“It’s not for me to say, but I expect Captain Hawley would decline, since he intends to destroy the town and take the spoils anyway.”
Mayor Shrewsbury said, “If there’s no understanding to be had, perhaps we should take matters into our own hands. We have enough manpower here on the pier to kill the whole boatload of you.”
With that, he raised his hand and forty men aimed their weapons at the ten pirates. To be precise, thirty-eight men aimed their weapons at the pirates. The other two were George Stout and Mr. Pim, and they were armed to the teeth. As the women and children moved off the pier at a high rate of speed, George and Pim began working their way behind the mob.
Martin said, “We’ve come under the flag of truce. Are we not gentlemen?”
“Not when you intend to destroy our town, sir. And if we’re to die anyway, I’d like to hear one reason why we shouldn’t kill ten pirates now, while the killing’s good.”
The men from the town cocked their muskets. Pim and George had a pistol in each hand and several more loaded and tucked into their coats. They wouldn’t be able to kill them all, but they’d probably get eight or nine before having to use their knives.
“I’ll give you a good reason,” Martin said. “If you put up any resistance, Jack Hawley will not only destroy the town, he and his men will hunt you down, nail you to trees, and make you watch as they rape your wives, daughters and livestock. Then they’ll kidnap your sons and turn them into sea monkeys.”
One citizen said, “Rape our livestock?”
“The nicer livestock, yes.”
One by one, the men lowered their weapons to the ground and stepped aside as the pirates kicked them into the water.
“Wise decision,” Martin said. “And you now have approximately fifty-three minutes to evacuate the town.
The men began running off the pier, but stopped when they saw a young girl walking toward them carrying a kit in one hand and a white flag in the other.
Martin shouted, “What have we here?”
The men parted as the girl walked toward the pirates. They filed in behind her to hear what she had to say.
“Who are you, miss?” Martin said.
“Abby Winter, sir.”
“State your business.”
“I’ve come to offer myself to Captain Jack Hawley, if he’ll spare the town in return.”
Martin laughed. “One girl worth the whole town? Surely you jest.”
“Not just a girl,” she said, “but a girl of pure heart and noble spirit.”
“If Captain Jack wants such a girl he will surely take her against her will. What say ye to that?”
“Is your Captain not called Gentleman Jack Hawley? It is said he respects valor and—”
Martin held up his hand. “Speak not a moment.”
The pirates huddled up and talked among themselves a few minutes. Then Martin again pulled the white flag from the boat and waved it high over his head, replaced it, and approached the girl. “Get in the boat, miss, and I’ll let you plead your case to Jack Hawley.” To the others he said, “If the ship hoists anchor and sets sail, Hawley accepts. If the ship fires her guns, he don’t.”
Martin and the girl climbed into the front of the boat and sat, and the pirates took their places and began rowing. After they’d gone about ten yards from the dock, Martin turned and shouted, “Hear me now! This Abby Winter is a brave girl! Pure of heart and noble spirit, yet not one of ye thought to ask what might happen to her aboard our ship! You are cowards all! Shame on you! Shame, and a curse on your wretched town!”
The pirates stopped rowing. The boat rocked with each quiet swell of waves. Several moments passed. The men on the pier hung their heads.
Demonstrating remarkable balance, Martin stood to his full height in the boat and repeated, “Shame on you! A one hundred…nay, a three hundred year curse on your town begins today!”
Epilogue
Philip Winter: From the time she stepped on the landing boat, to the time The Fortress set sail and left the harbor, and for years afterward, Philip Winter told anyone who would listen that the girl who claimed to be Abby Winter was not she. He also claimed that the pirate Martin was actually a scout for the governor of Florida. Of course, who would take the word of a man who sold his own wife?
Martin: It wasn’t Martin who cursed the town that day, it was Jack Hawley pretending to be Martin. And the girl who claimed to be Abby Winter was actually Johanna Bradford. Jack had her claim to be Abby for one reason only: to punish Philip Winter. Because Philip would likely spend many months searching for his stepdaughter, and would die without ever knowing what became of her.
Mary Bucket: Most midwives kept diaries in which they recorded basic information regarding the births they performed. Few of these journals survived to present day, but one that did revealed that on February 16, 1711, at around three in the afternoon, a midwife named Mary Bucket helped deliver a baby girl named Libby Vail to Henry and Johanna Ames at the home of George and Marie Stout, two miles south of St. Alban’s, Florida. She was assisted by her daughter, Grace, Marie and Rose Stout, and Hester Pim.
