Becoming Americans

by Donald Batchelor

"I could not forgive God, Richard. Not for a long time," Hannah Lawson said. "John was a friend of the Indians and they repaid him so cruelly. Did you know that they stuck pine splinters —hundreds of them!—stuck pine splinters into him and lighted them. I was very angry with God."

  "You are no longer?" Richard asked.

  "No," she said. "When the government put the few Tuscarora who remained in a reservation up the Roanoke, I felt revenged. I sleep, now. Do you sleep, Richard?"

  She looked at him with concern.

  "If I drink enough," he said, then laughed.

  "And I'm heading, now, to the tavern, Mistress Lawson. I wanted to pay my respects to you first, before I started."

  Hannah Lawson laughed.

  "I have fond memories of many a cup taken here," Richard said, and bowed.

  "Good," she said. "I'll expect you and Stephen here for a cup before dinner. And I expect you to stay the night. Marcus will see to your needs."

  Stephen had said little in the Lawson house. He sensed right away that his uncle and Mistress Lawson were thinking of happier days, before both of them had seen so much death. Watching Bess die in the fire and his Aunt Pathelia pass away were his only experiences with death. He knew he'd been lucky.

  Harry's ordinary smelled like any other. The voices sounded the same, a loud mixture of accents and tongues. The men were as rough a sort as Stephen had seen. Men with broken noses or no noses, eye patches or none, pegged legstumps and not. The prices were higher here than in Norfolk, but there was as much choice of drink and smoke as there. Some of the cleaner patrons were dressed as well as those in Norfolk, and some of the dirty ones were dressed well. There was a steady jingle of coins.

  Captain Teach entered the establishment and many of the patrons banged their mugs and noggins in recognition. He bowed to Harry and said, "Fill up the cups!"

  Everyone banged a mug.

  Captain Teach was dressed like a lord. His blue coat was trimmed with gold thread, and matched his cocked hat. The great mass of black hair on his head and face framed unnaturally blue eyes that illuminated the mood of the man. Pride in his successes gave them an intense sparkle.

  Teach sat at a table with men who were obviously not of his crew. Richard recognized them as merchants with whom Carman had dealt in past years, and rose from his table, telling Stephen to wait.

  Richard pushed his way through the crowded tavern to Teach's table and tapped him on the shoulder. Before anyone could move or speak, Teach had risen and knocked Richard to the floor and was standing over him with a sword in his right hand and a pistol in the left. The sword was already at Richard's throat before Teach recognized his friend from the swamp.

  "Careful, Williams. I've killed friends for less," Teach said.

  "I've no doubt, Captain," Richard from beneath the sword. "You're quicker than lightening."

  Stephen went to his uncle and helped him from the floor.

  "Drinks, Harry!" Teach called out. "Drinks for Williams, here, and for my young friend, Stephen."

  He turned to Richard.

  "I'll join you soon. I'm talking business."

  Richard and Stephen returned to their table, greeted with cheers and laughter as they pushed through the crowd. A man leaned over and whispered.

  "Are you a mad man, Mate? I seen Blackbeard cut down blokes for touching him. Shot his man Israel Hands in the knee—under the table!—while they were playing cards! He's a dangerous enemy and a dangerous friend, Blackbeard is!"

  "Blackbeard?" Stephen asked.

  "Blackbeard is what some's calling me."

  Captain Teach stood by the table.

  "You asking me to sit down?" he said to Stephen.

  "Yes, Captain Teach," Stephen said, and offered him his seat.

  The man who'd spoken offered Stephen his seat, then hurried from the tavern.

  "I talked with Mister Knight, Captain," Richard said. "He is pleased with your visits to Bath. As is everyone, it seems.

  "Very hospitable, they are," Teach said. "I'm thinking of building a house here. You come to get in on the action, have you?"

  "I'm hoping to find profit here in Bath. I've come to cook tar, and I offer you the hospitality of Machapungo," Richard said.

  "I've already enjoyed your hospitality at Machapungo," Teach said. "That was before I met Mister Knight and was welcomed in the town. Did you not find the token of gratitude I left?"

