Minding the Light Read online

  © 2018 by Suzanne Woods Fisher

  Published by Revell

  a division of Baker Publishing Group

  PO Box 6287, Grand Rapids, MI 49516-6287

  www.revellbooks.com

  Ebook edition created 2018

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—for example, electronic, photocopy, recording—without the prior written permission of the publisher. The only exception is brief quotations in printed reviews.

  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is on file at the Library of Congress, Washington, DC.

  ISBN 978-1-4934-1391-1

  Scripture used in this book, whether quoted or paraphrased by the characters, is taken from the King James Version.

  This book is a work of historical fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.

  Published in association with Joyce Hart of the Hartline Literary Agency, LLC.

  Praise for Phoebe’s Light

  “Phoebe’s Light is another work of art and heart by Suzanne Woods Fisher—a beautifully told tale that honors the early Quakers of colonial Massachusetts and their rich heritage on unique, lovely Nantucket Island. Inspired by actual historical figures, these characters and this place meld into a remarkably poignant page-turner. An inspiring start to what is sure to be a beloved series!”

  Laura Frantz, author of The Lacemaker

  “Set sail on an absorbing adventure with Fisher’s delightful new book, Phoebe’s Light. Fisher brings to life Nantucket Island with her vivid descriptions and true-to-life characters. Shedding light upon Quaker customs and beliefs as well as the whaling era, Fisher plunges her readers into turbulent waters with plenty of plot twists and intrigue that lead to a satisfying conclusion.”

  Jody Hedlund, author of Luther & Katharina, Christy Award winner

  “You can always trust Suzanne Woods Fisher to write a compelling story that has readers turning pages as fast as they can to see what happens next. She’s done it again with Phoebe’s Light, a surefire mix of engaging characters, fascinating Nantucket Island history, and even a whaling trip on the high seas. If you like romance mixed with history and adventure, you’re going to love Phoebe’s Light.”

  Ann H. Gabhart, bestselling author of These Healing Hills

  “Fisher’s superb command of her historical setting is particularly commendable as she launches her Nantucket Legacy series, and many readers will find themselves fascinated by how the Quakers were treated when they first arrived in the New World.”

  Booklist

  “Based on actual historical events and people, Suzanne Woods Fisher has taken her research to the next level and brings to life the forgotten beginning of Quakers on Nantucket Island.”

  RT Book Reviews

  To Peter Foulger (1617–1690), grandfather to

  Benjamin Franklin, spiritual mentor to

  Mary Coffin Starbuck, and mayhap,

  the first American Renaissance man.

  Contents

  Cover

  Title Page

  Copyright Page

  Praise for Phoebe’s Light

  Dedication

  Cast of Characters

  Glossary

  1

  2

  3

  4

  5

  6

  7

  8

  9

  10

  11

  12

  13

  14

  15

  16

  17

  18

  19

  Sneak Peek at Book 3

  Discussion Questions

  Historical Notes

  Acknowledgments

  Resources

  About the Author

  Books by Suzanne Woods Fisher

  Back Ads

  Back Cover

  Cast of Characters

  17th century

  Mary Coffin Starbuck: daughter of one of the first proprietors of Nantucket Island, highly revered, likened to Deborah the Judge of the Old Testament

  Tristram Coffin: proprietor of Nantucket Island, father of Mary, husband of Dionis

  Nathaniel Starbuck: son of proprietor Edward Starbuck, husband to Mary

  Catherine Starbuck: Nathaniel’s mother, married to Edward Starbuck

  Esther Starbuck: Nathaniel’s younger sister

  Jethro Starbuck: Nathaniel’s younger brother

  Peter Foulger: surveyor, missionary to the Wampanoag Indians of Nantucket Island, joined the proprietors

  19th century

  Daphne Coffin: great-great-great-granddaughter of Mary Coffin Starbuck

  Reynolds “Ren” Macy: whaling captain on the Endeavour, father of Hitty and Henry, husband of Jane

