Maui's Hook

Maui’s Hook

Also by Donald G. Moore

Buddha’s Eyes

Yoshiwara

Shanghai

The Pachinko Connection

White Lotus

The Black Dragon

The Tiger’s Gold

The Imperial Conspiracy

The Emperor’s Diamonds

The Devil’s Diary

Maui’s Hook

a novel

Donald G. Moore

iUniverse, Inc.

New York Bloomington

Copyright © 2009 by Donald G. Moore

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 publisher 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.

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ISBN: 978-1-4401-4394-6 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4401-4393-9 (dj)

ISBN: 978-1-4401-4473-8 (ebook)

Printed in the United States of America

iUniverse rev. date: 05/11/2009

Contents

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Epilogue

Chapter 1

Canton, China - July 1835

How old are they? Captain Jack Summer asked, gesturing toward the two sitting on a bench on the other side of the window in the wall separating Jonathan Walker’s office from the desks used by his clerical staff.

The boy’s seventeen and his sister’s ten, Walker replied as he took a step backwards, trying to avoid Captain Summer’s foul-smelling breath. The captain hadn’t shaved for a few days, and his body odor strongly suggested he hadn’t bathed for days if not weeks. Walker disliked entrusting the boy and girl’s welfare to the slovenly-looking captain, but he knew he had no other choice; staying in China was out of the question, and they didn’t have money for proper passage to their home in Salem. In fact, they were penniless, and there was a limit to his generosity.

They don’t look like brother and sister, Captain Summer said as he adjusted his stained captain’s cap.

That’s because they had different mothers. The boy’s mother died when he was three, and his father remarried a few years later. The girl got her blue eyes and auburn hair from her mother—the second wife. The boy got his brown eyes, black hair, and broad shoulders from his father.

Why in the world did the man bring them here?

He told me his church didn’t like sending unmarried missionaries out into a world with its ‘many temptation of the flesh’.

Summer laughed and said, Those ‘temptations of the flesh’ are about the only thing enjoyable in this stinking part of the word. But if anyone was to ask me, it’s a waste of time sending missionaries anywhere, especially to a heathen country like this.

Walker shrugged. I’m sure he would have told you that’s where he was needed to spread the word of God.

China already has enough gods. Also, you know better than me, the Chinese don’t want anyone who isn’t Chinese coming into their country. And they especially don’t want white women here in Canton. The captain paused for a moment while he tried unsuccessfully to suppress a belch. He smiled sheepishly, exposing yellowed and cracked teeth, and then said, Excuse me; must have been something I ate last night. He cleared his throat, looked for somewhere to spit, saw nothing appropriate, then swallowed and asked, So you met both parents?

Walker nodded as he held his breath, hoping the disgusting odor from the belch would fade away quickly. To his regret it hadn’t when he finally took a breath and said, Yes, I met them and told them foreign women weren’t welcome here and that it was forbidden for anyone not authorized by the Chinese to leave this compound. The man kept saying God would protect them. The woman kept her thoughts to herself.

Were their bodies ever brought out?

No. All we know is what the boy told us. Bandits captured them, tied them up, raped the mother, then killed both the mother and father.

How did the boy and girl escape?

It was dark and the bandits were concentrating on torturing the father and raping the mother. The boy had a folding straight razor his father gave him for his sixteenth birthday. The bandits didn’t know he had it, and he used it to cut his bindings, then his sister’s, and they crept away. They traveled by night, hid during the day, stole food, and two days later, they stumbled into the compound with nothing more than the razor and the clothes on their backs. Their clothes were filthy, so I had my houseboy wash their clothes, and I bought a few things for them to wear.

And now you want me to get them out of China?

That’s right. You’re sailing for the Sandwich Islands.

Summer nodded. To pick up some sandalwood, but the natives prefer the name they gave the islands, Hawaii.

Ignoring Captain Summer’s correction, Walker said, Since you’re sailing for the Sandwich Islands, and some missionaries are already established there, you should be able to get someone to take them off your hands and maybe get them back to Salem.

Summer shrugged. If no one’s willing to get them from Hawaii to Salem, I’ll leave them there, anyway. Sooner or later, they should have a better chance of getting to Salem than if I took them with me to San Francisco. There aren’t too many missionaries in San Francisco. He smiled. But there are plenty of those ‘temptations of the flesh’, thank goodness.

Where you leave them will be your decision.

