“No trial has taken you but such as follows the nature of man. But God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tried above your strength, but will in the midst of the trial make a way of escape.” – 1 Corinthians 10:13

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JUST RELEASED – My 6th and final historical novel in the “Block Island Settlement Series” entitled, BLOCK ISLAND WAY OF ESCAPE.

     This is the final book in the set of six novels depicting the major events that led to the founding of the first true Democracy in America. This book encompasses the years 1659 through 1662.

    The Quaker, Mary Dyer survived imprisonment, torture and threats to hanging by Boston authorities for challenging their ruthless oppression of those who have differing religious opinions. Finally, she made her way back to Boston one last time and on June 1, 1660, she was hung on Boston Commons.

Below is a sample chapter from Block Island Way of Escape:

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Chapter 6

June 1, 1660

Boston Commons

The drummers surrounded Mary Dyer on every side as they marched. She could not hear the crowd—could barely hear herself think as she walked to her death. I just want to cry out against the cruel laws and preach of God’s inner light, but I am trapped within this chamber of beating drums!

     She searched the crowd. Six months ago, I had marched with my friends. Now, I am alone. There is no one to comfort me but my Lord. Wisps of fear began to seep into her mind. Her heart pounded in rhythm with the drums.

     Then suddenly, familiar faces appeared in the crowd—sweet, comforting faces moving alongside the soldiers. Faces poking their way closer to Mary. She strained, Who is that? One of the faces broke through, calling out something, but Mary could not hear over the drums.

     Forcefully, Captain James Sands pushed in, pulling his wife, Sarah, to march alongside Mary. Through the banging of the drums, Sarah called into Mary’s ear, “Mary Dyer, don’t die! Come back to Rhode Island with us, where you might save your life. We beg of you! Go back! Go back and live!”

     She smiled. Sarah’s words will not change my mind but they do act as a remedy to my fear. Mary’s courage was restored. She shouted to Sarah, “Nay, I cannot go back to Rhode Island, for in obedience to the will of the Lord I came, and in His will, I abide faithfully to death.”

     James and Sarah were driven aside just as they arrived near Frog Pond and approached the great elm tree in Boston Commons. The Captain of the guard ordered the drums to quiet, and now Mary could hear the crowd’s agitation and anger.

     The Captain called over the crowd, “She has been here before and had the sentence of banishment upon pain of death. She has broken the law in coming again now. It is, therefore, she who is guilty of her own blood.”

     Pastor John Wilson joined Captain Web along with other leaders. Mary addressed her words directly to them. “Nay, I came to keep blood-guiltiness from you, desiring you to repeal the unrighteous and unjust laws of banishment upon pain of death made against the innocent of the Lord. Therefore, my blood will be required at your hands, who willfully do it.” She turned to the crowd and lifted her arms, calling out, “But for those who do it in the simplicity of their hearts, I desire the Lord to forgive them. I came to do the will of my Father, and in obedience to this will, I stand even to death.” She summoned a voice that seemed greatly magnified, and that rang out across the Commons as she declared, “My life not availeth me in comparison to the liberty of truth!”

     Pastor Wilson angrily cried, “Mary Dyer, oh repent, oh repent, and be not so deluded and carried away by the deceit of the devil.”

“Nay, man,” Mary said serenely, though she felt scorn. “I am not now to repent.”

     Others called to her from the crowd, and she tried to respond, but Captain Webb intervened, calling out, “No more!” He swallowed hard and then signaled to the officer of the gallows. The hangman adjusted the noose hanging from the great elm around her neck. He then began to assist Mary up the ladder.

     Mary Dyer shook her head. “I shall need no assistance.” She climbed the rickety scaffold, step by step, by herself. When she reached the top rung, and turned around, her eyes immediately fell on Captain James Sands and Sarah in the crowd, standing right in front of her. James’ lips trembled, and his eyes were sad and pleading. Sarah’s face was wet with tears, and her arms were outstretched, beckoning Mary to come down from the scaffold. Mary only offered a bright, beaming smile.

     Pastor Wilson, as he had done once before, angrily threw his large handkerchief to the hangman to place over Mary’s head and hide the smiling face that seemed to so disturb him.

