Chapter 2: The Letters

Jake and Nora went to the nearest private place to talk: the office on the Scarlett Ruby. Nora gave Jake the paper and the envelope and explained that her brother gave it to her while she was in England. He read the paper first:

Dear Winnie,

I truly regret having to do this to you, but I have been left with no other choice. I need to leave Jake in your care so that I may go rescue his father before it is too late. As soon as I get him, we will come back for Jake. However, if neither of us do make it back alive, please make sure that our son is well-taken care of. And make sure that this envelope always stays with him. It is crucial that he does not lose any of what is inside it.

With a heavy heart,

Charlotte

Jake looked at Nora after he finished reading it. "Who is Winnie? How did I not end up living with her?"

"Winnie is mah mum," Nora responded quietly. "I 'ave no idea why she didn't take care of you. Maybe whatever is in that envelope will tell you more."

"You're right. I should open it now." He carefully opened it and pulled out its contents. It included a letter and a paper with short phrases and dashes. Jake read this letter gravely while Nora shuffled her feet nervously for him to finish:

My dear, sweet son Jake,

If I do not get the chance to tell you this every day while you are growing up, I will tell you now. I have loved you dearly ever since the day you were born. Your father loves you so very much as well. You are the only ray of light in our dark world. We want the best for you, which is why I had to leave you with your Aunt Winnie. Your father and I are in danger because of the lifestyle we both decided to live; we are pirates.

It all began when I was on my very first pirate crew. Women are forbidden to be hired aboard a pirate ship; therefore, I posed as a man in order to get aboard. It went well for a few weeks, but then I was found out by Jake- your father- and the second mate. I begged them to keep it secret, and they promised they would. Your father, however, began treating me differently than before: he was more polite, he would do some of my duties for me, he left me letters hidden in my hammock, and he would give me things. One time when I had wanted to borrow somebody's telescope, he immediately ran up to me and said that I could have his spyglass. It is one of my most treasured items, and I hope that one day you will be able to own it. While we were fighting off an enemy pirate crew, my disguise was compromised, and our captain found out that I was a woman. He kicked Jake and me off his ship and made sure that no pirate ship would ever take us again.

We chose to try making it on our own as a pirating team; they called us the Commandeering Cardinals. We were infamous all over Europe and even into the New World. After we were on our own for a while, we wanted to get married. Everyone we went to refused to marry us; captains couldn't because they were banned from helping us, and pastors refused to marry pirates. Jake and I decided to make our own vows to each other and wrote our own marriage contract. As wedding gifts to each other, I gave your father a silver pocket watch from Germany, and he gave me an opal ring. Then we found a secret place where we could live and hide out if we needed to. We continued our life together stealing from pirates, and soon you were ready to come into this world.

When you were born, your father and I were running from somebody we had stolen from. He was furious with us, and he vowed to kill us. Luckily, he never found out about you. We were able to run from him for two months, but now he has captured your father. I was going to go after your father, but first I had to hide my most prized possessions and the thing that we had stolen. You became ill just as I began going after your father. That is why I had to go to your Aunt Winnie. She helped me get you the care you needed, but you are too young to be taken on such a dangerous journey. I am truly sorry that I have to leave you, Jake. I promise that I will try to come back for you as soon as I get your father back. If I cannot come back, I pray that you have a most blessed and safe life.

With much love,

Your mother Charlotte

Tears were starting to trickle down Jake's cheeks as he gingerly refolded the letter. He cleared his throat and breathed deeply. "Nora, I need you to assemble my coterie and have them meet me at my house in ten minutes. I'll explain everything there." He walked abruptly away to clear his head.

Jake's coterie consisted of Scully, Nora, Mimosa, and Becky. He shared all of his information with them and trusted them with his secrets. If he ever needed an important decision made, he would call upon them to help.

Nora rounded up Scully and Mimosa, who all met up with a startled Becky in her kitchen. Jake walked in a minute later and calmly gave Becky the two letters to read first. After she finished reading them, she ran to Jake's side. Scully picked up the letters and read them, with Nora reading over his shoulder. Mimosa examined them while Becky shared her reactions.

"Oh, Jake! I can't believe all of this has finally come up! I thought that you were never going to find out anything about your parents. How are you? And how'd you find this?"

"I'm fine," Jake lied. "I'll tell you more once everybody has read the letters."

