Chapter Twenty-Five

 

“OH! THANK YOU, GOD!” ADAM exclaimed as they approached the Topsail Inlet. He knew he was now just moments away from home sweet home.

As the Carolina Gypsy made her way into Taylor Creek, Adam looked through his spyglass and was able to see friends and family of the men on board beginning to run towards the docks where the sloop would be moored. Whenever a local ship would return home from a long voyage, it could be spotted at a distance by folks in town, and everyone would come down to welcome their men back home.

He looked towards the direction of the Topsail Tavern to see if he could see his mother or Valentine or anyone coming towards the docks, but there was no one—at least not that he could make out. He knew he wouldn’t see Laney Martin arrive to greet him. She lived around Lennoxville Point, which was too far away to hear the folks in town announcing the Gypsy’s return.

Oh well, he thought, that just means I can surprise ’em when I walk into the tavern. He tried to push away a worry that something might have happened in the time he had been gone.

He put his spyglass back into his pocket and walked over to stand beside Martin at the rail. Martin had no one who would be waiting for him to return. His parents were both dead, and he was an only child. His only family close by was his cousin Laney.

“Glad to be back home?” asked Adam.

“I am,” said Martin.

“Think you’ll be up for going on another one of these trips anytime soon?”

“Maybe so, but if we do, no adventures, alright?”

Adam laughed. “Agreed. I think I’ve had enough adventure to last a right good long while.”

As the Gypsy was being brought about into position in front of Rogers’s warehouse, the dockworkers were standing by to help off-load the vessel. Adam’s heart raced as he looked inside the giant cargo doors of the building and saw a staid Emmanuel standing there, his hands clasped in front of him. Is something wrong? Why is he standing like that? He looks worried, Adam thought. He tried to push out of his mind the multitude of reasons why Emmanuel might wear such an expression, but there was no need. He soon was able to make out a smile spreading across the old man’s face. Apparently, he had just been waiting until he was able to put his eyes on his young apprentice.

The next several minutes were a blur, with dockworkers hurriedly helping set the ramp and assist with the unloading of the vessel. Once Adam was finally able to disembark, he ran down the ramp and over to Emmanuel and surprised the old man by grabbing him in a manly hug.

“What’s this?” said a bewildered but bemused Emmanuel.

“I’m so glad to be home,” said Adam. “We have a lot to talk about.”

“Oh?”

“We do. About my father . . . And Isabel.”

Emmanuel’s eyes grew very big. Then he nodded and smiled at Adam. “I see. Well, I suppose we do have much to talk about, then. But perhaps you should first go and see your mother.”

“She’s alright, isn’t she?”

“Of course, my boy, but she’s been so worried, what with the ship being delayed and all.”

Adam nodded in understanding. “Alright, I’ll go over there in a little bit, but first I need to tell you something important.”

“What is it?”

“Can we go upstairs and talk?”

“You sure you don’t want to run over to the tavern first?”

“I’m sure,” Adam insisted.

“Very well,” said Emmanuel.

He went over and gave a few instructions to Boaz Brooks, then walked on ahead and motioned for Adam to follow him upstairs to the living quarters. As Adam got to the top of the stairs and reached the balcony, he breathed in deep. He remembered that first time he came to the warehouse the year before, just at the start of his apprenticeship, and how the place looked so big from up there. It still smelled of the warm fragrances of tobacco, rum, and cedar shingles.

When they entered the main room of the living quarters, Adam looked around and was thankful to be back home. He never did get so used to living there that he took for granted the exotic furnishings and decor that reflected Emmanuel’s lifetime of collecting wares from around the world.

“Well, set your bag down and take a seat,” said Emmanuel. “Want me to make some tea?”

Adam shook his head. “No, I’m not going to stay that long right now. I just wanted to let you know about something before you heard it from someone else.”

“You’ll be the death of me, boy,” Emmanuel remarked, making his way around to sit in his favorite chair and motioning for Adam to sit on the settee next to it. “This must be of great importance for you to be so solemn. What on earth is the matter?”

“My father, Captain Velasquez, he was gravely injured. He may already be dead.”

Emmanuel’s face fell. “What? What is this all about? What in the world has happened down there?”

Adam proceeded to tell Emmanuel about how he had gone off in search of Alonso Cordova and ended up getting kidnapped instead. Then he explained how Santiago got involved in the search and what all had happened, including the gunfight in which he took a severe hit.

“He did it to protect me,” said Adam. “I know now who he is.”

Emmanuel took a very deep breath and appeared to be fighting the urge to weep. “He’s your father, Adam.”

