The Old Cape House (29 page)

As she prepared the drawing salve, Sam talked of the prior night when he lost his ship. “When the three of us found each other on the beach, we saw a figure searching the bodies of the other crewmen. We didn’t know it was you.”

Even Maria’s careful touch to Sam’s wound made him cringe. She gave him two wooden spools to grip and a leather strap to bite. “Hold on to these.”

As brave a man as Sam was, he felt relieved when she finished
wrapping his side with a long strip of linen. The storm had begun to subside as Julian checked outside again for the return of Davis, hopefully bringing help. Feeling better, Sam began to talk more in
bits and pieces about why he turned away from the law and the
reasons
for his choices. “After we found there was no gold to salvage,
Paulsgrave and I were desperate. We could not sail home with an empty ship.”

He forced himself to stand and went to the window to look for
any sign of Davis. He turned back to Maria. “When we decided to go ‘on account’, it seemed the only answer, and by God, we were good at it.”

Maria poured him more cider.

“We first met Henry Jennings, who introduced us to the ways of pirating, and we were able to rob the salvage divers in their camps. It was easy, they were not fighters, and as long as they got paid for their time, they didn’t care who got the treasure.”

As Maria layered the rest of her clothes over her shift, she
wondered who had taken her wet clothes off. “Sam, I trust that it was you who removed my wet clothes?”

He watched her tying the final skirt around her waist and
grinned. “Maria, your beauty is for me alone to see.” Desperate to hold her in his arms, he walked over to embrace her and whispered into her ear, “I missed you so, but now I’m back I will protect you.” Suddenly his body tensed against hers as his pain returned.

She held him around the waist and walked him back to the chair. “Sit here and rest.” She offered him a sip of one of Minda’s special teas. “Just a little,” she said, being very careful and ever mindful of the drug’s potency. “Now tell me more.”

“Come fall of that same year, we joined up with Captain Thornigold,” Sam continued, “A good man, but stubborn when it
came time to attack
the British ships. He refused to do it. That riled most of the men; they
felt those ships were missed opportunities.” Sam held his hand against his side. “They made me their captain–we conquered over 100 ships. I had more than 150 men….”

Maria heard the sound of a wagon outside. Sam got up as Julian came in the door.

“Davis is coming, and he brought help,” the Indian announced. “My Captain, you don’t look well. Are you able?”

“I’ll be ready when you need me,” he told him.

“Then we must leave, before others get to the wreck.” Julian hurried back outside.

Sam faced Maria. “Please stay here. Prepare some food for when we return. The horrors on the beach should not be for your gentle eyes to see.”

He followed Julian out the door, pausing to look at his beloved. “I love you.”

Maria handed him a blanket to keep warm. “Be safe.”

Sam and Julian could see a horse and wagon approaching
Maria’s house.

***

“Up ahead a few yards. There…you can barely see the light,” Davis pointed in the darkness.

As Harding, a willing accomplice, held onto the reins, he
questioned the rescued sailor again, “You say there are two other men? Friendly, I pray?”

“Yes, yes, you can trust them,” Davis replied. “We need all the help we can get. Time is of the essence.”

“I agree. It will be dawn soon.” Harding adjusted the pistol
tucked inside his waistcoat. The old man recognized the McKeon house and knew of Maria. He had seen her about the property but never paid attention to her, keeping to himself also. “I know this place; a young girl lives here.”

“Yes.”

“I have heard rumors of her being a witch. You go and get your friends. I’ll wait outside.” Adjusting the lantern hanging from a pole on the wagon, he saw Maria standing in the doorway but kept his eye on Davis and his two new partners. Harding scanned the bluff and dunes for any movement or flashes of light as all climbed into the wagon. He greeted them with a nod of his head, and last names only were given.

With a snap of the reins the wagon rolled on into the dark.
Harding knew which roads were the fastest, and within a short time, they arrived at the edge of the coast where they could see the remains of the
Whydah
. The sky had turned into the misty gray of dawn and exposed the sheer devastation to all who were alive to see. Mangled bodies and large pieces of the ship with rope and iron still attached were strewn along the wrack line. A few yards away, several chests
were being pushed back and forth by the waves crashing onto the
beach.

