The Pirates of Eagle Station

By Marion

The story of the Whidah, which Ben tells, is a real legend. I had intended to work it into Home is the Sailor, but it didn't quite fit. So, I thought it would be a fun little piece. This takes place shortly after Ben comes back from California but before "What Makes a Man?" Everyone in the family gets involved in this one.

The usual disclaimers - that is, I only wish these guys were mine, but they aren't. And, once again, thanks to Nancy, her red pen and her kind words. (Also, she's the one who inspired Joe's interest in pirates. He seems to like them in her stories!)

(Adam)

"Pa?" The wheedling tone in Joe's voice made me look up from my studies. I recognized the tone. He wanted something, and he thought Pa was going to say no. This would be interesting.

I heard Pa sigh as he put down his pencil. He recognized the tone, too. "Yes, Joe?"

"Pa, could you tell us a story, please?"

Ut-oh. Joe had already asked for a story and Pa had already said no. Didn't Joe know better than to ask again? Especially when Pa was working on the books. Still, if anyone could get around Pa it was Joe.

"Joseph…" Pa's voice held a warning that I had learned to heed at a very young age.

"The reason I'm askin' again Pa is cuz I was wonderin' if you could tell a story about Grandfather Cartwright, you know, who I'm named for."

Pa considered him for a minute. "Joseph, I'll tell you what. You go get ready for bed while I finish the books and then I will tell you a very short story. But when I'm done, you need to go right to bed."

"Okay, Pa." Joe scampered off to his room. I must have made some noise in disbelief because Pa looked at me.

"Do you have something you want to say, Adam?"

I shook my head. "No, Pa." That was a lie and he knew it. I wanted to ask how Joe got away with things that I wouldn't have even dared try. But Pa knew that's what I was thinking and saying it aloud would put him in a worse mood, so it seemed pointless.

Pa had been in a bad mood since he came back from California a month ago. I thought it was because of Ma losing the baby. He took that hard, though whether because of the baby or whether because he felt like he had failed Ma by not being there, I wasn't sure. She sure didn't hold it against him. Then I thought it was because of money. He doesn't share the books with me, but I know money's tight. I expect getting here cost more than he thought. Then, we were stuck in Eagle Station while he was in California. He worked some there, but there was no work here for me. We used up a lot of our savings and things were so expensive in California that Pa wasn't able to save much. Money's getting a little better now that he and I are working at the new store that a couple opened a few weeks ago, so I don't know why he's still in such a bad mood. I've been thinking that something happened while he was in California. I don't know what, but that's the only way to explain his bad mood. Then again, maybe he's just sick of living in this boarding house. I know I am.

The sound of a door closing jolted me from my thoughts. Joe was back. Pa had settled in his chair by the fireplace. Ma was already sitting on her chair opposite his. She smiled at Joe and picked up her mending. Joe's pants, by the look of it. I was an active kid when I was 10, but even I didn't cause Ma to have so much mending.

Joe sat himself at Pa's feet. Erik was already on the sofa, waiting. I figured I wasn't going to get any studying done, so I left my books on the table and settled in next to Erik. Maybe a story would put Pa in a better mood.

(Marie)

I could tell Adam wanted to say something to his father about Benjamin consenting to tell a story when he had already said no. I was glad to see that he held his tongue; Benjamin has been in a bad mood since his return from California and I would have hated to see Adam bear the brunt. Adam is such a good son, to his father and to me. Truly, I do not know what I would have done had Adam not been with me when I lost the baby. I am so blessed with my sons.

I have been concerned about Benjamin since his return. He has been wracked with guilt even when I have assured him that I did not hold his absence against him. He went to California to clear the way for our arrival, not on some whim. He is concerned only for his family. I think perhaps something else happened, but when I ask, he says it is nothing. Benjamin complains when Adam will not speak of what troubles him, but myself, I think it is a skill the son has learned from the father. Edward told me once that was always Benjamin's way even as a boy; he said it was the New Englander in him.

Ahh, Adam sat next to his brother. He pretends he is too old for stories, but when his father starts to speak, he is again the eight-year-old boy I first met. Well, not quite, but we have put our differences behind us long ago. I too, enjoy hearing Benjamin's stories. I think he learned to tell them on the ocean, where there is not much to do when work is done.

"I'm going to tell you the tale of Goody Hallett, the wreck of the Whidah and the pirate's gold."

Joseph almost leaped to his feet. "Pirates!" His father looked as he does and Joseph sat again, ready to listen.

"As I was saying, long ago on Cape Cod, near where my father was raised, but long before he was born, there lived a woman, Maria Hallett. When she was sixteen, she fell in love with a pirate, Captain "Black Sam" Bellamy."

