Mister Steins proved to be an agreeable-seeming fellow, despite pinched features and beady eyes. He greeted me warmly, and was surprised at seeing me so soon upon my arrival.
“All is in order, Lord Marsdale.” He smiled. “The cargo is loaded. We have had a number of inquiries and will begin signing contracts on the morrow. If God continues to grant us pleasant weather, I will have a crier on the wharf.”
“Thank you, I am sure the matter is in excellent hands. There is one small detail…” I paused as Belfry cringed at my side. Steins was regarding a paper a clerk had handed him, and had not witnessed Belfry’s consternation. I gave Belfry a reassuring smile, as Steins returned his attention to me.
“And that would be, my Lord?”
“I have heard rumor that, on occasion, bondsmen are pressed into service and…”
Steins frowned. “If you wish to proceed in that manner, it can easily be arranged. It will expedite the process. There are more than enough wretches in this port who have proven unable to govern themselves as good Christians, and spend what little money they have on wine and women. Seven years’ labor in a new land, where they may well excel if they prove to have the proper demeanor, will surely do them a world of good.”
I considered my own thoughts about the band of boys before I let my anger flare. He was very likely correct.
“I feel you speak the truth… however…” Steins and Belfry regarded me intently; even the clerk had stopped scratching his pen across a page to watch. I braced myself for their derision. “I would rather the men be willing. It has been my experience that tasks are performed better by men who agree to do them.”
“And mine, my Lord.” Steins smiled pleasantly. “Men who are lazy here will be just as prone to it there, and most likely require you to appoint or hire more overseers, which of course will have cost implications of its own. Please be aware that the process will be somewhat slower without augmenting the roll with pressed men. And if all does not go well, as in days pass and we still lack the necessary number of men, then we may wish to revisit pressing.”
I was greatly heartened by this, and forged on. “Excellent. As to the required number of men. Am I to understand that the reason we take on many more than we may want… upon arrival, is due to assumed losses during transit?”
“Aye, my Lord. It is a regrettable part of this business.” He shrugged.
He was so very reasonable; he minded me of many a man I had seen, who could order the deaths of many without a second thought. In that, I realized this business I now engaged in was much like any other I had become party to.
I nodded agreeably while choosing my words. I finally remembered Commander Kroener, a jolly mercenary I had crossed paths with. He had held me for ransom for two weeks. The situation had not been unpleasant, as I had been treated as a guest, dining every night at his table and thus learning a great deal from him.
I smiled at Steins. “I traveled extensively prior to my recent return to England. This is one of the reasons my father and I thought I would be well-suited to this endeavor.”
This garnered interest from Steins; and he frowned slightly as he listened, paying more heed to my words, now that he knew I was not some lord’s son with little experience beyond London and my father’s estate.
“In my journeys, I was fortunate to make the acquaintance of an esteemed general. He once told me that he would take a hundred men over a thousand for a prolonged campaign, as a hundred men could move faster and more easily be provisioned. And well-fed men were able to fight better.” Kroener had other reasons for this as well, mostly involving the inherent greed of mercenaries and the division of booty, but they were not salient as of yet to this discussion.
“What are you suggesting, my Lord?” Steins asked with genuine curiosity.
“That we hire the number of men we need, healthy, able, and willing men, and we feed them better on the voyage and thus keep them all alive.”
He nodded thoughtfully. “Your suggestion is sound in theory. However, I must be honest with you. I do not know if we can recruit twoscore willing men in a fortnight, even with the incentive of land.” He paused with pursed lips.
“What incentive of land?” My father had surely not reckoned on giving anyone any land.
“My Lord, bondsmen are indentured for seven years, in exchange for their passage and room and board and other necessities during the term of their contract. On Jamaica, land is currently available to any who petition for it. Thus, we tell the men we recruit that they can become free farmers on their own land after their term is completed.”
I was pleased, but something about him indicated it was a thing offered but not guaranteed. I sighed. “But that is not truly the way of it.”
“Precisely, my Lord. Their contract of indenture contains many clauses that allow for the extension of their service.”
That, my father had mentioned. He had nearly crowed over it, as on Jamaica there would be few to side with the bondsmen and ameliorate excesses on the part of their masters – unlike England, where the peasants could occasionally find someone to sympathize with them.
“May I peruse a contract?”
“Certainly, my Lord.” He nodded at his clerk, who produced one. “And as you are presumably aware, many a man dies who ventures to the West Indies. None are spared God’s choice in that matter.” He gave me a pointed look.
I nodded with a compressed smile. “I am aware of the risk to my person.”
“Good, my Lord. So, in short, many of the men we sign will not survive beyond their contracts, though the worthy will live. The ones who are hale and, presumably, favored by God, survive. Truly, a good God-fearing man who is willing to work hard and respect his master has little to fear from indentured servitude or the tropics.”
“I am sure you would thrive there.” I smiled.
He was taken aback by my words, and struggled for a moment to divine my intent. Finally deciding I had meant him no ill will, he nodded agreeably.
“However, my Lord,” he added, “if a man is truly good and God-fearing, he is presumably well-employed here in England, and has little reason to travel elsewhere to seek his fortune.”