It’ll have to be Hawaii. After I unload my cargo at San Francisco, I’m going to the South Pacific to pick up some beche de mer, those sea slugs the Chinese can’t get enough of. He didn’t bother mentioning the possibility of a voyage to India, where the British had a monopoly on the opium trade, but he had found a contact willing to sell him five or six chests—each weighing about sixty kilograms—of the narcotic so much in demand in China. And although the importation of opium into China was forbidden by imperial edict, from past experiences, he knew he would have no difficulty offloading it at Lintin—the small island near the mouth of the Pearl River estuary. Of course, before he could offload the opium, he would have to pay off certain port officials. Then the opium would be taken by small boats to other Chinese ports, and he would be paid in silver specie, making a handsome profit. Anyway, he continued, they’ll be with some of their own kind, if I leave them in Hawaii. That’s the best I can do.

Walker nodded and said, Whatever you decide to do with them will be on your own conscience.

Captain Summer’s head ached fiercely, and he disliked the pompous man standing in front of him, with his belly stretching the buttons on his waistcoat while beads of perspiration formed on his bald head only to be blotted up by a silk handkerchief before they could reach the small eyes and a nose that gave him a pig-like appearance. But the captain’s feelings about Walker didn’t matter now, if this was an opportunity to pick up some extra money, so he said, Of course you’ll pay for their passage.

I can’t give you much, since I don’t have funds for that sort of thing. But I’m willing to do what I can, because it’s the Christian thing to do.

Captain Summer knew he was in no position to argue about the amount Walker would give him. He would take whatever he could get, because he wanted leave Canton as soon as possible and get back to his ship anchored at Whampoa. If only he hadn’t run into that whore in the hovel-lined alley known as Hog Lane. He should have known better, especially after getting the pox from one of San Francisco’s whores, or maybe from one of the whores in Turkey. It didn’t matter now which whore it was. What mattered now was, he was certain the pox had moved from his genitals and was spreading through his body, even though he was taking regular doses of quicksilver. And last night, if he’d had less of that rotgut, samshu, the Chinese make from rice, he would have never given the woman a second look, let alone money for a few minutes on top of her in that shack she lived in. But he did give her the money, and the combination of alcohol and her heathen grinning face had made it impossible for him to get an erection and penetrate her. Then, when he tried to take his money back, she started to scream, so what else could he do? Of course he had to strangle her just to keep her quiet.

He wasn’t certain if anyone had seen him leave the woman’s place—so much of what happened was hazy. But one thing he knew for sure was, he didn’t want to end up the way Francis Terranova had fourteen years earlier, something still talked about in waterfront bars, especially by seamen whose ships have been to or might be going to China.

Francis Terranova was a seaman on the Emily, a ship out of Baltimore, and in 1821, he may have killed a Chinese woman. She had come alongside the Emily in a small boat to sell fruit and other provisions while the Emily was anchored at Whampoa. When the woman’s body was found, and the Chinese learned that Terranova had argued with her earlier that day, they decided he might have had something to do with her demise, so they demanded he be turned over to them for trial. The captain of the Emily refused to deliver Terranova, and his refusal to do so was supported by the other captains on the American vessels at the same anchorage. But when the Chinese authorities threatened to terminate all trading privileges with the Americans, the Emily’s captain agreed to give them Terranova on the condition his trial would be held onboard the Emily.

The trial was conducted by a mandarin appointed by the Chinese authorities, and he immediately found Terranova guilty and sentenced him to death by strangulation. The Emily’s captain refused to let Terranova leave his ship with the Chinese delegation, and the Chinese retaliated by suspending all trade with Americans. Before long, however, greed overcame national pride, and the captain gave in and Terranova was taken from the Emily and put to death by strangulation.

When Captain Summer thought about what the Chinese did to Terranova, more acid flowed into his stomach. He took a deep breath, then asked, How much is the ‘Christian thing ’worth? I’d like to get this settled and get back to my ship.

Walker went to a large iron safe and stood in front of it, blocking the captain’s view while he turned the dial. He twisted the safe’s handle, opened its door, and reached inside and took out a small metal box. He closed the safe, spun the dial, and went to his desk. He opened the box and took out a gold double eagle. He handed the coin to Summer.

Summer looked at the coin, then asked, Are you saying you’ll only give me twenty dollars gold to take them all the way to Hawaii?

Walker sat in the chair behind his desk. That’s all I can spare.

Summer shook his head and said, That’s not enough.

Walker leaned back in his chair. Tell me captain, what do you know about a dead Chinese woman found this morning?

Summer shrugged. Dead Chinese women are found every morning. What’s so special about this one?

She was found in Hog Lane, and she’d been strangled.

So?

I was told by the Chinese authorities, a man wearing a captain’s cap was seen coming out of the shack where the woman’s body was found.

Maybe he went inside to take a piss.

Or maybe he was leaving the scene of a crime.

I still don’t know what that has to do with me.

The Chinese want to interview any captain who is still in Canton.

It’d be a waste of their time and mine, if they talked to me, but I’d just as soon avoid that and get back to my ship.

Then I suggest you take the money and leave with the boy and girl. I believe your first mate is waiting at the jetty with a boat to take you downriver to Whampoa.

