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her.
She dropped her gaze to the menu and noticed a biography of none other than
Stede Bonnet below a picture of his Jolly Roger.
She read hurriedly.
One of the sea s strangest and most unlikely pirates was Major Stede Bonnet. Bonnet came
from a wealthy Barbadian family. He possessed a liberal education and was known to be a man
of letters. His sugar plantation brought him considerable wealth and he found himself among
the elite of Bridgetown on the island of Barbados.
Therefore, it was a great shock when, for no apparent reason, Major Bonnet left his life as a
planter to take up piracy.
As a pirate, Bonnet was an amateur. He did not capture a ship as any other pirate would do;
he purchased his own in early 1717, which was completely unheard of in the world of piracy.
Named Revenge, it boasted ten pieces of artillery secured to her solitary gun deck. Bonnet paid
his crew whom he had recruited from the taverns and grogshops of Bridgetown out of his
own pocket.
One night, he cast off without a word to his wife and set his course for the Virginia Capes,
where he captured a few vessels. After marauding the New England coast, he returned to the
south.
Bonnet dropped anchor in the Bay of Honduras, where he encountered the Queen Anne s
Revenge and her captain, the fearsome Edward Teach Blackbeard.
Bonnet became Blackbeard s prisoner, and the pirate tried to convince Bonnet that a man of
his education should not be forced to the rigors of commanding a ship like the Revenge and to
transfer himself to the more comfortable quarters of the Queen Anne s Revenge. There was
little Bonnet could do or say and soon one of Blackbeard s crew took over command of the
Revenge.
Eventually, Bonnet persuaded Blackbeard to allow him to captain the Revenge again. Soon
after, the two parted and Bonnet left his ship for North Carolina, where he surrendered himself
as a reformed pirate to the Governor, Charles Eden, who granted him a Letter of Marque to
become a privateer.
Bonnet attempted to return to Barbados but a hurricane prevented him so he turned to
piracy once more.
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Watchkeeper
In September, 1718, he was captured by Colonel William Rhett, from whom he escaped only
to be recaptured and brought to trial under a Court of Vice-Admiralty in Charles Towne, South
Carolina. Despite the appeals by the ladies of Charleston, with whom Bonnet was immensely
popular, the judge of the Vice-Admiralty Court, Sir Nicholas Trott, sentenced him to death.
Stede Bonnet was hanged for piracy on December 10, 1718, at White Point Gardens.
When Gwen looked up, Stede had just finished reading the bio as well. His posture
was tense. The blue of his eyes had turned almost black.
What s the matter?
Their server, a college-aged boy with red hair and freckles, set two Diet Cokes on
the table. You maties ready to order?
Give us a minute, please, Gwen said and then turned her attention back to Stede
once the boy had walked away. Is something wrong?
My entire life has been reduced to mere paragraphs.
It wasn t unflattering, she said and reached across the table to cover his hand with
hers. Did you read the part about being immensely popular with the ladies?
He cracked a smile.
Stede, this is just a silly theme restaurant. I m certain somewhere out there is a
very detailed biography of your life.
He opened the menu and scanned the items before he shot a glance at her. I was
indeed popular with the ladies.
Gwen felt a niggling sense of jealousy but she couldn t resist asking, How so?
The first time I was captured, they held me at the Marshall s home in Charles
Towne. The local ladies told my jailors it was unchristian to keep me from receiving
visitors and persuaded my captors to allow them to visit. One, whom I befriended for
ulterior reasons, brought me a basket with a dress and frilled cap concealed within. I
donned it and my Quartermaster, David Hariot, and I walked right out the front door
with the other ladies.
Gwen burst into laughter. Really?
He nodded and took a sip of his Diet Coke. Suddenly, his face contorted and he
shivered as he swallowed the drink. What the devil is this?
Coke, she said and then thought coke might mean something different to him.
Cola.
It tastes& alive. He smacked and took another drink. Apparently, this time he was
prepared for the carbonation. Not bad though.
The waiter caught Gwen s eye and she ordered a couple of fish sandwiches with
fries. She was hungry but needed something fast. They still had treasure to find and it
was just past eleven.
Two small children raced across the restaurant wearing eye patches and
brandishing plastic cutlasses.
69
Debra Glass
Gwendolyn, Stede said conspiratorially. Those patrons have gone. I d like to see
my map.
Anticipation fluttered in her stomach as she followed him into the artifacts room.
Stede stopped before a glass case and stared. Inside, amidst a chest filled with
plastic jewels and doubloons, a couple of burnished coins and some rusted iron
manacles, was a piece of yellowed parchment no larger than a regular sheet of paper.
Gwen had somehow expected the map to be the size of a table cloth.
Is that it? she asked.
He nodded.
Gwen s stomach felt as if it had sunk straight to her toes. Only a few lines here and
there were visible. The damn thing had faded! There s not enough on it to be useful!
Precisely.
Every nerve in her body grew taut. They d wasted an entire morning chasing down
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