maquowoc—opossum
montoac—great spiritual power; mysterious power. An object could contain montoac and would benefit and strengthen its owner
weroance—chief or leader; literally means “he is rich,” “he is of influence,” or “he is wise”
weroansqua—female leader
Author’s Note
Why do I write historical fiction? For the same reason I used to teach history. I’m nosey, plain and simple. While this is not an especially polite thing to admit about myself, it’s what makes historical fiction a beautiful fit for me. Research lets me dig into other people’s experiences and live in their world. It’s a perfectly respectable way to satisfy my curiosity.
While teaching fifth-grade social studies in 2008, I rediscovered the mystery of England's first settlement—the unsuccessful one, what we now call the Lost Colony of Roanoke. Though our textbook devoted just a few small paragraphs to the Lost Colony, it was enough to stir my nosey side. When a student gave me a book called National Geographic Mysteries of History, which devoted a chapter to these English settlers, it was enough to seal the deal. I knew I’d write a book about Roanoke someday.
These are the things we know to be true:
In 1584, English explorers landed at Roanoke Island. Sir Walter Ralegh1, a member of Queen Elizabeth’s court, sponsored the voyage. A painter named John White was part of this first expedition, and he recorded much of what we now know of the plants, animals, and native people of that time. The crew returned to England with Manteo, of the Croatoan tribe, and Wanchese, a Roanoke, as ambassadors, as well as news of all they’d seen.
In 1585, the English returned to Roanoke to build the fort we now call Fort Raleigh. They named the island and the surrounding land Virginia, in honor of the Queen. On the voyage were John White, Manteo, and Wanchese. Wanchese quickly returned to the Roanoke, but Manteo stayed on as interpreter. The English leaned heavily on their Roanoke and Croatoan friends, asking for food and assistance. Both tribes were supportive of the English at first, but backed away as their demands for food increased and illness spread to their people.
By the summer of 1586, when English privateer Sir Francis Drake stopped at Roanoke to check on the colonists, they jumped at the chance to leave with him.
Just six weeks later, the third group of English settlers arrived. They’d left England months before, planning to bring more soldiers and supplies to those at Fort Raleigh. They were amazed to find the fort abandoned, but left fifteen men to keep the fort in English hands.
Back in England, John White spent much of 1586 and early 1587 recruiting people interested in settling Virginia. During the 1585 journey, White and others had explored the mainland north of Roanoke, where they found fertile land and friendly people. The plan was to start fresh in this area with families this time. Still backed by Sir Walter Ralegh, this community would be named for him.
On July 22, 1587, 117 men, women, and children arrived in Virginia, ready to start the city of Ralegh in the Chesapeake Bay. But they were abandoned by pilot Simon Ferdinando on the island of Roanoke instead. These are the people we now know as the Lost Colony.
Upon their arrival, Governor John White found sun-bleached bones and the English fort empty. Vines grew through windows, and deer roamed the empty village. The colonists worked to make the fort livable for the coming winter and planned to relocate to Chesapeake in the spring.
On July 29, while crabbing, George Howe Sr. was killed by the Roanoke.
On July 30, John White, Manteo, and several of White’s assistants sailed to Croatoan, Manteo’s home. The English wanted to “renew the old love between us and them. . . and to live with them as brethren.”2 They asked the Croatoan to contact the Roanoke, telling them the same. How John White thought this might be possible is puzzling, for in 1586, after tension had built for months between the English and Roanoke, the English had attacked, beheading their weroance, Wingina.
From the Croatoan the English learned the Roanoke, led by Wanchese, had killed two of the fifteen English soldiers left on the island in 1586, trapped the others in a building, and set it on fire. The soldiers escaped and were last seen traveling north in Roanoke canoes.
The days passed with no response. Governor John White realized there was no friendship left to be recovered. He chose to attack. Twenty-seven men sneaked to the Roanoke camp in the early morning of August 9. But the Roanoke had fled. The Croatoan, who some historians believe had come early for the peace talks, were there instead, gathering the corn the Roanoke had left behind. Unknowingly, the English attacked their allies. Before it was all over, several Croatoan were dead.
