Nickel stayed with the Monroe’s for more than two weeks, and during that time he and Peter were inseparable. Nickel took him down to Boston Harbor and filled his head with endless tales of life at sea. He told him about riding in the Crow’s Nest on the old clipper ships, facing down a hurricane, visiting exotic ports of call, and the thrill of discovering a new place. Peter was swept into the swashbuckling life of a sailor. He began to yearn for an adventurous life on the open sea.
They visited Nickel’s ship, the SS Freedom, and Peter got his first real taste of what life was like on a sailing ship. The SS Freedom was a merchant ship that called its home port New London, Connecticut. It was a three-masted schooner with a working crew of about fifteen men. Nickel was the First Mate and had the luxury of having his own private cabin. It was tiny, but Nickel explained to him that you don’t spend much time in your cabin anyway when you’re out to sea. “It’s pretty much just for sleepin’,” he told Peter.
His uncle showed him navigation charts, gave him a tour of the ship, and introduced him to some of the crew. Peter was enchanted. Nickel also told him stories about his mother’s earlier years before she met and married his father. Annie Ramos had grown up on a horse ranch in Portugal. Yes, one of Boston’s finest society women was once “a cross between a cougar and a thoroughbred horse” as Nickel described her.
Now, you can imagine that Nickel’s presence must have created quite an upheaval in the Monroe household. Peter noticed that his father, the respected but stern Theodore Monroe was spending more time at the bank than usual. He would come home and have dinner with the family and then head back to the office later in the evening for some “catching up.” He seemed a little bewildered by all the activity and laughter in his normally peaceful home.
Eventually though, even Mr. Monroe began to warm up to this rambunctious sailor. After awhile, he would stay home after dinner and join in the gaiety, telling some of his own stories. It was on one of these evenings that Peter learned how his mother and father had met.
Many years ago, in an attempt to offset the growing cost of running a horse ranch, Peter’s grandparents had travelled to Boston in hopes of selling some of their horses at auction in America. Back then, Theodore Monroe was Assistant Manager at the bank. He was assigned to attend the auction and make his presence known in case there was a need for loans or financing. The Federal Bank of Boston often sent a representative to events where money changed hands. Not only was it a good way to attract new business, it also showed the bank’s support of the community. Mr. Monroe was a new young member of the management team and was eager to snag some new clients for his employers.
On this particular day, when Theodore arrived at the horse auction, his eyes became fixed on the young and beautiful Annie Ramos riding one of her family’s more feisty mounts around the arena. He watched as Annie sat atop a proud Portuguese Lusitano stallion, her long hair wildly blowing in the wind, as black as the darkest night. Remember now, Mr. Monroe was an up and coming member of Boston’s elite. He was most familiar with the prim and proper young women who associated with society’s finer circles. Never before had he seen anyone as untamed as this girl on horseback, nor as beautiful.
Standing there behind the arena fence, Theodore was lost in his own thoughts and captivated by the exotic woman before him. Just then, a newspaper man flashed his camera bulb right in front of that great stallion’s face. That horse was of the finest stock in Portugal, descending from royal bloodlines dating back for centuries and had the temperament to match. The second the camera flashed, the horse reared on its hind legs and caught the newspaper man with a vicious kick. Annie tried her best to control the great beast, but it was too late to help the poor guy with the camera. The animal was snorting and pawing at the sky, giving the victorious scream of a wild hunter.
Mr. Monroe always remembered that day as though it were yesterday—the camera’s flash, the horse rearing up, the crack of hooves, and terrifying whinny of the beautiful stallion. What he remembered most was the raven-haired beauty perched atop that wild beast as though she were a powerful goddess controlling Pegasus himself! When the episode ended, she looked as calm as a woman taking afternoon tea. Although Theodore Monroe considered himself a ladies man to some extent, nothing in his 25 years of life had prepared him for a woman such as this.
Now, I won’t waste a lot of time on the details of their rather short and sometimes very loud courtship. To hear Paniolo Pete tell it, you’d think his mother was sort of a wild animal herself, but his father fell in love with her and was determined she could learn the role of a Boston society wife. I’m not sure how much of this is actually true. Pete did like to stretch a story from time to time, but I did meet his mother many times. She was truly of a breed unlike any woman I’ve ever known. Although she’s gone now, she retained her youthful beauty and vigor until the day she died.
I reckon since this is kind of my own life story as well, I’d like to set the record straight on a few things. First, I was sweet on Mrs. Monroe since the first time I met her. Second, my great regret is that I never worked up the courage to tell her. But let’s get back to the story of Paniolo Pete.
After Peter spent those couple of weeks with his Uncle Nickel, his whole outlook on life was changing. He wanted to see the world in the same way most young boys dream of. He had visions of standing on the bow of a great sailing ship, or fighting off pirates and battling off the treacherous seas to see his own ship safely to port. But the big difference between Peter and other boys his age was that he actually followed his dream.