  "I did not, Sir, but no gift was necessary," Richard said.

  "Look beneath the boards by your hearth," Teach said, then changed the subject.

  "Carman, your brother-in-law, no longer sails with me. I put him on Captain Bonnet's ship with Richards, my lieutenant. Carman should be on the Machapungo now. Bonnet's Revenge is waiting for me there."

  Teach went on to brag about his successes in the few months since he'd left Richard and Stephen in Chowan. He and his old captain, Benjamin Hornigold, had sailed to New Providence, in the Bahamas. There, Governor Woodes Rogers— a former privateer—was pressing King George's proclamation of amnesty to all pirates who would swear an oath of reform. The now-wealthy Hornigold accepted amnesty, but Teach had not. He'd re-christened his new command the Queen Anne's Revenge, armed it with forty cannon, and set to sea. With that power he could attack the largest and best-armed merchant ships.

  The first was the large, rich Great Allen. The news of its capture spread quickly, and the Scarborough, a thirty-gun warship was put out in search of the Queen Anne's Revenge. It was the Scarborough'" bad fortune to be successful, Teach said, for after several hours of exchanging broadsides, the battleship was forced to withdraw and limp to the nearest port in Barbados.

  With this impressive victory, Teach's name was more feared than ever. But it was the name "Blackbeard," that was being spread and feared. He caught his next five prizes without firing a shot. As the Queen Anne's Revenge neared and raised the "Jolly Roger," crews lowered boats and fled.

  Captain Teach roared with laughter when he told of those encounters.

  "Fear's my best ally," he said. "A man with good sense can sometimes save his life if he listens to his fears."

  Captain Teach's eyes transformed into an evil glare that sent cold shivers up Stephen's spine.

  "'Prudence' is a good word for it," Teach said, his eyes now twinkling to match his smile.

  Stephen wondered if the devil were at work in the man. He'd never been around anyone so exciting.

  "You spoke of Carman," Richard said.

  "Carman's old, but he has knowledge. That's what was needed on Bonnet's 'Revenge.' I decided that a gentleman such as Captain Stede Bonnet need not trouble himself with commanding a ship. When we met up at the Bay of Honduras I found out what his crew already knew. Bonnet was a rich landlubber with a fishwife, running off from home! He had no experience with a ship and his crew were getting nervous. They were close to mutiny. So my Lieutenant Richards, with the help of Carman, commands the Revenge. Captain Bonnet sails in comfort on the Queen Anne's Revenge, under my protection. We are a fleet, now, of four ships and one hundred and forty men!"

  "Is there a place for me, still?"

  Stephen's question was abrupt and unanticipated.

  "Would you desert me, Stephen? I need your help at Machapungo."

  Richard's voice was calm but firm. He couldn't allow his nephew to be so foolish, even though he shared the boy's urge and inclination. The boy was his responsibility.

  "You might find place on deck to hang a hammock, but I don't steal boys from their families," Teach said. "Find me when you can make up your own mind."

  A score of men arrived from Teach's ships and tried to find a place to sit or stand in Harry's. They'd finished loading the ships and were ready for drinks and wenches before sailing with the tide at midnight. Teach's attention turned to focus on his men, so Richard grabbed Stephen by the arm and led him out the door.

  Edward Moseley shared their table at Mistress Lawson's. He was as powerful a man in Carolina as Mister Knight, being Speaker o
f the Assembly and Treasurer of the colony. Richard Williams was known to Moseley as a fellow resident of Chowan and a fellow landholder in Bath. He, too, was a long-time friend of Richard's mother and had been a close friend of William Glover's. Richard knew his Moseley kinfolk in Princess Anne County.

  "I saw the pirate, Blackbeard, on the street, today. The people treat him as a hero," Richard said.

  "He's only one of dozens," Hannah Lawson said. "Is there any wonder the people love them? How recently have we been freed of the Indian terror? Now, there's life. There's sugar to buy. There's fabric and ribbon."

  "And there are jeweled snuff boxes and gold buckles to buy officials with," Moseley said. He was no friend of Knight's and he made no secret of it.

