Though the war in Europe and the Pacific raged on during the summer of 1944, for Mercy Daniels, her own personal involvement had ended with the arrival of a single telegram from the United States War Department.

“The President of the United States regrets to inform you that Lieutenant Henry Gates has been reported lost along with the crew of the U.S.S. Perry as a result of an enemy attack. There were no reported survivors.

With that single telegram, Mercy found herself changed from promising bride to another of the thousands of war widows the war had produced, though she had never taken a walk to the alter.

But in the small town of Wellfleet, snugly tucked along the oceans of Cape Cod, there would be other changes she would encounter; some with local legends long told of witches and pirates others involving revelations of her own family’s long kept secrets.