Cate of the Lost Colony

by Lisa Klein

  Ladi-cate had called to Grem: Trust Manteo. How could she trust me now? I was one of Wanchese’s party. He kept me closely guarded and was suspicious of my seeming loyalty. He did not permit me to speak to Ladi-cate or her friend. I tried to gain his trust, saying I had intended to bring more of the English to Dasemunkepeuc, but the men had been kept at the fort by their duties. All the while I pondered some way to free the women. But my mind was as barren as a field in winter.

  Whether they knew it or not, Ladi-cate and Jane-peers were more fortunate than most captives. A great sickness had passed through Nantioc, killing dozens. Mostly women and children. Without mothers, a village will soon vanish and an entire people perish. Wanchese needed healthy women to bear children so men could live on after themselves. Thus the English women were adopted and treated as equals, not slaves or servants. They took part in the daily life of the Roanoke women, going out to gather berries, nuts, and firewood, grinding meal and preparing skins. I saw Ladi-cate at these tasks, but I could never manage to speak to her.

  Two weeks after the adoption ceremony, some hunters returned carrying an English woman on a sledge. She was weak and thin, her clothes torn, and her hand bent and useless. When she saw Ladi-cate, she could not stop weeping. The maid kissed the hurt woman, and this kindness stirred me. I saw she was the one Bay-lee had tortured and banished to the wilderness. By the goodwill of the gods, she had survived. Sobaki set about to heal her wounded hand.

  It was Ladi-cate who found the means to speak to me. One day as I was passing near Wanchese’s house, she boldly came up to me, putting her hand on my arm. Her touch surprised my every sense. I wanted to take her hand in turn, but caution prevented me.

  “Manteo, I will speak quickly,” she said. “Our captivity must end soon. Betty Vickers is desperate with grief for her lost kin. Jane Pierce is becoming too familiar with this life, she is treated so well. As for me, I have had enough of this adventure.”

  “Ladi-cate, I am sorry for your plight. It is my fault,” I said.

  She shook her head. “No, Manteo. I was wrong not to heed your warnings. Now I am trusting you to get us back to Fort Ralegh.”

  Behind Ladi-cate I saw Wanchese emerge from his lodge. When he spied us, a look of jealousy spread over his face. I stiffened, warning Ladi-cate. She glanced behind her, and when she looked back at me, I saw she knew the kind of danger she faced.

  “I will free you somehow. Until then, stay away from Wanchese. Do not flatter or please him,” I said in a low and rapid voice.

  Then I said loudly for the benefit of Wanchese, “I will not speak with you, woman.” And though it pained me to perform any act of cruelty toward her, I pushed aside my Ladi-cate. Walked away from my Moon Maiden.

  I was not clever, but I devised a plan I thought would succeed. I let a week pass after my encounter with Ladi-cate, then went to Wanchese and proposed that I go to Roanoke and offer to exchange the English women for muskets and ammunition. Wanchese knew that with good weapons he could drive away the English. Then he could take all their weapons and their women too. But I did not plan on letting this happen.

  A flame of greed lit up Wanchese’s eyes. Still, he was suspicious.

  “You were too slow to help me before. Why are you so eager now?”

  “My friendship with the English is no longer strong,” I said. This at least was true. “More and more they mistrust me. Since you took their women and I have not returned to them, they must believe I am your ally. They will not welcome me, but they will heed me because I can return the women to them.”

  Wanchese considered my offer. He knew he needed me to negotiate with the English. If he refused to negotiate, he had no choice but warfare against them. He would surely lose, for he lacked enough weapons.

  Wanchese’s eyes narrowed into slits. “How can I be certain you will demand the weapons and not lead the the English against me?”

  “Because if I fail in this, you will not spare the Croatoan.” I knew Wanchese was building an alliance to make war on the English. If necessary he would compel my mother’s people to join him. I had to protect them, so I made this condition for promising to help Wanchese: that when I obtained the weapons, he would use no force against the Croatoan.