  Jane Coffin Macy: wife to Ren, sister to Daphne

  Lillian Swain Coffin: mother of Jane and Daphne

  Tristram Macy: cousin of Ren

  Jeremiah Macy: father of Reynolds

  Hitty and Henry Macy: twin children of Ren and Jane Macy, age six

  Abraham: black officer on Ren’s ship, the Endeavour

  Patience: Wampanoag maidservant to Jane Coffin Macy

  Glossary

  Language of 19th-Century Nantucket

  Many of these nautical expressions have found their way into our modern vernacular, such as “feeling blue” (when a ship lost its captain during a voyage and would fly blue flags) or “crew cut” (a short haircut given to the entire ship’s crew).

  ambergris: a waxy, grayish substance found in the stomachs of sperm whales and once used in perfume to make the scent last longer

  baleen: the comblike plates of cartilage in a whale’s mouth to strain plankton and other food from the water; very valuable for its strength and flexibility

  boatsteerer/harpooner: crew at the bow of the whaling boat whose job is to spear the whale

  broken voyage: a whaling ship that returns home with less than a full load of oil

  cooper: barrel maker

  cooperage: workplace of the cooper

  cranky: an unstable sailing vessel, from the Dutch krengd

  crew cut: a short haircut given to the whole crew

  cut and run: an act of cutting the anchor line in an effort to make a quick getaway

  deep six: a fathom, the unit of measurement for the depth of the sea, is six feet; sailors used the term to refer to throwing something overboard

  disowned: under church discipline

  elders: historically, those appointed to foster the ministry of the Quaker meetinghouse and the spiritual condition of its members

  facing benches: the benches or seats in the front of the meeting room, facing the body of the meeting, on which Friends’ ministers and elders generally sat

  feeling blue: a custom when a ship lost its captain during a voyage—the ship would fly blue flags and have a blue band painted along her hull when she returned to port

  fin up: dead

  First Day: Sunday (Quakers did not use names for days of the week, nor for the months, as they had originated from pagan names)

  First Month: January

  flensing: butchering of the whale

  Friends and Society of Friends: Quaker church members

  forging ahead: a naval term for pressing on

  from stem to stern: all-inclusive, very thorough

  gam: to visit or talk with the crew of another whaling ship while at sea

  gangplank: a movable bridge used to board or leave a ship

  greenhand or greenie: an in
experienced sailor making his first whaling voyage

  hold in the Light: to ask for God’s presence to illuminate a situation or problem or person

  hulk: an old sailing vessel that is no longer seaworthy

  idler: a crewman whose tasks required daylight hours (cook, cooper, cabin boy)

  lay: the percentage of a ship’s profit that each crew member receives; a sailor’s lay usually depends upon his experience and rank

  lookout: the sailor stationed in the crosstree to watch for whales

  Meeting: Quaker term for church

  minding the Light: an expression used to remind Quakers that there is an Inward Light in each of them that can reveal God’s will, if its direction is listened to and followed

  mortgage button: a Nantucket tradition of drilling a hole in the newel post of a household’s banister, filling it with the ashes of the paid-off mortgage, and capping the hole with a button made of scrimshaw; in the south, it’s called a brag button

  moved to speak: an experience, in the quietness of the meeting, of feeling led by God to speak

  mutiny: an uprising or rebellion of a ship’s crew against the captain

  Nantucket sleigh ride: a term used to describe the pulling of a whaleboat by a whale that has been harpooned and is “running”

  on deck: a phrase used to ask if someone is present or available

  Quaker: the unofficial name of a member of the Religious Society of Friends; originally the use was pejorative, but the word was claimed by Friends in recognition of the physical sensation that many feel when being moved by the Spirit

  quarterboard: a wooden sign with carved name displayed on each ship

  rigging: the ropes and chain used to control a ship’s sails

  saltbox: traditional New England–style wooden-frame house with a long, pitched roof that slopes down to the back; a saltbox has just one story in the back and two stories in the front

