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and she’s become quite the Arabian cook in the process. Isn’t that so, Edna?” Richard grinned at her scowl. “By the way, Father and I just met with Dr. Percy. You’ll be glad to hear that your shipmates are coming along smartly, even Captain Dickerson. They’ll need time to fully recover, but recover they will.” He went over to the open hearth and dropped a fresh birch log on the low-burning fire. Dry white bark flamed up, crackling and popping agreeably. “You slept well?”

    â€œLike old times.”
    â€œGood for you, son.” Thomas Cutler sat down next to Caleb as Richard took a seat across from him. Edna served a mug of coffee to each.
    Richard scooped a spoonful of sugar into his mug and stirred it in.
    Caleb, watching him, asked, “Is that our sugar?”
    His father answered. “Direct from Barbados. Richard was there recently to visit with Robin and John,” referring to Caleb’s first cousins, the two sons of William Cutler in England and brothers of Elizabeth Cutler Crabtree. “You have some catching up to do, but here’s the gist. Two years ago, John and Cynthia and their young son Joseph returned to the Indies from England to help Robin and Julia manage the family business there, particularly on the sales end. John, it seems, has a natural talent for sales, and we sorely need that talent in these difficult times. I tried to keep you informed in the letters I wrote, but I don’t know how many of them got through.
    â€œI don’t know, for example, if you are aware of how serious the threat is these days to our carrying trade. French pirates and privateers are attacking our merchantmen—in the Indies and even off our coast. They seize our vessels, do what they will to our crews, and sell off our cargoes on Guadeloupe, Saint-Domingue, or some other French island. These attacks have forced insurance rates to unheard-of levels. Some shipping families have had to suspend business because they can’t afford to pay them. The Swifts and the Guilds are two examples.
    â€œWe’re more fortunate than most other shipping families. Hugh Hardcastle—you remember him, Katherine’s brother—remains on station with the Windward Squadron in Bridgetown. Whenever possible, he arranges for a British warship to escort our vessels through the danger zones to open water. And you may recall that Julia is a daughter of a Mount Gay rum family. That connection helps as well. Understand: there’s a reason for such cooperation from the British. Their colonies in the Indies rely heavily on our trade, so it’s in their interest to protect that trade. But with trouble brewing in Europe, and with so many ships being recalled to Spithead, the Royal Navy is limited in its abilities. What ships they still have on station in the Caribbean can’t be everywhere at once. So the attacks continue.”
    Caleb nodded. “I read about all that in the letters that did get through,” he said. “But we’re responding to the threat, aren’t we? Hasn’t Congress approved a new navy? That’s what Agee told us on the cruise home.”

    Thomas Cutler deferred to Richard.
    â€œIt’s true, in part,” Richard said. “Three years ago, Congress authorized the construction of six frigates. But the Republicans in the southern states managed to add a provision to the bill stipulating that since the purpose of these new frigates was to protect American commerce in the Mediterranean, construction on three of the frigates must cease if the United States should sign a peace treaty with the Barbary States. Which of course is what we did. What these Republicans don’t understand is that the Barbary States are by no means the only threat to our carrying trade. Today they’re not much of a threat at all. France is the threat, and France is not acting alone. Pirates in every sea are capitalizing on our inability to