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The Will
and the Wisp
SYNOPSIS
During the
French and Indian war, Tom Red Blair is contracted to guide
the French war ship Victor through the Gulf waters. Blair
doesn’t know until it’s too late that his grandson, ten year
old Jean (Johnny) Trebeaux boarded the Victor the night
before her departure.
After weeks
of uneventful travel, only a short distance from their final destination, a violent storm seizes the Gulf. Out of
control, Victor travels into the St. Louis Bay in lower
Mississippi and Blair is unaware of where they are. The
storm rages but with no power over the ship she moves deeper
inland and just when Tom Red Blair realizes where they are
she hits the tops of the giant cypress trees in the flooded
swamp below, bringing her to a standstill.
The storm
subsides and in the days that follow, most of the crew is
killed or captured by Indians or die from disease. Some of
the crew build a raft and leave the ship with intentions of
returning to rescue the remainder of those aboard. Secretly,
they steel some Spanish gold coins that were confiscated
from pirates early in their voyage. They move the treasure
to high ground a good way from the ship and burry it. Before
they get back to the ship they are captured and killed
leaving the secret of the coins behind.
Blair
doesn’t want to leave little Johnny, but he feels ill and
fears his death is inevitable. He succumbs to a high fever
and while disorientated falls overboard and drowns. Johnny
is left with the only remaining crew member. His last
morning on the ship, Johnny awakes to find the man dead with
his throat cut. The boy comes face to face an Indian
Warrior. He worries for his life, but is captured instead.
One hundred
years later, deep in the night in lower Mississippi swamp
land, share cropper O.C. Armstrong’s youngest son Carl and
oldest son Joe find out their father, Uncle Bud and Old
Black Neil burry something in the swamp. Neither boy
mentions knowing about the incident.
Years pass,
Bud dies, Neal’s wife becomes ill and they move away. The
swamp floods and crops dwindle as do the farm animals and
goods O.C. Armstrong trades with his Indians friends. The
situation forces O.C. to make the decision to leave his
family to seek work.
Before he
goes he tells his oldest son of the gold coins that he found
beneath the house. O.C. explains that he and the other men
were afraid, at the time, that someone would learn of the
treasure and take it away, so they buried it under the
tallest, most recognizable Cypress in the swamp. However,
while waiting for the right opportunity to retrieve it, the
swamp flooded and waters continued to rise making the effort
impossible.
After
revealing his secret, Armstrong leaves his wife and three
sons behind. It is one of the hardest things he’s ever done.
Unfortunately, when he gets to the city of Vicksburg he can
not find work. He hears of gold in California and heads
west. On his way through Arizona he is fortunate to come
across a cattle drive and hires on. Ultimately, he finds out
the men are not with the drive, but are a band of rustlers
who are wanted men and O.C. is arrested along with the
outlaws.
For four
years the family waits for their beloved O.C. to return. The
swamp waters grow. Farm animals are slaughtered for food,
crops are under water, and hunting becomes near impossible.
O.C.’s wife Martha’s health fades. Fearing their father is
no longer alive, Joe the eldest and his brothers Charles and
Carl, decide to take Martha to Vicksburg to her sisters, but
she dies before the week is up.
The boys
then go after the gold, but not without the help of their
Indian friends and strong swimmers Little Boy Horse and
Johnny One Horn who is suspected of being part French. They
succeed in collecting a number of coins before a tornado
stops their effort. However, between the five of them, there
is enough to make them each wealthy. Together they leave the
heartache behind and head to a new life.
In Arizona,
thanks to retired prison guard and friend John Tunnie, O.C.
is released from his four year stay in the Yuma territorial
prison. Upon his release the unyielding Marshal Joe Cloud,
vows that if Armstrong doesn’t get out of Arizona
immediately, he will hunt him down. O.C. knows the Marshal
is aware that O.C. saw too much the night of his arrest.
Tunnie and
O.C. leave the prison together and head toward Mississippi.
In the Texas desert they come upon Mexican men impaled on
poles. Appalled, they take their leave then soon encounter
an old man with a wagon full of goods. He trades the bootie
in exchange for his life. When asked about the impaled men
he tells O.C. and Tunnie of the gang of outlaws responsible
and how they sell and trade the innocent wives of the dead
men into slavery or worse, prostitution.
