Page 22 of Escaping Pirates
Blossom huffed and crossed her arms. “These aren’t very fun riddles. Mine had personality.”
“I agree that they were far more entertaining than my own. I’m afraid my riddles are nothing compared to yours. I’m fortunate you’re so patient with my shortcomings.”
That seemed to placate Blossom. She went on to list off several more “riddles,” but none made any sense to me.
The sand slowly trickled out of the upper half of the hourglass, and when the final grains fell, Harlan stood.
“You don’t have to go quite yet,” Blossom said. “I have more riddles.”
Harlan bowed to her. “But alas, if I don’t go now, I fear I won’t have sufficient time to compose the letters I’m so eager to write.”
Both girls perked up at that. “Good night then,” Sugar said. “Thank you for the dance!”
“And I enjoyed our battle of riddles!” Blossom added. “Elena, go get Daddy and tell him to take you and Harlan back.”
“Ready?” I asked an hour later, drawing my legs up to rest my chin on my knees as Harlan spread the paper on his bunk and dipped the quill into the ink. “Or are you too enamored with Sugar’s grace and Blossom’s wit to do anything other than swoon?”
“Swooning wasn’t my first instinct.” He glanced at me. “You guessed my riddles quickly. I was impressed.”
“I got lucky.”
Harlan shook his head. “Successful people make their own luck. Now, shall we compose these impressive letters now?”
I thought about the letter I’d tried to compose beforethat turned out so disastrously. “I think Captain Harsh suspects.”
“Let him suspect,” Harlan said with a shrug. “Tomorrow his daughters will get their letters, and I will continue to write letters that are longer and longer until he doesn’t count the pages anymore. I can outlast any pirate.”
He spoke with such conviction and confidence that my heart beat a little faster. Harlan was aman.
“You’ll need to start with ‘Dear Blossom,’” I dictated. “Or did you want to write to Sugar first?”
“Sugar first,” he said with a wicked grin. “I think Blossom will be a harsher critic when it comes to my spelling and grammar, so I’ll let Sugar be the trial run. And I don’t thinkdearwill cut it. This is supposed to be a love letter, after all.”
“All right then, Mr. Romance, what do you suggest?”
“Sugar,” he began, writing without anything before her name, then with a sly twinkle in his eye, went on, “How your name suits you, for you are the very essence of sweetness itself, though to compare you to just one confection would be a crime against romance.”
My mouth hung open, and I couldn’t resist the laugh that bubbled up. “You, sir, are a raging flirt! No woman is safe from you!”
“Oh, just wait,” he told me, and continued, “You are spun sugar, as delicate as the finest candy floss, dissolving on the tongue of my affections before I can fully grasp your wonder. You are honey, golden and rich, dripping with charm so thick I find myself utterly ensnared.”
“You really will be married by the week’s end, or else Captain Harsh will panic if he sees such ardent letters,” I laughed. “But you haven’t said anything about her eyes yet.Every woman needs to hear how her eyes will live in the memory of the man of her affections.”
“Ah, yes. We mustn’t forget that. Let’s see…” Harlan’s gaze flicked upward, as if trying to imagine Sugar’s face. “Your eyes glisten like perfectly glazed pastries, warm and inviting, though I dare not stare too long, lest I fall into their syrupy depths and drown. And your touch—oh, Sugar—your touch is molten caramel, warm and smooth, a sensation that lingers long after it should. Indeed, you are much like the stickiness one cannot quite scrub away. And so, my darling Sugar, let this letter serve as a testament to my adoration. Always yours at sea, Harlan.”
“Wheredid you learn to write like that?” I demanded. It was impossible to wipe the smile off my face. I would be destined to grin for the rest of my life, unable to forget the letter Harlan had penned. “Are you a secret romantic at heart?”
“Not so secret anymore,” Harlan said with a laugh, signing his name with a flourish at the bottom. “And my mother had me attend an inordinate number of etiquette classes so I could learn to be charming when needed.”
“A sailor who needs to be charming? What sort of expeditions did she think she was sending you on?”
“Hey, you never know when you need to sweet talk a ship’s captain…or a captain’s daughters, that is. Want to help me with Blossom’s letter?”
I shook my head. “No way. I can’t come up with anything like that. All the love letters I’ve received were much duller.”
Harlan paused in reaching for the next piece of paper. “Who sent you letters? Are you seeing someone?”
“Not anymore.” I flashed a wicked smile. “But if he had given me letters as passionate as what you just wrote, I might have changed my mind.”