"What'd he look like, Pa?" Benjamin regarded Joseph a moment, then smiled. I could tell Benjamin was going to "launch a whopper" as he says sometimes about our boys. He had no idea what this pirate looked like, but that was not going to stop him from making it up.

"Well, Joseph, he was a tall man, taller than me, with dark black hair, which he wore long and tied in the back. He walked with a limp, caused, they say, by an injury he received during a fight with a British warship. His right eye was covered with a patch because of another injury during that same fight. All pirates have patches, you know." Joseph's eyes were wide, and he nodded his agreement. I was forced to cover my mouth to keep from laughing. "Despite the eye patch, he was still a handsome and charismatic man…"

"What's charismatic?"

"That means people were drawn to him; they couldn't help liking him even though they knew he was a pirate. Well, he met Maria Hallett and he sweet talked her and convinced her that he loved her. Supposedly there was even talk of a marriage after he returned from the Caribbean. He left in September."

"Several months after he left…" Benjamin hesitated. I could tell he was trying to figure how to explain something to Joseph. Given the story thus far, I knew what he was trying to explain.

"That is, after he left, everyone was scandalized because Maria had loved a pirate and the townspeople threw her in jail. She went insane while there. She would escape frequently and she would wander the dunes of Eastham looking for her missing love. Finally the people of Eastham grew sick of her and threw her out of the town. She settled in South Wellfleet, the next town over and lived in a small shack near the beach.

"Years past, and she was no longer beautiful. In fact, people began to say she was a witch. In 1717, many years later, Captain Bellamy returned to the Cape on his ship the Whidah. A terrible storm blew up and the Whidah was sunk, all hands lost. People say that Goody Hallett stood on the bluffs and gave thanks to the Devil for the vengeance."

"Goody? Pa you said her name was Maria."

Ah Joseph, I had wondered the same thing.

"Goody wasn't a name, it was a title, like Mrs. It was used for older women. At any rate, Joseph, the legend says that Goody Hallett retrieved a chest of gold from the wreck and buried it near her shack. She died without telling anyone the truth."

Benjamin stopped and Joseph looked puzzled. "Pa?" His father looked down at him. "I thought this was going to be about Grandfather Cartwright."

"When your grandfather was a boy, he lived in Eastham with his uncle and aunt and their three sons. Uncle John told that very story to the boys. They were so excited about the idea of buried pirate treasure near them that they spent days scouring the dunes for a spot that they thought fit the story. They found it and spent almost an entire day digging holes in the area around a small gray cottage they found. Unfortunately for them, they were still in Eastham, not Wellfleet, and the house belonged to the Widow Jones, not to Goody Hallett. She knew who they were and reported them to Uncle John."

"What did he do?" Again, I had to hide my smile. Mon petit Joseph was so excited by the story that he could not sit still.

"Well, Father never said, but I knew my great-uncle fairly well, so I had a good idea that neither my father nor his cousins enjoyed sitting to supper for a long while afterwards." Benjamin smiled as I have not seen him smile for a long time.

"Adam, as it happens, it's a very good thing your grandfather got into trouble that day." Adam looked startled. "My great-aunt and great-uncle became good friends with the Widow Jones and one day, she introduced her niece, Jennie, to them. They in turn, introduced Jennie to Abel Stoddard." Now Adam smiled shyly and I understood. The niece was the mother of Benjamin's first wife. I was glad he told Adam that. I know Benjamin finds it difficult to speak of Elizabeth and I think that is not good for Adam. My sister once asked why I was not jealous of Benjamin's first wives, but I cannot find it in my heart to be so. He does not compare me to them, and I know they helped make him the man I love. They have given me two wonderful sons to raise so I can only thank them for these gifts and say prayers for their eternal rest.

Benjamin patted Joseph on the head. "Son, we made a bargain, remember?"

Joseph nodded as he stood. He kissed me goodnight, then he kissed his father. Too soon, I thought, he would not do that. He is growing so fast. Erik and Adam stood to follow him. My husband and I were left alone. He turned to me with a different kind of smile that I had not seen since he left for California. It was just as well that the two oldest have decided to retire early.

(Erik)

Dang. I knew Pa shouldn'ta told Joe a story about pirates. I mean, I liked the story well enough, but the story got Joe all fired up. We hadta shush him a dozen times so's Pa wouldn't come in. Pa comin' in after we're supposed to be sleepin' is a bad thing. Even after he stopped talkin', Joe was tossin' and turnin' all night. Sure enough, next mornin' durin' chores, he asks me iffen I think there's pirates in Eagle Station.

