Chapter 13 - The Essex
Aaron Lewis looked across the harbor at his new ship the Essex. The words of Lord Pembroke echoed through his mind, "I shall speak plainly, Aaron you are the finest Captain I know, but your birth, you are not of noble stock."
He was good enough of a Captian for the Queen to grant him a Letter of Marque but not good enough to select his own officers.
He remembered his time in the English Navy. His parents had purchased his Ensign's Commision, which made him an officer, a good officer, but never good enough to advance beyong the rank of Ensign. And these new officers of his, were all men of wealth and of connections. In the case of his Second in Command, Charles Howard, a colonist who just so happens to be a relative to the Queen.
Aaron knew he had to make the perfect first impression upon these men. He would never have their respect being of low birth, he would have to earn their respect and loyalty by his superior skill as a Captain.
And then there was the matter of the crew, for Lord Pembroke and Mr. Howard had already selected a large contingent of men. What would their loyalties be, he wondered? Then chuckling to himself, he remembered the crew is always loyal to the silver, put enough silver in their pockets and he would have their loyalty.
"Mr. Hagney, prepare the launch, it is high time we pay a visit to the Essex." Aaron cried out.
"Aye, Aye Captain." replied Mr. Hagney.
Captain Lewis walked toward Lord Pembroke, who had spent the better part of the hour staring at Aaron, staring at the Essex, and knowing that his old friend was stewing over his comment about not being of noble birth, and devising a plan to command his new officers.
"Aaron, are you ready to take command of the Essex?" Lord Pembroke inquired.
"Aye. Will you be joining us?" Aaron asked.
"No. This is a task for you alone. The officers know that you are my man, and I think it would be bad form for me to come aboard. The Essex is your ship Aaron, go take command of her. Take with you Mistress Kathleen, it is time we get the matter of her serving as Master of the Essex out of the way. And might I suggest you take Kevin and Mr. Hagney along with five or six of your biggest men, first impressions are the kind that last. One last thing, Aaron, I would like to have a word with Mr. Hagney before you leave."
Aaron smiled and headed towards Mr. Hagney and told him of Lord Pembroke's request, then set off to gather six of his largest and strongest men.
"Your Lordship, Mr. Hagney at you service, the Captain said you wanted to have a word."
"Yes, Mr. Hagney, I wanted to talk to you about the crew and the officers. Mr. Howard, your new Second in Command, is a fine gentleman, the sort of man that men naturally follow. Unfortunately, that, I suppose, may cause a bit of a problem for your Captain. I will rely on you to keep the crew in order, for Aaron, if you understand my meaning?"
"Aye your Lordship, I understand."
"Excellent. There is another matter, that bothers me just a bit, about our Mr. Howard. You see Mr. Hagney, he is a gentleman, a man of honor and with all such men he presumes that everyone shares his sense of honor. Prior, to my arrival, Mr. Howard put his trust in a fellow by the name of John Talbert to recruit men to the Essex. This Talbert fellow was successful in signing aboard fifteen men, his own select men. I have a list of these men here, oh you can read Mr. Hagney can you not?"
"Aye your Lordship, I can read."
Mr. Hagney, slipped the note into his waistband while Lord Pembroke continued to explain his concerns over Talbert's select men.
"These men I feared were more loyal to Talbert than to Mr. Howard. When Ensign Marshall and Ensign Crossland arrived with their own recruits, my fears were confirmed. Ensign Crossland informed me that John Talbert had a bit of a reputation for being a scoundrel and a ramblerouser. We were not two nights aboard the Essex when a brawl broke out between Talbert's men and several of the crew. I would, if it were possible, simply leave them all here in port, however, men are in short supply in the Colonies and the Essex must set sail in three days time. Talbert has fifteen select men, you will need twice as many. Do you trust the crew of the Concord?"
"Aye they are some of the finest sailors, trustworthy and loyal to the Captain. But alas your Lordship, half of them are but sailors, not cut for the sort of work you have in mind. For that sort of work, if it be necessary, I can count on ten of them."
"Ten, then you will need twenty more. Fortunately, in Norfolk there is a constant supply of your countrymen, exiled to the Colonies. The thing is Mr. Hagney, most of them are indentured, you might have to buy them."
Lord Pembroke handed Mr. Hagney a purse full of silver.
"Free men are best for they cost nothing but a promise of wealth. If need be however, buy your select men. With the understanding, that I recieve the purcahse price plus ten percent of their share, no need not to make a profit." Lord Pembroke wryly said.
"Aye, your Lordship and by your leave." Mr. Hagney quietly replied.
Mr. Hagney turned and crossed the deck of the Concord towards the launch. He smiled with satisfaction at the men Captain Lewis had selected to accompany them to the Essex. Dillon Jones and Collen Williams both fine sailors, who had served with Captain Lewis for more than seven years, his most trusted men.
Alan Wright and his brother Simone, both huge brawny men from the North of England. The Wright brothers were of such great stature that they could not even climb the riggings, but when it came to loading the cargo, these two men alone did most of the heavy lifting.