  He agreed, but I knew he was lying. Nor did he trust me, for he sent six warriors to accompany me to Fort Ralegh. Once we were away from Nantioc they began to question me about the white men. I described the wonders they possessed: compasses, magnets, chiming clocks. And those they could make: bricks and tile of many colors, houses on top of one another. How they could shape wood with their machines. The warriors were in awe of me and desired to see such things themselves.

  Then I praised Wanchese for his bounty and the mercy he showed the captives. This was to test their loyalty to him.

  But the men began to deny his virtues and speak ill of him. “He does not listen to the elders, who want to move inland to avoid the white men. Wanchese wants to fight the white men, and more of us will die then.”

  They said Wanchese had attacked the village of Secotan and killed their weroance. Now he governed the people harshly. He made them pay for his protection with food, so they hungered while the people of Nantioc were fed. As they numbered his abuses, I saw how I could use their discontent to my advantage.

  Three days of walking brought us to the river, and after two days in a canoe we came to Dasemunkepeuc, which was deserted. When we came to the fort, the soldiers surrounded us. They held the Roanoke warriors and made me enter alone. The assistants regarded me warily, as they would a wild animal in their midst. I was surprised to see Ambrose-vickers there, for I thought he had led those who stole away in the pinnace. When I told him his wife was alive, he put his head in his hands and seemed to weep. Then I presented Wanchese’s offer to release the three women in exchange for muskets. I said he would not use the weapons against us, though he had made no such promise.

  “Do you expect me to believe Wanchese?” Bay-lee growled. “How many muskets does he demand?”

  “Twelve. Four for each of the women—”

  Bay-lee laughed. “Tell Wanchese we will keep our weapons and he can keep the women. We cannot spare so many guns, and we have no need of that proud Cate Archer, the Pierce whore, or the papist.”

  Ambrose-vickers leapt to his feet. “I fought against the taking of the pinnace and made my way back here alone to find my wife banished for no cause. You will do whatever they demand to get her back!” He shook his fist, but Bay-lee ignored him.

  “I do not trust the words of savages,” Bay-lee said to me.

  “You’re the one who’s a damned savage,” Ambrose-vickers said. “Before God you ought to marry that Pierce woman, not leave her to die.”

  Ana-nias and the other men did not speak, only looked at their feet. Why would no one heed my words? Had all the English lost their courage? Had they no care for their women?

  I returned to Wanchese’s men, who were camped outside the palisade. While they slept I lay awake without any idea of how to proceed. In the blackest hour of night, I heard someone approach. It was Ambrose-vickers, bidding me come to the governor’s house. Ana-nias, Grem, and five others were there. All armed. Muskets and sacks of provisions on the table.

  “We are coming with you to negotiate with Wanchese,” said Ana-nias. “But if he will not release our women, we are prepared to fight.”

  My heart leapt up and pounded at my ribs. I also was prepared to fight. I thought of Ladi-cate’s plea and Wanchese’s desire and grew resolute. I would cut Wanchese’s throat to prevent him from making Ladi-cate one of his wives.

  We left without Bay-lee’s knowledge. Grem knocked out two of the guards and took their weapons. The other two soldiers joined our party. With Wanchese’s men, our number was fifteen. There were ten muskets and ten powder horns between us. Twenty-two bandoliers of ammunition. To show he trusted me, Ana-nias gave me a musket.

  “We will offer Wanchese not twelve, but six muskets; two at the moment of excha
nge and four when all of us have safely returned to the fort,” he said.

  I knew he did not mean to part with all six muskets.

  “Wanchese will not accept those terms,” I said.

  “He does not set the terms,” Ana-nias replied. “We have the weapons.”

  All the way to Nantioc, I considered whether the English were using me to lead them to Wanchese so they could destroy him. It was a burden, the knowledge that both sides were bent on battle. The English and Wanchese were like two banks of storm clouds rolling toward each other. Like two stags that lock antlers and fight until one of them is gored to death, while the doe waits to be claimed by the victor.

  No man can stop the lightning and the thunder or come between the warring stags. No matter how powerful his words. There would be a battle, and to the winner would go the English women.

