Chapter 1: Family Ties

Chapter 1: Family Ties

A shout can be heard echoing through out the forest. A woman no older than twenty-three walks through the forest yelling for two people who seem to not want to be found. The woman had long brown hair that is tied back with a brown ribbon to keep it out of her face. The skirts oh her navy blue dress brush the grass under her feet as she walks to find them.

"Where in the world are ye two?"

Giggles can be heard up a tree and as the woman looks up into the tree she cannot see who is hidden in the tree. The first of the two women who has dark blonde hair is no longer in her dress that she is supposed to be in. She is wearing a pair of tan breeches that was hidden under the skirt of her dress. Her thin face looks down and smiles at the woman below them knowing that they cannot be seen. The second woman who has brown wavy hair looks down at the blonde through her glasses and smiles. She too had a pair of breeches on although hers were a dark shade of gray. Both women were obviously younger than the woman at the base of the tree. The blonde woman looking to be about twenty-one and the brunette woman looked around twenty.

"Karine and Jessica get ye arse down here right now and don't make me come up there!"

"Aww, Evelyn, you're no fun." States the older of the women as she climbs down the tree.

"Jessica that means ye too."

The second woman climbs down the tree with a pout on her face given to the older women. She turns to Evelyn and continues to give her that face even though she knows it is not working on her at all. Finally the three women are standing at the bottom of the tree, the oldest just looking at the two younger ones and tapping her foot while she waits for them to speak.

"Ye two are old enough to know not to just run off and hide from me with all that we have to do. The house must be taken care of and all of the estate but be taken care of as well, and the two of ye are not going to leave it to me. Maybe Father should have married the two of ye off before he left us."

"Now Evelyn that's not fair, you don't mean that." Karine looked at her oldest sister and pouted.

"Oh I very well do mean it if the two of ye run off like that again" She stated as she gave a glare that only a mother would give. "Now the two of ye put back on ye skirts and follow me."

The two women sighed as they did as they were told. Karine put back on her dark green skirt while Jessica put on a skirt that was the same color as the breeches she wore under it. Both women walked behind Evelyn with a pout written all over their faces hoping that she would turn around and see. But of course Evelyn knew that the two of them were pouting behind her so she made sure not to turn around and see them pouting.

As all three women were walking the thick evergreen trees they were walking in began to thin out to a clearing with a view of the ocean. Sitting in the middle of the clearing was a beautifully built two-story house. Although it was not painted like most houses its walls had more of a white wash over it to protect it from the salty spray that came off of the ocean when the winds were rough. Karine looked up at the house and frowned knowing that going into the house would only make things worse for her. All she wanted to do was simply run away from it all. Looking at that house made her sad as all of the memories flooded back into her mind. When she was out of the house she was able to be free and happy without anything pulling at her mind to remind her. She wondered if it was the same for both her sisters.

It had only been a few months since they had received that terrible letter. All of the women could remember that terrible night; the ocean waters near the house were extremely calm. It seemed odd to them because normally at this time of the years the water was never this calm. But there was something in the air that they could feel that made the whole thing seem so off. Jessica had heard the horse's hoofs first. A lone rider was riding towards their house faster than they had ever seen. Usually when the rider with a message came he was taking his time so as not to wear his horse out. Evelyn had taken the letter from him as soon as he stopped. Karine looked up at him and he looked away from her with a somber look on his face. Evelyn's hands shook as she opened the letter; something inside of her was telling her something was wrong. It was a letter from the town's mayor with was only a few miles away.

Dear Caytem sisters,

I am sorry to inform you my dears that we have received word that pirates attacked your parent's ship. We sent out a crew to search for you parents, but unfortunately they came back in and informed us that your parents have died they were unable to bring back their bodies due to the fact that they had been in the sea to long. I am terribly sorry my dears. I promise you that your parents were given the proper sea burials that would have fit them. Your parents were brave merchants that were not afraid to live the lives they wanted. I am here for you if you are in need of my services. My sincerest love to you three. I wish you all well.

With Love,

Mayor T. H. Wilington

Karine shivered as she remembered every word of the letter. It had imprinted itself into her head. In fact she was so deep in her thoughts she didn't even realize that she had walked into the house and up to her room on the second floor. Karine leaned against the wall trying to make all of the memories go away so that she no longer felt the pain. She knew that she always had to be strong for her younger sister Jessica even though Jessica was a grown woman now. With all her efforts failing her she slid down the wall to a heap on the floor and started to cry. She was tired of being strong and just wanted to lie there and cry.

