Chapter 24
Twenty-Four
Too many emotions to count swept over Annaliese as she held her aunt tight.
It had been well over two years since she’d last seen Ottilie, and even then, it hadn’t been as if they’d spent a lot of time in each other’s company since Ottilie resided in Chicago and Annaliese had been in New York, preoccupied with school and her dismal debut.
Her preoccupations had prevented her from getting to know her aunt well. However, considering she’d come to the realization over the past six months that her aunt truly was an eccentric sort and seemed, if truth be told, rather peculiar, Annaliese had a feeling they probably shared a lot in common.
“You have no idea how glad I am to see you,” Ottilie said, taking a step back and looking Annaliese over. “I must say you’ve gotten more beautiful than ever, but how in the world did you find me?”
“I ran across some plume hunters you threatened to shoot.”
“Charlie and Howard?”
“Indeed.”
Aunt Ottilie tucked brown hair that was threaded with a few strands of gray and looked as if she’d chopped it off with a machete behind her ear.
“The captain is still convinced that if I hadn’t pulled out a flintlock and threatened those two scoundrels, they wouldn’t have decided we were pirates and left us behind.
” Her lips twitched. “Granted, that wasn’t the most intelligent move I’ve ever made.
But it wasn’t as if I had another option other than holding them at flintlock point after I caught them stuffing birds into a cage. ”
“Should I assume you’ve developed a love for flintlocks because of your fondness for treasure hunting and prefer those over that derringer you always used to keep handy?” Annaliese asked.
“Flintlocks, in my opinion, especially the rusty one I found here on the island, can’t compare to a sleek derringer.
” Ottilie’s lips thinned. “They’re notorious for misfiring.
But the captain’s crew confiscated my derringer after they staged a mutiny, believing I’d take a few shots at them while they were rowing back to the ship they stole from the captain. ”
“Probably a wise choice on the crew’s part.”
“Quite, especially when the crew, after traveling with me for a few months, thought I was rather loony.”
“Charlie and Howard think you’re loony as well.”
“I could say the same about them, but . . .” Ottilie caught Annaliese’s eye.
“Did you run across these plume hunters because you’ve taken your saving of captured birds to the next level, not just freeing endangered birds when you happen upon them by chance, like you did when you were younger—such as that time you saw birds in a lady’s parked carriage and set them free? ”
“You knew about that?”
“Your father’s always been rather fond of telling me about what he considers your misdeeds because he seems to think I’m responsible for them.”
“How could you be responsible when you weren’t even in New York when I set those birds free?”
“I believe he thinks you inherited a peculiar trait from me, one that centers around an adventurous spirit and shows up in every Merriweather generation. Truth be told, after Drusilla was born and was an angel baby, my brother decided he’d dodged a bullet on the whole adventurous child business—until you were born. ”
The mention of her father again left Annaliese frowning.
“What it is, dear?” Ottilie asked.
“I’m afraid there’s a lot we need to get caught up with, but first, to answer your original question, yes, I’m still rescuing captured birds.
I haven’t, however, taken it to the next level and begun tracking plume hunters.
I simply ran across Charlie and Howard quite by chance, although I did relieve them of forty-seven birds, all of which are currently flying around in one of the rooms on the ship we hired to get here after I convinced Charlie to tell me where you were. ”
“Dare I hope there was a pistol involved while you were doing that convincing?”
“Too right there was, but . . .” Annaliese glanced around, taking in the lush tropical forest that bordered the beach, as well as a flock of birds that was perched in a tree bedecked with pink flowers. “I find myself wondering if it would be safe to release those forty-seven birds here.”
“It would indeed as this island is a treasure trove in and of itself with the birds that live here.”
“What about plume hunters?”
“Those won’t be an issue since I’m intending on purchasing this island as soon as I get back to the mainland.
I’ll hire a caretaker to stay here because someone needs to look after my turtles.
Since I’ll certainly make sure that caretaker is armed, there won’t be a threat from plume hunters.
” She caught Annaliese’s eye. “As you already have forty-seven birds to release here, perhaps we should consider having this island designated as a bird sanctuary—and a turtle one since I take care of more than a few of those.”
