Introducing "Sailing Against the Tide," A Novel by Carol Busby

The writer and historian has published a new work of fiction that reimagines the life of one of history’s most enigmatic pirates—Anne Bonny.

Who was Anne Bonny?

Very little of her early life is known for certain, but according to legend, Anne Bonny (née Cormac) was born in Ireland at the turn of the 18th century. She is said to have been the illegitimate daughter of an attorney and his housekeeper. Hoping to keep her true identity a secret, Anne's father dressed her as a boy and claimed his young ward was the "son" of a friend. The ruse did not last, and when his daughter and affair became public knowledge, the attorney fled to the New World, taking the housekeeper and Anne with him.

Anne's father prospered in the British Colonies, where he bought a plantation in Carolina Province. Here, she is thought to have met and married a sailor named James Bonny in 1718. Disapproving of the match, her father disowned her, and the young couple departed for New Providence Island in the Bahamas.

In 1719, while in New Providence, Anne met the pirate Captain John Rackham, widely known as "Calico Jack." The two allegedly became lovers. Dressed as a man and using the adopted pirate moniker of Bonn, Anne joined Rackham's crew, where she would meet another notorious female buccaneer, Mary Read. The following year, Rackham and his band of pirates stole HMS William, drawing the ire of Governor Woodes Rogers of the Bahamas, who was incensed by the blatant theft.

Governor Rogers issued a proclamation against Rackham and his crew on September 5, 1720, in which he listed the alleged perpetrators by name, including those of Bonny and Read. Just a few weeks later, on November 15, 1720, Captain Jonathan Barnet, a privateer acting on Roger's behalf, boarded the William while anchored off Negril Point, Jamaica, and took Rackham and his crew into custody.

According to legal records discovered in the National Library of Jamaica, Anne Bonny and Mary Read were tried simultaneously on November 28, 1720. They were subsequently found guilty of engaging in piracy and sentenced to death. Both women successfully appealed for clemency due to pregnancy, and their sentences were postponed until they gave birth. 

While Reed is known to have contracted typhus in prison and died on April 28, 1721, the fate of Anne Bonny remains a mystery. There are no records of her execution, and while the reasons are lost to history, it seems highly likely she was quietly released.

Sailing Against the Tide

In Sailing Against the Tide, Carol Busby imagines the plucky pirate’s life as it might have unfolded after her incarceration, picking up Bonny’s story where the historical records left off. Busby’s protagonist navigates the turbulent waters of resilience, self-discovery, and courage. Through her vivid imagination, she takes readers on a transformative journey that embraces the power of authenticity and individualism at a time of rigid conformity and patriarchy.

Excerpt:

15 June 1721 – Spanish Town, Jamaica

Anne Bonny lifted her head off the slouch hat that covered a rock which acted as her pillow. It was raining and her side of the prison was dripping water on her. Slowly and awkwardly, she managed to stand, grabbing the hat as she went. She hobbled, her leg chains clanking, to the other side which was, for the moment, dry. The dirt and sand floor would get wet eventually and seep over if it rained enough. For now, however, it was the better spot. She began to sob, knowing that this babe, like the one born in Cuba, would be taken away from her, a knowledge made worse by the fact that it had saved her life. The British didn’t hang pregnant women. They waited until after the birth. Anne couldn’t imagine what after the birth would look like. She just wanted to survive this hellhole and the act of giving birth itself.

Then her waters broke, soaking that side of the cell. She had been measuring time by the growth in her belly. She wasn’t surprised then when the process started.

Maneuvering herself onto the floor, she put the hat back down onto a familiar rock on this side.

She was tired of being hungry, thirsty, covered in mud, and bitten by rats and fleas. And of being pregnant, even though it was the only thing between her and the hangman’s noose after being convicted of piracy.She had lain down for about ten minutes, waiting for the pains to start, when she heard a voice at the entrance to her cell. She rolled a little and looked at the bars. There stood a guard, and a man dressed in fancy clothes. She never did get used to being a side-show, but she also never let anyone know how it hurt.

“Yes, Sir Jonathan,” the guard she recognized as Williams was saying. “That is indeed the infamous female pirate Anne Bonny.”

She saw the other man snort. “How the mighty have fallen. Deservedly. I am Sir Jonathan Woolrich and you pirates brought a fever that killed my wife and son.”

Williams murmured something vaguely sympathetic.

“Killed my friend Mary Reade too, bastard,” Anne called out.

“She deserved it,” Woolrich said. “My wife and son didn’t. And the last ship you and your disemboweled partner took was mine. I lost over £1000 on that cargo.”

“Well then, glad to meet you,” Anne sneered.

“I’ll see you hanged if it’s the last thing I do.”

“You’re a coward, and I trust you’ll rot in hell.” 

Williams bowed slightly to Woolrich, who seemed reluctant to leave. “We must go, sir.”

Woolrich spat at Anne. “I hope you die in pain,” he said. “And lose the babe.”

She heard them walking away. She was staggered by the cruelty in his last remark. The first labor pain hit and Anne groaned. She knew it would be a while, because of her previous birth. They hadn’t let her see the boy, just hustled him away. The pain never left her. Anne managed to doze through the early contractions. Around midnight, her eyes popped open. The pains were worse and closer together. They took her breath away. Once she had it back, she screamed, which brought two guards running. One opened the cage door and ran to Anne’s side.

She panted. “Baby. Need midwife,” she said as she collapsed back onto the ground. 

“How do you know?” one asked.

“This ain’t my first time, you idiot. Get me a midwife!” She never saw the guards leave.

A while later, she didn’t know how long, a woman came into the prison cell. “Oh, my lord,” she exclaimed. “She can’t give birth in this filth. And look at her.”