When Mary Bucket died, her journal was bequeathed to her church, along with her other worldly possessions. But Mary’s journal wasn’t completely accurate. She’d been persuaded by the child’s father and grandmother to record something that all present knew to be inaccurate. Under normal circumstances, Mary wouldn’t have considered lying about something so important, which is why she initially refused. But then her daughter explained that it was Mr. Pim who had changed her life seven months earlier while on shore leave one night at the Blue Lagoon, Mr. Pim being the man who gave her a five guinea coin, and the belief that not all men were created evil. It had been Mr. Pim who gave Grace the confidence to put whoring behind her and start a new life.
What did Mary Bucket lie about?
In 1711, the chances of a woman dying in childbirth were roughly one in eight, and even with Jack standing at her side, Abby Winter didn’t beat the odds. By substituting Johanna’s name for Abby’s, Little Libby Vail could be raised by Henry and his wife, Johanna Ames, and no one would ever tie her to the woman who saved the town by giving herself to a pirate.
Pim and Hester: Pim and Hester married and settled down in St. Alban’s and raised a family. One of their descendants, Jimbo Pim, still lives there and owns a hardware store that he runs with his childhood friend, Earl Stout.
The Ames Family: Jack, Johanna and Libby left The Fortress north of Charleston, South Carolina, while the crew was on shore leave. Before he left, the crew voted to make their Quarter-Master, Martin, the new captain. Since Jack had given up his name to become Henry Ames, Martin asked permission to use the name Jack Hawley, since it was more intimidating than his own name, Dean Martin. Unfortunately, during that same shore leave, two Charleston sailors joined the crew of The Fortress. The new Jack Hawley made the mistake of docking at St. Alban’s to purchase produce for their upcoming Jamaican voyage, and when the crew disembarked, the sailors identified him to the authorities in St. Alban’s and collected a sizeable reward. While the rest of the crew managed to escape, the new Jack Hawley was captured, tried, convicted and hung for piracy and for causing the murder of thirty soldiers from Amelia Island.
Jack Hawley: Jack bought a small sailing boat and took Johanna and little Libby with him up the coast to New York, where they sold the boat and traveled inland, finally settling near what eventually became known as Bay City, Michigan. He and Johanna built a beautiful house and store, a nicer version of George and Marie’s Outpost. Three years after their nuptials, Jack finally consummated the marriage. A year later, Johanna gave birth to their first of three children, a little girl they named Abby. But after a few years of domesticity, Jack found he couldn’t completely give up his pirate ways, so he bought a fishing boat and equipped it with two small cannons, and for one month each year he’d head to Port Christy and put together a crew of four men. Over the next twelve years he terrorized the Great Lakes, plundering whiskey and venison instead of medicine and gold.
Libby Vail Ames: Libby grew up and married a trapper named Ellis Fink. They had a son they named Jack, and a daughter, Hester. Little Jack was said to have a way about him that settled those in pain. In turn, his great granddaughter became a faith healer in Buffalo. As the generations progressed, the story of Jack Hawley continued to be told. But with each telling, the details became fuzzier. Over the next fourteen generations a half-dozen children were born with the ability to bring peace to the afflicted. There were assorted Libby Vails throughout that time, but never more than a couple in the world at any time. However, by the year 2010 there were actually seven people alive named Libby Vail, four of whom lived in the United States, and all of whom were direct descendants of Jack Hawley.
Rugby: Rugby lived a ripe old age and rarely left Rose’s side. Those who got close enough to see the creature never ceased to marvel at its appearance. Some claimed they’d never seen a cat with feathers before. When Rugby finally passed in 1722, Rose buried her in the crawl space beneath the new church on 8th street, with a necklace around her neck, the one her childhood friend, Johanna, had carved “I Love Rugby” on and given to Rose, along with the cat, just before pretending to save the town of St. Alban’s.
Rose Stout: Some say Rose never existed, others claim she never died. The “never died” folk say she’s aged a bit over the last 300 years, but honestly, who hasn’t? On certain nights along the Atlantic coast, especially during the month of July, when the wind shifts slightly to the east and sea storms begin moving ashore, and a chill hits the air for a split second before all hell breaks loose, and the wind makes the most God-awful shrieking and howling noise, well…
It might not be the wind.
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