  scrimshaw: whalebone adorned with carvings

  seasoning: a process to ensure that decisions are truly grounded in God’s will

  seize: to tie up a sailor in the rigging as a form of punishment

  slops: sailors’ clothing (a ship’s captain will charge his crew for any clothes he supplies)

  syndicate: a group of businessmen who own a whaling ship or ships

  Weighty Friend: a Friend who is informally recognized as having special experience and wisdom

  worldly: having to do with secular values

  1

  As Daphne Coffin made her way onto the wooden planks of Straight Wharf, she heard someone call her name and whirled to see her sister Jane hurrying to catch up with her. Holding Jane’s hands were two towheaded children, a boy on one side and a girl on the other.

  “Has thee heard the bells?” Jane said, her face bright with happiness. “Ren’s ship is in!”

  “The Endeavour?” Daphne’s eyes widened in disbelief while her mind took hold of this stunning surprise. Ren was home? At long last! “I heard the bells but didn’t realize they rang for Ren’s ship.”

  “Imagine, Daphne. Ren has not even met his own children yet.”

  Her sister looked exceptionally pretty, though her face was flushed with heat from the warmth of this sun-stippled day. Jane Coffin Macy was one of the loveliest girls on Nantucket Island. She had high, wide cheekbones and a dainty, pointed chin that gave her face a charming sweetheart shape. Brown eyes, blonde hair, a peaches-and-cream complexion, with lips that were always red, as if she’d been eating berries. “I’m so glad thee is here this morning, Daphne.” She straightened the organza fichu that draped her shoulders and smoothed her skirt. “Thy presence will help me stay calm.”

  Daphne looked a little closer at her older sister. There was a trembling air about her, a vulnerability that was nearly palpable. “Thee must be beside thyself with excitement. Here, let me take Hitty.” As she reached out to take her niece’s hand, Jane suddenly swayed, as if she were on the verge of fainting.

  “M-Mama!” Jane’s son, Henry, clutched her arm.

  Daphne grabbed her sister’s shoulders to steady her. “Jane, is thee not well?”

  Jane dipped her chin so that her black bonnet shielded her face from the sun. “I’m fashed, ’tis all. A bit dizzy. I’m sure ’tis from anticipation.”

  Daphne spun around as she heard the rhythmic slap of oars on water. The lighters were coming in now, slipping through the calm waters of Nantucket Bay, bringing the crew off the ship Endeavour. As captain, Ren would be the last one off, that much she knew. It would be a long wait this morning, but they would not budge from their post on the wharf. The wharves were no place for maids, so unless a ship was arriving into port, she did not go near them. But how she loved being down by the harbor! So many strange accents, unusual skin colors, piercings, tattoos.

  The Endeavour stood black-limned behind the bar that lined Nantucket Harbor. Lighter after lighter sailed up to release crew to pour onto the wharf and hustle down to greet their loved ones or make their way to the taverns to celebrate their return.

  Jane’s eyes were fixed on each lighter as it docked, gazing over the sailors, nodding to each one as they hurried past them, sea chests hoisted on their shoulders. Overhead, seabirds circled with shrieks and cries. “Over six years, Daphne,” Jane said in a low voice. “He’s been gone six years. Nearly seven.”

  Daphne grinned. “I wonder if Ren might be covered in tattoos. Or wearing a thick tangle of whiskers that hides his chin.” She wrinkled her nose as some rank seamen went past. “Hopefully he will not smell like a beached whale.” When she caught the solemn look on her sister’s face, she quickly added, “Jane, ’tis a jest. Hand over heart, I was only jesting. Ren will return back as the same man.”

  “How do I know what he’s like after six years at sea? We were married less than a month when he set sail.”

  Daphne’s smile faded. “I suppose that is the plight of a captain’s wife. More goodbyes than hellos.”