Mimosa finally finished reading the second letter and gave them back to Jake. He took off his spectacles and rubbed his eyes. "Please," he put his glasses back on, "inform us as to what we should do with this new information about your parents."

Jake motioned for Becky to sit back down in her seat. "I need to find out what happened to my parents after my mother wrote this letter. I think that my aunt and uncle, or Nora's parents, should be able to fill in the blanks. But before we really make a decision, Nora, I think it's about time I asked you about your past."

"But I hardly know anything about your mum or anything. My life ain't gonna tell you any—"

"You have been around here for three years," Jake cut her off, "and I have hardly ever asked anything about your family, who is apparently also my family. Since you don't know anything about my past, we're going to have to make a trip to your parents, and I want to get an idea of what kind of people could somehow leave me behind."

"Do I 'ave to tell ev'rything?" Nora resisted.

"Yes, you do."

Everybody turned expectedly towards Nora, who was fidgeting in her chair. She sighed and began to tell her story: "First, I'll tell you who my fam'ly even is. There's mah dad, mum, and older brother with 'is fam'ly; that's all I've ever known, 'til I found Jake, that is. Mah dad is Alphonse, a French banker; mah mum is Winnie, an English baroness; Friedrich—well, Fritz is what I call 'im— anyway, he's been in the British army since he was eighteen. He's got a wife 'n' two children. My family lived in France, but when I was born they moved to Portsmouth, England.

"When I was fourteen, I met this old seaman named Witherman. He sort'a took me undah his wing and secretly taught me fencing and hand-to-hand combat. He taught me everything I knew before I joined Jake's crew. I was able to keep my hobby silent for a couple a years, but one day Fritz caught me practicin' with Witherman. He brought me home, and he told our parents. They made me go to a refinery school, and mah mum kept me busy by forcin' me to go to functions and parties. I was furious with Fritz for ruinin' things for me, but I got over it. I kept a sword hidden in my room and I practiced at night after everybody was asleep.

"When I was eighteen, I found papers in mah dad's desk. They were doctor's bills for a 'baby Jake.' I asked mah parents about it, and they said that they were for my 'illegitimate cousin.' They refused to say anything more about it, no matter how hard I prodded. I was so irritated by how they tried to make me into a lady and how they were keepin' secrets, so I vowed to become a pirate and ran away. Fritz found me and brought me back, and mah parents locked me in mah room. Ever since then, I've held a grudge against mah brother for all he did ta me, so I claimed he was dead. I took mah sword and the paper I had found, and I escaped out the window. I hid betta that time, and I looked for a pirate ship to join. A year passed of me tryin' to get on a decent ship, but then I 'eard about Jake in a bar and went to go find 'im. You know the rest of that story. My parents moved to Nantes, France that same year. That's all I know."

Everybody's brains were a little overwhelmed by information, causing them to sit in silence for a few moments.

Jake snapped out of it first, and he turned his attention back to the rest of his coterie. "Well, how soon do you think I should go to France?"

"We should be able to prepare the Ruby for travel by tomorrow if we hurry," Scully figured.

"There is no 'I' in this, Jake," Becky spoke up. "We are all here for you and are going with you."

"You can't come, Becky. Christopher is still too young for you to leave him, and he's too young to go aboard a ship."

"But Jake, I need to be there for you. Can't I just take Christopher this one time? It's not like this is going to be a very long or dangerous trip. Please, Jake. I don't want to be away from you through this. I promise, if there is any trouble, I'll sail off in a rowboat with him. Just let me bring him along."

Apprehensively, Jake looked at Scully. He was subtly nodding his head yes. "Alright, Becky. You and he may come. I definitely want Dr. Blackwell to come along, just in case Christopher gets ill on the trip."

"Don't worry, it'll all be fine. Well, if we are really leaving tomorrow, I need to go get my and Christopher's things together."

"Captain, what should we do about a cook?" Mimosa inquired. "Pugwash is still ill from his undercooked fish."

"Ooh, I forgot about that. Anyone have any suggestions?"

"Muggins's cooking is pretty good," Nora voiced. "But I don't know if he can manage to cook for the entire crew on his own."

Mimosa offered, "Allison could come along too. They did pretty well together when they cooked for us while we were in Greece."

"Alright, Allison and Muggins will be our chefs," Jake decided.

Becky grinned and remarked to Mimosa, "You just want an excuse to bring your wife along."

Flashing a slight smile back, he replied, "And what if I do?"