I Am Jessamine
Chapter 14

Moving as fast as they could the crew weighed anchor and moved the ship into the dock where the repairs were due to take place and, upon Grays’ command, several of the men left the ship and made their way to his warehouse with specific instructions.

Willy had quickly collected his belongings and Jess rushed into the cabin and dressed Gem. Packing a few extra things for the boy in her leather satchel. Once he was dressed he went to say goodbye to Tad and Jess took the opportunity to pull out the riding clothes and boots from the bottom of the trunk as per Grays’ advice and he helped her, yet again, to change into the clothing. She added a few of her items to the satchel and took her money pouch and tied it to her belt with her sword and dagger. She remembered to drop the smaller dirk down her thigh-high riding boot. When she was done they all left the ship and found Tad and Mr. Tora down a nearby alley with two saddled horses.

“There are bed rolls, furs and a few cooking pans rolled up behind the saddles with some food in the saddle bags. Jessie, you have got Spark and Mr. Willy you have got Autumn and they are both very nice, but also very fast.” Said Tad breathlessly and Jessie pulled him in and hugged him hard. Blushing wildly Tad grinned and then turned around, “I did what you said, and Cap’n I put extra wheat cakes in for the horses.” Gray tousled the boys’ hair and said a very kind thank you.

Willy swung himself up onto Autumn and bent down for little Gem and put the child in front of him on the saddle. Mr. Tora handed Willy a large cloak that he threw around his shoulders and held it fast with a large brooch under his chin and then wrapped it around Gem as well. The little boy peeped out and then snuggled back down as he felt more comfortable.

Gray pulled Jessie into his arms and gave her a bone-crushing hug and kissed her deeply. “Send word of where you are when you can and I will make sure I will be in Ballyraghan Bay within two months. I love you, Jessie and I beg you, please be safe. This is already killing me, but if I went with you Rancliff and Daniels would use all at their disposal, and then we would have the entire British army on our tails because they would know something was amiss. They are curious about you, but if they found Gem as well that would be really hard to explain. Just remember, trust none and always be wary. Keep your eyes open and do your best to remember faces.” Leaning down and making a cup with his hands Jess stepped in and he lifted her onto Spark. Jess settled in the saddle and then leaned down and kissed Gray again and touched his face. She did not dare to speak because if she did her voice would betray her and she would lose her edge.

Mr. Tora stepped up with her cloak and she pulled it around her shoulders but before she could tie it closed Gray reached up and handed her a brooch. “Use this and remember me and how much I will miss you.” Jess could not see the pattern or symbols on the silver metal on the brooch, but she clipped it closed and pulled the cloak around herself.

Taking a deep breath Jess finally said in a hoarse soft voice, “I adore you more than you can ever imagine and we will see each other again.” Jess pulled her mount beside Willy and looked at him. “Do you remember your way?”

“I do,” and looking at Gray he said, “Soraidh mo bhrathair. We will meet again.” And he saluted Gray with two fingers and Gray inclined his head but stayed silent.

As the horses started to move off Jessie turned in her saddle and saw the shadowy outline of Gray, Mr. Tora and Tad. Her heart felt heavy and tears threatened to escape, but instead, she blew them a kiss, turned around and followed Willy out of Dublin.

“I hate to be the one to admit it, but my arse sure feels good being back in the saddle.” Jess could hear the smile in his voice, but she still didn’t trust hers so she stayed silent.

The weather was chilly and damp, but Jess had kept the bandanna on her head and with the black tricorne, it kept the damp and the chill off her head. Her long leather jacket was also nice and snug and she couldn’t be happier with the leather pants and thigh-high boots. With the cloak over everything, she was definitely snug. The only thing she missed was a pair of gloves, but it was minor, she reminded herself.

