The Emerald Key

CHAPTER 19





Up in the wheelhouse of the Flying Irishman, Jamie Galway and Shane Beckett quickly became friends. As the city of Toronto faded into the mist behind the stern of their ship, Jamie explained to Shane everything that had happened to him since leaving Ireland; his harrowing trip across the Atlantic, his escape from Grosse Isle, nearly losing his life in the fires in Montreal, and then stealing the ship from the company that had caused his brother and hundreds of other Irish so much misery. Jamie played down the significance of the old Celtic book that rested in his satchel, simply saying it was an invaluable artifact for the church.

Shane couldn’t help but be impressed by the young priest’s determination. It was obvious that Jamie had no regrets regarding his many unorthodox, perhaps criminal actions. Given how Canadian law had abandoned his own family this past week, Shane himself had no issues with steaming a stolen ship across Lake Ontario in order to reach a safe haven for his family.

Before them, the bustling town of St. Catharines grew ever closer. The docks to the town lay just to the north of the city. Shane had offered to dock the ship for Jamie. Shane had spent his younger days fishing with his uncle in the Irish Sea. Jamie laughed and gladly offered him the title of “captain.”

“This time, it would be best if we brought her to the dock with some semblance of professionalism,” agreed Jamie. “We don’t want to bring any undesired attention to our arrival.”

“So what are your plans, Jamie, once we reach the dock?” asked Shane.

“I’ll comb through every work party along the entire length of the Welland Canal and see if my brother is among them. If he isn’t there, and I can’t find any more clues, then I’ll have no choice but to head back to Ireland with the book.”

“And what of this ship?”

He shrugged. “Now that I’ve made it to St. Catharines, I was going to simply set her adrift in the night and let Western Star salvage her out on the open water.”

Shane thought for a moment. “If you do that, the authorities will soon be all over St. Catharines looking for the culprits who stole her. They’ll have you arrested before the end of the week. You and your brother will never get back to Ireland.”

“I was going to head by land for the American border as soon as possible to avoid being caught,” explained Jamie. “But I see your point, especially if the search takes longer than a day or two.”

“To get into the United States by land, you will need to cross the dangerous Niagara River. Don’t even think about swimming it, lad. Everyone who has tried has drowned. You’ve never seen a river like it. It truly is a frothing white monster of death and a perfect borderline between two countries.”

“I was hoping I wouldn’t have to swim,” agreed Jamie, thinking back to his near drowning at Grosse Isle.

“The only way across is through Canadian government checkpoints at ferry crossings. By then, the authorities might have a description of you. They’ll be waiting at the crossings for you with half of the British army.”

“A very good point,” said Jamie, discouraged. “You’ve successfully pulled apart my only escape plan. Do you have any suggestions?”

“I think after you leave the ship, you should let me sail the Flying Irishman to the United States.”

“Your family wants to go to the United States?” repeated Jamie. “Why?”

“I can tell you that many of us on board have no desire to return to a city that treated us like animals. We have relatives already in Boston and New York City. I have a cousin on Long Island who has begged me to move closer. My family and I will go to New York and start our lives all over again.”

“And the orphans?”

“I’ve already talked to the other families. We’d be more than happy to adopt one into our family and the other families have agreed to do likewise. They all seem to be wonderful children.”

“That’s fantastic news! But how will you get there? You can’t sail the ship all the way to New York City.”

Shane smiled. “I’ve heard in the Toronto pubs of a little-used dock near Rochester, New York, that has been used in the past for smuggling Irish across the border. We’ll tie her up there in the evening twilight and quietly drift off into the American night. We’ll then likely catch a ride up the Erie Canal to New York City.”

Jamie could see the plan coming together. “Because the ship will be found deserted in American waters, it will likely be seized by American authorities. That will cause Western Star Shipping Lines a huge headache to get her back.”

“And Western Star should have no idea that you disembarked from the ship here in St. Catharines. Hopefully in all their confusion of finding their ship in American hands, the company will be completely thrown off your trail. They will think that you moved on with us to New York City. They will then have to give up their search.”

Jamie smiled. “All right. You’ve convinced me of your plan so far. But I myself still have to get across the border. The British might still look for me at the border crossings. How will I get into the United States?”

“Leave that to me,” Shane smiled. “I owe you an escape plan. My family and I will gladly wait for you in Tonawanda. It’s a village just across the Niagara River from the head of the Welland Canal. At exactly midnight, send me three quick flashes then two slow from the Canadian shoreline, and I’ll come over with a boat to pick you up. After that, my family would be honoured if you joined us on our journey to New York City. You’ll find plenty of ships heading back to Ireland from there.”