“Yes, he is.”

“He told you?”

“He did.”

“How did he know?”

“He figured it out when he was talking to Martin and Charlie, and they mentioned my mother’s name. They told him that she’d kill them if they didn’t find me.”

“Mary Fletcher. Yes. Of course he’d remember her name.” Emmanuel looked reflective.

“You knew he was my father, didn’t you?”

Emmanuel nodded.

“And you’re my grandfather.”

At that, Emmanuel could not restrain himself anymore. He gripped his handkerchief and brought it to his cheek as he began to sob. “That I am,” he said. “How on earth did you find out?”

“Isabel told me—my grandmother. There’s a lot more to all this mess, but I can explain all of that to you later. The important thing is now I know.”

Emmanuel said nothing. He just nodded. He was very emotional.

“And you’ve always known this?” Adam raised his eyebrows in concern. “Why haven’t you told me?”

The old man finally composed himself. “That is a fair question. Do you remember when we had that talk last year, and I told you I had made a promise to someone long, long ago and that I had a vested interest in your future?”

Adam nodded. “I do. You were talking about Isabel, weren’t you?”

Emmanuel nodded. “I promised her when our son—Santiago, your father—was just a wee babe that I would never reveal the truth to anyone. She asked me to make that promise.”

“And you just went along with it?”

“I didn’t have much of a choice.”

“I disagree,” said Adam.

“Well, you are entitled to disagree, but I chose the least destructive path I could. I thought in this way the only one who would suffer would be me.”

Adam took a deep breath and looked across the room, staring out the window at the ships in Taylor Creek. “And you never would have told me?”

Emmanuel shook his head.

“Never?”

“No. I would have taken that secret to my grave, just as I promised her I would, but I’d be lying if I didn’t tell you what a tremendous relief it is to me that you now know the truth—all of it.”

“I’ve had a lot of time to think about this on the trip back home, and there’s one thing I wonder,” said Adam.

“What’s that, son?”

“If you knew all this time that I was your grandson, why did you never try to meet me or get to know me before you took me on as an apprentice last year?”

Emmanuel looked like he was pondering how he would answer the question. He sighed and said, “I’ve always had an eye on you, my boy. I never once questioned your mother’s love for you and her ability to raise you up well.”

“How did you even know about my mother and father? From what I heard, they didn’t really tell anybody. Only Valentine knew.”

Emmanuel tipped his head forward. “Let me explain. When Santiago first came here and explained that he was the son of Isabel and Juan Diego, I knew he had to be my son. I knew she must have sent him to me.”

Adam listened intently.

“Well, I admit that I always kept a close eye on him after that. I knew, for instance, that he had taken a room there at the tavern. I also knew that he stayed around here in Beaufort much longer than he needed to, and there must’ve been something keeping him here. I knew who your mother was, of course. I also knew that later that summer he was gone, but her belly was growing. I asked Valentine about it one day, and he only told me that she had eloped with a sailor from Cuba, but that after the Spaniards attacked the town, he ran him off. I was suspicious of his story, of course, but I felt sure that he was referring to my son. I never told him that, though.”

“How did you know it was your son and not one of the other sailors on his vessel?”

Emmanuel laughed. “My son was the most handsome one, of course! And he was also the only one who took a room at your tavern. It didn’t take much for me to put two and two together. And then after you were born and as you started growing, my suspicions were confirmed. You looked so much like your father.”

Adam smiled and looked away. “Everybody was saying that down in Havana. I never noticed it until somebody pointed it out.”

“Well, you look very much like your mother. You’ve got her smile for sure, and she has dark features as well, but that wavy hair and those eyes . . . Those are your father’s. And I want to tell you something else: I also have known Valentine since before even your mother was born, and I’m sure he knew that I knew your father, since I had done business with him while he was here. Valentine always knew I would ask about you and I would offer to help financially if there was ever any need for it, but of course you know Valentine. He’s far too proud to take any help.”

Adam nodded. “That he is. Still, I don’t understand why you never tried to get to know me earlier.”

“The reason why I never tried to make your acquaintance before I took you on as an apprentice is because quite honestly I think it would have been too difficult for me. That’s a poor excuse to you, I’m sure, but it’s the truth. I told you I intended to keep my promise to Isabel, but knowing you personally as a little boy, watching you grow up and being in your life—well, it would have made it very hard to keep that promise. You are my grandson, after all.” At that, Emmanuel got choked up again.

