Sea Change

Copyright © 2023 Kate Hancock.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means,

graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by

any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author

except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, names, incidents,

organizations, and dialogue in this novel are either the products

of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

Archway Publishing

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views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

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models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

ISBN: 978-1-6657-3424-0 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-6657-3202-4 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2022922393

Archway Publishing rev. date: 12/29/2022

CONTENTS

Dedication

Author’s Note

Prologue Chappaquiddick, Martha’s Vineyard Island, Massachusetts October, 1796

Chapter 1 Off-Chappaquiddick, October, 1796

Chapter 2 September, 2005

Chapter 3 Chappaquiddick, October, 1796

Chapter 4 September, 2005

Chapter 5 Chappaquiddick, October, 1796

Chapter 6 September, 2005

Chapter 7 Chappaquiddick, October, 1796

Chapter 8 September, 2005

Chapter 9 Chappaquiddick, October, 1796

Chapter 10 Chappaquiddick, November, 1796

Chapter 11 September, 2005

Chapter 12 Chappaquiddick, May, 1797

Chapter 13 Ground Zero, New York City September 11, 2005

Chapter 14 Chappaquiddick, May, 1803

Chapter 15 October, 2005

Chapter 16 Chappaquiddick, June, 1807

Chapter 17 October, 2005

Chapter 18 October, 2005

Chapter 19 Chappaquiddick, 1809

Chapter 20 October, 2005

Chapter 21 Chappaquiddick, 1809

Chapter 22 November, 2005

Chapter 23 Chappaquiddick, May 1811

Chapter 24 Chappaquiddick, September 1811

Chapter 25 November, 2005

Chapter 26 December, 2005

Chapter 27 Chappaquiddick, September, 1809

Chapter 28 December, 2005

Chapter 29 Chappaquiddick, February 1810

Chapter 30 December, 2005

Chapter 31 Chappaquiddick, May, 1811

Chapter 32 December, 2005

Chapter 33 Chappaquiddick, May, 1811

Chapter 34 Chappaquiddick, April, 1812

Chapter 35 Chappaquiddick, April, 1812

Chapter 36 December, 2005

Chapter 37 January, 2006

Chapter 38 Chappaquiddick, April 1812

Chapter 39 January, 2006

Chapter 40 Chappaquiddick, April 1812

Chapter 41 January, 2006

Chapter 42 February, 2006

Chapter 43 Chappaquiddick, June, 1812

Chapter 44 February, 2006

Chapter 45 Edgartown, August, 1812

Chapter 46 March, 2006

Chapter 47 Edgartown, August, 1812

Chapter 48 March, 2006

Chapter 49 April, 2009

Chapter 50 May, 2009

Chapter 51 June, 2009

Chapter 52 Edgartown, May 1815

Chapter 53 June 2009

Chapter 54 June 2009

Chapter 55 July, 2009

Chapter 56 August, 2009

Afterword

Acknowledgements

DEDICATION

For my Fred, without whom there would be no book.

Thank you for your infinite patience and for

believing in me when I did not.

AUTHOR’S NOTE

On nine eleven I was with my fourth-grade students. The day began normally but by lunch the world had, quite literally, fallen apart.

In 2014, I wrote my first novel for young adults which was intended to honor all the parents who were left to raise their children without their partners. The result was Windswept, A novel about a family facing that heartbreaking circumstance.

I have had many requests for a sequel to Windswept; Sea Change, is that sequel which picks up where Windswept ended.

Sea Change can be read on its own. If you have read Windswept, the first pages of Sea Change will be familiar as I have repeated some of the early pages so those unfamiliar with the story will be on the same page with those who have read Windswept.

Sea Change is defined as a substantial change in perspective.

PROLOGUE

Chappaquiddick, Martha’s Vineyard

Island, Massachusetts

October, 1796

Josiah Cooke was not a man who worried a great deal. After all, a worrier would never have brought a young wife all the way from England to the far end of an island where the nearest neighbors were miles away across a swiftly moving channel. No, Josiah Cooke was not a worrier—but he was worried tonight.

Josiah Cooke was a farmer who grew crops to feed his wife and himself, with enough to take to market when times were good. He had four good milkers and a sturdy bull, Samson. Now, dairy cows are creatures of habit. After the morning milking, they go out to the field, and when it’s time to be milked in the evening, they come back to the barn. Tonight, Josiah went out to bring his girls into the barn and was dismayed to see that there were only three. Ruth, Esther and Debra had returned as expected, but Delilah, who if the truth be told, was always a bit ornery, had not returned with the others.