Annaliese’s lips curved. “That’s a wonderful idea and would solve the problem I was recently considering about how tropical birds I intend to rescue from plume hunters would fare in a colder climate.”
“Probably not well.”
“I agree, although I’m still going to have an aviary constructed because, sadly, plume hunting is alive and well in America, and those birds are accustomed to a cooler climate.”
“Another wonderful idea,” Ottilie said before she took hold of Annaliese’s hand and gave it a squeeze. “I must admit that I’m having a difficult time believing you’re actually standing here, on my island, in the middle of the ocean.”
“And I must admit I’m having a difficult time believing we were actually able to find you after running across Charlie and Howard.”
Ottilie nodded to the sky. “The very idea that out of all the people you’d happen upon, you’d run across Charlie and Howard, the only two people on earth beside the captain’s men who know how to find me, seems to be a clear instance of divine intervention, and an intervention I have to believe is because of a prayer I prayed just last month or so, asking God to send me a way home. ”
“You’ve been missing for two years. Surely a month or so ago wasn’t the first time you prayed to get home, was it?”
“It was, but only because during the first eight months after I said goodbye to you in New York, I didn’t have a reason to pray to get home as I was pursuing the first two out of the three treasure maps the captain and I acquired and enjoying quite the adventure.”
“Because you found treasure?”
“The enjoyment was mostly due to the excitement gleaned from being on a treasure hunt. Frankly, we didn’t find much on those two islands, just a few gold coins, some broken pottery, and a slew of abandoned items, mostly rum bottles.
” Ottilie smiled. “The bottles definitely lent credence to the stories about pirates and their love of rum, but when we didn’t uncover anything of more significance, we headed north, our destination being the island on the third and final treasure map. ”
“And that map led you here?”
“I’m afraid not. That island is a good hundred miles from here, but I spotted this island as we were sailing past and decided, since it was right in front of us, that we should stretch our legs and just look around a bit.
” Ottilie blew out a breath. “That was a huge mistake on my part because, unbeknownst to me, the captain’s crew had accepted money from an underworld crime boss to do away with me and the captain.
They obviously realized that if they didn’t do away with us, their lives were going to be in jeopardy.
Luckily for us, though, the crew, even with them being comfortable with staging a mutiny, didn’t want to murder us.
This island gave them the perfect means to do away with us but still leave us breathing. ”
“Where is that crew now?”
“They’ve been on that third island, scouring it for treasure for the past year.”
“How do you know that?”
“They sail by every other month to drop off supplies, not that they step foot on the island anymore because, again, I found those flintlocks, along with a few cannons.” Ottilie grinned.
“After I threatened the second mate—who’s now the captain of that motley band of sailors—with my flintlock, which, unfortunately, jammed when I tried to fire it, they now just let a dinghy filled with essentials float to shore on the tide.
But at least I haven’t had to exist on seafood alone all these months. ”
“That’s a small consolation, I suppose, but I’m still curious as to why you didn’t ask God to send help directly after you found yourself marooned here.”
Ottilie gave an airy wave of a hand that was no longer lily white and would have left society matrons back in New York all aflutter.
“That’s due to the fact that I’m familiar with that underworld boss who paid the crew to murder me.
” Ottilie shook her head. “He’s a nasty piece of work and if I would have returned to Chicago too soon, well, I might not still be breathing.
” Her eyes began to twinkle. “Besides that, though, as the captain and I began investigating our surroundings, we discovered that we were marooned on what had, at one time, been a pirate’s lair. ”
“Do not say that you’ve actually found a pirate’s treasure.”
“Oh, but I can say that,” Ottilie said. “The captain and I have spent months unburying gold doubloons, chests of jewelry, bottles of rum, and a myriad of other trinkets. But even though there’s still a good bit of the island left to explore, I began missing home two months ago.
That’s right about the time I asked God to send me help, and . . . here you are.”
“Weren’t you getting worried that God might not have heard you since almost two months have passed since you prayed that prayer?”