by Lisa Grace
“I’m sorry sir. I know you miss your wife and son.” Bart patted the captain on the back.
“More than word can say,” Graham said as he went to sit on the cold hard floor. “I worry for my wife. She is awaiting sentencing in Middlesex. The solicitors are doing all in their power to free her. The crew is being shipped to a penal colony. Van Diemen’s Land.”
The men were quiet.
Bennett smiled, “Men, it was an honor to serve with you. May God have mercy on our souls.”
They nodded in quiet agreement.
***
Early the next morning a guard came into the prison cell. “Turn around please.” They stood and did as asked. Bennett heard the guard say to the man huddled in the corner, “Get up.”
The man whispered something in Portuguese, then more loudly in English, “Go away.”
The guard kicked him with his foot causing the man to pull up his legs closer to his chest as he yelled louder, “No!”
The guard motioned for two other soldiers to come into the room. They grabbed the man, hauled him up, and proceeded to tie his hands together behind his back. The man struggled and screamed loudly, the sound hurting the ears of those in the room. “No! No! No! It’s not my time!” They took a black hood and slipped it over the man’s head while he kicked and struggled as they dragged him out.
The guard put a black hood over Captain Bennett’s head first, then Jonah, followed by Bart. “Place your hand on the shoulder of the person to your right.” The guard took Captain Bennett by the arm and led them out of the room, down the short hallway through the door that led out to the gallows in the courtyard.
Once out in the courtyard the guard stopped Bennett and his men. A light rain began to fall wetting their black hoods. Brisk wind gusts blew the drops sideways. The combination of wind, rain, and cold had kept the crowd down to just a few who had a reason to be at the court.
The pirate continued to scream as Bennett assumed he was being led to the gallows. Above the screams they could hear a Church of England priest saying a prayer for their souls.
They could hear the scuffling of the desperate man against his jailers as they loaded him onto the cart. The struggling sounds were followed by the reins whipped against the horse’s neck causing it to pull the cart from under the pirate’s feet. The screams abruptly stopped followed by the sound of the groaning swing of the rope as it protested the weight of the pirate by strumming against the support beam.
Bennett counted to see how long he might expect to suffer. The groaning of the rope stopped. The horse was backed up. Bennett could hear the quiet sounds of the men in the back of the cart as they removed the now dead pirate. The quiet was punctuated by the thudding of the body hitting the floor of the wooden cart causing the horses to whinny, ready to pull the cart as they did every day during and after the hangings. The horse driver shushed his charge as the halter jangled.
“There are three steps,” the guard announced as he helped Bennett up. Though he could not see, next to the cart stood two men waiting along with the driver.
Bennett climbed the stairs and let the executioner steer him to where he should stand. The wooden cart below his feet was swaying from the movements of the horse which reminded him of being on the deck of his ship the night Mary and he had gone for a walk in the dark, the moment the moon had slid behind the clouds. The rope was thick and prickly as the executioner fit it tightly into place. He took a long time to adjust it in the back. Bennett also felt a chill on his neck and thought it must be his imagination. The executioner took a long time. Bennett then felt the executioner fiddling about his waist.
Bennett prayed asking for God to forgive him for any sins, and to allow him a pardon into heaven. His last prayer was for Mary and Bennett to have a happy life as he thanked God for his life with them. This was the thought in his mind when the horse was ordered to move and as the floor of the cart slid out from under his feet. The rope tightened as he left this world while hanging suspended on his way into eternity.
***
Mary’s Voyage to the Penal Colony, November 3, 1829
“Get up and get packed. You are leaving today.”
Mary awoke from a restless sleep. She had been allowed only one letter from her parents. She had read it so many times she now had it memorized. They stated all was well with Ben. He was learning to ride and how to run the hacienda from his grandfather along with his uncle, the brother she had never met. His name was John Thomas, the same as her father’s.
