The Search for the Golden Llama
Once they arrived on the Scarlett Ruby, they set sail again for Swords, Ireland. Jake and Charlotte spent a great deal of the voyage telling each other stories of their adventures, but Charlotte also spent time with Nora and Fritz and the Ruby's crew in order to get to know them all.
Twodayspassed, and the crew dropped anchor at Swords. A slightly larger group than that which went out to the Cardinals' hideout departed from the ship. Swords was a fairly quiet city: there were few children running around, and the people who were out and about did not seem very friendly towards one another.
"Well, Mom, lead the way!" Jake made a small bow for her to step in front of him.
"I think you should lead this expedition, Jake. I want to see what you would have done if you hadn't found me first."
Jake stared at her blankly for a moment. "But, you're here; you're the one who hid the llama. It would be a lot quicker if you just showed us where it was."
"Yes, I know, but I would love to see how your mind works as a captain. But, if you feel that you aren't up to the challenge…" her voice trailed off.
"Alright, alright, I'll do it. Can you at least give me some sort of hint?"
"Well, let's see if I can think of one. Ah, I know. It is in one of the larger buildings that you can see from right here."
After looking around him, Jake asked, "Is it in that clock tower over there or that castle in the distance?"
"Either one fits the description," Charlotte intimated. "It is up to you to decide which one we investigate first."
Jake huffed and decided, "We'll check out the castle first!"
They marched up to the castle and entered through a servants' entrance that Mimosa found. Everybody split up into groups and searched every room in the castle. Jake, his mother, Mimosa, Muggins, Pitzel, and Scully were searching the bottom floor; Nora, Ketchum Kert, January Jones, Wally Nipperkin, Becky with Christopher, and Allison were snooping in the upper rooms.
In every new room they searched, Jake would attempt to read Charlotte's facial expressions to see if they were close to the llama. She kept one expression throughout: a glimmer of a smirk. It never grew into a full smile, nor did it ever turn into a frown. He finally became sick of trying to read her after they had searched three rooms.
"How would I have searched for the llama if I didn't find her?" he pondered. "Well, I would try to think like her. That snake of a pirate from Cranston Murdock's crew mentioned that she was the brains behind the Commandeering Cardinals. So that means that she would hide it somewhere sneaky. And yet, she grew up in a fairly well-off place, so she probably hid it in a fancier room." His group moved on to the next room, but it came up fruitless as well. "Let's see if we can find the throne room," he proposed.
"Ooh, it's amazing!" Muggins called out from a neighboring room.
"You found the throne room?" Jake eagerly ran to Muggins.
"No, I found the scullery! It's huge! And it's got all of these beautiful cast iron pots and pans! Look at the size of that stock pot!"
"Ugh!" Jake rolled his eyes. "Come on and help me find the throne room. Maybe after we find the llama you may pick out one item from the scullery."
"Ooh, that would be so nice, Captain Cardinal! Thank you!" Muggins quickly ran forward to help search.
They eventually found the throne room, and Jake began evaluating the different places Charlotte could have hidden the statue. He searched behind the large wall tapestries and tried some of the looser-looking stones in the walls. When he was investigating the large tapestry behind the thrones, he accidentally bumped into the king's throne, causing one of the throne's legs to fall into a chink underneath the red carpet.
Intrigued by this, Jake called out, "Mimosa, come help me move this throne out of the way!"
After they moved the throne, Jake pulled back the red carpet. In doing this, he revealed a patch of poorly placed stones. He rapidly pulled the stones out and found a large sack, and inside that sack was the golden Incan llama.
"I've found it!" he proudly proclaimed as he dragged the sack out of the hole.
"Well done, Jake!" Charlotte cheered as she hurried over. "Be careful how you set it down; there are a couple other things in that bag."
Having cautiously set the sack down, Jake felt around for the other objects. The first item was an opal ring.
"I believe this belongs to you," he said as he handed the ring to his mother.
She eagerly slipped it on her left ring finger and whispered, "It's been far too long since I wore this." She cleared her throat and managed, "Go ahead and get the other thing out now. It's for you to have."
Jake searched the bag again and pulled out a cylindrical case. Etched on the front of the case was the name Jake Cardinal.
"It was your father's spyglass," Charlotte spoke up. "He was hoping to give it to you one day."
"But are you sure you don't want it now to remember him?" Jake asked as he fingered the case.
"No, I'm sure. I have your father's pocket watch from the hideout. Now, go ahead and open the case."
Slowly, he opened it and extended the spyglass. Intricate scrollwork decorated the exterior of the spyglass. "It's beautiful!"
"He did most of that himself. He would work on it whenever he was on watch duty."
Jake took his old spyglass from off his belt and put the new one in its place. "Here, Scully, why don't you have my old one?"
"Really, Captain? Thank you; it would be my honor!" Scully gratefully took the spyglass.
"Now, let's round up everybody else and get out of here before anyone notices we're in here."
They found Nora, Wally, and January in the artillery room trying to get Ketchum Kert out of a suit of armor; and they found Becky and Allison looking through an old trunk filled with fancy gowns. Because Captain Cardinal was in a pleasant mood, he allowed each of his crew to pick one thing from the castle to take for his own. After everybody decided, they all went back to the Ruby.