Normally, this would not have been terribly worrisome to Josiah, but Delilah was coming near the time to give birth to the calf she was carrying. Cows about to give birth often wandered off to be alone, but if there was a problem with the birth, no one would be there to help. Josiah needed the calf to be born healthy in order to expand his herd, so it fell to him to go out and find the wayward Delilah. It was just bad luck that a thunderstorm was moving toward the island from the northeast.

With a coil of rope over his shoulder and carrying a lantern, Josiah kissed his wife, Polly, and set out to find his missing cow. Not far from his small cabin, Josiah felt the first spatters of rain. Looking out across the sound, Josiah saw huge roiling black clouds racing towards him. He quickened his pace, calling as he went, Delilah—hooo, hooo, hooo—Delilah!

He had gone perhaps half a mile into the coarse dune grass when the storm struck in earnest. The wind-driven rain came in torrents. Thunder crashed about him and lightning lit up the sky. Josiah continued to call Delilah, but the noise from the storm made it all but impossible to hear anything. As he pushed his way through the waist high grass, Josiah thought how mournful the wind sounded as it moaned and shrieked and whistled around him. Suddenly, he realized that something other than the wind was doing the moaning. He quickened his steps trying to locate the source of the sound that he felt sure was his Delilah.

Finally, after struggling against the elements for another quarter mile, Josiah came upon his missing bovine. The great brown beast was lying on her side, alternately panting and moaning. When she saw Josiah, she raised her head and let out with a tremendous bellow as if pleading for Josiah to help her.

Josiah went round to the business end of things and immediately understood Delilah’s distress. Calves are born head first with their heads resting on their front hooves. The muzzle of the calf was showing, but only one hoof could be seen. The second hoof must be caught in the birth canal.

Josiah, who had grown up on a dairy farm in England, knew that Delilah would need help to birth her calf safely. Carefully, so as to cause Delilah as little discomfort as possible, Josiah inserted his hand into the birth canal, feeling gently for the other hoof. Yes! there it was, bent underneath the calf’s leg. Gently, slowly, Josiah manipulated the little foot as he had seen his father do many times before, until the leg was fully extended.

By now, though, Delilah was exhausted from her efforts and Josiah knew that she was going to need more help. As the little calf bleated its distress, Josiah tied the rope he had brought securely around the two hooves. Using all his strength he began gently to pull the calf out. Because Delilah was unable to help in the process, this took an enormous effort on Josiah’s part. He grunted loudly under the strain, all the while talking softly to Delilah, assuring her that all would be well. At first, the calf did not move at all, but just as Josiah was beginning to fear the worst, he felt a slight movement and redoubled his efforts. Slowly, the calf emerged and in a rush of fluid, the new life came sliding into a world of crashing thunder and blinding lightning. Delilah bellowed loudly and raised her tired head to look behind her to see her new baby.

Josiah knew that the baby needed to be cleaned and dried quickly or it might not survive. Normally, the mother would do this, but Delilah was clearly exhausted from her ordeal. Josiah sensed that, though willing, the new mother might not be able to fulfill her duties. It was left to Josiah to get the mother and the calf back to his homestead before the damage was done. He tried to get Delilah to stand, but she seemed uninterested. Josiah blew out the lantern. He would come back for it tomorrow. Kneeling by the calf and grabbing two legs in each hand, he hoisted the calf onto his back, head under one arm, tail under the other, and struggled to his feet. He walked in front of Delilah so she could see that he had her calf and began heading back through the dune grass. Delilah gave a great bellow of concern, heaved herself to her feet, and began to plod slowly after Josiah and her calf.

The storm had intensified greatly during the birthing, and without his lantern to light his way, Josiah became somewhat disoriented. He walked steadily for a time. As a great flash of lightning illuminated the landscape, he was surprised to see the beach ahead of him and to hear the crashing surf that always came with these great storms. Thinking that it might be easier to walk along the beach than trying to wade through the sodden beach grass, Josiah started forward again, but stopped when the next flash of lightning revealed a large ship just offshore. Stranger still was the next image revealed to him. A small dinghy was being rowed ashore by two men while a third sat in the stern, evidently shouting orders. They landed near the blue boulder that marked that stretch of beach.