“That’s a kind offer, Shane, but the search for my brother might take a while.”

Shane clapped him on the back. “We’ll wait in town for two weeks before heading off to New York City. It’s the least I can do for a young priest who’s half off his rocker but has a heart the size of Canada.”

Jamie shook his hand. “Then I hope to see you again soon.”

Shane pulled down the telegraph until it read “Ahead Slow.” The brass bell rang in confirmation. He stepped aside and offered the wheel back to Jamie. “We still have a couple more minutes before docking. I’ll let you have your last turn as captain while I go and tell everyone below our plan.”

Captain Shane soon returned to the wheel and the Flying Irishman came to a much less dramatic docking in St. Catharines. Shane was right. Only a small handful of people rescued from the quay decided to stay in Canada. Jamie, Beth, and Colin huddled low amongst the group of Irish that disembarked, hoping not to be noticed by the gathering crowd. The locals were wandering down to the water’s edge in order to gawk at the sleek new steamship. They were surprised when the gangplank retracted as soon as the passengers had disembarked. The crew then pushed her away from its moorings and Jamie dared to sneak a quick glance at the now familiar superstructure of the Flying Irishman turning her nose seaward. The steam thickened over the twin smokestacks, and she set a course due south for the American border.


Jamie, Beth, and Colin parted ways from those heading back north to Toronto and instead turned south for the town of St. Catharines. The trio soon found themselves strolling along St. Paul Street in the heart of St. Catharines. They admired the many shops that catered to the large work crews rebuilding the Welland Canal. Jamie finally spied the door for which he was searching. Avoiding a carriage and several piles of horse manure, the three made their way across the street and into the town post office.

“I think it’s high time we wrote a letter to your relatives, Colin. What do you think? Would you like to finally meet your aunt and uncle?”

The young boy nodded enthusiastically. Jamie sat on the steps of the post office and wrote a letter with a pen and paper he had removed from the captain’s quarters of the Carpathia II. Colin climbed up to the top step and looked over Jamie’s shoulder at the writing.

“What does it say?” he asked.

“It says there is a handsome young lad by the name of Colin O’Connor who would very much like to meet his aunt and uncle. I’m going to tell them that we should meet right here in front of the St. Catharine’s post office in one week’s time. Luckily, the town of Dundas is only a day’s ride away for the letter. Is there anything else you would like me to say to them?”

Colin looked up at Jamie with his big blue eyes. “Can you tell them that my mommy and daddy and my sister and brother are not here any more?”

Jamie gave Colin a hug. “Of course, I will. There. All done. Now, can you take this envelope and money up to the postman and say it is going to your aunt and uncle in Dundas, Canada West?”

The boy nodded enthusiastically and opened the door to the post office. Beth leaned into Jamie. “I’m going to miss that little guy when he leaves.”

“Me too. He reminds me so much of myself, right after I lost my parents.”

Beth eyed the distant construction snaking up the side of the escarpment. “So what are we going to do now?”

“It’s not that complicated a plan, really. We just start at one end of the canal and work our way to the other, asking every single person we meet if they have seen my brother.”

Hundreds of men could be seen milling about the long, narrow worksite, popping in and out of the scar like a colony of ants tending to a massive nest.

“This search is going to take a while,” whispered Beth.

As Colin skipped back to the steps empty-handed, Jamie stood up. “You’re right, Beth. So I guess we better get started.”


The first three days they spent searching for Ryan Galway ended with frustrating futility. Jamie meticulously interviewed every single worker that was on the lower end of the project; from the stonecutters and sappers working hard to turn the deep trench into a functional canal, to the engineers and supervisors who were poring over various drawings and calculations in the scattered foreman offices. Not surprisingly, many of the labourers were Irish. Most were sympathetic once Jamie explained his plight to them. It was all too common a story among those at the canal, as everyone had stories of family members who had been separated from each other either in Ireland, at the quarantine stations, or, more tragically, by the hand of death. Jamie could only hope that someone would either know Ryan’s name or perhaps recognize their facial similarities, for many who knew them in Ireland said that except for the difference in hair colour, it was easy to tell that they were brothers. Jamie prayed for that next clue that could help lead them to his brother’s whereabouts … but so far, no sign was forthcoming.

