Chapter 2

The lady did an excellent job of sewing up his gash. It was obviously not the first time that she had done this sort of thing. Fortunately, his other two wounds were not as serious as that one in his back. She had done such a good job that Joe only had a small amount of pain while she was sewing and there was even less pain now. Joe thanked Mistress Martha for her work and she went back to bed. That woman must have nerves of iron not to bursting with curiosity about how Joe got the wounds.

Joe was informed that the sun would be coming up about 6:00, so they could go back to sleep until then. Probably nothing would happen to the dead Indians before then, so they might as well wait until daylight to examine them. They went to bed, and Joe slept like a log, though on his belly. Joe didn't want to get any blood on the mattress.

Just at daylight, there was a knock on his door. The knock changed to a pounding before Joe could fully wake up. "OK, OK, come in, please."

Mistress Esther walked in and said, "Well, Master Joseph, you certainly are a slug-abed! Master John has been up for an hour and was wondering if you were sick again. He wants you to hurry down for breakfast before some chore he has in mind for you."

"All right, I'm coming." Mistress Esther flounced out of the room and closed the door forcefully, full of disgust at an exhibition of such laziness. It definitely was not the Puritan thing to do! Joe struggled into his clothes—the gash on his back was much more painful this morning, probably a good sign that it was healing quickly and properly.

He stumbled into the downstairs main room and sat at one of the tables when waved there my Master John. Mistress Esther brought out a slab of cheese on a trencher of bread and some sort of gravy. Of course, a mug of the local beer was included for him to drink. Joe could see that Master John was waiting impatiently, so he hurried through breakfast. Oops, there was that frown of disapproval. Dammit, he had forgotten that the Puritans would say some sort of prayer before and after eating. "Master John, as you must have guessed, I am not a Puritan. Therefore, I will undoubtedly offend some of your customs without intending to do so. Please forgive me for that. I am not a heathen, but was simply raised in a different environment."

"Oh, now I understand! Well, I'll try to remember that, but I advise you to avoid Parson Jacobs, since he has the forgiving nature of a snake! Now, if you are ready, let us look into the matter of last night's visitors." This last was said with a nasty grin.

They went out and looked over the carnage that was left from Joe's activities the previous night. John was especially impressed at the small number of wounds on each dead Indian. This showed that Joe was indeed accomplished with his knife and tomahawk. Such a skilled craftsman could be forgiven for not adhering strictly to the Puritan way. They looted the bodies and pulled them into an empty woodshed. Joe asked, "Master John, what do you plan to do with these bodies? I know you can't plan to leave them where they presently are. The stench will make that impossible after a few days."

"These are Nipmucks, so I will just burn them after Parson Jacobs has a chance to make sure that they are condemned to hell. He will be around sometime this morning for his usual mug of beer. I'll have him do the job then." They went back into the tavern so that John could be on hand to greet any potential customers.

"Master Joseph, what are your plans? I want you to understand that your actions last night have more than paid me for the small courtesies that I have done for you. However, you have more than demonstrated your prowess with a knife and tomahawk, so you would be welcome to stay here as long as you wish as my guest. We would all be grateful for your protection."

"Thank you, Sir. I appreciate your kind words and offer. I have no place else to go right now, so I would be quite happy to take you up on your generous offer. I have had considerable military experience in fighting with the knife, so I may well be of some use in the current war. Please tell me more about what is going on in this area."

"Well, to start from the beginning, King Phillip, or Metacom, to use his heathen Wampanoag name, started this war to force us God-fearing Puritans to return to England. Of course, we can't do that, for it would go against God's Holy Command to show these heathens the error of their ways. Some have converted to the true Faith, but even more have not. King Phillip started out by forcing our missionaries away from his people, and now he wants us to provide him with metal items which he cannot pay for. The situation has gone from argument to killing, as the natives see that as the only way to get what they want from us without paying for it. Of course, the Frenchies in the north are encouraging them in their depredations."

"OK, I can see how the trouble started, but I sure can't see how it can be stopped, short of one side winning the war."

Just at that moment, a man burst into the room and shouted, "MASTER HAROLD AND HIS FAMILY HAVE BEEN SLAUGHTERED BY THE HEATHENS!"

"Come, come, Master William, there is no need to shout. When did this outrage happen?"

"It was sometime last night. Husband, wife, and son were killed and scalped. We are doomed if we don't flee to Boston."

"It's not as bad as that. Our new friend, Master Joseph Bell, here, took care of the blackguards last night, though he did not know of the previous attack until just now. There are five heathen bodies in one of my woodsheds just waiting for Parson Jacobs' attention before I burn them. Were there any more outrages last night?"

"Not that I know of. I'll spread the word of Master Joseph's good work. We thank you, Good Sir. God was kind to send you to us in our hour of need."

"I don't know if God had anything to do with it, but I'll do what I can to help you fight the natives."

"Tush, Master Joseph. God has a hand in everything, so I am sure that you are here at his behest. In any case, Master William is the biggest gossip in the neighborhood, so your deed will be all over our little community by noon.

"Now, to other matters. You have met everybody who works in my Tavern except the cook, so I will introduce you to him shortly. The only other person who is regularly here is my daughter, who acts as the serving wench when we are too busy for Mistress Esther to handle the work load. You will meet her at noon, if not before that, I am sure."

They were just leaving the kitchen where Joe had been introduced to the cook and were headed back to the main room when a lovely young lady showed up. "Ah, daughter, you are just in time to meet our new lodger and benefactor. Master Joseph Bell, I am pleased to introduce you to my daughter, Mistress Mary Horn."

"How do you do, Master Joseph? I understand that you are the one to whom we owe our lives by your brave action last night. Please accept my thanks and feel free to ask anything you like from me."

"How do you do, Mistress Mary? It is indeed a pleasure to meet you. Such a lovely young lady is always a pleasure to meet. I am more than happy that I was able to do you the favor last night. Please call on me at anytime that I can be of assistance."

"Oh, Father, it is so nice to meet a man with such exemplary manners. I thank you for the introduction. Now, if you two gentlemen would excuse me, I am on an errand for my mother."

The next person that Joe met was Parson Jacobs. He was as unpleasant a character has Joe had been led to expect from the few comments by John and Esther that he had heard. Parson Jacobs came into the tavern and demanded, not asked for, his mug of beer. His next comment was, "Where is this paragon of military prowess that Master William is prattling about? Point him out to me so that I may determine if he is truly one of God's messengers."