“Gray gave me a money pouch with quite a bit of clink in it. Something in the range of fifty pounds, so we will be able to buy what we need as we need it. Unfortunately, we cannot stay in any Inns as that would leave a footprint and we don’t want to do that. We need to stay off the beaten track so I will take the old back roads that I can remember through the countryside. So, for now, we head south and then when we are sure that we will miss the bog country we then head west and then north west back up towards Galway. It may take that wee bit longer, but we will stay clear of redcoats. They have learned their lesson through battles about how they can lose horses and men in those quagmires. We will need to keep our eyes and ears open for bandits and I think I will need to acquire a pistol at some point.” Jessie knew Willy was chatting to try and keep her mind off other things and Jess appreciated it very much. “As far as replaceing Nick is concerned, we will have to stop at the O’Cleirigh estate or Broch de Clisson and see if it is still in the family, which I am pretty sure it is, then speak to your mother and father. Nick will most assuredly have been there and they may have some ideas as to what that knucklehead is up to.” Willy spoke as though they were simply taking a day trip in the Range Rover and not on the back of horses traversing Ireland.

“We will ride for as long as we can and then we will make camp and see what Mr Tora packed for our first ever under-the-stars meal. What do you say, Gem, my boy?” A small voice muttered something beneath the cloak and Willy laughed. “We have a comedian here, Jess.” Willy turned to look at Jessie, “Asked if we have something nice and hot to drink.”

Jessie smiled and muttered some sort of response, but she just wanted to be alone with her thoughts for a little while longer. She already felt pangs of guilt at having allowed a relationship to bloom between her and Gray. There were so many ‘what ifs’ that Jess felt as though her head would explode and the bile rose in her throat.

Shaking her head furiously Jess pulled her horse a little closer to Willy and they began to talk. “The first thing we need to do is get to Genevieve and see what she knows, if anything, about Nick and why he would curse himself by signing up with the devil himself, Rancliff. That man and his lapdog have gone about pillaging and plundering for their own gain using falsities to justify their actions. Not only are they killers, murderers, thieves and bastards, but they are now pirates too. They really are pushing the boundaries, Jess. Never did I think I would set a foot back in Ireland, never mind back in my own time, but to come back and those bastards are still at it. What blows me down is that pig has now become Brigadier General. He has no morals, that one. We really need to be on our toes because people like him have spies everywhere.” Willy sounded angry as well as frustrated and Jess could plainly see how coming back had affected him.

“If given the choice, Will, would you stay or go back to the twenty-first century?” Jess asked seriously and Willy gave a wistful smile and looked at Jess.

“You are all grown up now, my lass, and I can see you are yourself torn by that same question. The answer will come when you or I will least expect it, but for now, let us get to the bottom of Nick and his shenanigans, hey? What do you say?”

In her best Irish accent Jessie responded, “Aye, m ’athair-diadhaidh, I cannot say I don’t agree.” And Willy laughed happily shaking his head, “You, Jess, are full of surprises, mo dhia, and you make me so proud.” Leaning over he patted and squeezed her hand.

They rode on through the night and finally, just before a town called Lucan, they found a thick forest area and stopped, set up a small camping area and used their cloaks to make a rough lean-to. They removed the saddles from the horses and allowed them to graze and rest. Opening her saddle bag Jess found cheese, bread, biscuits and dried fruit wrapped in muslin cloth and Willy found cured meats in his bag as well as a large flask of whiskey and another of water.

Jessie made sure Gem ate and then lay the exhausted child down and tucked him into the soft fur skin and blanket from her bed roll and he fell asleep within minutes. Jess and Willy sat together around the small fire and Jess nibbled on cheese and bread.

“If you had to guess, what do you feel Nick is up to? Why would he come back here to a place he doesn’t know and what could possibly have made him partner up with Rancliff if, as you say, is a totally crooked bastard?” Jess watched Willy as she stretched out her stiff legs to warm them near the fire.

Willy sat quietly for a while and Jess saw that he had something to say, so she waited. Knowing Willy as well as she did he was putting his thoughts into words before speaking.

