Mississippi Jack
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| Mississippi Jack | |
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| Author | Louis A. Meyer |
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| Cover artist | Cliff Nielsen |
| Country | United States of America |
| Language | English |
| Genre(s) | Young Adult's, Historical novel |
| Publisher | Harcourt Children's Books |
| Publication date | September 1, 2007 |
| Media type | Print (Hardback) |
| Pages | 624 pp |
| Preceded by | In the Belly of the Bloodhound |
| Followed by | My Bonny Light Horseman |
Mississippi Jack is the fifth book in the critically acclaimed Bloody Jack book series. It continues what happens after Jacky and her schoolmates return to Boston after being on a slave ship for months.
[edit] Plot summary
The story follows Jacky as she escapes, with the help of her butler Higgins and her coxswain Jim Tanner, from the British authorities who have arrested her upon her arrival in Boston. Jacky, Higgins, Jim, and Katy Deere, a former serving girl who was on the HMS Bloodhound with Jacky, set out west to escape Jacky's persecution, arrest, and death. Jacky's fiancé, Jaimy Fletcher, was pressed by the same captain from whom Jacky escaped, but Jaimy soon jumps overboard and runs off to search for Jacky.
Jacky tricks Mike Fink out of his boat and sets off down the Allegheny River, having turned the boat into a casino boat. Unknown to her, Jaimy is following her just days behind, but he is not alone. After being robbed, beaten, and left for dead by a pair of bandits, Jaimy is rescued by 14-year-old Clementine Jukes, who believes he is God-sent just for her. They run away together from Clementine's abusive father in search of Jacky; Clementine is unaware of the fact that Jacky is female and hopes to someday marry Jaimy.
Eventually they catch up to Jacky in Pittsburgh with the help of Mike Fink, who wishes to kill Jacky for stealing his boat, but Jaimy and Mike land in jail for a few weeks and Clementine finds work aboard Jacky's ship. Clementine does not tell her about how Jaimy and she traveled alone together for several hundred miles, and Jaimy does not know that Clementine is going away on Jacky's boat.
After a series of misadventures, including apprehension by British soldiers and Jacky's escape from them, everybody ends up in New Orleans. Jaimy has paddled down on a canoe after having killed the bandits who robbed him, and also after having seen Jacky kissing a handsome young British captain, both of them naked, in the Mississippi. Jaimy plans to board the first British ship he sees and take back his position as a lieutenant, with the sea as his only mistress.
Jacky stays with Mam'selle Claudelle de Bourbon, whom she had met in Boston and who practices "the oldest profession", until she finds Jaimy. Jacky is almost murdered by Mike Fink because she stole his boat, British Lieutenant Flashby, because he wants the prize money for Jacky's head, and the pirate brothers Lafitte because Jacky stole quite a bit of loot from the during her time as a "privateer", but she manages to escape and buy a boat so she can get to Jaimy, who is in Jamaica. She finds him there, all is forgiven, and Jaimy sets off for China for a year or so because he is once again in the Royal Navy. Jacky and her various new and old friends leave for Boston, and that is where the book ends.
[edit] External links
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