“My passengers arrive,” he said.
“And why is that, Mistress?” Ned asked.
“Look at who comes, and you will know that you are not traveling with them.”
Massaquoit and Margaret made their way across the sand to them. He carried a small, wooden chest, which he placed down next to them. Massaquoit took Margaret’s arm and led her to the shallop.
“My uncle says I cannot stay longer with them.”
“We have told Henry and Martha they can stay a fortnight to gather themselves,” Woolsey declared.
“Aye, a fortnight. But they, too, want to put this town at their backs. They leave for Dudley on foot tomorrow. My aunt has a cousin there. I am not welcome. My uncle says he will burn the house down before he leaves. I do not fancy sleeping in the woods.”
“There is the jail,” Woolsey suggested. “Perhaps Jailer Drake can accommodate you.” The thudding of iron against wood increased. Woolsey looked toward the water where two more workers had begun driving in another piling. “There, you can earn your keep in jail, by lending a hand to those fellows.”
“He was a good hand, before this trouble,” Captain Gregory offered. “I would not be displeased to try him again when I return.”
“You will find him working here, or in the jail,” Woolsey said. “Is that agreeable to you young man?”
“It is better than the woods.” He looked toward Massaquoit. “I do not fancy meeting that savage in the dark again.” He looked at Margaret and then Catherine.
“You may have a moment,” she said.
Ned took Margaret’s arm. She shook it free, but walked a few paces away with him. He said a few words, and then trotted off to join the workers. In a moment, he had relieved one of them and was leaning into his chore with enthusiasm. The girl watched Ned work for a few moments and then walked back.
“He asked where I go,” she said.
“He’s sorry,” he said, “it was fear of his uncle, he says.”
“Did you tell him where you would be?” Catherine asked.
“Yes, for he said he might want to come visit his child.”
“Visit, indeed,” Catherine said.
* * * *
“It is time,” Captain Gregory said. Margaret embraced Catherine, and walked into the surf so that she could climb into the shallop, which now bobbed in the gentle waves. Catherine waded out with her to one side, and Massaquoit the other. He heaved her chest over the low side of the shallop to one of the sailors who was ready to ply the oars. Another sailor had his oar dug into the sand steady the boat.
“Are you sure this is what you want?” Catherine asked. “You can stay here with me. You know that.”
Margaret held her beads.
“As long as I have these, I will not rest easy in Newbury, and I am not going to forego them. I have heard of a new plantation where Lord Baltimore has opened the doors for the likes of me.”
Catherine clasped her hands around Margaret’s.
“And when you enter Lord Baltimore’s house, inquire if it is worthy; and if it is abide there with the Lord’s blessings. And if you find it not worthy,” she pressed her hand’s harder around Margaret’s, “shake the dust from your feet and return to Newbury, where my house awaits you.” She released her hold, and Margaret turned toward the shallop. Massaquoit positioned himself next to the boat, and Margaret used his shoulder to lift herself over the side.
“Thank you,” she said to him.
* * * *
Massaquoit stood with Catherine and Woolsey as the shallop made its way, riding the crest of the outgoing tide toward the Good Hope.
“And you, Matthew,” Woolsey said, “do you stay with us in Newbury?”
“I do not know,” Massaquoit replied. “The girl has her people to go to in Maryland. You are among your people here in Newbury. On Munnawtawkit is an old woman roasting a snake in the fire, and she is my people. When she dies, there will be nobody left to call me by my name of Massaquoit. And I do not know if I can ever become ‘Matthew’.”
Catherine pointed to the boulder.
“The wind sometimes rushes against this rock with all its fury, and yet it remains unscathed, and so will you if you stay among us.”
She took Woolsey’s arm and they began to make their way across the beach and to the road that led to Newbury.
Massaquoit squatted for a moment in the sand, looking toward the water and Munnawtawkit. Beyond, he knew, lay Paumonok, but Wequashcook had told him that the English would soon be there, Wequashcook said he would go on ahead of the English so he could be there to greet them and help them to trade with the Montaukets. He had asked Massaquoit to join him there. Perhaps he would. But for now, he stood up, and walked slowly after Catherine and Woolsey, who had not looked back for him.
He walked fast enough to keep them in sight, but not to overtake them. He was not in that much of a hurry to meet this fellow “Matthew.”
Copyright 1999 by Stephen Lewis
Originally published by Berkley Prime Crime; electronically published by Belgrave House in 2004
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
No portion of this ebook may be reprinted in whole or in part, by printing, faxing, E-mail, copying electronically or by any other means without permission of the publisher. For more information, contact Belgrave House, 190 Belgrave Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94117-4228
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This is a work of fiction. All names in this publication are fictitious and any resemblance to any person living or dead is coincidental.
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