Breathing deeply he finally said, “I have to go back to when Genevieve went back with Ben and me to the ranch. She knew she was pregnant and because of Rancliff and his threats she was thinking of her unborn child rather than herself. Back on the ranch, she realized that she made a mistake and she felt as though she had betrayed her parents and Rourke. Truly speaking, I knew she was in love with Rourke and Ben knew it too. He tried very hard to do everything he could to keep Genevieve with him, but by the time you were born he knew it was just a matter of time before she asked to be taken to where she could go back.” Willy chewed on some bread for a while, clearly considering his words.

Finally, he said, “When you were born Genevieve was very disappointed that you were not a boy. I was the one who was there to help with the delivery and from the moment I held your warm, wet little body in my arms and you screamed bloody murder, Genevieve knew she could leave the ranch and you would be well cared for. If not by Ben, then most definitely by me.” Leaning over and patting her leg he said, “The bond between us was immediate and I have loved you ever since, Jessie. Nothing will ever change the way I felt then and still feel about you mo bheannachd. For me, you are the child I never fathered myself, but love as though I did.” Jessie could only stare at Willy with a huge lump in her throat, knowing he had done all he possibly could to prepare her for life on the ranch and life back here. All of the different things he had taught her flashed in her mind and it became clear what he had been doing. Preparing for the ‘just in case’ scenarios he could conjure up in his mind.

“Genevieve wanted to take Nicholas back with her and Ben put his foot down. Nicholas was Ben’s son after all, even though Nicholas was very much his mother’s child. Ben felt as though the main reason for Genevieve’s need to return was all about money and he had been a good thief, so he returned to that old and not so noble profession as he tried to give her everything she could ever want, but she did not want to know about it. She simply wanted to go back and when I sat with her and we spoke for some time she admitted that she was still very much in love with Rourke and she wanted to return to try and get back her family jewels and precious stones and gold that Rancliff and Daniels had stolen. According to Genevieve, the value ran into the thousands of pounds worth. It was a chest of accumulated wealth over generations and there were heirlooms and such.” Willy stretched out his legs and took a swig of the whiskey and handed the flask to Jess. “Rancliff and Daniels had done that to most of the estates and homesteads that they pillaged from. I know that the same had been done to Grayson’s family and his sister had been found murdered. I believe that was how Rancliff financed his rise in the military and his standing with King George III. His son King George the IV is no better and just as unscrupulous so Rancliff and Daniels keep company with and have found allies in, high places. It will be very hard to topple those two. Mind, I say very hard, not impossible.” He leaned back on his saddle and Jess sat staring at the fire hugging her knees.

“It seemed very easy for her to leave me behind and forget me simply because I was not a boy. I would think with her strong will she would have been quite secure having a daughter.” Jess spoke softly.

“Look at the time she lived in Jessie. Women still don’t have much say in anything and they simply have to do what they are told. When a woman does speak out she is branded all sorts of filthy things and she becomes untouchable. It is not an easy time for women.” Willy said matter of factly. “After I got to know more about the century you were born in and then watched how the world around me had changed, I could see how wrong men were for oppressing women. Personally, I have always been a tad afraid of women, if not a little intimidated by them.” He cleared his throat and looked away,

Jessie looked over at him and smiled and shook her head. “Women scare you, Willy, because they speak their minds and your mindset is still from this era. That’s the truth. You haven’t quite got your head around that lot, be honest.” And Willy laughed softly and nodded, “Aye, it is a bit of a pill to swallow, but I think I have done my best at accepting the inevitable in my life.”

“Yes you have and you are one of the most honorable, kind, and loyal men I am proud to say is a part of my life. I do love you heaps, Willy, and I will be eternally grateful to you.” And she passed him the whiskey flask and they laughed quietly. They both lay back on their bedding and used their saddles as pillows and wrapped their cloaks around them and began to doze. A thick mist was all about them and the horses nearby chomped grass and every now and then one of them stomped a hoof to loosen the soil for them to access the juicy roots.

