Chapter Two: Pull My Heartstrings
"Of course, officer. We have room here at the convent. Yes, of course I'll take the boys," the nun who'd answered the door at the Convento de la Popa smiled over at Sam and Nate.
"¿Cuánto tiempo pueden quedarse?" the policeman asked.
"Siempre que lo necesiten," the nun answered.
"Gracias, monja," the policeman said. "Buenas noches." He tipped his hat and disappeared down the front steps of the convent.
"Ustedes dos entran," the nun invited Sam and Nate.
Nate looked up at Sam. He shrugged and walked in. Nate followed.
"You boys are glad Morales found you," the nun said in English once they were inside. "Some of the other policemen aren't so kind. They would have taken you straight to jail for the night."
Sam's eyebrows shot up in surprise. "You speak English?"
"Jail?" Nate mouthed, tugging on Sam's sleeve. Sam brushed him off.
"Sí," the nun smiled at Sam's surprise. "Some of the sisters here do," she said. "We hear it from tourists, but some of us also took the time to learn it ourselves."
"Oh," Sam seemed at a loss for words.
The nun smiled again. "Forgive me, I have not introduced myself. I am Monja Maria." She extended her hand in a small gesture towards Sam and Nate that indicated they should introduce themselves.
"I'm Samuel Drake. And this is my little brother Nathan," Sam said.
"Samuel and Nathan," Maria nodded, as if settling on the names. "It's a pleasure to meet you both."
"You as well, ma'am," Nate said.
"So, you do speak," Maria smiled at him.
"I do," Nate said, feeling heat rise to his cheeks.
"He's a little shy," Sam supplied.
"I am not!" Nate protested. "I'm just supposed to be pretending I don't understand what's going on around here," he muttered under his breath to Sam.
Maria raised an eyebrow and Nate wondered if she'd heard him too, but if she had, she didn't say anything.
"So, what brings two young American boys to Cartagena?" Maria asked.
"Sightseeing," Sam answered a little too quickly.
Nate fought the urge to facepalm.
"Will you boys be in Cartagena for a while?" she asked.
"Uh, yeah," Sam answered. "For a while. We've got...a lot of stuff we want to do in town."
"Well, you are welcome in the convent as long as you need it," Maria said. "Are you hungry?" she asked.
"Starving," Nate admitted, perking up at the mention of food.
"Then I'll have the kitchen fix something for you. In the meantime, I'll show you to your room. Follow me," she gestured as she turned and picked up a nearby candlestick. She led the brothers down a few hallways, toward the middle of the convent. She reached a hallway with several doors leading off on both sides.
"These are the guest rooms," she said. "You boys can take the first one here on the right." She pushed open the wooden door and entered a cozy room with two beds, a table and some chairs, a fireplace, and a large wooden trunk in one corner. She quickly went about the room, lighting a candle on the table and a couple more candles in sconces on the walls.
"There is firewood beside your hearth if you need it," she said. "And if you'll wait here, I'll see about getting dinner for you both. Make yourselves comfortable," she said. "There's a washroom down the hall on your left. Do you need anything else?" Maria asked.
"No, thanks," Sam said.
"I'll be back shortly then," Maria smiled at them and left the room.
Nate tossed his backpack in the floor and flopped down on one of the beds. "Feels like St. Francis', doesn't it?" he asked.
"Yeah, I guess so," Sam answered distractedly as he started fiddling with the shutters over the window. He was still wearing his backpack.
"What are you doing?" Nate asked suspiciously.
"Seeing where this window goes." Sam tried to make it sound casual.
"We are not running again, Sam," Nate said, tone flat.
"Running? What are you talking about?" Sam asked innocently.
"I'm talking about how you're about to jump out that window while Maria is getting us food and disappear without a thank you or a see you later. And if that's what you're doing, I'm not coming with you." Nate put his hands behind his head and closed his eyes, making a show of getting comfortable.
There was silence for a long moment. Nate resisted the urge to crack his eyes open and look. Sam wouldn't leave without him. There was no way. Nate heard the creak of the shutter. The scuff of a footstep and then Sam sighed. Nate smiled. He'd won.
And then the breath left him in a whoosh as Sam pounced on him. Nate opened his eyes and tried to shove Sam off. The brothers tussled, but Sam came out on top, as usual.
"Cocky bastard," Sam growled, pinning Nate's arms to the bed beside his head.
