13.

“Kojo Bekoe Okoh”—the Lion-Man clear’d his throat and sat forward—“was born near Akim in 1699, and captured by the Royal African Company at the age of seventeen with the intention of sending him aboard the Temperance, bound for the West Indies. Possessed of a brilliant mind and a Disdain for authority, Okoh glimps’d an opportunity to evade this dreadful Outcome during a delay at port: the Temperance had met with extremely inclement Weather en route from Liverpool, and in the hectic Activity of repairing its hull for departure, Okoh escaped his bondage and fled as a hired sailor on a Mughal trading ship en route to Portugal. Just off the Azores, however, the ship ran aground. Only Okoh surviv’d, through canny manipulation of a piece of board and considerable navigational Sensibilities. He took shelter in the Isles ’til he was accosted there by a British East India Party and—it being ascertain’d that he was a skillful seaman—press’d into labor on a Vessel call’d the Katherine, under the direction of Captain John Hunter—a notoriously rough man, dislik’d by most of his crew.

“Young Okoh made several trading journeys under Hunter, quickly proving himself to be a Favorite among the more independent-minded of the crew, particularly those who were most dissatisfied with Hunter’s exhausting searches for each journey’s utmost profit. On one such journey—the crew Overwork’d and beginning to grumble of mutiny belowdecks—Hunter determined to extend the planned voyage, overshooting the Katherine’s original destination to Bombay on the rumor of an unclaimed quantity of muslin at the port of Masulipatnam. When the Katherine reached port, however, the muslin—and indeed, the East India Company factor—were nowhere in sight. The entire port was quiet. This ought to have been Hunter’s clue to turn the ship about. And yet, his greed, etc.

“Hunter sent out a search party of two to explore further inland. There, in the fountains of the market courtyard, the Emissaries were accost’d by a crowd of European female pirates who—having slain the East India Company factor and all his agents—demanded the Emissaries swear Allegiance to piracy or be murder’d as well. One swore Allegiance. One did not. The pirate crew (along with the one consenting Emissary) thence return’d to the Katherine, where they discover’d the higher-ranking officers laying about sous’d and sun-puffed on the deck. These they quickly overtook with Surprise. Some were dispatch’d with knives to the throat. Others scrambled for Safety. In the wretched, dingy lower hold, to which the African and lascar sailors were consign’d, Okoh and his comrades heard the Commotion. The moment of mutiny had at last come. They organiz’d themselves into their own battalion.

“With nowhere to hide, the remaining officers fled from the pirates to the lower hold. Okoh was ready. Flanking the threshold, he and his comrades captured the crew when they burst through. They gave them the same option as the Emissaries had been given: pledge allegiance to the emerging band of mutineers, or be turned over to the pirates above deck. Few pledged. Many were killed.

“From thence, Okoh and his comrades flooded up to the deck and join’d with the pirates. There was much rejoicing.

“The Captain, oblivious, was alone in his quarters supping on roast sailfish and warm brandy (and undoubtedly boxing the Jesuit). Okoh and the mutineers storm’d Hunter’s chamber, where they easily overpowered him with Surprise, and tied him to his bedposts.

“Okoh may have wanted to kill Hunter outright, but he gave Hunter the opportunity to turn pirate with ’em. The Captain spat in Okoh’s face. He refused in the name of his holy God Commerce and the necessity of arriving to Bombay for his trading schemes. He was eager to return thence to Liverpool for his payment.

“Without further hesitation, the pirates cut off the Captain’s head and threw it to the fish.

“That night, the Katherine rais’d the skull and crossbones, and the new freebooter Society celebrated, regaling each other with Fantasies of living free of the East India Company. The lascar mates told stories of especially pleasant weather and calm waters in the sea north of the Masalembu islands.

“The crew sailed south. They came to be lost many times, but as Okoh was good with Constellations, he proved a capable Navigator. On their route, they encountered several British and Dutch Company ships. The pirates direct’d the mutineers in the particulars of ship-raiding, and they gain’d more comrades and supplies in this manner, leaving a slaw of bloodied Company faithfuls in their wake. Still, it was a long and hot journey. Not all of the freebooters survived, though the pirates try’d remedies to preserve as many as possible. Wormwood and sage added to cider to strengthen the constitution. Pastes of garlick with butter. Clove and fig for Wakefulness. They drank water with as much salt in it as they could bear. They ate sage moistened with vinegar in the mornings as breakfast, and chew’d wood sorrel to stave off hunger throughout the days.

“When they reached the Java Sea—a somewhat diminish’d lot—they declared themselves a Maroon Society of Freebooters. Okoh, most of the female pirates, some Anglo Englishmen, several Tahitian Islanders, Africans, French Protestants, and lascars. They were rich in livestock—including a small Band of chickens and swine they had liberated from a Dutch ship (cautious to escort off only those animals who walked willingly alongside, not wanting to ‘press-gang’ any creatures into labor)—herbs, and other Provisions. Everything was held in common and every soul Valu’d and loved.

