It wasn't long, and Amelia pushed open the door to the Benbow Inn. Inside, she saw Sarah and Jim, hard at work.
"Good afternoon, you two," Amelia said to Sarah and Jim.
"Oh, hello, Amelia. What can we do for you?" Sarah asked with a smile.
"I'd love a hot cup of tea," Amelia remarked, handing her a crontar. "If it's not too much trouble…"
"Right away, Captain! One hot tea, coming up," Jim told her and went to get her tea.
"Are you all right, Amelia? You look a little sad for some reason," Sarah observed, eyeing her with concern.
"I'm fine… well, perhaps not. I caught my daughters up in the attic, trying my uniform on," Amelia explained. "I do hate having to discipline my children." Sarah looked understandably at the somber Amelia, patting her hand in sympathy.
Jim came back a moment later with Amelia's tea. "Say, Captain, I've got a question for you," Jim said, his expression rather anxious for some reason.
"Oh really? Well, do go on, James. I´m all ears," Amelia answered.
"Well… I'm going to graduate from the Interstellar Academy soon, and I was wondering…" Jim began, then faltered and stopped.
"Yes?" Amelia prodded. "Go on, out with it, Mr. Hawkins."
"Well… do you think I might be able to, say… borrow the Legacy for a brief trip… you know to get some actual sailing experience," Jim finished in a rush.
Amelia looked on Jim. "An interesting proposition, my dear sir," she replied, clearly thinking as she sipped her tea. "But, I'm afraid the answer would be an unequivocal 'no', Mr. Hawkins."
Jim sagged in disappointment.
Amelia then leaned an elbow on her table. "However, if you are of a mind to listen," she began, canting her head slightly and smiling. "I have a counter-proposal to offer you, James."
"Huh?" Jim replied, jerking his head up sharply, interested. "What do have you in mind, Ma'am?"
"I am not amiss to taking my Legacy out for a small expedition on your behalf. But, it is my ship, and I am its Captain," Amelia began. "Is that understood?"
"Yes, ma'am," Jim replied, prompting her to continue.
"That being said, I would be more than happy to take you out on board my ship…to 'show you the ropes', as it were," Amelia finished.
"Great!" Jim replied happily.
"It's settled then," Amelia responded, rather eager to put her troubles behind her at home. "Now… what sort of expedition do you have in mind, young Mr. Hawkins?"
Jim paled suddenly, and looked pained.
Amelia noticed this right away. "Did I say something wrong, Mr. Hawkins?" Amelia asked, curious as well as wary.
Jim swallowed hard, screwed up his courage, and plunged ahead, despite his reservations. "No, ma'am! It's just… well, Captain, I was sort of hoping we could head out on a kind of search mission of sorts. A search for a… well, let's say, an old friend of mine."
Amelia wasn't stupid, and put together what her young friend had in mind in no time at all. "I see. And, this "friend" of yours… he would´nt be one Mr. John Silver, by any chance now, would he?" Amelia guessed shrewdly.
Jim looked down away from Amelia's steely stare. "Now, let me see if I've got this straight," Amelia then declared. "You have come to meme, mind you!to ask if we can traverse the galaxy to find the man that nearly killed us all? Does that sound correct to you, Mr. Hawkins?"
"Well, yes, ma'am," Jim admitted, quickly trying to add, "But"
"But, nothing!" Amelia snapped. She looked at Jim in obvious distaste. "You mean to tell me you've actually forgiven that scoundrel? Blast it all, Jim! That rogue played me false, stole my ship, and would of marooned us all on that planet if you hadn't convinced him we had his bloody map!"
"Okay, maybe," Jim reluctantly admitted, but then pointed out, "but he rescued me when he didn't have to, Captain. And, he helped us escape Treasure Planet when it blew up too."
"To save his own wretched skin, no doubt," Amelia countered, trying very hard not to snarl.
"No," Jim replied, shaking his head. "No, Captain… he did it for me. He risked his own life, and gave up his dream of riches to save me!"
Amelia looked over at Jim sharply, her green eyes looking long and hard into his own determined blue ones. That staring contest lasted a minute, until Jim was forced to look away. "Very well, so he may not be a complete scoundrel," Amelia admitted most begrudgingly. "Continue your case, Councilor Hawkins…"
Jim grinned. If Amelia was willing to listen, well, maybe he had a chance to convince her. "All right, Captain. Next point… he gave me the gold necessary to allow me and Mom to rebuild the Benbow."
"Oh, yes… so very kind," Amelia growled, though not too harshly. "Considering he and his band burned the last one to the ground in the first place."
Oops! Jim thought, wincing. He scrambled to still make his case to the most reluctant Captain. "Well, you in particular, Captain, should be thankful to Silver..."
"Oh?" demanded a wryly amused Amelia. "And, why should I be beholden to the brigand that nearly had me killed, pray tell?"
Jim then smiled brightly. "Face it, Captain… you owe Silver… big time."
"Me?" Amelia nearly screeched. "Owe that blackguard? Preposterous!"