Jess had so much to think about, but Gray took up most of her thoughts and she struggled knowing he was not close by or ready to listen to her concerns and fears. Her heart ached and she missed him so very much. Mentally shaking her head she tried to focus on other matters.

She had no idea how she would react to her mother who had not wanted her even though she was the child of her beloved Rourke. Jess wondered what he was like. She knew she resembled him greatly and obviously her brother Deaglan, but what kind of man was he and how in heaven did he take Genevieve back after she left and then returned without their child? Never mind that, how in hell could Genevieve name her last child, a son, Benjamin for fuck sakes. That’s a huge slap in the face for Rourke. Jess hoped he was not a spineless little wimp who was bitch slapped by a domineering woman. Don’t judge or jump to conclusions, Jess, she reminded herself. Keep an open mind on all things, is what Ben would have said.

Thinking of Nick Jess felt angry all over again and the image of Ben lying in his blood with open lifeless eyes. Jess swallowed hard and squeezed her eyes shut. If Nick was, in fact, chasing family treasure then his skills would most definitely come in handy, but the main painful fact remains, his actions caused the death of his own father and the man who Jess had grown up believing was her father.

With a sudden thought, Jess almost jumped up and said, Oh my god! How could we not see this? How bloody stupid are we? But she heard a branch snap and the soft whinny of a horse. She reached out her hand slowly and wrapped her fingers around the hilt of her sword and opened her eyes into tiny little slits. The fire had died down low with embers and only small flames licking what they could to survive. She looked past the fire and saw that Willy was lying on his side facing her and she could see that he was watching her. Jess looked down and saw that Gem had not stirred and was still buried deep within his fur blanket.

Another muffled sound brought all of Jessie’s senses to the fore and she mouthed one word to Willy, ‘Horses’ and he nodded. In one single movement, both Jess and Willy sprang up and looked towards their horses and as expected there was a shadowy form trying to untie Spark. Jess was the closest and she ran forward a few paces and brought the needle-sharp blade of her sword down and sliced the hand fiddling with the knot tethering her horse. With a scream of pain, the hand released the rope and dropped to their knees while another shape came around behind Spark. Thinking quickly Jess grabbed the horse’s bridle leaned past down the side of the horse and slapped his rump with a mighty clap and his hind legs shot out in a vicious kick. Hearing the horses’ hooves strike flesh and a bone-cracking crunch Jess spun back to the person she had cut who was by now back on his feet. Jess saw something flash in his unhurt hand and knew he was armed so she took a defensive stance knowing she had a much better reach than he did with the shorter blade than she had with her sword.

Willy was giving someone else a jolly good going over by the sounds of things so Jess concentrated on the bleeding man. She slowly moved closer to the fire and saw the whisky flask on the ground nearby and she reached down quickly, bringing her attacker closer to the fire, she pulled the stopper with her teeth and threw some of the whiskey out onto the fire. In the sudden blaze, she saw a man with a pox scarred face and a hair lip come running at her with his dagger raised to strike. Jess deflected the blow and as he rushed past her she brought her sword down across his back in a slicing motion. Again he squealed and dropped to his knees and Jess stepped up behind him and pushed the sharp point of her sword into his neck. The man sat very still and held up his hands, “Yield” was all he said and he laid down his dagger. Picking up a log that was meant to make a morning fire for breakfast Jess took a mighty swing, smacking him across the head and the horse thief fell face first into the wet ground.

Willy came walking over wiping his sword on a piece of material and raised his eyebrows when he saw the snoring man lying in the dirt.

“Where’re the others?” asked Jess.

“Dead,” Willy said simply. At her big-eyed stare, he said, “Jessie, this is a different time. These pricks would have slit our throats in our sleep without a second thought. Besides, your other guy,” and he used his head to indicate the direction of the horses, “He’s dead too.”