She had the solicitor at Guilford send her parent’s word that she would be released in some seven years’ time, and she would join them then.
Guilford wrote a letter to the governor of Van Diemen’s Land on her behalf requesting the purchase of a land grant for herself with funds supplied by her father. She had been granted one. She would be expected to farm it for the good of the colony. Her father had paid for it and written the governor of the island himself as Mr. Guilford had kindly let her know.
The one thing no one would discuss was the fate of her husband. She would ask Mr. Guilford who would only say, “Fine, fine.”
She suspected everything was not fine.
***
A few days before her ship was to depart, Mr. Guilford came to visit her to discuss her preparations to board the ship.
“Mrs. Welch, I must be frank. A penal colony only goes by two rules. One, what the governor sets down as law. Two, whatever a man can do and get a way with is fair.” At this point Mr. Guilford pulled out his hanky and patted his forehead. “I need not warn you of what befalls a woman, especially a pretty one, who has no man present to defend her honor.”
Mary sighed and nodded. She twirled her wedding ring on her finger thinking of Bennett and how much she missed him.
“You might want to consider re-marrying. Many of the women on the island do find a suitable mate.”
“But I am married!” Mary exclaimed. Mr. Guilford looked at Mary with such sympathy.
She sat in shock as his words sunk in. The room dimmed and she fainted.
***
The ship was an old galleon with the name Eliza painted on the side. It had seen better days. After the beauty of the HMS’ Devonshire and the Lancashire, this ship was a letdown. It was smaller, only about the half the size of the Vengeur class ships. A cart had taken her and three other women from the prison to the dock. They did not talk to each other. Mary did not know them from the Devonshire. One was toothless, and old. Her eyes were almost all white with growth, and she only responded when the guard touched her. Mary surmised the old woman was deaf too. The other was short, heavy, and bawdy. Her thin top barely contained her top half, which presented the same as if two watermelons were hung on pendulums. She kept crossing her stocky arms, obviously working at concealing her considerable assets. She seemed uncomfortable at being so much on display. Mary took off her shawl, and held it out, “Here, please, take it.”
The woman glared at her, “You think you are better than me? I don’t need charity!”
Mary blushed and looked at her feet, “No. It is just that you looked chilled and it gets windy onboard. I know I am always grateful for an extra covering when I sail.” She gestured. “I have another in my trunk.”
“You have been on a boat ‘afore?” The woman asked curiosity erasing some of the lines on her face. She took the shawl, threw it over her shoulders, and wrapped it crisscross around the front then tied it in the back in the manner of a sontag.
“Yes. I have.”
“What are you serving time for? Can not be for stealing food or cloth, as finely dressed as you are. Did you murder someone, miss?”
She remembered what Mr. Guilford had coached her on. She must not appear weak or others would abuse her. It was a rough world on the island and she must use her wits, reputation, and strength to survive.
“No,” Mary announced curtly, “I am the wife of the pirate Bloody Graham.” The woman stood straighter and curtsied a little toward Mary. “
I am sorry ma’am for talking so freely. Would you like your cover back?”
Mary smiled with her lips not letting it reach her eyes. “No, keep it. You will find I am loyal to those who are loyal to me.”
“Yes ma’am.”
Mary thought to herself that Bennett always spent his time aboard preparing for what could happen as to be ready in every situation. Well, she had nothing but time since her sentencing four months ago to plan for her stay on the island. Because she had resources, she could use them wisely to protect herself, and her husband’s men. Would the crew listen to a woman? Their very happiness depended on making this situation work. She had plans, enough to work through until she could be reunited with her son.
The women were shown aboard first. Mary stood as close to the boarding ramp as she could. She noticed many of the women with their children who had been the wives and companions of the sailors aboard the Devonshire. She greeted each one warmly as they boarded. “We are to have a meeting of the Devonshire sailors,” she said. As the sailors came aboard she gave them the same greeting.
