Tuckamore Bay

Captain Webster

Issac took his pipe out of his mouth and looked at it, sighing.

"I really miss this. I miss the smell of the smoke and the taste of the tobacco.

We tried to grow our own tobacco, but had little luck. It was barely a smokable product."

"Ise don't like peoples smokin' in my 'ouse anyway," Nanny Dove smirked.

Matty leaned on Bill's shoulder and patted his chest.

"Not a word, my love. Not worth the effort."

Bill agreed and immediately turned his attention back to Issac.

"So things got fucked up, you were saying?"

"It was early May, when we pulled into the harbour of St. John's on the east side of the New Found Land. We were only a week or so from Boston, but the weather seemed to be changing so the Captain, a Captain Fredricks, decided that we should put into port. It would also give us a chance to get off the ship and stretch our sea legs and for the crew to replenish the water and other supplies. And at that point a few extra days longer was no real effort on our part. We felt we were safe and well on our way to Boston.

About half of the adults left the ship and went into town, while the others stayed at dock with the children and to keep an eye on our personal belongings. We spent a wonderful day in the town, but upon arrival back at the Emily Rose, things seemed to have taken a slight turn.

We were informed that Captain Fredricks had taken sick suddenly and had to remain in St. John's. There was never any mention as to what actually befell him, but it must have been contagious because his subordinates were also replaced."

"So there was a whole new crew?" Matty wondered, as she hurried to the kitchen to get us a beer.

Issac nodded.

"The Cartwell Merchant Company did have a representative in the port of St. John's, so at first I felt no reason to question the change and in all honesty the new Captain and his ranking crew seemed to be a quite agreeable group of people.

We spent one more day in port, although the Captain, a fellow by the name of Landers, would not allow anyone to leave the ship.

He said we had to stay aboard for fear of catching the illness that had befallen the former Captain Fredricks.

Again, there was no reason to doubt the Captain, as illness during that time could spread very quickly and the outcome was far less than pleasant if you did fall sick.

We set sail the next morning, May 9, 1798 for what should have been a short trip to the port of Boston.

But just two days into the sail, I realized that something was not right. Instead of setting to the open seas and heading south west, the Emily Rose was hugging the shoreline and heading directly west."

"Dey bes 'şailin' to da west coast of da province den," Nanny Rose interjected.

"Deys be takin' another course."

"Dat bes right Matilda," Issac laughed.

Nanny Dove stopped rocking and knitting and stared at Issac.

"Youse be sounding' like Willam dere when 'e bes tryin' to sound like a Newf. Youse best stick to what youse is, Poppy."