Ten knew exactly how Everly planned on reuniting Sam and Maria, but unlike his daughter, Ten thought he knew how to do it without anyone ending up in the brig.
11
Ronan
Ronan was exhausted. After the kids went to bed, Ten gave a full accounting of the shipwreck of theWhydah. It had been just as horrific to hear the details the first time, but the second had been pure torture. He could only visualize the events in his mind, but Everly had seen them first hand, as if she’d been standing on the beach next to Maria when the ship ran aground.
Everyone had laughed when Everly revealed she had a way to find Sam that might land them in jail, but Ten had an even better suggestion that did not include a mugshot and a cake with a file in it. Ten usually had the best luck locating spirits when he had an object that had belonged to the person in life. His suggestion was to head back to theWhydahPirate Museum and find out if it was possible to borrow a gold doubloon or pieces of eight.
Jace and Cope agreed to stay at the house with Lizzie and Ezra when Aurora and Wolf insisted on coming with them to the museum. After Everly’s vision the night before, neither of her friends would leave her side. The kids didn’t know what happened on the beach, but they’d known something was wrong with Everly.
Ronan had no problem bringing Wolf and Aurora, even if it meant shelling out more money at the museum shop. He’d been kicking himself for days because he hadn’t gotten a skull and crossbones mug and the kids had been asking for hoodies, since the nights on the Cape were much cooler than the days. He’d kill two birds with one peg leg and scoop up the booty.
With the kids strapped in the furthest row back watchingPirates of the Caribbean, Ronan turned his mind to the job at hand. “How the hell are we going to convince the museum people thatwe want to reunite the spirits of Black Sam Bellamy and Maria Hallet, oh, and by the way, we need some gold to do it?” Ronan sounded completely insane just saying the words out loud.
“I’ve been wondering the same thing.” Fitz eyed Ronan in the rearview mirror. “We’ve all got our badges with us and a simple call to Cisco would confirm who we are, but I can’t imagine these people handing over artifacts that are over three hundred years old.”
“It’s possible they might know who Ten is,” Jude suggested. “If that’s the case they might be more likely to at least listen to us and what we have to say.”
“Yeah, Ten can break out the old razzamatazz. Do his Sherlock Holmes impression. Reunite people with their long-lost white-haired grannies, and faster than you can shout, ‘I’m rich!’ we’ve got the gold.”
“No more Froot Loops for you.” Fitz rolled his eyes. “As much as I hate to admit it, Ronan might be right.”
“I’m always right!” Ronan puffed out his chest, before quickly sobering. “Ten’s a real miracle worker, so we need you at your best so Everly doesn’t have to get involved.”
“How’s she doing this morning?” Jude asked. “I was really worried about her last night. When she cries like that, I swear it breaks me. I could hear her from the living room and wanted to run to her but didn’t want to interrupt what was happening on the deck.”
“She’s better,” Ten said. “I think it’s going to take her a long while to get over watching theWhydah’screw drown, especially Sam. She somehow shares a connection with him, something I could only feel a little bit of, so she’s taking what she saw even harder than usual.”
“Do you think he’s trying to possess her or something like that?” Ronan’s heart pounded in his chest at the thought.
“I don’t think that’s the case.” Ten paused for a few seconds, looking like he was choosing his words carefully. “I think Sam’s telling her his story and asking for help. I got a sense that he understands what’s happened to him and where he’s been all these years, where Maria still thinks it’s 1717, Sam knows what century he’s in.”
“Jesus,” Fitz muttered, under his breath. “I can’t decide what’s worse, being obvious to how much time has passed or feeling each excruciating second pass by. Maria has the frustration of reliving that last day,Groundhog Day-style, while Sam watches the passage of time fully aware of when he is in time.”
“I think it’s worse for Maria,” Ronan said. “Constantly walking the beach, waiting for her one true love to come home to her and grieving all over again when he doesn’t.”
“It’s hell on earth for both of them,” Ten said. “All we can do now is find a way to reunite them.”
“If the worst happens, and we can’t get a piece of treasure,” Jude began, “what else can we do?”
“I’ve been thinking the same thing,” Ronan said. “The museum shop sells Jolly Roger flags. Maybe something like that could bring him ashore? A fake treasure chest and some of those fake doubloons?” The kids had been crazy to get their hands on the replica coins so they’d have their own booty.
“I don’t know about that,” Ten said, nibbling his bottom lip. “This man was an expert in treasure. I don’t think he’d be fooled by fakes.”
“All we need to do is get his spirit on the beach at the same time Maria is there and Cupid can do the rest.” Jude snorted. “Do you think Cope would still be crazy about me three hundred years from now?”
“He’d have to be!” Ronan barked a quick laugh. “You’d come running back to me though, wouldn’t you, babe?” He pressed a kiss to Ten’s temple.
Ten raised a questioning eyebrow. “Maybe.”
“Maybe?” Ronan half-screeched. His hand fluttered to his chest. “If we’d been separated for three centuries, I’d run to you as quick as my ghost legs could carry me.”
“Yeah, because that meant you’d spent all those years not being able to find clean socks.” Ten laughed. Jude and Fitz joined in.
“Fine, laugh at me. None of you would make it a week without your husbands. We’d all end up on that stupid beach lost and alone and cold, missing Ten’s kick-ass pot roast.”
“That’s what you’d miss most? My pot roast?” Ten asked, looking surprised.
