Cate of the Lost Colony (19 page)

I stared at Manteo in confusion. Was he planning to deliver his own people to Wanchese? Perhaps he was simply afraid to face Bailey and Ananias with news that Wanchese had captured us. Why had he let Wanchese take us without a fight?

“
If the English kill you, then the Croatoan will turn against them, which will serve my ends,
” said Wanchese with a sneer.

“
You forget that I am Lord of Roanoke and Dasemunkepeuc. I have allies throughout Ossomocomuck
,” said Manteo calmly. “
You have need of me.
”

Wanchese hesitated.

“
Send Graham back with the woman. I exchange myself for him
,” said Manteo, holding out his hands to be bound. “
If he brings soldiers against us, you may hold me to account.
”

“What are they saying? What will become of us?” said Jane in a voice shaking with tears.

I shook my head, for I did not understand Manteo’s deed. Like me, Graham was attentive to everything that passed between Manteo and Wanchese. I hoped he could make sense of it.

After a long moment, Wanchese reached his decision. He told Tameoc to take Graham and Alice to the boat. But Graham, though his hands were tied together, threw off Tameoc.

“I have sworn to protect the Lady Catherine!” he shouted. “Lord Manteo, you are the queen’s deputy. Command him to release the women.”

But Manteo knew he was powerless. Tameoc shoved Graham, who glanced over his shoulder at me with a look of such defeat and regret that my eyes clouded over with tears.

“Thomas, trust Manteo!” I called after him. “He must have a plan.”

The Croatoan women and children now came out of the house, carrying their belongings in bundles. When Takiwa saw Jane and me, she looked away in shame. Tameoc went to her but she pushed him away. Mika’s thin shoulders shook with tears.

I realized we were all Wanchese’s captives.

Chapter 31

Captivity

A
ll my dreams about living in friendship with the Indians now mocked me as childish fantasies. Nor could I have imagined, while enjoying the comforts of Whitehall and the queen’s favor not fifteen months ago, the stark and perilous state in which I now found myself: captive to the serpent Wanchese in a ruined Eden.

More than myself, I pitied Jane. Her only mistake was to heed my reassurances that no harm would befall us at Dasemunkepeuc. It was my fault we had been taken captive. If I had heeded Manteo’s warnings, we would not have left the fort.

Jane clung to me as we were marched through the woods. “Where are they taking us, do you suppose? How long do we have to live?”

I had no answers to Jane’s questions or my own. Why had Manteo offered himself to his supposed enemy? Why didn’t Wanchese kill us outright? To add to my confusion, Wanchese’s behavior changed once the confrontation at Dasemunkepeuc was ended. He was not at all cruel. When we came to a clearing where several horses were tethered, he permitted the women and children to ride and left the men to walk. Later, when his men killed a deer and her fawn, we were given the fawn’s tender meat, the bones themselves soft enough to eat. Clearly he meant to keep us alive for some purpose.

For two days we journeyed through thick forests and swampland where sharp-edged grasses snagged my clothes and whipped my hands and face. They were so tall they hid us from sight, but the splashing of water and the sucking sound of feet in the mire gave us away. Shrill frogs ceased their calls at our approach and resumed when we had passed, but the biting flies and mosquitos never ceased. Soon Jane and I were covered with sores and our skin was scratched and sunburned, increasing the pain. When we stopped for the night, Takiwa took out a pot of bear grease and showed us how to smear it on our skin. It smelled foul but brought some relief.

Jane and I grew less fearful for our lives, but Jane was concerned for her child. “What will become of him if he is born among Indians?” she asked. “Will they take him from me?”

“All Indians are good to children,” I said, trying to reassure her. “The Croatoan woman was allowed to keep her child. Besides, we will be rescued before your time comes.”

Jane was easily encouraged, which made her a good companion for distressing circumstances. She also had a curiosity that sometimes made her forget the seriousness of our plight and succumb to amazement at anything new.

After several days we came to a village surrounded by a palisade. Larger than Dasemunkepeuc, it was known as Nantioc, and Wanchese was the weroance. I could not say how far we had come since leaving Dasemunkepeuc. It seemed to me Wanchese had backtracked, perhaps to keep from being followed, and we had crossed two rivers—or had we crossed the same river in two places?

Sobaki, the woman who greeted us, was Wanchese’s wife. Her dark hair was cut short in front and circled with a kind of wreath. Her cheeks and chin were marked in a curious pattern, and the skin between her breasts as well. From her ears hung strings of small pearls. I recalled in passing how Sir Walter liked to wear a pearl earring.

Sobaki escorted us into her lodging, where there were two other women, also wives of Wanchese. They spoke unguardedly, not knowing I could understand them. They took off our clothes to clean them and washed us from head to toe. I was chastened to learn they considered Jane and me to be dirty and ignorant creatures because we did not bathe our whole bodies daily as they did. They gave us deerskins to wear, and Jane and I covered ourselves as thoroughly as we could. The skins were soft and fringed at the edges.