  Chapter 33

  A Daring Rescue

  It was not long after our arrival in Nantioc when I realized why Jane and I had been adopted along with the Croatoan women. Because so many had been killed by smallpox and fevers, the men needed wives. Takiwa and Mika would have their choice of husbands.

  Jane and Betty were also desirable to the men. The Indians favored a meek demeanor in a wife, and Betty had become passive and timid because of her ordeal. Her damaged hand was healing, and she was young enough to bear more children. Jane Pierce’s belly proclaimed her fruitfulness, a trait that men in every part of the world wanted in a wife. She was treated like a princess about to bear an heir to the throne. She seemed almost contented in Nantioc. I had once read of mariners who were taken captive, and the weak-minded among them became so dependent upon their captors that they no longer sought their release. But Jane was far from weak-minded. She was practical, like Emme, and determined.

  As for me, I hoped my black hair was too common to attract much interest. Or that I was deemed unsuitable because I spoke too much, translating everything necessary. Yet I had seen Wanchese regard me, if not with lust, then like someone eyeing a prize taken in battle. And Manteo’s brief warning had confirmed what I suspected: Wanchese intended to make me his third wife.

  “We must discourage the men from wanting to marry us,” I said to Jane and Betty. “I will tell Sobaki we have husbands already.”

  “But we don’t have husbands, and Betty is probably a widow. No one cares enough to rescue us,” Jane said bitterly. “Certainly not Roger Bailey, though I am carrying his child.”

  “Thomas Graham is a true friend of mine,” I said. “If he had known we were here, he would have come to our aid. Now Manteo has gone to bargain for our release. I trust him to free us.”

  Betty looked doubtful, and despair clouded her face at the talk of husbands. She could not accept that Ambrose had stolen away in the pinnace, leaving her behind.

  “Please do not give any man a look of encouragement,” I pleaded. “Seem sullen and unwilling.”

  Jane persisted. “What if we are not rescued? We will need to make a life here. I believe these people will welcome my child. And they have a midwife to deliver me safely. Our fate could be worse.”

  “You would be content to remain among savages?” Betty asked in disbelief.

  “Some of them are fine looking, in their way, and capable hunters, like Tameoc,” Jane replied. “And I do not see them mistreating their women or children.”

  “But they are not Christians,” Betty said.

  “They saved your life and brought you to Nantioc,” I reminded her. “Like the good Samaritan in the parable. I think ‘savage’ is too harsh a word, even for our enemies. They live in an organized manner, with meaningful customs and rituals. They can be kind and generous; they know how to heal wounds and make food from the most unlikely plants and animals.”

  I smiled, realizing I sounded like one of John White’s notebooks. Truthfully, I felt a deep affection for Mika and Takiwa and a growing appreciation even for Sobaki. I understood how Tameoc made choices in order to safeguard his kin and provide for them. And Manteo—why, every day I longed for his return. Even though we hardly spoke, his presence made me feel safer in Nantioc. But I had no desire to stay there, for I missed the familiarity of life at the fort, and though we had quarreled, I missed Eleanor and her child.

  Jane was regarding me with raised eyebrows. “Cate, you must admit that Lord Manteo is a most proper man. I have seen the way you look at him when you think no one is watching. In fact, you were thinking of him just now.”

  I reached out to put my hand over Jane’s mouth. “Hush now, that’s hardly the point—”

  But Jane would not be silent. “It was noble of him to give himself for Alice’s freedom, but he did it to be with you. Certainly you can see this if I can.”

  “Now are you both talking about marrying savages?” said Betty slowly. Her bemused tone made us burst out in laughter.

  It was no matter for comedy, however, when Wanchese began to court me with small favors: a necklace of shells, an ornament for my hair. Each of his gifts I accepted but laid aside without wearing. I was afraid he would touch me or make me lie with him. Every day I dreaded some preparation would begin for the unwelcome ceremony where I would become his wife. It was worse than serving the most fickle queen and waiting for her next demand.

  Two weeks had passed since Manteo’s departure, and my uneasiness was rising to a pitch when I finally approached Sobaki.

