King of the New World

By J&S Thrall Ault

In 1527 a young Spanish Jew declares himself King of the New World when he's shipwrecked on the Florida coast. The teen finds love and adventure when a spooky Medicine Woman sends him on a spirit quest. As Strange Bear Man he learns to value his new family above all things. But events threaten to take it all away when his wife is captured by slavers. It is his destiny to rescue her or die trying.

• Language: English
• Publisher: J&S Thrall Ault
• Release date: Apr 22, 2010
• ISBN: 9781452397535

J&S Thrall Ault

JJ Ault and Sandra Thrall Ault, married for 43 years, are avid world travelers, sailors and history buffs who have written their first novel together. JJ comes from a long line of story tellers and has complied two books on family genealogy. Sandra is a word smith who worked in public relations and advertising for 25 years. Their interests in philosophy, history and spirituality lead them to write a novel which examines the first cultural melting pot in the southeastern United States. They presently live on the ancestral family farm in the Texas Panhandle.

Book preview

CHAPTER 1

For as far as his turquoise eyes could see, no one ventured out into the relentless Spanish heat. The only thing that moved was the blazing sun across a cloudless sky. Jacob Eliou Zohar, his Jewish mother’s only blue-eyed son, was counting on this during siesta time in the burning Spanish afternoon. He loved to sneak out of his father’s house and meet his young neighbors. They liked to gather near the pasture where the young bull was kept. They could pester the bull and challenge it while everyone else slept.

At sixteen, Jacob was a year older than the oldest of the Spanish boys, so they looked to him to lead the fun. It felt good to be outside running with the bull. Jacob loved to run and dodge the angry young animal. He knew he was faster than the bull when they were among the grove of closely spaced trees.

One day he had accidentally wandered into the bull’s pasture and was chased by the bull, but found he could evade the beast in a grove of trees. Since he was lean and lanky, he could dart around the trees much faster than the huge animal could. Now it had become a daily game. His heart was always in his throat at first, but soon he would calm down and enjoy the romp.

Today, the bull watched them as they approached his pasture fence. It knew what to expect and began to paw at the ground. Jacob’s shirt was tied tight at his waist, one leg of his pantaloons hung down longer than the other and his bare feet stirred the dust as the boys walked along the fence until they were closer to the trees than they were to the bull. Suddenly, Jacob climbed the fence and ran for the trees. The bull came hot on his trail, but Jacob made it to the trees first. The bull chased the teen around one of the trees, but was too slow as Jacob darted away. Gingerly, he was able to reach back and grab the bull’s nose from the other side of the tree. Ho, ho, young bull,’ he taunted, ‘you are only five years old and very slow. I, on the other hand, am sixteen. I am much too smart and fast for you. Maybe it is because you are penned up here in this pasture while I am wild and free.

Jacob darted to another tree with the bull in hot pursuit. As they ran around the tree, he grabbed the bull by the tail. The bull spun around and launched Jacob across the pasture. He tumbled and rolled in the soft grass but quickly ran to the safety of another nearby tree. His curly jet black hair was wet with perspiration. They chased each other from tree to tree until Jacob found a stout limb hanging low enough for him to swing up into the tree. This was new for both Jacob and the bull. Snorting and tearing up the ground with his front feet, the bull spun around and tried to rear up. It jumped, bucked and kicked to no avail.

Jacob, never one to plan his next move, loved the spontaneity of the game. In a quest to take the game to a higher level, he now moved out over the bull and dropped onto its back. He clamped the bull tightly with his sturdy legs, grabbed two hands full of hair and hide, holding on tight. The bull dashed in a straight line towards the fence, but quickly came to its senses and began to buck. Jacob survived the first buck, but just barely. The bull arched his back and made a quick turn. The amateur bull rider was no match for this. He was launched through the air, arms and legs flailing like an eggbeater, thinking about trying to land with some dignity. He rolled and tumbled onto the grass. With no time to lose, he scrambled for the pasture fence and dove under just before the bull thundered by.

Jacob stood up smiling his slightly crooked grin, his heart beating fast. He felt like King of the World. Both his friends cheered and helped him get the dust off. Just then, the Spanish boys’ father emerged from around their barn with two soldiers in uniform. There he is. That’s the Jew boy you are looking for, he said, pointing toward Jacob.

The year 1527 was a difficult time for Spain. The Spanish Inquisition was reaching out for all Jewish families that could be found. Even though Jacob’s father had moved from the city to this rural area with his three sons, they were not safe from the Inquisition. At sixteen, Jacob did not fully grasp the reality of this situation. He had no formal education like his two older brothers. He did know how to read, write and do sums. It was just that he had never been interested in his father’s textile business. He darted away to enjoy the freedom of the open pastures every chance he could. His oldest brother Moses often interceded with his strict father on Jacob's behalf. Moses pleaded, Jacob is only sixteen. There is time enough later for him to act responsibly. Michael and I will help you. Let Jacob be free a little longer. His blue eyed mother had died of smallpox six years earlier. The once spoiled baby of the family had a very hard time adjusting to an all-male household as his father tried to raise his three sons by himself.