Now ordinarily, Josiah’s first instinct would have been to offer assistance to the imperiled boat, but Josiah did not move forward. Indeed, he stepped back into the grass and crouched as low as he could while maintaining his view of the beach. What had stopped him from his natural inclination to help was the appearance of the men in the boat. They were certainly sailors, but not the ordinary sort. No, this was clearly a trio of cutthroats. Pirates!

Josiah hunkered down into the grass, covering the baby calf with beach grass to keep it warm. Delilah began to lick the calf’s head, cleaning it of the birth fluid. Josiah kept watch and saw the dinghy come aground on the shore. The leader of the band issued more orders, and the two underlings lifted a heavy chest from the small boat and struggled across the beach with it. They stopped beside one of the huge bluestone boulders which dotted the shore and returned to the boat for shovels. Hurrying back to the chest, they began to dig, clearly planning to bury the chest.

Some minutes later, a hole large enough to accommodate the chest had been dug. Apparently, the leader of the gang was not satisfied, and the two men began digging again until the hole had been enlarged considerably. They heaved and dragged the chest and when it slipped into the hole, they picked up their shovels to finish their task. It was then that things took an ominous turn. Suddenly, the leader of the trio pulled a brace of pistols from his belt and without a moment’s hesitation, shot both men. Despite the racket from the storm, the sound of the guns was very loud and Delilah gave a great plaintive moan.

Josiah whispered harshly to Delilah, Hush your noise, you foolish cow! Would you get us both killed?

The pirate, clearly sensing a new sound, looked suspiciously in all directions. His gaze swept over the place where Josiah was hiding, holding his breath.

Apparently satisfied that all was well, the pirate pushed his compatriots into the hole, picked up one of the shovels, and filled in the makeshift grave.

Josiah was shaking from both fear and cold, but he was afraid to stir until the pirate returned to the dinghy and began rowing back to the mother ship. Josiah waited until the dinghy swung-to on the seaward side of the ship. Then, sure that in the dark he could not be seen, he picked up the little calf, urged Delilah to her feet, and headed home.

Sometime later, Delilah and her calf were safely back in the barn. Josiah began to vigorously wipe dry the little calf until Delilah nosed him away and began to do the job of mothering. The little calf tottered on spindly legs and without too much guidance found the udders filled with its mother’s milk. Taking this as a good sign, Josiah returned to the house and settled in front of a warm fire with a mug of hot cider and proceeded to tell his young wife his amazing tale of adventure.

CHAPTER 1

Off-Chappaquiddick, October, 1796

The rain had lessened and the wind was somewhat calmer which was good for Gilbert Finlay. Rowing with an arm opened by a pistol bullet wasn’t easy. As he rowed, he found his mind drifting.

He remembered dragging the heavy-laden chest from the dinghy and working with Henry to dig the hole in which to bury it. He remembered wiping the rain from his face and looking to the captain for further instructions.

That was when he had seen the flash of gunpowder and heard the report from the pistol.

He knew the captain had shot him, but he remembered little after that until he came to.

At first, he felt relief, but this was quickly followed by panic as he realized he had been buried alive.

Now the muscles in his arms twitched as he recalled scraping at the sand and struggling not to breathe it in or swallow it. Then the joyous relief as he inhaled the cold sea air, knowing that he would survive. This had been quickly followed by grief as he realized that his friend and protector, Henry Smithwick, was more seriously wounded.

As the storm had raged around him, Gilbert had struggled from his shallow grave and pulled Henry free. Knowing that Henry needed more help than he could provide, Gilbert went in search of someone or something that could provide assistance. Luckily, he had come across the row boat he was now commanding. He felt tears threaten as he thought of Henry.

By the time Gilbert had returned to Henry, it had been too late to save him, and Henry had died in his arms. He had given him the burial at sea he knew Henry would have wanted. Afterwards, he loaded the chest filled with the captain’s treasure into the small boat and set off through the stormy night in search of a new life. As he rowed, he thought of Henry and all he had meant to Gilbert.

Gilbert had been at sea since he was nine. As an orphan living on the streets of Edinburgh, Scotland, Gilbert had become an accomplished sneak thief. He plied his trade most successfully on Princes Street where the elegant ladies