March 27, 20xy

Dear Mom and Dad,

I knew that you two would be worried about Joey and me, so I decided that I better try to have a letter smuggled out to you. The pirates have been very insistent that Joey and I won't be allowed to communicate with anyone until we finish the project. But one of the crew seems really nice, and I think he kind of likes me, so maybe I can persuade him to fax this to you. I sure hope so—I hate to think about you guys sitting at home fretting and not knowing what's going on. And could you let the other lawyers at my firm know that I won't be back to work until next week? Thanks.

Right now I bet you're saying to yourselves, “Why did Delia have to go back to the Caribbean for a vacation again this winter, after what happened to her last year? Wasn't her adventure with the gilded goose-eggs enough for one lifetime? And why did she have to drag Joey along with her? Doesn't she realize that Joey should be back in class? Spring break is over!”

Well, folks, if I didn't have my baby brother with me, I'd be in even more trouble than I am now. After all, Joey knows more calculus than I do, and calculus is what the pirates need to solve their problem. Actually, it's quite an interesting problem.