The Kidnapping King

JACK AND SAM

BOMBAY, INDIA - 1879 

 Jack stood and walked to gaze out the porthole across the harbor. There were several smaller boats anchored there and one other large ship, similar in size and shape to the one he was now on, across the bay. Men in striped shirts and dingy white pants were busily working with ropes and mops, while other locals wandered the docks. A woman squatted down in the murky green water, scrubbing laundry, and piling the wet clothes into an enormous wicker basket.

"Ok, one last question," Jack started, turning to face the others seated in the captain's cabin, "I still don't see how all of this is relevant to Sam. So, is there more to it than just her apprentice connection to Bunko? I mean," and he turned to look at Joe directly, "I thought you were supposed to be some kind of a thief, or something?"

Bunko raised his eyebrows high on his forehead, "Umm...where did you hear that?" He asked, shifting his gaze and dipping his head to Lydia, then back to Jack.

"My friend, Bart, told me. When he first showed me that telescope. His dad found it in some tunnels beneath his hobby shop in Portland. And Bart said that's how you got the nickname Bunko, in the first place. Because you used to kidnap drunk dudes and smuggle them onto your boat to sell as shipmates." Jack raised his eyebrows and jutted his chin out in the man's direction. "So, how does that make you a good mentor for Sam here?"

He glanced from Bunko to Samantha, and back again. Sam shifted in her seat and pouted her lips. "I'll answer that," she looked at her uncle and Lydia, then turned to Jack.

"When my abilities manifested, it was clear that I had some useful...but unusual gifts. See, I'm what's known as a Mentalist," Jack knitted his brows together and squinted at her. "That's just a fancy way of saying that I can manipulate appearances and conditions. Here, let me demonstrate..." Sam got up and walked to Bunko's desk. Reaching out to grasp a large brass and wood compass sitting on it's surface, she allowed her hand to hover, briefly, above it. Closing her eyes, Jack was astonished to notice a subtle golden sparkle emanating from her finger-tips...almost like magical glitter. As she sat her hand on the compass, it vanished. But from the position of her hand, Jack could tell she was holding something, which she picked up and deposited into the folds of her skirt. Removing her hand, she lifted it and brushed a stray strand of hair from her cheek, then turned to face Jack, smiling. Re-inserting her hand into her pocket, she revealed the compass, holding it out in front of him.

"So, as you can see, Uncle Joe's abilities made him a perfect match as my mentor." She ran behind where Bunko was seated and wrapped her arms around his neck. Bunko touched her arms with his hand and smiled at Jack.

"Wow...that's a pretty awesome talent," Jack walked back to his chair and sat down, "But I still don't see how that makes her," he pointed at Sam, "relevant to what's going on with me and my grandmother."

He turned to look at Lydia, who was still seated in the wooden chair beside him.

"Oh, that," a grin pulled at the corners of Lydia's mouth and she looked at the girl standing behind Joseph "Bunko" Kelly, "do you want to tell him?"

All three turned and stared at Jack for a long moment.

"What? Tell me what?" Jack shook his head.

"That you and I are going to be married," Samantha's face broke out into a huge grin and the three of them began laughing uncontrollably, while Jack just stared, open-mouthed, back at them.

Lydia raised her hand and placed it on her chest, calming herself. "I'm sorry, Jack, it's really not funny," she got up and walked to Jack, stroking the top of his head, running her fingers through his bangs, "but we've been expecting you for a while now. I had a premonition the first time I shook Samantha's hand. So, what she's saying is true. It's destiny. We've just been waiting for you to arrive."

"How is that possible?" Jack began, pulling his head away from his grandmother's hand, "I'm not staying here, in this time." He opened his eyes wide and shook his head back and forth, "So, unless she plans somehow to go with me to the future..." his voice trailed off as he gazed around the room, the others exchanging amused expressions, "You can't be serious?"

Lydia returned to her seat and looked at Jack, "I saw you together, in Portland, in your true time."