Building Utopia Ch. 08

My thanks go out to my volunteer editor "Wires" for his assistance with this story. His help has improved it greatly. All errors remain mine.

Nearly a month after they left for Florida the small group met two Spanish men. Margarita translated for Roger and conversed with them on her own as well. She told Roger they were from St. Augustine. The men knew some of Margarita's family and told her they were well. They gave her all the news they knew then after a few minutes moved on. They were on a reconnaissance mission for the governor and were not interested in tarrying. Before they left they assured Roger it was no more than a two week trek from where they were to St. Augustine. Three weeks would complete the trip if they took it easy.

Margarita was ecstatic that evening just from knowing her family was safe. She wanted nothing else but to hurry onward to see her family. To her credit, she curtailed her desires and allowed Roger to set the pace and make the plans for contact with the Spanish garrison. Two weeks to the day after meeting the Spanish men the small group arrived at Margarita's old home. It was only three days farther to St. Augustine. Roger did bow to Margarita's feelings however and they made their first stop near her families holdings so she could visit before they pushed onward. The next two days were spent allowing Margarita to visit with her family and try to convince them to return to Birmingham with them.

In the late morning of the third day of their stay they were confronted by a detail of Spanish soldiers. Their leader was the son of the Governor and was an extremely arrogant man. He tried to arrest the men for trespassing on Crown Lands. Thankfully, Roger made his camp about a mile from Margarita's home so some of his men and the Indian women were there out of sight.

Roger refused to allow the popinjay to arrest him. When he refused to submit to arrest the officer ordered his men to attack. Roger expected that move and rapidly drew his pistol. He shot the Governor's son then in rapid succession the next two best dressed men in the detachment. By then his men had their weapons leveled as did Margarita. The remaining Spanish soldiers rapidly dropped their weapons and began shouting loudly. Margarita listened carefully then replied. Another burst of talk came from the prisoners before Margarita turned to Roger.

Margarita looked worried as she began talking to Roger. "These men beg you to accept their surrender. They beg you to let them go on their parole Roger. I am afraid our mission here will only meet with limited success now, though. You have killed the Governor's son and even if he would have been inclined to trade with you before he will not now. In fact, if he can find you I expect him to mount an armed attack on our settlement in revenge for your actions. Because they stood by and let you do this my family is in danger as well.

"At least now I am sure they will come with us. The alternative is death or having to pay large reparations to the Governor for allowing you to kill his son and get away. A good thing is they have several horses and other livestock we can take with us to increase our herds and flocks. One of my uncles is a skilled blacksmith and may be helpful to you in your manufacturing. The rest of the men are farmers and traders."

Roger thought about his response for several minutes then called Margarita to him. He walked to the spokesman and said, with Margarita translating, "I will release you on your Parole. After we leave you are welcome to return to St. Augustine. If you try to leave before we do I will confine you once again if you live through our recapture. When you arrive back at St. Augustine please give the Governor my condolences on the loss of his son. Make sure he knows, however, that his son's death was a direct result of his attack on me and my men while we were doing nothing to endanger him, his detachment, or the settlers of Florida. Also tell him we have returned home and want nothing further to come of this. However, we will defend ourselves if the need arises. I am afraid I will have to hold you here for a short time until we are ready to return to our home. You will be treated well and not injured if you will give me your word you will not attempt to escape."

It took two days for Margarita's family to pack their belongings and get ready to move. They stripped their homes and barns of everything that could possibly be of use to them in their new home. They left with Margarita in the direction of the camp that contained the balance of Roger's men and the Indian women and children. Roger and four of his men planned to remain at the farm where the prisoners were held for two more days before they departed. After the majority of Margarita's family departed the prisoners began to talk among themselves. They seemed animated. Voices were raised in anger.

