Free Rush Revere and the Brave Pilgrims: Time-Travel Adventures with Exceptional Americans by Rush Limbaugh

Brewster.
    Breathlessly, John replied, “I’m sorry. Truly, I am. I was sitting in my space down below in the tween deck. The passengers next to me were seasick and both threw up in their chamber pots. The stench was more than I could handle. I just needed some fresh air. I felt the walls of the ship’s hull closing in all around me, and down below it didn’t feel like the weather was a raging tempest. So I climbed the ladder as fast as I could, opened the hatch, and jumped out only to find that I had entered a terrible fury.”
    “Do not condemn yourself, John,” said Elder Brewster. “Your salvation from certain death is a miraculous sign. Everything happens for a reason. God has chosen to save you, which I believe means we are certain to make it to America.”
    William looked at me and nodded in agreement.
    The wind blew in as Captain Jones entered his cabin and removed his heavy coat. I guessed he was fifty years old. His hair and beard were gray. He wore a blue stocking cap like the othersailors but his clothing was cleaner and more distinguished. He said, “I’m sorry for my delay. How is the passenger?”
    “He’s alive,” said William.
    “He’s welcome to stay here until he fully recovers,” said Captain Jones.
    William approached the captain and said, “I want to personally thank you for acting quickly and ordering your men to do the same. It’s apparent your crew respects you.”
    Captain Jones laughed, “Ha, they respect me or fear me. Either way, it got the job done. But I warn you, there are sailors on this ship that would rather see all of the Puritans fed to the sharks.”
    “We are used to being bullied and threatened, Captain Jones,” William said.
    “Rest assured,” said Elder Brewster, “we will not retaliate. God will smite those who afflict the righteous, just as he saves those who are good and true.”
    I thought about the sailor who already threatened me, twice. I believed the warning from Captain Jones. But I wondered if the captain believed the words of Elder Brewster.
    As the captain talked to the other Pilgrim leaders, Tommy walked over to John’s bed and said, “Dude, I can’t believe you hung on to that rope. That was amazing! You’re like the seventeenth-century version of Chuck Norris.”
    John looked at Tommy, confused. “My name is John Howland. I know not anyone named Dude, but apparently you mistake me for some stranger by that name. And I know not of any Chuck Norris. But it sounded like a compliment, so thank you.”
    William introduced me to both Captain Christopher Jones and Elder William Brewster, the current religious leader of thePuritans. They invited Tommy and me to stay in the captain’s cabin until the storm blew over. While we waited, Captain Jones offered us some salted beef.
    “This is pretty good,” Tommy said, chewing. “It’s just like beef jerky.”
    “Jerky?” Myles questioned. “I’m not familiar with that word.”
    Still chewing, I butted in and said, “Oh, it’s an old family recipe.”
    As we finished our sticks of salted beef, I walked over to William and said, “I just wanted to say that I think you make a fine leader.”
    William said, “Thank you, Rush Revere. I’m not sure about being a fine leader. I just do what needs to be done.”
    “Even if it means risking your own life?” I asked.
    “I would risk my life to do the right thing every time. When I was a young boy I became very ill. I had to stay at home. I had time to read many books, especially the Bible. I promised God that I would try my best to make the right choice every time. I am far from being perfect. My wife will tell you that,” William said with a smile. “But I will do everything I can to help make our colony, our New World, our land of America a place where religious freedom comes first. If we can become a nation under God and put our trust in Him, I believe we shall prosper.”
    I pondered those words and realized how important they would be to our