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“Father?” asks Louis. “I’ve been to my school’s library and gotten a few books. Will you read them to me?”
“Ah yes, of course my boy, what daring tales of adventure have you brought me?” asks Stede, taking the boy upon his lap.
“These pirate books. For you. Because you were off being a pirate. Not dead.”
Stede awkwardly smiles at him and takes the books. “What have we got here? Ah. Blackbeard: Captain of the Queen Anne’s Revenge.”
“On the cover he has a flint locked pistol in his hand and three strapped to his chest!” exclaims Louis
“Well yes, lad, that just makes sense. You see, if you’re boarding a ship and one of your pistols jams, you’ll need to easily grab another to shoot. Or so I’ve seen…”
They read through the book, telling the story of how Edward Teach was born in 1680, probably to a wealthy family since he was known to read and write. How he went aboard Captain Hornigold’s ship in the West Indies, but how it wasn’t until he took control of his own ship that he grew out his beard and became Blackbeard.
“Does he really have a beard, Father?” asks Louis. “Is it quite fuzzy?”
“Ah, yes. That he has a beard. I wouldn’t know if it was fuzzy. It’s not like we go around touching each other's beards. It’s not really the done thing.”
“This page says he’s a bloody
murdering terror on the seas with love for neither man nor beast.”
Stede pauses and looks at Louis. He nods solemnly. “I can see why the author would have…said that. Ed…err, Blackbeard is a complicated man. One can be a…’bloody murdering terror on the seas’ and still have love for some men. Or beasts, I’m sure, though Ed’s not really the pet type.”
“Father, what does this past mean?”
“Ah which part. Let me read it. ‘You must have some stories to tell,’ says the one man. ‘Aye, did I ever tell you how I took the Revenge from Captain Bonnet?’ Well this can’t be right…”
“Does this book mean you?” Louis asks. “Did Blackbeard take your ship?”
“Books aren’t always correct,” mutters Stede.
“This one came from the nonfiction department of the library. That means it’s true.”
“There are a lot of things in a library that claim to be true that are very false. Remember, lad, news is only the rough draft of history.”
“But isn’t this a history book?” asks Louis.
“It’s an entirely anachronistic book for the entertainment of children. And while I’m usually in favor of the reading of entirely anachronistic books for children, I will draw the line at finishing this one. How about we do something else. Anything else?”
“Can we go down to the seaside and throw rocks into the water?”
Stede pauses for a moment, thinking about how boring this sounds to him. He glances again at the book, and doesn’t want more of that. “Sounds great. Let me just put this book away. You run off.”
He closes the book and all of its misinformation. But then he gazes at the cover, at the madman depicted in all his bloodthirsty glory. He kisses his fingers and then traces them on the fictional Blackbeard’s mouth. Then he places it on the shelf, and follows his son outside.
