Becoming Americans (60 page)

      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 'Rev
enge.'
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 of 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.