The Lunenburg Werewolf Read Free

everything that could be removed. I managed to survive by locking myself in the captain’s cabin. I fought them off with a pair of flintlock pistols that I found hidden in a sea chest in the cabin.”
    Her rescuers were naturally touched by this story of lone heroism, but there were still a lot of nagging questions that badly needed answering: How had this massacre taken place so close to civilization without being noticed? What were the natives, who had absolutely no history of piracy or massacring shipwreck victims, actually doing out there, so far from their home and hunting ground? What had happened to all the bodies? And why hadn’t the attackers, whoever they were, simply broken down the cabin door and overpowered Susannah after her two flintlock pistols were emptied? Unfortunately, Susannah couldn’t offer any answers that even came close to satisfying these questions.
    â€œThe Indians stripped the vessel of what valuables they could find and departed,” she explained. “Afterwards I fainted from fatigue and hunger. I knew nothing until you good people rescued me. I’m afraid that I do not know what became of the bodies of the captain, my husband, and the crew.”
    She went on to explain that along with seizing the ship’s cargo, which she estimated to be valued at about twelve hundred pounds sterling, the mysterious attackers had robbed her of a personal fortune worth sixteen hundred pounds sterling in silver and gold.
    â€œBesides that,” she went on. “They stripped the ship of its sails, rigging, furniture, armament, and six fully working swivel guns.”
    Naturally, the townsfolk did not wish to push a possibly unnecessary interrogation upon the woman. After all, she had barely survived a massacre and had been through a terrifying ordeal. Why punish her further by asking futile questions? She had been through so very much already—hadn’t she?

    The Hoodoo Ship
    At the time of Susannah’s arrival, Governor Lawrence Armstrong was the official in command of Annapolis Royal. In May 1736, Armstrong heard word of the fate of the crew of the Baltimore and dispatched Ensign Charles Vane with an armed party to apprehend the mysterious woman who had been found aboard the ship. “We will get to the bottom of this,” the governor swore.
    Once Vane and the armed party had safely arrested Susannah, they sailed the Baltimore back to Annapolis Royal, where they moored her in the harbour. Susannah Buckler appeared before a council and was questioned at length. She repeated her previous story, almost verbatim.
    All winter long, the Baltimore lay anchored in the harbour. People almost forgot that she was there. As time passed, the ship was stripped of anything worth stealing. She grew a bad reputation, and the local folk began to think of the vessel as some sort of jinx. They gave the Baltimore the nickname “The Hoodoo Ship.” Some even called it “The Death Ship.”
    After a time, no one would board, purchase, or sail the ship. Finally, Armstrong ordered the Baltimore destroyed. The ill-fated brigantine was towed out to sea, torches were lit and thrown, and the Baltimore burned to the water’s edge and sank.
    Unfortunately, the mystery still remained.

    Getting to the Bottom of It
    Finally, word was received from Ireland regarding the nature of the passengers on the ship, and the story of what really happened was pieced together. It seemed that the woman who called herself “Susannah Buckler” had actually been a convict, one of sixty convicted criminals who were being transported to Annapolis, Maryland, aboard the Baltimore .
    During the passage across the Atlantic, “Susannah” had managed to make friends with the ship’s owner, Andrew Buckler. Through Buckler she had become acquainted with the captain of the vessel. Before the ship had reached Nova Scotia, “Susannah” had managed to free her fellow convicts,