Easton Read online

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  National Library of Canada Cataloguing in Publication

  Butler, Paul, 1964-

  Easton : a novel/Paul Butler.

  e-isbn - 978-1-926881-31-7

  Cataloguing data available from Library and Archives Canada

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  Copyright © 2004 by Paul Butler

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. No part of the work covered by the copyright hereon may be reproduced or used in any form or by any means—graphic, electronic or mechanical—without the written permission of the publisher. Any request for photocopying, recording, taping or information storage and retrieval systems of any part of this book shall be directed to the Canadian Reprography Collective, 379 Adelaide Street West, Suite M1, Toronto, Ontario M5V 1S5. This applies to classroom use as well.

  Cover photo © Dale Wilson

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  To Maura

  My deep appreciation goes to everyone at Flanker Press, particularly to Garry Cranford, Jerry and Margo Cranford, Brian Power, Bob Woodworth, to Laura Cameron for valuable input as well as to Vera MacDonald and Dick Buehler for proofreading. My gratitude also to the City of St. John’s and also to the Writers’ Alliance of Newfoundland and Labrador (WANL).

  Prologue

  1611. Pirates infest the oceans of the world. King James I of England is committed to peace and frowns upon the practice of English-owned ships raiding foreign vessels and towns along the coasts of Europe, Africa and the Americas. However, privateers who plundered and pillaged in the name of the Crown under Queen Elizabeth will not give up their freedom and licence just because the Crown has had a change of heart. Lacking the King’s authority for their activities, these commanders have turned to piracy. The few temporary English colonies and “plantations” along the shores of Newfoundland live in terror of the many pirate fleets which prey on lucrative cargoes of salt cod and threaten to requisition both men and weapons for their own purposes. As the plantations of Newfoundland prepare for the winter, admiral of the fishing fleet of St. John’s, Richard Whitbourne, sees his worst fear come true. One of the world’s most notorious pirates has just sailed into St. John’s harbour with ten well-armed ships. The pirate’s name is Peter Easton.

  Chapter One

  The flag billows like freshly laundered bed linen, rippling and dancing high on the mast of the grand square-sailed frigate. Its red cross is like a gash in virgin snow, bold and startling. Richard stares though the glass as though under a spell, as if the constant motion might unfurl some answer to his predicament.

  Hearing footsteps approaching, Richard turns away from the window and gazes hard at the papers on his desk. He doesn’t want any of his men to see him staring at the pirate flagship. It’s business as usual, he wants his demeanor to convey. He fumbles with the papers on his desk, blushing slightly and tilting his head from the door.

  A piping voice speaks up as though reading his thoughts.

  “It’s a beauty isn’t it, sir?” the child says.

  It’s Tom Spurrell, the messenger.

  Am I really so nervous that I cannot tell the footsteps of a boy from a man? Richard thinks, admonishing himself.

  “Boy,” he says. “Tell Captain Dawson I need to see him.”

  “Yes, sir,” the messenger says quietly, still looking through the window. “Is there going to be a battle, sir?” The question is asked with an innocence that nearly floors Richard.

  “Go!” the admiral bellows after a pause, and the boy skitters like a rabbit out of the office. The room is silent again. Richard turns to the window once more, his gaze drawn to the cannons of the great resting flagship, their polished open mouths pointing toward his own offices and fortifications. He can see the crew from where he is. They are as ragged and wiry as all seamen as they kneel and climb and scurry upon the deck like ants. They are dressed like pirates too, in shirts and tunics made of old sail tarred for waterproofing. Their appearance, indeed, is worse than the meanest of wood savages who roam godless amidst the dark forests. But there is something different about them as well. There is no officer in sight. Yet, as Richard watches a skinny sailor climb up the rigging like a spider, he becomes aware of how hard they are all working, how tireless and focused their efforts despite a total lack of the whip or any visible supervision.

  He hears footsteps, louder than before. He turns again to face the door and sits down behind his desk. In a moment Captain George Dawson appears, his features alert like a fox. His red hair sticks up, quivering, as he marches toward the desk and composes himself. Tom Spurrell has followed the captain in. The boy now emerges from behind Dawson and stands by his side as though he too were to be part of the conference.

  “You sent for me, Admiral?” says Dawson stiffly.

  “Yes, Captain,” Richard replies. “I want you to board the Mary Rose tonight and prepare to set sail for Cuper’s Cove at first light. Once there you are to help advise and protect John Guy’s colony and look out for any pirate activity.”

  “Yes, Admiral,” Dawson replies. But his eyes have become intense and his tongue pokes out as though he were preparing to speak.

  “Is the order clear?”

  “Clear, sir, but—”

  “Your duty,” Richard interrupts in the sternest voice he can muster, “will be to help save Guy’s plantation, both people and supplies, even if it means hiding the Mary Rose and retreating toward the interior.”

  “Retreating, Admiral?” Dawson whispers emphatically. He licks his lips again and springs forward, bringing his folded knuckles into contact with the surface of Richard’s desk. “Is it really appropriate for His Majesty’s navy to run from such a rogue as Easton?”

  Richard folds his arms slowly over his chest.

