Joseph fumbled for the star beneath his shirt, clutching it, and spoke with his last breath, “Remember. Never forget. Who. You. Are.”
Sebastian sat transfixed as Jaime finished his tale. Fighting back tears, he choked, “He died? Joseph died?”
“This was almost three hundred years ago. Did you think he lived forever?”
“Why did the king do something like that? Why?” The boy’s head jerked upward to meet Jaime’s eyes. “It is true, isn’t it? King Edward really drove all the Jews from England?”
Jaime nodded. “They are still banned from there today, Sebastian,” the young boatswain added.
“I hate England!” Sebastian cried, jumping from his place. He pushed his way through the men and shoved open his cabin door. The hinges rattled as he slammed it shut again, his heart aching for the death of a man he never knew, who meant nothing to him, and yet who had suffered so much because of his ancestry.
The door creaked open and his father’s shadow filled it. “Are you all right, son?”
“I hate it,” he murmured, fighting for self-control.
“Hate what?”
“Um—well—hatred, I guess. It is wrong—so wrong. Jaime said that Jesus was a Jew. Jesus—the man they worship, was a Jew. Would they drive Him from their lands? What if one of those Jews was a distant relative? How could they face their God with that on their consciences?”
“Blind hatred is evil, Sebastian. More people have been senselessly murdered by blind hatred than anything else. You wonder why I have this ship and live this life? My hatred is just as real as theirs, but mine is not motivated by fear, son. Mine is motivated by the emotion you feel right now—the desire for justice for those unable to seek it for themselves.”
“I see.”
His father stood there for some time, waiting for a response. At last, he turned, pulling the door closed behind him, and whispered, “Goodnight.”
Alone in his room, the ache in his heart no less than it was the moment he realized that Joseph would not live, Sebastian pulled his knees up to his chest and wrapped his arms around them. The words of the story combined with his father’s explanations until he felt overwhelmed by the bitterness of it all.
His eyes closed and he whispered to himself. “I think Papa’s hatred is just as motivated by fear—but the fear of what? I will become just like him if I allow a story so long past to plant that hatred in me, but how can I not hate what is so wrong?” He sighed. “I don’t understand. I’m not as wise and mature as I thought. I’m just a stupid boy who thinks he knows and understands things that he clearly doesn’t.”
He pushed himself off the bunk and went to stare out the small porthole that had given him a glimpse of the world that floated by him from his earliest memories. “Jaime isn’t ruled by hate, and yet he respects Papa. He has compassion in his heart. He fights for the same things Papa does—justice for the weak. What is the difference?”
His eyes rose to the stars above him. “When I am a man, I will learn more about God. I will learn what makes my papa hate the church when Jaime loves it so. I will search until I know God and what He thinks of these things. Then I will decide.”
Chapter Thirty-Two
Ahoy!
Working at his father’s table, Sebastian sketched for hours. From the moment the light hit the room, until it was too dark, he worked on his picture, drawing it lightly, erasing mistakes with a damp cloth, and allowing the paper to dry again before he continued. It took days, but he refused to stop trying.
The hand in the picture was nearly done. Different men had sat holding a small chain for him for hours, taking turns between them, anxious to see what he would do with it. Once he’d finished the hand, he thanked them and asked them to go, eager for as much light as he could manage for as long as he could have it.
The floor sported stars; over and over he drew and erased them, until he finally had one that satisfied him. He then added them to the paper. More days passed as he tried to get the angle and shading just right. The result was rough—amateurish—but he felt compelled to complete it anyway. Jaime seemed pleased. His father was confused but indulgent.
Sometimes Jaime came into the cabin and stood in the darkest corner, watching. Sebastian usually said nothing, but one time he brought up Joseph again. “I wish I knew what happened to his family. I wonder about Jacob. Did Miriam have the baby? Did Rebekah live many more years or did the death of her Joseph break her heart? Did she follow him to heaven or wherever Jews go when they die?” When Jaime didn’t answer, he stopped drawing and stared at the shadow in the corner. “I’m not complaining—or I don’t mean to. I just want to know, but I suppose no one knows, do they?”
His father’s shadow filled the doorway and spread across the floor, covering Sebastian’s practice sketches. “Jaime knows. He has only told the first chapter of his tale.” With those words, Nicolo vanished again.
Sebastian sank back on his heels and stared out the door. “Why does a story hurt him so? He is not a Jew.”
“But he cares about justice, Sebastian. You know this. I will tell more of the story when we get to Havana. I haven’t perfected it quite yet.” With those words, Jaime strolled from the cabin—likely in pursuit of Nicolo.
It took nearly the entire journey to Havana for him to complete the drawing, but he did. Once on land, he’d cover it with ink, but not on the boat. As it was, half the smudged erasures were due to the lurching of the ship as it hit choppy waters or rose over a swell.
Havana. He’d finish it in Havana.
For the first time since he heard of the awful death of Joseph, Sebastian felt content. He tacked the picture on the wall of his cabin and strolled out on deck, curious to see what the men were doing. There was a buzz of excitement in the air. The call came the moment he reached the railing.
Havana ahoy!
The Legend Continues…
Watch for the second adventure in the Legends of The Vengeance series.
Sebastian begins to think his troubles are over when The Vengeance reaches Havana. His father seems disinclined to leave and the men enjoy their time on land—all save Giorgio. But when Nicolo learns of a man imprisoned on a Spanish ship for a crime he did not commit, the pirates of The Vengeance rescue the man and steal away in the night. Will they be able to outrun the Spaniards and survive on the open sea, or were the rumors true? Will the Caribbean pirates really try to sink them before they can escape? Follow Sebastian as he learns to navigate more than the waters near South America, and discover more of the Legend of Joseph ben Saolomon’s family.
The Legends of The Vengeance: The Second Adventure
Coming 2015
Legends of the Vengeance : The First Adventure (9781310742866) Page 20