Colin had quickly tired of canvassing. As a gift to his younger companions, Jamie went into town and purchased both Colin and Beth fishing rods. Jamie first showed them how to scavenge for worms under rocks and logs, skewer them on a hook, then how to select a good section of a nearby creek for fishing. The two young travellers quickly found a suitable rock from which they could sit and dangle their lines into the fast-flowing water. With Colin content, Jamie left Beth in charge of the boy while he continued his search for Ryan further up the mountain.

It didn’t take long for Beth and Colin to get the hang of the sport. In no time, they were bringing back pan-sized speckled trout for the evening dinner. Fascinated, Colin watched every gory step while Jamie cleaned the catch with Officer Keates’s pocket knife. Jamie quizzed Colin and Beth on the fish’s internal organs, explaining their function to the children as each organ plopped out from a sliced belly. Beth would then happily pan-fry their catch over the open campfire. A makeshift tent on the other side of the fire was their temporary home.

By the fourth day, Jamie had worked his way up to one of the most impressive feats of engineering he had ever seen. It was a series of twenty-five locks being built one after the other, straight up the steepest part of the mountain. Jamie took the sketch he had kept since Montreal out of his pocket and compared it to the massive construction effort before him. It was a rough match. With growing enthusiasm, Jamie could simply sense that Ryan was nearby, drawn here by the immense engineering challenge of the project. Sending a ship up the side of a mountain would have been an engineering challenge that would have attracted Ryan like a bee to honey.

But that was just the thing … it had been eating away at Jamie ever since he had first found the diagram in Montreal. Why would his brother be here, working on a canal, when he knew how important it was to get back to Ireland and fulfill his obligations to the Brotherhood? Was he in need of money for the return trip? Did he not yet have the energy to make the taxing journey back home? Was he suffering an injury to the head? There was no way for Jamie to know the answer to his nagging questions. He just had to keep his faith that he would soon find Ryan and finally discover the truth.

Halfway up the giant staircase of locks, a group of a dozen workers was setting huge cut stones into the bottom of a lock. The crews were completing the locks from top to bottom. The highest locks were already finished, complete with stone facades and massive wooden doors. The lowest locks of the twenty-five were not much more than naked holes held in shape by wooden retaining walls.

Jamie avoided the crane and crew as they lowered a huge stone into the base of the lock. He stepped closer to the edge until he could clearly see the group of masons busily setting each stone into place. He stood and admired their work until the crew took a short break. Jamie then cupped his mouth and shouted down into the lock.

“Excuse me! Sorry to interrupt.”

The men paused and looked up at the lad high above them.

“How can we help you?” asked the foreman of the group.

“Has an Irish worker arrived in the last few weeks by the name of Ryan Galway? He’s two years older than me, and we look quite similar.”

The older man shook his head. “Haven’t heard of anyone by the name of Galway.”

“He does look something like Patrick, though, doesn’t he?” commented one of the crane operators, listening in on the conversation.

“And didn’t Patrick arrive about three weeks ago?” said another.

“Yes,” agreed the crane operator. “He did arrive three weeks ago but his name is Patrick Kell, not Ryan Galway.”

“And where might I find Patrick Kell?” asked Jamie.

“You can usually find Patrick near the engineering hut at the top of the mountain,” said the crane operator. “We’re glad he arrived when he did. He helped solve a conduit problem that has plagued our construction site for six months. We were just about to start laying off workers when he got us back on track.”

Jamie thanked the men and hiked up towards the top lock. Along the way, he interviewed three more groups of workers. Many agreed that he did look eerily similar to Patrick Kell. Upon reaching the top, Jamie took a moment to catch his breath and looked back over the massive engineering project that descended to a sparkling Lake Ontario far below. A cool breeze brushed across his brow. For just a moment, Jamie closed his eyes and allowed his imagination to take him back to his homeland. He saw the cobblestone streets and thatch-roofed cottages of his family’s village. He smelled the rose-scented gardens and heard the moans of the oxen plowing patches of field for spring potato seeding. His family milled about, chatting about the day’s events, sharing a laugh. He could even hear his brother guffawing with them in his own unique style. Jamie blinked hard in the bright sun. The guffawing was not coming from his imagination! Jamie spun around. Much to his disbelief, Ryan, his brother, walked out of a nearby cabin, laughing with an older gentleman who was holding an unrolled diagram in his hands.

“How did you become so rich when you think so small?” said Ryan.

The older man smiled. “All right, stop all the laughing at my expense and tell me what you mean.”

Ryan pointed to the diagram. “Just make those conduits a little bit bigger and we could build a mill that could grind grain not only for the southern section of Canada West but for upper New York State as well!”

