Cate of the Lost Colony - Lisa Klein [72]
Eleanor gave a horrified gasp and Alice shook her head. “I want to go with you, Cate,” she whispered. “But the truth is, John has forbidden me. And he fills my ears with such tales of savagery I am almost afraid to leave my house.”
As Alice could not be persuaded, I took the satchel of medicine and went to meet Graham and Cooper by the shore. The March morning was silent except for the the lapping of waves against the wherry. There were patches of ice near the shore.
“Alice cannot join us. Let’s be off now,” I said.
Graham and Cooper rowed while I held the tiller. The foggy clouds that rose from the water left a rime on their beards and on everything in the boat. I pulled my cloak tight around me for warmth. As we neared the shore, Cooper stood in the prow with his musket ready. I felt my stomach clench. Was this how our soldiers felt when they neared Dasemunkepeuc? Did they imagine warriors eyeing them from among the trees, ready to release their arrows? The shore was deserted. Graham led the way to the village. It consisted of a few dwellings shaped like loaves of bread and covered with reed mats. A thin wisp of smoke came from the roof of one.
“Maybe they will come out if you put down your weapons,” I said.
Graham unshouldered his musket and laid it on the ground, while Cooper lowered his, but did not release it.
“Seeing a woman with us, they won’t attack,” Graham said.
Into the silence I spoke the words I had carefully rehearsed. “I am Cate Archer. I come with medicine for the sick boy.”
There was no reply from within the house, though it seemed occupied. Had they not understood me?
Cooper murmured something about an ambush but Graham dismissed him. “What are they waiting for?” he said. “We’ve been sitting ducks since the moment we landed.”
“Let’s search the houses for stores of food,” said Cooper.
Before I had a chance to object, the mat was pushed aside and Takiwa stepped outside. A second face, thin with hunger, peered from the opening. It was Mika. Takiwa held up her empty arms. She let out a stream of words, most of which I could not understand, but I knew what she meant by them. Her son was dead.
My own eyes filled with tears, a better ambassador than any words. I stepped toward her and she motioned me into the house. It was dark inside but smoky and warm. As my eyes adjusted, I saw how spacious it was. The walls were hung with baskets, dried herbs, furs, nets, and quivers of arrows. The fire had been covered when they heard us coming, but the old woman rekindled it. I was offered a bitter-tasting tea, which I drank so as not to offend. My halting efforts to speak Algonkian had some success. I learned Takiwa and Mika were Tameoc’s sisters. The old woman was their grandmother. She was weak but otherwise healthy. The other women were also kin. They had no food except acorn meal and a few strips of dried meat. Tameoc and the men had gone hunting. There had been no sign of Wanchese lately.
Mika was shivering and appeared feverish. I gave Takiwa the medicine and, remembering what Alice had told me, explained how to administer it. I said nothing about my plan to bring them prosperity, for to speak of my own dreams seemed a mockery of their misery. Before I left, Takiwa gave me a mantle made from fox furs, which they had in abundance. They would have traded these for food if there had been any. But in all the neighboring villages was nothing but hunger and sickness.
When we returned to Fort Ralegh, Bailey was angry with Cooper and accused us all of insubordination. Ananias, however, persuaded him that to punish us—especially me, a lady—for aiding a few Croatoan women would cause many of the colonists to turn against him.
Alice was relieved to see me alive, and Eleanor said grudgingly, “I needed your help with Virginia.”
There were two more deaths among the colonists before the snow melted and spring announced herself with birdsong and shoots of greenery. I was glad so many of us had survived our first winter in Virginia, and I hoped Mika was well again.