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PART III
JULY 22, 1780
AMSTERDAM, HOLLAND
“JUDAS, I TRUST ye realize this ain’t official unless I know yer name.”
Celia and Elliott, standing on the poopdeck of the Iron Maiden, looked at one another, then at Dunham.
“I’m dead,” Elliott said flatly. “So you’ll not get my name, old man, but I do admire your persistence.”
Dunham snorted his amusement, but Celia huffed. “Papa, please.”
“Ye’re gonna go through the rest of yer life as Judas?” he asked dryly.
“Iscariot,” Elliott snapped.
Celia looked over Dunham’s shoulder at the hundreds of people gathered on the decks of the Iron Maiden, the Silver Shilling, the Mad Hangman, the Thunderstorm, and the Black Demon. “MAARTEN!” she bellowed.
At that, Dunham’s humor faded into irritation. “Settle down, Whelp. I was just havin’ a bit o’ fun.” With that, he opened his book and turned to face their audience, which, in reality included the entire harbor.
Hundreds of ships creaked, but the usual clamor faded as ships as far as a quarter mile away grew quiet, and most of the activity on the wharf ceased.
It was a sweet July evening in the harbor at Amsterdam, with the sunset blazing bright red and orange in the west. Celia pressed against Elliott, who was dressed in the black and silver suit of clothes she so loved, his silver-streaked hair left loose to float on the slight breeze.
Dunham’s voice was deep and carried over the vast waters. It was solemn, as a marriage required, but there was yet humor in it, and it was this Celia listened to. Oh, how it had comforted her in those early days, the only thing that had caused her to understand he would not harm her. How it had lulled her into taking him as her rightful father and then her papa. How it had entertained her of an evening when he read to her or told her stories or sang her to sleep.
Because he had addressed the harbor, he didn’t notice when Elliott leaned down to Celia and whispered, “Seeeeeleeea, my darling gehl.” She felt heat rush to her face and she couldn’t help the grin she attempted to hide by ducking her head and pressing her cheek to his velvet-covered arm. “You are exquisite this evening, Madam. M’sister could have never held a candle to you—or any other woman in the ton—had you presented yourself thusly.”
He’d remembered. Celia’s hand tightened, but he refused to allow her to press it to her breast. “Not on our wedding day, Madam,” he purred, slipping his thumb into her fist. “Feel free to break it if you must.”
“Oh, Elliott, you are the most wonderful man.”
“And you are magnificent.”
“Into this holy union,” Dunham was saying, “Celia Ja—”
Then he stopped.
“NAY!” he roared, startling her and Elliott. “Jack Dunham! Ye’re my seed!” he thundered, with a withering glance at her over his shoulder as if it were her fault. “An’ I shoulda claimed ye and yer ma twenty years ago!”
Celia’s mouth dropped open. Indeed, there were many gasps to be heard. She grasped Elliott’s thumb even tighter, but he resisted her efforts to pull him closer.
Dunham turned back to the harbor and bellowed, “Into this holy union Cap’n Jack Dunham of the Thunderstorm and Cap’n Judas Iscariot of the Silver Shilling now come to be joined!”
It was as if he could change the past by saying it loudly and quickly enough. He stopped. Cleared his throat. Took a breath, then two. And three. Finally, he continued more calmly, but with a catch in his voice.
“If any of ye can show just cause why they may not lawfully be married, speak now or forever hold yer peace.”
Celia had never before heard a full harbor so utterly silent.
“Doonna want yer boats blown to bits do ye object, eh?” he said wryly, causing roars of laughter to disrupt the unnatural peace.
Finally, he turned back to Celia and Elliott to finish the liturgy and ask:
“Jack, will you have this man to be your husband; to live together in the covenant of marriage? Will you love him, comfort him, honor and keep him, in sickness and in health, and, forsaking all others, be faithful to him as long as you both shall live?”
“Aye, I will,” Celia whispered, staring at her father. Between Elliott’s admiration and what her father had just done, she wanted to weep with joy.
Dunham cast her a fleeting, but pleased smile before turning to Elliott. “Judas, will you have this woman to be your wife, to live together in the covenant of marriage? Will you love her, comfort her, honor and keep her, in sickness and in health, and, forsaking all others, be faithful to her as long as you both shall live?”
“Aye,” Elliott said, loud and clear, looking down on her. But she could barely make out his face for the tears pooling in her eyes and blurring her vision. He lifted his free hand and pressed his thumb against her cheek where one tear spilled, then brought it to his mouth. “I will.”
Even as Dunham turned, a great cheer went up over the harbor, but did not last overlong. “Will all of you witnessing these promises do all in your power to uphold these two persons in their marriage?”
The swelling of voices and thundering of feet stomping the decks of scores of ships was deafening. Celia beamed up at Elliott, whose pleased smile was reflected tenfold in his eyes.
