The Old Cape House (30 page)

While they slept, Maria’s curiosity grew stronger as to what was
in the chests that had been stored behind the house. Without a
sound, she crept through the back door to discover what was inside them.

In the shack, she saw three chests of similar size, the fourth
smaller than the rest. Kneeling down, she ran her hands over the sides and
top of the lesser one. The latch was held with a nail that slid out
when shimmied to one side. She opened it and leaned back. Her hand shot
up to her mouth in wonder. “Oh Sam,” she whispered. Pieces of
beautiful blue flowered china protruded up from gold and silver
coins. Long sections of colorful silk material were wrapped around larger pieces of the china, and as she dug deeper into the chest she found red rubies, sparkling diamonds and gold necklaces. Lost in the brilliance of the treasure, a voice startled her from behind.

“I see that you have found your gifts.” Sam leaned on the
doorway of the old shack.

She dropped the coins from her hand and closed its lid. “Sam, forgive me.” She stood and backed towards the wall, fearful for the first time in Sam’s presence. “My rudeness is inexcusable.” She knew he had become a pirate, and as her back pressed against the wall, she whispered, “I should never have been so bold.”

He came closer to her. “Maria, I love you. Don’t fear me.” He
stroked her lips. “We are in this together. What you found is yours, my beloved.”

Maria could feel herself relax. “Is it really for me?”

“Yes.”

She knelt down again and opened the lid. Pulling out a teacup,
she pretended to sip her tea. “Never before have I seen such
treasure. I have no words.” Her hands sifted through the coins. She looked over
to Sam. His black hair was tied back and revealed his handsome
face. How she loved him. Her heart filled with joy as she turned back to inspect more of her treasure.

She heard a thump behind her. Spinning around, she saw Sam had crumpled on the floor; fresh blood seeped through the linen.

“Sam!” she screamed and crawled over to him. “Please, don’t
leave me again!” She cradled him in her arms and lowered him down to the dirt floor then ran to the house.

“Help!” She screamed, waking the two men. “You must help me. Something’s wrong with Sam.”

When Davis and Julian entered the shack, they were surprised to see Sam lying in the dirt. Then they saw the open chest and could not believe their eyes. Staring at the gold and imagining their share, the two ignored Sam’s plight.

Maria pleaded with them again, “Please take Sam into the
house.”

Julian looked at Davis, and both assumed that they each would do as she asked, for now.

Sam’s shipmates laid him on the bed as Maria fetched another clean linen.

Sam grabbed Davis’s arm. He was becoming weak with fever.
“If I
don’t survive this night,” squeezing his arm tighter, “promise
me….”

“What say you?” Davis asked.

“Promise me that no harm will come to Maria.”

“You have my word,” he said, looking over to Julian who was standing near the edge of the bed.

Julian nodded, “Aye.”

“Davis!” Sam whispered again.

“Aye.”

“The small chest is Maria’s, hers alone.”

“You have our word.”

“Listen to me: there are three chests, one for each of you, the
third is mine. But if I die before the morrow,” he rested his head back and breathed heavily, “my share belongs to Maria.”

Davis looked at Julian.

Sam held onto Davis’s arm one more time. ”Do you swear to do this?”

Reluctantly, he answered, “We have an accord!”

Exhausted, Sam lay back and closed his eyes.

Maria pushed the two men aside and began cutting away the bloodied linen. As she attempted to dab the wound clean, the open skin that still held several splinters seeped with yellow puss.

She moved behind Davis and Julian to retrieve more drawing salve from the shelf. They sat at the table eating the last of the flatbreads. When she returned to Sam’s side, she pulled him towards
her body and removed the soiled linen from his back. Before
securing the clean linen once again, she reapplied the drawing paste, hoping the slivers would come away from his infected skin.

Through half closed eyes, the sight of Maria’s smile eased Sam’s
pain. She offered more of Minda’s numbing herbal tea. Her soft
words soothed him as she stroked his forehead. “Sleep now. Rest is what you need.”

He closed his eyes, content in knowing that his responsibilities to her would be honored.