“Look!” Davis yelled, pointing to the floating chests.

 Sam jumped down from the wagon and doubled over in pain; his impulsiveness had irritated his throbbing wound. After a few seconds, he regained his strength and ordered his men, “Hurry, lads, we must be quick.”

With each chest that was loaded into the back of the wagon,
Harding’s excitement grew stronger for treasure. By the time they
were finished, he was ready to burst with anticipation of what was inside. When all was ready, Davis and Julian looked for Sam. They saw him standing over the dark mass of what once was a man. He turned him
over and recognized James Fergursen, the surgeon on board the
Whydah
. His clothes barely covered his body from the fury of the water and
waves. Sam covered him with the blanket from his shoulders that
Maria
had given him for warmth. A few feet to the left lay young John
King, whose arm was torn off as he tried to hold onto part of the rigging
during the storm. Sam thought John should have listened to his
mother and not chosen piracy.

“Sam! We must leave!” Julian called out from the back of the wagon.

Sam didn’t listen and walked further down the beach. Finding more of his men, he slowly pushed over another body, that of Joseph Rivers, the oldest pirate he had ever known. His face was bloated and blue but this career pirate died doing what he loved.

He could see the
Whydah
, or what was left of her, floundering amidst the dark, frothy water. All is lost, he thought: my ship, my men and my fortune…did the past years of my life mean nothing?

“Sam! Now!” Davis yelled.

Feeling beaten and in pain, Sam turned and dragged his weary body through the thick, wet sand to the waiting wagon.

Harding pulled the reins back to turn the horse around to leave.
He was pleased to be carrying whatever was in the chests to the
privacy of his home.

Present Day – July 25

BREWSTER – CAPE COD

THE NEXT EVENING,
my cell phone rang, and I recognized Paul’s number right away. “Hi honey. How did the exhibit go?”

“Pretty good. I sold four paintings. Not a sell-out but well worth the trip.”

“That’s wonderful news.”

“I’m at the hotel waiting for the kids to come down to the car. I stayed at the gallery till 6 pm. Now I’m going to take them back with me to load up the unsold paintings.”

“Glad they were a help.”

Paul’s voice softened. “Hey, I really miss you.”

“I miss you, too. Everything else okay?”

“Yeah, we’re all fine.”

“Paul, the guy from the
Whydah
Museum came into the gallery
yesterday, a Mr. Kevin Kennedy. Things got a little strange. He
really made me feel uncomfortable.”

“How so?”

“Well, he wanted to see the cellar, so I showed him. As we were standing in the backyard, a car pulled in. I told him I had to take care of the customer, but before I left him, he asked to use the bathroom.”

“Who used the bathroom?” Paul sounded distracted.
“Jesus… Casey! Hold Molly’s hand!”

“What’s wrong?”

“Molly almost tripped down the stairway coming from the
second floor. What did you say?”

Exasperated, I repeated again, “The guy from the museum,
Kennedy, asked to use the bathroom when some customers came
in.”

“So…?”

“It was just weird.”

“What happened that was so weird?”

“When the customers finally left, I went back to find Kennedy, but he wasn’t by the cellar. I found him by the kitchen table looking at the three gold coins. I had them out this morning and forgot to put
them away. When he finally handed the coins over, he quickly
rushed to leave, saying something like he couldn’t resist looking at them. The whole thing just made me uneasy.”

“Okay. Just make sure the doors are locked tonight. Is Jim home?”

I could hear the kids bickering in the background as they got
into the car. “No, not yet. He’s working an extra shift at the
restaurant.”

Paul yelled out, “Casey, make sure your sister is buckled in.”

“What did you say?” I asked.

“Just talking to the kids. I’ll be home tomorrow morning, early. Don’t worry.”

“I’ll be fine.” I said. “You be careful driving. I love you. Give the kids a hug for me.”