Jessie walked over to Spark and patted his neck and whispered kind, soft words to him and she walked down his flank to his hind quarters and saw a body crumpled on the ground a few paces with the side of his head caved on. “That’s some kick you’ve got there handsome,” Jessie whispered to Spark and scratched between his ears, felt for an oat cookie in her pouch, and fed him one. Looking toward Autumn Jess could see Willy doing something similar.

Indicating the snoring thief Jessie asked, “What do we do with him then?”

“I will get rid of this one, but next time Jessie, fight to kill. No mercy, my girl, because it won’t be shown to you. Remember where you are.” Willy’s jaw was set and his mouth a thin line. He leaned down and hauled the thief away by his ankles.

Jessie stared after him feeling like she didn’t know this man anymore, but in all fairness, she thought, he did warn me. If only I had taken history, sighed Jess. When he returned he said, “Tomorrow we replace a place to either bury this lot or hide their bodies well. They stink and I am quite sure they are covered in vermin so we will need to be careful. They are probably escaped convicts living off the land when they spotted us. We may just even come across deserters.”

“Deserters?” Jess asked curiously.

“Sure. Do you think all of the British soldiers were happy with killing and slaughtering? Some lost their minds and others simply felt they weren’t paid enough. War is a nasty business, Jessie. During this time people fought daily for their lives and their livelihood. There was pure joy in the simple things like celebrating a wedding or even the birth of a child. When the villagers got together and had their market days, which inevitably ended up being more than one day, and they shared their produce with one another, that was a sight to behold.” Willy had a faraway look in his eyes as they straightened their little camp and Jess checked on Gem, who quite unbelievably, was still sound asleep.

Trying to get her mind off the attackers, their deaths and her heart rate back to normal Jess sat cross-legged on her blanket and asked, “Tell me about the markets?” Willy sat down across from her and looked into the fire. “First things first, Jess, you did well with the attackers. You kept your head and acted exactly as I had taught you and your brother. Good thinking with Spark back there,” he indicated the now settled horse and smiled. “The two of you will create a bond in no time at all, which should not surprise me. You have a way with animals,” and looking over towards where the sleeping boy was, “and clann by the looks of things.” And he shook his head.

He then proceeded to tell her all about the markets and what was baked, brewed, knitted, and pulled from the earth. His voice settled Jess and she relaxed again and remembered what had excited her so much before the intrusion of the thieves. Her gut twisted ever so slightly at the thought, but Jess knew she would get over it.

When they had spoken enough about the market Jess said, “I’ve been puzzling over the Nick, Rancliff, and La Rue triangle and I think I may have an idea of what is going on. Well, it’s just an assumption and my own puzzle that I have started putting together. Want to hear my theory?’ she asked across the fire and Willy nodded, took a swig of the last of the whiskey, and lay back on his bed ready to listen.

“Okay, well we know who can time travel, right?” Willy nodded and grumbled something, but Jess was too focused on her idea to hear what he said. “Not everyone, but those who are in our circle. If you can call it that. Anyway, Ben felt that Rancliff could time travel, not so much with Daniels. What if Rancliff and La Rue are building up some sort of fortune, by nefarious means, here in this century and are reaping the major rewards further up the centuries in our time? Think about it, the syndicate is aware of an awful lot, so what is stopping Rancliff and La Rue from being the heads of this so-called syndicate? They keep tabs on those who time travel and put the kibosh on anyone who tries to change the fortunes of their families by diddling with it in the past so that the future looks peachy. Do you get what I’m saying?” she asked making her eyes big.

“Then we have Benjamin Kellie, Willy MacLeod, and Genevieve de Clisson Kellie O’Cleirigh,” and Jess rolled her eyes at this, “whose fortunes were nicked by this bastard Rancliff and his sidekick Daniels who now enters the picture. Then Genevieve, Ben, Nicholas, and you simply vanish! Poof! One year later Genevieve returns to her beloved Rourke, but not Ben and not Willy. What do they do? They become professional thieves. Are you seeing something here or am I looking for needles in a haystack?” Jess watched Willy as he processed, opened his eyes, and then sat up.