***

Davis wiped his mouth. “We need to hide the chests and ourselves.”

“Aye.”

He leaned into Julian. “They’ll be searching for us.”

Maria tended the hearth, listening to their words.

Davis whispered, “My plan is to leave tonight. I’ll pay a visit to Harding and give him another chance at kindness.”

Julian tugged on his gold earring, saying nothing. He was a man of few words and his plans were for him alone. He needed no one.

As dusk came, Davis was ready to take his leave and gather his share of the bounty.

Julian followed him into the shack. “It’s not that I don’t trust you, my friend, but I’m no fool.”

Davis grinned and proceeded to inspect his chest.

Julian knelt next to him beside his own riches. They opened their chests together.

Davis’s lips parted and stayed apart long enough for saliva to drip onto the mound of shiny gold pieces.

Julian said nothing, as usual, his long black hair falling on either side of his face, concealing his expression. Only his hands showed emotion as they sifted through the jewels, gold pieces and necklaces.

Davis swiveled around, opened Sam’s chest and began to take some of its contents.

Julian stopped his hand. “Wait, we pledged to Sam. He ain’t dead yet.”

“No matter, we’ve earned it. Where would he be if it weren’t for us?” Davis brushed Julian’s arm away. “We’ll leave him enough.”

Julian let go and he too began to take of Sam’s share.

Filling their chests to the rim from the third chest, they stuffed
even more into their pockets. Davis commiserated as he finally
closed it, securing the pin. “I know it ain’t right that we‘re taking some of Sam’s booty before he’s dead, but he would understand. It’s the
pirate’s way.” He looked into Julian’s eyes. “Don’t you agree,
partner?”

Julian’s teeth contrasted with his dark skin as he grinned in agreement.

Thomas Davis took off to Harding’s house, eventually
convincing the old man to hide him and his treasure for payment in more gold.

Davis returned within the hour, along with a wagon to load his share. As he left, he saluted Julian. “Better days ahead, mate.” His last look was to Maria sitting beside Sam. “May good fortune attend you and the captain, ma’am.”

By the time the sky darkened into black night, Julian was
nowhere to be seen, but he was heard. As Maria lay next to her sleeping Sam, she could hear him chopping and cutting. She wondered what he was doing but stayed with Sam, eventually drifting into a light sleep by his side.

Several hours passed before Julian came to Maria. He knelt close
and touched her shoulder, trying to rouse her. “Maria,” he
whispered.

Half asleep, she woke with a start. “What’s wrong? Have they come for you?”

“Shhhh. He still sleeps,” he said, looking at Sam. “I take my
leave
of you now.” He stood and walked away from her towards the
shack.

Maria followed him, but kept a safe distance, interested in his doings.

From the shack’s door, she watched him fasten his treasure chest
to a short pole stretcher, cover it with a blanket and tie a shovel
across the top. He saw Maria in the shadows and looked to her for approval concerning the taking of her tools. She nodded yes.

John Julian struggled to pull his treasure as he disappeared into the night. When the sky had turned to the dark gray of early dawn,
Julian had finished burying his chest beneath the largest rock in
Eastham. Wasting no time, he piled stones and rocks on top of the freshly dug dirt to hide what was buried. He smashed the rustic
stretcher to further elude anyone from his nocturnal secret and
heaved the shovel as far away as he could. He took only a small pouch of gold coins with him, leaving the rest buried. Now he needed to hide through the daylight hours and run through the night to safety.

***

Maria looked in on Sam and found him quiet. Returning to the shack, she spotted one large chest and hers, the smaller. Opening her chest, she was thankful that the pirates had not emptied it. All was safely secure. Relieved, she turned to the larger chest. Lifting the lid, she could see the yellow color of gold, but it was half empty. Her thoughts ran from disappointment to anger and then to acceptance in knowing that she and Sam would still be able to make a new life. Her treasure alone would be sufficient.

She closed both chests and used a covering of straw and wood from the woodpile to conceal her secret from any intruding eyes of
the law, as they assuredly would be searching for survivors and
seeking goods from the wreck. Hopefully, when Sam was better, they would leave Eastham forever.