  "Aye, but who would begrudge a man his snuff box if Mistress Lawson has sugar to prepare such sweets as these?" Richard popped another sweet-meat into his mouth.

  "I would grant Mistress Lawson her heart's desires," Moseley said, "but there might be other ways to bring her sweets."

  "From Virginia?" she asked. "Are you trying, still, to seize part of Virginia, Edward?"

  "It is an old song to you, Madam, but no less sweet," Moseley said. "If ever we can have the line surveyed and prove that the Nottoway River begins in Carolina and not Virginia, we will gain access to the Chesapeake and to the sea, unencumbered by Virginia laws."

  "Is it possible that the line would run so far north, Sir?" Richard asked.

  "Very possible," Moseley said. "I was a member of the failed commission set up to survey the line in 1710. Many of us hold to that view."

  "When will the line be surveyed, Sir?" Stephen asked. "My family lives on the northern edge of the swamp. Will we be in Carolina?"

  "Not that far north. But the line does run through the swamp, that's for sure, even though some of your colony would hold that the line runs through the Albemarle Sound!"

  Moseley then went on to denounce the aristocrats of Virginia who scorned Carolina as "rogues harbor."

  "Sadly, we do our best to prove them right. Harboring pirates. Flagrantly. Openly! Officials of the government spoken of as accomplices. In Charleston and Williamsburgh they speak of us all as thieves!"

  Stephen smiled at Mister Moseley being so upset. The rumors were right. That, he knew for sure. Chief Justice Knight was working with at least one pirate. He'd heard that Governor Eden, too, was paid to keep a blind eye. It all seemed so much rich men's hypocrisy, to him, and his mind wandered.

  Again, Teach had expressed willingness to have him join the crew. Stephen had surprised himself when he'd voiced interest, but the exotic place names that the Captain mentioned had made him dream. Barbados, Cuba, the Bay of Honduras, and the Bahamas were sunny places of sugar, spices, rum, and talking birds. A pirate's life was one of wealth and freedom. Wenches were to be had at every port with no one to gainsay the rollick. There could be little danger if the prey jumped ship and left their prizes to be had. He'd heard few men speak ill of the pirates. Captain Teach was the most feared and honored of them all, and he'd called Stephen, "friend." If he were man enough to be called "friend" by such a one as "Blackbeard," he was man enough to make his own decisions.

  Richard and Mister Moseley sat by the fireplace, smoking and drinking, until the Speaker decided it was late. They all bid Mistress Lawson a good rest, and stepped out into the cold November night. Moseley's horse was waiting for him and he said goodnight to the Williams men who then walked around back to their sleeping quarters.

  Richard stumbled onto the pallet and pulled the rug over him that Marcus had left.

  Stephen lay down and covered himself, too, but he wasn't sleepy. The sound of bells ringing on the ships, and distant voices laughing and calling out kept him awake. In the cold moonlight, he could see his breath, and he wondered if Bonnet and Blackbeard's sailors would still be able to see their breath tomorrow night. By then, they'd be into the warm waters of the ocean.

  He listened to his uncle snoring and he thought of his uncle's reactions to the possibility of his sailing with Teach. Uncle Richard had not been angry; he'd not said it was wrong; he was even half-hearted in his denial. Stephen decided that his uncle didn't really object. Maybe, it was a test to see if he were man enough to make the decision and do something about it!

  Stephen got up quickly and left the shed. He circled back through the Lawson garden to Water Street, then ran up the street to where a ship's boat from the Queen Anne's Revenge was tied up. When Captain Teach came from his dinner with Tobias Knight to return to his ship, he saw Stephen. The dark colossus didn't speak, but motioned for him to get into the boat.

  In the early hours of morning, the Queen Anne's Revenge lifted anchor and headed for the Pampticoe Sound. Stephen stood by the rail as the sailors waved farewell to their women. He looked at the Lawson house as they passed, but there was no activity. Everyone still slept.

