Meeting with Davy

A maid appeared at the door, and Brenan gave her his name as well as the two brothers, not long after she had left, Brenan heard Joanna, Davy’s wife heading to the door. Bracing himself for the small woman’s customary hug he was a little surprised when she flew past him and swept the brothers into her ample bosom.

“Oh in Xelta’s name, how you two have grown!” She exclaimed as she released the two embarrassed young men. Even standing on the step next to Brenan, Johanna was still shorter than both of the brothers. “I remember when these two were this high” She told Brenan pointing to her hip, “their grandma and me would visit with each other before I even met Davy.” Turning back to the everyone she continued with “Come in! Come in, Davy’s in the back playing with the boys. I want to hear all about your plans boys.” And with that Joanna scooted the three men into her house and into a large sitting room. In no time she was back with Davy and a large jug of lemonade with chunks of ice and rings of lemon floating on the surface.

As Brenan and the brothers sat in silence sipping on the tangy lemonade Brenan wondered if the lemonade was for the ‘boys’ sake or because Johanna felt it was still too early in the afternoon to start drinking beer. Soon she returned with a loaf of bread and a bowl of butter that she placed on the table next to a dish of preserves. No sooner had the bread arrived than Davy walked into the room and shook James and Julien’s hands before sitting in his chair and looking the three of them over.

“I should have figured you three would find each other.” Taking a swallow from his mug he grimaced once and then took another drink. “You could do worse, I guess.” Brenan wasn’t sure if he was talking to the boys or to him, but it looked like Davy would be willing to vouch for the brothers. “Joanna got a letter from your Gram two days ago.” The brothers looked startled and then a little ashamed as Davy continued “She sent it with the Swallow’s captain, and he sent his boy over even before you two disembarked.” James tried to explain:

“We were going to visit Uncle Davy, we just wanted to tell you we got a ship to sail with first.” Davy nodded in understanding before changing the topic.

“How much have they told you?” He asked Brenan.

“Just that they wanted a ship to work on to learn the trade.” He answered “But I imagine they have some scheme to strike it rich, because they have been real careful about what they haven’t said as well.”

“We wanted to check him out first Uncle Davy” explained Julien, and then relaxed a little as he saw both Davy and Brenan nodding in agreement.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if he was thinking the same thing about you lads. You both have similar goals though, so don’t play your cards too close to your chest.” Brenan wasn’t surprised that the boys had a plan to go vault hunting. Other than finding a gold or diamond strike, it was the best way to get stupid rich on the Pandora and most boys had dreams of finding one. Of course that didn’t mean he was likely to share his lead until he knew he could trust the both them and the rest of the crew. What Davy said next surprised him out of his complacent contemplation.

“Brenan, I know you have a pretty good lead, I’ve had a chance to look over that piece you gave me and there is no doubt about it, it’s the real deal.” Brenan just stared at Davy as he spoke “But, if I were you I’d pay serious attention to whatever the boys tell you when they decide to share, their grandpa Wilhelm has been correlating information about Vaults for longer than you’ve been alive, and according to their Gram’s letter, they found the work that he left for them.” Brenan noticed that James drew his leather satchel just a little closer to him as Davy’s word filled the room.

With that Davy stood up and swallowed the rest of his lemonade with a grimace. You three can talk now if you like, but there’s not too much hurry. Whatever has been hidden for several hundred years will probably wait another week or two.

Brenan and the brothers looked each other over. The brothers were saying nothing, and Brenan figured they would want to talk to each other before they told him anything. Brenan wondered if letting them know what he knew would loosen them up a bit, or if it was better to concentrate on his current job for Ambrose and worry about the vaults later.