“Do not fret, lass. All is well. I was released from jail and went home to my father. Several weeks later, I got a letter from Sam telling me he would be home soon. He had a surprise for me and to wait for him on this beach. I have waited and waited, yet he has not returned to me. Can you help me find my darling Samuel, Everly?”
“I hope so, Maria,” Everly said, sounding cautious. “I had an encounter with his spirit yesterday.”
“His spirit?” Maria shouted. “Ye’ve lost yer mind, lass. My Samuel is hale and hearty. He is on his way back to me. His ship, theWhydah, will arrive in Wellfleet at any moment.”
Everly turned back toward Tennyson, who got to his feet and approached his daughter. “Maria, my name is Tennyson, Everly is my daughter. May I ask you a question?”
Maria seemed to study Tennyson for a few seconds. She nodded. “Aye, but ye need to be telling yer lass that she’s wrong about my Sam.”
Ten took a deep breath. He knew the one question that would make Maria realize what was happening. “What year is it, Maria?”
“Are ye daft, man? It is 1717.”
“No, Maria. It’s not 1717, it’s 2026.” Ten hoped his answer would help Maria to understand the situation. He didn’t want to tell her that three centuries had passed without Sam coming home.
Maria’s eyes widened. “That cannot be. My Samuel is coming home to me. You just wait and see.” With those words, Maria turned around and walked back into the fog, which swirled behind her.
“Oh, Dad, did you see the sadness in her face?”
“I did, honey. The last thing I wanted to do was hurt Maria.”
“Me too,” Everly agreed. “I was hoping that if she told me the story of what happened with Sam that she’d recall the shipwreck and her own death, but I think she’s caught in a time loop.”
“I think so too,” Ten agreed. He was about to ask his daughter what she thought should be their next steps, when the fog broke and the sun came out. The Atlantic Ocean sparkled in the early morning light and he could feel the sun’s rays on his face.
“Beach time!” Ezra shouted.
Ten turned to see his son running toward the water. Ronan and the others were behind him.
“Go fwimming, Da!” Ezra ran to the water’s edge. A wave swamped over his feet. “Da!”
“Are you okay?” Ten asked.
“Yeah, go fwim with Ezzie.” Everly laughed.
“We’re gonna talk more about this later.” Ten headed toward Ezra, who was splashing his feet in the water.
Staring out to sea, Ten thought about Sam Bellamy and theWhydah. The pirate had obviously been trying to reach Everly with the vision he’d sent her. He assumed Sam was trying tofind a way to reunite with Maria. It wasn’t a surprise to Ten that Maria wanted to find him as well. Ten prayed he and Everly would be able to make it happen.
After three hundred and nine years, Sam and Maria’s reunion was long overdue.
9
Ronan
After lunch, which consisted of turkey sandwiches and Dramamine, Fitz got everyone to change into their shark t-shirts and loaded up into the bus for the ride to Chatham for the shark tour. The ride would take half an hour, which gave Ronan plenty of time to get excited about seeing sharks up close and personal.
Before bedtime the night before, Ronan had showed the kids videos of great whites leaping out of the water to catch their prey. Everly and Aurora were excited that the sharks did tricks, while Wolf had wondered if they could get a shark for the new pool Jude had installed in their backyard.
The boat was captained by Mark Greene. Also on board was a marine biologist, Dr. Alan Grant, who worked with the White Shark Conservancy. He was on hand to tag sharks and answer any questions about great whites.
Onboard their Beachcomber tour boat, the reality of what they were about to do hit Ronan hard. The boat was about thirty feet long, with benches that went the length of the port and starboard sides. The boat had looked so much larger in the pictures and Ronan couldn’t help but be reminded that the shark inJawswas about twenty-five feet long, which was only a few feet shorter than their boat. It was obvious the boatwasn’tbig enough.
“Owie, Dada!” Ezra squawked. “My eyes!”
“Sorry, buddy,” Ronan said, wiping Ezra’s eyes with the hem of his shirt. Ronan, who’d been spraying sunblock on his son, had gotten some in his eye. His complete focus hadn’t been on Ezzie. He was also swiveling his head back and forth keeping hiseye out for sharks who might want to jump onto their boat and gobble up Ronan for a snack.
Now that Ronan was on the boat and out in the middle of the ocean, great white sharks scared the hell out of him. It was all fine and good to watch documentaries about great whites, tigers, and bull sharks from the comfort andsafetyof his living room, but here, on the water, where the sharks lived, Ronan didn’t feel quite so brave.