When most were on the deck, before the captain could speak, she made her way to the back of the ship. She raised her voice, “I have been given a land grant. When we arrive you must say you are to work on the Mary Welch land grant. It is in my maiden name as I was hired aboard the Devonshire as M. Welch. We will run our settlement the same way we did when we were on Shark Island, except we will be able grow crops also. Please spread the word when we get to Van Diemen’s Land. We, the people of the Devonshire though falsely accused, will stand together, and make it our home.”
The guards came through breaking up the crowd as Mary stepped down from her post. The men now knew she had a plan. She hoped it was enough to keep spirits high and keep them all safe from what lay ahead.
The bawdy woman stuck close to Mary, “Ma’am?”
“Yes?” Mary said. “I was arrested and sent to jail for stealing cloth. Though I am not a pirate, perhaps—I was a wondering if I could join your crew.”
Mary pondered her question and kept a straight face. In bearing with her new tough personality she asked, “What skill do you have to offer?”
The woman proudly stated, “I can count and add quick. It is a gift. There are one hundred and seventeen prisoners aboard this ship and forty-three crew men.”
Mary smiled and said, “Welcome.”
The woman spit in her palm then offered it to Mary. Mary paused, spit in hers, and shook the woman’s hand.
“My name is Betsy Arlington.”
“And mine is Mary Welch Graham.”
***
Mary was sharing a room with four other women. She chose to share it with the old blind woman who couldn’t hear, Betsy her new friend, and two of the married women from the crew of the Devonshire, Lolita and Christina, whose husbands had already been sentenced and transported to Van Diemen’s on an earlier ship.
Once the voyage was underway, Mary got busy giving the old woman a washing. She smelled horribly as if her clothes had not been washed in weeks. “Please get some water. Let us give her a proper bath.” They stripped the woman and filled a tub with mainly seawater, then heated some on the stove to make the temperature bearable. While they were scrubbing her down, they heard a knock on the door of the room.
The knock was quickly followed by a voice, “Is Mrs. Graham in?”
Christina opened the door as the voice came from the dark hallway.
Mary quickly dried off her hands and went to meet the messenger out in the hall. “Lt. Gregory!” she said and held out her hand, “I am so glad to see you! When did you board? I did not see you above when we came on deck.”
He smiled, “I am glad to see you too, Mrs. Graham.” The guard at the end of the cabin hall looked at them before walking back to the far end to give them privacy.
Lt. Gregory spoke, “I was below making arrangements for where the men of the crew should stay. Mr. Kerry is here also, but I do not know what happened with Toussant or Sedgwig.”
“They may have been taken on an earlier transport to Van Diemen’s.”
“Yes, perhaps. It is the most likely explanation.”
“How many men from the Devonshire are with you? We have seventeen women and ten children aboard.”
“There are seventy of us men.”
Mary nodded. “Good. The men may have informed you, that I come from a wealthy family. My father has bargained with the governor of Van Diemen’s. He has granted me a land contract for five hundred acres. I want us to build our own Devonshire town on the land and farm the rest. We can stick together and survive as we did on Shark Island.”
“Yes, they informed me.” Mr. Gregory’s smile faded, “Mrs. Graham, I am so sorry about Captain Graham.”
Mary nodded quickly and looked down. “I know, I miss him and I must think of other things or I will—” Mary bit her knuckle and took a breath, “which is why I must do everything I can to save his men. It is what Bennett would expect. I come from a hacienda in Costa Rica where we grew coffee berries, cocoa beans, and other crops. I grew up chasing chickens and milking goats. This is a life I am accustomed to.”
Lt. Gregory nodded. “Thank you, it is a good plan. I will see what skills we have among the men. Shelter and food will be our top requirements.”
“If anyone has farming or ranching experience...My father has arranged for goats and chickens. We can fish and maybe trap or hunt.”
Lt. Gregory said gently, “You have given the men hope for a future. Captain Bennett chose well.”
Mary smiled, “Thank you. I love him still.”