“Holy shit! I think you might just be on to something here Jessie. With Rancliff being the total prick that he is, enough simply never is enough and he is more than likely trying to build himself an empire now for the twenty-first century. I get it, and he is afraid that other time travelers, like us, will challenge him or at the outside stop the bastard altogether.” Willy put his hands up to his face and held his cheeks, “Sweet Mary! That’s it! He wants to control time travel for those of us who can travel so that he maintains the monopoly.”

Willy laughed out loud and clapped his hands, “Jessie, all we need to do is cause his empire to crash in this century for him to have no worth or value in the twenty-first century. He will be one of those very silent wealthy people until he decides it is time to make a play for the big leagues. Oh dear god! What if he has his eye on a presidency or some sort of international governance or at worst some sort of world order that many think is taboo, but knowing this bastard, makes me a believer.”

“Yes, but like you said, where is this fortune and how much is it? Not only that how could we possibly cause him to fall on his greedy ass face?” The sun had started to rise so they built up the fire and while Willy removed the thieves Jessie threw a few slices of pork in a pan and she broke some cheese up and then some bread and placed it on the plates. She felt a little like a thoughtless barbarian but would choose their lives over foul thieves who would have slit their throats anyway.

Little Gem stuck his head out of his fluffy blanket and sniffed the air and seemed to instantaneously come alive.

“That smells good! My tummy is growling.” He said innocently as his eyes never left the sizzling pieces of pork.

“It will be ready in a little while and when Willy gets back we can eat,” Jess said ruffling his already crazy bedhead.

“Has Willy gone to take the bad men away?” he asked with a quivering voice.

Jessie reached out and pulled him closer to her, “You heard what happened?”

“Yes, I did, but I decided to play dead because I got so scared.” And he snuggled into her lap.

“That was a very clever and brave thing to do, Gem. I am glad you did that.” And she hugged the boy and kissed the top of his head. Jessie then realized that the boy may have heard the rest of their conversation and worried a little about what may be going through his mind. But before she could talk any more about it Willy returned with a small horse trailing behind him. Jess and Gem stood up and went to him and the little horse. Jessie rubbed the little fellow’s nose and offered him an oat cake and he sucked it up and nudged her for more. “You’re hungry aren’t you little fella?” Jess spoke softly to the horse and he pricked his ears up then whinnied to the other two bigger horses. Tying him near to the other two Willy took the bags that were tied to his saddle and opened them near the breakfast fire as Jess dished their food up. Gem dove in as though he had not eaten in days and Jess laughed at the boy.

Willy pulled out dirty blankets and shirts and tossed them aside and then he pulled out a pistol with a box of lead shot and another box of gunpowder bags. He wiggled his bushy eyebrows at Jess and grinned like a kid with his new Christmas toy. She shook her head and nibbled on her breakfast. In the other bag, there were silver candelabras wrapped in cloth, a lady’s silver mirror and brush set, several silver brooches, and a pouch with a beautiful necklace of pearls. “Wow! Thieving bastards! We can take this with us and anonymously drop it off at the magistrate in the next town or we bury it right here? What do you think?” Willy looked up at Jess, but it was Gem who answered. “Bury it right here.” Jess and Willy both look startled and Willy asked Gem his reasoning behind his burying suggestion. “Nobody will believe you did not steal it yourself. You look like outlanders so they will think you guilty.” He shrugged.

“That was enlightening,” Willy said and shook his head sombrely. Such a little boy and already he behaved and thought like an adult. It was quite frightening. They began packing up their little camp and Willy showed Jess how they cleaned their plates and pan in the stream nearby with mud and grass and then rinse it out. Jess was pleasantly surprised at how clean they managed to get everything and little Gem helped as well.

