“Is Ariel a sea ho?” Everly asked.
It was on the tip of Ronan’s tongue to answer, but he didn’t want to spend the night sleeping on the beach with the crabs. He unbuckled his seatbelt and pulled the door open. “All ashore.”
“Wow! Look at the pirates!” Wolf shouted, about to take off running. On the walkway to the door of the museum, there were several benches with pirates sitting on them.
Jude grabbed him. “This is a busy road with a busy parking lot. Stay with me, okay? I don’t want you or your sister getting hurt. We’ll take pictures when everyone is out of the van.”
Wolf nodded and reached for Lizzie’s hand. When Ezra was released from his seat and in Ronan’s arms, they headed towardthe entrance. The building was white with a black banner hung on the front, which featured half of the Jolly Roger. “Why-duh Pirate Museum,” Wolf read. “Real Pirates. Real Treasure. 1717.” He turned to Jude. “What’s a Why-duh?”
“Whydahis the name of Captain Sam Bellamy’s pirate ship. It sort of sounds like the wordwidow, if Blanche Deveraux fromThe Golden Girlssaid it.”
Along the walkway leading to the red doors were the pirates. One was a tall statue of Blackbeard, standing, arms crossed and looking fierce, while the others sat on the benches as if they were simply taking a short break from yo-ho-hoing. Ronan took a ton of pictures of Everly and Wolf with the statues, as well as of Jace and Fitz with Aurora, who treated the pirates like they were best friends, sitting right on their laps.
Once inside the museum, Ronan was disappointed to learn that aside from the small alcove which housed theWhydah’sship bell, no photographs were allowed to be taken. Not having his phone in his hands would keep him more in the minute as they looked through the artifacts and treasure found at the wreck site.
The first room held everyday items like plates, cutlery, and cups. Ronan was stunned that something so delicate as a China plate could survive not only the shipwreck, but being buried at the bottom of the ocean for over three centuries.
Looking around, Ronan saw the kids climbing all over the mini replica of the ship. They were laughing and having a great time. All except his daughter. Everly stood aft and was staring off into space. He supposed she was speaking to a ghost. Ronan climbed onto the ship and headed for his daughter. “Hey, are you okay?”
Everly shook her head. “Yeah, I’m good. I had a vision.”
Ronan’s eyes narrowed, he knelt down beside his daughter. “What kind of vision?”
“I was on the ship. TheWhydah. Not the night it sunk, but before that. The pirates were excited to be sailing back toward New York. They were talking about what they’d buy with their share of the treasure.”
Ronan smiled. Thank goodness she wasn’t on the ship the night disaster struck. He knew nothing could hurt her in a vision, but he wouldn’t want Everly experiencing the panic and raw fear of the sailors when they realized all was lost. “What were they talking about buying?” Booze first and then a nice house in the country, Ronan supposed.
“Definitely rum, but they didn’t want a house, they wanted women.” Everly grimaced. “No offense, Daddy, but boys are gross sometimes.”
“Can’t argue with you there,” Ronan agreed. Boys were gross under the best of circumstances, but out to sea for several months with a bunch of other men, barely bathing, and without women to take the edge off, he could well imagine the pirates would be gross. “What else did you see? How about Captain Bellamy?”
“Yeah, he was standing at the ship’s wheel.” Everly turned toward it. “He was tall like you. The wheel came up to his chest. He held it with one hand, kind of like you do when you’re driving the Mustang. He was thinking about Maria.”
“The girl waiting for him at home?” Ronan asked.
Everly nodded. “He really loved her. Sam didn’t want to be a pirate. He wanted to be a good man who could provide a life for Maria and the family they’d have together. Sam was finishedwith voyages to the Caribbean. All he wanted to do was go home.”
“I can see that.” Ronan stepped up to the wheel and turned it. He imagined what it must have been like to sail at sea on a wooden ship with only a sextant and the stars to guide him home. “Whenever I’m away from your Dad and you kids, all I think about is coming back home.”
“You do, Daddy, but not like this.” Everly nibbled her bottom lip as if she were trying to find the right words to explain what she felt.
“Like what?”
“Like Sam will literallydiefrom missing Maria. He has trouble breathing when he thinks that she might not have waited for him or that maybe another man wanted to go on dates with her. His emotions are all balled up inside him and he feels like he’s going to explode like one of the cannons.”
“You can feel all of that just by standing on a replica of the back end of the ship?” Ronan would never cease to be amazed by Everly’s gift and what it was capable of doing.
“It’s not just the ship, Daddy, it’s all of Sam’s stuff here in the museum,” Everly paused for several seconds. “Think about our house. We have our own plates, and forks, and cups. There are pictures of us and toys and food and everything. We’re connected to our stuff. Those items that belonged to Sam carry him on them. I don’t know how to explain it better than that.”
“He’s imprinted on these items,” Ronan suggested.
Everly nodded.
“Did Sam try to speak to you in the vision?” Ronan hoped not.
“No, it was like I was a ghost on the ship. Sam and the other pirates didn’t know I was there.” Everly reached for Ronan’s hand. “Let’s go see the treasure. I know it’s your favorite thing.”
Ronan studied his daughter for a few seconds. He had the feeling she wasn’t telling him everything she saw in this vision. He’d have to talk to Tennyson later to see if she shared anything else with him.
