Set in the rich landscape of Colonial Cape Cod, this is the tale of the people and events that surround the eighteenth-century wreck of the pirate ship Whydah . An impoverished washashore named Sam Bellamy realizes that his only chance for prosperity is to turn to piracy. But his search for fortune will take him away from his sweetheart, Maria Hallett, whose moments of apparent clairvoyance make the townsfolk wonder if she is a witch. Meanwhile, John Julian, a native man, follows the trail of the last wolf on Cape Cod. He is propelled by the belief that it is a messenger from the spirit world that will help him save the land he loves from the encroaching English. This work of historical fiction draws from the substantial body of history and legends pertaining to Sam Bellamy, one of the most successful pirates to ever sail under the black flag and a friend of the famous swashbuckler Blackbeard. The kernel of the tale is the star-crossed love affair between Sam and Maria. The action begins in a small, backwater town in which the young lover meet, where the pious English settlers are ever vigilant for signs of devilry and the local natives fight to preserve their rapidly disappearing traditional way of life. From there it moves far afield to the seedy pirate dens and high seas battles of the Caribbean and the cobblestone streets of Boston where those pirates unlucky enough to be caught face the gallows.