Four days later, on August 13, Manteo was baptized as Lord of Roanoke and Desemunkepeuc, making a Croatoan the English ruler of these lands.
John White’s granddaughter Virginia Dare was born August 18. Several days later, the Harvie family welcomed their own child.
By August 22, the colonists knew their situation was dire. They lived with hostile neighbors and had attacked their only allies. The supply ships that were to come the following year wouldn’t know where to find them. The Governor’s assistants begged John White to sail back to England with Ferdinando. He refused at first, probably because he feared it would look as if he’d deserted them. But the assistants insisted. Before the Governor’s departure on August 27, he told the colonists if they left the island, they were to leave word of where to find them by carving their location on a tree. If they were in danger, they were to include a cross in their carving.
For three years, White tried to return to Virginia, but a war between England and Spain and several failed voyages kept him away. When he finally arrived off Roanoke’s coast in 1590, sailors blew a horn and sang English songs far into the night. The following morning, White found the English village deserted. The buildings were gone. CRO was carved on a tree close to the beach. CROATOAN was left on a palisade pole. No cross was included with either engraving. The only recent sign of life was a footprint. White and his men returned to their ships, determined to sail to Croatoan. But a hurricane forced them out to sea.
Who were the people of the Lost Colony? They came from all walks of life—carpenters, smiths, and craftsmen—and were mainly middle-class residents of London eager to get away from the overpopulated, disease-laden, crime-ridden city. They knew nothing of Roanoke’s history—and why should they? They were going somewhere else entirely.
In studying the names of passengers from the 1587 voyage, I noticed that of the eleven children listed, there were no girls. Why would that be? Were the girls left behind with their mothers to arrive at a later date? If a girl had come to Roanoke, what would it have been like to be the only one? I knew I wanted to explore a solitary girl character. Adding her to the Harvie family felt practical, as they’d have a built-in nursemaid.
Little has been recorded about the Roanokes’ daily lives, though it is known women adorned themselves with tattoos (men wore tattoos on their shoulders to show which weroance they claimed). Both men and women wore jewelry. It is not too much of a stretch to assume the tattooing was part of a coming-of-age ceremony. I’ve taken the liberty of keeping the Roanoke in their island village in 1587 (where some lived in a satellite community during the summer months, but had abandoned sometime before Wingina’s death, in an attempt to distance themselves from the English). Wingina and Wanchese were not related, though both served as Roanoke weroance. Kimi (meaning “secret”) and Alawa (“little pea”) are also my creation.
Why did Simon Ferdinando leave the colonists at Roanoke? No one really knows. Some historians think he wanted to raid Spanish ships before returning to England. Though White’s records show he and Ferdinando argued throughout the voyage, why they argued is unknown. Historians generally agree John White was not the strongest of leaders. Perhaps the fate of the Lost Colony would have been different if White had stood up to Ferdinando.
What r
eally happened to the Lost Colony? Though John White never saw them again, we know that at least some of them left Roanoke for Croatoan, if we take them at their word. Beyond that it’s a mystery. There are plenty of theories: They sailed north to the Chesapeake and lived peacefully with tribes there, only to be wiped out by Chief Powhatan just before the founding of Jamestown, Virginia, in 1607; they were captured by mainland tribes and forced to work in copper mines; they intermarried with Manteo’s people.
The last theory is supported by a remarkable piece of history: In 1703, a man named John Lawson was hired to survey North Carolina, the northern portion of the Carolina province, which was formed in 1629 and by this time included the islands Roanoke and Croatoan. He went to Croatoan (now Hatteras Island) and spoke with the people there. They told Lawson they had ancestors who dressed as he did and could also “talk in a book” (write).3 And he noticed something that still intrigues me: A number of the Hatteras people had gray eyes instead of brown.
Were these people the descendants of the 1587 colonists and the Croatoan? What other explanation can there be?
