Chapter 29
“Mr. Ashby, there you are.” Mr. Weiss appeared from a room in the front of the chapel. “I thought you might have given up on our ledgers.” He chuckled and stood behind his wife, who had rejoined us a few minutes earlier. He placed his hands on her shoulders affectionately and she smiled up at him.
“Not at all. Ledgers are what I live for.” Mr. Ashby set down his hymnal and stood. “I’m ready when you are.”
“Have you finished what you were doing here?”
“I only made one book, but I feel satisfied with it. Unless you’d prefer I stay and continue?” he asked both Weisses at once.
“Go on with your business, dears. We’re perfectly fine.” Mrs. Weiss patted her husband’s hand on her shoulder.
“Very well, come on, then, Ashby.”
Just as they turned to go, the doors to the chapel burst open. Mrs. Bowers and Whisper rushed into the building with white faces. “Get the children to safety,” Mrs. Bowers ordered.
Everyone was on their feet. “What on earth?” Mrs. Weiss breathed as she placed a hand over her heart. “What has happened? Is the mission in danger?”
Whisper nodded. “The planters on the St. Kitts Assembly have come to an agreement that this mission is putting their businesses in jeopardy. I anticipate a fight. We must get anyone unable to defend themselves to safety.”
Mrs. Bowers stood tall and spoke with authority. “Let’s move. We have no time to waste.”
We split up. I went with Mr. Ashby without thinking, and we gathered women and children, trying to avoid causing too much alarm. Unfortunately, being told to evacuate did not paint a calm picture.
“Take everyone to the house,” Mrs. Bowers ordered. “I’ll stay here with Mr. Weiss and Whisper. Slate, call for Dan and Robert. They’ll intimidate those tyrants. Perhaps we can avoid fighting.” Among the children she had gathered were several I’d met earlier. They ran to me and clung to my dress.
I tried to soothe their worries. “Do not fear, we will keep you safe.”
Graham and Mrs. Weiss had women and children with them as well, but before we could set off for the house, a group of hostile men marched into the mission.
We were surrounded by more men than I’d anticipated.
I thought it would only be the owners and overseers, but there were also enslaved men armed with scythes and pitchforks.
“Slate, go,” Mrs. Bowers said urgently to Graham. He took off inconspicuously to avoid the mob that had us backed up against the chapel.
Mrs. Bowers and Whisper stood in front of us protectively. “What is the meaning of this, Mr. Grant?” Mrs. Bowers asked the man in front of the mob.
He sneered at her. “The Assembly has voted on it, and we have come to the decision to dissolve this mission and take over your plantation.”
Mrs. Bowers snorted. “You can try.” She walked straight up to him and put her nose in his face. “I’ve been here much longer than you gentlemen. My husband established this estate almost thirty years ago. I won’t be driven out by the likes of you.”
Another man came forward and pushed Mrs. Bowers’s shoulder. “Look here, Mistress Bowers. You may have inherited this plantation, but you’re just a woman. We can seize your land whenever we see fit.”
“Not if I report you to the Privy Council.” She stood with the posture of a soldier, daring him to touch her again.
Laughter rippled among the planters. “By the time it reaches England, you’ll have been driven out.
” Mr. Grant looked around him. “I think you’ll find us very generous.
We’ll even buy your land so you can find a new home elsewhere.
Maybe you can take your little mission to another island. But you will leave St. Kitts.”
Mr. Weiss spoke up. “This mission was established by God as a place of refuge for those who seek Him. It is not something that can be dissolved. So I suggest you leave before I report you to the Church for threatening the ministry.” He pointed his finger at them.
“Our headquarters are located in North Carolina. That means we have the backing of the United States of America. Do you wish to go against the U.S. Navy?” I knew Mr. Weiss was bluffing, but I silently applauded his efforts.
The headquarters may have been in North Carolina, but the United States would not fight this battle.
“Preacher, you have no power here. Go back to headquarters. You’ll have no followers after today.” The mob began to close in.
Just then, there was a terrible boom that came from far below us. With the mob obscuring our view, we couldn’t confirm what it was, but we all knew. Cannon fire from the shoreline.
Captain Jacque Corsaire was finally taking revenge on the Maelstrom by attacking the farm that funded it.
Mr. Grant’s smile confirmed our fears. “Looks like our allies have arrived.”
