Becoming Americans (50 page)

      As the brandy flowed and the conversation grew freer and looser, Sarah Alice relaxed into the atmosphere of this strange place. John Lawson was as much at ease among the Williams men and Old Fewox as he had been with Commissary Blair and the Harrisons. He discussed the breeding of bulldogs with Fewox with the same intensity and knowledge that he'd discussed European politics with Colonel Harrison.

      The next day Richard was returned to his Machapungo plantation, while Sarah Alice remained as an honored guest. The entertainments began again, friendly mixtures of Anglicans, Presbyterians, Quakers, and the baptizers. She found herself chatting, openly, with dissenters! She saw, very soon, that the warm reception at Deep Creek and at Scuppernong was being repeated at Bath, but for different reasons. The earlier ones were because of her Harrison connections; her Bath reception was owed to her own family ties. John Lawson was more close to Fewox and her mother, to Richard—and her sister Edy!—than he was to Colonel Benjamin Harrison or his fellow Scot, Commissary Blair. Glover's few friends here—among them, Tobias Knight—knew that the Fewoxes were once bonded to Glover, and that Carman brought needed goods to the merchants. Edy Carman could heal many sicknesses that Doctor Llewellyn could not. This attribute of her sister's was news to Sarah Alice; another example of what she'd missed. All of these years she'd had a family she'd not known. It was good to be a Williams again.

      After a week, Sarah Alice put on her most homely dress and green apron and walked with Hannah Lawson and Tapoc to call on Edy. It was a cool day, but still nothing like one would expect for late October. In the warm sun she had no need for a cloak, even, as she walked up Water Street from the Lawson home at Town Point.

      There were several stores and warehouses along the street, and at least a dozen houses she could see. Many of the houses belonged to merchant ship captains, Hannah had said, who all worked with her brother-in-law, Carman. They passed the workshop of John Jordan, a cooper, and thoughts of her father returned. He would have liked it here in Bath, she thought. The three women stopped to watch the grinding at the horse-driven grist mill that belonged to Lawson and his partners Christopher Gale and Doctor Maurice Llewellyn. Down the street, two boat builders she'd met, Thomas Harding and William Powell, were hammering and sawing.

      This was a noisy outpost in the wilderness, she thought. The people of Virginia should see what was happening here, good people doing good things. Mister Lawson had surveyed a large lot that was set aside for a church, along with three hundred acres of glebe land to support it. Only passing missionaries had paused in Bath, though, and there was no church building. Sunday prayers were given at the home of a Mister Gale—brother of Lawson's mill partner—who held the collection of books sent here from England by the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel. Still, the promise of the town was uplifting, and Sarah Alice was in good spirits when Hannah left her and Tapoc at the door of Carman and Edy's temporary home.

      Carman was often at sea, Edy told her, but when he was in port the couple stayed in a tiny house that belonged to Tobias Knight. When Carman was away for long times, Edy stayed with her mother up at Scuppernong. Edy and her mother kept close ties. They'd spent many years together, in different circumstances, and travel was relatively easy around the county or up the road to the Albemarle Sound and Edward's land. But the relationship between the reunited sisters was difficult and strained, Sarah Alice felt. She couldn't overcome her reaction to Edy's appearance and her reservations about the temporary legality and respectability of Carman's trade—preying on enemy shipping and bringing goods into port for sale. She dared speak of that aspect to her sister.

      "Yes, and he'll not stop it when the war ends, neither," Edy said. "He's bitten by it. He was raiding foreign boats—New Englanders, too—before there was a war. He's a good man, though, my Carman is. And he's taken right good care of our mother, he has!" Edy was determined to stop her sister before she started. Things were different in Carolina.

      "I only worry for you, should something happen to him," Sarah Alice said.

      "I'm not worried about me, don't you be," Edy said firmly to her younger sister.

      "Where has he been, this week?" Sarah Alice asked her sister directly.

      "They're out doing the Queen's business," Edy answered.

      "They? He left with Edward and Richard. They're not with him, surely?"

      "Richard went home to his family and his pine trees. Carman and Edward be using that fine sloop to go sail hunting. French and Spanish sail," Edy said.

