Becoming Americans (19 page)

      Richard hesitated.

      "And we don't know, now," he said finally.

      That night, one of the Dutch sailors came to the old hut Richard shared with Billy. Richard was wanted on Ingolbreitsen's ship.

      Captain Ingolbreitsen sat at his desk smoking his pipe in friendly conversation with Francis Harper when Richard was let into the cabin. Harper's face was flush with rum and tobacco and success.

      "He's been my right hand, Captain," Harper said.

      Richard waited at the door.

      "Come in Williams, and have a seat," Ingolbreitsen said. Richard did as he was told, waiting for his curiosity to be satisfied.

      "It was a successful voyage, Richard. One in which we have all been rewarded," the Captain began.

      "And you, no less than we," Harper interrupted. "Be assured of that," he said and lifted a paper from the Captain's desk that Richard recognized as his Contract of Indenture.

      "I have signed this willingly and joyfully," he continued. "And with the signature I give, I ask a favor of you as my former servant and the loyal friend of my son."

      "Times are difficult, you know," the Captain interrupted," and a planter is reliant on the goodwill of his neighbors."

      Richard waited, mystified.

      "No one can know of my participation in this voyage," Harper pleaded. "I ask for your co-operation in this matter and have arranged with the Captain to make it easier on us all."

      Ingolbreitsen held the Contract.

      "Your Contract has been assigned to me," he said. "This paper binds you to me for your remaining year."

      He placed the paper on his desk and scribbled two lines and made a flourish of his signature.

      "I have now signed the Contract back to you, Richard," the Captain said, and handed it to Richard.

      Richard looked in wonder at the markings on the paper that gave him freedom.

      Captain Ingolbreitsen continued.

      "Gloucester County need know, only, that Harper assigned me your Indenture in exchange for credits that he greatly needed. He asks you to record the Contract, and my release of it, in another county—away from prying eyes and eager tongues. You have no problem with that, do you?"

      Richard looked from the paper to each of the men.

      The Captain went on.

      "Tomorrow I sail for Lower Norfolk. You might wish to display your freedom there, and record it in the courthouse that you helped build."

      Richard's eyes grew wider as the possibilities crowded into his mind.

      He could approach John Biggs to ask for Anne's hand. He could search for land to purchase with the money he'd saved. He must let his Uncle John know! Credit was due him from the Captain. How many headrights could he purchase?

      The remainder of that night was blurred from his memory, except for running back to Pine Haven to tell Edward of the news. The drinking started and he didn't remember when it stopped.

      He stood by the railing of Ingolbreitsen's ship the next morning and waved to Edward and Harper and Drusilla. Billy, and Sawyer's servants and slaves stood by the pier, some of them knowing that one day it would be their turn; others, knowing that it never could be theirs. Eno stood with Philly. Delilah held her newest child—an infant son much lighter than her others—and watched his young father sail away.

September's sultry breeze slowly moved the ship into and down the bay. When it passed from view of Pine Haven, the ship veered toward the Eastern Shore, and then turned back northward, finally dropping anchor some miles above Pine Haven.

      Sweat dripped into Richard's eyes, and he squinted to see a ship that drifted towards their own. A dozen men with short-cut hair moved about its deck. Captain Ingolbreitsen let slack his sails, and waited as the Dutch privateer came aside. Richard didn't question the Captain, but stood well astern to be innocent of participation in trade with the Dutch enemy.

      Ingolbreitsen and the Dutch captain shouted greetings as the ships closed in on each other. The pirateer boarded with a crew that immediately began transferring the hogsheads of tobacco to the other vessel.

      Richard could hear the men clearly, though he understood almost none of their language. He knew that the tone of their conversation had changed though, as the words were more and more strained until the words came as short bursts of anger from both men. The sailors stopped their loading, and one of them reported to their captain. The Dutchman followed his sailor to a hogshead that Richard knew contained a Quaker. Their captain rocked the hogshead and questioned Captain Ingolbreitsen. The answer amused the Dutchman, who stood over the hogshead and pounded on its head, beating it like a drum as he laughed.

      The four hogsheads that held Dissenters were put aside as the sailors went on transferring tobacco. Richard saw Captain Ingolbreitsen's angry face and sensed a business deal gone awry. He turned away and looked across the bay, in the direction of Pine Haven. Most of the day had been spent in this futile business. They could have been on the Elizabeth River by now. They were further up the bay, now, than when they'd left.

      He squinted into the west and saw a dot on the horizon that had been a mere speck some minutes earlier. Another ship was coming in their direction.

      By the time the Dutchman saw the approaching ship, all booty had been transferred. After a brief, angry exchange between the two captains, the Englishmen were all bound and secured, then left adrift. The Dutchman's laugh and shout came across the water.

      "Good-bye, new Englishman!"

      Richard lay in the shade of two hogsheads and waited for the rescue. He asked the Quakers inside how they fared. They were uncomfortable and concerned for their safety. The hogsheads must be opened, and they released, or else they'd be found-out when the tied up crew was freed. There was no answer, and all waited in silence until the coming ship arrived. In these waters, at least, there was hope for rescue by neighbors. It mattered who would board the ship.

      The first man to climb aboard was Old Ned, from Mister Ware's plantation. He hurried to the Captain, then to the others, untying men and listening to their stories of the pirateer. Old Ned was followed by an officer of the King's Navy who introduced himself as Colonel Neville, of the Virginia militia. Governor Berkeley had charged him with pressing into service those ships that he felt would be useful for the colony's defense against just such pirateering acts as this, or against a possible attack by the Dutch fleet.

