Problems in Plymouth by Marianne Hering

Author:Marianne Hering
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781604828757
Publisher: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.
Published: 2011-10-20T04:00:00+00:00

Kidnapped!

The shallop landed. Beth, Patrick, and the Pilgrims scrambled to shore.

Governor Bradford rushed to the shouting man. “Calm down,” he said. “Tell me what happened.”

The man was almost breathless. He said between gasps, “Chief … Yellow Feather’s … village has been … attacked.”

“By whom?” Governor Bradford asked.

“Chief Corbitant and … his tribe,” the man said. He took a deep breath. Then he blurted, “Corbitant wants to break the power of Chief Yellow Feather.”

Governor Bradford sighed. “It didn’t take long for the treaty to be tested,” he said.

“It’s worse,” said the man. “They’ve kidnapped Squanto!”

The governor’s eyes widened. “Call the men to the meeting hall,” he said.

The man rushed off.

The cousins walked with the governor and the other men. They approached the Plymouth plantation.

Patrick was surprised at how bare the place was. There was a makeshift fence around simple wooden-frame houses. The roofs were made of thatch. Each house looked as if it had a giant bird’s nest on top.

“You’re not members of our colony. And so you’ll have to wait outside,” Governor Bradford said. He went with a group of men into a two-story building.

“There seems to be a lot of trouble around here,” Beth said to Patrick.

“I wonder if Hugh has anything to do with it?” said Patrick.

Patrick paced back and forth outside the meetinghouse. Beth drifted over to the door.

“Patrick,” she whispered. “I can hear what they’re saying.”

Patrick joined her at the door.

The men were arguing. One was concerned about Squanto. What would they do if he had been killed? Another man asked why they should help Chief Yellow Feather. “These are Indians fighting against Indians,” he said. “It’s none of our business.”

Governor Bradford said, “It is our business! We signed a treaty with Chief Yellow Feather. He helped us find young John Billington. We promised that we would protect each other. We promised that we would fight for each other.”

“Treaties are often broken,” said another man.

“Perhaps so,” said Governor Bradford. “But not by us. As Christians we will act with honesty and loyalty.”

Another man said, “It’s foolish to put ourselves in danger. Do you want to die protecting savages? There are fewer than twenty men here.”

The governor spoke loudly and clearly. “Chief Yellow Feather and Squanto are our friends. We wouldn’t have survived without their help.”

A man with a deep voice shouted, “Confound it! Our action must be swift and sure. We must show that our people—and the friends of our people—are not to be wronged.”

“Captain Standish is right,” proclaimed the governor. “We’ll rescue Squanto, or we’ll die trying.”

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