      "And you say nothing?" Sarah Alice asked.

      "I used to sail with him," her sister replied, evenly.

      "When will they be back," Sarah Alice wanted to know. "Major Dorsey may come at any day!"

      "Could be a month, could be a year. Could be, they won't!" Edy threw her own worries at her sister. Sarah Alice was still a spoiled child. "But if they don't, they'll be heroes in Bath Town, you can believe that. You see how the fine folks treat us, don't you? It's not because they like our looks!"

      Sarah Alice turned away, and Edy spoke more softly.

      "Don't you worry. One blast from the cannon and the merchant ships heave to. The captains own nothing but their lives. The ship owners are in Bristol or New York. I told you, I sailed with him."

      "But Edward has no cannon," Sarah Alice said.

      "Our friend, Tobias Knight, can get his hands on anything. Guns and cannons can be got. You ask Richard's friend, Governor Cary, about that."

      "Why would Cary need guns and cannon?" Sarah Alice asked. "Are the Spanish coming to Carolina? Governor Hyde is here now. The conflict between the Cary and Glover parties is passed."

      "Word came down from Governor Hyde's headquarters at Mister Pollock's on the Chowan, that he's named both Glover and Pollock to the Council. If you knew Carolina, you'd know that that's asking for trouble from the Bath County people."

      Sarah Alice walked back up Water Street, followed by the borrowed Indian slave. This was a dangerous place, she thought. There was only a thin layer of civilization here, represented by men like Lawson. But even those men—including Governor Cary, a son-in-law to Archdale, the Proprietor—mingled with, and trafficked with the basest sorts. She looked at her own clothes and nearly cried. Could she make it through the winter? When would Major Dorsey come?

      The new year came, and with it came hope.

      Sarah Alice was awakened on the first Sunday in April by little John and Isabella's screams of delight. Otherwise, there was a quietness and stillness that was unsettling. She looked through the window and saw blinding white. A deep, wet snow had fallen in the night, covering everything and muffling the vibrant songs and screeches of red birds hiding in the berried holly trees. Mister Lawson's broad-leafed banana tree was weighted down and doomed. The palmetto held a cone of snow.

      Suddenly, a cannon boomed, the muffled echo sounding ominous. Snow fell from the palmetto and slid from the steep-roofed house onto the ground. Sarah Alice looked out her window again and saw the sails being lowered from the tall masts of her brother's sloop as it passed the house at Adams Creek, and coasted up Town Creek to a merchant's wharf. The ensign of Saint George slowly flapped in the quiet air of the peaceful Sabbath.

      Within minutes, Water Street was filling with people bundled up in cloaks and furs they really didn't need; hurrying to the wharf; laughing; thanking God that the winter draught was over; hopeful, now, that there would be enough winter to kill the projected insects of next summer; exchanging invitations for nog; throwing balls of snow; curious as to what goods Carman, as quartermaster, had chosen to bring back from the raid.

      The beauty and prospect of the scene made Sarah Alice giddy, and she hurried down the narrows stairs. Hannah was as excited as her children; snow was seldom seen in these parts, and it was April! The children drank their beer, and ran outside.

      Sarah Alice's elation was dampened when she realized that the welfare and safety of her brother—and of Carman, her sister's provider—was unknown. When she and Hannah reached the wharf there was a crowd. Some people were already dressed for services at their various places of worship; some of them still wore the clothes they'd slept in; many hadn't been to bed.

      Everything was white except the blue-black water of the creek, the red birds and bluejays that scratched for food, and the greenery of pine boughs broken by the heavy snow. Even Edward's boat was covered with snow and ice. Carman slipped and fell on the wharf when he came ashore, but rolled in the snow laughing, as Edy ran to help him up. A boy atop the center mast threw down streamers of red and purple ribbons to the delighted crowd.

      The sloop was low in the water, and the crowd speculated on what might be aboard, as Carman talked to the merchant who owned this wharf. The man seemed excited, and climbed up on a cart to tell the crowd to pray for these heroes on this Sabbath day, and to return tomorrow for the ribbons, buttons, cloth, sliver plate, and fine Madeira wine that these men had brought to Bath.