  Tom Spurrell’s gaze darts between Richard and Dawson, clearly sensing drama.

  Richard fixes Dawson with his stare and then looks at Tom Spurrell.

  “Out, boy!” he booms. The lad scampers once more out of the room.

  Richard turns his attention to Dawson. He watches the young man’s indignation, waiting for it to subside. And sure enough, Captain Dawson stops, gulps, takes his hands off the table and stands up straight, shuffling his feet.

  “But, Admiral,” he begins more softly, “what are your plans regarding the pirate fleet now resting off our harbour?”

  Richard allows himself a little smile.

  “What would you have me do, Captain?” he replies at last.

  The young man’s eyes narrow and his face seems to flush. “I’m sorry if I spoke out of turn, sir, but the situation demands immediate action—”

  “The situation,” interrupts Richard, “demands thought.” He pauses and watches the young captain. “Thought, Captain, not rash recourse to arms.” He sighs, stands and turns to look through the window again. “Think of my predicament, sir. You are my best trained, quickest and most promising officer. Yet you would turn yourself into cannon fodder in a moment without a thought.”

  Dawson is silent. Richard turns to see him staring at the floor, red-faced and uncertain.

  Richard continues in a whisper, “I am commissioned to fight piracy, Captain, an honour of which I am most proud. Do you think I would miss any chance to carry out such a commission?” He breathes in slowly, looking toward the insolently rolling flag once more. “But am I equipped to fight an enemy which outnumbers us three to one and has a
n arsenal of cannons which is at this very moment, Captain Dawson, trained upon our fortifications? We are far from England, sir,” he adds with a tired sigh.

  “How dare he fly St. George’s Cross,” the young man merely comments, his face still pink and averted from his master.

  “He dares,” Richard mumbles, “because there is no one to stop him and he knows it. He can create whatever illusion of virtue he pleases and we are in no position to challenge him.”

  “Can we not at least fire a cannon across his bow to show we will be no pushover?”

  Richard laughs and circles back toward his chair. “Captain Dawson, listen to me,” he says, still standing.

  The captain looks up.

  “We have a responsibility to preserve this little piece of the New World and keep it loyal to the Crown. We are not at liberty to expend ourselves like a small part of a greater army. Under such circumstances as we find ourselves, Captain Dawson, we must ascertain what our visitor is asking of us and make no move of any kind until we know.”

  Captain Dawson is chastened, his head bobbing like a submissive colt.

  Richard smiles slightly. “You must not be ashamed of valour, Captain Dawson. It flows freely in the veins of the young. Only age can give it the discretion of patience and maturity.”

  The young captain is quiet for another moment. Then he gazes toward the window. Dusk is beginning to spill over the rounded hills and hollows which shelter St. John’s harbour.

  “What do you think he wants?” Dawson asks in a quiet voice.

  Richard thinks for a moment.

  “Supplies perhaps,” he answers. “They have been on the run for some time. A young officer, Henry Mainwaring, was commissioned by the King to bring him to justice. He has obviously failed. It must be supplies and perhaps men.”

  They are both silent, staring through the glass. The flagship looks so clean and undaunted, its cannons polished and sparkling in the sunset like a bird in summer plumage.

  “Then why have they not approached and parleyed?”

  “So that they can create exactly the effect they are creating. So that when they do ask for something, we will sigh with relief and give it gladly, grateful not to be destroyed.”

  “It’s not what I expected his fleet to look like,” says the young man humbly. All trace of bravado and indignation vanished. Richard hears in his hushed tones something of the grudging admiration he himself feels.

  “Nor I,” he replies simply.

  “But he is a traitor and a rogue,” Dawson insists, “even with his polished cannons and unbattered sails.”

  “Indeed,” Richard agrees with a sigh. “He is a traitor.”

  Even as he speaks the words he feels his judgment pulling in the opposite direction. What manner of rogue would wait at the very mouth of a free port so clearly within the sphere of the English Crown and navy? What kind of traitor would set his crew scurrying upon the deck cleaning and hauling like some noble army of antiquity preparing to face the final judgment of their gods?

  “It’s his protector in England who gives him such confidence,” Dawson pursues as though trying to convince himself. “He has such a protector, Admiral, does he not?”

  “The family of Killigrew,” Richard answers in soft, measured tones. “A powerful influence at Court it’s true, and a great force in Falmouth and the Bristol Channel.”

  “So there’s nothing so impressive about it,” Dawson persists.

  Richard finds himself smiling again.

  “Nothing impressive,” he echoes, merely trying to keep the young man’s spirit up. The renegade thought surfaces that Easton is a very long way from his protector now, yet his ship is pristine and its bearing noble even after fleeing the King’s justice. In reality he knows that neither kings nor protectors can help either party now. They are in a place where honour and justice are found within each human heart or not at all.

  “Well,” says Richard after another pause, “traitor or no, we await his pleasure. I will stay here tonight. Go to the Mary Rose, Dawson. You have your instructions.”

  Captain Dawson stirs himself and takes a couple of steps to the door.

  “Whatever happens, Dawson,” Richard says, “do not fire a gun or cannon without my explicit instruction.”