***

Within two days of the
Whydah
’s demise, the news of the ship’s
fate spread across Cape Cod. Samuel Harding’s brother, Abiah
Harding, along with Edward Knowles and Jonathan Cole, were the first to salvage barrels of nails and liquor along with rope, pulleys
and wood. Many God-fearing Cape Codders, along with the
notorious mooncussers, who tricked ships into sailing closer to the dangerous
rocks and shoals with lanterns on moonless nights, salvaged
everything. The mangled bodies that had washed ashore did not bother some of these grizzled hardy scavengers as they cut off fingers and ears to
retrieve jewelry from the doomed pirates. It was a gruesome
business, but Cape Cod was poor, and its inhabitants felt that it was their right
to reap whatever floated ashore and looked upon it as a gift from
God.

***

As Sam drifted in and out of a healing sleep, Maria tended to him and watched for any person coming to search or ask questions. At the same time she began to think of what she could carry with her when they finally were able to leave. Wasting no time, she prepared her mother’s travel bag and began to gather her prized things: the
painted box that held vellum and inks; the looking glass from her
mother; Minda’s herbs, salves and the few coins from Sam. The rest would be purchased new.

“Maria,” Sam murmured.

“Yes, my darling.” Maria sat next to him on the bed.

“What day is it?”

“It is the fifth day since I found you.”

“Where are my men?”

“They’ve gone.”

“Did they take anything with them?”

“I’m afraid so.” Maria lowered her head.

Sam struggled to sit up. Feeling lightheaded, he pleaded with Maria. “I need to see.”

Steadying himself, he walked to the shack to see no sign of the chests. He leaned back against the wall, hung his head in despair and beat his fists against the wood.

Maria hurried to pull back the straw. “Wait, Sam. Look!” She revealed the two remaining chests.

He fell to his knees. The first one he opened proved empty save a small layer at the bottom. “Those bastards, they took more than their fair share.”

“What about yours?” He looked up at Maria.

“They took none of mine.”

Relieved, he slumped down against the rough wall to the dirt
floor. With his elbows on his knees, he held his head. “Maria, I’m
sorry for not having more for you.”

She knelt in front of him. “Stop, Sam. We have enough, more than enough for us to leave. Do you not understand that we could start again? Go some place far away from here, far away from the hatred of this god–forsaken land.”

He looked at his beloved Maria. “You’re right, but we must
leave soon. But how?”

With confidence, Maria spoke, “I know someone who can help us, and he can be trusted.”

May 1, 1717

EASTHAM – CAPE COD

“IT HAS BEEN A PLEASURE DOING BUSINESS WITH YOU,
Mr. Ellis,” James Carter said as he shook hands with Matthew.

“The same.” Matthew shut the door to the house that he was born in.

He wanted to forget every minute of the last year. He sat at the table that had been the focal point for many family meals with his parents. He knew he should eat something but wasn’t hungry. His father’s place at the head of the table was empty; pneumonia had wreaked its havoc on the poor man’s aging body and taken him
early. Poor Mother had followed him in a short time. Matthew
wondered
if his mother had just tired, or was her love for her husband so
strong that she lost her will to live? It was hard for him to understand the sudden loss of his parents.

He despised himself for selling the family property to the
Carters of Rhode Island. He banged his fist on the planks of the sideboard. The deal was done. There was nothing left for him in Eastham…except Maria. He stood to fill his cup with ale and realized that now might be his chance to speak of his feelings for her. She had always seemed so unattainable to him before. Maybe selling his homestead was a stroke of luck. With its profit, they would be able to go far away from any trouble.

Matthew remembered Peter Johnson, a printer and bookbinder in Barnstable, with whom he had struck a friendship during one of
his journeys at sea. At that time Johnson told Matthew he was
looking
for an apprentice. Matthew reached for pen and paper from his
father’s desk. He dipped his pen into the inkwell and began to write a letter, which would craft a new chapter in his life.