A PIRATE'S TREASURE

Chapter 7

Jenny's POV

Time was passing and worry was stuck in her heart wondering if she'll ever see James again.

She would go to the hilltop to watch the sunset every night hoping to see him come in. She would read his letter over and over as if by magic he would be arriving at the end of it.

    "I'll come back."

Over and over in her mind but every day was a knife to the heart. Her flower still sat next to her bed even though it was nothing but shriveled dried-up pieces.

She arrived home late at night to have the house eerily quiet. Usually, Madonna was stomping around yelling at our father for something or burning whatever she could find in the kitchen. But nothing tonight.

    "Father? Donna?"

Nothing.

Rushing to her room to find it almost empty. Some clothes were scattered and cabinets raided.

Worst came to her mind as she saw her father staring blankly out the window.

    "Father, are you okay? What happened?!"

He just stared with no hint of emotion.

    "Please daddy, tell me something!"

She almost gave up to rush to the police until she heard a small voice that she hasn't heard in so long.

    "She's gone, Jenny."

     "What do you mean?"

He hands over a letter.

    My dear sister,
I couldn't take it anymore! I found a safe passage somewhere north where I could live out to be something more than some farm girl. I told our father but you know him. I'll be okay because the best sister ever loaned me her savings for the trip and some of her belongings for a time. I'll send them back when I can. I couldn't wait for my life to amount to nothing on a small island. I needed to dream bigger and the city seems adequate for now. We're not getting younger Jenny and I couldn't wait around longer to see if I had to succumb to spinsterhood to survive. I'm beyond that! When you realize that the small island will suck your life away, you'll know where I'll be.
Love,
Madonna

She was so confused about how their father could let her walk out the door. She was barely of age with no connections and barely any money for city life.

    "How could you let her leave?!" She yelled.

     "What could I have said? She's a grown woman."

     "She'll be eaten alive there."

     "Or she'll be okay."

Jenny was boiling from her father. She remembers a time when he would say random things about men not being good enough for his daughters and how protective he would be when suitors came knocking.

     "I miss my father who cared about his family and would be dragging his daughter back inside for a stupid stunt like this. Where is that man?"

    "He died the day we buried your mother's things."

     "Aren't your daughters enough to live for?"

Her father slumped back again staring blankly at her.

She was crying, silently pleading for him to say something.

    "Goodbye Jenny."

She couldn't be gone yet. This family is all she has and would she really leave us behind?

Boats were all coming and going so it was hard to keep track of them all.

    "DONNA!"

She screamed her sister's name until her voice was gone.

    "Ma'am, are you okay?"

A sailor walked overseeing a distraught Jenny.

    "Are any of these boats leaving out for the city?"

    "A few boats are heading that way miss but most have already."

Jenny told herself that she had one job and that was to keep her family together once their mother died. The sisters were so young when she died but Jenny vowed to keep everyone together and do whatever it takes to keep them healthy.

They didn't have a big house or luxury things to sell in the market. They had just enough to scrape through the day. But it was enough for her that she was providing. She didn't need big and expensive things to be happy. But everything was falling apart. Maybe it was already broken but she decide to ignore the signs back then.

Walking back home felt hopeless. She promised herself she keeps everyone safe and how can she keep that promise if one leaves for a big city? Her sister had no one there to help her and she feared she would face a life worse than spinsterhood.

Her house again was quiet until her father finally spoke.
    
      "Jenny, darling, come here."

      "Yes, papa?"

     "You should go as well, my daughter."

      "I can't papa, I need to take care of you."
 
      "I'm an old man darling, my time is coming to an end. I can feel it."

     "Nonsense, you promised me to live forever."

Her father chuckled but his throat was dry that he started coughing.

     "And I will, but not physically. But right here."

He then pointed to his heart.

     "You need to live your life Jenny and finally take that adventure."

He pointed to the necklace with Hooks ring.

     "Stop letting my life stop you from living yours. Go on and marry that man."

     "Papa-"

      "I may not have said much but I can still see. The smiles you have when you read his letters and the box that smelled like perfume from your room. Those were the looks I had when your mother was alive. She would also want you to stop living through words in a book and to go be your own character in your own story."

Jenny smiled having a small piece of her father back.

     "He's away right now papa and he'll be back so you can meet him."

Her father went silent again. Little did Jenny know that her father was dying. As he said, he was old. His depression never helped with his loss of appetite and rapid weight loss. He was nothing more than skin and bones.

    "My darling Jenny, I love you and I'm sorry it took me this long to say it again."

They hugged for a while as if it was their last...and maybe it was.

Before she could say anything, there was a knock at the door.

     "Letter for Miss Williams."

She didn't notice the handwriting but her heart knew who it was from.

     "I'm coming home."

   "Papa, he's coming back! I told you."

He just smiled and went back to looking out the window slowly sinking back into a quiet and emotionless self.