Nate tilted his head innocently. "Cocky?"
"Trying to pull my heartstrings, are you?"
"Hah, you don't have a heart, Sam." Nate laughed as he said it, but it sounded a bit hollow, even to him.
Sam's brow furrowed.
Nate sighed. "It's a joke, man."
"Yeah," Sam said, sitting up. "Yeah, I know." Nate sat up beside his brother, looking at him from the side of his eye. Something was bothering Sam and Nate wasn't quite sure what, but it was obvious he'd struck a chord. He felt the need to fix it, but he didn't know where to start.
"Look, I'm just…" he paused. "I'm tired, Sam," he said. "And I'm hungry. I'm not leaving before I eat."
Sam looked at him for a long moment. "Fine, you win, kiddo." He reached over and ruffled Nate's hair, despite Nate's cries of protest.
"So, you gonna tell me why we're here now?" Nate asked around a mouthful of meat and beans. The brothers were sitting at the table in the guest room, eating steaming plates of meat, rice and beans that Maria had delivered a few minutes ago.
"Don't talk with your mouth full," Sam said, but he was scarfing down the food nearly as fast.
Nate swallowed hard, his food only half-chewed. "Alright, level with me, Sam."
Sam chuckled. "You're a persistent little bugger, aren't you? Fine." Sam reached into his back pocket and pulled out a folded flyer. He tossed it toward Nate. "This. This is why we're here," he said triumphantly. He leaned back in his seat and took a sip of his water, grimacing at the bland taste. He'd asked Maria for a beer, cheekily. He knew she wouldn't give him one. She'd just smiled and handed him a pitcher of water.
"We're here for a flyer?" Nate asked, mouth full again.
"No, numbskull, we're here for what the flyer's advertising."
Nate unfolded the crumpled paper and smoothed it out with his hand. It was an advertisement for a new exhibit coming to the museum in Cartagena. An exhibit featuring Sir Francis' Drake and artifacts from his expeditions. "We're going to a museum?" Nate asked incredulously. "You dragged me halfway across the world to go to a museum?"
"Did you see what they're going to have on display?" Sam asked.
"Yeah. Drake's stuff. So what? I don't think the museum is going to tell us anything we don't already know about him."
Sam sighed. "Nathan, you're thinking too small. It's not what we can learn from the museum that's important. It's what we can lift."
"You're suggesting a museum heist?" Nate's voice hit a pitch higher than he would've liked.
"Keep your voice down," Sam hissed, leaning forward.
Nate instinctively leaned forward too. "Sorry." He shoveled another forkful of food into his mouth.
"I'm not suggesting a museum heist. I'm just suggesting we take back what's rightfully ours, ok?"
"Nothing in that museum is 'rightfully ours'," Nate said.
"Thinking too small, still. If we're going to be the Brothers Drake, we need proof. Something that'll really get us on the right track. Something like," Sam reached over and flipped open the flyer "...Sir Francis Drake's ring," he said triumphantly, stabbing a finger at the page over a picture of a silver ring with latin engravings.
"Sic parvis…" Nate read the latin.
"Magna," Sam finished the part that was obscured in the picture.
"Greatness from small beginnings," Nate translated.
"Yeah. Greatness. From small beginnings. That's us, Nathan. The Brothers Drake. And if we lift that ring, then we'll be the real deal. No more pretending. We'll have a piece of history to prove it."
Nate was warming to Sam's theme, but he didn't want Sam to know it yet. "Ok, but this exhibit's not even up for another couple of weeks," Nate pointed out, indicating the date on the front of the flyer.
"Exactly. Enough time for us to make some local connections, get a good crew, and case the museum."
"A crew? What are you talking about? You don't think we can lift it ourselves? It's a ring, Sam. I could palm that!"
"Sure, but you aren't familiar with the area. We'll need good escape routes, a solid plan, maybe a driver. So we make a few local connections, convince them to help, violá! A team."
"Ok, but what are you going to convince them with? We don't exactly have any money."
"I don't know, I'll think of something," Sam shrugged.
"You mean you'll lie," Nate rolled his eyes.
Sam glared at him. "I'll tell them a story, Nate. A harmless story. What's the worst that could happen?"
Translations:
"¿Cuánto tiempo pueden quedarse?" - How long can they stay?
"Siempre que lo necesiten," - As long as they need.
"Ustedes dos entran," - You two come in/enter