     Mary stood quietly with the cloth now draped over her face. The colorful threads of needlepoint on the handkerchief glowed brightly as the morning sun’s rays fell directly upon it. The crowd grew quiet. All was peaceful and beautiful. Mary opened her mouth to proclaim the beauty and glory of God, but the ladder under her jerked, and she felt herself falling.

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     The crowd collectively gasped. The sound of women and men softly crying spread throughout Boston Commons. James’ mouth hung open. He held Sarah tightly to his body while she convulsed with emotion. The horrible “crack” reverberated in his ears. Mary Dyer’s limp and lifeless body swung from beneath the massive elm. James looked around in disbelief. The sudden finality was hard to comprehend. Has this really just happened?

     He had failed to convince Mary to turn away the last time she marched to the gallows, so he had hoped that his beloved Sarah might have a greater influence to change her mind. They had arrived too late. Now, he felt sick and faint.

     James and Sarah stumbled over to Frog Pond and knelt to scoop water onto their faces. He glanced to his right, and there, on all fours, was a young guard, repeatedly vomiting into the pond. The man fell back and sobbed, “Alas! We have been murdering the Lord’s people!”

Sarah rose up, “James, let us return to Mary.”

     As they walked back, James caught the eye of an old military officer with whom he had once served. A strong breeze blew across the Commons, and Mary’s skirt flapped and billowed in the wind. The old man stared at the body and called out in a gravely, booming voice, “She hangs like a flag!”

James wondered, In what manner does he mean – a flag of warning or of liberty?

     They stared up at her as others began repeating the officers words, until as one voice, the crowd’s words rolled like a flag of freedom waving, “Ay, she hangs like a flag!”

     James glanced over at John Wilson and the other leaders gathered together, their faces scowling at the people’s reaction.

     “I had never understood Mary Dyer’s passion.” James mused. “I had always thought that there was something not right with her mind. Certainly, the God I know would not lead people to walk directly into the teeth of death. Yet, now it makes sense.”

     Sarah wiped her tears. “What will it take to change hard-hearted men like Endicott and Wilson? Perhaps God had put it upon Mary’s heart that this is what it would take.

     James asked, “Do you believe a change will come one day?”

     “I do.” Sarah answered. “But likely not any day soon.” She stared at the billowing flag. “This day and the name of Mary Dyer and her cause shall not be soon forgotten. She flies raised up as a rallying flag to a cause that others shall certainly gather behind.”

     James looked over and caught John Wilson’s eye. He felt his blood boil. Pointing directly at Wilson, he filled his lungs and yelled, “Yes, she hangs like a freedom flag for others to take as an example!”

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The Story Continues:

Weeks later a group of 20 dissenters gathered at the home of Dr. John Alcock in Roxbury, Massachusetts. The Pioneers accelerate their plans to escape to Block Island while a mysterious benefactor, a leading Puritan, provides cover for their plans.

     Meanwhile, the indentured Scottish Highlanders time of indenture expired and they join the venture. Preparations were completed for the first landing of men to begin settling Block Island in the Spring of 1661.

     25 years earlier the Manissean Natives had fought to repel the Puritan attack in retribution for the death of John Oldham. Now, they can only watch as the new owners land on the Island for the first time at Cow Cove.

     With the survey work completed and the work to settle the Island well underway, the proprietors moved their families to the Island with the second landing in the Spring of 1662.

     Days later James Sands, brings a “Prize” to the Island. The new Islanders are taken to their knees when they realize the surprise is something that none of them could have ever imagined.

     At the conclusion, the leading pioneers James Sands, Thomas Terry, and Simon Ray agree to form a democracy and commit to one another that Block Island will never know of stocks or whips or severed ears or punctured tongues or gallows.

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 If you are a Block Island lover or have an appetite for early American history brought to life and the colonial journey of faith, I expect you’ll find this fast-paced read educational and entertaining.
     This Book and all previous books in the series are available on Amazon in Paperback or as an E-Book.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DFM77D88?psc=1&smid=A1Y53T3O3Q25L8&ref_=chk_typ_imgToDp