Adam rose from his seat on the settee and stood so he could hug Emmanuel in his chair. “Well, thank God we don’t have to worry about keeping secrets anymore.”

“Indeed,” said Emmanuel. He composed himself quickly and patted Adam on the shoulder. “You hurry over to the tavern now and go see your mother. She’s been worried to death about you since the Gypsy left Taylor Creek. She might’ve even sprouted a few gray hairs as a result of it!”

Adam chuckled. “Alright. I’m going now.”

He started to leave but then turned back. “Everything will be different now. You know that?”

Emmanuel smiled. “I do.”

 

 

ADAM WANTED TO RUN ALMOST the whole way back to the Topsail Tavern. Now that he had told Emmanuel what he knew, he would be glad to see his mother and put her fears to rest, and to see Valentine and tell him all about his adventures in Cuba.

He could hear music coming from the tavern before he even got inside. It was a welcome surprise, since Valentine had temporarily banned hiring musicians a couple of years earlier after a bar fight broke out between sailors from two different ships over which song the musicians should play. In the two years since, the only time the Topsail had music was when a patron happened to come in with a fiddle or a guitar, which didn’t happen often.

Thanks to the heat on this bright and sunny Saturday, the heavy oak door to the tavern was propped open with a brick, and all the windows were open. Adam wondered if anyone inside would spot him before he stepped across the threshold.

As it happened, when he came through the door of the tavern, everything was exactly the way he left it—with the exception of the lively tune that was being played, of course. Valentine was sitting in his usual spot behind the bar, and tavern patrons were eating, drinking, and making merry.

Adam stood there for a moment just to take it all in. When Valentine looked up and noticed it was him, he strode over to the bar to greet him.

“Welcome home, son,” said the ruddy-complected, middle-aged barkeep. He walked around the bar to shake Adam’s hand.

“I’m happy to be back,” said Adam. “I’ve got plenty to tell you about, but I’ve gotta see Mama first. Is she here?”

“In there.” Valentine tipped his head back towards the kitchen and smiled.

Adam walked past the bar and then pushed open the door to the kitchen and saw his mother getting some plates piled high with food to take to some hungry customers.

“Hey, Mama,” he said as he stood near the doorway, smiling.

Mary looked as if she was so focused on what she was doing that it took her a couple of seconds to register her son’s voice. As soon as she did, she put the plates down on the huge butcher-block table in the middle of the kitchen and ran over to hug her son.

“Oh, thank you, Jesus, thank you, Jesus, thank you, Jesus,” she said over and over again, holding her son tightly and crying tears of joy. “I was so afraid you wouldn’t come back.”

“Mama!” said Adam in an attempt to comfort her. “Why in the world would you worry that I wouldn’t come back?”

She held him out at an arm’s length so she could get a good look at him. “You look alright, healthy and all . . . Oh thank you, Jesus!”

“I thank Jesus too, Mama, but you didn’t need to worry so much. I promised you I’d be back, and here I am.”

“Yes you did,” she said, grinning at him as though she was in utter disbelief.

“And I promised you I’d bring you back gifts.” He reached into the little sack he had brought with him from the warehouse and handed her the locket he had bought for her on the day he left Havana. As she held it in her hand and admired it, he said, “I have you a few other things too, but I wanted you to have this first.”

“Oh, it’s beautiful!” she exclaimed. “But it looks so expensive! How could you afford this?”

She put it around her neck and looked inside.

Adam didn’t answer. He just smiled at her.

“Oh, look! There’s a tiny portrait of you inside!” She marveled at the likeness.

“Believe it or not,” said Adam, “that was painted by a fellow on the Gypsy—Ed Willis. He’s a real good artist and did a lot of that to pass the time on the way back.”

“You shouldn’t have, you know,” she said. “I’m sure this cost way too much.” She gave him a jokingly stern look. “But I’ll always treasure this.” She hugged him again.

“Let me fix you something to eat,” she offered.

“I’d love that.”

Mary delivered the plates she had prepared earlier to the customers in the dining room, then came back into the kitchen to fix something for Adam to eat. As she did, Adam told her all about the sea voyage, how he didn’t get sick, and how beautiful it was down in the Caribbean, but he didn’t say one word about what had happened to him in Cuba. And he wasn’t sure that he would.

He knew he’d have to tell her at some point that he had finally met his father, and also that he had learned Emmanuel was his grandfather. Nevertheless, he figured he would spare her the details of his ordeal with the kidnappers.

Adam knew that he would tell Valentine all about what had happened . . . eventually. Not today, though. Today he was just glad to be back home.

 

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