      That afternoon, Edward came to the Lawson home to see his sister. Sarah Alice assaulted him with questions and denunciation when he came in. How could he go about this dangerous enterprise when he had a wife and children depending on him? Did he think he was Sir Francis Drake? Was he playing children's games he'd never got to play? He barely knew how to manage his sloop within the Sounds, how could he expect to survive against seasoned veterans of the sea?

      Edward dismissed her worries. There were easy spoils to take. Many ships were storm damaged, or blown off course. His new craft was swift. He had Carman with him! He stopped her questions with the word he brought from Charles Town: Major Dorsey was sailing within the week to Bath, and then—with his ship loaded with masts, rosin, and tar for the Indies—the couple would return to Britain.

      Sarah Alice spent her week opening trunks and hogsheads to decide what she'd wear for the Major's arrival. She stayed inside at the Lawson's, preparing clothes and wigs for the reception of her betrothed.

      The snow was gone by Tuesday morning, but the town's excitement continued. The presence of captured goods, sold at reasonable prices, was exciting, and so were the captured coins which Edward's crew spent lavishly in the taverns.

      On Friday afternoon, a two-masted brigantine entered Town Creek, and Sarah Alice knew it was hers. A sailor from the ship ran to the Lawson house to tell Mistress Harrison that Major Dorsey would be calling on her that evening.

      Hannah Lawson brought out her best pewter and porcelain to entertain the Major. John Lawson was still up in Chowan for consultations with Governor Hyde about the March Assembly. He left knowing that Hannah was capable of being his representative to any visitors.

      Sarah Alice dressed in a dark green damask dress, the skirts separated in front to reveal her embroidered, cream petticoat. Her finest powdered wig draped curled locks across her shoulders and touched the rope of pearls she been given by Craford as a wedding gift.

      Major Dorsey arrived in the splendor of his dress uniform. His sword picked up the candlelight, as did the gold braid on his coat and on his cocked hat.

      Hannah Lawson extended her hand to be kissed, and the Major obliged. He did the same for Sarah Alice, then leaned to kiss his fiancée on the cheek. The children giggled at the kiss, but were awed by the splendid, tall soldier in officer's uniform who was standing in their hall.

      The children ate by the fire as Hannah and her guests sat at the table. The room was bright with candlelight and light conversation.

      "But we sail in two days, Mistress Lawson, so I must disappoint you. My men and I were entertained to excess during our long stay in Charles Town. Now, we must be about Her Majesty's business. I'm sorry to miss John Lawson, but the Admiralty has ordered me to hasten back to London. After waiting all these months, now I'm to hasten. That's the life of a soldier. Nothing new about that. I hope my Sarah Alice can become accustomed to it."

      The couple barely ate the meal that Hannah and her cook had spent such time preparing, but Hannah understood. When John came home suddenly, they sometimes forgot to eat! She watched Sarah Alice playing the coquette, like a courtesan. Within hours, the bride-to-be had left the reality of Bath Town and was living back in the rarefied air of the Virginia elite thinking of going to even higher places. Hannah felt a momentary sadness that her guest had, so suddenly, become the woman that her husband had described as meeting in Williamsburgh—a stilllovely, but fading, cut flower; pure decoration. Maybe, England or Scotland would be best for Sarah Alice Harrison. She bore little resemblance to her brothers, her sister, or her mother. The family—but for Sarah Alice—was part of the New World. The bride-to-be had lived most of her life in imitation of life in a place she'd never seen.

      Richard returned to Bath with his wife and girls to hail a last farewell to Sarah Alice. Edy and Richard's wife, Jean, were tearful at the good-bye, but the town, the colors, and the activity absorbed his girls. Richard noticed with sardonic interest the minute indication of relief Tapoc displayed when she stepped back over an imaginary line to the Williams side after spending five months with Sarah Alice Harrison. Richard prided himself in noticing. It had taken years to learn anything about what these people felt. He'd never bothered to look—or to care— until John Lawson talked to him about Indians. Lawson liked them as people, he'd said!