Acknowledgments
I am indebted to all who have had a hand in the making of this book:
Michelle Humphrey showed me Kimi and Alis’s friendship is the heart of this story. Thank you, Michelle, for helping me strip away what was unimportant and put my focus where it needed to be.
With her perfect combination of enthusiasm, knowledge, and support, Tracey Adams is exactly what I need in an agent. Here’s to many years and many books together.
Stacey Barney’s love for these girls was evident from the beginning and grew with each round of edits. Early on I asked her to push me hard to make this book shine, and she did just that. Stacey, I am so grateful for the privilege of working with you—an eight-years-in-the-making dream come true.
Kate Meltzer, Anne Heausler, Richard Amari, and the rest of the Penguin team contributed the behind-the-scenes touches that made this book just right. A special thank-you goes out to the folks in the school and library departments for their commitment to books like mine.
Anna and Elena Balbusso, I can’t imagine a more beautiful cover. Thank you for bringing these girls to life through your artwork.
Reggie Brewer, Coordinator of Tribal Youth Programs and Cultural Enrichment for the Lumbee Tribe, and Steve Watts, Director of Aboriginal Studies at the Schiele Museum of Natural History in Gastonia, North Carolina, graciously read the manuscript for historical and cultural accuracy. Any errors that remain are mine alone.
Many thanks to Cultural Resources/Museum Manager Jamie Lanier, Geographic Information Systems Specialist Laura Pickens, and Park Ranger Rob Bolling at Fort Raleigh National Historic Site for answering my questions about the locations of the Roanoke and English villages.
Early feedback from friends and fellow writers Anna Ingwersen, Cynthia Leitich Smith Jamie C. Martin, Kimberley Griffiths Little, Carolee Dean, Lois Bradley, Marissa Burt, Terry Lynn Johnson, Bettina Restrepo, Kathryn Burak, Eve Marie Mont, J. Anderson Coats, Carole Estby Dagg, Jenny Ruden, Carrie Harris, and Natalie Bahm helped shape what this book has become.
My online critique partners, Valerie Geary and Kate Bassett, know this book almost as well as I do. The time and wisdom they have lavished on it—and me—are treasures indeed.
Vaunda Micheaux Nelson, Uma Krishnaswami, Stephanie Farrow, and Katherine B. Hauth have taught me about quality work, commitment to craft, and devotion to one another. Thank you for inviting this fledgling author into your well-established writing community.
My friends at High Desert Church offered tremendous support as this story unfolded, as did my running partner, Beth Benham, who kindly listened in on the process during our weekly runs.
I’d like to think I’ve shared the smallest taste of Alis’s experience during my year as an exchange student in Adelaide, South Australia. Much love to my sweet host family, the Mudges, who welcomed me as a daughter and sister.
I’ve thought often of Anna Ingwersen and Sergio Arias while writing about Kimi and Alis. These two filled my girlhood days with safe familiarity and endless creativity. Anna and Serg, thirty-plus years later, I’m proud to call you friends.
This book was a challenge on many levels, and I have drawn courage from my dear friend Jamie C. Martin, who reminded me that good work is often hard work. Thank you, Jamie, for everything.
My parents, Milt and Polly, and my sister, Chris, are pleased as punch to see me doing the very thing I set my heart on so many years ago. It’s so good to have the three of you on my side.
Much love and gratitude goes to my husband, Dan, and our boys, Noah and Caleb, who make room for my head-in-the-clouds days, my fretting days, and those magical moments when everything comes together.
There are portions of history that are sad, inexplicable, even downright ugly. It was sometimes painful to study the events that happened at Roanoke so many years ago. Our world is a broken place, but I take great comfort in this promise: Someday God will redeem all things.
1 Elizabethan names were often spelled a variety of ways. Sir Walter used “Ralegh” most often in reference to himself.
2 Lee Miller, Roanoke: Solving the Mystery of the Lost Colony (New York: Penguin, 2002).
3 John Lawson and William Byrd, History of North Carolina (Charlotte: Observer Printing House, 1903).
Looking for more?
Visit Penguin.com for more about this author and a complete list of their books.
Discover your next great read!
Blue Birds Page 15