“It is a good thing we have a little pony for you to ride, Gem. Do you know how to ride a horse?” Jess asked and Gem nodded fervently, “Oh yes, I had my own pony when mama and I lived on the estate in Dun Laoghaire, but when she died my father sold everything and said I had to go and live with aunty Felicity.” His little face was downcast and Jess asked about his pony and the lad perked up a little. He had named his pony Jackson after his best friend and this made Gem sad again and Jess asked why he was so sad. “My father sold my friend Jackson to another man who took him on a ship and sailed far away. My father and Colonel Daniels are always selling people.” He added disgustedly. “My father says the world needs servants and slaves to do the work for the rich people. I don’t like that.” Jess cuddled him and agreed with him and said that trading in slaves is a dishonorable thing to do and any man worth being called a man would not approve, so that made Gem a very honorable young man.

Willy lifted the boy onto Jackson, the newly named pony, and young Gem sat straight-backed and squared his shoulders. Jess and Willy looked at each other and smiled. Gem petted and spoke gently to the little horse and it perked its ears up. They looked a good match. Jessie took the smaller blanket and wrapped it around the boy’s shoulders and tied it under his chin and placed a little cap on his head so the child was somewhat protected from the wet weather and warm.

Once they made sure the fire was dead and checked for any evidence of the attack Jess and Willy mounted up and Willy took the lead. Gem rode beside Jess and she said, “Gem, if you feel at all tired or fatigued you must let me know and you can then ride with either Willy or myself, alright?”

“I understand what you are saying, Jessie, but what does ‘alright’ mean?” Realizing her gaffe Jessie quickly said, “It just means that you are in agreement with me. It is like saying ‘agreed?’”. And the little boy nodded sagely.

After riding for about an hour or so in the misty cold weather Gem said, “I heard you and Willy talking about my father.”

Jessie looked over at the child and wondered exactly how much he had heard of their conversation. She did not answer but merely nodded.

“He says there are only two banks he trusts and they are both far away from Ireland. The one place sounds funny when I say it, it’s the Bank Monti day Pashy die Sea Anna of Italy,” and he giggled at himself trying to say the name, “and the other one is easy. It is Berenberg Bank in Switzerland.”

Willy stopped his mount and turned around in his saddle, “Do you mean Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena of Italy?” and Gem nodded, “Yes, that’s how you say it. I always say it funny.” And he laughed again.

“No lad, you said it just right.” Willy smiled at the boy and gave him a quick wink and Gem beamed.

“I know of Berenberg Bank in Switzerland. We have an account there. Do you mean to tell me that Berenberg is that old?” Jess frowned at Willy. “How is it you know of the other one in Italy?” she asked him.

“My grandfather used them when my family moved over to Ireland. My grandfather was a wealthy land owner in Italy and he then married an Irish lass, so he sold everything and moved here to start over again. My father took over from my grandfather and then lost it to Rancliff.” Staring at him Jess was horrified that she did not know this.

“Oh my god, Willy! So you are an Italian Irishman and you have just as much reason to get back what was taken from you as anyone else.” She said with a shocked look on her face.

“Aye, lass. I will get it all back and if we can replace Nick and hear his story, perhaps we can put a plan of action together and then watch the Rancliff house of cards tumble.” Then looking back at Gem Willy said apologetically, “Sorry lad, I do not mean to speak ill of your father in your company.”

“That’s quite alright, Willy. My father does not love me and he does not want me around him. He has told me that many times.” And then looking at Jess he said, “See, I used the word where I am in agreement with Willy.” He smiled and lifted his chin a little higher.

Jess got a lump in her throat at how proud she felt about little Gem. She was growing incredibly fond of the boy. “You are going to grow into one of the smartest and most honorable men I will ever have known Germaine,” Jess said honestly.

“And you will always be the most beautiful lady lad I ever met, Jesamine.” And they all burst out laughing as they continued toward their destination of the O’Cleirigh estate.