“Yes, can you tell me more?” asked the old man. And that was James’s cue. He shared the story with the man as he took a turn around the shop regaling him with Blackbeard’s story, using dramatic flourishes, and sometimes acting out the scenes. He wove a tale of high adventure, and conjured images in the shopkeeper’s mind, until he saw at last the man wanted nothing more than to tell the same stories to the people who came into his shop. While walking around the shop, James looked for the coat he had coveted when he was there last, the red one that had flashed in his imagination since he first saw it. He had little hope of finding it since so much time had passed, but then he saw it: the crimson frock coat trimmed in gold, the one he thought was fit for a captain. It was still here after all these years, and alongside it sat a magnificent pirate’s hat with a large white plume.

“Do you have a place for me to try this on?” he asked as the shopkeeper examined the treasures in the box, eyeing them like a greedy dragon.

“Yes, sir, right in there,” said the man, giving James a queer look, and James wondered if this man remembered him and wondered how he hadn’t aged. Then he laughed, realizing that of course the man was looking at him strangely; it probably wasn’t every day a pirate came waltzing into his shop to sell his treasure.

“Shall I take the cost of the coat and hat from the balance then, sir?” asked the shopkeeper when James stepped out of the dressing area, having clearly decided he wanted to buy the items.

“Yes, thank you, good man,” said James. “And I hope it’s not a great disappointment, but I think I’ve changed my mind about selling the boot buckles; I’ve found that I cannot part with them after all.” He already felt selling Blackbeard’s treasures was a betrayal; he couldn’t sell the boot buckles as well. “I wager the other items will still offer a handsome price?” James hoped he would have enough to help his mother even without the gold boot buckles, but he decided if he had to sell them he would, and that way he could part with them with less guilt.

“Oh yes, sir, very handsome indeed,” the man said, writing a figure on a piece of paper and handing it to him.