The man chuckled, rubbing his grey beard. “That’s what I like about you, Patrick. You never stop thinking of new ways to spend my hard-earned money.”

“Ryan?”

Unable to control himself, Jamie sprinted across the construction site.

“Ryan!”

Ryan staggered backwards at the sound of his name, shocked. “Jamie?”

Jamie charged in and threw his arms around his brother. The man accompanying Ryan stepped back in surprise, and nearby construction workers lowered their tools. The moment seemed to freeze in time as the two young men hugged and slapped each other on the backs with unbridled happiness. Jamie gripped his brother’s face.

“You don’t know how good it is to see you! I thought you had died at sea!”

Ryan beamed an ecstatic smile and embraced his brother. “It’s so good to see you, Jamie!”

Jamie wiped back a tear. “I don’t know where to begin.… I can’t believe you’re alive! What happened? Why are you here? I thought you were dead!”

“Everything is all right, Jamie. I’m right here and I’m very much alive.”

“But how? I don’t understand.”

“Well, there’s no mistaking that you two are indeed brothers,” said the older man. “I take it that this a reunion of some sort?”

“Yes, sir,” agreed Ryan, grinning from ear to ear. “Mr. Montgomery, I’d like you to meet my little brother Jamie. Jamie, this is Mr. Thomas Montgomery. He’s the owner of the canal.”

“A pleasure,” he replied, shaking Jamie’s hand. “Well, this isn’t the first time I’ve had the privilege of witnessing a reunion on my worksite. You and Jamie take as much time as you need to get reacquainted. I’ll be in my office thinking about your conduit idea.”

“Thank you, sir,” said Ryan.

Jamie laughed, still in shock, as Mr. Montgomery walked away and the workers turned back to their tasks, looking pleased to have been part of such a happy moment.

“It’s so good to see you!” exclaimed Jamie.

“And you! The last thing I expected to see at the canal site was my little brother from Ireland. How did you find me?”

Jamie smiled. “It wasn’t easy.”

Jamie related the entire adventure to his brother while Ryan listened, awestruck. Ryan looked off past the blue horizon of Lake Ontario, trying to imagine the incredible scenes. Then, he sank to his knees when Jamie described the moment of finding the family text within the burning House of Parliament.

“The book was destroyed in the fire?” Ryan whispered, his face turning ashen.

Jamie grinned and lifted up the leather flap to his satchel.

“Wrong. I rescued it.”

“You have it now?”

Ryan wiped his sleeve across his face to remove the tears that streamed freely down his cheek. He took the book from Jamie, holding it against his chest. Jamie waited patiently while his brother recomposed himself.

“I thought our family’s book had been lost forever! I’m so sorry, Jamie. This was all my fault! If I hadn’t rushed into that skirmish with the British soldiers, none of this would have happened.”

Jamie helped him back to his feet. “We can’t change the past. But tell me, how did you end up losing the book in the first place?”

“I had been told that it had been washed overboard during a terrible storm. We were approaching the North American coastline. I was helping the crew battle through the gale, and when I returned to my berth, the door was wide open, everything was wet with sea water, the furniture had been thrown about, and my satchel with the book was gone!”

Jamie squeezed Ryan’s shoulder. “It’s all right. It was stolen from your room by one of the crewmen, and then likely sold to the captain. After that, it ended up in the parliament library. There was nothing you could have done about it.”

“But now you have the book. Fantastic!”

“We have the book. And now I have some questions for you. What brought you way out here, Ryan, to work on a canal? Why didn’t you come home?”

“It’s a long story.”

Jamie smiled. “Your boss told you to take as much time as you needed.”

Ryan guffawed and nodded. “I started off the crossing in the fourth-class hold, unconscious. When I woke up, I was stunned to find myself surrounded by destitute Irish immigrants on a packed ship. I was told I was on the Carpathia and we were just starting a crossing to Canada. Shocked at the situation, I argued with any and every crew member I could find to let me out and allow me to leave the ship. But the British soldiers must have informed them that I was troublemaker. I was beaten every time I complained until we were well out to sea and there was no going back. Then, the sickness started. Jamie, it was the worst living nightmare I could ever imagine! I saw so much suffering, disease, and death that I will be haunted for the rest of my life. I personally carried thirty-seven bodies to the deck railing for burial at sea and I will remember the faces of each and every one of those Irish men, women, and children for the rest of my life.