Captain Summer swore under his breath, then put the gold coin into his pocket. I guess I’ll do the Christian thing and get them out of China.

Walker forced a smile. That certainly is the right thing to do. And by the way, what accommodations will you have for them on your ship?

Summer grinned. If the girl was a year or two older, she’d bunk with me, but I’ll let them use the mate’s cabin. The second mate can sleep with the crew, and they can use the cabin when the first mate’s on duty. When he needs it, they can stay on deck, and if the weather turns bad, they can go into the galley and help the cook.

Walker nodded. Then it’s settled. By the way, I suggest you get rid of that cap; it seems it resembles the one seen worn by the man who killed the Chinese woman last night.

Captain Summer took off his cap and threw it into the wastebasket alongside Walker’s desk. I’m due for a new one, anyway. He turned and looked at the two sitting on the bench on the other side of the window. What’s their names?

Cole is the family name, Walker replied. Mary and Noah Cole.

They’re talking about us, Mary said.

I’m sure Mister Walker is trying to help us, Noah said.

I hope so, but promise me you’ll stay with me.

He took her hands in his. Mary, just as I promised Father, I’ll always protect you, and I won’t let anyone hurt you.

She removed one of her hands from his and brushed a tear from the corner of her eye. I can still hear Mother’s screams, even when I’m asleep.

He nodded and said, What they did to her was terrible, but no one can hurt her or Father now.

She put her free hand back in his. How do you know that for sure?

Because they’re in Heaven, and in Heaven there’s no pain and everyone is happy.

Then maybe we should go to Heaven. We could see Mother and Father, and no one could hurt us.

He smiled. No one is going to hurt us; I’ll see to that. He wished he felt as confident as he tried to sound. But we can’t go to Heaven until God says it’s time to go.

She took her hands from his. Do you mean God wanted those men to do what they did to Mother and Father, so Mother and Father could go to Heaven?

He shook his head. No, Mary. God didn’t want the men to do that, and I’m sure He will punish them.

I hope so, and when He does, I hope He makes them scream the way Mother screamed, and I hope He makes them scream for a long time.

Don’t worry; they’ll go to Hell, for sure, and anyone who goes to Hell can never leave.

She nodded. That’s good, but why did God let the men do that to Mother and Father?

He shrugged and said, I wish I knew, but remember, Father told us God works in mysterious way, and certain things happen that can’t be explained while we’re on this earth.

You mean we’ll have to wait until we’re in Heaven to find out why it happened?

That’s right. When we’re in Heaven, we’ll understand everything, but that’ll come much later, because I don’t think God wants us to go to Heaven, yet.

She frowned. Why not? You said Mother and Father are already there.

I’m sure they are, but I’m just as sure it isn’t the time now for us to go there.

Why not?

Because we haven’t done anything special. Father said everyone is put on Earth for a purpose, and we don’t know what our purpose is, yet.

When will we know?

I asked Father the same question, and he said we’ll know when the right time comes.

If you find out before me, will you let me know what God wants us to do?

He smiled. Don’t worry, Mary; I’ll let you know. And in the meantime, I’ll take care of you.

She locked her eyes onto his. You promise with all your heart, Noah?

Yes, Mary, I promise with all my heart that I won’t ever let anyone hurt you.

You can come into my office now.

They looked up, surprised to see Jonathan Walker standing next to them.

I’ll introduce you to Captain Summer, Walker said. He’s agreed to take you out of China.

Noah and Mary stood and followed Walker into his office.

This is Captain Summer, Walker said.

Noah held out his hand. A pleasure to meet you, sir, and thank you for coming to our aid.

Summer ignored the outstretched hand. I’m taking you because that’s the Christian thing to do.

Are you a Christian, sir? Mary asked.

Don’t have much time to go to regular services, being at sea most of the time. But when one of my crew dies, I always say a few words and give him a Christian burial at sea.

Maybe Noah can conduct Sunday services for you, Mary suggested.

We don’t have much time for Sunday services; there’s a lot of work needed to keep a ship in seaworthy condition.

But surely you have time for God, she said. He can help you when you or your ship needs help.

Summer laughed and said, I help myself, always have and always will. He turned to Jonathan Walker. We’d better be going.

Walker nodded. I think that would be a good idea.

Where is your ship? Mary asked the captain.

At Whampoa Island, about twelve miles downriver from here.

Why didn’t you bring it here?

Because the Chinese don’t want any foreign ships to go beyond Whampoa, and even if they did allow it, the river’s better suited for shallow-water vessels than a seagoing ship like mine. Stop asking question, and let’s get going.

Take good care of them. Jonathan Walker said.

Noah stepped forward and held out his hand to Walker. Thank you for all you have done for us.

Walker shook Noah’s hand, then