The World Duology (World Odyssey / Fiji: A Novel) (4 page)

4

Makah Nation, West Coast, North America, 1838

N
athan was brimming with excitement as he prepared to board
Intrepid’s
longboat with other members of the twenty-strong trading party. While his companions were armed to the teeth with muskets, pistols and cutlasses, he was unarmed. That was the way his uncle wanted it. The captain had decreed Nathan would not carry arms until his seventeenth birthday.

Captain Dawson
was not going ashore on this occasion. He was still down with the flu, and Doc Masters, the ship’s surgeon, had ordered him to remain in his cabin until the illness had passed.

As Nathan was about to climb down the rope ladder into
the longboat, Doc Masters appeared from below deck. “Master Johnson!” he called.

Nathan’s heart
sank. He was afraid the surgeon had come to tell him his uncle had changed his mind about allowing him ashore.

“The captain has asked to see you,” the surgeon advised.

“Thanks, doc.” Nathan hurried below deck to the captain’s quarters. There, he found his sniffling, runny-nosed uncle half-buried beneath blankets on his bunk. “Uncle…ah, sir. You wanted to see me?”

“Yes,” Dawson
smiled. “Close the door.”

Nathan closed the cabin door and app
roached the bunk. Dawson had another coughing fit. He was clearly under the weather. Nathan waited until the coughing subsided.

“
I’ve ordered Mister Bates to keep an eye on you while ashore,” Dawson rasped. “And I want you to stay by his side at all times.”

Reli
eved, Nathan grinned. His uncle wasn’t going to stop him going ashore. “Yes Uncle. I’ll stay close to him.”

“Good man.” Dawson
sneezed then blew his nose. “I’d come with you, but Doc insists I rest up and regain my strength for the journey ahead.”

“I understand, sir. Will that be all?”

“Yes.”

Nathan went to open the door.

“Nathan.”

T
he young man turned back to face his uncle.

Dawson
smiled. “Never mind. I’ll talk to you later.”

Nathan flashed a quick grin and departed.

Dawson watched as his nephew closed the door behind him. He’d been about to tell Nathan how proud he was of him, but decided that could wait.

Back on deck, Nathan found the first mate, Bates, waiting for him at the ship’s rail. He hurried to the rail and clambered down the ladder into the waiting longboat. Bates followed close behind.

“Let’s go!” Bates ordered as soon as he was on board.

The oarsmen pushed away from the side of
Intrepid
and began rowing for shore. It was still semi-dark. Even so, it was evident to all it was going to be a rare fine day in Neah Bay.

Although the sun’s rays had yet to pierce the eastern sky, already there was a reception party awaiting the visitors on the sandy beach in front of the Makah village.

As the longboat closed with the shore, Nathan looked behind to see they were being followed by a smaller rowing boat which was tethered to the longboat’s stern. The unmanned craft was low in the water, weighed down by the weight of three coffin-sized caskets. Nathan knew the caskets contained muskets for the forthcoming trade.

Nearing the shore, the young Philadelphian
identified Elswa among the braves assembled on the beach. The chief made an imposing figure standing at the water’s edge with arms folded and legs astride. Tatoosh, his oldest son, was at his side.

“Remember captain’s orders,” Bates reminded his men. “Be vigilant at all times and don’t trust these savages.”

Those who weren’t rowing grasped their weapons tight. Stories of the savagery of the Northwest natives were fresh in the minds of each even though few had experienced, or even witnessed, that savagery firsthand.

Several
Makah braves waded out to greet the longboat and pull it up onto the sand. Others waded out to retrieve the smaller rowing boat, but were warned off by the crewmen.
Intrepid’s
men were under orders to guard the muskets with their lives.

As soon as the rowing boat was up
on the sand, crewmen lifted the caskets out and began carrying them up into the village. They were escorted by Elswa and his braves to a longhouse, which served as the tribe’s meeting house.

Following close behind Bates, Nathan took in his surroundings. He was impressed by the level of activity within the village at such an early hour. Women were already attending to their chores, collecting firewood and tending cooking fires, and men were readying nets in preparation for a day’s fishing. Beyond the village, a ten-strong hunting party was setting off on foot into the interior. Nathan watched the fleet-footed hunters until they disappeared into the forest.

In the Makahs’ longhouse, Nathan looked on as slaves served up whale blubber, raw fish and other so-called local delicacies to the visitors. The
Intrepid
crewmen ate sitting cross-legged in front of the now-open caskets of muskets they’d brought with them.

Facing them were
Chief Elswa and thirty or so Makah elders, braves and headmen. They looked on, amused, as their white guests chewed unenthusiastically on the blubber and other food offerings.

Women came and went, attending to their menfolk’s every need. It seemed to Nathan the men had it pretty good in this part of the world. Behind the Makah, sea otter furs lay piled up on the floor.

Communication was left to Elswa who appeared to be the only one among the Makah who spoke English. The chief's hawk-like eyes took in everything while his five wives fussed around him, ensuring he wanted for nothing. Elswa’s gaze kept straying to the muskets. He looked at them longingly.

Tatoosh sat to his father’s right. He seemed intrigued by Nathan and kept staring at him.

As soon as everyone had eaten their fill
, Elswa motioned for a peace pipe to be lit. The chief puffed it first then handed it to the headman on his left.

Nathan studied his hosts while the pipe was being shared around. Stro
ng and noble-looking, they carried themselves with pride. One off-putting thing about them, he decided, was they smelled like the whale blubber they were eating. Nathan’s companions noticed it, too, and it took all their self-control not to rush outside and gulp in some fresh air. Only later would Nathan learn that, as well as eating blubber, the Makah regularly rubbed it and whale oil over their bodies as insulation against the cold.