“I didn’t think it could get worse, but then a massive storm hit. Our ship rolled dangerously onto its side, and a sailor fell through a hatch and into our fourth-class hold, landing hard on one of the ship’s ribbing. I could tell he was badly hurt. The sailor had both a broken arm and leg. Trying to help, I had narrow strips of wood brought in from a nearby cargo hold. We tore up bits of cloth, and I made splints for both his broken arm and leg. Then, with the help of the crew, we carefully hoisted him back up to deck level.”

“Captain Chamberlain heard about my medical talents. He came down and said there were more wounded up on deck and asked, since there was no physician aboard, if I would be willing to tend to them as well. Of course, I volunteered my services, but when he asked me my name, I took the name of a passenger that I’d helped bury at sea, a young lad named Patrick Kell. Many men were lost at sea during the storm, and I decided Ryan Galway was going to be one of them. Once up on deck, it wasn’t hard for me to change the name in the deceased manifest when no one was looking. It was kept in the infirmary that I had set up near the officer’s quarters. I even attached one of my letters to the manifest as proof that I had died. I thought having a different identity would make it easier for me when I eventually returned to Ireland, in case the British were determined to try and keep me out of my home country.”

“So that explains your death certificate and why everyone around here calls you Patrick,” commented Jamie. “But how did you end up working at the Welland Canal?”

“One of the patients whom I tended, a gentleman by the name of Martin Bigglesworth, was a British mechanical engineer who had broken his arm at the height of the storm. He stayed in his own bed to recuperate, and it was while I was in his cabin that I spied some notes and diagrams on his desk. I started asking him questions about the drawings, and he explained that he had been hired to help solve a problem with one of the canals being built in Canada West. I made several comments on the written calculations and offered a new solution to the conduit problem he had been working on. Martin was intrigued by my engineering insight. He paid for me to move up to an empty room in first class so that we could continue our discussions.

“Before long, we were mentally tearing down models of the canal system and rebuilding it to see if we could solve the many dilemmas facing the project. You see, they wanted to use the water of the canal to help power the machinery in factories that were to be built along the base of the escarpment. Their original designs were all wrong for what they wanted to do, but after a week of problem solving, we had re-engineered the conduits properly so that they could carry enough water to power the machinery.”

Jamie held up his hands. “Okay. I understand you wanting to pass the time with mathematics and engineering, but once in Montreal, why didn’t you simply jump on the next ship back to Ireland? Why did you come all the way out here to St. Catharines?”

Ryan’s face flushed red with embarrassment. He patted the book in his hand. “This is the reason. I had lost the Book of Galway, our ancestors’ ancient text. I lost it, and by doing so, I lost the key to our people’s treasure. How could I face you or the Brotherhood again after such an act of selfishness and stupidity?

“As we approached the Port of Montreal, Martin informed me that he was too weak to make the next leg of the journey to St. Catharines, so he asked me to go to the construction site in his place. He sent me on with a note of explanation that was addressed to a Mr. Thomas Montgomery … so here I am. For three weeks, I’ve been helping Thomas re-engineer the conduits to his canal.”

Jamie suddenly stared at his brother with a tinge of anger. “Were you going to let me go on thinking that you were dead? I was devastated when I saw your death certificate in Montreal.”

Ryan looked down. “I know. And I’m sorry. I would have contacted you, very soon, in fact. I swear. I didn’t think you would have found out so soon. I had no idea the Brotherhood would have sent you out after me. After I came to grips with the loss of the book, I was going to write the letter.”

Jamie grabbed him by the shoulders. “But now we have the book back! Don’t you see? You can return home with me, back to Ireland!”

“Yes, I know,” said Ryan defensively. “It’s truly a miracle that you were able to rescue the book. But now it’s my turn to ask you a question. After recovering the book, however did you track me down? You thought I was dead.”

Jamie reached into his pocket, unfolded a sheet of paper, and passed it to Ryan.

“I found this.”

“This is one of the sketches of the lock system I made for Martin! Wherever did you find it? I left all those drawings with him when I left the ship.”

“It was hidden in the back of the Book of Galway. And look at the date.”

Ryan smiled. “June 17th, 1847.”

“Days after the date written on your death certificate.”

“Brilliant! You knew then that I hadn’t died!”

“Wrong. I didn’t know you were alive for sure, but at least there was a chance you were still alive, and now I had a reason to keep on looking.”

“And the drawing led you here?”

Jamie nodded. “Mr. Kessler, a friend I met in Montreal, a bookseller, helped me figure out that it was likely a diagram of the Welland Canal, so I made my way down here as quickly as possible.”