“So as not to disturb any societies living on the islands further south, the mutineers threw anchor far from any coast and set about transforming their ship into a small village. The upper deck was Devoted to growing vegetables and herbs, along with a chicken-and-swine pasture and gardens for Exercise, star-gazing and the pursuit of open-air Arts. Lowerdecks hous’d root cellars, a small library (to which the society added their own narratives), a makeshift laboratory for mutineers interested in pursuing natural Experimentation or training in doctoring, and sleeping bunks. In time, using various Flotsam collected from the sea (the Detritus of distant shipwrecks, driftwood, bones and dried shark-and-whale skin), they added to their single ship an Archipelago of outlying flotillas.

“Each member of the society was encourag’d to discov’r Activities of greatest interest. Okoh spent much of his time exploring his Passions—which tended towards the astrological. He was a sky-watcher. He’d lie awake at night, observing the conduct of the constellations across the giant dome. Daily, he conveyed valuable Information regarding developments in the Weather and the Winds to those mutineers who had taken to fishing or planting.

“Some of the pirates had become eager amateur Scientists. Their experience with roots and herbs for shipboard health form’d the basis for many gentle Experiments with the animals and plants they had collected from the Company ships. In the course of this Practice, the pirates devis’d a kind of Concoction—a recipe based on cane-drying methods they’d discover’d on long ocean journeys. They found that if they distill’d the urine of the swine for weeks in the sun and mix’d it with fruit pectin, they’d arrive at a stiff jelly that could be granulat’d in the manner of cane.

“The pirates admired the swine, which seem’d possessed of an especial Meatiness, and they wished to thicken similarly. They conjectur’d that the urine might hold a key. But the granules—they found—had little effect. Seeking Okoh’s advice, they determined on a more Subtle process—applying to the gel’d urine a complex combination of herbs, fruits, mashing Techniques, and an ineffable Something else: exposure to certain strains of Starlight. The serum, when completed, emboldened and thickened them as hoped. Over the course of time, they came to resemble grizzled coves in ways that surpris’d and delight’d them.

“This ‘gravel,’ as the mutineers called it, was easily integrated into the Maroon society. Some said it made those who took it exceptionally hell-houndish*1 and Free and Liberated with each other. Though others said they had been quite Free and Liberated with each other all along. They lived this way for the space of some years—those who wish’d to take of the serum did so, just as those who wish’d to take of spice to their food or other medicinal extractions did—while the winters were long in England and the navies kept their ships close to shore or engag’d in more pressing matters.”

The elixir. A mutineer recipe.

Jack drew closer to the bars.

“But the East India Company doesn’t forget. In addition to which, the Dutch were increasing their presence in the Java Sea. The Company—was thus provok’d to retrieve their lost merchandise, ships, and men in case the Dutch made an opportunity of the loss. In the heat of June 1722, they sent a Bombay Navy frigate to hunt for mutineers and their vessels.

“The mutineers had long dispens’d with weapons, as they had no need for such items in their community. Their guns, in fact, had gone to Rust in the heat and damp, and one or two mutineers—those that had found a liking for the cooking Arts—had discover’d the barrels served very well as planters for herbs and spices to flavor the meals.

“The Bombay Navy was supply’d with cannons, muskets, and longswords.

“The battle was brief.

“The Mutineers were rounded up and brought on board the frigate. Okoh look’d at his fellow mates, thronged in miserable bleeding Heaps on deck, and fear’d.

“ ‘What should we do?’ they called out to him. Okoh spoke in pirate cant, vociferous and Hopeful, despite the inauspicious Circumstances. We have battled the Company before and won. The captain did not understand the words Okoh spoke, but, watching him, he understood this: a journey with the mutineer leader would be too risky. When they had sail’d some way from the flotilla, the captain ordered the crew to lift Okoh from the deck and throw him overboard into the shark-clotted waters.

“And then to press on for England.

“Okoh was skilled at ropework—as some of the mates on the flotilla had entertain’d themselves and each other with games of masterful Knotting and Unknotting. He had untied his wrists long before he was thrown overboard, though he’d left the cord loosely wrapp’d to retain the appearance of Confinement.

“As the frigate pulled away, he swam back to the mutineer ships.

“There, Okoh mournfully attempted to perform all of the tasks that the freebooters had accomplish’d together. He tended the chickens and swine in the morning, rested at the heat of the day, cook’d in the evening, repair’d his tools, and attended to his bunk and general Cleanliness after supper. He told himself stories around his campfire, the way their favored tale-teller had done each night. But there was too much lost. It was not the Same without his mates. His camp fell to ruin, his literary Arts languished, and his foods dwindl’d to a daily broth of wilted greens and roots with no spices to flavor them.

“But he did have one thing: an enormous supply of the pirates’ strength gravel. He had not tried it previously, but now found it invigorated his condition.

“Okoh loaded one of the smaller flotsam-boats with what gravel he could carry, and set off for the mainland. Rumor has it he fought sea monsters and Tritons of the deep en route, but who can say for sure. They say he killed a Kraken, then pilot’d his craft through its innards and out the anus, taking note, along the way, of a lion eaten entirely whole, a British smallship, and a host of Octopi and cod. These latter he collected and supp’d on.”^*2

The Lion-Man went silent for a moment as the wind howled nervously over the Thames.

