Day 208: Pirates Part 2

Four years went by.  Becky and Jake continued to do everything together and had adventures at the docks or in the fields, with Nelson tagging along half the time.  Jake continued to get into trouble, such as accidentally breaking a chicken coop, disturbing the peace at late hours, and stealing from the food market.  One day when he was fourteen, the administrators at the orphanage had warned him that any more screw-ups would kick him out.  So, with the threats from them and the urgings from Becky, he volunteered to help out at the blacksmith’s shop.  The blacksmith was leery to let a troublemaker like Jake work for him, but he took a risk and started Jake off with sweeping up the shop at the end of the day.  The consistency of having something productive to do kept Jake out of trouble.  As the blacksmith saw what a hard-worker Jake was, he started to train Jake in the craft of blacksmithing.  Now at sixteen, Jake’s confidence was boosted in the facts that he finally gained respect from an adult and found a place where he belonged.  

Becky had grown into quite a lovely young lady, despite her tomboyish antics.  She abhorred the boring parties her parents always held and changed out of her fancy dresses as soon as her mother was out of eyesight.  Her father, being a wealthy merchant, had enrolled her in a finishing school in preparation for his daughter to marry someone rich and important one day.  Becky hated attending there, and whenever she could, she slipped away to spend time with Jake, who her parents’ disapproved of.  They felt his “type” was a bad influence on her.  She didn’t care what they thought because her best moments were spent with Jake.  She also thwarted any advances from the boys that flocked around her, including Nelson.  He had grown into a spoiled snot.  He turned his nose on Jake as well and only interacted with him because he was trying to court Becky. 

One fine afternoon, Becky and Jake had been walking together on their favorite spot overlooking the harbor.

“Can’t I just hide at the blacksmith’s shop while you work?  I can’t bear to go to another one of those parties!”

He chuckled.  “No, that’s one of the first places they’d look.”

“You’re right.”

“Uh, what was that?”  He held his hand up to his ear.  “I couldn’t hear that.”

She sighed.  “You’re right.”

“Don’t forget it.” 

Becky shook her head, and the silence resumed.  Jake plucked a weed and started ripping off bits of it.  He cleared his throat.

“Becky, there’s something I wanted to give you.”

“Really?” her eyebrows raised and then fell with her next thought.  “It better not be something you stole.”

“Nope.  I promised I’d stop stealing, and I’ve kept my word.”  He dug his hands in his pockets and found a small brown box wrapped in twine.  “Here you are.”

She rapidly pulled at the string.  “So what’s the occasion?  It’s not my birthday.”

He shrugged.  “It’s to celebrate that I got my first paycheck.  I wanted to buy something with honest money for once, and there was nothing I saw I wanted.”

Becky pulled out a silver engraved heart locket.  “Oh, Jake, you shouldn’t have!  But it’s beautiful, I love it!”

She lifted her hair up so he could put it around her neck.  Jake was only too happy to oblige.  As she turned around, she met his blue eyes.  Becky couldn’t look away.  Jake gently clutched her hand and leaned in closer.

“I should have known I’d find you here, with him,” a familiar voice said.

Jake and Becky awkwardly stepped away from each other.

“Nelson,” Becky groaned, “what are you doing here?”

“Your parents sent me to find you.  You’re my date to the party tonight, remember?”

“I’m not your date.”

“Well, you’re coming with me then.”

Becky sighed helplessly at Jake, who was still irritated at seeing Nelson.  “I’ll see you later.”

“Yeah,” he answered sullenly.

“Later, Jake” Nelson sneered as he followed Becky towards town below.

She suddenly turned around.  “And thanks for the gift, Jake!”

This brought a slight grin to his face, and she walked on.  “I knew she’d like it,” he thought.  “I guess I’ll head back to the blacksmith’s.”

Since he had gotten a full-time job there, Jake was allowed to sleep in a little room off the workshop.  That way he’d be close to his job.  Jake liked it in there.  It was snug and isolated from the world, which didn’t think too highly of him to begin with.  He didn’t have many possessions, and the solitude suited him just fine.  It gave him time to dream about his future.