The two soldiers approached the delinquent boys at the pasture’s edge. The two neighbor’s sons distanced themselves from Jacob as one of the soldiers called him by name. Jacob Eliou Zohar, you are ordered by the Al Calde Don Alejandro to be detained for inquisition to take place in Barcelona. Follow us back to your home where you will join the rest of your family.

When they arrived at Jacob’s house, he was dismayed to see his father and two brothers being loaded into a wagon and fitted with leg irons. Jacob noticed his father’s robe was gone, his jerkin was misfastened like it had been thrown on in haste, his head was bare and he hadn’t been allowed to change from his slippers to his boots. Both his brothers seemed less dazed than their father, nodding at him, watching every move Jacob made. Real fear began to well up inside him as the soldiers placed leg irons around his ankles and tossed him into the wagon. His father and two older brothers tried to comfort him with nods and small smiles, but all he could see in their faces was that they too were very frightened.

His father spoke to them in whispers of rumors about Jews being deported or forced to convert to Christianity. What he did not tell them were the rumors of many Jews being killed. They had no idea what fate had in store. Sitting there in quiet desperation, they watched as all their belongings were loaded into two other wagons. Finally, the man in charge of the soldiers, Senor Cesar Morales, a tall lean man, mustached under a generous nose and now wearing Jacob's father’s boots, ordered the wagons out onto the road. The dust slowly rose into the motionless air as the sun bore down on their hatless heads. As the caravan traveled slowly along, a fear-filled Jacob watched the familiar countryside disappear for the last time. Looking over at his grief stricken father, he wished he had been a better son and paid more attention to what his father had tried to teach him. But it never seemed important before today. And each day he remembered less and less about his sweet mother. His brother Moses seemed to be the only one Jacob had listened to.

As the oxen-drawn wagons moved slowly along the road, Jacob soon began to see a countryside he had never seen before. The new scenery helped to take his mind off their troubles and his thirst. As they passed through a small village of truly miserable adobe huts, Jacob noticed the villagers drawing water from a well in the square. The wagon driver stopped to fill a pigskin flask of water and after quenching his thirst, he passed around the water to his grateful prisoners.

Late in the day, they began to overtake a herd of livestock traveling in the same direction. Jacob showed a real interest in the different assortment of cattle, horses and pigs. The livestock helped break up the monotony of the journey. Senor Morales hailed the man in charge of the livestock who turned out to be his old friend and rival, Felix Gonzales, a short dumpy man with little regard for his appearance. They both often took assignments similar to what they were doing now. They enjoyed a friendly wager on who would make the most on each assignment. Gonzales explained he had been sent to the countryside to procure livestock for the upcoming Panfilo Narvaez expedition to the New World. Since it was getting late, they decided to camp together in a meadow beside the road. Jacob and his family were unloaded from the wagon and chained to a tree for the night.

After the camp was set up, the two old friends settled down by a campfire and passed the time with conversation and a skin of wine. Morales observed the livestock saying, It looks like you got the best assignment this time, Felix. From the looks of this livestock, you were able to clear a few gold coins for yourself in the transaction. You better take good care of these animals the rest of the way because some look pretty bad already.

Gonzales laughingly replied, Well, you are right. I try to make a little money whenever I can. It has been a hard year though. The soldiers I have with me, he added, They are lazy and I have to tell them everything. They are not disciplined like the soldiers with you. The lazy bastards will not stay up all night to watch the herd. I wish I had someone along who knew about livestock.

Morales chuckled passing back the wineskin, Felix, this is your lucky day. I happen to have a livestock expert with me. Why, this very day he was out riding a wild bull. You know, for a few gold coins, I could let you have him. There is only one thing you would have to do when you arrive in Barcelona. You must have him converted to Christianity for he is a Jew. But that will be easy enough once you reach the priest on board the ship. If he works out well, you might even sell him to the Captain to take care of the livestock all the way to the New World. I hear they are having trouble finding enough sailors for such a voyage. Gonzales scratched his beard and agreed, Old friend, that sounds like a fine idea. Then he started the negotiations with, How many coins do you want for this bull rider?

That next morning Jacob was surprised and disbelieving when his leg irons were cast off and he was told to go get on a sorrel horse and round up the livestock. His father and brothers were loaded back into the wagon, weeping and protesting their separation from Jacob. But their protests were all in vain. Tears ran down Jacob’s face as he waved goodbye to his family. Would he ever see them again? What would happen to him now? He was not ready to face the world alone. Jacob jumped as Gonzales shouted, Get that livestock moving. I paid good money for a vaquero and you will prove your worth or else! Jacob dried his tears and became very busy with the livestock. That helped to take his mind off his grief stricken family in the wagons slowly disappearing up the road ahead.