“How might you have come by this history?” Bess had not moved throughout the telling.

The Lion-Man gave Bess a grave look. “I, too, was indentur’d to the Katherine. Sold to Hunter and the East India Company by my father as a ‘useless imp’ at the age of some fifteen years. It was I who swore Solidarity to the pirates.

“I lived in the freebooter society; participat’d in swine-tending and gardening. But my Specialty in the community was tale-teller. I spun the inimitable yarns for our mates, as I had learn’d some letters in my small years of schooling. On the flotilla, I practiced the ancient Greek art of plitho-hypomnesis^*3. It was an honorable position.

“Until that fateful day: the day of our capture. On that day I was below, writing in my bunk, when I heard a scuffling on the topdecks. I laid down my stories for the evening campfire and peer’d up through the portal to find one pink-faced and crazed sailor, plied to the gills with gin and tottering down the stairs towards me. Before I knew it, the brute was waving a pistol. In a Panic, I held up the thick sheaf of my diaries as a shield. He discharg’d his pistol directly at me, blowing through the diary and straight into my ribs. It was not a deep wound, but it was disabl’ng. I fell to the ground. Shortly, we were all of us truss’d up like boar for roasting and loaded onto the frigate. We sailed for England. Except for Okoh, who—as I mention’d—had been thrown overboard.

“Many of us perished in the first days of capture out of sheer Misery and hopelessness. Some they secreted off to other ships bound for parts still unknown to me. As for me, after eight long weeks at sea (the ship returned to Canton to make one more set of trades and discharge more mutineers as captive, bound laborers) I was deposit’d unceremoniously in the King’s Wharf cellar amongst the rest of the foreign goods. Apparently they had concluded that I looked amazingly close to a beast, and would fetch a fortune in revenues at the King’s Menagerie. I have been a Prisoner here ever since.”

“In the elements?”

“Day in and out. I was accustomed to sleeping under the night canopy, but the coal-smoke and the cold here—”

Bess let out a sob.

“But to bring us towards your question: imagine my Surprise when, just a few weeks ago, the Tower Guards brought Okoh to an adjacent cell, there to be jeer’d at by the Guards and the King’s retinue. Okoh is—well, not one to take discipline lightly. He thrash’d himself against the bars night and day, refus’d his meals. Began to waste. We had precious little time to speak, but I did learn of his journey and subsequent capture.” He held their gazes. “Last night he was removed.”

“And what of the mutineer recipe?” Jack cut in.

The Lion-Man shrugg’d. “There are certain forms of knowledge develop’d collectively that can’t be translated into a simple recipe, I’m afraid. Evans—that was his name? Your ‘doctor’?” Bess nodded. “Evans—I believe it was he—visit’d on the day they brought Okoh to the Tower. He arrived with Wild. Evans sought to interview Okoh, but he was immediately refused. Then he came to interview me regarding the gravel. They’d promised me my Freedom. Of course I long for freedom, but even if I had consider’d giving them the recipe, their own Navy had destroy’d my diary and all my notes of our goings-on. I saw Evans’ efforts as absolutely futile. Without the records, I’d need the rest of the society to reconstruct it. And they’re all dead but for Okoh and myself.”

The wind gusted plumes of sea-coal over the Menagerie. Clots of rain clouds drift’d up the Thames, lit blue-gray by the moon.

“But,” said Bess as the squalls threw strands of hair onto her cheeks, “why would Wild want the mutineer recipe? What for?”

“I can’t say. Although I heard ’em discoursing about how there’s a ship coming up the Thames—the Poor Maria—”

“When?” Jack broke in.

The Lion-Man shrugged.

“They said it’s got somethin’ on board that’s going to enrich them beyond measure. Somethin’ they can market to the stockjobbers and barristers—the new-monies stayin’ up all night balancin’ books. The ship’s got to be quarantined with all the rest down in the Blackfriars for twenty-eight days, according to the Minister of Publick Health. Wild went on about it, saying nobody would be able to get near the ship through all the centinels. That they’d have easy access to conduct their Business. And once the ship comes in, he boasted, they won’t need to raid any more ships ever—or conduct any small jilts to fund their operations.”

He paused. “If you want my hypothesis, they’ve sent the Bombay Navy for the rest of the strength gravel. If my memory serves, we had produced enough for a year at least when we were captured.”

Jack shifted from foot to foot. A year’s worth?

“Thank you for taking the time with us, tonight. We’ll come back for you, I promise,” Bess said.

The Lion-Man laugh’d. The lamplight gave his face a sort of Vampir-glow. “I’m surrounded by Tower Guards at all times. And even if I did escape, they’d find me. They’ll never let us Free—not mutineers. Too dangerous, too likely to stir Tumults among the publick. Do me a favor: Just make certain Wild doesn’t obtain that strength gravel.”