Dunham cleared his throat and pulled at his collar, and it seemed to Celia he was avoiding their eyes. She smiled when he quickly swiped at his eye, then continued:
“Now that Jack and Judas have given themselves to each other by solemn vows, with the joining of hands and hearts, I pronounce that they are husband and wife, in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Those whom God has joined together let no one put asunder. You may kiss the bride.”
She melted against her husband’s big, strong body, and was not disappointed in his kiss—long, somewhat lustful, but full of promise.
BOOM!
Celia laughed against Elliott’s mouth and looked over her shoulder when a ship far out in the mouth of the harbor fired its cannons. And again.
Another ship, far enough away so as not to hit anything, joined its cannons with the first.
The harbor was soon ablaze and deafening, with cannons firing from diverse ships whose captains neither Celia nor Elliott knew.
Underneath it all, Celia gripped Elliott’s thumb as if she were drowning and it was a lifeline.
“Celia Raxham, Countess Tavendish,” Elliott whispered. “My lady wife. I will endeavor to give you snow.”
And I will endeavor to give you children.
But Celia, being no poet and unable to promise such a thing, had no lovely words. With a grimace, she said, “I will learn to cook?”
Elliott burst out laughing and turned, bellowing:
“JUDAS AND FURY ARE ONE! OPEN THE CASKS AND MAKE MERRY!”
If you don’t want to wait 2 years to get to the end, you can buy it here.
Pirates!
OT: The US Treasury statement for July 2026 is available.
It opens with this highlight:
July has been a deficit month 70 times out of 72 fiscal years since there are usually no major corporate or
individual tax due dates in this month.
Outlays for military active duty and retirement, veterans benefits, Supplemental Security Income, and
Medicare payments to health maintenance organizations and prescription drug plans accelerated into July,
because August 1, 2026, the normal payment date, fell on a non-business day.
Rounded to the nearest billion:
Receipts: $334 Billion July 2025 receipts: $338 billion
Outlays: $766 billion July 2025 outlays: $630 billion
Deficit: $432 billion July 2025 deficit: $291 billion
Customs duties are $-9 billion for the month. I’m guessing the Feds were still paying out refunds. Interestingly, this news article says some shippers might pay out refunds to customers:
FY 2026 YTD compared to FY 2025 comparable period, rounded to nearest billion:
receipts FY 2026 YTD: $4,485 billion FY 2025 comparable: $4,347 billion
outlays FY 2026 YTD: $6,284 billion FY 2025 comparable: $5,975 billion
deficit FY 2026 YTD: $1,799 billion FY 2025 comparable: $1,629 billion
Projections for FY 2026 and FY 2027 have not changed.
Cut spending.
BWAHAHAHAhahahahahahahaha
And a Pony!
OK, sour puss in me – but a harbor full of merchant ships, often the prey of pirates, are celebrating a pirate wedding?
Port Royal, Jamaica I could understand – but Amsterdam?
I’m not sure why that’s unbelievable. The Dutch were just as interested in the war as the Spanish, they’re right there next to England for smuggling, the Dutch East India Company was constantly around, and so yes, Dutch harbors were always full.
BTW, as you are one of my only two readers, I must ask. Were you able to go back to last week’s installment post server outage?
Oh I hadn’t, let me do that.
Ah, I had, the morning after. Probably why I didn’t comment.
Oh, and I would accept a significant difference between privateers and pirates, not that I’m sure that merchant ship masters would.
I liked “1520 Main” but I’ve missed so many parts of this series that I have given up reading it.
Yes, the Dutch were very interested in the American Revolution. They gave money and guns to the American side. The first time a foreign power recognized American Independence was at St. Eustatius, a Dutch colony in the Caribbean.
#metoo
I lost track after a long hospital stay and could not catch up.
I bought it on Kindle for later. 🙂
Funny story. I bought 1520 Main. My wife stole it. Two years later, on this last Thursday I find it on her new desk, underneath a candle. Dammit! I stole it back.
I stole it back.
Nicely done
I rather enjoy snowy Ohio is a chief goal. Back when. Now? Cedar Point was fun. I’m not anti-(Cincinnati) Reds. Oooh! The Black Keys are from Akron. They have at least two very good albums.
Reading this, and because I’ve never been married, not because this is a pirate wedding, my thoughts went to if one or the other can detect the bullshit each other is putting on in the facade. Were I to wed, I imagine it’d be with a person who really, really didn’t want to go through the rigamarole. (Yes, much of weddings is for the parents. ‘Twould be addressed in some manner. Also, possibly with cannon.)
Not doubting the passion two in love would have for the ceremony, but because I’m me, I’d just detest going through the Show, hitting my mark, keeping still, doing .. whatever I needed to do when they needed me to … eh. I’d again just be overthinking. I find it very difficult to live in any particular moment, especially if it’s an enjoyable one.
Moj – funny aside about Dutch harbors being adjacent to the English. I’m just finishing up a book on the lead up to U.S. involvement in WWI. American neutrality was never strict, but decidedly tilted to the Entente (via Britain). There was a lot of concern about not alienating the neutral countries in Europe (e.g. Netherlands), moreso than about impacts on American neutrality. The Brits didn’t want our goods flowing into those countries, where they potentially could also flow into Germany, so they in effect pirated them!