Finally, Thomas O'Malley from the West of Ireland who had the uncanny knack of being able to read a man's thoughts just by looking upon his face. If there was trouble aboard the Essex, Thomas O'Malley would be the first to know of it.
Mr. Hagney was the last to board the launch and took his place at the oars beside O'Malley. Captain Lewis manned the tiller with Kate and Kevin sitting in the bow. With one stroke of the oars the launch lurched foward away from the Concord and toward the Essex.
With the power of the Wright brothers mighty arms the launch quickly crossed the harbor and came along side the Essex. The two Wright brothers were the first to board the Essex, while O'Malley and Jones secured the launch. Captain Lewis waited on the launch while the rest of the crew and Kate disembarked. The Wright brothers lifted Kevin out of the launch and high into the air before gentley placing him down on the deck. Kevin laughed with delight.
Finally, with the men of the Concord standing at attention, Mr. Hagney took a small whistle from his pocket and piped Captain Lewis aboard.
"All hands on deck, the Captain is coming aboard." Mr. Hagney announce in his booming voice and keeping with all the formalities of the Sea.
And with those words, Captain Lewis boarded the Essex to take command.
Thomas O'Malley kept a keen eye upon the faces of the men as the crew of the Essex assembled for their new Captain. He saw three men, whom he presumed to be officers by the manner of their dress and the fine swords at their sides. These were men of wealth, their uniforms were new without a stitch upon them and none of their fine coats of blue had been faded by the sun. His own Captain's blue coat was well faded and worn with several stitches attesting to its age and its careful mending. Beside one of the officers stood an African man, well dressed and in finer attire than the Captain.
Next to the officers stood a lean man with a hard and scornful look about him, who to O'Malley's reckoning had no respect for Captain Lewis, nor for any other man. By the lean man's side stood two large men, who rivaled the size of the Wright brothers, these were no sailors thought O'Malley.
Towards the back of the crew stood an old man with a large scar upon his face, who caught O'Malley's eye, for as the crew fell in for inspection, the lean man had stood still and waited for the old man to give him a slight nod before following orders. These two men knew each other well, and yet stayed far apart, odd indeed thought O'Malley.
Captain Lewis walked passed the officers and inspected the crew, pausing every once and a while to give a small nod of satisfaction. Having looked upon each man, the Captain returned to the officers and addressed the crew.
"Gentlemen, my name is Captian Aaron Lewis, and I shall command the Essex to fame and fortune. In three days we shall set sail and fill our pockets with French and Spanish silver!"
The crew gave a cheer at the mention of the word silver. Captain Lewis stood silently before his officers. After a few awkward moments of silence one of the officers broke ranks and stood forward. He removed his hat and bowed ever so slightly.
"Welcome aboard the Essex, Captian Lewis, Charles Howard, Second in Command at your service. If I may take this time to introduce you to the your new command."
Captain Lewis nodded.
Pointing to the African at his side Mr. Howard continued with the introductions.
"This is my man, Abraham. And next to him is Ensign John Crossland of Maryland. And also from the fine Colony of Maryland is Ensign Henry Marshall."
As each man was introduced, he took off his hat and gave a slight bow. Then turning towards the Captain, with his eyes fixed upon Kate, Mr. Howard inquired:
"May I presume that this is your lovely wife, who has accompanied you to bid a farewell?"
"Why yes, she is my lovely wife but she is not here to bid me farewell. May I introduce you to Mistress Kathleen, my wife and Master of the Ship aboard the Essex."
Mr. Howard looked stunned. A woman on board and Master of the Ship no less. Recovering from his initial shock, Mr. Howard regained his composure and in accordance with his well refined manners turned towards Kate and bowed. Then reaching into his pocket he produced a set of keys and extended them towards Kate.
"These are the keys to the armory and to the officer's quarters, and as Master of the Ship, I believe these belong to you."
"Thank you, Mr. Howard, but only one set? Is there not a second set for the Captain?"
"Of course, Mr. Talbert the second set of keys for the Captain." Mr. Howard softly spoke.
The lean man with a scornful look about him glanced sideways at Mr. Howard but made no move to give up the second set of keys. Keys that he had obtained the day before from Mr. Howard, having convinced him that he needed the keys to inspect the muskets in the armory.
"Mr. Talbert, if you please." Mr. Howard repeated his request with a slight hint of aggitation in his voice.
Mr. Talbert continued to stare at Mr. Howard, then turning ever so slightly made eye contact with the old man with the scar upon his face, who simply raised his eyebrows as a signal that Talbert should comply.
Having received permission, Mr Talbert reached about his neck and pulled over his head a leather strap at the end of which were attached the second set of keys which he presented to Captain Lewis without saying a word.
That small lifting of the eyebrows, the permission granted by the old man with the scar was undetected by all, except of course Thomas O'Malley who observed everyhting and could know a man's thoughts just by looking upon his face.
Thomas O'Malley was certain of two things. Talbert was a scoundrel, a man not to be trusted. And the old man with the scar, he was Talbert's puppetmaster, he would be trouble. These two things he knew.
The Essex had yet to leave port and already a foul wind did blow across her decks bringing the scent of treachory and of trouble with it.