The queen of sounds

On
 the waters near Roanoke Island in North Carolina people claim to hear
the sounds of a showboat doomed over a century ago. This is the story of
 'The Queen of the Sounds' and the man brash enough to summon The Devil.

Corporal Pierre 'Frenchy' Godette was a union soldier stationed on
Roanoke Island as part of a occupying force left by General Ambrose
Burnside when the Union forces had taken the island. Frenchy was fond of
 whiskey, women and cards. He had a fantastic time during the occupation
 of Roanoke Island and fell in love with the area. So much so in fact,
that he was able to manipulate himself in to the position of a
commissioner once he left the army.

Decent at his job and able to stay (mostly) out of trouble, Godette
was able to set aside a fairly sizable sum of money before his job was
abolished by Congress. Godette, now in need of a way to make a living,
looked around the area and decided what was missing was entertainment.
Somewhere where people could go to relieve stress after a week of work.
So Godette sank his entire savings into the commission of a showboat.
Using the finest lumber available, the huge boat took nearly a year to
complete but was well worth it.

She had three decks, each above the other. The first deck held a huge
 ballroom that doubled as a theater, a decadent bar with leather seats
surrounding it and tables that held every game a person could imagine to
 gamble on. The upper decks were private rooms which could be used for
any number of things. The drapes, the engraved wood were all of the
highest quality. No expense was spared in building The Queen including
the gigantic boiler below deck taking up the entire hold below the
ballroom.

But the most expensive, and best part of The Queen was her player
piano. No one in the area had even seen a player piano before, and this
was the best and loudest ever built overseen by the inventor himself.
Every scroll of music available was purchase and placed on board. One
man was hired strictly for the operation and maintenance of the piano.

For two years The Queen of the Sounds traveled up and down the coast
of North Carolina stopping for days in ports like Edenton, Manteo and
Elizabeth City. When the Queen of the Sounds pulled into port, the work
in that town mostly stopped. She brightened the lives of many coastal
residents and all were sad to see her cast off her lines and make for
the next town. By most accounts she was a boon to the coast and rarely
did trouble occur on board.

The Queen travel continuously from spring through fall. During winter
 she would stop and repaint and refurbish for the next year. Frenchy
Godette was fast becoming a very wealthy man. And he would've probably
would've lived a good life with everything he wanted had he not began to
 see a young woman who was thought to be a witch.

Frenchy had become bored and craved excitement so when he found out
the woman did in fact practice black magic he was instantly hooked. She
began to teach him ancient spells and curses. Deeper and deeper he fell
into the occult. When spring came around the second year Frenchy was
reluctant to set out, finding excuses to stay in port. His drinking had
increased and so had his madness until he had come to the conclusion
that he needed to become the head of a coven of witches and warlocks and
 that he must summon The Devil.

Finally, after much nagging by his neighbors and friends the Queen
set out and anchored off the town of Wanchese. The town folk were so
excited to see her that they raced out in boats to meet her instead of
waiting for her to dock. What they found was that while the boat itself
 was the same as they'd remembered, the vibe on board was darker. Then
Frenchy announced his plan to become head of a coven and to summon the
Prince of Darkness himself... the very next Sunday night.

Aghast, the town folk fled the Queen and over the next few days a
committee of the wisest and most respected members of the community were
 sent to the Queen to try and talk Frenchy out of his madness.
Unfortunately, it was to no avail. His mind was made up to raise Satan.
Sadly, the townsfolk returned to their homes with no option but to pity
the man called Frenchy.

That Sunday night around dusk the townspeople began to look out over
the water at the boat with a mixture of curiosity and fear. They wanted
no part in the black arts but were interested in what was going on. What
 they saw was the captain of the boat on the top deck, his arms
stretched out. Some of those watching claimed they heard Frenchy call
into the night "Come, Lord Satan, and receive the homage of your devoted
 servants..."

It was at that point the night air was shattered by the player piano
belting out a tune louder than anyone had heard it before. It played
without stopping until midnight. Dark figures were seen on the decks of
the Queen along with flashes of light no one on shore could explain. A
storm cloud rolled in but the water of the sound remain eerily still.

At the stroke of midnight a scream was heard from the 'Queen of the
Sounds'. The scream was so loud it was heard even above the sound of the
 player piano. However, it was only heard for a brief second before a
powerful explosion split apart the Queen. The boat seemed to lift out of
 the water and in a blinding flash, the boat tore itself apart and
splashed into the water in a thousand pieces.

Bravely, the men of Wanchese rowed out to the remains of the boat to
look for survivors, but never found so much as a single body. The Queen
was dead, and took her captain and crew with her. One thing the men did
notice as they look around the wreck was the smell of sulfur that was
thick in the air.

As no one on the Queen of the Sounds survived that Sunday night, we
can only speculate what happened on board. Some say it was the massive
boiler that blew the boat apart. It's definitely possible. Boilers in
that day were very unstable. You do have to wonder about the timing
though. A boiler blowing just at that time is suspicious to say the
least. Others say it was God Himself smiting the wicked captain and his
crew. Yet others say it was the Prince of Darkness that caused the
explosion. Rather than take on a partner, The Devil took another soul
instead.

It is said that if you stand on the shore of Roanoke Island on a calm
 summer night, you can hear the 'Queen of the Sounds' player piano belt
out a tune and see the reflection of her lights flicker on the water.
Whatever, or whoever is playing the music seems to have a catalog
greater than the Queen as often songs are heard that weren't yet written
 while the Queen sailed the coast.

But before you sail out to meet the Queen and request your favorite
song, I ask that you consider what happened to Frenchy and his crew. It
 may be safer to listen from the shore. That way, you can enjoy the
music and keep your soul.