"Oh, really?" Jim countered. "If it hadn't been for Silver, you'd of never met the Doc, now would you of?"
Amelia blinked several times in surprise. "Why… that's ludricrous, Mr. Hawkins," she replied, stunned.
"Is it?" Jim pressed. "C'mon, Captain… tell me that you and Doc would of ever gotten together, if you hadn't both been thrown together by our adventure!"
Amelia opened her mouth to protest several times, but shut it each time, as her protests were blunted in her mind. "Delbert and I… we, that is… I've no doubt that we'd of…" she stammered, then growled. "Blast! Very well, Mr. Hawkins… point conceded."
Jim gave her a clever look. "That being said, Captain, why then you could safely say that Silver, in some way, provided you the opportunity to have your children too. Wouldn't you say?"
Amelia scowled at Jim, damning his logic. "Well, yes… given your first point, I would have tomost grudginglyconcede your second one too. But"
Jim cut her off. "So, Captain… are you willing to admit that youCaptain Ameliaowe something to John Silver?"
Amelia felt as if someone was pulling her claws out one at a time. She grit her teeth, scowled angrily, but finally spat out. "Yes, blast it all! Yes! There! Are you satisfied, Mr. Hawkins?"
Jim nodded. "So, Captain ma'am… when do we leave?" Jim grinned rogueishly at the now defeated Captain.
Amelia looked into Jim's eyes, fiercely, reluctantly, and finally with compliance. She sighed heavily. "It was bound to happen sometime," she admitted in resignation. "But, there you have it… I've finally gone soft."
"Thank you, Captain! You won´t regret it!"
"Hmm. We´ll see about that particular point, Mr. Hawkins," Amelia countered and got to her feet. "We will head out once the Legacy has been provisioned and refit. I'll send for you with our departure date and what you should pack."
"Yes, ma'am!" Jim replied, obviously happy.
Amelia nodded, but left him with one last thought. "One last thing, Mr. Hawkins," she began. "Once aboard ship, my orders are not the subject for debatehowever eloquent you may put them, is that clear?"
"Yes, Captain," Jim replied quickly, content for winning even a single victory against the determined Captain.
"Very well, then. I will bid you good- bye for the moment," Amelia returned, finishing her tea before she left the Benbow Inn.
Amelia made her way home, shaking her head in amazement that, sheCaptain Ameliawas about to embark upon a search for the last person in the galaxy she'd ever want to meet againJohn Silver. Once she arrived back home at the mansion, she told her family about the deal she had struck with Jim Hawkins.
"So, children, if you can prove that you can behave yourselves, you may join your Uncle Jim, your father and myself aboard ship," Amelia told them.
"Oh, we will, Mother!" the girls all pledged quickly, hugging one another in their joy and excitement.
"I promise to be on my best behavior, Mother and Father," Benjamin promised, not to be outdone by his three sisters.
The kids then all hugged their mother in thanks, then scampered upstairs to bed.
"So, my love… yet another adventure for us?" Delbert asked, smiling and shaking his head in wonder.
"Yes, dear," Amelia replied, taking his hand. "But, Delbert, I will be hiring the crew this go-round."
Delbert began to laugh, squeezing his wife's hand.
"What are you laughing at, sir? I am quite serious," Amelia informed him.
"Sorry, Amelia dear," Delbert said, containing his laughter. "It's just that in hindsight, it was a wonder that we made it home at all last time."
"Yes, point taken, darling," Amelia replied with a grin. "I love you very much, Delbert Doppler…but you couldn't of picked a more scurlious bunch of spacers if you had actually been trying!"
Delbert chuckled. "That's why I am more than content to allow you to choose our crew, my love. Should you need me to choose a space route, I'm up to that task… but when it comes to choosing spacers, well, I leave that to our resident expert, I should think…"
"Thank for that vote of confidence," Amelia responded, her eyes twinkling. "Oh, by the way, I do know a way you could make me laugh, my dear," Amelia announced.
"Oh?" Delbert replied, not realizing he was stepping into Amelia's trap. "And, what would I need to do, pray?"
"Come aboard the Legacy wearing that ridiculous ancient spacesuit of yours again," Amelia laughed.
"Ricidulous, indeed!" Delbert replied, puffing up in mock indignation. Then, he too began to laugh. "It was rather ridiculous now, wasn't it, dear?"
"A bit," Amelia conceded with a chuckle. "But it does provide me with decidedly pleasant memories, my darling…"
"Hmm," Delbert mused, his brown eyes clever. "Why, that nearly makes me want to trot the old thing back out, Amelia…"
Amelia laughed softly, and then kissed her husband's cheek fondly. "No, no… the memory is quite enough, Delbert. Besides that thing smelled rather awful, if I recall correctly…"
"Oh, yes," Delber replied, blinking. "I had rather forgotten about that…"
Amelia broke into warm laughter at that. "Oh, come now, my most amusing man… it's time for bed," she said, linking arms with him as they headed up the stairs.