I need suggestions for the title of my biopic.
Firsts, Boats, and Hoes
Crazy First Firsters
East of First
Firsty Dick
Thinking…
“immersed in Firsts”
“The First Heard Round the World”
Looks like “going to college” isn’t dead. The local suburban school district graduated 952 students in June. A whopping 87% say they are “continuing education” and another 4% are “pursuing technical education.” The military is claiming only 4 of them.
I’m guessing you aren’t in the South. I blame Hegseth for ditching diverse ad campaigns. The one with the little black girl with two Mom’s was a banger.
*throws hands up* Why not? “[AOC] has owed between $15,001 and $50,000 in federal student loan debt since her election to the House in 2018. That’s the same amount she owes now, according to her August disclosure, where lawmakers report ranges for debt and income.
The “Tax the Rich!” pol reported less than $81,000 in total assets.”
I paid off my ~$20k by 2015. Was rather proud of that. How foolish, I s’pose I was. ‘Responsible’ Millennials not infuriated by that? Clear sign they’re not serious! To be fair, I’ve never met *anyone* who doesn’t just brush that aside, just like it never happened. Maddening. My generation? A serious one, it isn’t.
When the people running society (and I’m not talking about AOC) could give two flying fucks about paying off their debts or how much debt they have and you see what a racket it all is, there’s definitely moments where you feel like a rat in a cage or just a fool to pay back what you owe.
Same thing with not taking the government’s sugar.
I had a doctor tell me I need to give up recreational Firsting or I’d die. It was three years ago to the day. I told him that there was nothing recreational about my Firsting. That this is life itself.
Here I am. Firsting strong as ever.
3 years ago my doctor told me “this cannot be cured”.
What he meant was, you have less than 2 years to live.
Then he said “but we can treat it.”
Here I am, 3 years later…..
Not firsting. But definitely still posting.
Fuck yeah!
Make it happen!
https://www.reddit.com/media?url=https%3A%2F%2Fpreview.redd.it%2Fsenate-passes-bill-that-could-change-nickels-and-how-you-v0-0zfp4o134zih1.jpeg%3Fwidth%3D560%26format%3Dpjpg%26auto%3Dwebp%26s%3D2ee2db73f3c216d3acf6d40687ad94ae2b4b921b
Moj. I am reading this as well. (I also enjoyed your KC gangster one.)
I have been on a boat for the last week or so.
I binge watched the 1st 4 episodes of Reacher season 4 last night.
It is good. Probably the best since season 1 so far.
Back to Jack the drifter against some random conspiracy he accidently happens on to. All new sidekicks, as is fitting.
This show is a throwback. Action movie with a romantic entanglement and a hookup scene.
Unlike season 1, they declined to do anything with that scene. But at least the story archetype is there.
We have a female police officer as his wingman for this adventure, which seems to be the Reacher formula. She is good. Not as fun as the one from season 1, but still, no complaints.
So far, someone understood the mission.
Action. Mystery. Injustice. Government power abusing people.
Could have been made a quarter century ago. No girl boss whipping 20 green berets. No emasculating our hero.
No incongruously gay, lesbian or Trans characters. No message for modern audiences. Just a story.
It is a low bar, but these days, simply making a jack reacher show that is about jack reacher as the character is originally conceived is a win.
My verdict?
Worth your time.
Easy wins are all over the place for Hollywood and yet they fail to take them. Many have pondered how they can be so oblivious. How they can just piss money away left and right and not learn. On some level it was clear that message had become more important than the bottom line which is counterintuitive for soulless Hollywood.
At least understand the why of that may be as simple as they are fighting for the soul of the future. It’s not about you, but your children who will mostly grow up unaware that things were ever different and better. Yet that still doesn’t really explain why money itself became secondary to the people behind this as motivation.
Nope. Fuck that commie.
#boycott
#savestargate
Who’s a commie?
Oh, it could be much worse. I just read a review of On the Waterfront that concluded with an assertion that the unions are corrupt because management wants it this way.
Alan Ritchson.
Fuck that guy.
Actors.
Almost all of them are commies.
We need another 10 Joe McCarthys
And a post wedding good morning to all!
👰💞🌄
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=NBIUMrDuw34
🎶🎶
Scream-o – I like today’s selection.
😊
Good morning!
It must be track season.
https://www.wfmz.com/news/area/berks/southern-berks-county/2-aggressive-bison-dead-following-escape-from-enclosure-in-cumru-twp/article_a3a6fac4-4755-44a8-b884-9c0fb78c81c3.html
Jailbreak!
Hmmm…
Strips at 7.99 vs CAB porterhouses at 8.99
🤔🥩
Difficulty – storms forecasted for tomorrow night.
suh fam
whats goody yo
/heading to Waffle House