Finally, Elswa indicated trading should begin. The visitors and their hosts immediately stood and began bartering.

In the negotiating that followed, the traders eventually agreed on the exchange of ninety sea otter furs for thirty muskets. It was Nathan’s assessment that Elswa had driven a hard bargain.

As trading concluded, a Makah headman objected to the way one of the visitors was ogling his wife. The visitor concerned was Marty Williams, a rigger who misguidedly fancied himself as a ladies’ man. Williams and the aggrieved headman began pushing each other.

“That’s enough, Mister Williams!” Bates ordered.

Ignoring the order, Williams drew his pistol and pointed it between the headman’s eyes. T
he offended headman drew his tomahawk and raised it threateningly above his head. The two stood toe-to-toe, staring at each other, each daring the other to make the first move.

Watching the action unfold, Nathan noticed for the first time that Williams was drunk.
The captain’s gonna have your guts for garters, Williams
. The rigger’s eyes were glazed and he was unsteady on his feet. The young Philadelphian looked at Elswa and noted he was watching Williams impassively. Nathan wondered what was going on behind the chief’s inscrutable gaze.

Finally, to everyone’s relief, Williams lowered his pistol. The headman, in turn,
lowered his tomahawk. Then, for no apparent reason, Williams lashed out and struck the headman, knocking him to the floor.

Pandemonium broke out.
Women screamed and ran for cover while the Makah braves drew their weapons. One angry brave threw his tomahawk at Williams, splitting his skull in two and killing him instantly.

Quick-thinking Bates drew his pistol and lunged at Elswa, grabbing the shocked chief in a headlock. Holding his pistol to Elswa’
s head, the first mate said, “Tell your braves to hold off!”

“He-ho!” Elswa shouted.

As one, the Makah braves looked at their chief. Elswa didn’t need to say more. It was clear his life was in the balance at that moment.

Bates knew his future, and his men’s, depended on what he did next. Determined to keep what slender advantage he’d gained, he glanced at h
is men. “Form a circle around me!” he barked.

The crewmen jumped to and formed a tight ring around Bates
and Elswa, their weapons pointing outwards to keep the incensed braves at bay. Bates held the chief tight to him as if his life depended on it, which it did of course.

Without a weapon, Nathan was feeling naked and very vulnerable. How he wished he was holding a musket
or even a pistol at that moment.

Looking at the Makah, Nathan
and his crewmates were in no doubt their lives hung by a thread. Although the traders were the ones holding firearms primed and ready to fire, they were hugely outnumbered. Inside the longhouse they were outnumbered almost two to one while outside some fifteen hundred villagers awaited them.

In the middle of the human ring, Elswa squirmed in the headlock Bates had him in. The first mate began dragging the chief toward the
near door. “Back to the boat now!” he shouted. “And slowly does it.”

Nathan and the others needed no encouragement to leave. Keeping their tight formation around the first mate and his hostage, they
began shuffling out of the longhouse, all the while keeping their weapons raised and ready. The Makah braves followed, weapons raised and howling for blood.

Outside, they we
re greeted by the villagers who had been drawn to the longhouse by the sounds of conflict. The menfolk and some of the women brandished weapons, and appeared ready to use them. War cries rang out.

Recognizing
the danger, Tatoosh warned the villagers off, pointing out their chief was being held hostage and explaining that any retaliation would result in his death.

For Nathan and the others, the journey from the longhouse to the longboat that awaited them on the beach seemed to take forever. The Makah braves followed them every inch of the way, baying like crazed animals, frustrated that the whites had their chief and they could do nothing about it despite their superior numbers.

Once in the longboat, the strongest crewmen manned the oars and began rowing themselves and their precious human cargo toward their waiting ship. As they rowed, villagers waded out into the bay, waving their weapons and hurling abuse until the water reached their chests and they could go no further. One or two threw spears, which landed harmlessly short. Others raced along the beach to launch the canoes that rested there.

O
n board
Intrepid
, Captain Dawson was on deck, having been alerted minutes earlier by the commotion ashore. His heart sank at the sight of armed warriors launching canoes in pursuit of his crewmen in the longboat. Dawson’s thoughts immediately went to Nathan. He felt momentary elation when he spotted his nephew’s head amongst the longboat’s passengers.

Recognizing the danger to his men and ship, Dawson shouted, “Weigh anchor!”

The crewmen aboard
Intrepid
raced to their respective posts and readied the vessel for a rapid departure from Neah Bay. Sails were unfurled and the anchor raised in double-quick time. The crewmen were well rehearsed for such departures. Dawson had made sure of that.

As the longboat closed with
Intrepid
, Bates and another sailor hoisted their Makah hostage overboard. Elswa sank beneath the surface of the water and for a moment the crewmen feared the chief may not be able to swim. Seconds later, Elswa’s head broke the surface. He gulped in a lungful of air then began swimming for all he was worth away from his captors.

By the time Elswa had been rescued by
his braves in one of the pursuing canoes, Nathan and the others had safely scrambled aboard
Intrepid
and the longboat had been hoisted aboard. Moments later, the ship was sailing north out of Neah Bay.

Only now did the survivors celebrate. They expressed their relief by slapping each other on the back and shaking hands. Many sought out the first mate to
personally thank. They knew Bates’ quick thinking had saved their lives.

Nathan wandered away from the others. He stood
at the ship’s stern, looking back at the Makah braves who had now ceased their pursuit. Those who had muskets shot at
Intrepid
even though she was out of range. Ignoring the musket-fire, Nathan looked straight at Tatoosh.