Ch 2

Boston

15 years earlier

Nate was hanging onto the edge of a building for dear life.

His palm got sweaty at the worst moment and just as he fell, another hand grabbed his just in time.

"I got you!" said his older brother Sam.

Sam was way more experienced at this thing than him. "What part of wait for me in the tree did you not get?"

"I said I'm coming with you." Nate snapped.

"Okay. We're looking for the Age of Explorers exhibit." Sam explained. "Bubble Yum?"

He nodded.

"It's my last piece, so let's split it."

He just took the whole thing for himself.

"Hey. Punk."

Then the two of them made it to the darkened room where a dusty old map was behind its glass wall.

"Alright, smart guy." Sam said, nodding to a nearby picture. "Whose this?"

"Too easy. Ferdinand Magellan." Nate replied. "First guy to sail around the world."

"Wrong. Magellan never made it all the way around. He just took all the credit. Holy shit. There it is. First map of the whole world. Know what Magellan was really looking for? Gold. But he never made it home."

"So all that gold is just gone."

"Whoa. Lost, not gone. If something's lost, it can be found. But, lucky for us, we've got pirate blood in our veins."

Nate chuckled at that.

"Descended from Sir Frances Drake himself. At least, that's what our parents used to say."

"You know, sometimes I think they're out there somewhere. Like they're just lost."

"They're not lost." Sam said firmly. "They're gone. Alright, here goes nothin'."

Sam pulled out his bolt cutter and got to work.

"Come on."

Suddenly, the lights turned on and two cops came in.

"Hey! You two, don't move!"

"Oh crap!" Nate blurted out.

Later, the two kids were taken back to the orphanage.

"We came here out of respect, Sister B." a cop said grimly. "But this is his last strike."

"Go get your things, Sam." Sister B said.

"You can't just let them take him away!" Nate tried desperately.

They couldn't.

To him, Sam was his entire world.

Sister B didn't even look angry. She just looked disappointed.

"Say your goodbyes."

"What the hell?" Nate asked when they were in their room.

Sam had packed quick and he was near the window.

"I'm not letting them lock me up." Sam replied. "No way."

"I'm coming with you."

"Not this time."

Nate sat on the bed and he tried to blink the tears away as overwhelming dread took him.

"Come here."

Sam showed Nate the silver ring hanging from his neck.

It shined brightly in the dimly lit room like a beacon of hope.

"You see me go anywhere without this?"

Nate shook his head.

"No. So you know I will never leave it behind. I will always be with you. It says Sic parvis magna. 'Greatness from small beginnings.' That's you and me."

Sam put the ring on Nate's neck and its warmth comforted him a little.

"Let's go, kid." the first cop's voice rang out.

"I better get going."

Sam climbed onto the window and looked back at Nate.

"I'll come back for you, Nate. Promise."

Sam jumped and Nate heard the sound of him rolling, then running.

Soon there was only silence.

Then Nate noticed a piece of paper that Sam had left and he spread it out.

'Never forget you're a Drake. I love you.'

Nate held the ring in his palm, then clenched it.

He would never forget.