The Attainment of Evangeline

Chapter 10

Evangeline dunked her hands into the soapy water, the sun warming her back; her shawl discarded somewhere unimportant. She began to scrub the worn, striped sash that had been bloodied, the water instantly becoming filthy. Jack had his nose stuck so far into her book, he hadn't even noticed her take his things. Seeing as he had a new shirt, she thought he might appreciate his other things looking nice.

She hung the sash over the line, shielding her eyes against the newly glowing sun to look into her window. She could see Jack, who was enthralled as he turned the pages of Persuasion, and she smiled at the sight of a pirate enjoying the romanticism that was Austen. She picked up Jack's brown jacket, hoping she could make it at least half decent looking. She started to lower it into the water, but thought that perhaps she should check the pockets to make sure they were empty.

In a few of the pockets she found odds and ends: a bit of frayed rope, a pebble, and a length of eyelet lace. She set these aside, and then felt inside the secret pocket on the inside of the jacket, pulling out a thick piece of parchment that was folded several times. Curious, she unfolded it, and looked it over, the creases in the parchment making it a bit difficult to decipher. She turned it around to what seemed right side up, and then realized she was looking at a map.

The writing on the map was a different language, she didn't know which. She looked over the map until her eyes landed on a circled object that appeared up be a cup of some kind. The words above the object read "O Santo Graal." She looked over to her window again, and saw Jack, she wondered if maybe this map was something important. She left her chore for a later hour and made her way inside.

As she passed her father's study, map in hand, she stopped, debating whether or not to knock. They had been avoiding each other after an argument they had days before. Evangeline had confronted her disgruntled father about the gin, and he had exploded. She begged her father to give her the gin for "safe keeping", but he would have none of it. She wept as she told her father he would surely die unless he gave it all up, the opium, too. But he had sent her away and had been in his study for days.

She kept walking and entered her room as Jack looked up from the book to see her. He gave her a wide grin and set the book down.

"'Ello luv," he said, proudly wearing his new smock although he kept it unbuttoned, which made him strangely attractive to her. She had never been attracted to anything of the sort.

"I see you have taken a fancy to my book," she said.

"Aye," he answered, picking up the book again. "Never read anything quite like it, but I find it...beautiful."

"As do I. Wentworth is a lowly, poor sailor and Anne comes from a wealthy family, yet they still find a way to love each other, even despite being separated for years," she said, as she forgot about the folded map in her hands and sat down.

"Do Anne and this Wentworth fellow end up together? That bloody lady who makes her lie and say she doesn't want to be with him, does it end that way?" he asked, seriously concerned.

"You'll have to read it all."

He sighed, and then noticed the map in Evangeline's hand.

"What's that, luv?" he asked, gesturing with his head.

"Oh," she exclaimed, remembering. "Well, I had taken some of your apparel out to wash, and I found this in a pocket of your coat. It's a map of something."

She handed it over up him as he unfolded it and began to investigate. She watched him turn it over, a look of concentration on his face, his rough hands smoothing out the wrinkles. She remembered the first time they had met, two years before, how their hands had brushed against each other and how at the end of the night when they shook hands, she marveled at the feel of them. Jack stared the map intensely, turning it and tilting his head.