Kings Pinnacle (8 page)

Robert just smiled at him.

* * * *

Alex

After the storm passed, the
ship, crew and passengers returned to their normal daily routines.
Alex slept late in his hammock the next day and finally awoke when
the sun was high in the sky. He got up and began a search for
something to eat; he was famished from the previous day’s effort.
One of the young sailors Alex was friendly with found him in the
galley trying to beg something to eat from the cook.

“
Alex, the captain wants
to see you in his cabin,” said the young tar.

“Aye, I’ll go there right
now,” replied Alex.

Alex gave up his search for
food and climbed the ladder up to the main deck. He made his way
aft and climbed the ladder to quarterdeck, where he asked the
captain’s steward to lead him to the captain’s quarters. The
steward was aware that the captain had asked to see him, so he led
Alex into the corridors behind the wheelhouse. When he arrived at
the captain’s quarters, the steward knocked on the captain’s
door.

“Captain, the passenger that
ye requested to see is here,” said the steward.

“
Show him in,” replied the
captain.

The steward opened the captain’s door
and motioned for Alex to enter.

“Thank you for coming to see
me, Mackenzie. Have a seat,” said the captain.

“It’s my pleasure, sir. What
can I do for you?”

“First I want to thank you
for helping the crew during the storm yesterday. Without your help,
we might have had much more difficulty handling the ship during the
deluge. By keeping the bilge pumps going, you made the ship easier
to handle during the storm and kept it from wallowing so much in
the waves. I have also noticed during the voyage that you often
help the crew with mending sails and other such shipboard duties.
For that I would also like to thank you,” said the
captain.

“No thanks are necessary,
captain. I enjoy staying busy and there’s not much else for me to
do other than eat and sleep,” replied Alex.

“We are most likely about
two weeks from Philadelphia. It’s been a longer than expected
voyage, and the crew and passengers are getting anxious to arrive.
When we do arrive in Philadelphia, I know that I will have some
desertions among the crew. On each trip a few of the crew decide
that they would rather try their luck in America rather than
serving on a passenger ship. I know I’ll be shorthanded on the
return voyage. I was wondering if you would like to join the crew
for the return voyage. I know it’s unlikely since you paid to go to
America, but I thought I would ask anyway.”

“Sir, I am honored that you
have made me the offer, but I must respectfully decline. I intend
to start a new life in America and I believe that is the life that
is meant for me. Thank you very much for the offer
though.”

“Well, I had to try. Thanks
for coming to speak with me and best of luck to you in America. My
steward will show you out,” concluded the captain.

The steward was summoned,
but before he could lead Alex out the door, Alex turned to the
captain. “Captain, sir,” said Alex, “there is something else you
could do for me, if you want to show your thanks.”

“
What is that, lad?” asked
the captain.

“
You could ask the cook to
give me a bit of food to help me regain my strength,” said Alex
with a grin.

“That I can do, and gladly,”
replied the captain, returning Alex’s smile. “Steward, please see
to it.” The steward acknowledged the order and led Alex back to the
ladder from the quarterdeck to the main deck and directly to the
galley, where Alex received his reward in the form of the best meal
he had eaten since the voyage began.

The last two weeks of the
voyage were uneventful. The arrival in Philadelphia was much
anticipated by all the passengers. At first sight of land, the
passengers began to gather their possessions on the main deck. As
soon as the ship docked, they disembarked down the gangplank as
quickly as it was put into position. Alex was a bit overwhelmed and
didn’t really know where to go or what to do, so he lingered on the
Ocean Monarch’s main deck until all the other passengers had
departed. He watched Samuel Ruskin and Ruskin’s two friends walk
down the gangplank and be greeted by some friends or associates.
The group of young men all walked off together, animatedly talking
to each other, without a backward glance at the ship or Alex.
Finally Alex, who was the last passenger to leave the ship, walked
down the gangplank with his rifle, his dirk, and his remaining few
possessions in an old rucksack that he carried over one shoulder.
He had finally arrived in America and didn’t have a clue where to
go or what he was going to do, but he was happy the ocean voyage
was over.

* * * *

Robert and Hugh

“
How did the British know
in advance that we would raid that farmstead across the border?”
asked Robert.

“
We had a traitor in our
midst and he hae been found and dealt with,” replied John with a
grimace, thinking of the ordeal with the traitor.

“
Who was it?” asked
Robert.

“It was ane that we didn’t
suspect, but he is nae longer residing on the earth, and we have
more important matters to attend to. It’s nae safe here fer ye twa
lads after they unravel the trick ye’ve done to free Hugh,”
continued John Mackenzie, sitting with Robert and Hugh in the woods
near John’s house.

Robert nodded in agreement.

“
What do ye suppose we
should do?” asked Hugh who was lying on the ground in a comfortable
position with his feet propped up on a log and his hands behind his
head.

“I think ye should follow
Alex to America,” replied John. “Ye have enough money from raiding
to buy yer passage. So, I would high tail it back across the Sheuch
to Ireland and grab the first ship oot o’ Larne. It’s nae safe fer
ye to try and sail oot o’ Scotland. Ye can be sure that the
authorities will be on the lookout fer ye twa lads at every port in
Scotland.”

Robert and Hugh had
separated from their two companions as soon as they had disposed of
the military uniforms. They had found a place in the wilderness to
camp and allow Hugh to heal and recover his health before they
moved on. Hugh was a fast healer, and it wasn’t long before he was
getting restless to move around. Robert had to threaten him with
his life and almost tie him down until his collar bone was healed
well enough for him to ride.

As soon as Hugh could ride,
they made their way via the back trails to the dense trees near
their father’s house in Hathkirk. After receiving word where they
were hidden, their father had joined them to discuss what they
should do.

