CHAPTER FOURTEEN
An Act of Fate
Copyright 2004, All Rights Reserved
William Kidd’s twelve-year-old daughter Elizabeth stood in front of a mirror mounted onto an elegant late 17th/early 18th century oak dresser base with two fielded, arch panel cupboard doors flanking three drawers with applied rectangular cushion moldings: Standing on stile feet, the dresser held good color and patina. Like most little girls, Elizabeth wanted to be an adult. She had on her mother’s gown and was applying lip rouge onto her face when the tip of the rouge broke off.
Frustrated, she pulled open the bottommost drawer and reached in looking for another tablet of rouge. Instead, what she pulled out of the dresser drawer was a folded piece of parchment. Just as she was about to open it, her mother burst in with a broom and a pail. Elizabeth quickly hid the note behind her.
“Elli! What are you doing?” shouted Sara who had caught her daughter playing fancily in her mother’s gown. She rushed to her daughter and turned her over her knee spanking her bottom firmly and severally. “In your clothes avoid too much gaudiness,” Elizabeth’s yelping quickly turned into a quiet weeping. Sara continued to spank her, “Do not value yourself upon an embroidered gown; and remember that a reasonable word, or an obliging look, will gain you more respect than all your fine trappings young lady!” Finally, she released Elizabeth. The youthful lass rushed out of the bedroom and out the country cabin door in tears.
William Kidd had built the cabin in the English countryside just a few years back for his wife and daughter. The family vacationed there. Captain Kidd had constructed it for them for those long periods he’d be away from them at sea under his privateering/man-at-war agreement using square-hewn logs, which were interlocking at the ends and did not require any nails, with a low-beamed ceiling and a large corner fireplace in a rear corner.
Elizabeth cried and cried as she darted through the quiet countryside. Arriving at a running river, she climbed on top of a rock and clogged her lament. A magnificent white steed was grazing on the other riverine along with her newly born pony. The serenity of the moment calmed the young Elizabeth down enough for her to slowly fall asleep.
When she awoke, she realized that she’d slept through the afternoon. The stallion and her son were nowhere to be found and the chilly night air was creeping in. Heeding her father’s words to not be caught out in the forest at night lest she wished to be mangled by the local black bears, she hurriedly rushed back toward the cabin.
Something was not right. As the young child approached the outskirts of their cabin now at dusk, she saw several men wielding torches. Elizabeth hid behind a tree just out of sight as she watched the men circle the cabin several times. Two of the men dismounted and began to bolt bracers onto the cabin’s main door. A few others nailed the windows shut with wooden planks.
It was then that the innocent girl witnessed the most horrible thing she would ever observe: The men threw their torches on top of the cabin and set fire to the dwelling. The log cabin quickly caught ablaze. Elizabeth was terrified and quivering. She wanted to help her mother who was alone inside the lodge. Too afraid to be spotted by these wicked and brutal men, all she could do was cling tightly onto the tree she was using as sanctuary until the pulp of the trunk had been buried beneath her nails. In tears, Elizabeth listened to the terrifying screams of her mother, as she was burnt alive.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Chapters
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21 & 22, 23, 24, 25, Epilogue
An Act of Fate
Copyright 2004, All Rights Reserved
William Kidd’s twelve-year-old daughter Elizabeth stood in front of a mirror mounted onto an elegant late 17th/early 18th century oak dresser base with two fielded, arch panel cupboard doors flanking three drawers with applied rectangular cushion moldings: Standing on stile feet, the dresser held good color and patina. Like most little girls, Elizabeth wanted to be an adult. She had on her mother’s gown and was applying lip rouge onto her face when the tip of the rouge broke off.
Frustrated, she pulled open the bottommost drawer and reached in looking for another tablet of rouge. Instead, what she pulled out of the dresser drawer was a folded piece of parchment. Just as she was about to open it, her mother burst in with a broom and a pail. Elizabeth quickly hid the note behind her.
“Elli! What are you doing?” shouted Sara who had caught her daughter playing fancily in her mother’s gown. She rushed to her daughter and turned her over her knee spanking her bottom firmly and severally. “In your clothes avoid too much gaudiness,” Elizabeth’s yelping quickly turned into a quiet weeping. Sara continued to spank her, “Do not value yourself upon an embroidered gown; and remember that a reasonable word, or an obliging look, will gain you more respect than all your fine trappings young lady!” Finally, she released Elizabeth. The youthful lass rushed out of the bedroom and out the country cabin door in tears.
William Kidd had built the cabin in the English countryside just a few years back for his wife and daughter. The family vacationed there. Captain Kidd had constructed it for them for those long periods he’d be away from them at sea under his privateering/man-at-war agreement using square-hewn logs, which were interlocking at the ends and did not require any nails, with a low-beamed ceiling and a large corner fireplace in a rear corner.
Elizabeth cried and cried as she darted through the quiet countryside. Arriving at a running river, she climbed on top of a rock and clogged her lament. A magnificent white steed was grazing on the other riverine along with her newly born pony. The serenity of the moment calmed the young Elizabeth down enough for her to slowly fall asleep.
When she awoke, she realized that she’d slept through the afternoon. The stallion and her son were nowhere to be found and the chilly night air was creeping in. Heeding her father’s words to not be caught out in the forest at night lest she wished to be mangled by the local black bears, she hurriedly rushed back toward the cabin.
Something was not right. As the young child approached the outskirts of their cabin now at dusk, she saw several men wielding torches. Elizabeth hid behind a tree just out of sight as she watched the men circle the cabin several times. Two of the men dismounted and began to bolt bracers onto the cabin’s main door. A few others nailed the windows shut with wooden planks.
It was then that the innocent girl witnessed the most horrible thing she would ever observe: The men threw their torches on top of the cabin and set fire to the dwelling. The log cabin quickly caught ablaze. Elizabeth was terrified and quivering. She wanted to help her mother who was alone inside the lodge. Too afraid to be spotted by these wicked and brutal men, all she could do was cling tightly onto the tree she was using as sanctuary until the pulp of the trunk had been buried beneath her nails. In tears, Elizabeth listened to the terrifying screams of her mother, as she was burnt alive.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Chapters
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21 & 22, 23, 24, 25, Epilogue
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