Catfish Pearl and the Merry Hangman
The
year
is
1670.
Spain,
ruled
by
the
drooling
imbecile
Charles
II,
loses
its
ironclad
grip
on
La Florida
and
the
Caribbean.
Englishmen
from
the
north
scheme
to
destroy
their
missions.
Pirates
loot
and
destroy
their
ships
and
coastal
towns.
They
all
use
Indians
as
their
pawns—as
warriors,
traders,
and
slaves—and
quickly
learn:
he
who
dominates
the
trade,
dominates
the
wealth
and
power.
Born
into this tempestuous New World is a baby girl. Her mother calls her
Nicotaijulo, daughter of the Sun God; a Spanish friar baptises her
Luisa; an English slaver calls her Persia; and her pirate chums call
her Catfish Pearl. But her birth remains a mystery. Raised
by Apalachee Indians in Florida, kidnapped and enslaved by the
English, captured by pirates, Luisa is catapulted into intrigues and
dangers that threaten her life and all she holds dear.
While Luisa plots her escapes,
and learns the ways of the buccaneers, English colonists in Charles
Town scheme to get the Spanish out of La Florida, and the Lords
Proprietors out of their hair; a Spanish friar's compassion for
Indians brings him to the attention of the Spanish Inquisition; an
English trader, driven by cynical political pressure, betrays his
Indian friends; a Dutch pirate, who terrorizes the Caribbean, falls
in love, and discovers some things are more important than Spanish
silver; and a sacred relic, destined for the New World, disappears.
Amid plots and
counterplots, betrayals and subterfuge, the fate of Catfish Pearl,
her enemies, and those she loves hangs perilously in the balance, as
each endeavors to create
their own destiny.