  “I have no wish to take Wanchese’s affections from you,” I said.

  “He does not care for your wishes or for mine,” Sobaki said. “A weroance may take whatever woman he pleases.”

  I tried another strategy. “I am considered proud and troublesome by my own people. It may be a wayward spirit within me.”

  Sobaki understood this, but to my dismay, she brought in a conjurer. His head was shaved except for a crest from his forehead to the nape of his neck, and he had a small black bird fastened over one ear like a badge. He wore nothing but the pelt of a fox, face and all, over his loins.

  “She has an evil spirit, and Wanchese will not be pleased with her until it is cast out,” Sobaki explained to him. “It is a strong one, so it will take much time.”

  The conjurer began to sway and chant as if he were casting a spell. He grew more animated, and his clapping and capering put me in mind of the queen’s fool Dick Tarleton. Suddenly his eyes rolled up in his head and he sank to the ground in a trance. When he came to himself again, he seemed disappointed to see me unchanged.

  Sobaki, too, regarded me. I could see she did not believe I had a demon. “We will try again another day,” she said, smiling at me.

  I felt like a prisoner granted a reprieve.

  The very next day, the storm of violence broke over Nantioc like a tempest conjured out of the air.

  Jane and I were sitting with Mika and Takiwa, and I was letting out the seams of Jane’s dress to accommodate her growing belly. Jane was wrapped in deerskins and remarking what a tolerable and easy way it was to dress, when Ananias and Ambrose Vickers walked into the village. They were wearing armor but holding their weapons loosely at their sides. I clapped my hand to my mouth, stifling a cry of surprise. Manteo was with them, as were Wanchese’s men who had gone to Fort Ralegh. At once they were surrounded by tense and uncertain Nantioc warriors.

  “Betty, come quickly!” said Jane, but Ambrose had already spotted his wife. He broke away from Wanchese’s men and ran to her. She dropped the water gourd she was carrying and with a loud cry fell into his arms.

  Apparently startled, or thinking he was defending Betty, one of the Nantioc warriors grabbed a musket and pointed it at Ambrose. Upon seeing the gun, Betty screamed again while Ambrose sheltered her with his body.

  “Peace! We have not come to fight,” said Manteo.

  But the Indian, whether by accident or intention, fired the musket. The ball struck Ambrose’s armor, spinning him out of Betty’s arms. A high-pitched wailing rose from the Nantioc warriors, like a call to arms. At the same moment there was a burst of
gunfire from outside the palisade. The warriors within drew their bows and fitted them with arrows. Wanchese came running, a knife in his hand. Takiwa and Mika darted away. I pulled Jane to the ground and we hid behind a heavy log. Explosions of musket fire seemed to come from all around, and a ball struck the log. Jane buried her head in my hair. Her ragged breath was hot in my ear.

  English and Algonkian voices mingled in my ears with the sound of blows and cries of agony. I peered over the log to see Graham and half a dozen Englishmen firing on the Nantioc warriors. Tameoc had joined the battle, taking our side. To my amazement, the Indians were fighting each other. The ones who had gone with Manteo were now fighting against the Nantioc warriors loyal to Wanchese. Had Manteo turned his guards into his allies?

  Not thirty feet away from me, Manteo and Wanchese faced each other, crouching and ready to spring. Wanchese brandished his knife, Manteo an axe. Wanchese’s scarred face was twisted with rage, while Manteo’s was tense and alert. Wanchese lunged; the taller Manteo jumped nimbly aside.

  “You are a traitor to your people and Kewasa will punish you,” Wanchese said, panting. Kewasa was their malevolent god.

  “I brought the English and their weapons as I promised,” said Manteo almost as if he were taunting his opponent.

  Wanchese thrust with his knife, slashing Manteo’s arm, and Manteo responded with a swing of his hatchet, the flat blade hitting Wanchese’s shoulder and barely missing his neck.

  His rage growing, Wanchese said, “You made my men betray me.”

  “No, they turned against you because you are a tyrant,” Manteo countered. “Throw down your weapon and let us parley. If you kill me, the English will kill you.”