O.C.
desperately wants to get back to his family, but can’t let
these monstrosities go on. Especially not after he sees
Marshal Joe Cloud with the band of desperados and realizes
the man is chasing him after all.
The
confrontation with Cloud takes place in the cover of night
and O.C. kills the corrupt marshal. He and Tunnie leave the
scene and find an Indian who knows of O.C.’s boys and that
they are well off and in Vicksburg. He is more determined
than ever to reach his family and vows they will once again
be reunited.
Excerpt
PROLOGUE
Fall 1761
“Man
overboard! Another man overboard!”
Little
Jean Trebeaux barely heard the Captain’s voice. The huge
French ship Victor was losing its battle with the raging
sea. Howling wind, pounding rain and the roar of thunder
filled the air.
Johnny, as
his grandfather called him, held on to his granddad, Tom Red
Blair, with all of his might. The big ship tossed violently
in the pitch black night. His heart thumped against his
chest like never before.
Without
warning the storm hit. It was like nothing he’d ever
witnessed in all of his ten years. Not even the plague, that
had taken his parents life a few months earlier, scared him
as much. He was glad his grandfather was left to take him
in.
“Wind is
moving the ship too fast, Captain! It’s impossible to man
the wheel!” The crewman held on to anything tied down as he
staggered across the deck of the rocking vessel.
A huge
gust of wind sent a deafening sound of wood cracking
somewhere behind them. A booming thud shook the big ship
when something hit the deck.
“The main
sail mast has gone down! It was the last one standing,
Captain!”
“There is
nothing we can do but wait it out! Stay still, I don’t want
to lose anymore men!”
Through
sudden bursts of intense lightning, Johnny saw the
devastation on the ship’s deck. Crewmembers screamed in
pain, some bleeding, and some dead, but most held on to
anything that would keep them from going over the side.
“Land on
the port side, Captain!” The crewmember pointed. “Where do
you think we are?!”
“It must
be Cat Island!”
Tom Red
Blair stood as best he could. “Johnny, there’s a secure tarp
over there! I want you to get under it! I’m going to see if
I can help some of the injured crew members!”
Was this a
nightmare? Would he ever wake up? He feared he would never
see his grandfather again. “No, Granddad, don’t leave me!”
It hurt his throat to yell above the noise.
“It’ll be
okay, son! I’ll return! You’ll be safe under there!
He
followed orders and crept under the temporary cover. It
seemed a bit quieter now. Though the wind still howled, it
wasn’t blowing directly in his ears. He peeked out from
under the tarp to see the older man walk unsteadily away.
He missed
his parents, but he loved his grandfather very much and
liked living with him. He peered out again. This time, there
was no sign of his granddad. He hoped the man would come
back soon.
* * *
The sun
began to rise and Tom Red Blair couldn’t believe what he
saw. “Good God help us.” The ship’s devastation, along with
the loss of life, was immense. He listened as the able
bodied crewmembers reported to the Captain.
Wind
continued to push the ship forward at a frightening speed.
He had seen many ocean perils, but never this kind of
weather. However, he knew all too well that this was the
deadly Gulf and anything could change in an instant. It was
extremely dangerous when wind and down-pouring rain stained
a person’s vision, making disorientation grow.
He gazed
out across the water. They were definitely not close to Cat
Island as the Captain had thought. He took in his
surroundings and realized the wind had pushed them so fast
they had already crossed Lake Borgne, gone through the St.
Louis Bay and had entered the flooded swamp. He had to tell
the Captain they were in danger.
A huge
bump on the port side knocked him off his feet. “Trees.
Trees! We’re in the trees!” He tried to stand, but with each
hit of the giant cypress, the ship listed from side to side.
Victor stopped abruptly and pitched him against the railing.
It took all of his strength to keep from going into the
rough waters.
Almost as
sudden as the wind and rain started, they stopped. He
finally got his footing and made his way back to the main
deck. Thick fog slipped over the ship like a blanket. He saw
the outline of the giant trees. Damn it all! They were on
top of the Mississippi swamp.
“Captain!”
A crewman yelled. “The lower decks are flooding!”
“All that
are able, help the ones who are not to starboard! The ship is
heavy with what we captured from the pirates.”
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