  Soon they reached the mouth of the Machapungo, where another ship was anchored. A boat hovered near the current of the river and came to the Queen Anne's Revenge as she neared. Stephen stood back, not speaking until he was spoken to, but he could recognize Carman, come to confer with Captain Teach. After an hour, Stephen was called into the Captain's cabin.

  Carman was surprised, and he objected, at first, but he was silenced by Captain Teach. Lieutenant Richards was to take Stephen aboard Bonnet's Revenge, and Carman was to find use for him there.

  By sunrise, the two ships had crossed the Pampticoe Sound to rendezvous with the two of Blackbeard's fleet that waited at the captain's hideaway at Ocracoke.

  Thomas Carman was determined to punish and discourage his nephew and he put Stephen to work in the hold counting and guarding supplies. Stephen checked and re-checked that all the hogsheads and barrels were secure. Carman made him count turnips and onions. He worked alone and in the dark as the ship rode the heavy waves of the Atlantic. He'd not anticipated such work or such illness. His second day was miserable as he lay in the hold retching into a piggin.

  On the morning of the third day he was weak, but his stomach had calmed. The rolling of the ship was less bothersome and some appetite had returned. Carman came to look in on him and, feeling pity, allowed him to go up on deck for fresh air.

  Stephen emerged to bright sunlight that forced his eyes closed. He gasped and sucked in lungs-full of salt air. He leaned against the rail for a moment with his eyes closed, just breathing, clearing his head. He realized that it was warm. He peered through the slits between pressed eyelids and saw the clear, blue sky. The ocean was green and clear, sparkling with the morning sun. The Queen Anne's Revenge led their armada of four ships, a rolling wake of white foam plowed by her bow. The mist thrown up by the Revenge refreshed his face as he adjusted his eyes, listening to the creaking of the ship and the swish and slap of the parting waves.

  The Revenge had undergone several changes since she became a pirate ship. The deckhouse had been cut down flush with the deck to lower her silhouette upon the open sea, and to lessen the danger of flying wood splinters during battle. The railing along the sides had been built up for protection and concealment.

  Stephen's heart pounded. This was what he'd wanted. No land was in sight and it was springtime, again. The sun rose on his left as the ships headed south, towards exotic lands, wealth, and adventure.

  By the fifth morning out, Carman relented from his harsh disapproval. He allowed Stephen on deck and thrust a broom and a piggin of water at him. Stephen went to work as the crew stared at him and made catcalls.

  The crew of forty men knew each other from earlier cruises with Captain Teach or with other captains. In his isolation, Stephen had met very few of them. They looked alike, to him, one as scarred and dirty as the other. He'd seen three fights, already. The five days out had been easy sailing and the crew was restless and bored. He'd noticed that the pirates showed no reaction to pain, even when inflicted with the heaviest blows. They were a vicious lot, and Stephen noticed that two young sailors his age had become the brunt of
teasing and harassment by many in the crew.

  In the early afternoon, as most of the men lay about the deck in the warm sun, or leaned against rails and ropes to smoke a pipe, Stephen put down his broom and went for water. As he passed an open hatch, a hand reached up and grabbed his ankle. Stephen tumbled through the hatch to the deck below, catching his fall by the bottom rungs of the ladder. A massive hand grabbed him from behind and covered his mouth. He struggled as the stranger forced him to the armory and threw him over a powder barrel. Stephen punched with his elbows and kicked back at the attacker's shins, but the resistance was futile against a man even larger and stronger than he. A scream of protest was caught in his throat as the man pulled and ripped at the back of his pants, tearing them away. Stephen managed to open his mouth enough to bite into the pirate's fingers, but a blow struck his head that left him unconscious.

  When Stephen awoke, he was in a cot next to Carman's. His head was bandaged and he wondered if his jaw were broken. Two rear teeth had been broken, he could tell, and his jaw ached and burned. Soon he felt the pain that throbbed inside him from behind. He suddenly remembered, and reached around behind to feel where the man had entered him. He felt dried blood caked to his cheeks. For the first time since he was a small child, a tear ran down his cheek. His jaw was swollen and he couldn't speak. He was glad of that. What could he say?