“No!” Mrs. Bowers cried, running into the mob frantically. Hands grabbed her and threw her back toward us. “You cannot do this!” she shrieked at them. “You monsters!”
The children began to cry and we tried to shush them, but I felt like crying as well. I hugged those closest to me. “It’ll be all right. We’ll make it through this,” I whispered.
“Monsters, are we?” Mr. Grant said, one hand on his hip as he leaned toward her.
“We’re only protecting what’s ours. Anyone, any court, would agree that your mission destroys our profits more than recent policies passed by Parliament.
Putting thoughts of equality into the minds of slaves brings every kind of mischief.
” He flared his nostrils and raised his voice.
“If we left it to people like you, we would be bankrupt in a year.”
A commotion began on one side of the mob, sounds of yelling and fighting from the back startling everyone. Dan and Robert must have arrived.
“Go!” Whisper ordered. He led us all past the chapel and into the woods on the far side of the mission. Did they have somewhere to hide all of these people, or were we running blindly to escape from the fray?
“What about Graham?” I asked Mr. Ashby. My eyes were wide with worry, possibly terror. “What if he…what if the pirates…?”
“It’ll be fine. We’ll all be fine.” He said it like he believed it. I endeavored to believe it, too.
We ran, going deeper and deeper into the jungle, and mostly uphill.
Finally, we reached a cave with a hidden opening that seemed to be our aim.
Whisper led everyone inside. It was enormous, but it wasn’t all natural.
It seemed someone had made it larger artificially.
The mission had prepared for everything, it seemed.
There were supplies in crates along the cave walls, and I wondered how long someone might survive here.
The women and children began settling down quickly, as if they knew exactly how to hide from danger.
To think how many times they must have run in fear filled me with anguish.
Then the thought of another person who may be in danger hit me squarely in the chest.
“Let’s go,” I told Mr. Ashby.
He raised his eyebrows. “Back to the mission?”
Shaking my head, I took his hand. “No, to the big house. Patrice. We have to be sure she is safe.”
“And leave everyone here?”
I looked around at the people we’d been able to protect. “What else can we do?”
“Go,” I heard Whisper say as he snuck up behind us in his silent way.
“We can last here, and we have backup coming. Dan and Robert came, so many others will follow. If you have someone you need to keep safe, you should go to them.” His eyes were sincere and valiant.
This man understood the meaning of righteousness.
“Mrs. Weiss and I can take care of everyone here.”
“Then we’ll leave them to you,” Mr. Ashby said, squeezing my hand. “Come, it’s a long way back.”
“There’s a trail that leads east. It parallels the mission, so you won’t run into the mob.” Whisper gave us directions.
We took the trail at a run. It was amazing what the body could do in urgent situations.
My heart pushed my feet toward the estate without needing a break at all, even though I had very little experience with running.
We stopped at the edge of a cliff, overlooking the house, farm, and the shore beyond.
As I thought, there was L’Audacieux, in the same bay as the Maelstrom—which was on fire.
My heart stuttered. Not only was the ship up in flames, but the outskirts of the farm burned as well.
If it spread, all the crops would be destroyed and the people’s livelihood would be gone.
Mr. Ashby and I looked at each other, nodded once, then found a way down together.
We began running again as soon as we reached level ground.
The pirates had come ashore and there was fighting all around us.
Mr. Ashby and I had no weapons, no way to defend ourselves, so we tried to stay hidden, crouching behind outbuildings and bushes as we made our way to the house.
My breathing was ragged, my heart was racing, and my fear was mounting.
What if they had already gotten to Patrice?
We were about to stand and make our last effort to reach the house, when right in front of us a pirate faced a worker.
The latter had a machete. But the pirate had a gun. As the worker dropped, I gasped.
Mr. Ashby covered my mouth, but too late.
The pirate had seen us. Mr. Ashby picked up the downed man’s machete and charged the pirate, wasting no time to get the upper hand.
The pirate had no time to reload, so it became a hand-to-hand fight.
I recalled Mr. Ashby aboard the Katarina, climbing the shrouds and working the lines.
He was strong, even if he seemed bookish.
He won in the end with a loud thud to the pirate’s skull. I cringed slightly at the sound.
“Is he…dead?” I asked, even though I knew the answer.