  “Still, I did not expect an absence of six long years.”

  “He’s missed quite a bit.”

  “He’s missed everything. The birth of his children, the death of Father, and everything in between.”

  Daphne glanced at Jane and noticed a drip of perspiration trickling down the side of her cheek. “He is home now, Sister. Safe and sound.”

  “But for how long?”

  “Today is not the day to concern thyself with the next voyage.”

  Jane paused a moment, as if she’d become lost in thoughts, or memories. “Thee is right.” She pushed the words out on a sharp expulsion of breath, then flashed a rueful smile. “Not today.”

  She was a fine captain’s wife, Jane was. Reynolds Macy chose well, Daphne thought. She’d never heard her sister complain of loneliness, not once, not even after Hitty and Henry were born. Not until this moment.

  Jane’s eyes were fixed on the ship. “I have changed much in these six years.”

  “Not so much.”

  “But I have. Starting the Cent School, for one. Who knows what Ren will think of that venture?”

  “It provides a great deal of help for island women, Jane, whose husbands are at sea. I’m certain he will understand.”

  “I’m not at all certain. And while thee might jest, no doubt Ren has changed too. What if we don’t feel the same way about each other?”

  Daphne put an arm around her sister’s small shoulders, a vivid reminder of how opposite they were. Jane was delicate and fine-boned where Daphne was sturdy and curvy. Jane was reserved, graceful, as even-keeled as a ship, instinctively knowing how to react in any situation, while Daphne could be clumsy, blunt, at times socially awkward. In Daphne’s eyes, her older sister was as close to perfection as a Quaker woman could be, one whose Inward Light reflected such a strong and steady beam. Despite being reprimanded by the Friends for marrying out of unity, Jane’s faith never wavered.

  They heard a shout and pounding feet coming up hard on them. “Any sign of him yet?”
Tristram Macy, cousin and business partner to Ren, flew past them, turning his head for an answer.

  “Nay, not yet,” Jane called back, smiling. It was hard not to smile when Tristram was around.

  Daphne lifted her hand in a wave to Tristram, whom she had seen only yesterday. He gave her no greeting, she noted.

  Jane noticed as well. “He’s distracted, that’s all.”

  “Of course.” Of course he was. And yet, and yet . . . there was always something off between them.

  “Mayhap, with Ren safely returned, Tristram’s thoughts will turn to the future. Thee knows how worried he’s been about the business. Soon, I think, he will propose marriage.” Jane squeezed Daphne’s hand. “Everyone hopes so.”

  All the world, or at least all of Nantucket, considered Tristram Macy to be Daphne’s intended. The man she would marry, although he hadn’t gotten round to asking her yet. How many times had Daphne thought Trist was going to propose marriage? Just the other day, they were walking along the beach at sunset—a perfect Nantucket evening. He had taken her hand and covered it with his own, and she thought, Tonight. Surely, tonight he will ask. But he didn’t. Instead, he spoke with ardor about his new ship.

  So how did Daphne feel about him? She and Tristram had known each other all their lives. She knew him when his stutter made him the target of school yard mocking. He knew her when she was round as a barrel, much like Hitty is now, before she started to grow and grow and grow, and her body rearranged itself.

  She had watched as Trist evolved into a very handsome man, dashing and decadent, whose charming personality had a dazzling effect on women—including her own mother. Daphne did not feel dazzled by Tristram Macy, which might be why he favored her. Her feelings for him were akin to sitting by the hearth on a rainy day with a well-loved book to read and reread, warm and cozy.

  Daphne saw Trist make his way toward the far end of the wharf, picking his way between clusters of townspeople, clapping hands with the crew as they emerged from lighters. By the pleased looks on their sun-weathered faces, added to the fact that the Endeavour sat low in the brine, it seemed the rumors were true—it had been a greasy voyage. Mayhap Jane was right. Now Tristram would believe the business he and Ren had started was on solid footing and he would make plans for the future.