“Daddy and I didn’t really know what Ezra was talking about until we did a little research,” Ten said.
“You know who Sam is?” Everly asked.
Ten nodded. “I do. His full name is ‘Black’ Sam Bellamy and he was a pirate who grew up in Wellfleet.”
“Bellamy?” Everly asked, looking confused. “We just met a Bellamy at the old navy prison.”
“That Bellamy was named after his grandmother’s maiden name. Sam’s family originally came here from England, so I suppose it’s possible they might be related to our pirate.”
“That’s really cool,” Everly said. “Tell us more about the pirate.”
“Me pirate!” Ezra said. He scampered off the floor and ran out the door. He came back a few seconds later with his eye patch and plastic sword.
“Sam Bellamy was born in 1689 in England.”
“Wow! 1689!” Everly’s eyes were so wide that Ronan was afraid they’d drop out onto the floor. “He’salmostas old as you are, Daddy!”
Ronan’s right hand fluttered to his heart. “How very dare you?” Did his daughter really think he looked over three hundred years old? Ronan thought he was a pretty good looking guy for someone with forty in his rearview. Maybe his hair was greying a bit at the temples. He thought it made him look dashing, like he was a silver fox in the making, but his daughter thought he was older than dirt.
Everly laughed and climbed onto the bed with Ronan. “I’m just kidding.” She patted his shoulder. “You’re not older than dirt, Daddy. I promise.”
“Anyway,” Ten continued, “In 1715, Sam met a beautiful girl named Maria Hallet, who worked in a tavern in Eastham. Her parents didn’t like Sam and forbid Maria to date him. The two met in secret and fell deeply in love.”
Everly sighed dreamily. “Did they live happily ever after?”
Ten shook his head. “They did not.”
“Maria’s father didn’t want her to marry Sam because he had no money and no way to support her or any family they would have,” Ronan continued. “The fastest and easiest way to make money in those days was to go to sea. Before Sam came to the United States, he’d been a sailor with the British Navy. The ocean provided so many opportunities for young men. Therewere freight ships that transported goods between the American colonies, the Caribbean, and England. Then there were fishing and whaling ships and of course, later on, there were pirates. Sam decided he’d find work on a ship to make enough money to come back to Cape Cod to marry Maria.”
“Did Sam join a pirate crew?” Everly asked, her eyes wide.
Ronan shook his head. “No, he joined a ship called theMariannethat was sailing to the south intent on salvaging treasure ships that had wrecked in hurricanes off the coast of Florida. The only problem was that ships had sunk in deeper waters than man was capable of visiting at the time. There was no scuba gear or diver’s helmets back in those days. The crew was in a bit of a tight spot and had a decision to make.”
“What happened next? Is that when Sam became a pirate?”
“Yes, Captain Hornigold and his first mate, a guy named Edward Teach, decided to turn to piracy. That’s where Teach earned his nickname, Blackbeard. Anyway, the crew didn’t like the way Hornigold was running the operation, so they took a vote and elected Sam Bellamy as their new captain.”
Everly’s mouth hung open as Ronan told the story. He had no idea his daughter would be so enamored with the young pirate.
“Later on Bellamy raided a ship called theWhydah, which he kept for himself. When he felt he had enough treasure to woo his Maria, he began to sail back to New England, dividing the booty between the two ships. They started running into rough weather near Long Island, New York. Bellamy’s partner decided to ride out the storm there, while Sam continued to Massachusetts.”
“Because he wanted to marry Maria!” Everly sighed again with a dreamy look in her eyes.
Ronan wished to hell he didn’t have to recite the end of the story. “Right, he couldn’t wait to see her again. Bellamy was so in love that he threw caution to the wind and tried to sail home, only the storm was so strong that the winds pushed the ship onto a sandbar about five hundred feet from shore. Between the wind and the pounding waves, the ship started to break up. Sailors tried to get off the boat and swim to shore, but only two of them made it.”
“Was one of them Sam?” Unshed tears shimmered in Everly’s blue eyes.
“No, honey, he wasn’t.”
“What happened to Maria?” Everly asked, wiping away her tears.
“Well, I’m afraid things didn’t go so well for her either. Rumor had it that she watched as the Whydah was wrecked on the sandbar and later sunk into the sea. What Sam had no way of knowing at the time, was that she was pregnant with their child.”
“Yay! A baby!” Everly cheered. “Did she name him after his Daddy?”
It was interesting Everly knew the child had been a boy, but not what happened to him or Maria after the baby was born.
“No, honey, the baby didn’t survive. Medicine wasn’t as advanced back then and they didn’t know how to help babies who were born too soon.” Ten reached for Everly’s hand. “Just like today, men didn’t understand how women’s bodies worked, so instead of seeing what happened as a terrible tragedy, police arrested Maria for the baby’s death.”