Jamie then told him about the adventures on the Flying Dutchman, and Ryan hooted with laughter.

“Serves the Western Star Shipping Line right for what they did to us and the book. Well done! So I’ve lost count of how many people you have saved since leaving Ireland. Are you aiming to beat Moses’ record?”

Jamie shook his head. “Forget any record. Forget everything else. All I want, Ryan, is for you to come home with me.”

Ryan tried to speak, but turned away.

“What is it?” asked Jamie.

“Jamie, you have to understand, I was tormented by the fact that I had lost the book, lost you, and betrayed the Brotherhood. You have now released me from all of that guilt by finding me and showing me the book. I’ll never be able to thank you enough. And I’ll never forget this moment of seeing you again. But that doesn’t mean I’m about to leave this project or this new country. Jamie, there’s a lot more going on here than you realize, something even bigger than the Brotherhood. I’ve already decided that I want to be a part of it and that I’m going to stay.”


Jonathon Wilkes casually walked down the wharf and up the gangplank to the Maid of the Rideau. After stepping through a hatch, he made his way along the plush hallway and let himself into the captain’s quarters. Captain Chamberlain and Mr. Reeves were waiting on leather chairs on either side of a large oak coffee table, both nursing a strong drink.

“Ah, Mr. Wilkes,” said Reeves, “I’m so glad you’ve returned. Can I offer you a whiskey as well?”

“No thank you, but you might want to pour yourself a second glass after I share with you the information I’ve gathered from the St. Catharines locals.”

“Is it that bad?” asked Chamberlain, reaching over for the bottle. “Did those delinquents sink my baby?!”

“Say it isn’t true!” stammered Reeves, who downed the remaining alcohol from his glass. “I’d be finished!”

“No, I’m fairly confident that the Carpathia II is still afloat. It’s just docked in a location that you might not like.”

“Please,” begged Reeves, “no more games. Tell us what you know. Where is the Carpathia?”

“It seems that she did make a short stop here three days ago. According to the locals, the ship was crammed full of Irish immigrants.”

“What?” gasped Reeves. “How can that be? There were supposed to be only a dozen children on board my ship. Where in blazes did all the Irish come from?”

Wilkes chuckled. “It seems our child captain pulled a fast one on the town of Toronto by rescuing all of the Irish immigrants they had rounded up and penned on Queen’s Quay last week. After the rescue, the ship stopped here for a short time, where only a few of the passengers disembarked. The ship was still full with many Irish families when she left port and headed south.”

Reeves paled in shock. “South, as in towards the United States of America?”

Wilkes lowered his head in sympathy. “I believe so. I just talked to a seaman on shore leave from a schooner based in Rochester, New York. He claimed he saw a large ship that matches the description of the Carpathia II tied to a little-used wharf just on the other side of the Niagara River. If that is indeed her, then your ship is docked on American soil.”

Reeves jumped to his feet. “This is awful! If the U.S. government sinks their claws into her, they’ll hold her as evidence of human smuggling! This whole travesty could become an unending legal nightmare — which will cost the company a fortune!”

Chamberlain pounded his fist angrily on the table. “My ship is less than an hour’s sail away from here. Perhaps there is something we can do to help salvage the situation.”

“Yes!” agreed Reeves. “After sunset, we could sail the Maid of the Rideau up to the Carpathia II and tow her the short distance back into Canadian waters, but we’d have to get to her before the Americans claim her for their own.”

“As long as she’s still in one piece,” exclaimed Chamberlain, “my crew and I will get her back into Canadian waters, that I can guarantee.”

“Then we must leave immediately! There’s no time to lose! My job depends on it!”

“I believe retrieving your ship at this time is the right course of action,” concurred Wilkes, “but I’m afraid you’ll have to continue on without me.”

“What?” questioned Reeves. “I thought we had an agreement that you would help catch the wretched pirates who took my ship. You’re not keeping up your end of the bargain.”

Wilkes smiled. “Actually, I would like to keep my end of the bargain and that is why I will be leaving you at this time. I heard further reports that several children disembarked with the handful of Irish here in St. Catharines. I have a hunch that these children might be the ringleaders of your whole nasty situation. If I’m wrong, then I will catch up with you in a couple of days’ time. Don’t worry, Mr. Reeves. One way or another, I’ll bring those children to justice.”

“Fine,” huffed Reeves, dismissing Wilkes with a wave of his hand. “You go and do your investigating. As for you, Chamberlain, I want you to get this ship on its way immediately! Reclaiming the Carpathia II is our top priority!”