“Master’s orders are she’s not to be moved so you’ll have to make do,” said Guard Williams, who had brought her to the cell. He re-locked the door and left.

Anne started to scream. Next thing she knew, there were kind hands on her telling her to roll onto her knees and pant. The midwife put out a clean sheet and Anne moved onto it.

Five hours later, Anne bore a healthy, bawling son. She collapsed, panting and relieved. “Can I see him?” she asked.

“I’m sorry, love, but my orders is no. You might get attached and there’s no point.” The midwife had cut the cord and was wrapping the baby in a clean towel.

“Please,” whispered Anne. “I had another who was taken before ever I saw him. Can I just look?”

The midwife looked up and saw that the guards were gone. “All right. I hear you’re to be hanged so this will be your only chance.”

She handed Anne the baby boy. With tears running down her cheeks, Anne kissed the baby and whispered, “You’ve got my red hair.” She gently stroked the fuzz on the baby’s head with a finger. “Your name is Jack. Not John but Jack. Whatever they call you, it’s Jack. Like your father, Captain Jack Rackham.”

Light was dawning when they heard the guards marching towards the cell a few minutes later. With tears streaming down her face, Anne gave the baby back to the midwife.

The guards came in. “Midwife, your work is done. Take the baby and leave.”

Anne became aware that the midwife was trying to explain to the guard about the afterbirth, but he seemed to have no idea what she was trying to tell him. Finally, the midwife directed his attention to what was still happening between her legs, and he seemed to understand. He abruptly left the cell lest he be forced to witness more, shutting and locking the gate behind him. The midwife took as long as she dared to finish her duties. The guards remained outside the cell.

“Good luck to you, Madame,” she said as she took Jack away from his mother.

* * *

Anne laid on the sheet the midwife had brought with her head on her hat and her back to the cell door. She knew that any day they would come to hang her so she was as quiet and inconspicuous as possible, hoping to prolong the time while knowing full well they wouldn’t wait long. She was too famous.

It was dark three days later, about midnight, when she heard a key scrape the lock and the cell door open. She almost vomited with fear but held it in. A lantern shined around the cell.

“What do you want?” she asked.

“I’ve come to take you home,” answered a voice she hadn’t heard for a long time.

“Father?” she asked as she rolled over. Her eyes widened. When she had been thrown out for marrying John Bonny, she had never thought to hear that voice again. I wonder if I’ve died, and his voice has come to haunt me.

“Yes, Anne. It is your father. We’ve brought a pallet. If anyone sees us, they’ll think you’ve died.”

Anne stared at him incredulously. “Where are you taking me?” she asked weakly.

“To my ship, Anne. Home to Carolina.”

Two men came over and, although she cringed at first, their hands were soft, and they helped her up and lifted her onto a canvas pallet and covered her with the dirty sheet she’d given birth on. As they started towards the cell doors, Anne cried out, “Wait. My hat.”

The three men could barely see in the cell but when Anne pointed back to where she had been, they moved the lantern and saw a battered leather slouch hat. “That rag? Why on earth do you want that nasty thing?”

“It’s all I have left,” Anne said, continuing to point. “Get it.” Then she added, “Please.” Tears welled up in her eyes.

One of the men held onto her while the other got the hat which she tucked under the sheet. They carried her out of the prison and down a long walkway. It was dark with a new moon. Suddenly, someone called out: “Who goes there?” She recognized the guard William’s voice. As quickly as she could, she put the sheet over her face, letting her red hair spill out on one side. 

Her father saw her actions and answered the guard. “Anne Bonny as was. Dead now so no one will be needing to set the noose.”

“Let me see her,” William said as he approached the pallet. He pulled the sheet from her face and, recognizing it, gasped. “I weren’t told. Sorry. Where you taking her body?”

“Somewhere no one will find it and dig it up. Think she deserves that for all she’s been through.”

“Yeah. My shift’s done anyway, and I have a large thirst.” They all laughed. “Go on,” Williams said as he turned and headed back towards the guard house.

The men rushed as fast as they could to the dinghy waiting to take Anne out to her father’s ship, Killarney. 

The trip to South Carolina took four days. They hit a squall but nothing else to slow their progress. No ships followed.

Anne spent the time on a cot – a real luxury for a pirate – being attended to by the ship’s doctor. He cleaned and bandaged her open sores and checked on her recovery from childbirth. Anne told him about conditions in the prison. “Dear God, woman, it’s a miracle you’re alive. And that the babe survived.”

Anne started to cry and the doctor immediately apologized. “We men don’t really understand how having a baby affects a woman. I am sorry to have upset you.”

Anne blew her nose. “I had another, doctor. Also alive. Also given away. The first was easier. I was young and my life at sea wouldn’t allow for having a family. This baby was much more important. He saved my life. And he was Jack’s baby. All that’s left of Jack. Yet I’ll never see him again.”

“Can I get you anything?” the doctor asked.

“Yeah. A bottle of brandy – or rum. I’m not particular,” Anne niffed again. The doctor started to laugh, then realized she was serious.

He decided to bypass the Captain and Mr. Cormac, Anne’s father. The Cook was happy to provide the brandy and a glass.

 Anne was still weak when they landed in Charles Town, but at least she had her emotions in check.

“It’s nice to see a harbor again,” Anne mused.

Her father shot her a worried glance. “You aren’t even remotely considering going back to that life are you, my dear?”

“No, Father. That life has already ended for me and most of the others. I got out alive but most didn’t. With the British actively looking for them, they’ll soon be hanging on scaffolds.” 

As they got closer, Anne’s keen eye looked over the ships in the harbor. “Lovely harbor, ‘tis. No wonder so many trade here.” She breathed deeply of the sea air then went below decks to fetch her slouch hat for the trip to her father’s plantation.

Available from Amazon.com in Paperback or Kindle.