"Don't be dumb, Joe. There ain't an ocean in Eagle Station, so how could there be pirates?"

"Well, there's the lake."

I thought on that a minute. The lake was awfully big. Nah. "I ain't never seen a big enough ship on the lake."

That quieted Joe down for all of three seconds. "Well, you ain't never been to the lake for days at a time. One could just be hidin'."

"Aw, that's just plain dumb, Joe. Pirates gotta have somethin' ta steal, don't they? What're they gonna get on the lake? A Paiute canoe or somethin'?"

"Well, maybe we just oughta go and check it out. Imagine how Pa'd be if we surprised him with pirate gold."

I shook my head. "All I can imagine is Pa yellin' or worse iffen we sneak off to the lake without askin' permission. You know he don't let us ride so far alone. He'd have our hides fer sure if we went off by ourselves."

Well, that finally knocked the wind outta Joe's sails, as Pa would say. He was real quiet all durin' the rest o' chores and all durin' breakfast. I shoulda known he wouldn't stay quiet for long.

Sure enough, after breakfast Pa gave us permission to go play, as long as we stayed away from trouble. Sometimes, though, trouble just can't stay away from us, 'specially Joe.

We were walkin' around town lookin' at the new buildings when Joe started grabbin' at my sleeve.

"What?" I hate that grabbin'.

"Look" he whispered. I looked where he was pointin' and saw a man with an eye patch.

"So what?"

"Pa said that pirate fella had an eye patch. He's gotta be a pirate."

"Aw, Joe, that's dumb."

"C'mon. Let's follow him and see if he's got gold."

Well, the fella and his buddy was headin' the same way we was, so I didn't see no harm in followin' them. We got close enough so's we could hear somea what they were sayin' too. I thought Joe's eyes were gonna fall outta his head when we heard the word "gold."

Suddenly I started to think Joe was makin' sense. Adam's always tellin' me that the minute Joe starts makin' sense to me, I oughta go home and tie myself to the bed. Maybe then I'd stay outta trouble with Pa. But those times was different. Pa was gonna be so proud of us, findin' pirate treasure.

(Joe)

Once we heard the man say gold, I knew Erik was gonna realize I knew what I was talkin' about. Sure enough, I could tell he was startin' to think like me. Everyone says Adam's smart, but if he's so smart, how come he never found pirate treasure?

We followed the men to a shed. I heard Patch-eye say to the other fella that the gold was in that shed. Quick as a wink, Erik and I figured out that we'd follow them and when they went inta the shed, we'd slam the door closed and lock it. Then we'd have the pirates and their treasure. I could just picture how happy everyone was gonna be, knowin' that they didn't have ta worry about pirates on the lake no more.

Sure enough, Patch-eye and his friend went inta the shed. Erik slammed the door behind them and we rolled some barrels in front of the door so they couldn't get out. We went tearin' out ta the store to find Pa. He was talkin' to some man we didn't know. We tried gettin' his attention without sayin' anything but he just kept on talkin'. Well, I reckoned he was gonna be so proud of us for capturin' the pirates that he wouldn't scold for interupptin'.

"Pa! Pa!"

He frowned at me. "Joseph, I'm speaking with the Territorial Marshall. You know better than to interrupt."

"Pa, Pa, me and Erik, we just captured two pirates."

Pa looked surprised, and more than a mite proud if ya ask me.

"Joseph, what the devil are you talking about?" Pa's eyebrows bunched together.

I could hear Erik groan. I don't know what he was nervous about. Couldn't he tell Pa was just about to bust a gut outta pride?

"Pa, Erik and me followed these two fellas. We knew they were pirates on accounta one of them had a patch, like the fella in your story." Pa was starin' with his mouth open wide. Guess that's cuz he was so proud. "We heard 'em mention gold, so we decided we'd trap 'em in the shed. We slammed the door on 'em and we rolled barrels in front so's they couldn't get out."

Now Pa rubbed his face in his hands. I reckon he didn't want us to see them tears of pride.

"Erik, is your brother telling me that you and he just trapped two men in a shed because you think they are pirates?"

Erik musta eaten somethin' wrong for breakfast, cuz suddenly he didn't look too good.

"Yes, sir."

"Joseph Francis Cartwright! What were you two thinking?" Pa took a step towards me and suddenly I started wonderin' if he was as proud as I thought he'd be. "Show me where those men are, now!" He gave me a smack as we headed toward the shed. I was awful sure he wasn't as proud as I thought he'd be.

The man he'd been talkin' to followed us down the street to the alley. Pa and Erik rolled back the barrel and opened the door. The pirates were two angry lookin' men. They started yellin' and hollerin' and Pa was tryin' to apologize. This definitely wasn't workin' out the way I thought it would.