      As Colonel Neville's outrage at this piracy in local waters subsided, he saw the hogsheads that had been abandoned. With a silver-buckled shoe, he rocked a cask until it fell and rolled across the gently pitching deck. A Quaker's groan revealed the contents.

      The casks were opened and the somber-clad dissenters lined against the rail. The ship was searched, and the questions came quickly.

      "Where did you load your cargo?"

      "Where are you bound?"

      "Why were none of your personal valuables taken by the pirateers?"

      "Have you sworn allegiance to His Majesty and to the Church of England?"

      "The boy's a cooper what belongs to Francis Harper of Pine Haven plantation. The boy's uncle is Mister John Williams."

      Old Ned volunteered the information as help, Richard supposed. He hoped it was the last time anyone called him "boy."

      Everyone's papers were demanded and examined. More questions were raised when Richard's transferred and canceled Contract of Indenture was discovered. And then, Old Ned recognized Richard's stamp on all the hogsheads. The mark he proudly hammered into the setting-up hoop of all his work.

      Colonel Neville suspected a conspiracy of illegal trafficking in tobacco, and abetting of dissenters.

      Sailors from the Colonel's ship piloted Ingolbreitsen's vessel back to Ware Manor where the authorities were summoned to hear evidence.

      Colonel Ingolbreitsen rested as a guest at Ware Manor, where the County Court was due to convene within the next week. Richard and the hapless crew were tightly quartered in one servant's hut. The Quaker men were transported to the jail in James Town—their guilt was unquestioned.

      Less certain for the Court were the specific charges to be leveled against Bartholomew Ingolbreitsen, Richard Williams, and the ship's crew. Colonel Neville—and the Court—decided against pressing any accusations when Captain Ingolbreitsen freely offered his ship to His Majesty's Government for patrol and defense of the colony during this period of hostilities with his
former
countrymen, the Dutch. John Williams came and spoke to the court of the honesty and loyalty of his nephew. He made a substantial donation towards the maintenance of the ship and crew while they served the King's Navy.

      Although they were freed, Richard walked the grounds of Anne's grandparents' plantation alone, in shame, waiting for a sloop that might take him to Lower Norfolk. Uncle John had returned home without a word to him, and Ingolbreitsen had gone across the bay to Accomack to take command of his newest ship. The Ware's hospitality was visibly forced, and lodging with Old Ned was no pleasure.

      The next day Uncle John's smaller sloop arrived for him. His man carried instructions to deliver Richard to Lower Norfolk, or wherever he desired to go. The man carried with him, too, a written message to the nephew.

      Cade Ware read the letter for Richard in a tone as cold as the words he read.

      John Williams had broken with his family in England thirty years earlier for their lack of reverence for their God and for their King. For him the honor of his family had been returned only through the death of the beloved brother who died fighting for his King and God. Now, that man's child was revealing the sinfulness and waywardness of the other brother, Edward, and was importing the dishonor—like the plague—by his sinful aid to the dissenters and his treasonous dealing with the Dutch. Richard was to refrain from using his name as a reference, and to consider himself denied. This letter would serve as final notice.

"Will they let us tie-up here, Pa?"

       The worn, low-riding shallop slid towards the narrow dock.

      "This, and the whole damned wharf ought be mine for the taxes I pay. Now turn back around, Boy. And don't get wet! Your mother'll have my head if you come home with a running nose."

      "Yes, Pa."

      The boat grazed the dock and gently moved towards the riverbank. Joseph jumped from the boat and caught the rope his father tossed, while their man George backpaddled deeply.

      "We made good time," Richard said. He looked up to the sun as a flock of birds flew over, heading north.

      "Richard!" A voice called to him from towards the town.

      Richard looked around, searching for the caller, then went back to work lashing down the sail and stowing oars.

      "Richard!"

      "Pa, there's a man up here calling you," Joseph said as he secured the line.

      Richard Williams turned around again. A short, stout man stood against the sun. His tall felt hat, shaped like a sugar loaf, and his round, knee-length cloak formed a dark wedge against the light.

      "Well, then?" the man said. "I've been down here looking to each boat all day, and you can't even say a greeting?"

      "Uncle John?"

      "Yes, Nephew, it's John Williams."

      Richard stepped onto the dock and approached his uncle. He made the mistake of stepping with his left foot, so he spat over his left shoulder. He hesitated for a moment before speaking.

      "What are you doing here in James Town, Uncle? How did you know to be looking for me? And why?"

      "I was in James Town already, and I heard talk of the John Biggs business in Court tomorrow. I thought you might be coming." The older man held out his hand. "I was hungry to see your face again."

      Richard relaxed his guard. He grasped his uncle's hand in his own and shook it warmly.

      "Joseph, come here!" Richard shouted to his son. The boy sauntered up the dock.

      "Son, this is your Uncle John," Richard said. "Uncle John, this is my second boy, Joseph.

      "George!" He called back to the boat.

      "Take care you don't leave them pelts alone. Part of them's your wages!"

      Uncle, nephew, and grandnephew followed the river's edge past wharves piled with goods unloaded from huge ships of one hundred, one hundred and fifty, and even two hundred tons. Hogsheads of last year's tobacco were being rolled from the warehouse across the path of crushed oyster shells.

      Joseph ripped a leaf that was protruding from a broken cask and reached up to his father. "Pretty tobacco, ain't it Pa?"

      His father didn't hear. His father was listening to the older man whom he was calling "Uncle." But Joseph knew what an uncle was. He played with his uncles. They were his mother's young brothers.

      He stuffed the leaf into his mouth.

      "And do you let the child take what is not his?" The older man looked to the father, then to the child.