I found his statement absurd, considering the recent ravages of the plague and London’s fire, much less the last forty years of chaos the Reformation and subsequent Restoration caused. There were good poor men all over England. I bit my tongue and struggled to keep the incredulity from my face.
“So you feel we will not be able to recruit men who will stand to reap the benefits of travel to a new land, because… if they were the type of man who would do well here, they would not be seeking to go elsewhere?”
“Precisely, my Lord.” He smiled. “So we will do what we are able to acquire good men, and then we will do what we must per your father’s instruction.”
I clamped my teeth firmly on the inside of my cheek. So there it was. Though he would honor my requests, he would not truly be taking orders from me on the matter. And if my requests proved an impediment to completion of the task to my father’s specifications, he would dismiss my concerns like crumbs swept from a table. I was sure I would face the same issue on Jamaica, with both the solicitor and the manager my father had retained.
And so I dismissed Belfry back to his ship, and sat at a desk in Steins’ office and read through a contract. It was as dreadful as I expected. A bondsman was a virtual slave. I could do anything to them I wished, short of outright murder; and as I well knew, even that could be justified if one dined regularly with the local magistrate. I vowed to ignore most of the document and write up my own. Whether or not I could bring the Jamaican solicitor and the Barbadian manager into line with my plans would be another matter.
The next day dawned cold and clear. As I walked down the wharf, I heard Steins’ promised crier telling of the fabulous life awaiting any soul adventurous enough to travel to balmy Jamaica. When I arrived at Steins’ office, there was a sign advertising our needs outside, and his clerk wa
s setting a small table to rights just inside the door. I was heartened when two young men entered, hats in hand, before the clerk had uncorked his inkwell. They looked to be fine healthy lads, and judging from their resemblance, brothers.
“You be wantin’ men for a plantation in the West Indies, sir? And there be land in it for us at the end of the term? What be the term, sir?” the older asked.
The clerk nodded twice. “You will be able to petition for a grant of land. The term is seven years.”
“For passage?” the younger asked with some incredulity.
“Passage to a land of opportunity is very expensive,” the clerk replied without a trace of humor. “All food, housing, clothing, and other necessities will be provided throughout your term of service.”
“What would we be doin’, sir?”
“Whatever your master finds you suitable for.”
“Me brother’s a cooper,” the younger added enthusiastically. The older promptly smacked him.
“I was an apprentice cooper, sir,” the older said diffidently.
“If you truly possess that skill, it will be of use and valued,” the clerk said. He pushed two contracts across the desk to them. “Make your mark there. Then wait outside. Someone will escort you to a longboat and out to the ship this evening. You will be fed then.”
That appeared to please them, but they eyed the papers timidly. The older fingered one of them. Surely neither of them could read.
“Hold,” I said and approached the table. The clerk and Belfry looked to me with alarm. I ignored them and smiled at the brothers. “I am the Viscount of Marsdale. We are recruiting for my father’s plantation, which I shall be involved in managing.” They looked to each other and sketched clumsy bows. This close to them, I judged both to be under a score of years. “May I ask why you two wish to journey to Jamaica?”
“Nothin’ here, my Lord. My master died,” the older said. “And Billy here has no prospects.”
“Well, I am sure we will be glad to have you. I just wish for you to be aware of what you stand to lose… and gain.”
Behind the table, the clerk cleared his throat nervously. I glared at him and he quieted.
“Jamaica and the West Indies are a dangerous land, but you look like two strong boys ready for adventure.”
They smiled.
“There is a good amount of disease there,” I added.
“Beggin’ your pardon, my Lord, but there be disease here,” the older said. “Our family died of the plague.”
I had to admit he had a good argument there. I picked up one of the contracts. “Can you read?”
They shook their heads as one.
“Do you wish to know what this says?”
They looked at one another as if I had presented them some great puzzle.
“Is it important, my Lord?” the older asked. “Truth be told, I’ve never had to make my mark before.”
I sighed. I was the fool, not they.
“It says that I will own you for seven years, and that I may do as I wish toward you within the laws of God and man. And if you attempt to escape, or in any way break whatever rules I may set, then your term of service will be extended.”
They nodded as if that were perfectly acceptable to them. I smiled wanly and handed them each a contract. Then I retreated from the proceedings and went to a tavern to drink.
I do not understand sheep. Though I do not feel pride at being numbered amongst them, I well understand wolves. I suppose that sheep do not understand wolves, either. I had often bemoaned all of this, but it is quite another thing to witness such an example. I drank and vowed to stop worrying about the damn sheep, or rather to care for them in a responsible manner, but not waste my time attempting to treat them as wolves.
I composed a letter to Rucker in order to air my frustrations and concerns to someone, even if it was only to the silent page. I knew I would not receive a reply prior to sailing.
We, or rather Steins’ clerk and Belfry, recruited twelve men that day. And so we proceeded into the next, when we gained ten more. Steins was not pleased with our progress, but he held his tongue as to other options when next we met. On the third day, we garnered fifteen. This nearly gave me the twoscore I wished for.