Suddenly that man that Pa'd been talkin' to pulled out his gun and told the two men to stand with their hands up. Pa took one look at the gun and told us to get home and sit on the sofa til he got there. He didn't hafta tell us twice.

The whole way back to the boardin' house, Erik kept sayin' he shouldn’ta listened to me and now he was in trouble with Pa again and it was all my fault again.

So we got home and Ma knew somehow like she always does that we were in trouble. I was just glad Adam wasn't home.

(Ben)

My two youngest are going to send me to an early grave, of that I am sure. I was speaking with the new Territorial Marshall at Eli's store when Joseph came running up and started talking about pirates. The boy knows better than to interrupt, but he kept talking. When I heard him say that he and Erik had trapped two men in a shed, I thought they had taken leave of their senses.

I was shocked when the Marshall pulled out his gun and I sent the boys home to keep them out of harm's way. I was even more shocked to find that the two men were wanted for robbery and that there was indeed gold in the shed. I just thanked God Joseph wasn't around to hear that part.

I helped the Marshall bring the two men to the small cabin that served as his office and jail. He thanked me, then told me that the men had a $50 price on their heads, and that my boys would be receiving the reward. Of course, as their father, I would be the one to actually receive the money. The Marshall said he would be sure to bring it the next time he was in Eagle Station.

I told Eli I had some family business I need to attend to, so I might be a bit late coming back from lunch. Adam heard that, I knew because I could see him rolling his eyes. He acts so mature now, but I've lost count of the number of times I had to leave the store in New Orleans to attend to his mischief! The two of us headed home.

I was furious with those two boys. First I was angry because they had trapped what I thought were innocent men. Then I found out the two men were known criminals. If those men had caught my boys instead of the other way around, well, the thought of what could have happened made me shudder.

I stormed into our rooms and the two boys flinched when they saw how angry I was. I stood in front of the sofa, thumbs in my belt and demanded to know what they had been thinking, although, I added, I was pretty certain they had not been thinking at all! Marie and Adam took refuge by the table.

The two boys tried to explain what happened. I listened to one interrupt the other and I could feel my anger ebbing away. No matter how many times Erik gets into trouble because he listens to his younger brother, he still listens to Joe. Joseph's reasoning, if it could indeed be called reasoning was so ludicrous that I started to see the humor of the situation. At first I tried to hide my smile; I needed to maintain an aura of discipline so the boys would understand that I was angry. I was undone when I glanced at Marie and Adam. Marie had her hand over her mouth, a gesture I knew hid a smile. Adam had turned away from everyone and was shaking with laughter. I surrendered and the looks on Erik's and Joe's faces were priceless as they watched me laughing. I laughed so long and hard that my sides hurt and tears rolled down my cheeks. Saints, but it felt good to laugh. After all I had been through in the past six months, I thought I would never laugh again.

Finally I was able to bring myself under control. I looked at the two boys.

"You still need to be punished. Go to your room until lunch." Lunch would be in ten minutes, but it was still a punishment. Just not a very severe one, and certainly not the one they had been expecting.

Joe looked glum but Erik stood up quickly and grabbed his brother's arm.

"Pa, it's not fair!" I honestly think that was a reflex action on Joe's part. He is forever telling me that I am being unfair. Erik knew better.

"Joe, you hush. C'mon. Yes, sir, we'll go to our room now. We're real sorry, Pa." Erik practically dragged Joseph behind him.

I waited until after supper before I told the boys about the reward. Right away they started planning how they'd spend their money. They went on for several minutes about the candy they'd buy, the saddle Erik wanted, the toys Joseph had seen. Finally Adam cleared his throat.

Joseph patted him on the back. "Aww, don't worry, Adam, we'll get you a coupla books. It wouldn't be fair if we didn't share."

Adam tried not to smile. "You're underage."

"Huh?"

"You're ten, Erik's fifteen. They're not going to give you the money, they're going to give it to Pa."

I've seen avalanches fall slower than Joseph's face did. He turned to me.

"Is that true?"

I nodded. "Yes, it is."

"And you're not gonna let us spend it on toys and candy and saddles, are you?"

"What do you think?"

Joseph sighed as only a ten year old who has just lost a fortune could sigh. Then he brightened suddenly.

"I think the story of The Pirates of Eagle Station will be a good one to tell my children some day!" I laughed again. Knowing Joseph, by the time he has children, the story will have blossomed into a saga of heroic proportions in which he single handedly saved Eagle Station from a band of marauding pirates. After all, don't all fathers embellish the stories of their youth?

The End