Jacob did not consider himself much of an expert on livestock, but he was a quick learner. The soldiers gladly sent him to take over the worst part of the job behind the herd where he was soon caked with dust. He paid close attention to all the livestock and was soon able to point out to Senor Gonzales when some of the unshod horses were getting sore feet from the rocky road. Also, he found a cow that was about ready to drop a calf. The herd of cattle, horses and pigs kept Jacob very busy all the way through Barcelona to the bustling docks.

CHAPTER 2

In the pre-dawn hours, the Spanish galleon rocked listlessly beside the Barcelona dock while supplies were being loaded for the voyage. Barcelona was the political and intellectual capital of Carlos V, King of Spain. Usually he was busy outside of Spain on expeditions to further his influence over Europe and North Africa. While he was on his quest to become the most powerful man in the world, he allowed the internal government of Spain to drift. He left the legwork of the Inquisition to his archbishop Don Francisco Fernandez de Cuenca, Cardinal of Spain. Acting under the guidance and pressure from a Cardinal in 1492, his grandmother, Queen Isabella had decreed that all Jews in her kingdom must either convert to Christianity or go into exile.

With a start, Jacob woke to the smell of smoking charcoal and sizzling meats from the open grills in the vast marketplace adjacent to his ship, ‘Santa Katrina’. His dusty journey to the docks ended at sunset the night before when he bedded down with the livestock in the pen next to the ship. He turned his attention from the smells of the marketplace to the cargo going aboard. It included a variety of fruits and vegetable, barrels of water, wine, oil, olives, onions, flour and grains.

Loading the livestock aboard ship would be the last stage of preparation for the long ocean voyage. But the curious teenager had very little time to observe any more of the hustle and bustle around the dock as he was conscripted to help load the supplies on board. Gonzales wanted his stockman to be useful so he could sell Jacob as a package along with the livestock. Everything about a ship was new to him so he kept his head low and concentrated on the task at hand. When the ever-vigilant Gonzales felt he could spare Jacob for a little while, he was sent to the Priest for spiritual guidance.

As a Jew, his religious education began with a flogging. Jacob did not understand why any of this was happening to him, but the flogging focused his attention on the priest’s message. He never felt motivated before when his father taught about Judaism. Over the next week he was to learn the tenets of Catholicism as fast as he could to satisfy the priest and his heavy hand. He would emerge converted at last, Ramon Panfilo Gonzales, devoted Catholic citizen of Spain and crew member of ‘Santa Katrina’. He would no longer be Jacob Eliou Zohar, the Jew.

During his religious training, he contemplated how his life had changed in such a short time. His simple country life, his family and freedoms were stripped away in a heart beat. He was no more than a slave, his back a testament with thin stripes of raw flesh oozing as they healed, his shirt sticking to him. Nightly the darkness of despair engulfed him as he gazed up at the stars overhead. By the end of the week with the coming of dawn, he finally pulled himself out of the swamp of self-pity. It was replaced by anger, anger that gave him resolve to each day embrace the challenge to find adventure in each new experience.

When all the cargo and livestock were on board, it still took another half-day for the ship’s Captain to arrive. Captain Luis de Santiago was a tall Catalan with a long-nosed face and a cruel mouth. His inspection of the ship and crew was swift and merciless, as the Captain was unhappy with his lot as Captain of a cattle boat. The Santa Katrina was a wide, slow vessel with three masts. The main deck was dedicated to livestock. All his orders were met as the crew worked together with great efficiency. On the changing tide, the ship got underway for the Canary Islands. They were on a deadline to join the rest of the fleet in the Islands before heading to the New World. As they sailed along the Spanish coast, the Captain and crew negotiated an uneasy truce.

Feeding and watering the animals became Ramon’s main job. A chore he had to do even while seasick. He also had to clean up after the livestock as well. When the ship rolled with the seas, some of the crew laughed at him when they watched him ungainly shovel manure over the side. Each animal was tethered with a halter and lead rope to a hitching rail. Since there was little room for hay aboard ship, the animals were fed mostly grain.

Most of the sailors were friendly to Ramon, and he loved their stories. One sailor reported seeing a sea snake as large as the ship. Not to worry though, they could just feed the snake a horse and it would leave them alone. Some of the crew had actually been to the New World. They said the Natives were cannibals, but others said many of the tribes were friendly. New World stories were his favorite.

