The Adventures of Pocahontas and John Rolfe: Book I

Chapter 5: The Devil's in the Details

The Adventures of Pocahontas and John Rolfe: Book I

Chapter 5: The Devil's in the Details

The wind carried the cries of men, women, and children over the bay. Pocahontas fell to her knees, watching helplessly. John Rolfe grasped his chest as he struggled to process the unfolding atrocity. Meeko, Percy, and Flit stared with their mouths open.

The pirates fired another cannon, setting off a violent explosion. It was hard to tell due to the distance, but it appeared to be a French ship in the harbor that was hit. All the vessels bearing the French flag were in flames. The main mast of one fell heavily on the deck of an adjacent ship, causing great damage. The Blood Draw and stolen English supply ship both continued to bombard other burning galleons with more cannon fire.

It appeared to John Rolfe that the town had been attacked first by way of ambush. The evil crewmen were rampaging through the colony on foot killing, maiming, pillaging, and God knew what else. The diplomat knew that the pirates had to be searching for him and Pocahontas. Rolfe bit his lip in melancholy. How had he not foreseen this?

Then again, John Rolfe had been led to believe that St. Augustine was too fortified to be attacked. Why would Bleud and Flame besiege such a heavily-armed settlement that bore little treasure just to capture two hapless deserters? Were they truly that vindictive? And how had they succeeded with only a few hundred men and two ships?

"This is all my fault," Pocahontas whispered below her breath. John Rolfe turned his abrupt attention to her. Tears were streaming down her face. She knitted her brows in anguish and shook her head violently, burying her face in her hands.

"Pocahontas, what do you mean? I..." John Rolfe began, tapering off when she peered up at him with profound grief in her eyes. She truly believed herself responsible.

"There are children. I can hear them crying, John," Pocahontas expressed, devastated by the catastrophe. "If I hadn't gotten my shirt caught on that stupid hook, we could have stuck to your original plan. We could have gotten there first and warned them about the pirates. All those people are dying because of me. Why didn't I just go to bed? If I hadn't been moping around on deck so late, this never would have happened."

John Rolfe shook his head, fervently rejecting the sentiment. He lowered himself to his knees at her side. "Pocahontas, that was an accident. There's no one to blame for this but the murderers responsible," he insisted. "This is what they do. If they hadn't done it here, they would've done it elsewhere. Those men have no honor or regard for life."

Flit buzzed over, landing on Pocahontas's shoulder, and Meeko cooed at her sadly. John Rolfe promptly took notice when Percy raised an ear. The pug dog stared at the battle scene and began to growl. The Englishman looked up as well when his own ears detected a different sort of noise hidden beneath the distant chaos—barking dogs. He jumped to his feet and took Pocahontas by the hand, pulling her up as well. "Come, love! We must leave. Their lives are in God's hands now. There's nothing we can do."

Pocahontas wiped her eyes with the back of her hand and pulled her other arm out of John Rolfe's grip. He peered back at her. "Go where, John? How will we get home now? They've burned all the ships!" she wailed, indicating the devastated port.

John Rolfe planted his hands on his hips, his eyes full of grit. "If they think that's going to stop us, they've got another thing coming. Now, come along. We're heading north," he announced, turning tail. He began to trudge back the way they had come.

Pocahontas blinked, launching herself into a jog. She caught up and followed alongside him at a fast walking pace until they hit the mangroves. They had to crawl through the dense limbs again, though they went slowly this time to avoid getting scratched up. "Is there another settlement?" the Powhatan princess blurted, her heart fluttering in hopeful optimism. John Rolfe shook his head and kept going. Pocahontas frowned, immediately disheartened. "Then why are we going north? What's the point?"