“They’ll probably be looking
for us in Portpatrick too,” said Robert. “We’ll have to figure a
way to get across the Sheuch again without kicking up much notice,
but they won’t be as thick there as they will be in Glasgow,
Edinburgh, and the other large ports.”

“Find Alex in America and
look oot fer the lad,” said John with a tear in his eye because he
knew that he probably would never see any of his three sons again
after Robert and Hugh went to America. After many hugs and a few
more tears, John said his goodbyes to Hugh and Robert and then
walked out of the woods toward his home as the sun was dropping low
in the west.

The two brothers camped out
for awhile longer in the woods near their father’s house so that
Hugh could completely heal, and they could wind up their affairs as
quietly as possible. It wasn’t long before they saddled up, said
their final goodbyes to their father, friends and other family
members, and set out for Portpatrick.

There was constant danger on
the trail that they would be spotted and captured while traveling
to Portpatrick, so they rode at night and slept during the day. The
trip was tiring at first, but soon they got their body clocks
adjusted to the new sleeping schedule. Before long, the outskirts
of Portpatrick appeared in the distance, bathed in morning sun.
Prior to entering the town, Robert took a side trail that led them
toward the south, off the main road they were following, as the sun
continued to rise in the eastern sky. He stopped at a small
stream-fed valley just to the east and a little south of the
Portpatrick cattle pens.

“Let’s hold up here and
sleep today. I am beat. Tonight we can get up and about and do a
little scouting,” said Robert as he dismounted Hack to help set up
their camp and lay out their bedrolls.

* * * *

Alex

“
What do you think you’re
doin’, laddie?” yelled the barrel-chested Irishman.

Alex ignored the question
and pretended that he hadn’t heard, even though the comment was
obviously directed at him.

“I said, what do you think
you’re doin’?” repeated the big Irishman.

Alex ignored the question
again. The big Irishman sauntered over to where Alex was standing,
near the bottom of the gangplank, in a line of young men waiting to
unload a ship that had just docked in the harbor in Philadelphia.
The Irishman walked up to Alex and stood with his nose an inch from
Alex’s nose.

“We already got enough men
to unload this ship, and we don’t need you,” said the
Irishman.

“
Who put you in charge?”
replied Alex.

“I’m Big Mike Finn, best man
on the docks, and you better be gone before I get
angry.”

Alex had been loitering
around at the docks since he had arrived in Philadelphia. He had
finally walked down the gangplank of the Ocean Monarch after
everyone else had already departed. But since he had nowhere to go,
he stayed by the docks in hopes that something would turn up. He
was attempting to get a job unloading ships, because he was running
low on money. Alex had thought that this would be a good way to
replenish his stash, but his plan didn’t look so good
now.

Philadelphia looked a great
deal like any crowded English or European city. When William Penn
had founded Philadelphia in 1701 with a written charter, he had
designed the city using a grid plan that included wide streets and
large lots. The lots had been designed with a building located in
the middle of each one of them and yards and gardens all around the
structure. He had wanted the city to look like a rural English
village rather than a crowded, dirty city. He had also designed the
city to have a port and government center along the Delaware River.
But the residents hadn’t followed Penn’s plan. By the mid-1700s
they had subdivided and resold their lots along the Delaware, so
that it now looked a lot like any other crowded, dirty
city.

Alex had been homesick since
he had arrived in America and he badly wanted to return to his
family in Scotland. But he didn’t have nearly enough money for the
passage back home. He also knew that a rope with a noose at the end
of it, or a musket ball, was waiting for him back there. He had
been sleeping in an old abandoned warehouse near the docks since he
had arrived. Alex knew that the Irish lads had a monopoly on
unloading ships at the docks and didn’t allow outsiders. But he was
getting desperate and was worried about having enough money to buy
something to eat.

Big Mike Finn was the leader
of the Irishmen who worked unloading and loading the ships at the
dock. Mike wasn’t as big as Hugh, and as a matter of fact, he was a
medium sized barrel-chested man with red hair and a red beard. All
the Irishmen who worked the docks liked him, and his status
increased through the force of his personality, to the point where
he was their unelected leader. He just seemed bigger than his
stature indicated, hence the name, Big Mike. Big Mike was
protective of his men, and he didn’t tolerate outsiders. But Big
Mike secretly had a heart of gold, especially where women were
concerned. He didn’t really have anything against Alex personally.
It was just that Alex wasn’t an Irishman and the Irish controlled
the docks. There was only enough work for a few men, and they
already had all the Irishmen they needed.

As soon as Big Mike had
yelled at him, Alex knew that he wasn’t going to get any work. So
he stepped up even closer to the Irishman so that their noses were
almost touching and said, “Maybe you’d better cool off.”

Alex had slipped his foot
behind Big Mike’s ankle while he was talking, and when he had
finished speaking, Alex shoved Big Mike as hard as he could. Big
Mike had his back to the ocean and the push caused him to trip so
that he stumbled off the dock into the cold, dirty
seawater.

Big Mike bobbed up from the
cold water, sputtering and yelled at the other Irishmen, “Get him!”
pointing at Alex.

Alex was already running as
fast as a hare away from the docks before Big Mike had yelled at
his crew. Alex had a huge lead, as usual, and it wasn’t long before
he was so far ahead that the Irishmen chasing him gave up the
pursuit.

When the other men in line,
waiting to unload the ship, were turned away from the ship watching
Alex and his pursuers, two young women walked down the gangplank to
depart from the ship. Big Mike had just climbed back up onto the
pier out of the cold water and met them at the bottom of the
gangplank.