Mary turned to go into her room. She hesitated, working on gaining her composure. There was no time to cry. She had plans to make. Plans upon top of plans.
“One other matter,” Mary heard, so she turned around to see Lt. Gregory was still standing near her in the hall. “I will try to join you and the men when I can.”
“What do you mean? When you can?” Mary asked.
Lt. Gregory sighed. “I have been assigned to work on one of the prison ships. Some of the pirates are too dangerous to let them roam free on the island. They are even too dangerous for the labor camps or have already killed men in the camps. These men are housed aboard the prison ships.”
“I did not know,” Mary said.
“Yes. I will inform Mr. Kerry. May he work as your second?”
“I would be delighted. We must make a home for our men. Captain Graham would expect no less of me,” Mary said quietly.
“I am sorry,” Lt. Gregory said. He reached out and briefly touched Mary on the arm then withdrew his hand. “He would be proud of how you are thinking of the men first.”
Mary nodded. “Yes. If I am busy taking care of others I will have no time to think about myself.”
Lt. Gregory grimly smiled, “Yes, quite.”
*
***
*****
***
*
CHAPTER 10
Van Diemen’s Land
Once the ship was in port a man came aboard and stood above the prisoners on the Captain’s deck next to the captain.
“I am Sir George Author, First Baronet, the Lieutenant Governor of Van Diemen’s Land, your new home. We are building a town of commerce here as you can see evidenced by the timber awaiting transport. You have a chance for a new beginning. First, know that I am the law and God’s law is my law. Abide by the Ten Commandments. No drunkenness, no fighting. There are no trials, no second chances. If you break the law, you will be assigned to a labor camp breaking rocks, and clearing the land. If you break the law again, you will be assigned to a prison ship until you meet your watery grave. One hundred and fifty lashes is the punishment for escape.” He paused.
“As you may or may not know there are native aborigines on the island. They are dangerous to your person, and you are encouraged to use force to imprison and turn them in for relocation. If you attempt to escape into the forests the natives will kill you. If y
ou head into the sea the sharks will. Resign yourself to making this your home.”
He scanned the new arrivals before continuing, “We will be counting and checking in the oars and sails, after which, you will be assigned duties and placement. Please gather all your belongings. I will have my guards at the tables. Provide them your name, age, any special work skills or training, and what employment you have held in the past. We are in high need of carpenters and blacksmiths, farmers, husbandry. You will be assigned to a work detail. That is all.”
Mary looked around for Lt. Gregory.
One of the men at the front of the table from the Devonshire gestured to Mary. “Mrs. Graham, Mrs. Graham!”
She went to the front table and saw Lt. Gregory was there also. “We are to work for Mrs. Graham, she has a land grant.”
Mary spoke up, “I have a land grant,” she pulled the paper from her pocket. “I have been given acreage on the land to build a settlement and a farm. We plan to grow crops for the island. I want to have the whole ship of prisoners, those that would like to, to be assigned to the settlement. We can take care of ourselves.”
The man took the document and read it. “Let me get the Governor.”
Mary looked to the port of Van Diemen’s. It was not much to look at. Everything within view looked shoddy, slapped together, like a prison camp. The land was a slim peninsula funneling towards the mainland. In the distance, the thick tropical forest climbed the mountainsides, just like at home. For a minute she felt like she was back on Shark Island and Bennett would walk up any second.
The Governor came over and looked at the land grant he himself had signed months ago. “Oh yes. Mr. Welch’s daughter has arrived. He looked at Mary who quickly curtsied and smiled, as she demurely looked down at the table. “It is an honor to meet you, sir,” she said.
“Give her the Van Klennon land, and the adjoining acreage to fulfill the terms of the grant.”
The guard hesitated, then said, “Yes sir.”
The governor tossed the grant back onto the table and turned to leave. Mary called out quickly before he left.
“Governor! May I have a moment of your time, please?”