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Kevin sat at the Captain's table with the Bible laid open before him. He slowly pronounced the words as his Aunt Kate listened.  

"In the . . .be . .gin..ing God cre..ated the Hea..ven and the Earth" he stammerred.

"Aunt Kate must I spend hours every day reading?" he inquired.

"Keven I shall make a gentleman of ye. Now read on!"

Kevin continued with the lesson, for he knew all to well that his Aunt Kate would not suffer any more delays in his education.

Life in Bristol had slowed the activity aboard the Essex to a  standstill.  The crew spent their days scraping and painting the ship.  And then washed clean and swabbed.  Every day the same routine, swab the decks, load provisions, then mend the sails, then grease and clean the guns.

And throughout it all, Kevin's education of reading and writing continued for intolerable hours every day under the watchful eyes of his Aunt Kate.  Although, his Aunt believed that his education could be found in books and ledgers, Kevin found an even more valuable education in his observations of the crew.

As the weeks in harbor dragged on Kevin observed two very different types of men aboard the Essex.  Tow different kinds of men.  Men who lived care free and men who lived by a plan.

Kevin made this very important observation by how the men returned from shore leave.  Captain Lewis was generous with shore leave allowing a third of the crew to go to town for up to three days at a time.

Kevin noted well, as the crew would return from shore leave.  Half were disheveled, reeking of rum with no money in their pockets but each bragging about the virtues of the woman of Bristol.   The other half came aboard, stone cold sober with large sacks filled manufactured goods, usually axe heads and knives, and bolts of linen.  Goods that the sailors intended to sell in the colonies for profit.

Kevin decided that both types of men had worth aboard the Essex.  For the men who lived in the moment would be eager in the attack, to once again fill their pockets with plunder of silver and gold.  And the men who lived by a plan would be stalwart in the defense of the Essex, for to lose the Essex would also mean the loss of their own wealth.  One day, when he had his own ship Kevin knew he would seek both types of men for his crew.  One for the attack and one for the defense.

And so weeks passed.  And with each passing week the days became a little longer and just a little warmer.  All remained within the slow routine of the ship, with little excitement just the mundane routine aboard the Essex.

There had been one day of great excitement when unexpectedly the Hopewell, Captain Marshall commanding, entered the harbor.  The plan had been for the Hopewell to rendezvous with the Essex and the Goodman off the coast of Azures.   After the successful raid in Acadia, the Hopewell with her cargo full of furs arrived in Bristol, much to the delight of Captain Lewis, whose own fortunes were greatly increased by the endeavor. 

Captain Lewis had spent much of the winter pouring over charts, devising a course of action for his powerful fleet.  
A grand plan to first raid the French fishing fleets in the Bay of Biscay and then to the Azores where he would sell the plunder to the Portuguese.  Then the fleet would catch the west winds to the Caribbean, to the spice islands of the French.  And after sacking the French, the fleet would set sail to the Gulf of Mexico in hopes of attacking any stragglers in the Spanish treasure fleet.  A fleet that would move slowly heavily laden with silver and gold.  Or thus was the grand plan of Captain Lewis.

It was the fifth day of May in the year of our Lord 1703, when Captain Lewis called for a council of war with his Captains, Henry Marshall of the Hopewell and Charles Howard of the Goodman.  A fine meal had been laid out upon the table, a meal of beef and potatoes.  Kevin kept the officer's glasses full of fine French wine which had been plunder during the previous Fall.  Captain Lewis laid out his grand plan to his officers.  All agreed that it was a fine plan and in three weeks the fleet would set sail.

The celebration was cut short as Mr. Hagney burst into the Captain's quarters, uncharacteristically disregarding any sense of the formalities.

Captain Lewis, taken a bit aback by this sudden intrusion rose to his feet and demanded explanation.

"Begging yar pardon sir, but I have word form town this very evening. See me and some of the lads were drinking in town, when these officers of the Royal Navy came bursting into the tavern seeking a Captain Jamison.  It appears that the Captain has a fine ship here in the harbor, not as fine as the Essex, mind ya, but a fine ship known the less.  Well they made such a commotion that I drew close just to see if I could catch wind of the meaning of it all.  Well, I stands close enough to hear but not so close as to draw attention to my presence."

"Ya mean to say ye were spying on them?" Captain Lewis interrupted.

"Not so much as spying, as gathering intelligence, as it were, sir." 

"And what intelligence have ye for us, that is so important as to interrupt our fine meal, Mr. Hagney?

"Well sir, I might have, just by pure coincidence heard that there might be a bit of trouble in the Highlands of Scotland."

"There are always troubles in the Highlands of Scotland." Mr Howard interjected.  "Not really anything new, Mr. Hagney."

"Aye Mr. Howard, but it seems that this trouble is a tad bit more unusual.  Seems that there is a bit of a rising in Scotland as the Clans have gathered and raised the Stuart banner.  To make the situation al the more dire, apparently a French fleet was able to land artillery, guns and troops in Inverness.  And when that happened, thousands of Highlands came pouring out of the mountains."

"And what does this have to do with us, Mr. Hagney?" Captain Lewis asked.

"Well, sir perhaps nothing at all and then perhaps everything.  See, as I was standing there, gathering intelligence, I sees this Captain Jameson get all sorts of agitated, as these fine officers of the Royal Navy informed him that his ship was being commandeered to transport troops to the north. This fine Captain began to protest and only became resolved to accept this misfortune when it was explained that all the ships in Bristol were subject to commandeered for service in the effort to stamp out the rebellion in Scotland.  Well sir, I did not wait to gather any more intelligence on the matter.  I set about gathering the crew  that was on shore and rushed back aboard the Essex.  By my way of thinking, sir, I know not yar plans, but as sure as the Sun rises in the East, if we remain, there will be a change in yar plans."

Captain Lewis remained quiet as he stared at his charts and his grand plan for fame and fortune.  Captain Marshall likewise remained quiet as his dreams of fortune were dashed by the thought of ferry British soldiers north to Scotland.  It was Captain Howard who broke the silence.

"It seems that patriotism calls us to Scotland.  But as of this moment, it tis but a rumor for our ships have yet to be commandeered.  I for one did not leave hearth and home in Maryland to ferry troops to Scotland but rather to seek kind fortune in the Caribbean. And with that in mind, if I may Captain Lewis, until such time as the Royal Navy commandeers our ships to that dreadful service, may I suggest we set sail, immediately.

Captain Lewis smiled for these were the words he had hoped to hear from his Captain. 

Captain Marshall, rose from the table.

"Shall we set sail tonight, Captain."

"Aye, gentlemen to yar ships let us slip the noose that is about us and make weigh."

Within the hour, and under the cover of darkness, three ships silently slipped out of Bristol harbor and into open waters.  The Essex, the Hopewell and the Goodman were the only ships that left Bristol that night for open waters.  All the other ships in the harbor were commandeered by the Royal Navy for war in Scotland.