Evelyn had noticed that Karine had not followed her when they entered the house. She knew that she had to look for her sister to make sure that she was all right. Evelyn made her way to the second floor and could hear sobbing coming from Karine's room. Evelyn picked up her pace knowing full well that her younger sister needed her. Upon entering the room she made her way over to Karine and dropped down to her knees pulling her sister into a much-needed hug. She sat there with Karine in her arms until the girl crying had slowed down to a soft sob. She knew that Karine had been holding it all in order to be strong and that it was literally tearing her apart.

She only looked up when Jessica entered the room with fresh tears falling down on her face. Evelyn held out her other arm to embrace her youngest sister. Leaning her head against the wall Evelyn made sure that neither of her sisters could see the tears building up in her eyes and the one tear that slid down her cheek and landed in Karine's hair. Evelyn looked toward the window to see that it was getting dark outside; she knew that there were plenty of other things that needed to be done. She knew that she had to be here for her sisters to make sure that they felt safe for as long as she could. Karine had already fallen asleep in her arm and Jessica's head was lying on her lap. Evelyn had to smile softly at hearing both of her sister's soft snores. She tried hard to keep her eyes open but found it impossible as she drifted off into a light sleep.

Light shone brightly into Karine's room waking all three of the girls. Jessica sat up and stretched hearing a slight pop coming from somewhere on her body. She smiled when Evelyn flinched a little. Karine how ever went to stand up and an even louder pop could be heard for her. A strange sound came from Evelyn that made both of the girls smile knowing full well how much those noises seem to bother her.

"Why do ye always do that to me."

"Aww Evy we do it cause we love ye." Jessica said with a smile.

"So Evy, what are we gonna do now?" Says Karine.

"Well we need to figure out if we want to stay here and live or move on elsewhere."

"Well where would we go if we did leave here?"

"We should use the ship," Jessica piped in.

"That is a great idea Jessica, we can gather supplies and go out on the ship. It would nice for the three of us to just get away from it all," Karine said with a smile on her face. She knew that getting out of the house was the best thing for her and her sisters. So why not take the boat that Dad had made for them and just leave? They would tell the mayor of their plans and ask that he look after the house and all for them while they were away.

Karine looked at Evy hoping that maybe she would accept the idea. The look on her face was not helping Karine's idea.

"I am not really sure if just leavin' the house is the best idea."

"But Evy it would be good for all three of us and you know it," Karine said.

"Perhaps, but who will look after everythin' if we leave?" Evy asked.

"We can ask the Mayor," Jessica piped in.

Evelyn knew that it was maybe good for them all to get away but she was still worried about leaving. Part of her did not want to leave this house knowing this was one of the few things that they still had of their parents. And come to think of it none of the girls had even dared to go into their parent's room after they had received that terrible letter. The door was still shut almost as if the women wanted to leave it just as it was for them to come back to even though they were never coming back.

With a sigh Evelyn agreed that they could take the boat and go out to get away from everything. As the girls went to set thing up Karine set out to write the letter that would be sent to the mayor. She made sure to put in every bit of information she could think of along with everything Evelyn had told her to put in there. Jessica had set to packing everything that they might need for the journey. She wandered around the house looking for things that they could use making sure to grab all of their dad's maps and equipment they needed. Jessica was skilled at mapping and knew her way in the waters and on land by looking up at the stars. She was the smartest of the three sisters and Karine and Evelyn accepted it. Evelyn had gone into town to deliver the message and to gather the food and other supplies that they need for the ship. She made sure to get enough food for them so they would only have to make port if they absolutely had to. The mayor took the letter from her with no problem and wished them well.

While Evelyn was in town Karine and Jessica started to move things onto the ship, but it must had been a long time since they had been up there because they had forgotten that the ship had no furniture in the three cabins. Karine and Jessica stood in front of the ship and just looked at it. The Triple Caytem stood in front of them with its off white sails waving in the breeze. Their father had put a lot of time and work into making sure the ship would suit all three of his daughters, plus anyone else that came aboard. Both women sighed, as they knew moving things onto the ship would not be an easy task. But with their combined efforts Karine and Jessica were able to move in beds desks and tables and chairs for all three girls. With a hammer and nails in hand they set out to make sure that most of the furniture would not move either cause that was the last thing they wanted was for the items to move around and cause trouble. The ship that their father had bought them was a little big for three girls to handle but they figured that over time it would be easier for them to do things as they got used to being at sea. Karine only hoped that she was right about getting away from the house and everything that reminded her of her parents. Little did she know the same thoughts were going through Evelyn and Jessica's minds as well. There was no telling what was going to happen on their trip into the Caribbean and what pirates they were going to meet.