway. He’d found it
years ago, when he was perhaps twelve or thirteen, during one of his
many forays exploring the old dungeons.
Jack gazed dubiously at the revealed passageway. He’d worked
at shoring it up, back when he’d first discovered it. He just hoped the
supports were still holding. Taking off his hat, coat, and waistcoat, he
placed them out of sight behind the rocks, then ducked down and
wriggled forward on his belly.
Jack scuttled forward, but a passage that had been easy when he
was twelve was painful now; he’d grown more than he’d realized in the
intervening years. Twice he stuck fast, and the second time when he
finally managed to wriggle forward by pushing hard with his toes and
pulling with his hands, he heard the shoulder of his shirt rip. He cursed
mentally, not daring to open his mouth, because of the dampness, as
well as the stuff filtering down from the rocks that brushed the top of his
head. Still, he’d gone too far now to stop; Jack kept moving.
Finally he pulled himself through into empty darkness. This old
section of the dungeons was long-forgotten by everyone except him.
Cautiously, feeling above his head for the roof of the passageway,
he stood up, then fumbled along the right wall until his fingers
encountered a rusted old bracket. He’d left a bundle of candles here,
years ago.
Taking out his flint and steel, he managed to get the candle lit.
The passageway was unchanged from the last time he’d come
here. Jack started forward, mentally reviewing the way to get into the
still-used cellblocks. Five minutes later, his flickering candle revealed
an ancient door, its planks as hard as iron. Taking out Teague’s ring of
keys, he located the correct key.
Before unlocking the door, he stood on tiptoe and dripped candle
wax onto the top hinge, then the bottom one. Then, praying the old lock
wouldn’t make too much noise, he inserted the key and turned it very,
very slowly.