“Okay, I love you, too.”

***

Jim came home from work and was showered and dressed so fast that I couldn’t tell him my concerns about the stranger.

“Sorry, Mom, I gotta go,” he said, buttoning his shirt, “or I’ll be
late.” He went for the door to leave. “See you later. I guess you’ll be
sleeping when I come home?”

“I think so.” I came closer to him for a quick hug. I must have looked a little worried.

He turned around to me and asked, “You alright?”

“Yes, I’m fine. I guess I miss your dad.”

“Okay.” He kissed me goodbye and ran out the door to his car.

I yelled after him, “Got your key?”

“Yup.” He drove away in a hurry.

***

As the night fell across the Cape, I double checked the doors of the house and settled in the front parlor to watch one of my favorite movies, ‘Goonies’. It always made me laugh, and tonight I needed a distraction; something funny suited me. The couch was close to the television in the middle of the room. White lace curtains on the windows framed the dark night into black holes. Raindrops began hitting the skylight with loud splats.

I got up for a cup of tea and passed the laundry room, opposite
the new kitchen, just as flashes of lightening sparked on the
driveway side of the house. As the microwave heated the water, another flash of lightening lit up the sky. It was unsettling; I braced myself against the counter, anticipating a loud rumbling of thunder. I counted the seconds for the distance of the storm; by the time I reached ten its booming sound rattled the glass cabinet doors above my head. When it stopped, I turned to look on the other side of the house for another flash. Right on cue, it came and lit up the birdfeeder just beyond the side door. The image of the guy from the museum popped into my head. I shook it off. There’s nothing to be afraid of, he’s gone, and hopefully won’t be back. When the microwave played its little tune
to signal my tea was hot, I grabbed the steaming comfort and
quickly returned to the safety of the front parlor and my movie.

April 27, 1717

EASTHAM – CAPE COD

THERE WERE ONLY A FEW OATS LEFT IN STORAGE;
Maria
didn’t think she would be able to satisfy the hunger of Sam and his two shipmates with such meager rations. Instead, she took some dried corn that had been harvested in the fall from her small garden, ground it into meal and prepared flatbread in the traditional way of the Indians. She had less than a cup of maple syrup remaining with which to sweeten the plain bread. How she wished she could buy from the stores in the village. The winter had been long, and she had become so tired of her miserable life.

The thought of Sam, now home with her, gave her hope. If only she had taken the three gold coins out of the hidden compartment in the chest that held her tiny son. She realized that she had not been capable of normal thinking the day she’d buried her child. She had not been herself. Now the small pouch of Sam’s money from Mr. Smith was all she had left–a pittance, but maybe it was enough.
Pouring a scant amount of goat’s milk into three cups, she
understood
that whatever was salvaged from the wreck, if anything, would
probably
still not be enough to allow them to leave. Maria sat at the table
crying, waiting for the men to return.

***

The horse struggled with the heavy load of men and chests over the rutted cart-way. No one spoke the distance, each man hiding his thoughts of how the treasure should be divided. Harding stopped the horse.

Sam ordered, “We need to hide the chests for fear that someone might see them.”

Davis and Julian jumped off the wagon and began to haul each chest into the small shack behind Maria’s house. Sam put his hand
on the last chest Davis was unloading. “Wait, this one is his,” he
said, pointing to Harding. Davis turned away.

“Aye. What might be inside?” Harding asked.

“I’m sure you’ll be pleased.” Sam opened it a few inches for him to see. “I trust that you’ll be silent when questioned about this night’s events?”

The look on Harding’s face told Sam that there would be no
problem. “What events?” A smile curled across his lips. He flicked
the reins, which made the horse bolt, and Harding, along with the wagon and chest, disappeared over the dune.

As dawn lightened the sky, Sam, Julian and Davis entered the McKeon house, where they planned to stay until they felt it was safe to leave. Soon the men lay exhausted on the dirt floor, grateful for whatever nourishment Maria had provided for them.