On the morning Roger intended to depart one of the prisoners came to him. In halting, broken English the soldier said, "Please, Senor, may my friends and I come with you? We have failed in our duty and expect great punishment when we return to St. Augustine. In truth, all of us except the Sergeant had no desire to even come here to the new world. He wants to return to St. Augustine but the rest of us would rather come with you. Two of us have women in St. Augustine we would like to bring with us if you would be kind enough to allow us to get them."

Roger looked at the almost groveling man. He needed men and women desperately. His main thought was one of trust. Could he trust these men, these deserters? He decided to take a chance. "I will allow you to accompany me. I will send two of my men with the two who want to get their women but we will only wait five days for them to return. Tell them they need to leave immediately. If any of you cause trouble or break the rules I will kill you immediately. Do I make myself clear?"

The man grinned and bobbed his head. He said, "Si, Senor. Pedro and I will leave whenever you say. Gracias."

After the young man turned to find Pedro, Roger called two of his men over and instructed them to go with them. He told his men not to hesitate to kill if the need arose but to avoid it if at all possible.

It was late on the fifth day when Roger and the remaining men heard and then saw a group of eleven men and women approaching the small house that had belonged to Margarita's family. Roger moved his men into a defensive position just in case there was trouble. He relaxed somewhat when he saw four of the people were his two men and the two soldiers that went off to find their women.

Roger moved from his concealment to meet the small group. All four of the men that were returning looked guilty. The man Roger put in charge of the group came up to Roger. Roger said, "I sent you after two women and their possessions. What are the rest of these people doing with you?"

The man blushed and looked down at the ground for a moment then said, "Well, Sir, when we got there Jorge's woman had her sister and family with her. It seems they were worried because the patrol was overdue. We didn't know what to do or say but we knew we had to hurry. I sent David and the other soldier off to get his woman while I stayed with Jorge to try and sort it out sir. He swore Rosa's family to secrecy and told her she needed to pack because they had to leave immediately. Well, Sir, her family didn't really like that and I thought they were going to be trouble. Then Jorge explained it to me. The family wasn't upset Rosa and Jorge were going to leave. They were upset because they wanted to come also and Jorge told them they couldn't come. The Governor was trying to force Maria, Rosa's sister, to be his concubine. He was making things hard for the family, Sir. I remembered how you said you wanted more settlers and they seemed like good folks so I sorta told them they could come too."

Peter reached out and wrapped his arm around Maria's waist. He pulled her to his side and looked almost defiantly at Roger. He continued talking, "On the way back Maria and I sorta came to an understanding. She's agreed to become my wife and we want to bring our new family back with us. Please, Sir."

Roger looked at the worried group of people arranged in a semi circle in front of him and smiled. He said, "Of course, you are all welcome to come with us. We will rest the remainder of the day and leave early tomorrow morning.

That next morning the remaining prisoner was left tied up in one of the houses when the party left. He was tied loosely so he could escape fairly fast. Roger left him lightly tied so he and his group could have a slight head start in case the man wanted to follow. That would also allow them a greater head start on their getaway.

It was a long arduous trek back to their home with their new additions to the population. Luckily, they did not run into any other hostile people. About three weeks after they left the area around St. Augustine, Roger and his group came upon a small Indian village. This time they were received peacefully. Once again Sunny was able to communicate with the people in the village. Roger shot two deer for their evening meal and impressed the villagers with the range and rapid fire from his weapons. The tales Sunny told them of his abilities as a warrior, a provider, and a lover, added to what they saw of him, raised him almost to Godlike status with the simple tribesmen. Of course, his actions that night in bed helped cement his status. All three of his wives made sure they were extremely vocal when he made love with them. By the time they were done and drifting off to sleep many of the locals were either watching Roger perform or listening to his women scream out their pleasure while they took their pleasure with their mates.

Roger and his entourage left early the next morning amid pledges of friendship and promises to visit back and forth. Roger was well pleased because he felt they cemented a friendly alliance with the small tribe. He promised help to them if they should ever need it and they made the same promise to him.