our own. From time to time some of them would stop to pass the time with me, and
so I heard much of the story of the early settlement of Jamestown, which had
been only a shadow-tale until now.
Indians had told us a bit here or there. How the colony came near starving, and
how many had died. And how at last John Smith was given the command he should
have had at the beginning and then all began to come right. They told us also of
some of his explorations up the coast, and how he had gone to islands far off
the north coast to another settlement for supplies.
That night, warm, bedded down, I lay awake beside Abby and looked up in darkness
at the hand-sewn rafters. A knowing hand had shaped them, a knowing hammer drove
the pegs. There is a quiet beauty in such things as these, a beauty more than
paint or chisel make, the beauty of quiet men, making strong things for their
own use, shaping each piece with loving fingers.
At last I slept, awakening slightly when the boys came, and wondering in my
half-sleeping way why they came so late when the dawn was in the sky.
Captain Powell came the next morning.
“If there’s trouble,” he asked, “will you and your lot fight with us? For
Captain Delve is with us still and a ship comes in this morning with a thousand
weight of powder aboard, and as much of shot and lead. She’ll have clothing
aboard, and seed and much for which we’ve waited.”
“When she leaves, where does she sail?”
“To London, Captain Sackett, straight to London town.”
“Will she carry my wife and my daughter and my son Brian?”
“She will if you help us. For I fear that Delve means to take her. We’ve lately
discovered he’s low on powder, and needs all she carries for whatever it is he’s
about, and he has put his ship around this morning and his guns aim at the
town.”
“We’ll stand by you,” I said.
“Aye,” said Kin, “that we will, if needed. But do not worry, Captain Powell. Arm
your men and have them stand by, too. But they need fear no cannon fire.”
“No cannon fire? He has thirty-six guns, man. Can you mean to say no cannon fire
and him with thirty-six guns?”
“Aye.” Kin smiled his slow smile and looked up, his gray-green eyes alight in
his lean brown face. “And not a one of them will fire. Last night we went
aboard, my brothers and I, with O’Hara and Jeremy Ring and Mr. Burke, and while
two of us guarded the doors just in case, we spiked every gun!”
“Spiked them!” Powell exclaimed. “How could you, with men on watch, and—”
“We be woodsmen, Captain Powell, who move quietly even among Indians. They heard
us not. One man on watch was put quietly to sleep. The other … well, I regret
to say it, but one was strong and made a fight and took the blade like a good
lad. He’s down in the river now, drifting toward the sound.
“Some guns we merely spiked and in some we wedged cannonballs tight against the
base of the bore, and hammered them home snugly with wooden wedges. Oh, we made
a few sounds then, but those aboard were snug asleep after all their rum, and we
not too much worried.
“What’s needed now, Captain, I leave to you, but if it were me I’d draw Delve’s
teeth by taking what powder he has left. We’d not want him chasing after a ship
that carries our mother and sister, although Brian can care for himself.”
“Whose idea was it,” I asked, suspiciously, “to go aboard at all?”
Kin smiled, “Why Yance’s of course, but it appealed to us, too. Would you have
had us done other than what we did?”
“You might at least have awakened me,” I grumbled.
Kin chuckled. “It would have worried Ma. Then, too, you older men need your
sleep.”
He ducked when I struck out at him, and laughed at me with tender eyes.
I thought of my father, of Ivo Sackett. He would have loved them, too.
“Captain Powell?” It was a soldier at the door. “Captain Delve is coming ashore,
and he has twenty men with him.”
“Summon the company. Muskets charged and ready. I will meet them here.”
So we took up our muskets then and went down to the water with Captain Powell,
and when the men came ashore we moved in around them, with muskets and pistols,
sixty men to their twenty, and all armed and ready.
Jonathan Delve was an older man now and the mark of Satan was on him. He started
to bluster and threaten, but I spoke to him quietly.
“You’ll surely remember me, Delve. You served under me once, and a poor sort of
man you were. And by the look of you, you’re no better now.”
He started to speak but I cut him off.
“You’ll threaten no man here, nor raise your voice on the streets of the town.
You and your men are prisoners, and Captain Powell will provide you with
comfortable quarters while they go through your ship. We hear you’ve a spot of
powder left, and we’ll be having it.”
“You’ll be damned if—!” He started to bluster.
“It is you who’ll be damned, Captain Delve. Don’t threaten us with your guns. By
now your men will have discovered that your guns are spiked.”
“Spiked!” His voice was hoarse with rake. “You’re a liar, Barnabas Sackett! How
could—?”
“My boys are woodsmen, Delve. They were aboard last night.” A movement caught my
eye, and turning my head from him I saw a ship coming up the river. “Here comes
your quarry now, with cargo for Virginia. You’ll not mind waiting ashore until
she’s gone, will you, Delve?”
Now there was a hint of panic in his eyes. “What are you trying to do, Sackett?”
“It is not me.” I indicated Captain Powell. “You must speak to this officer, or
to the governor.”
So they were disarmed and taken away to be locked up. We walked to the
riverfront, the boys and I, to watch the ship come in, yet there was no joy in
me to see her, fine craft though she was, for Abby would be going away, and my
little girl with her.
Would Noelle have the gift? We had never talked of it, although sometimes she
looked at me so solemnly, so strangely that I was sure she knew.
In the better of the several ordinaries that had sprung up, I was invited to a
glass of wine with the governor, Sir Francis Wyatt. He gestured to a seat
opposite him. “Captain Sackett, I hear you will be leaving us soon?”
“I will.”
“Your wife, I hear, is returning to England?”
“With my son, Brian, and my daughter, Noelle. This is not the land to bring up a
young woman, and my son wishes to read for the law.”
“Commendable.” He turned his glass on the table. “Sackett, if you will permit
me? I have asked no questions as to your background or your reasons for settling
here. You realize, of course, that the land you occupy is the King’s?”
“I suppose that is the official interpretation,” I replied quietly. “However, I
must suggest a thought. The land lies in the realm of the Catawba. So far as I
am aware none of that land has to date been purchased, nor has it been yielded.
Moreover, the Catawba has been a friend of the white man. At least,” I added,
“to the Englishman.”
“What you say is true, no doubt, yet the grant given stretches to the western
ocean. I do not wish to create an issue where none yet exists, Sackett, and
certainly you have been most helpful. Most men under the circumstances would
have demanded the highest price for their grain.”
“It is not our nature to take advantage.”
“You wish no favors in return?”
“None. If you wish, however, you might write some letters of introduction for my
family, and especially for my son. It is not easy for a young man to make his
way without friends.”
“It shall be done. My family home is at Boxley Abbey. A letter will accompany
your ship to England. I shall also address several members of the company on
your behalf.”
He leaned back in his chair. “None of us knows what the future holds, and by all
appearances I shall be governor here for several years. It may be that we will
again need your help.”
“You have only to ask.”
“Thank you. I would also take it kindly if you would keep me informed on any
exploration you do into the mountains, or beyond them. And perhaps you can help
us develop our relationship with the Catawba. I understand they are a strong