I decided to wait one day further and move aboard the ship. I had my father’s men deliver my baggage to the wharf, and gave each several of my father’s coins before dismissing them with my blessing back to Rolland Hall.
As I came aboard the King’s Hope, men were forced to part and crowd about in little pockets, in order for me to gain the deck. My luggage further complicated matters. One would not think thirty-seven men could appear to be such a crowd, but upon the deck of the King’s Hope they were indeed. I wondered how the Devil the Captain ever thought to pack threescore or more into the same space. Surely with them crammed so closely together, they would not be able to recline to sleep unless they took turns at it. And the sailors were stepping over men as it was.
Though much of this was because the men were not allowed to spread out beyond the prescribed area of the waist of the main deck. The sailors kept them clear of the two upper decks, those being the fore and aft castles. The forecastle contained the foremast and all manner of rigging. The aftcastle deck was the quarterdeck, which in this instance did not take up a quarter of the length of the vessel, but more a fifth. The quarterdeck contained the aftmast and the rigging for same. And it was reserved strictly for officers and invited passengers, of which Belfry assured me I was one. The bondsmen were also kept out of the shallow but sheltered space below the forecastle, as that is where the King’s Hope’s fifteen crewmen bedded and the cooking was done. Neither were the indentured men allowed under the quarterdeck, as most of this space was taken with the three cabins. The Captain’s cabin ran the narrow width of the ship’s stern; and the other two cabins, one for all the officers and the other for all the paying passengers, were narrow little rooms on the port and starboard of the sheltered steerage area.
So we would have more than twoscore men packed into a space only half the length of the ship, that is to say perhaps forty feet and only a score of feet wide. They might have all fit as comfortably as they would in the common room of an inn, if that same deck had not been filled with the mainmast, the hatch, the windlass, rigging, and four six-pound cannon on their carriages.
Belfry assigned the stowing of my chests to a Mister Cox, the bo’sun. He began to yell at his sailors to have them put the lot into what little space remained in the hold. I retained one bag with a few favored things and my weapons, and Belfry led me to my home for the next two months: the port-side passenger cabin.
I regarded the little room with dismay, while Belfry cheerfully informed me I would be sharing it with three other men. The cabin was only an arm’s length wide and maybe ten feet long. I did not see bunks.
“How are we to sleep?” I asked Belfry, not bothering to hide my mounting horror.
He swallowed and looked apologetic. “Hammocks, my Lord. It’s a thing they use in the West Indies.”
He indicated two sets of knotted rope affixed to the fore and aft corners of the cabin. He took up an iron loop on one of them and pulled it to a hook in the middle of the outer wall, thus extending a web of netting diagonally across half the room. This one was chest high, and there would be another below it. Once all four were extended, there would be no room to move in the cramped space.
“You, um, crawl into it, my Lord.” He demonstrated in a somewhat ungainly manner. Once he was in the bag of netting, he seemed quite comfortable. “It’s quite a bit cooler on the body when we enter the tropics, and they also preserve the space of the room during the day, as they can be hung, so,” Belfry added after he had managed to crawl out of it.
I noted that, with or without other nets of humanity swinging around one, it was seemingly difficult to enter or leave a hammock in a timely fashion, and it would be best to have one’s weapons handy while in one. I also thought it would quickly be obvious
who had been in one, as the rope netting would surely leave marks on any skin it touched. My thoughts strayed; I briefly considered the possibilities of sex in one, and found myself quite amused. Then my unrequited needs in that regard filled me with annoyance.
“The Captain would sail soon, my Lord, there’s talk of a good blow descending on us in the next week. He would leave before it. He has spoken with Mister Steins.”
I nodded. “I will meet with Steins this evening after we know today’s count.”
Belfry nodded and added cheerfully. “We’ve had five this morning, my Lord.”
“So forty-two, that is excellent.”
He left me in the little room I would be trapped in. I set my bag in the corner and contemplated indentured servitude. For a maudlin moment, I wondered if my circumstance was any different than that of the men beyond the door. Was I not granting years of my life to another’s whim in exchange for the mere hope of a better future? Then I came to my senses and reminded myself I am a wolf. If I wished to sever my ties to the endeavor I would, and quickly, and God pity any who blocked my path of egress.
I set about learning of hammocks, and determined they would be far more stable if anchored in more than two places. Belfry had not made clambering into one look easy; and I was thankful for that, as it had shown me the possible points of contention before my own attempt. Thus I did not throw myself head-first upon the floor. However, my sword became stuck in the mesh, and in attempting to free it, I almost fell out. Then I became somewhat bound in the edge, and felt a great urge to thrash about like a fly in a web.
Sometime later, I was relatively assured of being able to enter and exit one without looking the fool, and was beginning to find reclining in one quite comfortable. Upon hearing approaching steps, I quickly clambered out, as I did feel somewhat vulnerable hanging in midair.
Apparently my three roommates had arrived. I saw my own disdain and surprise mirrored in their eyes as they perused the cabin. Or maybe it was at the sight of me; but no, I was greeted with a smile by the first man in. He was an exceedingly handsome youth several years younger than myself. He possessed a slim and attractive build I found appealing, with bright blue eyes and white-gold hair.
Brethren Page 10