Because Ramon learned to handle ropes and tie knots and didn’t shirk from helping with chores other than livestock, he was liked by most of his shipmates. He even came to admire the stern Captain Santiago who seemed to know everything happening on board his ship. The Captain would stand on the upper deck and watch while Ramon tended to the stock. Feeding the animals was what Ramon enjoyed most. Each animal learned to know when and how it was going to be fed. Jacob was amazed at how smart they were. If he varied the routine or left one of them out, he was chastised immediately by a squeal or a nip or a kick. Most of the animals became very tame. One black stallion got huffy at times and Ramon learned never to walk within kicking range. Soon after they left port, the cow had dropped her calf. The cook notified Ramon to save some of the milk for the Captain and ships officers. Milking the cow twice a day gave Ramon a chance to squirt some of the milk into his own mouth when no one was looking.

Before Gonzales left the ship with a tidy profit, he had Ramon fix a bunk for himself under a protected area where the feed for the animals was kept. That way he could be near the animals at night in case one would get tangled in the lead ropes. Ramon was glad to be with the animals instead of the other sailors. He understood the animals and knew what was expected of him. Some fights among the crew made him leery of extended contact with them. As time passed, he was becoming less afraid of the ship, the crew and the sea around him. But Ramon’s dislike for the Priest never wavered because the holy man beat him about the head before each catechism lesson.

The Mediterranean Sea was pretty most of the time. It seemed to have a new face every time he looked out at it. The sunlight on the water was always different each day. The moonlight on the water varied even more with the changing moon. Some nights the starlight danced on the waves like fireflies. The wind and waves worked together to speed the slow, wide Santa Katrina all the way to the Canary Islands on the edge of the Atlantic Ocean.

They dropped anchor in the bay near Las Palmas. The tropical breezes filled the ship with spicy aromas and promised wondrous new things for Ramon to experience. But as caretaker of the livestock, a disappointed Ramon was not allowed to go ashore. New provisions, some poultry, and a few new sailors came aboard. Orders came for the Santa Katrina to leave two days before the other four ships because she was the slowest. The rest of the fleet was assembled under the command of the renowned explorer of the New World, Panfilo de Narvaez.

One late afternoon Ramon saw sails in the distance and gradually the rest of the flotilla caught up with them. The lanterns of the other ships twinkled in the night as they sailed along. When the winds allowed, they would put on all their sails to keep up with the other ships. Ramon thought all the sails aloft looked like huge, cream-colored butterflies straining against the ropes which held them fast.

One of the sailors showed Ramon the North Star, explaining it always stayed in one place and all the other stars move around it. Although he became friendly with several of the crew, one of the sailors who had come aboard in the Canary Islands was turning out to be a bully. He focused on the smaller sailors and everyone gave him a wide berth. Ramon was afraid of him and kept out of sight as much as he could.

Captain Santiago must have been pleased with the state of the livestock because the First Lieutenant, Simon Ortega commended Ramon for the way he cared for them. Ramon and his animals all seemed to settle in for a long voyage.

The color of the water was cheery and only slightly bluer than the sky. Occasionally, a rain squall would come by and the deck would become awash with activity as the crew scrambled to catch a little fresh drinking water. A few times the wind came up so high some sails had to be taken down. Other times the winds would die down and they would put up all of the canvas they could find. Their voyage had now taken them in the latitudes where the trade winds blew steadily from the east. On previous voyages to the New World, seafarers had learned to count on these winds to speed them across the Atlantic.

Then one day Captain Santiago announced the fresh drinking water was going bad. From now on, wine would have to be mixed with the water in order to drink it. This pleased the crew and Ramon found he, too, enjoyed it. The livestock also had to have a small amount of wine mixed into their water.

Late one night, Ramon awoke to find a heavy hand dragging him by his leg off of his sleeping mat. He looked up into the eyes of the large sailor who had come aboard in the Canary Islands. Ramon knew real fear when he smelled the drunken sailor’s putrid breath and felt a powerful right hand close on his neck, while the other hand tugged at Ramon’s trousers. Ramon wrestled with the bully until his world started to grow dim. With his final burst of adrenaline, Ramon kneed the brute in the groin. He tried to roll out of the iron grip and make a run for it. But the bully grabbed his shirt and held fast. Luckily, his ragged shirt ripped as Ramon lunged in the direction of the livestock.

He darted in and around the tethered animals with the growling bully close behind. Ramon swiftly changed directions and headed for the big, black stallion’s tether line. The bully cut across behind the animals to try and cut Ramon off and catch the boy in a corner. Ramon ran by the excitable black stallion and gave a quick, hard jerk on its halter. Then he dove underneath the rail where the horse was tied. He felt the rail shudder as the horse tried to stomp him with its foreleg. Ramon glanced back as the horse’s eyes turned white wild like they had when it tried to fight the other horses. Even with his adrenaline pumping, Ramon heard a loud crack, then something heavy banging the side of the ship and finally, a muffled groan.

Peering into the darkness, the breathless youngster could not make out the bully. Finally, he spotted the sailor crumpled against the rail of the ship