  “Sir,” he says. Richard catches a frustrated look on the captain’s face as he strides out of the room.

  The fire hisses and the room gets colder. Richard stares out of the windows into the night. A constant orange glow comes from a cabin of the great flagship like a devil’s eye, piercing the blackness. There are no visible stars. The rugged hills surrounding the harbour crouch in the darkness, almost indistinguishable from the heavy, dark sky.

  Richard gauges every creak of the room as though it could be the movement of the far off enemy sending tiny vibrations through the motionless night. The hours of darkness will be long and tense, he reminds himself. Pace yourself. Don’t let vigilance turn into imagination.

  Suddenly there is a creak more alien than the others and then surely the splashing of an oar somewhere in the darkness. The window is an inch open for ventilation. Richard stands and goes to the glass. Looking out he sees nothing but the devil’s eye of the far off cabin. But he listens for the noise once more. Those of his own men not already aboard the Mary Rose have orders to stay off the water tonight. If there really was a splash then it had to be one of Easton’s men.

  But silence descends on the night once more. Richard waits a few more moments then goes back to his seat. He stares once more at the crackling fire. A bone-weary tiredness begins to come over him. The fire draws him back to England, to images of the retirement he has often longed for—the featherbed and the muffled sound of a lute, the face of a lady he once knew. She is dressed in finest silks and gliding rather than walking toward him, her light hair flowing freely...

  And then there is a noise—a knock violent and unwelcome.

  Richard lurches forward in his chair, knowing he has been on the borderline of sleep. The door groans open.

  Standing in the doorway are two men, neither particularly alarming in appearance. The younger has a single pistol twisted in a knot in his belt. His coat and tunic are well made, buttons sewn tight and polished. Next to him is an older man. One ear is mostly missing—only the jagged reddened edge remains, like a series of boils on the side of his head. Although his clothes are rougher than those of his companion, he stands erect and looks straight ahead like a soldier, not a rogue.

  “We apologize for disturbing you, sir,” says the younger man.

  Richard nods and slowly stands.

  “Who do I have the pleasure of addressing?”

  The young man stiffens and clears his throat.

  “We are merely emissaries of our noble lord, sir,” he begins as though reciting a prepared speech. “We deserve no special attention from you.” He coughs again and then continues. “We have been asked to convey our master’s compliments and to beg you to do him the very great honour of being his guest tonight aboard the Happy Adventure to sup or dine or whatever is your pleasure.”

  The young man and his companion continue to stare straight ahead and Richard pauses for a moment. Of all possibilities this was the one he expected least. Only two men, respectful and poorly armed for buccaneers. He was prepared to see muskets and boarding axes on any who were to venture on land, and he had expected a small army.

  “This is most kind of your noble lord, sirs,” Richard says, “but it is far more fitting that I myself, being the host of this settlement, should extend my own hospitality to your captain.” Richard catches sight of the burning eye of the Happy Adventure’s cabin as he talks. Has he been watched all evening? They seemed to have not the slightest doubt who he was or where to find him. “Will you return to your lord and ask him with all civility and good wishes if he will join me here to sup?”

  The young man looks down, clears his throat again and addresses Richard as formally as before. “Honoured sir, our captain t
old us to expect such a true and hospitable answer from one of such unquestioned nobility. But he will not hear of it.” He coughs abruptly, then resumes. “He knows well that those in the plantations hereabouts are too encumbered by the trials of day-to-day living to be put out by receiving visitors. So he asked us to let you know that he wishes to bear full responsibility and burden for all hospitality. Our master will hear no refusal.”

  The man finishes his speech and continues to look straight ahead without blinking.

  Richard nods and smiles slightly, knowing this stage of the battle is lost.

  “Give me a moment and I’ll be with you.”

  The two men turn straightaway and march into the small corridor beyond the room. Richard takes his coat and adjusts his sword. He thinks about his pistol, but leaves it. No invitation to dinner can be answered by a man who is so armed and they are clearly playing a courtly game; he will abide by the rules and take merely his sword.

  The black water laps against the sides of the Happy Adventure, making a noise like a dog licking milk from a bowl. The moon has started to show at last, a couple of stars peeking through the clearing clouds. Richard climbs up the rope ladder behind the older of the two men. The dampness from the water seems to rise and seep into his bones. The vision from his dream of the lady in silks and the feather bed returns. What obscene parody of that vision might he find aboard? The annals of piracy are filled with stories of degradations too terrible to name. Easton is surely no exception to that. A man at sea is a man at sea.

  Richard’s sheathed sword bumps against the side on the way up until he reaches the deck rail. The older of the companions lends his hand as Richard climbs over. The younger man climbs aboard after Richard.

  “Follow me, sir,” he says.

  They walk along the deck toward a large, handsomely mounted series of cabins. They pass a huge, well-muscled man who stands shirtless by the deck rail, his arms folded, a large knife enfolded in a linen sash across his belly. He is expressionless, looking out into nothing. Farther along the deck there is another such sentry, his skin as dark as chocolate, strange black markings on his arm like notches carved in a tree. Their nakedness and their lack of firearms make both men seem all the more fearsome, as though sheer brute strength and courage is all they need.