Then Sobaki began to mark our faces with dye. I knew this was done before a celebration, so I told Jane not to be alarmed. The other wives gave much attention to Jane’s golden hair, touching it in wonderment. They tied it back using thin strips of hide. Jane seemed to enjoy the attention. My dark hair was not so remarkable to them, and Sobaki merely cut off the front with the sharpened edge of a shell, giving me a fringe like hers.

Then Sobaki led us to the center of the village where the flames of a bonfire leapt to the sky. Men and women danced in a wide circle around the fire, the women’s breasts and the men’s buttocks visible to all. Musicians sat on the ground, playing pipes and shaking gourds filled with seeds or shells and something that swished like sand. Their steady chanting rose to a high pitch and wavered there, making me shiver. I thought if I could find Manteo and speak to him, I might learn the meaning of this ritual. Finally I spotted him among Wanchese’s warriors. His hands were loosely bound before him, but he stood unbowed and unafraid. I could not approach him, for Jane and I were made to sit with Wanchese’s wives.

Wanchese sat with a long tobacco pipe in his mouth under a canopy made of skins and hung with tufts of brightly colored feathers. His councilors flanked him, still and solemn, with festive markings on their bodies. Despite the strangeness of the setting, I was reminded of the queen’s court. Here Wanchese was at the the center, with dancers and players all performing for his pleasure. Yet how could I compare Wanchese to Elizabeth? She was a Christian monarch with no husband; Wanchese, a pagan prince with two wives. But all rulers were alike in one important regard: they had enemies. And didn’t they often find it necessary to destroy those enemies in order to hold on to their power? Now I began to wonder if our capture was the cause of the celebration, which would end in our deaths.

I glanced toward Jane, but she seemed to have no such fear. Sobaki was offering her a pipe. Jane put it to her lips, took a small breath, and coughed. She handed the pipe to me, but I declined it. My head ached with confusion.

“Try it,” Jane urged. “You do not want to offend them.”

Indeed I did not. I recalled from reading John White’s journals that you do not give a tobacco pipe to someone you mean to kill. So I took the pipe and breathed in a little. The smoke stung my throat and brought sharp tears to my eyes. But there was a flavor to it, as if sweet herbs had been added to the leaves. I took another draft, deeper this time. When I had breathed out all the smoke, I felt calmer.

The next moment two Roanoke warriors lifted Jane and me to our feet and swept us toward the whirling bodies around the fire. The pitch of the chanting rose again, and to the rattling of gourds was added the drumming of sticks on the ground. The Indian held me firmly. His hair was shorn on the sides and stood up in tufts in the center and he glistened with sweat and paint. I felt the fire’s heat like a wave.

“No, no!” I said, full of distrust.

But he pulled me into the midst of the dancers, forcing me to follow them. I saw Jane holding her belly with one arm as she stumbled after the dancer in front of her. Takiwa and Mika were visible in the glow of flames, leaping lightly. Around and around we went until the drummers and the rattlers became a blur. I felt their rough music like the beating of my heart against my ribs, faster and faster. I tripped but the Indian held me firmly. Across from me Jane shuffled and stepped with the drumbeat. Her mouth was open in a grimace of fear. No, I was mistaken. To my astonishment, Jane was smiling. She clapped her hands. She was dancing!

Could not the foolish girl see—as I did now—the purpose of this ceremony? Wanchese had given us the pipe to lull and deceive us. Now he meant to tire us out, as the hunter wears down his prey so it cannot run, but be easily slain.

When the bonfire died down the dancing stopped, and Wanchese stepped out from beneath his canopy. The gourds and drums fell quiet. The singing and chanting ceased. Wanchese pointed to Jane and then to me. His eyes, black and small, bore into me in a discomforting way. He looked pleased as he opened his mouth to pronounce our fates.

“
Now,
” he said, “
you are one of us.
”

Chapter 32

I, Manteo, Try to Free Ladi-cate

I
stared at my bound hands, into the fire, anywhere but Ladi-cate’s eyes. They would say to me:
You did not keep me safe.
They might even say:
You betrayed us.
I could not bear for her to think I had brought them to Dasemunkepeuc to be Wanchese’s victims. Though I was innocent of any betrayal, my shame was like a burden on my back. Why had I, the Lord of Roanoke and Dasemunkepeuc, let the English women fall into the hands of their worst enemy? I scorned Wanchese and yet I, Manteo the Croatoan, son of a weroance, had allowed myself to become his captive. Why, when I could have gone back to Fort Ralegh, led the English to rescue the women, and become a great hero?

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 exchange 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.